onux20 October 5, 2009 Share October 5, 2009 Okay I think I can officially start the build thread. But first a little background I had a Solana up and running for about a year. Then I decided to move it. Moved it without any issues or so I thought. A week after I moved it it sprung a leak. Moved it again...straight to the trash can. Thanks to Jan and Valeria for saving what they could. Prior to the "incident" we decided to buy a house and in that house would go a 120 gal tank! So I started piecing it together. Here's the rundown: 120 Glass aquarium 8x54 Sunlight Supply T-5s ASM G-3 Skimmer 40 breeder DIY Sump Dart return MP40 ~100lbs of rock Gonna do 2" of sand substrate and seed from generous members I drilled and painted the 120. I built a VERY UGLY SUMP that I think will hold water.(testing tonight) Ted at BRK drew up my plumbing plan. I just have to execute which at this point may be tougher than I thought. Attached are a few pics and a link to the 120 thread in the general discussion. Okay I will keep this as updated as I can. Hopefully I can leak test by the end of the week. Here goes.... Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoozilla October 5, 2009 Share October 5, 2009 Great start man. Btw, love that "VERY UGLY SUMP" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 October 6, 2009 Author Share October 6, 2009 Zilla, thanks for the compliment and for the tank tour. Great set up! Okay, I tested out the sump. It works. It ain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Grenier October 6, 2009 Share October 6, 2009 The journey begins... keep up the good work and keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller October 6, 2009 Share October 6, 2009 Great start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 October 10, 2009 Author Share October 10, 2009 The tank is in place. I got a lot of plumbing done this week but still have more. I need to hunt for some fittings at the local stores. If I can finish the plumbing on Sunday, I can fill and test. Pics to follow. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 October 17, 2009 Author Share October 17, 2009 Tonight around 1000 my 120 became self aware! The light off went pretty well. However, the unions 3 of the 5 leak. How do I stop the leaking? I rechecked all the pvc is seated well and the unions are hand tight. Should I use a wrench to tighten more? Video hopefully in tank forum. Thanks for looking. Ron Plumbing Here is the tank running for the first time! Noisy. Help!!!!!!! Vidoe of the system up and running ...and leaking! UGH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoozilla October 17, 2009 Share October 17, 2009 Ron- For the Unions, recheck the o-rings and make sure they are seated properly. First hand-tighten and then quarter to half-turn tighten with a wrench. Remember not to over-tighten the unions. External-Dursos for the 120 may help quiet things down. See second diagram: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69372 HTH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw October 17, 2009 Share October 17, 2009 As bad as that was leaking, I would definately swap the o-ring from the other side of the ball valve and see if that helps. Again, I've never had to do more than hand tighten a union. Check the sweat connection as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 October 17, 2009 Share October 17, 2009 Take the O-rings out and rinse them off and then put a little bit of silicone grease on them and reseat them. If there's any dirt on the O-ring or around the seat for it it can break the seal. I don't use a wrench on mine but I typically will twist the valve a bit to tighten up one last time, but this is just to keep it from loosening if it gets vibrations - it should seal itself without having to use a wrench on it. Yours are going to be pretty tough as they look like schedule 80 because of the color, but I would still caution not overtightening as you'll crack it and be out $$$! One last thing to check is (and I doubt this is the case) if you have more than one brand of union the threads will be slightly different. For instance, I have both unions from Home Depot and from Lowes - they seem compatible but are not as the threading is slightly different and you can't achieve a seal. Again, yours look like the same brand, but if you have trouble tightening them then there could be a problem with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k October 17, 2009 Share October 17, 2009 maybe this a dumb question, but did you put teflon tape on the threads of the union? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 October 17, 2009 Author Share October 17, 2009 (edited) Check the sweat connection as well. I will assume that means the connection point of the pvc and the slip fitting to the union? This is where the water is coming from. How do I fix that? Thanks for the advice. Ron Edited October 17, 2009 by onux20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 October 17, 2009 Author Share October 17, 2009 maybe this a dumb question, but did you put teflon tape on the threads of the union? No I did not...but that is not where th water is coming from. It is coming out along the pipe not the screw connection to the valve body. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vader October 17, 2009 Share October 17, 2009 I checked out the vid and I would remove the baffles and allow the water to run mid level in the sump, then the pipes running to the sump, have the ends under the water level to reduce the noise. I had baffles at first too, but it was a pain to keep clean, so I removed them and placed a plastic container inside the sump to hold my rock, sand and cheto. Water changes were much easier too, I did 15 gal. changes in 5 minutes. Good luck and tagging along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 October 23, 2009 Author Share October 23, 2009 I had baffles at first too, but it was a pain to keep clean, so I removed them and placed a plastic container inside the sump to hold my rock, sand and cheto. Water changes were much easier too, I did 15 gal. changes in 5 minutes. Good luck and tagging along. Great idea. If it becomes more hinderance than help, I may remove that last partition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 October 23, 2009 Author Share October 23, 2009 I drained the tap water, used to perform the leak test, on Sat and started filling it with RO/DI that night. I thought I'd be in business by Tues...Weds...Thurs. In the mean time, I took out the ball valves with built in unions and just cemented in the regular ball valves. That was the easiest way to stop the leaks. I tested one time and it looked good. As I said, I finished filling the tank on Weds night and started filling the sump. Slapped my MP40 on it and went and grabbed my heaters and temp controller. I am finally in business! Well, when my Solana busted it must have some how shorted out the controller. So I have to get a new one of those. One of many hiccups. DANG! Regardless, I got the tank up to temp and salinity. Once I get the sump filled (tonight) I will put everything on line and move the heaters to the sump. I hung the lights last night. Failed to look first before I drilled a hole in the ceiling. "Cut twice and don't measure." Is that how the saying goes?! The support holes on the light are actually in two inches from the edge. No big deal but DANG! DANG! Additionally, I bought the hanging system from a WAMASer a while back. His ceiling were definitely lower than mine. The light is roughly a foot above the tank. Not where I want it. DANG! DANG! DANG! So I am going to try the hardware store first to replace the cable with a longer one. Simple fix. Tonight's agenda is to add the rock and sand. I asked my wife to help me with the aqua-scaping. I put together a small mockup in the garage so I have a vague idea of what I want. Executing is a whole different story! I promise to take pics before and after tonight's festivities. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 November 2, 2009 Author Share November 2, 2009 Here are some pics of the progress. Things are moving along pretty well. I started the cycle with a table shrimp last week. I tested this weekend for NO2...still going up. Yay! I moved the heaters to the sump and set up the ph monitor. Tried to set up the ATO, but I ended up dumping a ton of RO in to the sump! I followed the directions but still didnt work as planned. Need to figure that out. Re-rigged the lights so they are down where I want them...not like the pic attached! Beginning to regret the sugar fine sand. I may have a constant sand storm from the MP40 kicking it up all the time. I went and bought a couple of small pieces of live rock to seed the tank. All the rock I had was dry and dead. (Check out the hitcher pic below) I think I have the final rock formation. Not 100% what I wanted but I think I like how it ended up. All for now. More as things get closer to adding fish and coral. Some pics... First try at the lights. Love the hanging system, but needed longer cable to get the down to the correct height. Just getting the rocks wet... Bought some dry eco rock from BRS. Found this guy flopping around in a hole and pulled him out. Here is the final rock arrangement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet November 2, 2009 Share November 2, 2009 I like the rock set up! Looks like you get to play the waiting game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirick21 November 3, 2009 Share November 3, 2009 what are you going to do if you have a problem with your furnace? your sump is in the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 November 3, 2009 Author Share November 3, 2009 what are you going to do if you have a problem with your furnace? your sump is in the way. Will cross that bridge when I get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet November 3, 2009 Share November 3, 2009 Will cross that bridge when I get there. Your inspector is going to hate you! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirick21 November 3, 2009 Share November 3, 2009 i did not mean for that to sound so negative. i just do it for a living and was giving you a heads up. once again sorry for it sounding so negative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rioreef November 4, 2009 Share November 4, 2009 I like the rock set up!Looks like you get to play the waiting game! Waiting is right. Be patient. I waited six months before I put my first fish in, I just added corals slowly at first. But that was me. Fish add a large bioload, let your system mature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rioreef November 4, 2009 Share November 4, 2009 (edited) double post. sorry Edited November 4, 2009 by rioreef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onux20 November 4, 2009 Author Share November 4, 2009 Waiting is right. Be patient. I waited six months before I put my first fish in, I just added corals slowly at first. But that was me. Fish add a large bioload, let your system mature. I understand the benefit of going slow. Just hard for me to follow thru with it! Sitting tight for now. The first step will be to see what made it through the crash of my Solana. A couple of wamasers offered to house the coral and fish until I was back up and running. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now