Sharkey18 February 21, 2013 Share February 21, 2013 I liked the original rock work. Looked nice. I agree with you about height. I have kept mine pretty low as well, hoping for coral growth room and swimming room for fish. Hoping it grows in fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon February 23, 2013 Author Share February 23, 2013 Thanks for the comments everyone. I liked it too Laura - but there was just something about it that I wanted to change. I think I like what I have now better though. We'll see if it grows on me Here's my Dad filling the tank with some saltwater. That's about all the water I had so it'll be a little while before it's completely full. I didn't take any pictures before I mixed everything up so the final scape is going to have to wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef February 23, 2013 Share February 23, 2013 I like it! And have to say water a good dad to help with your tank...does that mean when he upgrades,lol, that youll have to help him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon February 23, 2013 Author Share February 23, 2013 Have to? He better let me help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime February 23, 2013 Share February 23, 2013 Have to? He better let me help! Hahaha. I'm also going through the joys of having buckets of water being made all over my place, just came up about 5 gallons short! I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see the new scape, looks like you built it up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon February 23, 2013 Author Share February 23, 2013 I think its about the same height. I can't wait to see it at this point too because I've already forgotten what it looks like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron February 24, 2013 Share February 24, 2013 I like it! And have to say water a good dad to help with your tank...does that mean when he upgrades,lol, that youll have to help him? No plans to upgrade...although that's a thought...boy would that get me in big trouble...but I am planning to redo all the plumbing for my DT, frag tank, sump and all, then I'll put him work!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 1, 2013 Author Share March 1, 2013 And until my Dad puts me to work on his system, I'm slowly making progress on mine! It's mostly filled up with saltwater, but I don't have the plumbing complete so the water isn't flowing yet - that's why I have the skimmer propped up on a coffee bucket I also need to figure out what I'm going to do with lights - I have a pair of evergrow IT2040 fixtures and a pair of D120 fixtures that I'm going to put on this tank. I'm just not sure how i'm going to get them over the tank yet. My first thought is to just build a frame out of aluminum angle and hang it above the tank. I'm dosing Brightwells Microbacter 7 and put a 30 pound bag of that sand with the bacteria in it to get the cycle going. I also dumped in a big scoop of sand from my old tank that was sitting in a bucket for a couple days. I was thinking that'd give the new bacteria something to eat but I'm also feeding the tank with some flakes or pellets every couple days. Here's a couple shots as the tank currently sits... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 Just curious, why are you running a skimmer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 Looking good! If this is anything as nice as your 90, I'm sure to be impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 1, 2013 Author Share March 1, 2013 I turned it on initially because of the silt cloud I had in there the first day - the skimmer pulled out a LOT of junk just from the sand that I didn't think about rinsing until it was too late.For the last couple days, I've been blowing the rock off in the evening so have kept it running during the day but turning it off at night when I dose the Microbacter 7 stuff. Thanks a lot Sublime! That's very nice of you to say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 you want to keep the skimmer off, filter socks removed, uv/ozone off for 48 hours after dosing any bacteria in a bottle product. otherwise you're really limiting your potential success with it. keep the pics coming - i'm having fun following along! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 1, 2013 Author Share March 1, 2013 The microbacter bottle said three to four hours. But I left it off tonight since the tank is pretty clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 The microbacter bottle said three to four hours. But I left it off tonight since the tank is pretty clear. i think you're doing yourself a favor. good call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 1, 2013 Author Share March 1, 2013 Also FWIW regarding the skimmer, it wasn't collecting any skimmate, just overflowing right back into the tank. I don't know if the skimmer actually removes anything like that. But it seems to have stopped collecting silty stuff so I think I'll just leave it off until I get the sump running unless there's some compelling reason to turn it back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 Also FWIW regarding the skimmer, it wasn't collecting any skimmate, just overflowing right back into the tank. I don't know if the skimmer actually removes anything like that. But it seems to have stopped collecting silty stuff so I think I'll just leave it off until I get the sump running unless there's some compelling reason to turn it back on. I don't think you need to worry about it till you add livestock, at least from my understanding. Waiting for pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 As far as the skimmer is concerned...what dept is it in...looks like the water level is really high...?...which would explain it overflowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE March 1, 2013 Share March 1, 2013 ok Ron....After our phone call I understand the skimmer deal now...... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 4, 2013 Author Share March 4, 2013 I wanted to get some thoughts on my sump design. I'm going to use a 75 gallon tank I have for my sump and the sump will be on the other side of the wall that's directly behind the tank. All parts listed, besides the tank, will be made from acrylic by Adam at Artfully Acrylic. Water from the tank will drain through part number 5 into a 5" x 12" box that has a 2" x 12" opening at the bottom for water to flow into the adjacent 12" x 12" area that will house the skimmer. My thinking here is that most bubbles should stay within the box - having the lid will help eliminate salt creep and keep noise down. Perhaps there should be some air release openings at the top above the water level? There should be 6" of air space in the box. Once water flows into the 12" x 12" area, it can then flow through the baffles (part numbers 2 and 1). Should I have teeth cut into any of these baffles? Nothing should ever be in the sump in this area so I don't think so - but I wasn't sure if having teeth cut into the final and/or first baffles would help with anything. My initial thought is no baffles needed here. Water will then flow into the middle section of the sump, hopefully bubble free and then back to the tank. The left hand side of the tank will be a refugium section. The refugium piece, part number 4, will have teeth cut into it. I appreciate any thoughts anyone has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 4, 2013 Author Share March 4, 2013 My initial thought is no baffles needed here. baffles = teeth. This should have read "My initial thought is no teeth needed here." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 Like this Ron? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 7, 2013 Author Share March 7, 2013 Something like that Haywood So I guess my drawings were either horrible or the design was perfect! I made a slight revision increasing the size of the drain box, but I'm basically going with my sump design as pictured. On to overflows.... The tank has two overflows with 2 EA 1" holes in each overflow. The way I see it, I could have 1 durso and one return in each overflow or create a quasi-bean animal with the two overflows. My wife has her craft area in that same area as the sump so I'd like to control noise as much as possible. With my sump design, i'm creating an enclosed box for the drain lines to enter the sump so I'd think I could control noise a lot with that. And a durso is such an easy setup to put in place, I'm thinking of just going that way. But I can't help but think about doing a bean animal - I think I'd pace the emergency dry line and constant trickle lines in left overflow and the return and full siphon overflow in the right hand overflow. I guess the only real concern with this is the left side overflow being dead with such a small amount of flow through it. The only thing I've thought of so far to "fix" that would be to put a small powerhead in there and blow some water back out into the tank. I guess I'll have to make that decision soon - I'm getting antsy about getting the tank filled up with my critters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy March 7, 2013 Share March 7, 2013 why not two herbie style overflows for 100% silent and then just drill for your returns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT March 7, 2013 Share March 7, 2013 or throw the returns over the back of the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRon March 7, 2013 Author Share March 7, 2013 There's no room between the back wall of the tank and the wall that the tank is up against - everything is going to have to go through the four holes in the overflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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