davelin315 December 13, 2007 Author Share December 13, 2007 I opted for the sugar sized aragonite from CaribSea. I didn't wash it, so I'm paying the price. It does not blow all around the tank because of how I have my circulation in the tank, but it is jamming up the OM 8 Way every time I stir it up because of the particles getting clogged in there (I stirred it up again last night in order to even out the bed since I only had one pump running so I need to clean it up again tonight). Here's some pictures of where I was a couple of nights ago. Was too tired to do any picture taking after finishing off the sumps last night, so I'll take some when I get the lights up and installed. Calcium Reactor, shiny and new (OK, not new, but only the second time out of the box and first time since I picked it up from BRK... I'm not sure that my solenoid works as it doesn't seem to turn it off at all, but I have it dialed in right now to about 40-50 bubbles per minute and I'm going to adjust it again to lower the pH some more in the reactor. I'm using ARM which recommends a pH of 7.5. Right now it's just under 8 but I don't want a slushy reactor so I'm taking it slowly. Here's the piece of garbage that was in the bag of sand. Here's a picture of the filter on top of the tank doing its job. This is what the tank looked like after about 12 hours of filtering. It only took a few hours to clear up last night after I stirred things up by moving the large sand dune on the left side and spread the sand out more evenly. When I'm running just the pumps, there is no stirring up of the sand bed, although I can see the grains being rocked back and forth. What kind of sand is causing this much heartache? Oh, and I wouldn't say it's that big of a deal, it's not as bad as I thought it would be after the initial cloudiness. I would think that things will really clear up when I can run the whole system and have the skimmer take suspended particles out of there as well. Also, the sand has obviously not had a chance to have any bacteria grow on it to help it settle down yet. I am actually thinking of adding the remaining bags I have so that it's deeper and more even on the bottom, but if I do, I will definitely wash it first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 13, 2007 Share December 13, 2007 Great to see things clearing up Dave. I didn't realize bags of sand were comming with prizes in them now a days . Do you have any tips for washing sand. I always seem to end up washing so much away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 13, 2007 Author Share December 13, 2007 I always used to simply stick it in a bucket and then run the hose through it and pour off the water. I always lose a lot, too. CaribSea recommends that you simply cute a hole in the top of the bag and stick the hose in and let it run, they say this will flush the sediment out of the sand and you will lose the least amount, but I didn't want to hook up the hose again in this weather so I just dumped it in. I'll probably wash small amounts with high velocity spray and then dump off the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 14, 2007 Author Share December 14, 2007 The light "rack" is built but the intent I had of putting it on a sliding rail is not going to work with what I currently have. I didn't think it would be as heavy as it is and the electrical conduit I was going to use (1/2") as a rail on the ceiling to slide the lights along is simply too weak and it bends when it's hung. I wanted to have a 14' span so that I could completely slide the lights out of the way, but I think that instead I'm simply going to go with hooks in the ceiling and unclip them when I need them out of the way. As I was mounting them in the ceiling, I realized that the banging I was doing in order to get the anchors into the drywall was causing a lot of noise so I decided to stop for tonight and work on it during daylight hours when I'm not the only person on my block awake. I also have 40 gallons or so of extra water mixing so I will dump that in tomorrow and start up the return pump and see how it does. I've still got to drill a hole in the bracing for the extra bulkhead I'm going to add for the return, but that shouldn't take too long to do. I've also got to fish out a screw eye that I dropped in the tank... hopefully the coating keeps it from dumping anything into the water until I can find it tomorrow. What does all of this mean? If I have time this weekend the rock will go in. I may even release a couple of fish in there tomorrow since it will all be one system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal December 14, 2007 Share December 14, 2007 Use one of your MAG floats to help locate the screw eye. It should pick it up if you get anywhere near where it fell in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite December 15, 2007 Share December 15, 2007 What does all of this mean? If I have time this weekend the rock will go in. I may even release a couple of fish in there tomorrow since it will all be one system. What, fish already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 15, 2007 Author Share December 15, 2007 Too tired yesterday and last night to do any work on the tank, but I will be working on it intermittently today. All that I accomplished was hammering in the ceiling anchors since everyone was awake. Today I'll actually add the screw eyes to the ceiling, hang and adjust the lights (and then remove them again so I can transfer rock), and hopefully drill the bulkhead for the return and get it running. Don't know what kind of energy I'll have for moving rock, but I did promise my 2nd oldest that she could help me move things yesterday, which didn't happen. What, fish already? Yes. This tank is essentially an add-on system. I have an existing 300+ gallons of water in 4 different sumps, 300-500 lbs of rock in it, 100+ lbs of live sand in it, and the already existing livestock. Essentially, this is adding another system onto the pre-existing system and transferring stock around between tanks. I do not expect to see any sort of cycle at all in this. Use one of your MAG floats to help locate the screw eye. It should pick it up if you get anywhere near where it fell in. I tried that idea the first night when I dropped it in, but couldn't find it, but I tried it again yesterday and it came out, clean as a whistle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite December 15, 2007 Share December 15, 2007 It was a joke! People have been joking about how long it's been taking, so.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 16, 2007 Author Share December 16, 2007 Lights are mounted! Preston and I did the "ribbon cutting" yesterday. Calcium reactor is filled and running on the left, the kalk stirrer is on the right. The CA reactor needs some fine tuning, but it's getting there. Here's the Pinpoint pH controller. As you can see, this has yet to be dialed in. Here's the regulator and solenoid. I am pretty sure the solenoid is defective as it doesn't shut the CO2 off. Here's the exit line from the first sump. I drilled in a 2" bulkhead and then ran this through a union to go to 2" spa-flex. It then runs a couple of feet downhill and enters the 2nd sump here. The water gets dumped into the 2nd sump via a T that has a riser to allow air to escape and a 90 at the bottom to reduce splashing. Once in the 2nd sump, the water goes out of this 1.5" bulkhead to the return pump. It exits through the bulkhead into this 1.5" union to 90 to spa-flex and runs over to... ...the Dolphin Ampmaster 3000 return. I opted to use this one but it's leaking around a seal so it may not be long lived... it is very quiet, though, so I am hoping to get a repair part and keep it running. Once it leaves the return pump it goes up along the rack... ...to the ceiling... ...then across the ceiling.... ...until it gets back to the tank through 3/4" loc-line... ...and then re-enters the tank through the new bulkhead I drilled. I had a problem with this bulkhead yesterday because when I drilled it, after letting it cool for an hour+ halfway drilled, the bit stuck in the hole when I started up again. It took me a long time of slowly hammering it away to get it dislodged, but then drilling the rest was uneventful. It wasn't even melted, it simply got some shavings stuck which lodged some of the teeth of the hole saw in place. Don't know if you can make it out, but there's a shed from a hermit crab that has been swirling around the tank all night. The flow is excellent in here as the shed has been picked up and is spinning in the water column in the middle of the tank, center of the picture, just below and to the right of the return that is furthest to the left side of the picture. So, here's what I have left to do... 1. Check out the leaking on the return. 2. Add in the UV. 3. Hook up the venting for the lumenarcs. 4. Move the rock over! 5. Make it in-wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer December 16, 2007 Share December 16, 2007 Great work! I feel like I am watching a footrace between you and Bob. Yours IS bigger than his, though. ha ha ha ha Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 16, 2007 Author Share December 16, 2007 Great work! I feel like I am watching a footrace between you and Bob. Yours IS bigger than his, though. ha ha ha ha Tracy Watch it, you'll give him tank envy! I'll concede the race... Bob is already in reef mode while I'm not since I need to move TONS of rock over... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 16, 2007 Share December 16, 2007 What was the stategy of running the plumbing along the ceiling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 16, 2007 Author Share December 16, 2007 Anyone ever replaced the seals on a Dolphin Amp Master pump? I've got to order some new seals and reseal this puppy so it stops the slow drip. What was the stategy of running the plumbing along the ceiling? It was called a "how am I going to get the return line to the tank without tripping over it and running plumbing across the floor" moment. The solution was to run it above the floor... across the ceiling so that it's out of the way. It creates more head, but that's OK, the flow is not that important and it's pushing a ton of water right now, almost completely filling up the 2" tubing from tank to sump to sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 17, 2007 Author Share December 17, 2007 Decided to stick some frags in there that had been a bit crowded and were periodically getting stung because of how I had them set up... I also added the first fish I had here, a 3 stripe damsel. It's been through an awful lot so I am letting it roam the tank (despite the fact that there's no rock in there still). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 18, 2007 Author Share December 18, 2007 Took some PAR measurements on the lighting. With the exception of the bulb itself, the measurements are taken at the edge of the reflector in order to present the meter with a direct vertical path. These measurements were taken about 6" from the next edge of the next reflector. Above surface measurements 0-7" directly below bulb - 2000+ All measurements are now at the side of the reflector 0 above water - 510 (8" below light at the edge of the reflector) 0 below water - 420 (8" below light at edge of the reflector, covered less than 1cm of water All measurements below are inches below water surface, edge of reflector 465 480 460 460 450 430 420 460 415 420 430 440 420 430 390 400 430 420 420 420 390 390 365 350 360 320 320 It's interesting to note that the PAR fluctuates as you go down in depth due to the angle that the light is coming in. These measurements were taken with the flow on and lots of surface agitation and plenty of current in the tank refracting the light. All measurements were the middle ground and have a +/- of about 10. This does not take into account the types of bulbs and ballasts, but in case you were wondering, they are 3 day old bulbs, 20,000K Helios SE run on 400W PFO HQI ballasts - also run for 3 days. Total hours are less than 24 hours of use. Also, I imagine that if I were to turn the current off, it would increase the penetration. Another factor would be position at the edge versus directly below the meter. Lots of factors come into play, but these bulbs have a TON of output and excellent intensity. Keep in mind, this is also with no rock in the tank yet, so I imagine that this would have some sort of effect on the PAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 20, 2007 Author Share December 20, 2007 I decided that I would turn off two of the lights until I get the rock in there and even then I won't run them for more than a couple of hours. No point in doing it yet as I don't have enough stock. The tank itself is also fairly well lit without them. On another note, there's a ton of suction going through those 1.5" bulkheads in the tank! I found a margarita snail that was stuck to the strainer of the 1st closed loop that runs the 8-way and it was upside down on the side of the strainer but its body was pulled all the way around to the strainer, essentially stretching it out of its shell. When I tried to knock it off, it simply rolled around and stuck to the strainer. I may split the returns into two 1.5" openings so that I can reduce the amount of suction. I had wanted to put another larger strainer on top, but I think that this will be easier to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiguan December 20, 2007 Share December 20, 2007 Looking good Dave. Interesting that without baffles in the sumps you do not have any issues with micro bubbles. Is it possible to accomplish this with one sump or is the trick just loading the sump with a ton of live rocks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 20, 2007 Author Share December 20, 2007 Well, think of it like different sumps being a large baffled sump instead. I am not sure how it will work once I finish redirecting flow, but it seems like there should not be any problems with bubbles at any point in time. I don't think that the rock will make a difference once I move it out of the sump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 22, 2007 Author Share December 22, 2007 Installed a T with two 90s on each of the closed loop intakes tonight and put strainers on the elbows which are facing up. The suction through those is deadly! My hand brushed up against the threaded coupling I installed once or twice and it nearly cut my skin with the amount of suction going through there. It actually hurt quite a bit, so I'm glad I did this. I may even have to increase the number of inlets, too, as it is that powerful on a loop (the barracudas). Tomorrow is the day, by the way, I think, that the rock moves over! It's the first day of winter break and my daughter wants to help me, so I think the afternoon will be spent moving the rock over. This will also give me the chance to re-seal the dolphin pump. I also got the calcium reactor tuned in a little better but know that the solenoid definitely doesn't work. Question for those with one that is tuned in well, my pH fluctuates since the solenoid doesn't work. I'm using ARM media which says to set it to 7.5, but my pH fluctuates between around 7.3 up to almost 8 at times based on the time of day (lights on or off). Is this supposed to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 23, 2007 Author Share December 23, 2007 The rock is in! It's a bit cloudy, but I was able to get the pieces I wanted to move over into the tank. Not sure that it's exactly what I wanted, but it's almost all of the rock except for the little pieces, so I think that's going to be how it is. I'm on the lookout for one or two HUGE pieces of rock, but it'll definitely be something that I have to cherry pick. I took some pictures and will post them later. I'm going to try and catch the fish out of the frag tray so I can dump them into the big tank. Won't that be wild for them... the Dussumieri tangs went from the ocean to a holding tank at BRK to a 50 gallon tray and lots of company to a 300. The clowns went from a breeder to PETCO( :( ) to a 10 gallon QT for 6 months to the frag tray to this... The royal gramma is going from saltwaterfish.com to a 15 gallon tank that burned to a 75 gallon tub of rock to the frag tray to this... each one has a story that is ending up in the display tonight! Maybe I'll actually be able to take a picture tonight as well. Oh, and I ended up removing the strainer from the final sump in order to do the dual intakes for the closed loops and two peppermints got sucked through the pump - one is toast, found it twirling around in one of the mini-tornados that was whipping across the floor of the tank before the rock went in, the other somehow made it through the pump and is now in the tank somewhere. It was hanging out with the frags and is now probably buried behind the rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 23, 2007 Author Share December 23, 2007 Here's a couple of pictures of the split inlet for the closed loop feeds. It's a T hooked into two female threaded 90s so I can screw in the strainers. I debated on having them point straight out or up or down and opted to point them up so that they were as far from the substrate as possible. Also, with them sticking up, they don't jut out quite so far into the tank and draw more water from the back of the aquarium. And here's the rock! I have since added the fish and am now down to a single pacific blue tang. I can't figure out what happened to the other ones that I had, although I am thinking that attrition had something to do with it. I also glued in the frags that I have or placed some where I think I want them. I also finished installing the lighting timers which are now doing a light cycle from another planet... I have the sun rising in the west and setting in the east... gotta play with the timers and reverse that! On another note, apparently the fish are used to being together in confined spaces. One of the dussumieri tangs, the pacific blue, the 3 stripe, and the two clowns are all hanging out in one corner of the tank around the large green bubble tip that the clowns host in. Except for the clowns, they all swim around and explore the tank, but seems like they like to hang around there. I also put in as many shrimp as I could find, which I think is about 8 or so. There's more in the sumps somewhere, just not sure where! I'll post some more pictures tomorrow when it's cleared up. I'm also hoping to make it out to BRK, but the schedule is probably not going to let me as we've got some family pictures tomorrow afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiguan December 23, 2007 Share December 23, 2007 Nice aquascaping. How did you stack the live rock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor December 23, 2007 Share December 23, 2007 i really like the aquascaping especially the cave on the right. Is the cave all one piece? Connor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 December 23, 2007 Author Share December 23, 2007 There are lots of different sized pieces in there. I have been collecting stuff for a long time now and looking for large pieces. There are a few pieces in there that are what I would consider "extra large" as they are probably 2' or maybe a bit more, but nothing is large enough on it's own to create the caves. I actually do have a couple of large caves and there are a couple of overhangs as well. It was pretty clear last night when I went to bed, so I'll try and take a couple more pictures today as well to show it more clearly. The caves really do go pretty far back when you consider the tank is 30" from front to back. The rock at the sides really comes out a lot further than in the middle as well, but I need to play around with the flow again as there is a bit of detritus that has built up in the middle. I did some flow adjusting last night which helped a bit, but I think I need to do a bit more, possibly also ramp up the flow through the front sections of the closed loop by slowing down the other sections or increasing the velocity by reducing the outlet size. After the adjustment I did a feeding of mysis to see where the flow was and almost none of the pieces settled down on the sand bed, they mostly kept on drifting around which is what I wanted to accomplish. As far as how I stacked the rock, I at first tried to superglue and zip tie (didn't have any epoxy that I knew was reef safe) but this failed miserably. I then zip tied a few pieces together, but then decided to just go with the old reliable way, I stacked carefully and placed it into the system and pushed down to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. Most of the larger pieces are on top as well so that they really put pressure on the pieces below. I took the stuff on bottom and pushed it through the sand so that it was sitting on the acrylic bottom of the tank as well. The rock structure is a bit more dense towards the bottom middle, but there's enough nooks and crannies, as well as flow running behind the rocks, to ensure that the water is moving through there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lletellier December 23, 2007 Share December 23, 2007 and the monster finally comes to life, looking great dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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