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HM's soon to be off brand upgrade


HM3105

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About a year ago a friend of mine handed me his Spec V because his A/C went out and he was worried everything would die. Well he ended just gifting the tank to me and after about 1 day I realized how much I enjoyed this hobby. I was in the hobby probably 15 years ago, when VHO and PC's were cool, but got out when I went to college. I never really spent any serious money and I recall my tank was average at best. Seeing all the new tech coming out and all the color in corals really got me hooked. Its amazing how much things have changed.

I started this build during February 2014 as a diversion during my busy work schedule. It took me roughly 6 months to get the tank wet and start cycling, the cycle finished in roughly 3-4 weeks using the fishless method and 10lbs of seed rock from KP Aquatics.


Tank: 40 breeder drilled with a 700 kit from glass-holes and a 20g sump.
Flow: Quiet One 4000 return, 1 Maxi Jet 600 Pro. 1 Jebao WP10
Skimmer and reactor: SCA-302, BRS Dual Reactor
Lights: DIY Evil Cluster, with Storm X controller
Rock: 10 lbs, from KP Aquatics, 30lbs from Reef Cleaners.


Current stock:
Most of my tank is LPS and zoa, I've recently (November 2015) taken an interest in sticks though.

Fish
4 Green Chromis (LFS)
1 Flurry Clownfsh (Olaf)
1 Snowflake Clownfish (Pongo)
1 Yellow corris wrasse


FTS 10/25/2014
IMG_9669_zps3363fbfc.jpg

FTS 11/7/14
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FTS 12/31/2014
IMG_0017_zps830aafb9.jpg

FTS 3/6/15
IMG_0144-001_zpsscdonynp.jpg

FTS 11/8/15 - I hope this is crappiest this tank ever looks, hopefully it'll get better from here.
DSC_0134_zpsvlsghiff.jpg

FTS 1/27/16 - Sorry its so blue, I couldn't get it white balanced more.
DSC_0232%203_zpsqnpq9x1m.jpg

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gulfsurfer101

Sounds like you got things worked out and heading towards a great start. I'm down in Corpus Christi, and there's a breeder local to me that has lots of snowflake and premium snow onyx clowns at a much cheaper rate than you'll find online. All my clowns are directly from his successful efforts. Let me know if you'd like a pair overnighted and I can definitely make that happen whenever your ready for them.

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Sounds like you got things worked out and heading towards a great start. I'm down in Corpus Christi, and there's a breeder local to me that has lots of snowflake and premium snow onyx clowns at a much cheaper rate than you'll find online. All my clowns are directly from his successful efforts. Let me know if you'd like a pair overnighted and I can definitely make that happen whenever your ready for them.

Thank you, I may make a trip down that way this summer. I think CGA is located around there. Any chance a pair of the more docile designer clowns would make it with a single maroon or do I pretty much have to take the maroon back if I want a pair? The reading I've done indicates the latter but I can be wrong.

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bdevillier19

looking good. one suggestion i have is to consider a 40B for a sump as well, if your design allows for it. the reason i say this is i have a 20 long with a 10g sump and i kick myself for not using a 20 long for the sump as well. when it comes to the sump i feel the bigger the better. but either way, it looks like you have a well though out build.

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looking good. one suggestion i have is to consider a 40B for a sump as well, if your design allows for it. the reason i say this is i have a 20 long with a 10g sump and i kick myself for not using a 20 long for the sump as well. when it comes to the sump i feel the bigger the better. but either way, it looks like you have a well though out build.

 

I actually went back to get another 40b and they were out..very sad.

 

Quick question: with the pump I am using will I have enough flow to plumb the return line into a BRS Dual GFO/Carbon reactor or should I buy an extra Cobalt 1200 pump to run it?

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bdevillier19

A manifold looks the best IMO. But there's no reason you can't run a seperate pump for your reactor. I run a separate pump on my now but will be switching over to a manifold style on my upcoming tank.

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gulfsurfer101

Dude, you should hit me up when your down here. Gcreef is nice but you could save your money, I know some great locals that have much better deals than you'll find in any shop.

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Would everyone mind sharing their wisdom and advice regarding my planned plumbing and sump.

 

Red = 1 1/2" drain line (ignore the pic where it says 1 3/4 it is a typo.)

Green = 1" return line

 

each square = 1 inch, I rounded everything to the next inch to give plenty of extra room.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

post-81810-0-13271300-1394924176_thumb.png

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defective_weeble

Would everyone mind sharing their wisdom and advice regarding my planned plumbing and sump.

 

Red = 1 1/2" drain line (ignore the pic where it says 1 3/4 it is a typo.)

Green = 1" return line

 

each square = 1 inch, I rounded everything to the next inch to give plenty of extra room.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

attachicon.gifSump 3.15.14.png

 

That's essentially the same setup that I'm doing, except that I'm going to run the return line up to mid-tank level before splitting it off with a Y. For some reason (and maybe I'm completely making this up in my head) it seems to me like having equal-length return lines would have a benefit over one being longer than the other.

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That's essentially the same setup that I'm doing, except that I'm going to run the return line up to mid-tank level before splitting it off with a Y. For some reason (and maybe I'm completely making this up in my head) it seems to me like having equal-length return lines would have a benefit over one being longer than the other.

 

You know until you said "Y" connector I never thought to google it. My preference is to use as few 90* turns as I can and also to limit the number of rigid lines running to the tank for fear of pulling on a bulkhead and breaking the glass. All that to say thank you for the idea.

 

 

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defective_weeble

You know until you said "Y" connector I never thought to google it. My preference is to use as few 90* turns as I can and also to limit the number of rigid lines running to the tank for fear of pulling on a bulkhead and breaking the glass. All that to say thank you for the idea.

 

Yeah that's been my idea as well (limiting 90-degree turns). I'm actually going to run flexible PVC for the return because of the same idea about stress on the bulkhead. I'm also going to use a U bracket to hold the main return line to the stand. Though I won't be pinching it very tight at all, I do plan on holding it just enough to relieve some of the downward pressure on the bulkhead.

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Look I built a stand! and it was almost just like I wanted!

 

For those of you wondering, one side has 2x6s because I planned to have use the extra space as storage however I modified my original design without double checking the numbers and it won't work now. I'll probably just get a plastic box and mount it above the sump to hold some items. The GFCI outlets are going to be mounted on that side though.

 

stand1_zps42e4bffd.jpg

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well now that I have successfully rebuilt the stand and it actually works now I can't start moving this along. Next on the list is drilling and like I've said before I am terrified..but I bought an extra 40b just in case.

 

In the mean time, my local reef club had its bi-annual frag swap. So here are some of the goodies I picked up!

 

Leptoseris, I've got this guy in med/low light and flow at the moment. Should I do something different though? The guy told me medium light and flow.

e5a4ccb6-678f-4ae4-86cc-62fd24604af6_zps

 

They told me what this was before I bought it now I can't remember, any ideas?

 

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I was told these are utter chaos

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I was told this is a candy apple red, I'd never seen these in person and they were amazing. They wanted $20PP and so I got this for $20 and it has 4 babies.

IMAG0337_zpsea3gh0p_edit_1397350678497_z

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Following in the foot steps of the great and powerful Lawnman I spent most of Saturday working so Sunday I worked on the tank plumbing.

 

Before I glue everything together, I would appreciate some feed back from those who have done this once or twice...

 

I've got unions at each bulkhead so I can remove that entire section. I ordered the wrong hose barb for the drain line but it will basically be dumping into the sump right next to the skimmer intake. All picks are taken from the backside of the tank.

 

I also have the glass for my bubble trap on order, it'll be 8.5" high, 1" spacing and the center piece will be 1"-1.5" inches off the bottom of the sump. The water should flow over-under-over into the pump chamber.

 

First, the overall

IMAG0384_zps425ecd8a.jpg

 

Second, the actual connections. i will probably direct the return line for the reactor behind the skimmer to keep junk from getting back there.

IMAG0386_zpsc2ebbade.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally got the plumbing done, filled it with tap water and turned it on!

 

output_zpst1nrusgg.jpg

 

I had to turn my pump down all the way otherwise the return chamber is only half full and I get a bunch of micro bubbles from the water falling over the last baffle and creating bubbles.

 

Interestingly, if I turn the pump up at all, the return line comes to the surface in the sump and starts "flushing". Any thoughts on how to fix this?

 

Now begins the waiting, I read on my local forum to let it run for 24 hours to check for leaks and if there is nothing go ahead and fill it up. Anyone have a better method?

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jedimasterben

How far apart are your baffles? And you say the drain line rises when there is a lot of flow?

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How far apart are your baffles? And you say the drain line rises when there is a lot of flow?

 

They are 1" apart.

 

Yes the drain line rises to the top of the water in the sump unless I have the pump on the lowest setting. The little hole drilled in the elbow for the drain (its a glass-holes kit) spits water when I turn the pump up also.

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  • 1 month later...

So time for an update, the tank is finally in its final place in the house and everything is running smoothly now.

 

Tank_zpsed1e21fa.jpg

 

I also got my dry rock from Reef Cleaners this week, the rock pieces were very nice and included some cool shapes and sizes. I decided to go with only 30lbs though as I felt the 50lbs I originally planned would clutter up the tank too much. I also started working on the scape, so this is my first final one which I like. I have 10 pounds of live rock from KP Aquatics due either this week or next so once I see what those pieces look like it'll be time to start gluing it together with the Waterweld you see in the picture.

 

54a000d7-58dd-456f-83f1-60e49a8e1694_zps

 

So there you have it, that's where my build is at the moment. I'm hoping to start working on the LED Cluster this week or maybe next.

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Nanofreak79

I personally would have just gone with a lower flow pump. This would avoid the flushing sound. My GH is dead quiet. I have my drain above water line I the sump going into a filter sock and it's still pretty quiet down there.

 

I hard plumbed the whole drain and used flex tubing and hard plumbing for the return. It's bad for your pump to restrict it too much.

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