righttirefire Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Hey hey the overflow works and the water level is where I wanted it. Weird right? The overflow failed the leak test. There was a little seap on the bottom. I bet it wouldn't have been an issue. But I couldn't handle it so I repaired it. Tuesday freshwater fill up run prime and let it cycle until thursday. Drain Thursday night and final prep from Friday swap. 10 gallons for fresh saltwater and the party starts at 8am friday! Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 So... I'm thinking final rinse out tomorrow. Leave it over night to dry. And Friday morning... tank swap! Tarp the room Verify 10 gallon water at 76 degrees and 1.025 Bring in 30 gallon tote Add 5 gallon new saltwater to tote Transfer in heater and power head into tote Move coral to sand bed Put frag rack into tote Siphon tank water into filter sock in tote Unplug AC50s Siphon water level down to top of live rock, about 8 gallons Transfer live rock, coral, and snails into tote. Siphon water level further Catch and transfer fish. Siphon water Scoop sand into new tank REVERSE! Add sand Add water Add heater Add live rock Add filters Add corals and snails Add fish Add power head Finish adding water Dose with prime DRINK A BEER! and watch the dust settle Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I was always told to add the rock before adding the sand. This way, if you have any movement in the sand there isn't any chance that the hardscape will fall. This would be especially true for tanks with gobies and other stuff that is always messing around with the sand. I've also heard/scene people cut out a layer of eggcrate for the bottom. It's easier to mount rocks to that and you don't have to worry about cracking the bottom panel. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Vw. Thanks for the reminder. I do have egg crate cut for the bottom of the tank. But forgot about adding rock than sand. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 Reef in a tote All drained down New digs. What a mess! First FTS 043015, welcome my new 20 long messy tank. It needs some sorting and coral placement. But monitoring for now Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 Day 1: Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels undetectable. About 7.5 gal new saltwater was added to tank water. The remaining water in the tank after after removing sand was discarded. And the water left in the tote after the change was discarded. So about 2/3 the water was "recycled". The torch has been tempermental, everything seems to open and back to normal. The diamond goby is a little passed his sand is a little more shallow and there is egg crate. I may need to add a few more pounds of sand. But I'm waiting to manicure the sand bed and see where "storm" decides he wants the sand. n Link to comment
ManGups Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I always liked the 20 gallon long tank.. Good luck !! Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 you've probably posted this somewhere but what are you using to light the 20 long? Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 Same as the 20high, a fluval marine reef led. The one they just upgraded. Higher pars in the center on top. Better at the center front and back, worse on the corners, but 1 corner is an overflow. I don't have any high light required corals, but might try an sps on top center next to my return nozzles. I really like lps, the hammers frogs and torches. I'll try some acans. But zoas and mushrooms are fun. And i.like cutting my xenias, but they're getting out of hand. Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I would definitely check out some acan lords. They are one of my favorites. My original one has become a neon pink/lime green. Originally it was a darker red with teal accents. It's a bit weird looking right now since it is only one head but it has about 6-7 small heads growing on the sides. Those are tiny still and only the largest is maybe 4mm in diameter. Ricordea Florida mushrooms are also pretty neat. Right now I have one that is almost done reproducing. It still doesn't have a fully developed mouth on the new mushroom but I saw it close up around some food and it was definitely two little bowls with only a small portion where they were still connected. Thinking over the next week or two it will be fully done. The other good thing is that they're pretty cheap. haha. I'm still dealing with my xenias. They were freshly cut when I got them and hadn't even attacked themselves to the rock they were held onto by a rubber band. I've gotten them to branch off onto one rock and now I'm trying to get them to branch off to another spot on the same rock. I'm just kind of setting the original rock they were attached to next to the other rock and over time they kind of just jump over. Not really sure what I'm going to do with them though... Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 Order placed for mp10qd, on premium aquatics. Support your nano reef supporters And lfs too Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Order placed for mp10qd, on premium aquatics. Support your nano reef supporters And lfs too Nice! I actually want to get another powerhead as well and have been looking at a used MP10 but there have been a few people having issues with noise. I may end up just getting a second RW-4 since I'm cheap. haha. Any ideas for placement? Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 No. I was worried about noise as well. So I just bit the bullet and bought a brand new one. I looked at the rw-4 but didn't like the cord in the tank. I have to run a glass top. Both seem extremely popular and everyone will argue which is better Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 so with an empty 20 tall the building continues. What do you think of my new DVD rack Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 OK, dimension time. The end chambers are 4.5" wide the trap is .75" wide the glass dividers were cut a little narrow so about .125" per side is silicone. the first divider is 13" tall and .75" off the bottom of the tank. The other 2 are 12" tall and on the bottom of the tank. Water test tuesday. Test fit in my stand friday. I know it fits but need to drill some holes in my stand. Should be filled and cycling friday. Yes I'm cycling my sump. Uncured live rock/rubble after I feel it's cycled, I'll do a gallon water swap for a couple days and finally I'll break the unions and join the 2 systems together. Link to comment
Travis Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Cool build! Could you explain your drain a bit more? Which is the main and which is the emergency? Link to comment
FishI Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 so with an empty 20 tall the building continues. What do you think of my new DVD rack DVD cases that is what i should have used! awesome! Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 The 90 looking up with the screen is the emergency.The loop of 90s looking down with the screen will be the full siphon drain. Honestly I don't have a logical explanation why I did that with the full siphon drain. I watched a lot of videos and did a lot of reading on the subject drains. That's just where I ended up. All subject to change. Silence is key I just realized that picture is deceiving. It's piped backwards to test the over flow to reassure myself it'd flow more water than the pump would send to it Link to comment
ajmckay Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Haha I was wondering the same thing a while ago... I was like WTF?!? but I never asked the question figuring there was some reason... I'm all about testing, though assuming those are solvent weld unions seems like that test cost a lot... New setup looks great. Keep it up. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 I'm willing to bet it was a space issue when I was looking at overflows before I decided to build my own. And the durso style drain so avoid having to "throttle". (Remember steamfitter, ball valves and gate valves aren't meant to throttle.) We get away with in the hobby because we are controlling flow and the pressure is minimal. Ideally a globe or diaphragm valve would be the proper metering device. One last "professional" bitch. The line from your pump to your display tank is the ... SUPPLY line. The water than does "work" nutrient transport, temperature control hi to low in our case. And the line from our aquariums would be the ... RETURN line. The return would have your filters/strainers/etc. And the return water would enter you pump and supply water would leave you pump. Also it's PIPING! Not plumbing, in the most general of term this water is meant for human consumption or human waste. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 The unions are solvent welded. This will allow me to separate the system for transport, break down, emergency... there is a little pump that fits in my overflow to keep water cycling that leg so it doesn't "die". I'll be able to cycle my refugium, build my piping and with a small volume of water removed from my display tank I can pipe the systems together. Or separate them... I do plan to move in the near future year or so. So I can separate my refugium. Move my refugium get it running and stable. Move my livestock. And break down my display relocate it without a multi hour down time. I think it could minimize stress to livestock. Take the stress out of moving a system. And make the experience a little more painless. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 Refugium water testing. Both ends hold water. So the middle will... Friday setup Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 How thick are those baffles? I have to redo my baffles this summer since mine are made out of 1/8" acrylic and bow like hell. Link to comment
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