The Singapore Green Tank

[Duncan]

I actually tried doing that before. i used window mesh so it might be a little more dense than yours. it would clog up easily and it doesnt skim the surface all that well.

 

Hmm, I actually made mine from carbon filter bag. Cut up a strip and melted the ends together to form a ring. I think mine works 'cause the mesh threads are really really thin. Definitely much thinner than fish nets. So maybe you can give those filter bags a try. hth

[dshnarw]

YAY YAY YAY! Seriously, have your mini carpets climbed to hazzarous spots?

 

Yeah - I've found them in all sorts of weird places - in the bubble chamber for the skimmer, flying out of the return nozzles from the sump. I like to call it "accidental propagation"...no work needed - just run them through a pump, get new mini carpets

[Duncan]

Yeah - I've found them in all sorts of weird places - in the bubble chamber for the skimmer, flying out of the return nozzles from the sump. I like to call it "accidental propagation"...no work needed - just run them through a pump, get new mini carpets

 

Please don't put ideas in my head...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's in already.

[dshnarw]

Please don't put ideas in my head...

 

it's in already.

 

 

doesn't work so well with BTAs...they stop before they go all the way through the pump

[Duncan]

Darn it!

[Duncan]

Hi guys~ I decided to turn my tank into a barebottom tank with sump/refugium. A big step for me since I'm no plumber guy. Haha...

 

Return pump is the hydor L30, 320gph. The ehiem compact 1000, 265gph is my skimmer feed pump. Yes, I got a new skimmer, Reef Octopus EXT 120, the latest recirculating needlewheel model. It is being delivered to the lfs right now. Not sure if I would do the mesh wheel modification though...

 

The plumbings... 25mm bulkhead and elbows for my overflow drain. And 15mm sized plumbing for my return feed. I have done the return plumbing (The one with the red valve) and is pretty satisfied with it.

 

The return end to my display tank. I have cut 2 openings near the top elbow, which are above the waterline. This is to prevent back-siphon to the return pump when power-off for maintenance.

 

The heart of my entire system, the overflow box! Actually I diy an overflow box, made out of cut-up container and bottle. It was working perfectly but the filmsiness of it made me decided to buy a proper one. At least if it fails, I got someone else to push the blame onto.

 

Okay, for my sump, (which is actually my zen garden tank if anyone remembered) is basically to be made by putting a smaller tank into a bigger tank. Yup, the easy way out if you don't want the hassle of glueing baffles.

 

The left tank is going to house my skimmer and it is also the place for the drain pipe from the display tank. The right tank for the return pump (hydor). And the tank at the back is my sump. The area where the water overflows from the left tank will be filled with chaeto. The chaeto will act as my bubble trap when the water overflows into the return pump area.

 

I haven't been careful during waterchange and stuff... my iron tank stand is freaking rusty. Figured that I should sand it and coat it with a anti-rust paint and then finally paint it black.

 

Okay, that's all for now! Can't wait to see my skimmer!

[stoney waters]

Seriously, looks like you are going to have some fun.

[Duncan]

stoney waters, this little project is going to keep my hands full for quite a while. Fun it is but the plumbing is driving me nuts.

 

This is what happens when the largest available valve comes only in 20mm and I'm using a 25mm pipe for my overflow drain. Lego time!

 

Not forgetting the telfoning...

 

And the plumbing glue, whichever you called it.

 

A ring of glue on the joints for extra watertightness.

 

And here's the finished ball valve for 25mm plumbing! I would leave it dry for a day before the wet-test.

 

For my overflow box, I added a 90 elbow to the drain. I heard that it can reduce the toilet flushing noise. The overflow box comes with a silencer, but I thought I can further improve on it.

Well... it turned out that I was wrong to do the mod! The flushing noise was audible within 1 feet range. When I took out the elbow, there wasn't any noise, not one bit at all. haha...

 

Test running in progress! The elbow is taken out. The gray cylinder above the drain bulkhead is the silencer.

 

A closer look at the beautiful swirling of rushing water. This overflow is capable of draining 600gph! Pretty impressive for me! I'm running a return pump of 320gph but it is a variable pump from hydor.

 

Thanks for looking!

[Duncan]

So I did a calculation on my drain/overflow using the other forum's calculator. My return pump has a rating of 320gph and the calculated minimum drain pipe diameter is 3/4" and a minimum linear overflow size of 5". Guess I am safe since I'm using a 1" (25mm) plumbing and a 1" drain pipe straight down from the overflow before hitting the first elbow. *phew*

 

The headloss of my return pump is horrible. By going up 4' and a horizontal 1' length of 3/5" pvc pipe, my final gph is only pushing water at a miserable 183gph. Total losses are 4.39 feet of head pressure, or 1.9 PSI. And I am using a pipe diameter of 3/4" since that is the calculator's minimum input. So my actual gph would be even lesser than 183gph.

[Duncan]

Just want to rant... God, I'm so freaking sleepy right now!

 

Last night, I decided it was time to go on to phase three, derusting and painting the stand. It should be a rather straight forward task except that I got 2 tanks on it. They were filled to the brim and with livestocks as well. So, first of all, I need to get the tanks off the stand. I thought I could get it done quickly, but I underestimated it and had just managed to get the tanks off the stand only, at 4 am. Pretty lame...

 

And 2 days ago, I commerced phase two - the rock cooking. This is just to prepare my rocks for the barebottom setup. Rocks are known to shred deterius and the cooking will minimize the shredding. The tank I used for cooking is the tank on the lower rack of this tank stand. It is also full of pods, so by cooking in this tank, I hope the pods will colonize on these rocks too. Before the actual cooking, I removed the zoas off the rocks and fragged them on coral chips. Then the rocks went into the lower rack tank and the frags went back to the display tank. And that was all for phrase two. All went well and fine and I was happy.

 

Now continuing to phrase three, which later turned out to be extremely troublesome. And I only have 2 reef-safe buckets to work with. So the corals and fishes will have to be transfer to and fro between the 2 tanks multiple times. I'd save you the details and it is a back-breaking story and lots of water spills included. lol

 

Did I mentioned I was running a canister as an external pump, without any media and trays? It was a can in hell, I opened it up and found all sorts of deterius sitting in it. Made up my mind never to use a can again!

 

After 5 hours, the tanks are finally set on the floor now and the stand is now ready to be renovate. Miserable progress... Anyway, I intended to spray it black but not before coating it with an anti-rust paint. Black is because most of my equipments are black and I had a side wall of the tank adhered with black plastic screenpaper. The most gruesome stuff about this setup is the white pvc pipes, I wish my hardware shop sells the klysion something acrylic paint. If it is starkingly white, I won't mind. But there are dirt spots and grease marks here and there on them. I tried to remove them using alcohol-based remover but they are very stubborn. Anyone with a suggestion on how to remove grease/dirt marks on pvc?

 

end rant

[Duncan]

Flashback updates... I managed to find some time for myself on sunday morning. My stand was in a horrible rust-covered state and required some major sanding work.

 

Done and ready for 3 coats of anti-rust primer. Fire-engine red!

 

And the top coat, glossy black finish. Pardon me for the blur pictures as I wasn't using a cam stand.

 

My display tank acting as temporary holding tanks for livestock. You can see the zoas frags all over the bottom. Meanwhile, the rocks are being cooked in the sump (next to the display tank).

 

The paint has dried and the stand placed back in the original position. I thought of shifting the tank somewhere else but couldn't find a better place than here.

[Duncan]

I thought I should do this update seperately 'cos it has finally arrived! After so much searching/enquiring and disappointments, I am able to take this picture at last.

 

Can't tell...? A closer look!

 

Wahahaha! The Reef Octopus 2008 EXT 120 recirculating venturi needlewheel protein skimmer! Isn't the name a little long?

 

Early christmas! *tears at the box* All neatly packaged.

 

A new feature for all 2008 model, the bubble defusser plate. The alikiness to deltec is remarkable!

 

I shall introduce every part as I assemble this baby together. The collection cup comes with a drain outlet to prevent skimate overflow scenerio.

 

The recirculating venturi pump runs at 264gph with air intake rate at 80gph. Take a look at their latest needlewheel impeller. It is a dual impeller and has individual blades for greater chopping water ability, hence, smaller bubbles.

 

And all the accessories! I'm so exciting!

 

Got to calm down... Never forget the O-rings!

 

The plumbing for the venturi pump. All tighten up!

 

Ladies and gentlemen, the EXT 120! This bad boy is capable of handling a maximum 120g and will be more than adequate for my 20g tank.

 

A small problem popped up after I measured the skimmer demensions (including the pvc pipes). My inner tank is just slightly too small to hold it. I thought of running it out-of-sump but I re-arranged my inner tanks and manage to squeeze the skimmer in. *phew*

 

Now, imagine that there is an invisible tank encasing the skimmer and the tanks on the right. The overflow drain will go to the skimmer first. Then the water will flow into the smaller tank (which is my refugium). Finally the water goes into the smallest tank where my return pump is located.

 

Thanks for looking!

[Monkfish]

Thanks for all the pics Duncan I understand how it all works so much better now. Next time around when I do another tank these type of posts will help so much.

[divecj5]

Big congrats on getting your skimmer....looks like you were like a kid on Christmas morning

[Duncan]

Thanks for all the pics Duncan I understand how it all works so much better now. Next time around when I do another tank these type of posts will help so much.

Wow, I never thought I could help you (or anyone) in this way! That's huge complement to me! Thank you!

 

Big congrats on getting your skimmer....looks like you were like a kid on Christmas morning

Thanks! If you guys knew the length I went through to get hold of this baby, ah, i shall not rant it here. It is definitely christmas! But more of an early birthday gift for myself! You see, I'm born on April Fool's day... no kidding!

[divecj5]

Happy early birthday then

[Duncan]

Happy early birthday then

 

Thank you. Hope you have a nice day ahead!

[c est ma]

Happy Birthday Duncan!!!

 

April 1--what a fun birthday to have--and easy to remember!

 

I had a great time catching up on your recent tank activities--whew, I'm exhausted just reading about your dismantling/stand refinishing marathon.

 

Hmm, you start out saying you're not a plumber, but it all looks most impressive to me!

 

Congrats on the skimmer--I hope it lives up to your expectations!

 

I sure enjoyed your illustrated narratives--really made me feel like a fly on the wall. I was often laughing out loud--you do have quite the gift for humor.

 

Nice work so far, and I'm looking forward to more updates.

 

Oh, and--Happy Birthday!

 

--Diane

[Duncan]

Thank you so~ very much for your kind wishes, Diane!

 

I used go on and told my friends, "Hey, it's my birthday today!". But nobody'd believed it, out of fear of falling for a trick. But the good thing is that when people know I'm not pulling their legs, they'd remember my birthday forever! lol.

 

I did pull a huge joke on my mom and pop on the day when I was born. You see, mom was actually due on the 3rd or 4th April (can't remember), but I chose April Fool's day to say hi. So, basically, I self-made my own birthday!

 

The skimmer is not in action yet and will be a while before it's online. I'd really wish to get this tank up and running asap, but I'm really tied. Meanwhile, the rocks are in a slow stew cooking and my display tank is getting sunlight as its only light source.

 

Thank you again for the encouraging post, really appreciated it!

[Duncan]

It was about time to move the tanks back on the stand. The corals lived under minimal light conditions for 7 days straight! By minimal, I mean a peek of shaded sunlight in the day. My fungias (plates) were skrunk close to the bones and the newly fragged zoas were on strike. Worse, the anemone turned into a small blob of jello.

 

The rbta looked exactly like fish roe maki sushi (above pic) now and the wife clown sleeps on the soft bulb tentacle bed while the husband clown takes the anemone foot which is equivalent to sleeping on the floor.

 

Hey, did I mention that I sold one of my anemones? Recently, my army buddy took up reefing again and he got a 110g tank, with all the bells and whistles. He asked for my nems and now one of my babies is living in pure bliss.

 

So! The poor styrofoam board is going to be sandwiched between the tank and the rack, for even weight distribution.

 

But I thought about the pure ugliness of a white board in a all black setup... hmm, I need do something about it.

 

Black Oyama paper is the solution. I'd tape all the edges of the board with it. Oyama paper is the preferred medium for covering the back of the tank in Asia.

 

Okay, done! Ghetto but it should do.

 

Fresh rocks out of water. They shred quite a lot of deterius. I hope they are done when my new system is up.

 

Back for cooking again. It is best to cook rocks without any light source. For me, I really don't have the space or extra buckets, so this is the best I can come up with. It will work as long as I shield the tank from direct sunlight.

 

Does it look better without that white board showing up? I think so.

 

Some zip ties to hang my pipes and equipments.

 

Display tank on board!

 

The corals had lights out for a week and it is best to screen them from direct 150W metal halide. I got a blue screen which had immediate actinic effect! Check it out! Bahahaha!

 

And without the screen for a while, for photographing's sake. You can see that my corals are pretty mad at me, but they responded very well and full bloom 1 hour later.

 

And that's all for now. The next stage is going to be tedious, sump and plumbling works! *shudders*

[Lalani]

Looks good, Duncan.

What mh bulb are you using? The color is beautiful.

[Duncan]

Looks good, Duncan.

What mh bulb are you using? The color is beautiful.

 

Thanks, Lalani. It's a 20,000K DE bulb.

[Toomin]

wow.major changes.

i need to see it in person!

and and, i never believe that your birthday is on 1st of april too!

happy happy belated bday!

[c est ma]

I used go on and told my friends, "Hey, it's my birthday today!". But nobody'd believed it, out of fear of falling for a trick. But the good thing is that when people know I'm not pulling their legs, they'd remember my birthday forever! lol.

 

Hey, wait a minute! April Fool's Day is an Asian tradition, too? (See how provincial I am?...and how slow to pick up on things...)

 

I did pull a huge joke on my mom and pop on the day when I was born. You see, mom was actually due on the 3rd or 4th April (can't remember), but I chose April Fool's day to say hi. So, basically, I self-made my own birthday!

 

I empathize with your folks. My son was due on Sept. 21, but he arrived on the 13th, instead...Friday the 13th! (So, is Friday the 13th "unlucky" in Singapore, too? )

 

 

The rbta looked exactly like fish roe maki sushi (above pic) now and the wife clown sleeps on the soft bulb tentacle bed while the husband clown takes the anemone foot which is equivalent to sleeping on the floor.

 

Duncan--the world's first stand-up reef comedian...

 

Hey, did I mention that I sold one of my anemones? Recently, my army buddy took up reefing again and he got a 110g tank, with all the bells and whistles. He asked for my nems and now one of my babies is living in pure bliss.

 

That's pretty cool. Both the adoption and the new tank...

 

Black Oyama paper ...

 

Okay, done! Ghetto but it should do.

 

Finally some technology I can relate to!

 

So, is that a waterproof paper?

 

 

Display tank on board!

 

Wow, Duncan! That looks like a shot out of an aquarium catalog!

 

The corals had lights out for a week and it is best to screen them from direct 150W metal halide. I got a blue screen which had immediate actinic effect! Check it out! Bahahaha!

 

Dang, think of the money we've been wasting...

 

And without the screen for a while, for photographing's sake. You can see that my corals are pretty mad at me, but they responded very well and full bloom 1 hour later.

 

And that's all for now. The next stage is going to be tedious, sump and plumbling works! *shudders*

 

Oh, boy! Looking forward to the next photo-log!

 

 

--Diane

[disaster999]

im jealous of people able to keep their trimmless glass tanks so clean...mine is always covered in green film algae=(