Militant Jurist Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Pics or it didnt happen. What he said. Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 lol Sorry guys, I couldnt get pics with everything looking the way it was. Not to mention between working on the tanks I got a call to pic my sister in law up because she missed the last train back into town then I got called into work this weekend. So all my time at home was spent building, cleaning and scaping. It is done though except for the sump. I will get pics when I get home this afternoon. My wife pretty much aquascaped it. She told my where to put everything and I stacked it up making it as stable as possible. I probably need to get a couple of more rocks but for the most part it looks awesome IMO. One problem I see though is that if the water in the tank is not perfect then too low and the skimmer either doesnt work as well as I'd like or too high and it fills the tank with micro bubble. This isnt a problem as is but when I get the sump going its going to be hard to keep the second and third chambers at a specific level. The only way I can think is the control the amount of water being drained into the sump and adjust it to where the second chamber only gets so much water. Thats going to be fun adjusting . I may also try making another bubble trap for the third chamber to reduce the amount of bubble that get through. I started the Sump yesterday also. It will take me a few days since I am glueing one piece at a time to make sure it is perfect. We'll see how it goes. Link to comment
spanko Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Where are the bubbles coming from? Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 The CPR skimmer in the middle chamber. The reason I got that skimmer was I had a CPR before and I loved it. This one fit right in the middle chamber with no modding at all. Link to comment
spanko Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 So it empties back into the display, or into the second chamber, or into the third chamber or what? Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 Sorry, water goes into the first chamber then dumps into the second where the skimmer is. The skimmer does its thing and empties back into the second chamber where the second chamber flows into the third. I think I can mod the skimmer to not release the water early when filled too high. On the top right of the skimmer in the pic below the top is open and the water overflows the edge. If the water is lower then the edge then the water gets forced out of the holes towards the bottom and not as many bubble can get out. I am going to try to silicone a piece of acrylic to the top right so the water cant overflow. Also I read that if the SG is too high then it can cause too much surface tension and make the bubble stay in the tank but when I lowered the water level the bubbles started to go away so I dont think that was it since my SG should have been about 1.024-1.025. Link to comment
spanko Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 So the bubbles coming from the skimmer you think are going under the wall from chambe #2 to #2 and being blown back into the tank by the return pump? Do you have the stock blue sponge in the third chamber? Seems like that would trap the bubbles and keep them from the return. Then it is just a matter of cleaning the sponge at water change time. Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 I hate cleaning sponges . I dont have the stock one but I can make one from the inexpensive ones I buy for my other filters. If keeping the water lower than the wall on the right side of the skimmer stops the bubbles then I will first try to silicone a piece of acrylic to the top to keep the water from spilling over. If there are still bubble I will definately go the route of the sponge. On a side note, my wife and I went to the LFS on Sunday (when I should have been taking pics ) and were checking out one of their large tanks that was all natural. No skimmer or filters or anything, just power heads for water movement. They had all kinds of crazy macros in there and that tank was crystal clear! Link to comment
spanko Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Yeah I always wonder about natural filtration tanks and what the maintenance is on them. Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 I would think with the proper livestock and enough macro algae that you wouldnt need to do more maintenance on them then normal. Of course I dont think you could do a nano tank like that without alot of maintenance... well the way I feed anyways lol. Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 Well since people want pics, I took these at the new M.O.L.A. at the Fort Worth Zoo. Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 So you guys want pics? Here they are and barely any micro bubble. I will be removing the power heads once my sump is in to add more flow. Link to comment
squirrelieygrrrl Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 lookin great opy! im just lovin that orange monti! (setosa?) Link to comment
louphoenix Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 lookin great opy! im just lovin that orange monti! (setosa?) Looks like an Orange Digi to me, but Opy can confirm this. Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 lookin great opy! im just lovin that orange monti! (setosa?) Thanks! Lou is correct, it's a digi and I love the growth too. I attribute it to very high flow. All my stuff has dense growth and it takes forever to grow too lol. Very, very nice! Thanks MJ. More to come as I get the LEDs inside the BC29 hood and get the sump done. The sump is almost half way together. Once its been done for 24 hours I leak test it then I silicone to stop the leaks and test 24 hours later lol. I am just hoping that the sump can hold the amount of water that it takes to get below the bulkhead. Link to comment
thecowkid Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Once its been done for 24 hours I leak test it then I silicone to stop the leaks and test 24 hours later lol. HEY YOU! Isnt you sump all acrylic? IF SO YOU CANNOT USE SILICONE. I know your acrylicly challenged in all. So. Just re-apply some cement to the leaky areas and call it a day. Oh I dont like the new tank. Muh! I luv it. But that orange diji needs to be mailed to my house. Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 send me a peice while yer at it... Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 THATS F$%^N HAWT!!!! send me a peice while yer at it... Thanks! and I already planned on sending a frag of it along with other thing . Mine's not as nice as your new tank though. That thing is sexy! HEY YOU! Isnt you sump all acrylic? IF SO YOU CANNOT USE SILICONE. I know your acrylicly challenged in all. So. Just re-apply some cement to the leaky areas and call it a day. Oh I dont like the new tank. Muh! I luv it. But that orange diji needs to be mailed to my house. lol Thanks man! I wasn't sure about re-applying the stuff but now I know, thanks! So far its going good. I just need to cement 2 more parts and wait 24 hours to leak test. Wednesday evening it should be fille with water... hopefully . Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 hiphiphooray for wet water! Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 +1 I dont know what I'd do if my water weren't wet! That would just plane suck. lol My wife bought me a band saw this weekend so sometime this week I will set it up and cut the heatsink down to size for my LEDs to go in the hood. Hopefully this weekend I can get that done. Link to comment
opy01 Posted March 10, 2010 Author Share Posted March 10, 2010 the only update on my tank is the sump. Its together and looks good. I got a little acrylic glue on some parts and got some off with the brakekleen like tck said but other areas I didnt worry about since its just a sump/fuge that will be hidden. My next build will be better . I will check all seems and if there seems to be any spots that look missed or like they may leak i will touch them up today then water test tomorrow. I did go to the zoo yesterday afternoon. It was fun. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.