amjez Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 Pukani dry rock arrived from BRS today. Doing some scaping and looking for some opinions. I really didn't want to load up the rock on the back wall. I went with three pieces with some flat areas for some coral placement and different heights for a little depth to the tank. This is some really cool rock with interesting shapes. Looking at the preview, these pictures are pretty bad. Link to comment
Squared Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 wow this is a nice tank. how much? Link to comment
amjez Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 wow this is a nice tank. how much? Thanks! John from advanced acrylics made it for me. Look him up on eBay. He made me a great deal! Oh... and sweet tank and goldfish pond! Link to comment
amjez Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 I just realized I don't have any sort of filter to trap any large debris in my tank. Should I add a filter sock to my sump plumbing? I guess I could add a sponge to the external overflow box to help with this type of filtration. Any thoughts? Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I just realized I don't have any sort of filter to trap any large debris in my tank. Should I add a filter sock to my sump plumbing? I guess I could add a sponge to the external overflow box to help with this type of filtration. Any thoughts? I'm using a 300 micron Vertex sock with a CPR sock holder. I swear by it for keeping the tank clean but you have to change them out often, it's a bit of work. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I'm not sure I understand the flow direction in your sump, from the pictures it looks like the first stage is the down tube (with possible filter sock) then it flows directly to your return in the second stage. How does the water get to the third stage where the skimmer is? Link to comment
amjez Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 I'm not sure I understand the flow direction in your sump, from the pictures it looks like the first stage is the down tube (with possible filter sock) then it flows directly to your return in the second stage. How does the water get to the third stage where the skimmer is? Hi, I have the skimmer in the first section. I could put the filter sock on this down tube. Your right... the first down pipe flows into the first section of the sump and into the return pump. I have "T'd" off and put a ball valve on the first down pipe to control the amount of water that enters in the first section. This also allows water to travel to the third section and into my refugium. The ball valve closes off the first down pipe just enough to let some water bypass the first down pipe and travel to the refuge. Most of the water will go through the first section, through the skimmer and then to the return pump. This also helps with the low flow I want to have in the refugium. I know this may be a little unorthadox, but it works. Link to comment
amjez Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Couple pictures of the cabinet and organization. I color coded the cords with colored electrical tape. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Interesting, I think a lot of people think they need massive flow through there sump for it to be effective. I think slower is better, replacing the total display volume more than 10 times per hour would seem excessive to me. Slow effective pass through the stages of the sump seem best IMO. If I understand your method, you are looking for increased pass through a pre-filter stage(s) and a slow pass through the refugium. I'm using a ten gallon sump on my 20 gallon display, I have a my return pump set at about 200 GPH per hour. This is roughly 10 X the water volume per hour and it works quite well. It also cuts down on noise created from down tubes. Your tank looks about 20-25 gallons so we are on the same page volume wise. What flow are you using for your return pump? Link to comment
amjez Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Interesting, I think a lot of people think they need massive flow through there sump for it to be effective. I think slower is better, replacing the total display volume more than 10 times per hour would seem excessive to me. Slow effective pass through the stages of the sump seem best IMO. If I understand your method, you are looking for increased pass through a pre-filter stage(s) and a slow pass through the refugium. I'm using a ten gallon sump on my 20 gallon display, I have a my return pump set at about 200 GPH per hour. This is roughly 10 X the water volume per hour and it works quite well. It also cuts down on noise created from down tubes. Your tank looks about 20-25 gallons so we are on the same page volume wise. What flow are you using for your return pump? Yes, you're right. More flow through the skimmer and less through the fuge. I have about the same. Maybe slightly more GPH. Link to comment
JR! Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 nice. can wait to see this thing come together Link to comment
amjez Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 nice. can wait to see this thing come together Thanks! Your tank is looking good. I used dry rock and live sand, similar to your tank. How did the cycle go? Link to comment
amjez Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Well... Sometime between 4pm and 7pm one of the battery operated lights I have sticking in the cabinet base came loose and ended up in the sump. Two batteries fell out and were laying in the rubble. Not quite sure what kind of damage this could have done. The batteries were still intact and were not leaking or corroding. I just did a large water change and rescaped at the same time. I have no fish, inverts or corals, but am a little concerned about something that may have leaked into the tank from the AAA batteries. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Yikes, not sure if they did any damage. I would think not if they did not leak and are still fully intact. You could run some carbon just in case, but since it's just start up day, I personally wouldn't do anything at this point. Better luck, not a good way to start off such a great build. Link to comment
amjez Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 The water has cleared up. Still making small adjustments to the plumbing. This thing goes through some water! Thank God for the ATO. It works perfectly though. To be honest I don't have any test products yet. I guess I need to go buy some and start testing the water. I figure I have a while before the tank cycles. I also need to figure out my lighting. Anybody have any suggestions? Here are some more pics. This time with clear water. Yikes, not sure if they did any damage. I would think not if they did not leak and are still fully intact. You could run some carbon just in case, but since it's just start up day, I personally wouldn't do anything at this point. Better luck, not a good way to start off such a great build. Yeah, not a good start. Hopefully things run a little more smoothly. Link to comment
amjez Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 Looks good man. Thanks! I appreciate it. Link to comment
rc407093 Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Looks real sharp man. Gotta love the work coming from Advance Acrylics, it's just top notch. Would you mind posting more info/plan about how you did your Durso pipe in your external overflow? I'm trying to quieten my overflow down cause it sounds like a dying toilet! Link to comment
amjez Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Looks real sharp man. Gotta love the work coming from Advance Acrylics, it's just top notch. Would you mind posting more info/plan about how you did your Durso pipe in your external overflow? I'm trying to quieten my overflow down cause it sounds like a dying toilet! Sure. I found some videos on YouTube that helped out. Here's a pretty good video to watch. It's really simple to make and works really well. I followed the videos directions and drilled a 5/32 hole in the cap. Some people put a piece of tubing through the hole in the cap and then use an air valve to control how much air enters the pipe. Mine works great with the 5/32 hole only. I hope this helps. Link to comment
amjez Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 Update: The tank is still cycling. I was doing a water change yesterday and found out my check valve is not working on my return pipe. Luckily I found this out when I was next to the tank and not when the power went out when we are not at home. I'll have to have to redo some plumbing this week. I'm going to add some loc line to the return in order to get the tubing above the current return hole opening as a secondary measure just in case the second check valve stops working. I ordered my AI Sol (black casing) with controller yesterday. I can't wait for that to come in. I plan on adding my first fish next weekend. That's all... I want to get a gobie or blenny in the future. I know I'll have to make a screen for the top. Has anybody made a screen for their tank? If so, does it look like an eye sore on your tank? Link to comment
Deleted User 4 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Nice tank and equips, where did you get that stand?? Link to comment
amjez Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 Nice tank and equips, where did you get that stand?? Thanks! I ended up making the stand because I couldn't find anything that would fit my tanks dimensions. I like your tank and scape. I thought about going with a Kessil for lighting, but decided to go with the AI Sol. Link to comment
amjez Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Look what arrived today!!! I'm going hang it this weekend. Link to comment
makeudizzy Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Shallow Tanks Rock! Im looking forward to see this one progress. Link to comment
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