Seabass's In-wall 100 Gallon

[seabass]

I just finished the last coat of polyurethane. I'll let it fully cure (7 days). Here's the underside/inside top (to show how tight the holes are to the side). Poly is still wet. Without the camera flash, I really can't see much inside the stand.

 

Continuing to dose ammonium to the tub of rocks. Phosphate tested today at 0.08ppm again.

[Giga]

They say black is always in style

[seabass]

OK, I'm a dumb ass. I accidentally left my RO/DI unit running overnight and it overflowed. It didn't look too bad at first as I was able to clean up the water behind the wall. However, when I was checking the finished side, I noticed water coming up between the seams in the floor.

So in order to pull up the floor, I had to take the trim off and I noticed that some of the drywall was now wetwall. The baseboard had trapped some of the water which allowed it to wick up into the drywall. So then I had to remove the baseboard and cut out the bottom portion of the finished walls.

 

From looking inside the wall, it appears that the other side's drywall is still alright. Could have been worse, but not by much. Will be installing a stop valve ASAP.

[Giga]

OK, I'm a dumb ass. I accidentally left my RO/DI unit running overnight and it overflowed. It didn't look too bad at first as I was able to clean up the water behind the wall. However, when I was checking the finished side, I noticed water coming up between the seams in the floor.

 

So in order to pull up the floor, I had to take the trim off and I noticed that some of the drywall was now wetwall. The baseboard had trapped some of the water which allowed it to wick up into the drywall. So then I had to remove the baseboard and cut out the bottom portion of the finished walls.

 

From looking inside the wall, it appears that the other side's drywall is still alright. Could have been worse, but not by much. Will be installing a stop valve ASAP.

.

 

I've done this many a timee in my kitchen but only flood half the kitchen. Now I only use the rodi in the sink or tub and I have water alarms now installed. Really sucks but we've all done it

[eitallent]

And now it is time for Confessions of Reefkeepers:

 

I have done this too. But my utility room has tile baseboards and all my pressed wood cabinets are on 2" swivel casters. Otherwise my hubby would have keeled me a long time ago and as recently as last week.

[Lalani]

Oof, I've only forgotten about the rodi a couple of times but never that bad. :/

[seabass]

I have to go out of town before I'll have everything ready for the new tank. The existing holding tank should be fine (I'll use a dosing pump to top it off, and an automatic feeder for the fish). However, I've been dosing the tub of rocks with ammonium twice a day, and I'm wondering what it'd do to the bacteria (not to have any ammonia for maybe 5 days).

 

I thought about setting the tank on the stand and filling it up (with the fish) without the plumbing and sump, but I figured that making major changes when I'm not around to deal with issues would be a mistake. So I'm thinking about filling a five gallon bucket with RO/DI water and adding ammonium. I'd use a dosing pump to replenish the evaporation and add ammonium. I have someone who could check on it, but it's usually just easier (and more reliable) to automate it.

 

When I get back, I'll setup the new tank. Speaking of which, I need to call a glass shop about making me a 1/4" baffle. The silicone should be nice and cured before I get back. I probably should do the plumbing too, but I don't feel that ambitious.

[seabass]

So it seems to have worked out pretty well. I set up a dosing pump to constantly dose an ammonium solution into my rock tub. When I got home, I tested the water to make sure there wasn't a build up of ammonia while I was away.

Ammonia test results from rock tub and the top off water.

[seabass]

So I'll be taking pictures with this now:

 

It just came out, and I just got it today. It can shoot in RAW and has all sorts of manual controls (if I ever get around to playing with everything).

[slowngreen]

And then????

[seabass]

Pretty funny movie. I thought it'd be a total waste of time, but it had it's moments.

 

I knew someone was going to call me out on the delay, but you know how things are (getting stuff ready for winter, plus I hurt my back). Seems like the tank takes a back seat to other stuff that comes up. I'll get to it soon. Maybe I'll get the sump baffle ordered this afternoon.

[seabass]

New 1/4" sump baffle.

Seamed edges with a polished top edge.

[justin81]

longest tank build ever................. lol

[seabass]

Yeah, I know. But I did get a gift certificate from BRS for Christmas. Plus I ordered a bucket of Seachem Reef Salt from Amazon yesterday. IO is pretty cheap from Amazon (with free Prime shipping), but I thought I'd try out Reef Salt (also free Prime shipping). I almost went with Tropic Marin (which I've used and liked before), but it was a bit more expensive.

 

Anyway, since I went with Seachem's Reef Salt, I also ordered Seachem's Magnesium/Alkalinity test kit. I figured that I should get a test that can measure carbonate alkalinity, borate alkalinity, and total alkalinity (as Reef Salt contains elevated Borate levels). We'll see how I like it. It'll take the bulk of the bucket to fill this tank and sump.

 

I'm slowly getting closer. I hope to spend more time on it now that I don't have any more trips planned and the holidays are winding down.

[Nocturnal]

Looking good.

 

My plan for the basement is to install a couple of large behind wall tanks when we finish it out. I'm torn on whether or not to add access panels from the front. I love the look of not having anything above the tank except for clean wall, but I've cleaned tanks like that before and it can be frustrating.

 

 

OK, I'm a dumb ass. I accidentally left my RO/DI unit running overnight and it overflowed. It didn't look too bad at first as I was able to clean up the water behind the wall. However, when I was checking the finished side, I noticed water coming up between the seams in the floor.

So in order to pull up the floor, I had to take the trim off and I noticed that some of the drywall was now wetwall. The baseboard had trapped some of the water which allowed it to wick up into the drywall. So then I had to remove the baseboard and cut out the bottom portion of the finished walls.

 

From looking inside the wall, it appears that the other side's drywall is still alright. Could have been worse, but not by much. Will be installing a stop valve ASAP.

 

Ugh. I do that probably 1 of 3 times that I run the stupid thing. My basement is unfinished but it's still a mess to deal with. Every time I ask myself what I wasn't smart enough to put an alarm on my phone.

[seabass]

Looking good.

Thanks!

 

 

My plan for the basement is to install a couple of large behind wall tanks when we finish it out. I'm torn on whether or not to add access panels from the front. I love the look of not having anything above the tank except for clean wall, but I've cleaned tanks like that before and it can be frustrating.

Yeah, I considered making a front access, but decided against it. It will make cleaning a little more challenging, but I think I'm up for it. Like you said, it will be a clean look. I also like that kids can look at the tank without being able to put their fingers in it.

 

Ugh. I do that probably 1 of 3 times that I run the stupid thing. My basement is unfinished but it's still a mess to deal with. Every time I ask myself what I wasn't smart enough to put an alarm on my phone.

I haven't done any fail safes yet. I think I'll be going with a float valve an emergency overflow running to the drain.

 

I'll be sure to take pics and post all the behind the scene equipment.

[seabass]

My Brute container of dry rock has been receiving 20+ drops of Dr Tim's Ammonium daily for about 6 months now. I've also used about a half gallon of Seaklear Phosphate Remover during this time. I just ran out of phosphate remover, so I decided to test for phosphate again. After a few days without dosing lanthanum chloride, I'm pleased to say that the phosphate in the water is just below 0.02ppm.
Note: I just upgraded my Hanna Phosphate Checker to a Hanna Phosphorus Checker (which is ±0.005 ppm accurate vs the ±0.04 ppm accuracy of the Phosphate Checker).

[jedimasterben]

I wouldn't put a lot of stock into any of the Hanna checkers, especially the phosphate and phosphorus models. The checkers themselves are fine, but the reagents are not consistent, even among the same batch.

[seabass]

Yeah, I've read that thread too. It sounds like they might have addressed those issues (with as much silence as the problem itself). It doesn't make me super confident about the numbers, but I'm basically OK with that for now. I'll probably pick up a Salifert kit just to test new lots against. However, the digital readout is very convenient.

[jedimasterben]

So.

[seabass]

Making baby steps; wish I could say more. Got some plastic shims for the stand (basement cement wasn't very level).




A Kill A Watt just to help determine energy consumption/costs.


And a power strip with individual switches to shut off pumps and whatnot during maintenance.

 

I'll be putting the tank on the stand this week. I know... Whoa... Slow down!!!

[seabass]

Tank is 48" x 24" x 20" (appoximately 100 gallons).

[jedimasterben]

Lies.

[Gilligan]

lulz

[seabass]

Installed the bulkheads (still have to get the PVC).


I decided to upgrade my my RO/DI filters from a sediment, 2 carbon, RO, DI to a sediment, carbon, RO, 2 DI (SpectraPure MaxCap filter system).

Unfortunately, the female ports on one of my old canisters is leaking, so the setup will be delayed until the new one arrives.