Drift Monkey Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 I got the sand and rock in there ...really crappy pic though. Not quite wet yet, but it will be soon! I really need some sleep... Link to comment
nanoreefer11 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I got the sand in and the rock in there ...really crappy pic though. Not quite wet yet, but it will be soon! I really need some sleep... Damn dude, that's baller! Love it!! Did you decide on the salt you were going to use? Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Damn dude, that's baller! Love it!! Did you decide on the salt you were going to use? Thanks dude! I have a 200 gallon box of Reef Crystals sitting next to a bucket if that tells you anything! I'm letting some mix right now. Gonna finish making saltwater when I get off work today. Nice scape! Thanks! Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Sweet! Great looking scape. Awesome setup! Tagging along. Thanks y'all! Hopefully I can get better pictures of the scape once I get her filled up! Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Don't mind the craptastic pic...it's late and I'm gonna be so tired at work tomorrow but... I'm wet! The display is full...working on filling the sump now... It's still sorta cloudy though. Better pics will hopefully be up sometime tomorrow... Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Gah...I was right. I'm at work and yes, I'm extremely sleepy/tired. Still worth it! My RO/DI took a bit to get to a 3:1 ratio. My flow restrictor was about a foot long and...using the trial and error method (cutting about 2" every trial), I got to down to about 1/8" before my waste water was outputting enough. I do have an excellent 80psi of pressure to work with though...I can get a gallon of RO/DI in about 9 minutes. Anyway, the overflow is working great...found a tiny leak in the elbow though, so I telfon taped the crap out of it and it seems to be fine now. It's pretty quiet...no excessive gurgling or anything. The sump is working great. Baffles are holdin' up fine and there are no microbubbles or anything to report. My goal tonight is to set up ther osmolator (if I can keep from passing out immediately when I get home ). The Eheim 1250 works like a champ and is seemingly perfect for this setup. The only complaint I have is the humming noise it makes that reverberates inside the stand. I need to find a way to make her a little more quiet. The return lily pipe flows as expected and looks awesome. I do get a bit of back-siphon when I unplug the pump...but I let it do it's thing and it eventually breaks siphon. It never fills my sump up to dangerous levels so I'm good there. Made some high/low marks on my sump so I can gauge it for the ato. I may reposition the lily pipe to the left wall of the tank...not sure yet. I powered up the ol' MP10 and it's as good as ever. I forgot how cool there are! I used about ~1/2" Caribsea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand and I couldn't be happier. The grain size is excellent and doesn't get blown around at all. I did, however, spend some time rinsing the crap out of it the other night...the stuff puts out some serious cloudage. Anyway, here are some more crappy pics I took before work for your enjoyment! Link to comment
RollaJase Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Looks really great mate, unusual overflow though, don't see many with no teeth haha. One thing I would change (just personal preference, something I wish I did on my tank) would be to mount the MP10 on the opposite wall, blowing detritus towards the overflow. Gauging by the scape, the left rock would be great for SPS so more intense flow on that side of the tank may be beneficial. Just my 2cents. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 You get a back siphon with any return you use, but I guess with Loc-Line you can aim the nozzle towards the surface to break it early. Everything is looking really nice. For the vibration on the return pump, you can add rubber or other shock-absorbing material to the feet or as a 'plate' under the pump. Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Looks really great mate, unusual overflow though, don't see many with no teeth haha. One thing I would change (just personal preference, something I wish I did on my tank) would be to mount the MP10 on the opposite wall, blowing detritus towards the overflow. Thanks! I really like my overflow without teeth (grandpa)...much cleaner and less distracting IMO. Does a slightly better job skimming as well. Thought about the MP10 positioning...but the lily pipe is also pushing water back to the overflow and I may end up pointing that directly at the overflow (also would give me some additional cross-flow). You get a back siphon with any return you use, but I guess with Loc-Line you can aim the nozzle towards the surface to break it early. Everything is looking really nice. For the vibration on the return pump, you can add rubber or other shock-absorbing material to the feet or as a 'plate' under the pump. Yeah I figured as much. It breaks relatively quickly though and leaves plenty of room in the sump so I'm not too worried. Thanks for the compliment! Yeah I'll have to figure that out...maybe one of those silicone honeycomb potholders would work... Link to comment
RollaJase Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Thanks! I really like my overflow without teeth (grandpa)...much cleaner and less distracting IMO. Does a slightly better job skimming as well. Thought about the MP10 positioning...but the lily pipe is also pushing water back to the overflow and I may end up pointing that directly at the overflow (also would give me some additional cross-flow). I had the same reasoning with my return as well, only downside was my flow from the return was minimal (wanted optimal refugium/water contact time in the sump). If I had the flow ramped up it would have worked a lot better . Link to comment
brad908 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Tank looks good, so does the water level. Was hard to picture it since I'm used to seeing the teeth versions. Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 I had the same reasoning with my return as well, only downside was my flow from the return was minimal (wanted optimal refugium/water contact time in the sump). If I had the flow ramped up it would have worked a lot better . Ah true. My return isn't quite BLASTING out of the lily pipe, but it's putting a bit out (which will inevitably slow down in the future). My goal was not to use it as a means of flow though...I like relatively slow moving sumps too! I'll think about moving the MP10 if I find out it's not doing a good job on that side. Tank looks good, so does the water level. Was hard to picture it since I'm used to seeing the teeth versions. Thanks! Yeah that's probably why it seemed off...I'm liking the water level too! Link to comment
jgpico Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Dude this is looking sweet. I dig that scape a lot. Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 This is looking great! Thanks! It's all finally coming together. Dude this is looking sweet. I dig that scape a lot. Thanks jg! Yeah I spent a little bit of time messing with the rocks and I liked what I came up with. The left "island" gives some nice vertical space and the right one gives alot of surface area for lower light corals. I tried to keep in minimalistc. Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Any thoughts on how to start seeding? Should I do live rock in the sump so the nasties can't get to the DT (or would they still make it up there)? I have a bottle of pure ammonia I used to cycle my planted shrimp tanks (with Tetra Safe-Start, which worked pretty well) I could use. Anyone use Dr. Tim's One & Only? Maybe I can use that in conjunction with my ammonia to jump start the bacteria colonization process? Link to comment
BadCrab Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 If you are anal about pests I think adding liverock/chaeto from anything except directly from an aquaculture facility (Real Reef, ORA for Chaeto, etc) will drive you crazy. Don't let the stuff touch your LFS bins either. Pick it up same day in shipping bags. Other then that, you can do dosing like you mentioned. Jordon used a hybrid Zeo system to cycle, but got bored of the sterile environment and added some cultured liverock. Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 If you are anal about pests I think adding liverock/chaeto from anything except directly from an aquaculture facility (Real Reef, ORA for Chaeto, etc) will drive you crazy. Don't let the stuff touch your LFS bins either. Pick it up same day in shipping bags. Other then that, you can do dosing like you mentioned. Jordon used a hybrid Zeo system to cycle, but got bored of the sterile environment and added some cultured liverock. I'm not super anal about pests...I just want to avoid the more annoying ones. For example...I wouldn't care if aiptasia grew in my sump...they would be good at filtering out particulates. I live near Aquaculture Ranch...so that may be an option for cultured rock/macros/pods. In fact...he is offering a refugium kit right now consisting of mature rubble with coraline/macros/pods for $10! If I go this route...I probably won't have to use much ammonia (if any) to feed the bacteria...plus gotta keep those pods alive! Link to comment
RollaJase Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Any thoughts on how to start seeding? Should I do live rock in the sump so the nasties can't get to the DT (or would they still make it up there)? I have a bottle of pure ammonia I used to cycle my planted shrimp tanks (with Tetra Safe-Start, which worked pretty well) I could use. Anyone use Dr. Tim's One & Only? Maybe I can use that in conjunction with my ammonia to jump start the bacteria colonization process? If I were to do my tank again I would start the cycle with some ammonia and a few liters of dirty water from an established tank. I went the LR course this time around and although I got a really awesome mushroom hitch hiker I also got a few aiptasia that I was unaware of until they spread (still battling them). Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 If I were to do my tank again I would start the cycle with some ammonia and a few liters of dirty water from an established tank. I went the LR course this time around and although I got a really awesome mushroom hitch hiker I also got a few aiptasia that I was unaware of until they spread (still battling them). Many people I talk to say the same thing. Pests aren't worth the trouble...cycle with bottled bacteria and ammonia... I was able to set up my Tunze Osmolator ATO tonight. I also failed to mention I found the perfect ATO container over the weekend. Making RO/DI water. It holds 5 gallons and the tunze pump fits! Mounted the controller to the inside of the stand. I tried to hide as much wiring as I could...for everything. 5 gallons of RO/DI should last me quite a while as top off water. The tank is essentially on auto-pilot now and my goal of automation is moving along quite well. I'll probably grab a Apex Jr. at some point as well. Now all I need to do is order some bacteria. I think I'll try this: http://store.drtimsaquatics.com/One-Only-Live-Nitrifying-Bacteria-for-Saltwater-Aquaria_p_48.html Any maybe some dry rock or dry rubble for my sump....hmmm... Link to comment
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