Teenyreef's 20g Study-kept Dustmite Biotope: IM10 Transfer

[teenyreef]

18 minutes ago, Merthynia said:

I've never seen these rocks before. They look pretty nice to build with. Are they just all slabs cut from the rocks to give you two flat sides?

Yes, they're artificial rocks, cut with what I assume is a band saw to make them flat and easy to stack.

[teenyreef]

By the way, I did some research on other people's scapes for small peninsula style tanks. I didn't find many that were meant to be viewed from the narrow end in the front. Most were oriented like a standard tank, but with the return and overflow on one side instead of in the back. @Tigahboy's old tank is an example of a great peninsula-style tank like this. It's still one of my favorite tanks.

 

His old tank thread is here: 

 

 

@YHSublime also has a great peninsula tank, and it is a true peninsula. It's proportionally longer than my 20g but I I've been looking at it closely for ideas 🙂

 

 

Check out his tank journal here:

 

[second_decimal]

Something about the stax rock, you can take 2 pieces and rotate them to get the best dry fit. If you rub them slightly together, you can create flat spots at the contact points which are easily visible and can then be glued together with crazy glue creating larger shelf pieces that can be customized to fit your needs. 
 

i figured I would mention it since it didn’t dawn on me for many months after I had set up my tank 🙄

[Reefkid88]

Ph man that is freaking close to the wall lmao. You did a great job though man. This is going to be a great setup for sure. 

[Tigahboy]

12 hours ago, teenyreef said:

By the way, I did some research on other people's scapes for small peninsula style tanks. I didn't find many that were meant to be viewed from the narrow end in the front. Most were oriented like a standard tank, but with the return and overflow on one side instead of in the back. @Tigahboy's old tank is an example of a great peninsula-style tank like this. It's still one of my favorite tanks.

 

His old tank thread is here: 

 

 

😊 Every now and then I'd receive questions as to why I was not running this tank true peninsula style (viewable from all 3 sides).  I really just wanted a clear back tank and this was the closest I could find.

[teenyreef]

19 hours ago, second_decimal said:

Something about the stax rock, you can take 2 pieces and rotate them to get the best dry fit. If you rub them slightly together, you can create flat spots at the contact points which are easily visible and can then be glued together with crazy glue creating larger shelf pieces that can be customized to fit your needs. 
 

i figured I would mention it since it didn’t dawn on me for many months after I had set up my tank 🙄

That's good to know, thanks!

12 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

Ph man that is freaking close to the wall lmao. You did a great job though man. This is going to be a great setup for sure. 

Thanks - I really didn't anticipate how close it would be with the schedule 80 stuff. I would have though 4" between the back of the tank and the wall was enough. And it was...barely. 

7 hours ago, Tigahboy said:

😊 Every now and then I'd receive questions as to why I was not running this tank true peninsula style (viewable from all 3 sides).  I really just wanted a clear back tank and this was the closest I could find.

I love the look of that tank with the clear back. Along with all the other aspects of the look of the tank. And now you're killing it with the new macroalgae tank!

[teenyreef]

Stage 1 of the leak test has been completed! The tank is full and nothing blew out, or leaked out, and the cabinet didn't collapse, so I'm very happy. Got to wait to make more RODI water to fill up the sump now. Note: the display holds about 18 or 19 gallons before overflowing into the sump. 

Btw, those black things on the bottom of the tank are actually reflections of the overflow and return nozzle. I love the reflections in this tank.

 

 

[second_decimal]

i have given up reefing and will rely solely on living vicariously through teeny's reefing. thank you. 

[teenyreef]

1 hour ago, second_decimal said:

i have given up reefing and will rely solely on living vicariously through teeny's reefing. thank you. 

 I'm sorry to say you're having a bad night, then, because the second part of the lead test failed. 

The first problem was an easy fix - I failed to read the instructions and didn't place the gasket between the external overflow and the tank. 

But the overflow bulkhead for the emergency drain is leaking pretty badly and I don't see anything wrong with it. The gasket is in the right place (between the external nut and the outside of the overflow tank). I'm going to have to loosen it up and check out what's wrong. 

 

I hate leaky bulkheads 

[Reefkid88]

Just make sure the gasket is completely centered,that will cause a leak and over tightening will cause a leak too.

 

 Do you have any pipe dope (thread sealant) ? Put just a small dot on your finger and put some on the face of the gasket,wipe off the excess so it doesn't get a chance to make it to your tank water and that SHOULD help. I'm not 110% sure if its reef safe but it may help. 

 

 Also make sure its not cross threaded as well,it may not be making a 110% seal and putting equal pressure all the way around. 

[teenyreef]

1 minute ago, Reefkid88 said:

Just make sure the gasket is completely centered,that will cause a leak and over tightening will cause a leak too.

 

 Do you have any pipe dope (thread sealant) ? Put just a small dot on your finger and put some on the face of the gasket,wipe off the excess so it doesn't get a chance to make it to your tank water and that SHOULD help. I'm not 110% sure if its reef safe but it may help. 

 

 Also make sure its not cross threaded as well,it may not be making a 110% seal and putting equal pressure all the way around. 

Thanks! It definitely wasn't cross threaded. I do wonder if it wasn't centered, or just overtightened, so I'm going to try loosening it up, make sure nothing's cracked, and try again.

 

But I'm getting worried that in spite of the instructions that came with the overflow that clearly show the gasket between the nut and the bottom of the overflow, everything I've read says the gasket should always go on the flange side to avoid water leaking through the threads. If that's the case I'm screwed because the bulkhead is a slip fitting and the pipe is glued in. There's no way to take it apart with cutting the pipe since the union fitting is glued to the other end of the pipe.

 

We'll see how it goes tonight - I may wait and hit it again tomorrow with a fresh mind.

[teenyreef]

And oh yeah, I just realized I put the gasket on the return bulkhead on the wrong side too. So that definitely needs to get taken apart and put back together.

 

The good news is, once I've drained the tank and disconnected the return, I can also remove the overflow from the tank and move the tank back out of the way. Then it will be much easier to get to the overflow plumbing if I decide I need to cut the pipes and move the gaskets to the flange side.

 

However, I will need a couple of schedule 80 couplings for the 3/4" pipe if I cut it (to connect it back up again). Just ordered four on Amazon, but they won't get here until Thursday.

 

I hope all these mistakes are entertaining and educational 

[Reefkid88]

That'll do it lol. Glad you figured it out quickly. 

[teenyreef]

It appears the sump itself has a slow leak that just started today. I'm going to have to drain everything and do more focused leak testing with the sump out of the cabinet. 

[Reefkid88]

Omg.. I swear lol. Obviously they QC their products before sending them to retail places lol.. 

[second_decimal]

19 hours ago, teenyreef said:

I hate leaky bulkheads 

truer words have not been spoken. leaking bulkheads are truly a bane to reef keeping. i would not expect a sump leak though thats 

 

18 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

Do you have any pipe dope (thread sealant) ? Put just a small dot on your finger and put some on the face of the gasket,wipe off the excess so it doesn't get a chance to make it to your tank water and that SHOULD help. I'm not 110% sure if its reef safe but it may help. 

I immediately thought the same thing. Teflon tape is pretty good but pipe dope is pro. no idea if reef safe though.

[teenyreef]

I have to admit I'm not positive the sump is actually leaking. But there was water pooling around one edge. It's theoretically possible it was something leaking down from one of the pipes and somehow ending up there.

 

I've drained the tank and the sump and pulled both out of the cabinet. I'll fill the sump separately so I can confirm if there's a leak or not.

 

In the meantime, I've realized I can't redo the overflow bulkheads because I glued the union connectors to the bulkhead with a very short piece of pipe. So there's not enough pipe to glue on a coupler after I cut it. So, now I need new bulkheads and new unions. Oh, and all the leaks made enough water get down behind the cabinet and into the carpet that the particle board on the bottom of the cabinet absorbed enough water to start swelling. I'll have to wait and see how bad it gets once it dries out to see if I need to replace the cabinet shell. Sigh...

 

I'll order more plumbing parts tonight, but I won't be able to do much more until the parts come in, probably some time next week.

[Reefkid88]

May it have been from the leaky bulkhead ? 

 

 Also PLEASE EVERYONE check this site out for fittings,no minimum order either:

https://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/valves/pvc-check-valves/gray.html?size_in_inches=38

 

 Shipping is little high,but the cost of actual fittings I feel justifies that. I mean shoot their fittings are half the price of your local home improvement stores. And they have street 45's and have 22 degree fittings 😱

[Sharbuckle]

Isn’t plumbing so much fun? Just tuning in now. The tank looks fantastic with the frosted glass. You definitely made the right choice with the xr30. Blue pipe also looks great. I made so many mistakes plumbing my most recent setup and it took a while to pass the leak test, I know the frustration all too well.

 

How is your scape coming along with the staxx? I was going to try them out but found them too “man made” If that makes sense 

 

really really looking forward to seeing this tank running.

[xiaoxiy]

I just checked my overflow bulkheads, and the gasket is definitely supposed to go inside the external overflow box. 

[teenyreef]

On 7/7/2020 at 7:51 PM, Reefkid88 said:

May it have been from the leaky bulkhead ? 

 

 Also PLEASE EVERYONE check this site out for fittings,no minimum order either:

https://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/valves/pvc-check-valves/gray.html?size_in_inches=38

 

 Shipping is little high,but the cost of actual fittings I feel justifies that. I mean shoot their fittings are half the price of your local home improvement stores. And they have street 45's and have 22 degree fittings 😱

That's a great source! 

[teenyreef]

On 7/7/2020 at 9:31 PM, Sharbuckle said:

Isn’t plumbing so much fun? Just tuning in now. The tank looks fantastic with the frosted glass. You definitely made the right choice with the xr30. Blue pipe also looks great. I made so many mistakes plumbing my most recent setup and it took a while to pass the leak test, I know the frustration all too well.

 

How is your scape coming along with the staxx? I was going to try them out but found them too “man made” If that makes sense 

 

really really looking forward to seeing this tank running.

Thanks, it's good to hear from people that share my pain 🙂

 

I feel the same way about the staxx. Too artificial for me. I'm going to make it work but the think I like the least is you don't get the natural arches and larger holes you get with regular rock. You're limited to more of a pyramid style of scaping. I guess it's inevitable that when you get a product called "stax" it looks like a stack of rocks 😄

[teenyreef]

14 hours ago, xiaoxiy said:

I just checked my overflow bulkheads, and the gasket is definitely supposed to go inside the external overflow box. 

Good to get confirmation - thanks!

 

For those wondering why I did it backwards, here's the assembly diagram. I don't think anyone would look at this and decide to put the gaskets on the inside. You'd just have to know better and ignore the diagram.

 

[Sharbuckle]

12 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Thanks, it's good to hear from people that share my pain 🙂

 

I feel the same way about the staxx. Too artificial for me. I'm going to make it work but the think I like the least is you don't get the natural arches and larger holes you get with regular rock. You're limited to more of a pyramid style of scaping. I guess it's inevitable that when you get a product called "stax" it looks like a stack of rocks 😄

😆 

 

 

[second_decimal]

23 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Thanks, it's good to hear from people that share my pain 🙂

 

I feel the same way about the staxx. Too artificial for me. I'm going to make it work but the think I like the least is you don't get the natural arches and larger holes you get with regular rock. You're limited to more of a pyramid style of scaping. I guess it's inevitable that when you get a product called "stax" it looks like a stack of rocks 😄

consider integrating a few Tonga branch pieces or something of that nature? That’s what I wound up doing and it adds a natural element imho..