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


teenyreef

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1 hour ago, teenyreef said:

So it's definitely the sump that's leaking, there was no water at all in the pipes and I started getting water on the cabinet bottom anyway. 😞

I've emailed Skimz asking about what to do next. 

I'm going to start putting the scape together with mortar, but, other than that, I don't expect to be able to post much progress until the sump situation is resolved.

 

Dang! Well, I'm glad it's still under warranty! Hopefully they can help you out quickly!!

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I found the leak - there's a hairline crack in the back wall right at near the corner. I have no idea if it was there when I got the sump or if I somehow bumped it in the process of installing things. I certainly don't remember anything happening that would have caused the crack.

 

I haven't heard back from my email asking about warranty support but now I'm worried that this will be considered self-inflicted damage. I wonder if I could just fix it with an epoxy patch on the inside of the wall, or just some silicon caulk? Time to do research...

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31 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

I found the leak - there's a hairline crack in the back wall right at near the corner. I have no idea if it was there when I got the sump or if I somehow bumped it in the process of installing things. I certainly don't remember anything happening that would have caused the crack.

 

I haven't heard back from my email asking about warranty support but now I'm worried that this will be considered self-inflicted damage. I wonder if I could just fix it with an epoxy patch on the inside of the wall, or just some silicon caulk? Time to do research...

Is it an acrylic sump?

 

I received a fiji cube sump with a two inch crack in it. I drilled a pinhole at the tip of the crack to prevent it from cracking further. After that I just welded two pieces of acrylic over the crack, one on the inside, one on the outside.  Now it’s not submerged in water but it’s been almost 5 months and no problems.

 

Hopefully they replace it but I’d they don’t that’s the route I would take. 

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50 minutes ago, Sharbuckle said:

Is it an acrylic sump?

 

I received a fiji cube sump with a two inch crack in it. I drilled a pinhole at the tip of the crack to prevent it from cracking further. After that I just welded two pieces of acrylic over the crack, one on the inside, one on the outside.  Now it’s not submerged in water but it’s been almost 5 months and no problems.

 

Hopefully they replace it but I’d they don’t that’s the route I would take. 

Yep, it's acrylic. I was thinking pretty much the same thing - use some Weld-on to attach a piece of acryilc to the inside to cover the crack. Good point about doing the outside too, though. I'll have to go to one of the local plastics stores to get some Weld-on, looks like everything from Amazon is about 10-day delivery.

 

I'd almost rather do this, who knows how long I'll have to wait for a replacement if they even offer the option.

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second_decimal
19 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Yep, it's acrylic. I was thinking pretty much the same thing - use some Weld-on to attach a piece of acryilc to the inside to cover the crack. Good point about doing the outside too, though. I'll have to go to one of the local plastics stores to get some Weld-on, looks like everything from Amazon is about 10-day delivery.

 

I'd almost rather do this, who knows how long I'll have to wait for a replacement if they even offer the option.

you probably could just use the weld on and pour it on the crack. make a small box with tape (just like when we drill glass) and pour in a little weld on. it should seep into the crack and seal it and if carefully done, you wont even be able to notice anything at all. 

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4 hours ago, second_decimal said:

you probably could just use the weld on and pour it on the crack. make a small box with tape (just like when we drill glass) and pour in a little weld on. it should seep into the crack and seal it and if carefully done, you wont even be able to notice anything at all. 

I thought about that - but the crack doesn't end in the middle of the plastic. It starts at the bottom edge, curves up and back down again, and ends at the bottom edge again. It's about four inches long. So I'm thinking that sandwiching it in between two pieces of acrylic plastic will not only seal the leak but will reinforce the piece that's broken. In theory it shouldn't matter if the Weld-on wicks into the crack and welds the plastic into one piece again. But I know I'll feel better.

 

I found some Weld-On 16 on Amazon with Prime shipping. So even though it's too thick to wick into the crack, it should work fine to weld the plastic to the inside and outside of the sump. It should be here on Wednesday or Thursday, so maybe I can get it wet again later this week.

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Just realized we're on page 9 now, and the tank still isn't wet and the scape isn't done. It's a good thing I don't get paid for how quickly this build is going :lol:

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The acrylic glue arrived yesterday, and I glued some scrap clear 1/8" acrylic on both sides of the back wall to cover the crack. The weld-on 16 stuff is fairly thick, and I had trouble avoiding air pockets. The first time I tested it, I still had a leak. So then I added more Weld-on like caulk to all of the edges of the patch panels and let it dry. Now the edges are welded to the back panel, and it stayed dry overnight!

 

While I've got the sump out of the cabinet, I'm going to install a fan in the back of the cabinet, and screw on some angled steel to stiffen up the bottom of the desk (the cabinet doesn't have an actual top, just the desktop). The desktop is fairly thick (1 1/4") but I'm worried about it bowing over time because the tank sits between the edges of the cabinet in the peninsula orientation.

 

Hopefully I'll get it all done and have the tank wet again tonight!

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mitten_reef
On 7/21/2020 at 6:06 PM, teenyreef said:

Just realized we're on page 9 now

Just keep going...I think @WV Reefer still owns the record of longest thread BEFORE water hits the tank.  there should be an award for something silly like this.  🤣

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4 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Just keep going...I think @WV Reefer still owns the record of longest thread BEFORE water hits the tank.  there should be an award for something silly like this.  🤣

Dang, I didn't know there was a record to be broken. I should have started this thread a year and a half ago, back when I first got the tank :tongueout:

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It's wet! Again!

No leaks so far...

This has been a "try, try, and try again" build.

- Two versions of the light stand

- Three orders of plumbing supplies from BRS

- Three times filling up the tank and checking for leaks

I really hope this is it fingerscrossed

If things are still dry tomorrow after work, I'll add salt and put in the rocks, and start cycling.

 

Before I put the sump back in, I installed a fan in the back panel, and attached some angled steel to the underside of the desk top. I drilled screw holes in the steel, cut it to length, and painted them white. There's one in the front and in the back, and you really can't tell they're there at all.

 

Here's the fan, and the back piece of steel. The round black thing to the left of the fan is a motion sensor for the cabinet lights.

20200723_174538.jpg

 

This is a bottom-up view of the back, to show the screws holding the steel to the desk top. Now i wish I'd mounted that light strip straighter. :blush:

20200723_174655.jpg

 

I finished mortaring the rocks together this evening, so they'll be ready to go in the tank by tomorrow. Here's what it looks like shortly after putting in fresh mortar. The dark gray stuff is wet mortar. The light gray is what it looks like after 24 hours.

20200723_223743.jpg

 

 

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Hey, look what happened today omgomgomg

 

2020-07-24 UNS60 FRS:

20200724-untitled-001.jpg

 

The view from my desk chair:

20200724-untitled-004.jpg

 

The view from the entrance to the study:

20200724-untitled-006.jpg

 

There were no leaks after 24 hours, so I added salt, let it mix for a while, and adjusted to 1.025 to allow for some evaporation. Then I threw the rocks in. This will be the scape while it cycles, but it may change a bit once I start adding corals from the old IM10 tank.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, second_decimal said:

i really like having my tank on my desk... that looks fantastic. 

Thanks! I don't think I'd ever want to have a desk without a reef tank on it 🙂

 

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I officially started cycling the tank tonight. I'm trying out the Brightwell dry rock bacteria starter kit.

 

20200724_210337.jpg

 

Basically, you add nutrients, check ammonia, and then add some more to get to about 2 ppm ammonia, and then add starter bacteria. You let it sit for three days and just check levels, and then check levels and add more bacteria every day until it is cycled as early as day 7. After it cycles, you do the usual adding of hardy living things a little bit at a time. They also include a bacteria solution for "cleaning" the tank to reduce the ugly stage.

 

We'll see how well it works...I know from using dry rock in my 30g frag tank that it can take a long time, and the ugly phase can be much worse.

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second_decimal

i didn't see a powerhead in your equipment list. do you plan on adding one? i think i am about to swap out my 6040 for nero 5.. 

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2 minutes ago, second_decimal said:

i didn't see a powerhead in your equipment list. do you plan on adding one? i think i am about to swap out my 6040 for nero 5.. 

Yes - I've got an MP10 sitting around that used to be in the IM10. I also have an Aqamai KPS in the IM10 now that I may move over to provide a second power head to move water down low behind the rocks if I need it.

 

The return pump alone provides pretty good circulation. I've got it cranked all the way up right now, but once I put the MP10 in and install the skimmer, I may reduce the flow from the return to increase the dwell time of the water hitting the skimmer in the sump.

 

Here's a gratuitous eye candy video of the surface flow with the Radion light.

 

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@WV Reefer helped me name this tank - the dust mite biotope. Now that it's wet, I have to decide whether to keep the name or come up with something else. I am so happy to finally be able to worry about things like naming the tank 😁

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Happy for you. This tank sure did give you some challenges to get started. If you document the cycle we can then refer newbies here with their question about starting with dry rock and bottled bacteria. 

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9 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Happy for you. This tank sure did give you some challenges to get started. If you document the cycle we can then refer newbies here with their question about starting with dry rock and bottled bacteria. 

Thanks, Deb, that's a great idea. I'll document daily progress and post a summary at the beginning of the thread.

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