Penny's Lane Movin' On Up-Retired

[FISHnChix]

5 minutes ago, ECLS Reefer said:

The air purge valve is very important because like Kimber said, it can get stuck on and create a siphon but eventually the air purge valve breaks it. Thankfully that tank is big enough with a big skimmer and salinity runs around 1.025-1.026 and a little extra RODI water doesn’t hurt

So just for clarity  the pump didnt get stuck on it's the fact your ato reservoir is above the sump and even with the pump off it creates a siphon which could drain the reservoir . That was a good idea on the siphon breaker 🤙

[ECLS Reefer]

3 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

So just for clarity  the pump didnt get stuck on it's the fact your ato reservoir is above the sump and even with the pump off it creates a siphon which could drain the reservoir . That was a good idea on the siphon breaker 🤙

Yes. It’s well above the sump. So the siphon break is critical. I’ve never had the pump refuse to turn off but I’ve seen a siphon start both ways- the 5g ATO line is way above the reservoir so it causes the reverse problem and can sometimes start sucking out tank water into the reservoir. So that little siphon break is important! 

[Pjanssen]

This grasshopper has a lot to learn! The ATO on my bio cube was simple

[Pjanssen]

Picked up some cement so I guess I'll start putting the scape permanently together.

 

[Pjanssen]

Okay, REALLY bad photo editing, but what if I took out the very large rock middle bottom?

 

 

[FISHnChix]

48 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Okay, REALLY bad photo editing, but what if I took out the very large rock middle bottom?

 

 

I like the big rock inthe middle. maybe build it without attaching it so you can remove it later if you dont like it. Or put some sort of invasive corals on it like shrooms on it and if they start to get too close the the main scape you can pull it and chop some of them back

[ECLS Reefer]

I liked the big rock too. Having it free standing could be useful later. 

[Pjanssen]

Moved stuff around but it kind of looks the same. Feeling like it’s just a mass of rocks 

 

[DevilDuck]

Love the different textures and types of rock! 

[Seadragon]

Cupid's Arch:

 

[Murphs_Reef]

As luck would have it my ato just dumped all the RO into my sump this morning... Lucky the pump auto turns off after 2 minutes. 

[Pjanssen]

My favorite so far

[Murphs_Reef]

17 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

My favorite so far

Nice... Stop now, cause the more creative you get the more mine looks like I dropped rocks onto a bath tub.!! 

 

I Just contacted kraken corals about my ato to see if they can do something for me.. let's see!!

 

[Pjanssen]

12 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Nice... Stop now, cause the more creative you get the more mine looks like I dropped rocks onto a bath tub.!! 

 

I Just contacted kraken corals about my ato to see if they can do something for me.. let's see!!

 

Lol. Always trying (rarely succeeding)to one up myself.

Good luck with the ATO. I've got to decide how to set mine up soon.

[Pjanssen]

any more comments on the scapes? Want to start gluing, but of course I have no confidence to make the decision all on my own.

[Zer0]

Honestly I think all of them were very good, but I think my favorite was #3. I like all of the separate structures, I think when things start to fill in it will look fantastic, with fish swimming in between the structures. 

[Pjanssen]

I think what I'm not liking about all my scapes is that there are no upward slopes. Might have to pick up a few more pieces of rock, or maybe some tonga branches

 

[Pjanssen]

Rocksacpe  just about finished-mortar curing. I'll let you see it once it's in the tank! Should I be concerned that there is only 29 pounds of rock in a 55 gallon tank? Just don't know how I would add another 25 pounds of rock to comply with the 1 pound per gallon suggestion.

[FISHnChix]

19 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Rocksacpe  just about finished-mortar curing. I'll let you see it once it's in the tank! Should I be concerned that there is only 29 pounds of rock in a 55 gallon tank? Just don't know how I would add another 25 pounds of rock to comply with the 1 pound per gallon suggestion.

Are you having sand?? Either way youare probably fine. If you feel the need add some of. Those bio bricks to the sump

[Murphs_Reef]

Na Penny, I think that's old logic. We have better filtration methods / products these days. 

I have just shy of 20kg in my 92g which works out around 1/2 lbs a gallon or there abouts...I think you would need a fully loaded rock wall for 1lbs a gallon... Like @FISHnChix said get some bioblocks if it makes you feel better.. they are small and cover a lot of water volume..

[Pjanssen]

Believe it or not, I've never done a true cycling of a tank, having always started with live and/or cured rock to begin with. (I'm not saying I was right, but 10 years later...). But this go around I'm using all dry rock, so I'll have to cycle. Was thinking of going with Dr. Tims fishless cycle plan. Or there much difference between that or Macrobactor?

[Zer0]

From what I’ve read there isn’t much difference. You dump the nitrifying bacteria product in and then you dose ammonium chloride, then test daily and dose more ammonium chloride as necessary. It was a super easy process imo, and my cycle was done in under 10 days. It will be a little different for you with the difference in water volume, but the concept stays the same. I used BioSpira. 
 

Here was the thread I started about it, and @banasophia was a huge help! 

 

[Xj reefing]

When I cycled my first reef I did not add any ammonia to the tank to feed the bacteria so it took for ever

[Pjanssen]

half way there

 

 

Hating the reflections, but what can I do🤷‍♀️

[Pjanssen]

Slight revision

 

The very bottom rock will basically be covered with sand, at least 3/4 of the way up anyway.