🌿9to5 Acro Jungle🌿 New Outboard Motor

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

It looks what?

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

Ohhh you’re not going to make me say it are you?!

 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

@NoOneLikesADryTang I worked very hard to erect the hardscape for this aquarium. Since the flow will be strong I used a liberal amount of gel superglue to make the scape rockhard. I thought the shape of everything turned out well, although my wife did mention it looked a little small; I needed room for the corals to grow and fill in once things get wet (if they ever do? This project is taking longer than I expected). Anyways I'm all out of usable rock so the scape will stay as is. If you don't like it then you can take your trashbags and your mind somewhere else. 😤

 

[aclman88]

What you using to edit the contest title? Looks great!

Awesome setup btw. Love the minimal hard scape, great use of negative space 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

4 hours ago, aclman88 said:

What you using to edit the contest title? Looks great!

Awesome setup btw. Love the minimal hard scape, great use of negative space 

Thank you, I used Procreate! 

I've been doing a lot of looking around and have really been liking the simplicity of a minimal display! Kind of a breath of fresh air in a hobby that really pushes tech and complexity haha. 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Did some work on wire management today. It's amazing how many wires there are for just this small reef, but I did my best to organize everything haha. It's not perfect, but it will do for now. I decided to go with just black vinyl tubing instead of hardline plumbing for ease of maintenance on the sump, as well as it costing 4x less (couldn't justify spending $250+ on parts lol) so I'm just waiting on some bulkheads and my VCA order and we should be getting this thing wet here in the next week or two 🎉

 

          

 

I also adjusted that "phallic" rock just for you @NoOneLikesADryTang 😉

 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Well. I don't really know what to say haha...

 

This week I spent some time drilling the tank and finishing the plumbing. No leaks so that was probably the only good thing that happened. After filling the tank and sump and starting the return etc. I found out very quickly that the sump/return is riddled with issues. Like. It's not going to work no matter what I do, haha and I did a lot. Ugh! 

 

There is one option, it being using a canister filter, but the cost of one that will give me enough water volume to still be "legal" for the contest is substantial. Building a new sump will also be out of the question due to cost.

 

Enter a very tough decision: I'll be scraping this build. I'll keep the tank and supplies for a later use, but it made more sense to just buy an AIO aquarium (actually cheaper than buying a canister filter or making another sump) than blow the rest of my budget on something that may or may not work in trying to save this current build. Disappointing on all levels, I know. The acro jungle is going up in flames before it even began, lol.

 

Trying to look at the silver lining with this hot mess, I got a killer deal on the replacement tank, which is a Lifegard Aquatics 7.43 gallon peninsula. It will give me a little more breathing room in the display although I'll have to overhaul my plans, rockscape, etc. but it will all work out......I hope.

 

Until next time, make it a better day than mine and happy reefing! 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Chowder's Reef
Problem solved. Smh.

[M. Tournesol]

1 hour ago, Chowder's Reef said:

Building a new sump will also be out of the question due to cost.

[M. Tournesol]

1 hour ago, Chowder's Reef said:

I found out very quickly that the sump/return is riddled with issues. Like. It's not going to work no matter what I do, haha and I did a lot. Ugh! 

By curiosity, what are the issues of your sump design?

Since it is DIY, it could be interesting to know what to "not do" in a sump conception.

[Maas101]

Sorry to hear that, I was looking forward to following this one. Acros in that size tank would've been impressive

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

5 hours ago, M. Tournesol said:

Huh. Please hold.....📞

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Game on! 

I was so focused on fixing the sump design (which was impossible at this point) that I hadn't really considered an alternative container. I guess it goes to show how narrow minded I can be  Thanks @M. Tournesol for the idea! I ran over to the store and grabbed a very cheap 2 gallon bucket and a ball valve (to better control the flow). The tank is humming right along now. It now looks like I have no use for the other tank I ordered, as I can't return it. 😂 Maybe in the future I'll set it up, but for now it will be a good backup if any disasters happen I suppose.

 

I guess moral of the story is if your jungle boat is sinking, use a bucket! 😅

 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

6 hours ago, M. Tournesol said:

By curiosity, what are the issues of your sump design?

Since it is DIY, it could be interesting to know what to "not do" in a sump conception.

I'll try to write a sum of what went wrong for those interested when I get a little more time 👍

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

3 hours ago, Maas101 said:

Sorry to hear that, I was looking forward to following this one. Acros in that size tank would've been impressive

Thanks to @M. Tournesol for bluntly showing me my problem wasn't that hard to solve, I'll still be moving forward with this little tank 😁

[seabass]

I like using these cereal storage containers.  I uses them to culture rotifers, for manual top offs, etc.

Something like this fits good under a stand and would make a nice sump to hide equipment (like a filter and a heater).

 

If I was smart, I'd use one of these for my 5 gallon carboy (it'd solve a lot of problems) and the added volume wouldn't even bring it close to 9 gallons. 🤔

[kekke1082]

4 hours ago, seabass said:

I like using these cereal storage containers.  I uses them to culture rotifers, for manual top offs, etc.

Something like this fits good under a stand and would make a nice sump to hide equipment (like a filter and a heater).

 

If I was smart, I'd use one of these for my 5 gallon carboy (it'd solve a lot of problems) and the added volume wouldn't even bring it close to 9 gallons. 🤔

You know.....if i was smart I'd have used one of these for my sump instead of this contraption 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

5 hours ago, seabass said:

What kind of filter media is that? Bio-Flakes with carbon?

[seabass]

9 minutes ago, Chowder's Reef said:

What kind of filter media is that? Bio-Flakes with carbon?

I like to call it filter fiber.  This is what I'd recommend.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

On 11/11/2021 at 3:43 PM, seabass said:

I like to call it filter fiber.  This is what I'd recommend.

"Filter Fiber, the hungry fish's choice" 👍

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

So a small update on this whole thing.

 

The bucket idea worked for a little while, but then the drain line started sucking in air after about 4 hours. My biggest worry was the siphon breaking and then the return flooding the tank as the siphon takes a while to restart (tested this theory and it would easily flood the display). After a good afternoon spent trying to deduce the whole issue, I figured it was the general design of how I had the return/drain lines setup. I literally had to have the exact same amount of water coming into the tank as going out, to much water coming in, the tank floods, too little water coming into the tank, the siphon breaks and then the display floods. This normally is fixed with adjusting the return flow or the drain line flow. This proved to be an impossible task with this setup. So long story short, I ended up tearing out everything and got a canister filter. (I know, I know I said I wouldn't get one, but working a few extra hours I had enough in the budget to purchase one). 

 

One thing that I really wanted with this build was for it to be simple. That philosophy quickly escaped me as I realized using a sump and all of the issues that came with it, in this particular design, was actually much more complicated than I wanted. For me I have found that in this hobby the more complicated things are, the less I enjoy it. So to help achieve my goal of this SPS dominated tank being as simple as possible, I got the canister filter. That solves my whole drain line/return flow issues and adds a similar amount of water volume as my original sump. Sure, some might say it's a poor choice as canister filters can be "nitrate factories", but with regular maintenance I consider it a good decision based on my goals with this tank. 

 

To be honest, this build has really been a chore so far. I have learned so much, but I think I have solidified my affinity towards AIO aquariums haha. 

[M. Tournesol]

I applaud your dedication to this project because god really doesn't want it to work 👏.

[W1ll]

4 hours ago, Chowder's Reef said:

So a small update on this whole thing.

 

The bucket idea worked for a little while, but then the drain line started sucking in air after about 4 hours. My biggest worry was the siphon breaking and then the return flooding the tank as the siphon takes a while to restart (tested this theory and it would easily flood the display). After a good afternoon spent trying to deduce the whole issue, I figured it was the general design of how I had the return/drain lines setup. I literally had to have the exact same amount of water coming into the tank as going out, to much water coming in, the tank floods, too little water coming into the tank, the siphon breaks and then the display floods. This normally is fixed with adjusting the return flow or the drain line flow. This proved to be an impossible task with this setup. So long story short, I ended up tearing out everything and got a canister filter. (I know, I know I said I wouldn't get one, but working a few extra hours I had enough in the budget to purchase one). 

 

One thing that I really wanted with this build was for it to be simple. That philosophy quickly escaped me as I realized using a sump and all of the issues that came with it, in this particular design, was actually much more complicated than I wanted. For me I have found that in this hobby the more complicated things are, the less I enjoy it. So to help achieve my goal of this SPS dominated tank being as simple as possible, I got the canister filter. That solves my whole drain line/return flow issues and adds a similar amount of water volume as my original sump. Sure, some might say it's a poor choice as canister filters can be "nitrate factories", but with regular maintenance I consider it a good decision based on my goals with this tank. 

 

To be honest, this build has really been a chore so far. I have learned so much, but I think I have solidified my affinity towards AIO aquariums haha. 

You can still have a successful and beautiful reef with a canister filter, just look at MikeyMikeMike on YouTube if your after a little inspiration, he uses canister filters on all his reef systems I believe. 

[debbeach13]

5 hours ago, Chowder's Reef said:

To be honest, this build has really been a chore so far. I have learned so much, but I think I have solidified my affinity towards AIO aquariums haha. 

With the included equipment getting better all the time. Plug and play is more attractive than ever.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

2 hours ago, W1ll said:

You can still have a successful and beautiful reef with a canister filter, just look at MikeyMikeMike on YouTube if your after a little inspiration, he uses canister filters on all his reef systems I believe. 

Exactly. 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

45 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

With the included equipment getting better all the time. Plug and play is more attractive than ever.

Also, I feel more and more people prove, with smaller tanks, a lot of the excess equipment isn't even necessary.