QuaveCube Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Well... I have done it. I have graduated from my 24dx NC to a 72 Oceanic Bowfront. I am taking the plunge and I wanted to chronicle my journey here. It is going to be a slow process (the only reason my wife let me buy the tank is because I promised her I would only make one big purchase for it per month). I purchased the tank, stand, 60 gal Oceanic reef-ready sump, MP Kalk reactor and various pumps from my old college roomate. The equipment had been sitting in his garage, dry, for about 2 years. Needless to say, it needs some serious cleaning work. This will be my task for the next week or two. Question?.....Are there any reef-friendly cleaning products I can use that will be ok if I rinse them out afterwards? I have some 2-year old salt-kreep and coraline that needs to go. After she is clean, I am then going to start the arduous task of plumbing this monster. Any advice or comments on this would be very appreciated....I am not entirely sure where I want to go with the plumbing. My plan so far is to get a beefy external (out of sump) return pump, possibly a Pan World. i have heard these are pretty reliable. The reason I want to go out of sump is because the sump is farely large and I want to use this to my advantage by also having a fuge in there. I dont want to have a pump anywhere near Chaeto when it is growing. Any ideas on this. I am not sure what skimmer I want to throw in there. My LFS has what seems to be a nice Bermuda skimmer for about $160. Seems like a good deal. Any comments? I also need to aquire another cabinet or armoire to hide the RO/DI reservoir and the Kalkwasser reactor. This needs to be plumped into the sump....but I think it will be fairly easy. So, that is what I am tackleing now. The pump is my purchase quota for this month. Any suggestions would be great. Especially those from MikeGuerrero. I know you have done a lot of the same things dealing with the same tank. I dont have to go-ahead for the budget that you had, Mike, but I want to see if I can come up with a system that will maybe seem like the poorman's version of your amazing tank. I will post some pictures of the dirty monster tonight when I get home form work. Thanks for reading, Chris Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 Here are some pics of what I got. the Kalkreactor from Precision Marine the dirty overflow the dirty sump the tank and stand tank only Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Congrats on the 72 bowfront, I'm a big fan of these tanks and I think you know why.... Can wait to see it in action... MG Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 I currently have the winning bid for a Pan World 100px external pump on Ebay. I think this pump will be perfect for what I want to do. I think it will even be strong enough to be a return pump even after running through a chiller (when my wife lets me get one). I believe it is rated somewhere between 1100 and 1200 gal/hr. I have heard great things about these pumps. Anyone agree/disagree? Chris Link to comment
Tony Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Fill your tank with plain old tap water and dump maybe a gallon or two of vinager in the tank with a powerhead or two and let the vinager do it's thing. This will be an effortless way of cleening it and will make it look brand new, and all you have to do is give it a rinse when your done. Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 And if I just flush it with fresh water afterward the vinegar won't harm the tank? Link to comment
proraptor Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Nice dude! Bought time you got a bigger tank! LOL Let me know if you need any help with setup, Id be more than happy helping you Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 Thanks Tom, I may need some help coming up in the future with the lights....but that is down the line. I am gonna take this one slow. First is cleaning then plumbing. But yeah, if you are willing to swing by....I am willing to supply beer and pizza. Mmmmmmm, beeeeeeeeer. Link to comment
proraptor Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Let me know dude...I now live in Anaheim so its going to be a little harder for me to come out but let me know Link to comment
Tony Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 It will not hurt your tank. rinse it out well but I've done it tons of times to clean equipment and never had problems. Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 I bet movin that 60 wasn't too fun. Did everything survive the move? Link to comment
proraptor Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Yeah man it went really well....Everything survived and is doing well Link to comment
kyle102565 Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 one purchase a month!! be serious. hide your receipts. i guarantee you go "all in" on this baby! happy scrubbin! Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 You're probably right, Kyle. It won't be one a month. I have a check for about 1500 coming in next week.....so it will be more than one. Now what to do about lights....................... Link to comment
Micro-Reefs Aquariums Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Proraptor, I didn't know you moved to Anaheim. That's my old stomping ground. I was raised in that city, I even worked at Disneyland my senior year in high school. I'm flying down for my b-day, Friday the 24th of March, going to be staying in Anaheim with my little bro. I'll see you at Tongs on Sat or Sun. It would be really nice to meet you. Last thanksgiving I flew down and met a couple reefers at Tongs. It was cool. Just a thought.... Later... P.S QuaveCube hope you get the pump, I know it will work since I run a mag 1200 through my 1/4 chiller and back up as a return. Link to comment
proraptor Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Yeah Mike that sounds cool....Im not a fan of Tongs but I would drive down to meet up with you...Let me know Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 Hey!! This is MY THREAD!!!!! Just kidding. Count me in on the Tong's trip. I am inviting myself. That's what you guys get for planning it on my thread, ha ha. Pro, I am bummed. Now I don't know any reefers in South OC. Why did you abandon? Us TH alumnists got to stick together. Still waiting for the auction to end on the pump of my dreams. The only problem is if I get it, I have to figure out where to put it. I have even less room in the cabinet than Mike due to the larger sump. There is about 3 or 4 inches left on either side of the sump and it takes all the room from front to back. Maybe I will have to pull the whole system away from the wall more so I can put the pump behind the sump. The whole reason I am going through this whole pain to get an external sump is that it would be nice to not have the heat from a 1200 gph pump sitting in the sump. I guess we'll see if I win the auction. If I don't, maybe I will just get a mag 12 because I think I am not going to be able to avoid a chiller with two 250's sitting on top. Link to comment
proraptor Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Sorry dude...Me and my girlfriend rented an apartment up here cause its a lot closer to both our jobs... Hopefully you win that panworld I love mine... The sump situation sounds like its going to be a fun one to figure out...I didnt have much room either with my 60 cube it was a pain! Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 16, 2006 Author Share Posted March 16, 2006 Is it possible to use an oversized pump and place a valve inline before the waters enters it? I know valving the flow down after the pump causes unnecessary strain on the pump and could decrease its life......but would there be any adverse effects if I restricted the flow of water going into the pump? I want to keep my options open for more flow in the future if needed. I am looking at a mag 24. Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 Well, I was outbid for the Pan World pump. That's ok though, I found out it was only 590 gph max. Not enough I think. So I bought a Mag 24 at the LFS. Not a bad price at 139.99 with the convenience of not having to wait for shipping. So now I think I will not use any powerheads and just split the Mag into 4 outlets. What do you guys think? Link to comment
NUGIO Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 i thougth everyone in and near OC went to MD they got the 24 for 125 bucks Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 They have it for 125, but with 10 buck shipping you only save five bucks. And five bucks is worth not having to wait for shipping. Link to comment
danskim Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Haha, but doesn't the shipping only take 1 day? Link to comment
proraptor Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Yeah shipping from Marine depot only takes like 1 day...Another thing is they dont charge you tax when you order it online and have it shipped...But if you go in and pickup they charge tax Link to comment
QuaveCube Posted March 17, 2006 Author Share Posted March 17, 2006 Oh well, The extra few dollars is probably not going to keep me up at night. Look at it this way......I could have bought it at Tong's for 260. On another note, no input on the outputs for the mag 24? I think I am going to run a 1 inch line from the pump up through the bulkhead, then split into two half inch lines. I will output these two half inch lines on either side of the overflow, then split each with locline Y's and fanned nozzles. Do you guys think the flow will be too weak if split into four? Chris Link to comment
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