latazyo Posted August 26, 2006 Author Share Posted August 26, 2006 UPDATE: I have finished the sump and ordered my plumbing here is the pic of the sump (as you can see I am undoubtedly the greatest silicone artist in the world) the sump is designed exactly as shown in the diagram in my previous post for me, being lazy is a way of life and is of utmost importance, for this reason I have designed my system to make water changes easier for me in doing so I have ordered a DJ power center on which I will control all of the things that need to be turned off during a water change (skimmer, ATO pump, heater, etc)...it is a phenominal device and I recommend eveyrone get one...I got this one going along with my theme of easy water changes I installed a side door on my stand behind which lies my water changing station both nozzles will have about 5 feet of flexible tubing connected to them and rolled up inside the compartment the nozzle on the left will be the water in line, through which I will pump saltwater back into the sump the nozzle on the right will be the water out line, through which old water from the sump will be pumped into my water buckets...I would have loved to hook my outgoing water up through a garden hose, and run it outside or to my bathroom during a water change, but my pump does not have those capabilities...oh well..maybe someday well tomorrow, comes plumbing and mounting of the electrical gadgets, hope to update again in a few days thanks for looking Link to comment
proraptor2 Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Wow I really like the water changing door very cool.... Link to comment
latazyo Posted September 3, 2006 Author Share Posted September 3, 2006 I have finished the plumbing...will wait until tomorrow for a leak test here are several shots of the plumbing...all visible pvc will be krylon fusioned back, the two over the top returns will have 3/4" locline Y's into 4 flare nozzles...you'll also notice on the lower right hand side of the picture that I siliconed on a 97 cent sterilite container to keep the power center dry in the event of an overflow/splashing water overflows through this 1.25" durso through the drain where it is split, one line to the skimmer and one to the fuge (still need a skimmer) mounted a fuge light here is a shot of the plumbing at the waterchange center....the reason it looks so ridiculous is due to some bad planning and very bad pvc cutting on my part...so it had to be modified with those huge upward loops...oh well, its not like IM sweating it here is how I mounted the dj power center to control things during water changes stand update: my puppy decided that the stand had far too much wood and paint on it and decided to help me remove some by chewing on teh corner...I decided to just leave it since 1) gives it character, 2) its not like it was show quality to begin with, and 3) like Im sweating it thanks again to everyone for looking, this tank is finally within weeks of rock and water...I'll be looking for some live rock and sand in a few weeks I also need some base rock, but hirocks.com apparently no longer exists Link to comment
latazyo Posted September 3, 2006 Author Share Posted September 3, 2006 well I finished the jump guard this should remain semi in cognito, I hope, if not I might paint the edges black...not sure yet I made it by cutting eggcrate to the proper size and then glueing pieces of plexi onto the corners from the front it isnt so bad...will have to wait and see it with water Link to comment
latazyo Posted September 5, 2006 Author Share Posted September 5, 2006 well, I ran the water test today and there are a few problems only one leak (loose bulkhead...fixed) but my lack of knowledge of water dynamics has really gotten me the drain line is fine and working great, I adjusted my durso and it is silent and perfect anyways... on the return line there are problems all around 1. the left side of the cross, used for water changes is just not working right, the 1/2 pipe cuts down the flow so much that it would be faster to just use an mj1200, on top of that, it sounds like closing everything down and running the pump through 1/2 inch is pretty stressful on the pump, so I"ll modify that a little 2. since water (apparently like electricity) follows the path of least resistance, if the ball valve to the right of the cross is open at all, all of the water goes through that, so I have to keep that closed the whole time, rendering it useless 3. after all of the bs the water goes through to get to my tank, the flow is (as steve predicted) dismal before I go modifying my plumbing or upgrading to a mag12, Im going to wait until my locline comes in from savko (if ever...what a slow company) and see how the flow is with that so now I have two options 1. closed loop - Im really not comfortable drilling the tank myself and adding yet another pump to the system 2. upgrade pumps - PITA, will have to buy a new pump and find someone to sell this one to...I guess I thought that 600gph would have some force behind it Link to comment
Charlie97L Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 it looks likek you have that egg crate upsidown. there's a right direction and a wrong direction. you'll notice the cross pieces taper from thick on one side to thin on the other... you want the thin edges of the braces facing up, that will direct the light spread down into the tank. also, eggcrate, even used the "correct" direction, reduces lamp par by about 25%, so plan your coral stocking accordingly. looks awesome so far! Link to comment
latazyo Posted October 29, 2006 Author Share Posted October 29, 2006 thanks for the comments charlie, with 6x24w t5s I dont think light will be an issue well as you may notice my last post was 9-5-06 and school started on 9-7-06, so that should be an explanation to my progress speed anyways, I decided that I needed to go to the world series, so I budgeted a couple hundred bucks for tickets, then decided "wait, Im a braves fan, not a cards fan, why would I pay 400 bucks to go to a cardinals game even if it is the world series?" so I decided to spend that money on everything else I needed to get my tank going so I ordered my RODI (will be here tues), picked up some salt and sand, got some live rock (have it in a holding tank) and picked up a great skimmer (ER RS5-3) here are some updated pics thanks for looking, and this is one of the slowest moving tank builds EVER Link to comment
Maeda Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 thanks for looking, and this is one of the slowest moving tank builds EVER Slow and steady wins the race. I've been building and planning my current tank for some 6 months. Don't worry! All looks well and you're much closer to the finish line then I am. Link to comment
Tomsense76 Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 here is a shot of the final stand w/ lights in the lowered position So, um.....What do you plan on doing with the dead beagle? Link to comment
latazyo Posted November 20, 2006 Author Share Posted November 20, 2006 So, um.....What do you plan on doing with the dead beagle? I ate it btw: great sig HERE IS MY MOST RECENT UPDATE: well progress is finally being made...I am now ready to rock and in the cycling process...all of the snails that came with my rock died in the holding bin, so I am extrapolating that there will be a lot of die off within the rock itself, hopefully this is not the case, water tests will confirm or deny it, I suppose I would like to start off with some of the minor installs I did in preparation for the addition of live rock I installed a ground probe (about 2-3" are underwater)...I did not have a probe in my last tank and noticed a very tiny tingling sensation when my arms were in the tank and I made contact with my lighting unit...for this tank I decided to get a grounding probe I also picked up a delux ATO unit from aquahub.com...its a pretty solid unit so far and I like the dual switch back up...the instructions are very easy and installation was easy switches and the output and here is a shot of the sump loaded full of crap...it now has some live rock rubble in it, but I am in need of more for the fuge portion...it is doubling as a live rock area as well, since I dont want that much rock in my display here are the views of the rockwork... front: right: left: at this time I would like to aknowledge a few mistakes that I made so that others will not do the same 1. the auto top off freshwater outlet needs to be higher than your reservoir....I learned this the hard way the first time it ran and a siphon continued to put water into the tank...I wanted to put the new water into the sump, but that is too low, and a siphon formed...for this reason the fresh water now enters the system into the overflow box 2. when drilling a hole in your return line to prevent siphon in the event of a power outage, the hole (obviously) needs to be underwater...I drilled mine (without thinking first) above the water and it sucked air in like a venturi and put bubbles in the tank....boo 3. if you split your return line, make sure the total cross sectional area of pipe is SMALLER than your main return line, or you will not get any flow...I learned the hard way by splitting 1" line into 2 x 3/4"...I am now having to ghetto rig it into 2 x 1/2" ...if you want to do the math to verify, the area of a circle is pi x radius ^ 2...the area of a 1" pipe is about .785 sq in, dual 3/4's is .88 and dual 1/2's is .39....switching to dual 1/2s should give me significant pressure increases Link to comment
grink dude Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 i really like your aquascaping, it's really cool. nice caqves and stuff, but the only think i would say, is that there arent any platforms for coral Link to comment
latazyo Posted November 21, 2006 Author Share Posted November 21, 2006 thanks for the response...I only put frags in my tanks, so I always just glue them into place and they grow out on their own Link to comment
YeahitsK Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 1. the auto top off freshwater outlet needs to be higher than your reservoir....I learned this the hard way the first time it ran and a siphon continued to put water into the tank...I wanted to put the new water into the sump, but that is too low, and a siphon formed...for this reason the fresh water now enters the system into the overflow box 2. when drilling a hole in your return line to prevent siphon in the event of a power outage, the hole (obviously) needs to be underwater...I drilled mine (without thinking first) above the water and it sucked air in like a venturi and put bubbles in the tank....boo 3. if you split your return line, make sure the total cross sectional area of pipe is SMALLER than your main return line, or you will not get any flow...I learned the hard way by splitting 1" line into 2 x 3/4"...I am not having to ghetto rig it into 2 x 1/2" ...if you want to do the math to verify, the area of a circle is pi x radius ^ 2...the area of a 1" pipe is about .785 sq in, dual 3/4's is .88 and dual 1/2's is .39....switching to dual 1/2s should give me significant pressure increases You just answered some questions I'd been wondering about. I appreciate that people like you come on here and aren't afraid to tell people about your mistakes. It helps us all. Tank is looking pretty tight, that's some some serious plumbing and the water change station deserves one of these: Link to comment
latazyo Posted November 21, 2006 Author Share Posted November 21, 2006 that's why I have included so many pics that seem pointless to veteran tankers...for example, the ground probe pic thanks for the compliments, the water change station works perfectly, I used it to remove and replace some saltwater when I added my live rock Link to comment
latazyo Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 another update...I have now added a few frags to the tank and trying to think of what fish I want to keep in here so far so good...Ive got some hair algae in my display tank, so I tuned up the flow to my fuge to see if that helps any...I also have a water change scheduled this week anyways...on with the pics here is a pic of the fuge with a large lump of chaeto in there...not really doing its job according to my hair algae...maybe I need more lighting on it?? and the candy cane, which is doing great and will hopefully start splitting soon orange monti cap...you can actually see how much its grown in the month that Ive had it pocillopora w/ bubble algae (came free with orders over $10) and misc zoo pic sorry no FTS, my camera is 4 years old or so and sucks at pics w/o flash thanks for looking Link to comment
latazyo Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share Posted January 9, 2007 more pics, including FTS this is the excellent frogspawn I picked up orange digitata frag here is a shot of my monti caps as seen through the left side panel and the FTS...since my camera is so crappy w/o flash it took about 20 pics to get 2 or 3 that were decent and this was the best I could do with my equipment I am going to modify the placement of the monti digi frag and the olive green monti cap (right now theyre within a few inches of the orange monti cap and that'll obivously be a problem...Im just waiting on some plumbers putty Link to comment
latazyo Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 update: might finally hve the flow situation resolved I removed the MJ1200 and added two seio m620s right now Im sitting at about 48x turnover, which I think is pretty decent I have an extra 20L sitting around that I might make into a fuge, but havent decided yet...it would have to be on its own stand and I think that would look stuipd...but still thinking about it updated stocking list (this is what I have so far): emerald crab queen conch astreas 1 blue leg hermit hitch hiker orange monti digi pocillopora acropora millepora orange monti cap olive green monti cap zoos (greens, orange) blue ric orange ric frilly mushroom GSP frogspawn candy cane planning to add ultimately: long nosed hawk fish (dont care if it eats shrimp, Im getting one) true percula clown yellow watchman goby/pistol shrimp yellow candy hogfish Bodianus bimaculatus* flame or coral beauty angel (havent decided which one)* *=maybe, haven't decided yet cleaner shrimp brain coral (havent decided which variety acros (need some pinks/blues/purples) superman monti more zoos more ricordea clam (havent decided which kind I want yet...obviously not a large one...right now Im liking squamosas) thanks for looking, as usual any and all comments are welcome Link to comment
calireefer Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Hey great tank, just subscribed and wanted to share a great article I came across on plumbing, even if it is a little late in your case. Good luck and keep on posting updates http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/featurejp.htm Link to comment
latazyo Posted January 30, 2007 Author Share Posted January 30, 2007 thanks for the article and the subscribe, calireefer Link to comment
latazyo Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 well I added a fish yesterday, just a standard firefish...I've always thought they were cool so I picked one up no pics yet, he's still hiding out, but its the first fish in the tank so he shouldn't be shy for too long just sharing some growth pics so far here are the orange and green zoos I got a while back, they are reproducing like crazy the pocillopora is showing incredible growth, I got it exactly one month ago (I think) I also recently added a queen conch to stir up my sand bed, but its behaving weird...it is climbing on the rocks and glass...is that normal? here is a shot of the one and only mushroom in my tank, it was too cool to ban from the tank I picked up some used seios (as previously mentioned) but only one had a mount so I had to improvise, so far it's working well, but the downside is that I can't adjust the direction or position of the seio another shot of it here is a full tank shot taken today here are a few shots of the tank bowing situation IM having DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOMETHING I SHOULD WORRY ABOUT? note the queen conch up in the corner of the tank...wtf? and just for fun, here is a shot of my first ever tank back in 2002...things have come a long way Link to comment
MJD Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 That bowing looks really bad. I never had a tank bow on me, but I know it cant be good. Maybe someone else who has experience can tell you about this... Good Luck MJD Link to comment
latazyo Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 thanks for the comment MJD...I dont know what to say about the tank bowing, I contacted the manufacturer and he said that it should be fine, but to look out for any crazing along the edges....he seemed very confident that it would be fine I might consider going with a canopy or else just making a frome to go around the top.... at this point I am not considering a eurobrace also, since I put the seios in, my eggcrate top was breached and the firefish made a run for it...found my dog chewing on the fish jerky this morning...RIP firefish Link to comment
latazyo Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 well, I bought a piece of acrylic to make a eurobrace today so the tank will be rimless for only one more week and then it will be braced....bummer Link to comment
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