Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread - Page 12

quiksilver · #**276** 07/26/2004, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LVfishguy
FYI, thse girip wrenches that HD sells work really good for bulkheads. Takes a little playing around to get a good grip but once it's on, works like a charm and doesn't shred the bulkhead.

I really want that eel btw!
awsome job too!

No no, we tried.... you should see the space we are working with... We need a wrench that fits like a rachet over the bulkhead onto the nut.

Johnsteph10 · #**277** 07/26/2004, 02:19 PM

...and after that nice weekend off, you're all ready for a nice relaxing work week

...

Congrats. Marc -- not many could do what you have done!

John

fixmgood · #**278** 07/26/2004, 02:55 PM

Marc great job with the tank.I had the pleasure of stocking my 200 ytesterday from two smaller tanks.You really need to be careful of an ammonia spike after having moved the sand and rocks.Happened to me,lost quite a lot of livestock...and I only moved the tank about 50 feet.

mane3215 · #**279** 07/26/2004, 04:43 PM

Sweet bro, glad to see that baby up, now cant wait to see it running!

delta · #**280** 07/26/2004, 05:54 PM

nice, tank looks great in that spot

Dan of NJ · #**281** 07/26/2004, 09:49 PM

This is a great thread. Congrats Marc on the new tank. Should be awesome when done. I'm wondering why you put the old sump in if you're (of course) going to make your own....just temp I guess.

Keep those pictures coming. This will go into the RC hall of fame!!

Knyght · #**282** 07/26/2004, 10:36 PM

Looking great Marc,
I know a ton of work went into that move.
Now you can take your time with the rest of it huh

willra · #**283** 07/26/2004, 10:50 PM

Looks great, Pics!

Northside Reef · #**284** 07/27/2004, 12:13 AM

WOW

amazing progress

hail_sniper · #**285** 07/27/2004, 01:03 AM

he's probably pulling for an all nighter

melev · #**286** 07/27/2004, 02:12 AM

Hi guys.

Actually, I'm going to have to go to work again. This evening the tank was plumbed and the fish were put back into the display.

The return pump is an Dolphin Ampmaster 3000. Yesterday, I took it apart to clean it, and found a whelk stuck in the impellar section. I wasn't able to remove the impellar itself (is that even an option?), so I cleaned what I could reach, and reassembled it. From the top of the pump, I'm using 1.5" Spa-Flex tubing. I put a ball valve on the return side to avoid too much flow. Here's a shot of it running.

By using Spa-Flex, I was able to put things where they'd work best without the rigidity of PVC. The tubing makes a soft curve that kills into a 1.5" Tee. The Tee is in the center section of the tank so that both returns get the same amount of water volume.

From the Tee, I continued with 1.5" plumbing until it reaches right beneath the return lines in the tank. At that point, I reduced the fittings to 1". Through an 90Â° elbow, into a 45Â° and then straight up in the tank until it reaches the locline tubing.

The drain lines are tied together, and are 1.5" plumbing that drain into the sump. The Ampmaster 3000 puts out so much flow that the drain lines actually did not keep up so the ball valve has been turned slightly to reduce the flow.

I haven't tackled the closed loop yet. The Tunze Streams aren't working, but I've got a thread in the Tunze Forum going. One Stream pump is soaking overnight in vinegar water, in case something is impeding the impellars rotation. I can't figure it out yet.

Due to the nature of this sump, there is absolutely no way to put the skimmer in there and have it function properly. For now, it is set up behind the tank and flowing into the sump. I'm trying to dial it in so it will start removing the particulates in the water.

Once the pump was started up, the tank grew cloudy very quickly. At first, this was due to microbubbles but after adding all the rest of the water it was still cloudy. My guess is that this is sediment/detritus from the original sandbed that was laying on the surface undisturbed after the move. Once the skimmer kicks in, it should come out nicely. This is one of the rare times that I think a "sock" would be very useful.

Up until now, you've only seen the tank from various head-on angles. Here's one from the top. Note the heavy current, using only the two returns. (No Stream pumps, no closed loop)

I love that there is no center brace. The Eurobracing is 3/4" glass and this is the same thickness as what was used for the base of the tank. The walls are 1/2".

If the lights were over the tank you could see the fish better, but for now I see the Tangs appear and disappear as they come closer to the walls of the tank.

As far as I can tell, all the fish are eating. The tank runs relatively silently from the front side, but the sound in the garage side is louder. Watching the water shoot through the sump is simply impressive. For some reason, the water in the return section is rocking back and forth like the new Tunze WaveBox, which is really wierd.

Tomorrow, the other walls go up so I can trap the heat in the garage area. Luckily, a cold front blew in on Sunday, but we will hit the mid 90s on Wednesday. Once the walls are done, I'm going to tackle the lighting.

SOMEthinsFISHY · #**287** 07/27/2004, 05:02 AM

I like the shot from above !

Dk Coral · #**288** 07/27/2004, 05:08 AM

Marc you should get some black PVC to cover the top of the overflow boxes - just so that you dont get to much algea growth down there

DerekW · #**289** 07/27/2004, 12:46 PM

Great work marc!
A couple thinggs I can add. If you are not getting enough flow through the drains and the drain bulkheads are 1.5", you could try replacing the section between the 2 drains with 2" pipe. Or run 2 seperate outputs into the sump.
As far as removing the impeller on the ampmaster, clamp a pair of vicegrips on the shaft between the motor and the housing, and then you can just unscrew the impeller. I just did that this weekend. It can be tough to get a good grip on the impeller if it's tightly screwed on, worse than trying to install a bulkhead.

If you wish to take the whole housing off after you take the impeller out, there are 4 bolts on the back of the motor that run right into the housing, about 6 or 7 inches long.

SaltNutz · #**290** 07/27/2004, 12:50 PM

Marc,

You are I are using the same skimmer (LifeReef) and pump (AmpMaster 300). My single drain line is 2" and I had to "choke" down the Ampmaser as well until I changed the diameter of the standpipe in my overflow to 3". After that, not only no noise but plenty of flow as well. My tank is plumed a bit like your's as well with the exception that I use a Yancy valve to change the current flow very 40 minutes.

Looks good! You have done an exceptional job.

Gary Day · #**291** 07/27/2004, 02:13 PM

Marc
There is a plastic cap on the motor end of the Amp 3K. Remove it and the pump shaft is slotted for a flat blade screwdriver. Jam the impeller with another screwdriver and back the shaft out of the impeller.
Gary

melev · #**292** 07/27/2004, 02:27 PM

I owe a number of you a reply, so I'll try to do so now. If any of you asked a question that was not answered, please feel free to write.

electric130, Thanks for the heads up with the IceCap MH ballasts. I was told by one person that they were 'tuned' to specific make of bulb. We have a store locally that supplies bulbs, so I might just take the ballast there to make sure it fires one up.

WifeSaysImNuts, nice username.

Thanks!

Starmanres, the person that showed me the Dawn Scrubber was using it on here acrylic tank. Since this was glass, I was less worried and more eager to use it instead of any scrapers. I know the tank is used, but I didn't want to start off with a brand new scratch! I think it will work fine on acrylic, but practice first on a side panel perhaps.

LVfishguy, the eel ended up in my son's 29g. I love invertebrates and shrimp, and didn't want to have to tear apart the 280g to get it out later. In my son's tank, it can be seen (although it is hiding exceptionally well!) and recaptured if necessary.

danellis06460, JohnSteph10, mane3215, delta, willra, frnorth & carpetride , thanks!

rjwilson, the difference between my 12" deep tanks and this new 30" deep makes me wonder if I'll have to upgrade my camera. Or lose out on some of the Macro Shots I enjoy taking. I have a Fuji S602Z. Hmmm.

xchrisjb, how funny!

I was thinking the same thing. "This reef tank is brought to you by Ushio, the people that bring light into your homes."

Brian Slot, I will do my best to aqua scape in a way that isn't too boring nor a wall of rock. Plus, I don't have that much rock in the first place.

It will be a little tricky since some corals are attached to various rock. I'm not even sure what I'm going to do with all my red mushrooms.

I'm going to use a couple of pieces of black acrylic on top of the overflows. I'm seriously considering removing the grate at the top of each overflow that are acting like teeth. Greg Taylor wrote an article with this recommendation, to avoid having fish end up in the overflows. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/gt/index.htm

fixmgood, I did a water test yesterday and there was no ammonia at all. I'll be retesting today. Thanks for the warning.

Dan of NJ, I had to use what I had for now. In a way, using the old sump is a good method to grasp the sheer volume and flow of this new tank. When the pump is off, the sump fills up to within 1" of the top. Really kind of shocking. I took a brief video of the wave motion in the return section last night, that I'll link in this thread later. I want to make a new sump that will fit the skimmer, a refugium, and all the water. It will probably be like the 80g sump on my website.

Knight, I feel less pressure now that the tank is in and running. Still, I have a lot of work to do but things are working out nicely thus far.

Gary Day, thanks - I'll check that out.

DerekW & MikeSheridan, thanks for the suggestions with the Durso modifications. And for explaining the mystery of that pump! I wasn't sure what would allow me to get the impellar off. The skimmer has some hideous accumulation at the top in the skimmate cup, but it hasn't been able to push it out and into the collection area quite yet. What is a Yancy valve? Sounds electric in nature.

The water does look more clear, and the fish are currently roaming the tank hungrily. I dropped in some food, but feeding a 280g vs a 29g or 55g is a huge difference. I'm trying to judge how much 5 tangs can eat, and don't have much of a clue.

And still have enough food for the other fish in the tank.

carpetride · #**293** 07/27/2004, 02:41 PM

I've followed the thread fromt the start so if I missed this I apologize---for your closed loop are you going to use an Oceans Motion or something similar? Just curious.

electric130 · #**294** 07/27/2004, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
electric130, Thanks for the heads up with the IceCap MH ballasts. I was told by one person that they were 'tuned' to specific make of bulb. We have a store locally that supplies bulbs, so I might just take the ballast there to make sure it fires one up.

the old ones used to be. the newer "HQI" type are not. they'll run anything. if they look like this, you have the newer ones:

nolofinwe · #**295** 07/27/2004, 03:18 PM

when I added my velocity t4 to the tank my 1" bulkhead could not keep up. instead of restricting the pump I cannabalized the return blukhead and turned it into an additional drain. I then just used hardpipe to return water to the tank.

is that an option for you?

great looking project, amazing job.

SaltNutz · #**296** 07/27/2004, 03:26 PM

Here's the Jandy Valve.

http://www.jandy.com/html/products/valves/gray.php

http://www.poolmart.com/jandy_valves.htm

I use it, an electric actuator, and my ACII to change the water flow in my tank every forty minutes.

weatherson · #**297** 07/27/2004, 03:47 PM

Marc,
Macro shots... remove the paint (?) from your back pane and create a sheet of black acrylic. Then you can shoot from the back too and see in when maintaining the tank.

Is there a reason you didn't Muriatic acid the tank before placing it? That would have saved you a lot of time cleaning.

The black acrylic prefilter covers is a good idea. I have all kinds of sponge and critters growing in my boxes. They've become great little mini-eco systems themselves.

It's all looking great and you are to be commended for all your efforts. Monster House has nothing on you.

Joseph

RGibson · #**298** 07/27/2004, 03:50 PM

Melev chech the motor on the 3000 to see if is running hot

cmiannay · #**299** 07/27/2004, 05:10 PM

Hey Marc! I feel your excitement. It wasn't that long ago for us.

I have a question sort of off the subject. I'm asking you here instead of our thread 'cause I figured I'd get a quicker response.

We are getting everything together to start making our own Phyto. We're also going to start making the "mush" you recommend. We were wondering if you feed both, why, and how often?

Cathy/Cindy

lovetoreef · #**300** 07/27/2004, 05:35 PM

ahh, I think that if Monster House did this it would look great and then bust after one week!! Good luck Marc!

gm