Back in the hobby

[Gobydood]

All,

I learned lastnight that I suck with silicone. Thank god the sump goes under the stand where nobody can see. I will take some pics tonight and post. Hopefully I can get it going soon.

Lou

[Gobydood]

All,

I modified my wet/dry filter. Here are some pics. I was going to go with flex tube for a drain but thought PVC would work better.





http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...d/DSCN1625.jpg

Don't laugh too hard at my silicone job!!!

Lou

[Gobydood]

All,

I finally got all the plumbing done and the sump is ready to go. I added sand about 4 1/2 inches of sand to the main display and about 3 inches to the refugium. I have a stupid question. Should I mix the salt in a 5 gallon bucket then pour in, or pour in all my RO water and mix salt in the tank? I have no idea how to do it. Not to mention my RO unit is 25 GPD so it's gonna take 2 days to fill. Hope you all enjoy the pics!











Lou

[Randall_James]

You could just top off the dry section of the sump and mix the salt there, otherwise it is usually a good idea to premix salt water outside the tank (hard to undo too much salt in display) Also for the substrate in the sump to become functional, I would get it up to at least 5 inches deep, and the more the better.

Looking good

[Gobydood]

Randall,

Thanks for the info. I think I will get a 5 gallon bucket to mix my saltwater. When I pulled my stuff out of storage, I noticed my protien skimmer is missing. How critical is it to have the protien skimmer running during the tank cycle? I ask cuz I'm making 2 house payments so I'm kinda broke for now. Thanks for all of the help you all provide. Oh and Randall I can add a few more inches of sand to my ref. Thanks a bunch.

Lou

[Randall_James]

Skimmer: Nice to have but required ? not right now

I like more sand in display but frankly I hate how it looks in 6-12 months. I would just get the refuge up to 6" if it was mine. Adding to display certainly will not hurt, I just do not like the look as it discolors etc with age.

[Gobydood]

Hey all,

Well I got my tank up and running. Going to order some base rock after the holidays. I hooked up my scwd and it is working flawlessly, no leaks. I guess I will check in the morning, its 10 PM here. anyway, here are some pics. The water is a little milky, I did the trash bag trick and it worked great, but forgot about my sump so it mixed with sand down there. Nothing too bad tho. Well hope you all enjoy the pics.











Lou

[drummereef]

Looking good! Keep the pics coming!

[Randall_James]

I just noticed the "primer" on the fitting going into the bulkhead...

I would purchase a replacement bulkhead before attempting to move or take the tank down. If that thing is in fact installed with primer and glue, it is never coming apart and the bulkhead is going to need cut off

[Luv'reeftank]

Look like your on your way

[Gobydood]

Thanks guys!
I just built a durso standpipe for the tank and waiting for the pvc cement to fully cure. I made a big mistake when making my sump, I made the last baffle too tall so when the water flows over it creates a buttload of bubbles that get sucked in to the pump. I just added a 90 degree elbow, hopefully that will help if not then I will have to drill it our or something. Maybe filer pad for the water to fall on, I have plent of egg crate I could rig something up. I think I will order base rock today. Thanks again guys.

Lou

[Gobydood]

I need some advice.

I got the standpipe working, but the water level in my return are of the sump is real low, causing bubbles that end up in my display. should I add more water? I'm worried that I would have too much and would overflow in a power outage. Thanks a bunch.







Lou

[Luv'reeftank]

here's a free bump

[Gobydood]

Hi all,

More stupid questions here to entertain all you reef experts! I unpacked a box with all my old reef goodies. I have an old rio 1700 powerhead. Could I use this for a closed loop? I hear people using MAG's but haven't seen anything here about the rio line. I also found my 150 watt ebo heater and my sealife protein skimmer. I will post pics soon. Thanks in advance!

Lou

[Randall_James]

Water level: Turn off all pumps and power, allow levels to stabilze and then top off your sump, restart all your pumps, allow levels to stabilze again and mark the high water mark on your sump as full....

If you can dump some reef rubble between your 3 baffle setup, it will help kill off a lot of the bubbles

[Gobydood]

Randall,

Thanks a bunch. I would be lost without your advice!!!!

Lou

[Randall_James]

You are welcome, I had a lot of help early in this hobby myself...

Looking at your baffle setup, you could modify them for a bit better function. by lowering the tops a couple inches (1 and 3) and and moving them closer to the return pump, you could give the bubbles more time to pop and also reduce the amount of "waterfall" you have.

After you load that section full of reef rubble, they are really only there to hold the rubble in place and force the water down and through it instead of flowing over the top.

[Gobydood]

Hi all,

Just checking in, here at work and bored outta my mind. I will try to order some base rock tonight online. My lfs sells base rock for $2.49 a pound and fiji lr for $5.99 a pound. Think 50 pounds is enough? Thanks in advance.

Lou

[Randall_James]

The price is pretty standard, weight wise, most of the base rock types are pretty dense and require a bit more than the normal 1-1 ratio per gallon. If you were getting say 25# of Figi, you may need another 30-40# of baserock.

The nice part about buying local, you can do a basic reefscape at the store with the rock you want before you commit to purchase.

Take a tape measure so you can get an idea of the area you are working with..

[Gobydood]

Randall,

Stupid questione here. Since I don't have my LR yet and dry sand should I keep my light on the timer or just turn them off till I get my LR? I have my tank running since the 22nd, am I wasting my electricity? Thanks a bunch.

Lou

[Randall_James]

save the juice IMO (keep the circulation going however)

[Gobydood]

Hey all,

Been out of the area for a while, got back and decided to work on the tank. I had a huge problem with bubles entering the ump form the drain, to fix that I put a sock filter on the pvc pipe. Works like a charm. I need to build a shelf and put some sponge filter to catch the flow over the last baffle. I made that baffle too high and I get a butt load of bubbles in the return chamber wich ends up in my display. I bought 20 pounds of live rock and put that in the main diplay and the sump. put in another 50 pounds of southdown, so I have 150 pounds combined in the main display and sump. Bought some macro algae (not sure what kind) and put that in the sump. Everything looks pretty good so far. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Lou




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http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...d/DSCN1751.jpg[/IMG]

[LarryW]

nice. Welcome back. If your looking for cheap base rock to add, check out marcorocks.com They have fiji and tonga base and some of the pieces are really nice. yes it's not LR, but It will be eventually

would you happen to have any southdown left? I would buy it from you if your interested in selling it, depending on how much you have left. I probably need about 3 bags.

[johnstires]

Welcome back to the boards. Tank looks like it's coming along well. If you want to get more rock (or anything else), try onereef.com. You'll be able to search for all the places that sell live rock. Good luck!

[Gobydood]

Thanks guys, glad to be back! I am too excited to get this tank going. The bug has bit me hard!

Lou