New tank check in. - Page 3

BigJPDC · #51 11/01/2006, 08:37 AM

Right on nrb, wrapping the fitting at the top of my priming tower until it looked like an ice cream cone and then wrenching the cap down seems to have ended the bubbles in the CL, even with the Mag9.5 wide open. I still plan on adding a ball valve and will close the flow slightly just to be safe.

Bubbles still exist in the return plumbing, but I know I have a leak to fix that is probably the cause. I dialed that flow back a little bit and the bubbles are pretty tiny. The rock should be here tomorrow so I have to get this stuff done so it can go in the tank over the weekend.

jp

BigJPDC · #52 11/01/2006, 08:52 AM

I have a couple of other updates:

Spreading the sand out around the perimeter of the tank, more like evening it out, took care of the dunes from the CL. That is all fine now and I won't have to change anything.

I have a layer of scum on the water surface, which I believe is from me sifting the sand around as I flattened the sandbed. I don't know why that doesn't get sucked through the overflow and down to the sump.

The Mag7 in the sump is very loud, you can hear the humming in different parts of the house. Are the eheim's really that much quieter? If so I will get one and use the Mag7 for water changes and sw mixing.

nrb - the T5 story. I have four bulbs - two Aquablue 11000K with Aqualux (r.i.p.) reflectors and two Actinic+ with Icecap reflectors. See my gallery for pictures of the equipment. I couldn't fit another bulb over that tank if I tried and it seems hella bright to me as it is. My poor moonlights are wedged in the hood because there isn't any room and I'm not all that sure of how I am going to feed things. The biggest surprise of all has been those moonlights - I must have a certain combination of things so that they actually produce a shimmering grid through the eggcrate, which is mesmerizing with all the other lights off at night. Hopefully it's not the layer of scum. =) One thing I have noticed is that the light seemed bluer when I rigged this up in NY without water in the tank. I hope the actinics are not dying out now that they actually have to be on.

Also, the tank temp goes up about 2 degrees when on, leaving me at 81 - I hope that's not too warm for corals and fish, I can't imagine running a chiller.

60 lbs of LR will be in tomorrow, so I have to get some sw mixed up.

jp

newreefbishop · #53 11/01/2006, 09:04 AM

K, the scum can be may be a sign of not enough skimming effect, or not enough surface agitation....frankly mine did it for a week too, but clears itself up eventually.

The Ehiem and Quiet One are both more quiet, significantly I believe.

FInally I will look into the lights more.....PM me the link where you got yours....is it a retrofit?

Oh before I forget the water temps are cool. I personally get about 78 degrees during the night and about 80.5 during the day

Look into getting a fan mounten in the canopy or blowing on sump water, it will drop water temp about a degree or two....and you can control it with a heater to keep temps stable.

BigJPDC · #54 11/01/2006, 09:29 AM

Nice - I'll monitor that scum and see if it goes down. Turning the SS outlet up a little is giving me surface agitation but I'm afraid to go any more and lose flow to the upper and middle sections of the tank.

78.4 - 80.9 is my range after watching for one day. Good to see that is within tolerances. I have a bunch of old computer fans I could rig up - great idea!

I don't think I have to PM you to say that I got my lights, standoffs, ballasts and reflectors from Aqualux, who are out of business, DR F&S and Marine Depot - whoever had the cheapest shipping at the time. I bought a couple pieces at a time and frankly only had average customer service from all three so take your pick there. I built the light rack and did everything DIY. Considering what it cost in parts and labor, I wonder if it would have been worth it to get a pre-fab halide\actinic\moonlight job instead, but the problem I have with the 36 inchers is that they have one halide in the center, which is right where the crossbar is on our tanks - you almost have to go retro because of that.

I use two workhorse5 ballasts, so I can do a photoperiod with the actinics and the AB's.

Aqualux had what I think are the best standoffs, end caps and reflectors, and I haven't kept up with the lighting forum to know if their products can now be found elsewhere or not. The Icecap SLRs are small enough to get you six bulbs across if you want that much light.

hope that helps,

jp

Liquid Hobby · #55 11/01/2006, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by newreefbishop
Give it time....and dont really start stressing about the bubbles till after the rock is in.

Could you explain that statement please? If there is a pin hole air leak somewhere, will it eventually get clogged? ( I hope)

I'm in fresh water test mode and have a micro bubble issue from my CL. I have siliconed every joint and teflon taped every thread... and still have the bubbles. I'm hoping that salt water and time will fix it

BigJPDC · #56 11/01/2006, 12:01 PM

LH - I think nrb meant for me to keep moving forward with the tank build instead of being roadblocked by microbubbles, not that the rock would make them go away.

Liquid Hobby · #57 11/01/2006, 12:04 PM

Darn! I've got 5 days to figure it out...

BigJPDC · #58 11/01/2006, 12:08 PM

=) My LR comes in tomorrow and I still have to swap out a leaky bulkhead!

What are we going to do when there are actually fish in these tanks? I hope it doesn't get boring. =)

jp

Liquid Hobby · #59 11/01/2006, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigJPDC
=) My LR comes in tomorrow and I still have to swap out a leaky bulkhead!

What are we going to do when there are actually fish in these tanks? I hope it doesn't get boring. =)

jp

We look at them!!

There will be plenty to do once you have inhabitants in the tank. We are finishing up our plumbing/engineering aquarium degrees. Next we focus on chemistry and feeding!

newreefbishop · #60 11/01/2006, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Liquid Hobby
Could you explain that statement please? If there is a pin hole air leak somewhere, will it eventually get clogged? ( I hope)

I'm in fresh water test mode and have a micro bubble issue from my CL. I have siliconed every joint and teflon taped every thread... and still have the bubbles. I'm hoping that salt water and time will fix it

Well first of all the fresh water test mode that your in, well its only a leak test. Salwater has different properties when it comes to bubbles. TO put it simply, once the tank is setup, with rocks you now have a good bacteria load, which starts your biological cycle. The cause slime, algae, etc to build up in the pump, plumbing etc. This will in it self limit microbubbles. I hope Im helpful.

BigJ, where did you get the rocks??

BigJPDC · #61 11/01/2006, 06:22 PM

I went with theaquariumonline.com on your advice - with shipping to VA it came out to 5.47/lb, which is still cheaper than the 6.99 my LFS wants. I ordered 60 pounds so I can get my feet wet so to speak.

The RODI is dripping away as I type and it looks like the CL is not producing any more bubbles. I also have all the parts I need to redo that leaky section of pipe that will hopefully solve my return bubble issue.

I am going to do sched 80 to sched 40 again, but this time with a ton of primer and glue. I didn't see anything called 'sched80 pvc glue' when I was at HD so I am hoping that I just did a bad job the first time.

jp

Liquid Hobby · #62 11/01/2006, 06:49 PM

Thanks NRB! It would be more helpful if you could tell me diffinitively that my bubbles issue will go away once th etnak is alive! :-)

BigJ - I think it's all the same glue. the sched is a pipe pressure rating.

newreefbishop · #63 11/01/2006, 07:10 PM

BigJ, you will be please with the rock. DId you call them and tell them what you wanted? And also you my try silicone on the exterior of the joints. The same type used in the aquarium, or window sealer. You can find the sealer at home depot and chances are you will find it at you LFS as well. Its all the same just let it it get pretty dry before you start pumping water by it. Most cure within 24 hrs.

Liquid, there is never anything certain in this hobby, however, I can almost say for sure that they will go away...If not....I will help with the research as well as overall input on getting them to go away.

By the way LH do you have a thread for your tank.....You may want to check out my as well click the house

mmmmm BigJ sorry for the plug.....lol

Liquid Hobby · #64 11/01/2006, 07:26 PM

I do have a thread: My tank Thread

BigJ was in my thread which is how I made it over here!

I've been to your thread too!

The only thing tha concerns me regarding bubbles is that my first tank, which I broke when I went to move it in the house, did not have a micro bubble problem...

BigJPDC · #65 11/01/2006, 07:57 PM

let's keep the triad alive!

newreefbishop · #66 11/01/2006, 09:52 PM

For sure man!!

Did you call and specify the sizes you wanted?

Liquid Hobby · #67 11/02/2006, 01:30 AM

I'm in!

I'm getting 60lbs Tonga live rock via the LFS for $4.50/lb on Monday. That's when the fun begins!

(leaves room rumbling something about micro bubbles...)

BigJPDC · #68 11/02/2006, 07:15 AM

I sent email and Aleck replied saying he would pick out large rocks. Very fast turnaround on this, I'll post pix.

LOL those microbubbles are still in my tank too, but the replacement bulkhead fitting should be done curing - it's now the only piece that I used primer on and I worked it over pretty good inside and out. The RODI is about 2/3 of the way done filling up the Brute, so I should be all set for this weekend.

jp

BigJPDC · #69 11/02/2006, 07:38 AM

Wow LH 4.50 is a great deal, I still can't get over the fact that I paid $150 in shipping costs and it was still $1/lb cheaper that going down the street.

nrb can you walk into that place and walk out paying 2.99/lb? Does everybody in Florida have reef tanks if so? =)

jp

BigJPDC · #70 11/02/2006, 10:00 AM

Well it couldn't have been all rosey forever I guess.

Somehow, something got stuck on the mag float I was using and I now have scratches on the glass on the tank. I thought I had trapped some sand on the inside velcro part since I was using it to smooth out the sand against the perimeter and so I kept taking it out and scrubbing the inside part, putting it back in and scratching the glass all over again. I finally got smart and tested against the sump before I determined it was on the outside pad. Some small metal burr I am guessing came from somewhere.

In any event this sucks. I took a look around the entire tank and see that I have a ton of small scratches on the front pane and one big one on the side. They will be noticible but I guess the good part is that they are on the outside of the tank.

Anybody got a good story about repairing hairline scratches in their tanks? I can't believe the mag float could trap something and do that.

jp

Liquid Hobby · #71 11/02/2006, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigJPDC
Wow LH 4.50 is a great deal

Normally it's $6/lb but I'll be picking it up when the LFS's much larger shippment arrives. My rock will not even make it into his tanks. I will not be able to cherry pick though... everything is a compramise!

Sorry to hear about your scratched glass. I learned that lesson long ago with my fresh water tanks.

Liquid Hobby · #72 11/02/2006, 11:03 AM

I wish there was an edit function... my spelling is something to be desired...

I just have to hook the RO/DI to a water source (maybe today)and I'm good to go to make my first batach of SW!

newreefbishop · #73 11/02/2006, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigJPDC
Wow LH 4.50 is a great deal, I still can't get over the fact that I paid $150 in shipping costs and it was still $1/lb cheaper that going down the street.

nrb can you walk into that place and walk out paying 2.99/lb? Does everybody in Florida have reef tanks if so? =)

jp

My Brother lives in the Orlando area, and he actually drives up the the LFS, cherry picks the pieces he likes....pay 2.99 per pound and walks outs...lol...

With my shipping it came up to 3.50 a pound. Depending on where you go rock here can be quite cheap.

BigJPDC · #74 11/02/2006, 09:26 PM

The rock is in, and this was a good thing after the scratch mess. nrb you gave me the hookup, several large flat pieces, I am very pleased and just have to figure out how to put this stuff together. I have the big pieces in a tub with a heater and PH.

Check the pics - 60 lbs and no more than five or six pieces smaller than a golfball, all of which are in my sump.

And a mock of the tower I think I want to construct. I have a lot of searching to do for cool aquascaping. I want to have some kind of stepping to offer different lighting levels to critters.

Just get me through work tomorrow and I can spend the entire weekend playing with the fish tank.

jp

newreefbishop · #75 11/02/2006, 09:48 PM

LOL, Im glad I was able to put you on. Remember the rock is pretty much cured. Get a hammer and a chissel, and tap one of the smaller pieces and check out the smell. If it smells like sulfer, let everything sit for a few days and test your water. Trust me when I say the rock will color up significantly in a couple weeks.

Glad I was able to help.