Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef

[GSMguy]

my girlfriend always wants the 250 dollar wild colonys. i have to tell her that its better to buy the small stuff and watch it grow....

maybee i should be shopping around for a cheaper version.

good thing Salty Critter and Nordstroms are not on the same side of town.

[Dudester]

Feeling good again, ya

The plan is to exchange some large rocks for some small rocks tomorrow. This time away from the tank has been good, as it has allowed my subconscious to explore different options for the aquascape. I have a lot of good ideas and hopefully a few of them will emerge tomorrow night. I've also placed the order for the skimmer feed pump and hopefully that will arrive later this week so I can start making some nog.

Thanks for everyone's continued interest in this thread!

[cbui2]

welcome back Dudester, hope you feeling a little better b/c you are behind

[Bax]

Originally posted by Dudester

. This time away from the tank has been good, as it has allowed my subconscious to explore different options for the aquascape. I have a lot of good ideas and hopefully a few of them will emerge tomorrow night.

It's fantastic what a little state of delirium will do for your creative side!

Rock on!

Glad you're feeling better.

[thedude15810]

Where's Marc when you need a "this thread is useless" banner

[melev]

I was down for the count last night myself. Feeling better now, and hope not to repeat last night's episode any time soon. (Details in my thread)

[Dudester]

Thanks for wishing me well, everyone, and for recognizing that it HAS made me fall behind schedule. Oh well, what's a brother to do? Glad you're feeling better too, Marc.

The LR exchange has been rescheduled for tonight, so hopefully I'll have before and after pics to post tomorrow. In other news, I got a call from ReefGeek offering me an 8-bulb ATI PowerModul. I almost bought it but good sense got the better of me, as that would clearly be too narrow for my 30" tank. Hopefully my 10-bulb unit will arrive in the next month or so.

[GSMguy]

10bulbs ftw dont settle for less your too smart for that.

use a 400w in a lumenarc if you need light now.

[Dudester]

Don't know what you mean by "ftw," but you're right about me being too smart (and modest, too!). Yeah, I'm starting to consider temporary lighting solutions until the PowerModul arrives.

As promised, I redid the aquascape this evening. I think it looks great, and I'm really happy with it. Unfortunately, I was so pleased, that I decided to go ahead and add the sand as well, so all that's visible now is the sandstorm. I'll have to wait for it to settle before getting any photos.

I saw a little bit of salt creep on my Barracuda pump after aquascaping. It was only a small amount, so it couldn't have been going on for very long. It was coming from the threaded male adaptor connected to the pump's outlet. Weird, since that pump's been on for weeks, and I used the thick gas fitting teflon tape at that joint. At any rate, I tightened the snot out of it, and hopefully that'll be that. Delayed leaks are very frustrating - glad I caught it when I did.

[GSMguy]

For The Win

[chetm2]

Dudester - I am running 3 different reeflo pumps and had to use the liquid pipe thread sealer. I used the teflon like you and always had little leaks. I used the liquid thread sealer and none since. The pump can be used almost immediately after use and it can be removed later. And lastely WHERE'S THE PICTURES !!

[pcostanzo]

Good to know. I just installed a Hammerhead and plumbed it but haven't fired it up yet. It does have coarse deep threads. I put a ton of teflon on it.

[Abaco24]

Just starting out and this thread has been so helpful. I know this will promote laughter but can someone spell out OM and SUBV's during the plumbing section?

I have pen at hand taking down all the notes for 45 min from the start of the thread.... Then I get to page 13 expecting to see the new aquascape ideas.....and bam!! it's like the channel on the TV just went out to snow.

Hurry back

[melev]

OM is Oceans Motions, a company that makes devices that alter the flow of water out of various pipes. www.oceansmotions.com

[LoneStarSA]

SUBV

Single Union Ball Valves

A ball valve that has a union built-in onto one side. Depending on how it is installed, it can stop the flow in the pipe, and allow a device to be removed for maintenance. (I.E. a OceansMotions device, Pump, Sump....)

[Abaco24]

Thanks so much.

Any custom tank builders in North FL or South GA?

Would like Dudesters toned down to a 120-130 ga.

If you have a closed loop system (CLS) would you need the wave making function with the Reef Keeper 2 and Hydor Koralia 3's ?

What is the benefit of a CLS?

I am thinking of a CLS 120-130 ga with Sequenc Dart toned down to 2500 ghp or what is needed, with a sump/refugium, Zeovit seems a bit complicated.

Korallin CA reactor and Emporer UV, RS 80 or 100 Euro reef skimmer, Outer Orbit 48 inch 729 watts is my plan to start. I have a more complete list of course.

This thread as I said has helped a lot with plumbing fears.

Help a noob...comments welcome.

Looking forward to the aquascape Dudester !!

[Dudester]

chetm2 - Thanks, that's great info about the liquid thread sealer - I've never heard of that before. Do you have any specific information on this stuff, like what it's actually called and where I can get it? As a follow-up, since tightening the connection I've had no more problems with that small leak, and I hope I won't need that liquid sealant, but it'll be nice to know about.

Abaco24 - I'm glad my documentation has been helpful to you. Closed loops have their merits, but they aren't without a downside. The primary advantage would be the ability to create a lot of flow with little equipment inside the display, as well as the ability to vary that flow with, say, something like an OM 4-way or 8-way. The downsides include the need for bulkheads and extra plumbing which have the potential for a leak, and often-used large pumps which may be power hogs (read "higher electrical bill"). I personally didn't want a bunch of power heads in my tank, which is why I went with the CL. Time will tell if I've made the right decision; I think I have. Closed loops are usually not connected to any controller to create a wave function. They create random flow with devices such as the OM unit I'm using, or a SCWD, which switches the current between 2 different outlets, or they often just run full blast through all of the returns to the tank. They're highly modifiable, and I encourage you to type in "closed loop" in the RC search function, sit back, and prepare to read for about a week straight!

melev & LoneStarSA - thanks for providing those definitions.

Now give me a few minutes so I can upload some pics!!!

[erics3000]

How about some pics?

[Dudester]

OK, a little catch up. First off, I finished the plumbing from the overflow box to the sump. Here you can see the two 1.5" drains. The lowest section of PVC was cut in a spiral spray bar fashion (not pictured) so that if the water level rises in the sump for any reason, water would still drain out fairly quietly from the drains. Eventually I will attach filter socks to these drains for mechanical filtration, since I don't want to have to siphon out the sump very often. You can also see that I've been running carbon since introducing the LR.



The green hose is Eheim tubing returning water back from the chiller via an Eheim 1262, and this ascends through the overflow box and into the tank via LocLine. The right-most return under the overflow is 1" plumbing that currently dead-ends with a SUBV. That will eventually connect to the primary sump return pump, which to date I still do not posess.

I also received my skimmer feed pump, a Hydor L35, and the skimmer was fired up 3 nights ago. I placed the pump in the chamber just beneath the overflow drains. The clear 1/2" vinyl tubing connects the pump to the Deltec skimmer, which you can see better in this next photo.



Here it is from the side, showing also how I had to angle the overflow drains so that they'd place the water more centrally in the sump chamber as opposed to directly against the sump's back wall.



The skimmer has pulled out what I would describe as clay. There's almost no odor, and I'm wondering if this is just proteinaceous material released from the live sand? At any rate, here's what it looked like when I cleaned it out tonight for the 1st time.





Now that it's been cleaned, I'm starting to see what I think is the real deal skimmate -- nog!! A 3-day break in period seems about right to me, eh?

[jnarowe]

Love your plumbing Dude!

[melev]

Looks like you are right on track.

[GSMguy]

looks like dust from the sand remember in your office the deltec skimmed about half a cup of sand the first week.
those skimmers are sweet

[Dudester]

The sandstorm has abated and the aquascape is visible! I had previously removed the drum from the 4-way so it wouldn't be damaged by the suspended sand, and this has been left on so that I could see where any sand voids would develop. In total there's 195 lb. of Lalo live rock, which as I understand it is a deep Tonga rock. There's also 120 lb. of CaribSea Ocean Direct live sand. The aquascape has 3 separate zones. On the far left an alcove was created, and I concealed the CL returns reasonably well. Adjacent to this is a valley that extends to the back of the tank, offering some depth to the 'scape. Centrally is the tallest peak which nearly breaches the water surface. Then, to the right of this is a separate rock mass that hides the CL strainer from view. The photos don't show it, but from above there is actually a meandering gap between the center rock mass and the one on the right. I'm very happy with it, especially since it's the 1st aquascape I've ever done alone, but I'm not closed to criticisms, so please be honest if you don't like it. Of course the pictures don't truly portray the depth that's been created in the tank, but at least you'll get an idea. Enough typing, here's the pics.





This one's taken from the right side of the tank.

[erics3000]

Sweet//Plumbing looks great..

[GSMguy]

wheres the wave box go?