290G Peninsula Tank

[kien]

Wow, that looks hot and is going to be a KILLER room divider!

[lastlight]

Seriously tight man. The epic wait and battle will have been well worth it!

[mseepman]

Seriously tight man. The epic wait and battle will have been well worth it!

Wow, Brett, so good to see you on here looking at my tank. I know I sorely miss looking at all the amazing things you've done with your tanks...in fact you inspired me into doing the auto light lifter.:biggrin:

Thanks to everyone for the comments. It's been so long in coming...now I'm almost vibrating with the wait I have in order to plumb this giant!

The gap you see above the glass will disapear with Oak trim. There will also be a 3" Oak ledge all the way around at the base. There is a 1/2" gap all the way around the tank in the stand with holes and lines running down to a drain if ever there is a leak (at least one that doesn't burst the tank)

They are placing the hidden sink in and putting in my light control boards above that sink either today or early next week. I will try to get some pictures of how the overflow goes through the wall and such later today if I get over to the house.

I know this has been going on so long that it's been hard to stay interested but I think the real fun is soon to start! :wink:

[cale262]

Wow, she's a beaut...

[Okguy]

Looking good Mark! I'm looking forward to seeing this come together.

I saw your wife walking by with a bunch of empty boxes last week so I'm guessing you are starting to pack up? You must be itching to get into the house. It would be sweet if you are in by Christmas.

[Ginu]

Looks amazing and now the real fun part begins...

[mseepman]

Thanks for the great comments everyone! Moving closer each day!

Kevin, my wife is collecting boxes...we just haven't packed anything in them.:redface:

I promised some more pics...and here we go.

Here's a side shot of the cabinet where my overflow, plumbing, sink and LED control panels will end up. It's only partially done so far. You can see my plumbing from the fish room coming up from the bottom. That's the little bar sink which i will have available to save me from the wrath of my wife after using her kitchen sink for the last 7 years.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-10-26164118.jpg

Here is a closer shot of the overflow:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-10-26164040.jpg

Because they changed my stand design, I had to think quickly and have them pre-cut some holes for where I might place Vortecs or Tunzes on that wall of the tank.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-10-26164049.jpg

And these little babies arrived the other day for my fish room. 100G each
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-10-26164604.jpg

[michika]

Tell me more about your 100g water containers. Do the black tops? come off? Are they stackable?

[mseepman]

The tops come off in two ways...If you look, you'll see a little break in the Handle on top...that is an "inner circle" that you can spin off, and then the large black circle is the "outer circle" that also comes off. They also have a bulkhead pre-installed on the bottom of the opposite side to my picture.

I don't think they are stackable...I got them from Corix and they are made in Vancouver. Really heavy duty. I was going for other ones from Andrew-Sherat but these were just way better built. Plus the shoulder of the tank allows me to put in some additional plumbing with uni-seals without having to worry about slopes (a straight spot to drill a hole)

They will sit side by side on the small stand you see at the back of my fish room in the pic below:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-10-04161825.jpg

I wanted just enough rise that gravity would empty them. I plan to do a fully plumbed water change system to the sump which will sit on the stand to the left. There is also a dedicated drain over there in the floor that you can see (black pipe)

[freezetyle]

such attention to detail. The holes in the wood below your overflow are for MP40's i'm guessing?

[Jaws]

How much were the containers from Corix if you don't mind me asking?

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

[Delphinus]

How big are they? It's hard to get a sense of scale looking at them (actually what's really weird is the picture of your tank room, the wood grain makes it look like the inside of a tank stand - it's the other things like light switches and plugs that hint at it not being 30" from one side to the other :lol:) .. but those tanks honestly don't look that much larger than my 2 50g barrels. That's awesome. When I looked into water storage I settled on 50g's because of space considerations and anything with more capacity was just way too big).

Edit: Are these them? http://www.premierplastics.com/utility.htm

[mseepman]

How much were the containers from Corix if you don't mind me asking?

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

I'm loath to say that I'm not totally sure. I had some arranged from a Andrew-Sheret and then my builder got these (they were higher quality) from Corix. Retail I think they were about $150 each but I'm not sure what my wholesale price is yet...I haven't got the bill.:redface:

How big are they? It's hard to get a sense of scale looking at them (actually what's really weird is the picture of your tank room, the wood grain makes it look like the inside of a tank stand - it's the other things like light switches and plugs that hint at it not being 30" from one side to the other :lol:) .. but those tanks honestly don't look that much larger than my 2 50g barrels. That's awesome. When I looked into water storage I settled on 50g's because of space considerations and anything with more capacity was just way too big).

Edit: Are these them? http://www.premierplastics.com/utility.htm

These are each 100G tanks. As you can see in the picture below, they fit on my small stand well and still allow me to build something above them and make the most of my space. I couldn't figure a good method to stack them without making it tough to clean them when necessary.

I'm not sure if that's the original supplier. I will look again at the labels and get back to you on that. I can say that they are really built well.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_1645.jpg

Here's my sink setup in the fish room. I chose an Acrylic sink...hoping it won't discolor too much over time. I know my cabinet doesn't match but I keep reminding myself that this is a working room and looking pretty doesn't make it work any better.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_1646.jpg

Lastly, we got a little closer to working on the plumbing of the actual display but finishing a little more woodwork.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_1649.jpg

[mseepman]

How big are they? It's hard to get a sense of scale looking at them (actually what's really weird is the picture of your tank room, the wood grain makes it look like the inside of a tank stand - it's the other things like light switches and plugs that hint at it not being 30" from one side to the other :lol:) .. but those tanks honestly don't look that much larger than my 2 50g barrels. That's awesome. When I looked into water storage I settled on 50g's because of space considerations and anything with more capacity was just way too big).

Edit: Are these them? http://www.premierplastics.com/utility.htm

Hey, I took this picture just for you!

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_1674.jpg

[mseepman]

Got some more things done in the house this week, including getting the Generator and the HRV functional.

Can't wait to get countertop on in the fish room and the floor epoxied!
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_1662.jpg

[Delphinus]

Hey, I took this picture just for you!

Haha, thanks! Man I guessed good. :)

[mseepman]

We got some more stuff finished today on the tank. It seems like I only get work done on the tank 1 in 10 days...the rest are dedicated to the rest of the house.

The trim on the top and bottom got finished around the tank. I think it turned out great. Here are some pics.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-19153550.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-19153536.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-19153523.jpg

I also started doing some plumbing. The pics from my phone didn't turn out very well for this so i will try with my camera next time.

It's amazing how hard it is to find the plumbing parts I need in a town like Vernon...even from the plumbing wholesale stores. Sadly, some parts need to be ordered online and will take some time to get here.

[mseepman]

Got going on some of the plumbing today...pictures aren't great as my phone is old and has no flash.

Everything is just dry fit while I try to figure out roughly what I'm trying to accomplish.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-23172847.jpg

Return plumbing on the eurobrace of the tank.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-23125055.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-23125114.jpg

I'm missing a couple key pieces to the plumbing until a shipment from the US arrives. Sadly this stalls me from glueing most things as I don't know exactly parts in transit will fit in.

[mseepman]

Today I managed to get some more done on the build. I glued the plumbing that I had dry fit for the return over the tank. This went pretty well but I was reminded how rarely I do plumbing by how many times I had to fix little errors. It looks the same as above, just glued.

I also got to working on my water change station. Everything is dry fit (that's why it's looking a little off for fit, since the glue will allow the plumbing to sink a little further in each fitting than dry)

Here's a picture.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-25170809.jpg

The way that I've got it set up, I will be able to the do the following by select turns on the ball valves:

A) Transfer water between the fresh and salt tanks (right and left respectively)
B) Circulate the salt water tank (the pipe going up will enter a bulkhead on the top edge of the tank for this)
C) Complete a water change to my sump located on the bench to the left. (this pipe has not been completed yet but will be shortly)
D) Empty either or both tanks via the pump
E) Empty either tank via gravity.

The ABS pipe you see to the right is a drain that I will hook things up to for emptying via the pump.

The pump is a Blowhole 1450 so it will have plenty of power to do what I need it to. It's never been used yet but Reeflo already sent me the replacement bearing assembly that they've been updating these units with.

I am having a problem that I need advice on though. Here is another picture of my plumbing below my overflow.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-23171006.jpg
I have since moved the large 2" pipe in the foreground to the rear 2" outlet but for the purposes of my question, this won't matter as I'm only focused on the 1 1/2" pipes for the overflow.

My issue is that my three bulkheads are thread on the bottom, into which I put a MPT/slip adapter. Below that I was planning on a pipe to lead to the union on two of the pipes and a Gate valve then union on the other one. How do I put this plumbing together as even with a union, the slip fittings on top and bottom don't allow me to get the pipe high enough to get into the fitting and then align with the union? I know this may not make sense but basically, I need to slip up and slip down...but how to do both?

I'm hoping this is just a brain fart and that I'm missing something obvious.

[wmcinnes]

Awesome build!

As for your question, I think I understand it.. I think.. haha

Could you not unscrew the union and glue your pipe into the half that comes off then slip into your MPT to slip adapter and screw your union back together.. Might take some precise measurements to get it to fit properly but i think it shoould be doable!

[mseepman]

That's what I was thinking...but I was hoping I was missing something easier...Thanks for looking at thread.

[Dez]

Yup, undo the union, glue, twist, screw all in that order :). Nice build so far. I do not miss the building days when you have to wait for parts, trouble shoot, etc an fish stuff seems to be everywhere cause you can't put things away cause the project is not done. You will not regret the patience though. Patience and lambing ahead IMO is what makes a good build in the long run.

[mseepman]

Thanks....I'm thinking now of putting two unions in each pipe...otherwise I won't have the vertical room to unscrew from the bulkhead above. If I have it measured so perfectly as to allow the one union to connect tightly, there will be no room for movement. Two unions costs me an extra $10 but then I can unscrew both, pull out the piece sideways and then unscrew from above for maintenance.

Any thoughts on this from anyone?

[Delphinus]

I'd almost consider going with flex PVC in the bit that comes out to give you some wiggle room that way.

[mseepman]

After a visit to my local Andrew Sheret, I have come up with a solution. For about $30, I can put an extendable PVC joint into each line. This way I don't need to be exact with the measurements because I can extend it up to 3" in length. I will take a picture of the joint later to put on here. I chatted with a couple plumber friends of mine and neither had issues with these extenders leaking, so let's hope I can say the same.

[Myka]

Hey Mark, your build is looking FANTASTIC! I'm so happy for you that you're getting some great progress now, and it is all coming together for you so nicely. The stand and canopy are right classy. Soon the stress will be on to make the inside look as good as the outside! :lol:

[mseepman]

Haha, Thanks Mindy. The stress of not yet being able to buy some of the frags I see on here from Snappy and others is almost as bad...so I'm hoping it will all balance out.

[michika]

The stress of not yet being able to buy some of the frags I see on here from Snappy and others is almost as bad.

^^ That is the worst part about having an in-progress build - seeing all the stuff you badly want to buy or add, but can't.

How long are your US orders taking to arrive? Mine take about 3 weeks unfortunately.

[mseepman]

^^ That is the worst part about having an in-progress build - seeing all the stuff you badly want to buy or add, but can't.

How long are your US orders taking to arrive? Mine take about 3 weeks unfortunately.

Hey, sorry for the delay in answering...I was away for a bit.

My orders from the US average about 14 days...so a little faster than you apparently :) Got my stuff, now just to find the time to put it together. I leave for the Kootenay's on business for the next three days and my wife sure isn't doing the plumbing while I'm gone!

Anyways, here's a quick phone pic from today, the doors on my fish cabinet were going on. Simple and all solid Oak. The pic isn't great, I will take my camera if I go over tonight.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_2261.jpg

[mseepman]

A few more pictures
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_8605.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_3237.jpg

[Delphinus]

Looks fantastic!

[kien]

definitely looks like that tang belongs there! And I suspect it will belong there forever now :biggrin: Man, you make me want to set up a new tank..

[kien]

definitely looks like that tang belongs there! And I suspect it will belong there forever now :biggrin: Man, you make me want to set up a new tank..

*Tang=Tank

[mseepman]

Haha...thanks! Next is finalizing the plumbing and finishing my fish room so that the sump can get in there.

[abcha0s]

Holy crap! Been watching for what seems like years. Very impressed.

- Brad

[Ginu]

Looks amazing... Very professional.

[gregzz4]

A few more pictures
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_3237.jpg
Wow, what a difference lighting makes to your phone pics
I didn't realize until now what wood you are using

Looking fabulous :smile:

[mseepman]

Thanks everyone...yeah I have an older phone so pics aren't spectacular, but my wife just got a new Galaxy S3 and so I'll steal it for some pics shortly. :)

[lastlight]

gotta love building a tank with a house. everything fits together so perfectly!

[mseepman]

Yeah, although timing seems to be out of my control...so you trade fit/finish for timeliness.

[mseepman]

Got some of my plumbing finally in...funny how difficult it was to get some of this stuff in Canada.

Here's a TrueWye, 2" with graduated reduction to dual 1" pipes for less head pressure.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-07111251.jpg

And here are the expanders that I will use to bridge between some fixed slip pipes already in place. They extend up to 3" and were cheaper than unions.

Mostly Collapsed:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-28103028.jpg

Extended:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-11-28103017.jpg

[gregzz4]

Kool parts
Hurry up and get it wet already :razz:

OK, I gather it'll still be awhile ... but we're gettin' antsy

What's your move-in date, and any anticipated water-testing soon ?

C'mon c'mon c'mon, stop teasing us :wink:

Jeez, if I lived up there I'd be volunteering to plumb it :mrgreen:

[mseepman]

haha...I wish there were more of you around! Gonna try moving in on the 19th if Murphy doesn't have anything to say about it. I will continue to plumb things when I get back on Friday. The fish room is dependent on my contractor...I need the floors finished and he's also putting laminate on the bench holding my sump. We were waiting on the HRV to get fixed (circuit board was DOA) so that we could suck out the ugly fumes from the floor epoxy.

[mseepman]

Well the big move to the house is tomorrow...at least for most of my furniture. My 70G tank is staying at the old house while I try to get this one going. Got lots of plumbing still to do and my sump isn't moved or plumbed yet either.

Thought I would fire off a pic of the boards in place that will run my LED. I have to "reconnect" all the wires now that it's up. Hidden nicely if I do say so. :) They roll out for working on them on drawer slides.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-17153148.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-17153229.jpg

[lastlight]

that tank has such a presence with the massive cabinetry all around it.

[kien]

that tank has such a presence with the massive cabinetry all around it.

I was thinking the same thing! Such a focal point. It has, "I'm the BOSS" all over it.

[lastlight]

I was thinking the same thing! Such a focal point. It has, "I'm the BOSS" all over it.

Well put noob =)

[kien]

Well put noob =)

The politically correct terminology is "Junior Member".

[mseepman]

Haha...so what happened to your post count? Did I miss something?

Thanks for the compliments on the tank by the way. You wouldn't believe how true what you say is. So much so that my builder felt he needed to beef up my fireplace and my entire kitchen in order for the tank to not completely overshadow them from a feature perspective. Cost me lots of extra dough and time in the end because of that.

[lastlight]

Hi my name is Mark and my brand new house with a bangin' view had to be upgraded because it didn't look as bangin' as my new monster tank install. Pity me! #FirstWorldProblems

[kien]

Haha...so what happened to your post count? Did I miss something?

Thanks for the compliments on the tank by the way. You wouldn't believe how true what you say is. So much so that my builder felt he needed to beef up my fireplace and my entire kitchen in order for the tank to not completely overshadow them from a feature perspective. Cost me lots of extra dough and time in the end because of that.

Brad turned on some feature to stop counting useless posts (ie, buy/sell, lounge, etc) in our post counts. As a result this is what I'm left with.

Seriously, from day one you've practically built your entire house AROUND the tank :lol: And there's nothing wrong with that!

[lastlight]

day one

I was such a spry young lad then.

[kien]

my builder felt he needed to beef up my fireplace and my entire kitchen in order for the tank to not completely overshadow them from a feature perspective.

I can just imagine that conversation.. "so Mark, we have a problem with the build. No, not the tank, the house. I grossly underestimated its awesomeness. The tank is just so awesome that we will need to balance things out a bit more. I propose me make the fireplace more awesomer. As a result, we will also need to make the kitchen even more more awesomer. Thanks for understanding and sorry for the inconvenience."

[mseepman]

Haha....it totally went like that!!! Except he added in there somewhere that he hoped my wallet could take this kind of intense pain. I'm still struggling with it.

[Delphinus]

It's almost going to be a bit of a shame to see water get put in there because it's such a clean build. Think of it, the obligatory water stains, diatoms and slimes along the way of a tank cycle .....

..... "almost." In the end it can't help but be epic. :)

You must be happy that the wet phase can't be too far off now!

[mseepman]

I'm thrilled...if I survive moving the family. After all this time working on the tank...it's my last priority at the moment.

A better question is...why do people move after having children? Or maybe even better is...why do I have so much crap?

[Ginu]

I'm thrilled...if I survive moving the family. After all this time working on the tank...it's my last priority at the moment.

A better question is...why do people move after having children? Or maybe even better is...why do I have so much crap?

I have two kids and I keep asking myself the same question... why so much crap???

[mseepman]

Well, we are in the new home...and exhausted. My fish room got the floors epoxied and I should be able to walk on them tomorrow. Got the closed cell foam for under the sump and will put them together tomorrow when I have help to move things around.

I know there should be pics but I'm too pooped for much right now.

[gregzz4]

I know there should be pics but I'm too pooped for much right now.
I'm pretty sure we'll all forgive you :wink:
Hope everything went well enough ... have a good Christmas in the new digs

[rhody605]

What a great time to move into your brand new house. First Christmas in the first week.

Also means the finishing of your tank setup is just around the corner.

Everything looks fantastic so far.


Mike

[Myka]

Congrats on the move Mark!!!! That must feel good after such a long wait!

[mseepman]

The Christmas season has been crazy busy...but I've got my sump in place and I've started to un-pack some of my equipment. Here is the latest picture of my efforts.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_20121226_155114.jpg

[Leah]

Mark...what skimmer did you end up with?

[mseepman]

I ended up getting an Octopus XP-5000 cone at MACNA 2011 when they were clearing out the booths. Got a crazy deal on it! I also got the neck cleaner...but haven't unpacked it yet.

[lastlight]

Easy access to everything you're going to love it. What did you finish the floor with?

[mseepman]

A heavy duty epoxy for commercial garage floors. We got a great deal on high gloss stuff (guess not too many shops want that wet look) and it came out pretty good. I still have remove the painters tape on the bench legs.

[Lance]

Mark, that's an awesome fish room! (I'm so jealous) My fish room is a closet and part of the garage.

[Snappy]

AWESOME!:jaw:

[Myka]

Good thinkin putting a lock on the door to keep the kidlets out...and for peace and quiet in there! :lol: Great thinkin keeping the sump off the floor, although you will lose the cooling capacity of the concrete.

And the floor looks AWESOME! :D I've actually been drooling over modern designed kitchens and living rooms that use a similar looking product on the floor to make the super high gloss white floor. So modern, so schmexy.

[lockrookie]

Yes lock on door is good but....... Keep the key or spare key near by dont lock yourself out in case of emergency. It happens.. Keypad entry would be a good thing


Sent from my porcelain aquarium

[Myka]

Hanging the key above the door would solve that problem. :)

[mseepman]

I keyed my fish-room to my office. I got keys spread all over the place.

[mseepman]

Got some additional plumbing done today. Here are the latest pictures.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_20121227_213134.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_20121227_213142.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-27165139.jpg

I'm pretty high on PVC glue right now...so I called it quits for the night.

Can't say that I'm the best plumber but so far I'm happy with the results.

[wickedfrags]

Looking good - consider a shut-off valve on the intake side of your pump, otherwise you will be draining your sump when it comes time to maintain your pump, unless of course you plug the bulkhead in the sump. Valve would be easier long term but cost more now...

Got some additional plumbing done today. Here are the latest pictures.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-27165139.jpg

I'm pretty high on PVC glue right now...so I called it quits for the night.

Can't say that I'm the best plumber but so far I'm happy with the results.

[mseepman]

Damn....I knew there was a reason I bought two of those huge a#% true union shutoffs!

[Reef Pilot]

What about the use of flex pvc to reduce vibration noise from your return pump?

[zhasan]

This is great Mark! Perfect timing to move into the new place and celebrate Christmas!

I love the new fish room! Is it the similar type of epoxy used on garage floors?

Also, I noticed you have a flex PVC pipe against the wall in one of the pics. Where did you get that? I've searched all local home depots, Rona and home hardware but no one seems to carry it. I need it for my turtle speed build!

[wickedfrags]

big, and expensive!

Damn....I knew there was a reason I bought two of those huge a#% true union shutoffs!

most externals are pretty smooth and not bad for vibration, the use of a dampening material like rubber or high density foam under the pump normally does the trick, but spaflex can be used also

What about the use of flex pvc to reduce vibration noise from your return pump?

[Myka]

Mark, are your wooden walls finished with something?

[Reef Pilot]

big, and expensive!



most externals are pretty smooth and not bad for vibration, the use of a dampening material like rubber or high density foam under the pump normally does the trick, but spaflex can be used also

Yeah, he's put so much into the beautiful house, tank, and sump room, to make it as close to perfect as possible, so why skimp on that.

I have a basement sump room, and used to a run closed loop pump down there. It seemed fairly quiet in the sump room itself, yet we could hear the thing 3 stories up in our upstairs bedroom. Vibration in the walls really seems to carry noise a long ways.

[mseepman]

I actually am using Spa flex already between the union and the pump and also between he ball valve and the pump.

If you are looking for the spa flex....go to a spa company...they stock it. The black is more flexible but their technicians will tell you that they can't use it in salt pools because it breaks down...thus the white makes sense.

The walls are coated with three coats of a marine varnish. We used a pre-coating material that resulted in the grain rising and so had to sand it several times between coats. Its still not smooth, but its well coated.

The benefit of doing the walls like this were that I can hang anything anywhere and I can remove sheets if I need to get to the plumbing in the wall.

[Myka]

Good planning on the walls too. If I had HALF your planning skills (and planning patience) my systems would be soooo much better!

[mseepman]

Haha...I don't know about that...at least your systems have water! Plus, you are recognized as someone deserving to be published. I just wish you were still in the Okanagan so I could glean more of your knowledge.

[lockrookie]

Take a cup fill it with water insert in tank... Problem solved hehe


You have done an axing job water or not I have followed every post. I'm very jealous of your fish room.. And large peninsula.. Only way I'm getting a bigger setup is by building a heated garage with a couch to sleep on ill call it "the dog fish house"


Sent from my porcelain aquarium

[mseepman]

Haha...well I've been blessed with a very understanding wife. Funny enough, since moving into the house my daughter and my wife has said something is"missing" and we've determined its the fish. So now they want water in a hurry too.

[Myka]

Haha...I don't know about that...at least your systems have water! Plus, you are recognized as someone deserving to be published. I just wish you were still in the Okanagan so I could glean more of your knowledge.

Oh you make me blush. :o My tanks DO have water, but they also have algae right now too, and the fish are all staring at me wanting to be fed. :D Honestly Mark, you really don't give yourself enough credit, you know what you're doing even if you won't admit it. You also put a lot of time into research and planning and that goes a long way. Your reef will be spectacular. ;)

[mseepman]

Did some more plumbing on the system over the last few days.

Fixed the missing shutoff at the return pump
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-29215842.jpg

Completed the return plumbing in the main cabinet
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-30110048.jpg

At some point here I have to rinse out my sand and plumb in the new RO unit. Just so much to do on this!

[Skimmerking]

Ok mark enough clowning around you have a understanding wife so tell her sweetheart can you give me some time to get this done. There you have it don't make me call Doug to head over there and rattle your doors.
Quit messing around and put water in there

[kien]

man, so jealous of all you guys and gals with your fancy schmancy fish rooms.

[mseepman]

Ok mark enough clowning around you have a understanding wife so tell her sweetheart can you give me some time to get this done. There you have it don't make me call Doug to head over there and rattle your doors.
Quit messing around and put water in there

Haha...I'll tell her my new orders right away!

Funny enough, I had most of yesterday to work on things and even then, only a little got done. The real SOB of that plumbing was that TruWye. It sounded like a good idea at first, until I realized that the angles of the split were around 65°...and I was up till 1am trying to make 45's and 90's compensate. If I was a true plumber, the concept of turning the 45's would have come to me much earlier.

[gridley]

I'm very impressed with your fish room. Congratulations on an amazing build!

[Leah]

I wish this was at my house. :mrgreen:

[Myka]

If I was a true plumber, the concept of turning the 45's would have come to me much earlier.

*chuckle*

[mseepman]

Well, I haven't had as much time to work on the tank in the last few days (what with New Years and all) but I did have time to put up the new 65" Panasonic Plasma I got in my theater room. Don't mind the mess and no, that audio rack is not supposed to be there...a refrigerator is. I have an amazing PSB speaker system going up as well, once I find speaker mounts that I like.

[mseepman]

Oops...forgot the pic.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-12-31175616.jpg

[Myka]

Crap Mark, now I need a bigger TV because your 65" makes my 54" look tiny. We picked up Kef speakers that sound nice for a reasonable price, running them on a Onkyo amplifier. I was never able to find speaker mounts I like so the darn things are still sitting in weird places. :lol:

[mseepman]

Got the quarantine tank in place today...next will be the frag tank. Slow going but steadily moving forward.
Gotta have pics to prove it!
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-01-02190553.jpg

[Myka]

Mark, that's a small QT for a big reef, no? Maybe you're planning one small and one bigger? <- There's an idea! :D

[gregzz4]

Mark, that's a small QT for a big reef, no? Maybe you're planning one small and one bigger? <- There's an idea! :D
Same thoughts here
Maybe that's an invert QT :wink:

[mseepman]

Okay so given what people have said, here are my thoughts. That tank is a 30G...I just don't have the room for more. I was planning on getting rid of my 70g once the fish are out and yes it would fit, but I wouldn't be able to service my return pump if I put it in place. I'm not sure what else I could do. A bench for working with test kits and all the reefing stuff we regularly play with will be going on the opposite wall. The frag tank will be going in front of the return, but its low enough to easily reach over.

I guess if my fish grow big and get sick then that 30 won't work very well. For those of you with big tanks...what size is your quarantine?

[gregzz4]

Sorry, we don't mean to pick on you :razz:
Wow, that's a 30g ?
Looks like a 20 tall in the pic

My system is only a 75g and I currently have a 20g QT that I've been using for new fish, but I plan on a larger one soon, before my critters grow. Probably gonna need a 4' 50g or so
I'm only thinking about what you would be faced with if something happened to your DT, and you had to put all your fish in a QT at once ?
I'd think you'd need at least a long 50g to house all your dudes. The bigger the better - 75-100g

If you don't mind an idea, and to keep access to your return pump ...
Have you thought about building a pony stand for a bigger QT ?
Just something with, say, 1 to 2 foot feet or such, right on top of your bench
If I judge your space correctly by your pics, it looks like you have room for at least a 3 footer, if it was high enough to access your return pump

[Myka]

I have a couple QT. My display is 90 gallon, the biggest QT is a 40B. The reasoning is sometimes I want to add more than one fish at once. Or, maybe I want to add a pair of Banggai, so I buy a group, and when a pair forms I move it to the display. Or a shoal of Yellow Tail Damsels or Anthias. I also have a 10-gallon QT for small fish (or a pair of Clowns).

I imagine you're going to have a few big fish, like Tangs maybe? They are very active of course. I would want a 48" tank as QT once some bigger fish come along. Before that, a 50-gallon would be a nice size. Fit it in somehow!

[gregzz4]

I would want a 48" tank as QT once some bigger fish come along. Before that, a 50-gallon would be a nice size. Fit it in somehow!
This is my long-term thinking
Where are you going to put all your fish if you need to remove them from your DT ?

[Leah]

My QT is a 77 gal...I can QT fish for you. :wink: I have a gorgeous Fowleri Tang for you as well.

[mseepman]

Thank you for all the ideas. After looking back into it, you were right that it's not a 30, but just a 20 tall. I will have to see what I can come up with. :)

[Okguy]

Hi Mark, Happy New Year. I hear you've been leading a crazy life. I bet your glad it's winding down now. I have a thought about your QT.

What about keeping the 70 and down the road installing a shelf above the water storage tanks and housing it there? I know it's high but you are a tall guy and the number of times a year you will be using that tank will hopefully be minimal. Anyways just a thought. Can't wait to see it again in person!

[mseepman]

I was just in the room measuring thing out Kevin. I think above the water storage would be too tough. Keeping it where the current quarantine is might have to be the answer. Going up with that much weight and with the HVAC plumbing that is already there might be too tight to work with.

Ideas are all welcome...I will keep measuring my options versus the space.

[lockrookie]

Don't sweat it.. Can you not just put the qt on the opposite wall as sump and use the 20g tall as a sump for it to keep it completely separate from the main system.

[Myka]

Personally, I don`t like to have a bunch of equipment attached to a QT because it is too hard to disinfect if the need comes along. I prefer to just have a simple tank with lid, dim light, airstone, heater, and a small powerhead. Pretty much what you have in that 20-gallon tank. I think your 70-gallon tank would be too complicated for a QT. Some fish some even need the powerhead and would do best with just the airstone. You definitely don`t want an anorexic fish spending energy swimming against a powerhead. I like to use a couple good-sized pieces of live rock and a few PVC pipes. If there is disease outbreak, remove the live rock, and the PVC pipes that the fish is already familiar with will remain in the tank. Just remember, as soon as the tank has no live rock it also has no means of dealing with ammonia so you need to use a detoxifier.

Do you have space as soon as you walk in the room to your right? You could put it on a stand that has shelves in it for storage...2-in-1 oh yeah! :D

[mseepman]

When you walk in, you are along the right side. On that side are the electrical sub-panels for the room itself and the generator auto transfer switch. I was hoping to have a counter built there for me to work at. Got to have somewhere to do testing, mix chemicals and play with the electronics on the tank. I do have an old 33g Hagen tank cycling rock right now. It's 3' long. Again, this won't fit where the current quarantine tank is unless I block the return pump.
The 70 is self contained. It's not reef ready so my current overflow is "over the side" I just thinks it's too big for that room, unless I want to work at a TV tray.

[daplatapus]

With my very limited experience so far my first choice for QT/hospital tanks would multiple smaller tanks rather than 1 large tank. I have 2 - 20 longs and a 50. I've yet to use the 50 gal. If something went south and you had to move and house fish somewhere, it would seem better (again in my limited experience) to put aggressive-ish that don't do well with others in a smaller but longish tank (e.g.. tangs) by themselves and happy schooling, peaceful fish, in another tank or 2. Smaller tanks are easier to perform water changes in, so if the tank transfer method is for you, then that's a bonus. Smaller water volume makes it easier to treat with meds, you don't need as much. If 1 fish needs a rest/hospitalization, you're not running a 70 gal when a 20 would do.
Downside is, it's a smaller tank. Ammonia needs to be watched closer than in a big tank. And it would be hard to house fish that get a bit stressed with other fish in a confined space, therefore I'd opt to put them by themselves. Now if you had 30 Tangs in your main display, that could be a problem :)
Anyway, that's my $0.02
Hadn't seen it expressed yet, maybe there's a reason....

[lockrookie]

Here's an idea for you have custom built or find a 5' long 15 to 18 wide tank only run a couple aqua clear hang on back with heater. Have it sit low enough that you can build a table/lid over the tank for your workspace. Have the lid able to be hinged upwards and tethered out of place when adding treating removing fish. Put on two or three t5 strips on the underside to light the tank. This way you are utilizing all the space as you need you lose a bit of storage space but in the grand scheme your fish will thank you for it. I can try to roughly draw it up for you if you like. Oh and add Formica to the top of table area for easy cleanup. The qt tank doesn't need to be at eye level it just has to function for its purpose. Doesn't mean you can't multi purpose the area too

[zum14]

Read the whole build. Im sure you have heard this lots but this is my dream build, just as your setup. As far as quarantine thats a toughy. You are optimizing your space pretty well already. The only thing i can think of and im not sure i even like it because of what needs to be done but, could you find a decent sized tank that fits inbetween the posts of your bench. Notch the lower shelf and set up a tank on a nice sturdy wood base with some locking casters? Have a place to anchor lights under the bench and if you really need to get in there or clean it you can unlock the wheels and wheel it out. Pending the tank is not too large. I dunno just throwing it into the pile. I just dont like losing shef space. Plus tank on wheels is kinda ehhhh.

[mseepman]

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions! I knew I was in the right place to get some ideas. I'm leaning towards building a simple table on the right along with a short platform under it to allow for the 70 to go underneath. I agree that the larger tank has both merits and disadvantages. I don't have the room to make the table fold up but I'll try to find a way to be creative with the build. One of the challenges is that the floor slightly slopes to the drain and I will have account for that in the design. I plan to keep the the 20g as the main QT for now though.

[mseepman]

Been working on the tank when time allows...amazing how many jobs come up when you move. New Vertex RODI is up. Great little unit but noisy and I can't figure out why. QT tank is up. Salty but nothing in it except for water and pumps to circulate.
Today I started making my first 100g of water. No leaks so far...but we'll see in the morning when I go to move water from the fresh bin to the salty one.
My plan is to fill the sump and then both bins with fresh water, then start moving it through the setup to get it upstairs to the display. I haven't finished plumbing upstairs yet, but I'm not too far off.

[mseepman]

What silicone is best for the odd plumbing fix..ie...at apvc joint you can't get to

[nrosdal]

if it is a pvc joint i would be more inclined to hit it with some more pvc glue the with some silicone. Unless you have already tried more solvent or if the gap is really big.

option 2 is: get you kids with their tiny little hands to get in and cut it apaart and re glue it for you :biggrin:

[mseepman]

haha...it's joint where the PVC screws into my fresh water barrel. It drips every now and then when the pump is pulling water from the barrel. It doesn't when it's just sitting under the water pressure of the tank itself.

I also now hate unions. Is there a perfect way to know they are good. Two of mine leaked and they couldn't be in worse locations to reach. I've redone them and they are fine now but I put a union into everything...go knows how many leaks I will have!!!! It scares the bejesus out of me and all I've got going is my water change station.

[nrosdal]

With unions on plastic storage tanks or anything non breakable i just tighten them real tight(like until rubber bulges on gasket and plastic looks all distorted). On glass i just go hand tight then a couple wrench turns. Generally if you have a deceint quality union it should be pretty well sealed at slightly past what you can do with your big strong hands.

or you could just order a can of flex seal from the infomercial and coat everything. Did you know that they put a screen door on the bottom of a boat and flex seal made it float :)

[mseepman]

I need advice on a plumbing issue. I just don't seem to be having much luck with plumbing lately so I think its better to ask what people think.

On my return, I divide the 2" line into a closed circuit 1" run that goes over my eurobrace. T's then push the water down through holes in the bracing at the far end from the overflow. I have put unions on both sides of these runs in case I need to remove them. Herein lies the dilemma....where the holes go down, I would like to glue in 90's with threaded ends so that my educators can screw in and help push the water back towards the overflow. If I glue these in, I will not be able to get the "loop" off via my unions anymore...in fact they will be permanent.
Is this the right thing to do? Any alternatives that make more sense?

Already tonight I over tightened the the threaded PVC into my blo-hole pump and cracked the union at the pump. Aaargh!

[lockrookie]

Can you not use bulkheads that are threaded instead if slip so you can remove them?

[nrosdal]

Can you just use all threaded fittings from the bulkhead on so you can unscrew starting at the end an work your way back to the bulkhead from there?

[mseepman]

Okay...thank you for the ideas. I don't know if I can incorporate them without the return lines really dropping into the viewable space in the tank badly. I will try to dry fit some different options and see if any can replace the glueing.

[gridley]

I'm afraid that I have no advice or suggestions to offer - just my empathy. I'd rather work with live electrical current than plumbing. Electrical either works or doesn't work - plumbing works . . . then leaks. I had to call my plumber brother in law to fix my multiple leaks. I hope that all goes well.

[lastlight]

I just slip fit my 90s in. I applied pvc primer to the short piece of pipe in the 90 and the outlet of my manifold. this created the perfect amount of friction to hold them in tight.

[gregzz4]

For your leaky unions, have you tried silicone lube (http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/uv-papsil/Lifegard+Aquatics+Lifegard+Silicone+Lubricant.html )on the o-rings ?

For your enductors;
Are you going to use 3/4" enductors on 1" pipe ?
If so, what about 90s threaded on both ends
If your eurobrace is wide enough, you unscrew the enductors, then spin out the 90s
You'd need a spig x fipt reducer bushing and a close nipple for each fipt x fipt 90

If not, all that comes to mind is adding 4 more unions.
One on each side of the Ts and 90s that sit on top of your eurobrace.
It'll cost you some money to experiment with it, but a dry fit will show if you can wiggle them out or not with the outflow 90s in place

[Lance]

I just slip fit my 90s in. I applied pvc primer to the short piece of pipe in the 90 and the outlet of my manifold. this created the perfect amount of friction to hold them in tight.


Absolutely! What I did.

[gregzz4]

I just slip fit my 90s in. I applied pvc primer to the short piece of pipe in the 90 and the outlet of my manifold. this created the perfect amount of friction to hold them in tight.
Looks like this is a good solution
Quick and dirty and no more buying and chopping

[mseepman]

I just slip fit my 90s in. I applied pvc primer to the short piece of pipe in the 90 and the outlet of my manifold. this created the perfect amount of friction to hold them in tight.


So if I get this right...you just used primer? That made it gummy enough to hold tight...but loose enough that if you needed to break it, you could.

If this works....I will be dancing a jig tonight!!!

[mseepman]

I thought I should do a quick update on the tank thread.

I've been desperately trying to prep my old house as a rental....meaning that the work on the tank has suffered...but some things have gotten done.

Water in the storage tanks, prepping to be transfered over to my sump and up into the display.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-01-27220700.jpg

The plumbing from my overflow, just dry fitted so far.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-01-27220648.jpg

[mseepman]

Tonight I worked on putting the dry-rock that I had into the Display. Never a task I look forward to as I just always feel that it could be better. Sorry about the crappy phone pictures.

Anyways, the thing to remember when you look at the pics is that I have about 75 more lbs of "live" rock still in a tank at my old house waiting to move over and fill out the "look". Although the minimalist look has become more popular lately, I feel that this needs to go higher and so hopefully the other rock will eventually accomplish this.

The "live rock" has been in a tank about a year with a couple Chromis so although it has very little Coraline algae, it should be alive enough to help me jump start this tank. I will also be using a 30 pack of Prodibio Startup to get things rolling.

Here's the pics.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-01-30215735.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-01-30215904-1.jpg

[kien]

I personally like it as is :-)

[mseepman]

Thanks! That's cool because I love the look in your tank!

[kien]

Both piles at either end of my tank actually had rocks higher up when I first scaped but I quicky realized that viewing corals so high wasn't as interesting to me so I lowered both ends and am much happier with it. There is more opportunity to look down at corals and fish have more room to cruise the reef top I find.

[gregzz4]

I am also a fan of an open looking reef
With my 75g I am limited, so I had to make some taller 'berbs', but I am liking your open look

Can't wait to see what it looks like once you add the rest of your LR :smile:

[Leah]

Is that some of the rock I gave you?

[mseepman]

Hey Leah, there is a few pieces of that against the overflow wall. It was a base type of rock and that's what I've tried to use it for. I drilled a bunch of holes in it to allow for frag pegging if it ended up being visible. The rest of this comes from eco-reefer and marco-rocks.

[lastlight]

looks good mark! i personally think it looks a little more natural if you build overhangs or use rock crevices as fish shelter rather than a set of caves on that one end but minor stuff. i'd keep it low and leave your sps lots of space like you have it.

any jig-dancing lately?

[Skimmerking]

Mark that's it for the pictures



WOW COME ON as Kein would do

:drinking::pop2:

[lastlight]

Mark that's it for the pictures

you won't even bite wood for us anymore i wouldn't talk.

[mseepman]

Mark that's it for the pictures



WOW COME ON as Kein would do

:drinking::pop2:

Haha...well I have more lousy phone picutures....but they all show the same thing.

Just cause you asked for them though.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-01-30215854-1.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-01-30215759.jpg

[Skimmerking]

Mark I really like the low laying rock. Im looking at doing that to my Cube once its stops being -47 here in Manitoba. Are you going to be running the Tunze that low to the ground

[mseepman]

Are you going to be running the Tunze that low to the ground

Here is one of my problems...the house builder made some cosmetic changes to my stand design and one of them included a double wall on the overflow side of my tank covering most of that side up. In doing that, I asked him to cut four 3 1/2" holes out of the wood so that my pumps could go in before the tank went in. He did this but when the tank was installed, I noticed that the bottom two holes were very close to the tank bottom.
The true issue didn't rear its head until I put those pumps in while aquascaping yesterday. They are only 1/2" from the bottom. I am probably going to have to place a rock below them in order to avoid sucking up sand.

[Delphinus]

Yikes, there's no way to enlargen the holes to let them sit a little higher?

[lastlight]

I had a pair running 24V jumpers really close to the low in the back of my last tank with no issues. With new sand though you might have issues for a bit. mine were both aimed slightly upwards and there were no wide flow shrouds available then either. Not sure which ones you're using.

[mseepman]

Mine have the 24v jumpers but only the original shrouds. I bought them about 1 1/2yrs ago from one of the guys in Calgary who had just started a tank and then got transferred and had to sell them. They've never seen water for me.

I can't make new holes...the wood is right up to the glass and there's 1 1/4" of wood to get through.

[lastlight]

you have an advantage with the original shrouds. aim slightly up, typical tunze jet stream forward with little collateral damage.

but you can totally make new holes so long as you have access to the non tank side of the plywood. just score and chip away with a solid utility blade and a small screwdriver. I patented this process and called it the scribe technique when I added details into my old stand =)

[nrosdal]

you could abandon the low holes and mount them on a couple sea sweeps higher up in the tank. I even know a guy that that could hook ya up with them :)

or make it one of those artificial sand beds in the corners by gluing sand to a piece of acrylic and dropping it on each side under where the pumps are.

or point them down and turn them on full and see what happens.

[mseepman]

Haha...thanks Nick...2 of those ideas don't seem to bad. I will have to think about the 3rd for a while before I get back to you. :)

[Okguy]

Hey Mark, if you can't find a solution that works for you, what about 2 of these?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-nanostream-rock-6025-250.html

[lastlight]

is there a reason you can't just make a new hole from the other side? you could even mark 1/2" depth on a large diameter hole saw and save yourself lots of scoring and digging and it would pose no risk to the tank. it might take hours but I'd do new holes rather than have more stuff visible in the tank.

[mseepman]

Sadly, that is only for nano-streams. These are the big 6105 pumps. I think that the idea of a small acrylic piece with sand glued to it might be a great option.
I'm a little worried about the strength of the magnets. I know that Tunze says they hold better in water but right now, the magnets on these are rated for 15mm glass and they can't hold the pump without support at the moment...it slides down the wall. My glass is generally 12mm but on that overflow wall, I have two panes totaling 15mm. They make an extension for them that increases the strength to 20mm but I'm waiting until water is in there to check before I spend the $75 to get them.

[mseepman]

is there a reason you can't just make a new hole from the other side? you could even mark 1/2" depth on a large diameter hole saw and save yourself lots of scoring and digging and it would pose no risk to the tank. it might take hours but I'd do new holes rather than have more stuff visible in the tank.

Yes, I'm sure its possible, but with the changes that the builder made, he shrank my space on that back wall by also indenting it from the sides. It looks nicer than my original design, but any hole size increase means that I'm putting my two Vortechs side by side to the Tunze's and I was hoping to spread them out a little more. I will take pictures to explain this better today.

[lastlight]

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2012-10-26164118.jpg

yeah i see now they are already pretty close together. if it were me and pointing the tunze slightly up didn't work out very well i'd try and move the vortechs up as well. looks like you have unlimited vertical room for holes if the overflow box is narrow enough.

[mseepman]

Okay, so I promised a pic to explain the pump orientation.

Here we go:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-01112937_zps233640d3.jpg

Don't mind the teflon tape holding up the magnet, apparently these magnets will hold through 15mm glass when there is water, but dry they tend to fall. I want the pump to be at the top of the hole.

In regards to space, there is about 4 1/2" separating the two pumps (Vortech will be above, Tunze below) and I don't really have anywhere to go up with the Vortech as Plumbing, etc, makes moving it difficult...no to mention cutting through wood up against glass.

Murphy doesn't like me whole lot and I have to consider that in any changes too.

[mseepman]

I'm probably going to have to glue some sand to small acrylic pieces for under my Tunze's...can anyone tell me what I should use as adhesive?

[lockrookie]

How about a dremel or modified hand saw to connect the dots between the holes? You may not be happy with fake sand bed you have done all this beautiful work to have something you don't seem 100% positive about

[mseepman]

yeah I've thought it through a lot and I'm hoping that with the space below the pump I won't need the acrylic pieces plus I will put the seafloor special (larger grains under it). The pumps will be aimed upward.

[mseepman]

Working on rinsing my sand and then getting it in the tank. Can't believe how long it take to rinse this stuff...half Agra Max select and half Seafloor Special.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-04171520_zps7d145d12.jpg

In the end I figure that I should have about 1" of sand or a little less.

[mseepman]

Trying to get a few more things done. The overflow plumbing is now all dryfit and I will glue tomorrow if I don't spot any more problems (or as long as no-one here does either)


One simple pic. Left is Full Siphon, Right is partial syphon/backup and center is emergency drain.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-11174931_zpse0887fae.jpg

[mseepman]

Well, today I started the process of adding water...YIKES! Talk about stressful. I won't be pushing too much up to the display today as I've found a couple small drips that need to be taken care of first at the sump area.

Here are some much awaited pictures.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-16135827_zpsdeef852f.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-16141434_zps12cd2a53.jpg

[lastlight]

So exciting! Nice shirt lol.

[Myka]

I recognize that shirt! YAY H2O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mseepman]

Well, after testing my plumbing at the sump, we realized that although brand new, the volute on my Reeflo pump had a huge crack and water was coming out. I also was having a few issues solving the odd drip that was at the bulkhead.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-16171124_zps2dc40ec9.jpg

So out came the pump and associated plumbing and in when the other new Reeflo that I had as a backup. No cracks, but we haven't got it wet yet as I had to call it a night for my son's 2nd birthday party. Tomorrow, I will give it another try.

[Myka]

Bummer! Is it still on warranty or are you like me where you buy things too far ahead that by the time you use them they aren't on warranty anymore? :lol:

[Goatman]

Bummer! Is it still on warranty or are you like me where you buy things too far ahead that by the time you use them they aren't on warranty anymore? :lol:

I've found even out of warranty, at least for the most part, these pumps have great support.

[mseepman]

Yeah...I pull the same thing as you Mindy...the first pump I bought was in 2009 and its been boxed since...the backup was bought in late 2010. Both came directly from Reeflo and are the Blackfin3600 I hope they help me out but I will understand if they need me to kick in after so much time.

[mseepman]

Since I had to solve some leaks and a cracked pump volute, I decided to completely rework the plumbing on my return pump so that it was simpler and hopefully would prevent noise and vibration from traveling out of the Fish room. I hadn't turned the pump on yet, but I figure that if I plan to kill noise, it is a good thing.

Here is the new setup. I didn't want to have to do the quick 90's after the pump, but with the space and angles I was left with coming out of the wall, I couldn't come up with anything else.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-17211618_zps482591d1.jpg

Here is how I am dealing with pump vibration. I have it on a thick foam pad (about 1" thick) then onto a solid board which then sits on another 5/8" of open cell foam. It's all bolted to my bench from there.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-17211637_zps8ade715a.jpg

After all that, I still got a very very very slow drip out of the threaded fitting going into the bulkhead. I should have used silicone rather than just teflon tape when putting that together. About 1 drip every 5 minutes.

[lockrookie]

Can you in thread it a bit add more Teflon to it more on the heavy side near the end and re seal it quick? I had that happen to me as well

[mseepman]

Can you in thread it a bit add more Teflon to it more on the heavy side near the end and re seal it quick? I had that happen to me as well

Well my sump is currently full of water...so no, not right yet. The leak is even slower than I thought, after the entire night, there was a little more than a thimble full of water in the cup underneath.
If you wondering why my sump is full, its because I'm prepping to push water up to the display. I'm currently making another 100g of fresh water and I'm mixing 100g of salt water and sump holds about 60G of saltwater (not including fuge). My plan is to fire up my water change station at the same time as my return and try to push about 140g upstairs to the display. I need some more hands as my return nozzles will destroy my aquascape unless someone is deflecting the flow. I also haven't checked my plumbing from the pump up to the display (most of it was done by plumber in wall) so I will want an extra pair of eyes to look that over at the same time too.

Can't believe that this is finally getting close. I have so much more work to do on this...my APEX isn't setup, my dosing isn't set up, my skimmer isn't set up...but water is a major step. :biggrin:

[nrosdal]

if you are needing a somewhat inept helper, i am going to be passing through your area tomorrow/wed. I even have a little box of goodies to drop off next time i see ya.

[lastlight]

I think the gaskets sorta swell slightly when wet just a theory. Sounds similar to a leak or two I've had before that actually stopped leaking after a few days.

[mseepman]

if you are needing a somewhat inept helper, i am going to be passing through your area tomorrow/wed. I even have a little box of goodies to drop off next time i see ya.

Thanks so much Nick. I think I will do my best to get a little farther tonight. If you can give me a heads up as to when you are in town, we'll try to get together. You haven't seen the tank for a bit, but we're getting there!

[Skimmerking]

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/devas/devas1201/devas120100043/12027525-tired-guy-sleeping-on-laptop.jpg

Wake me up when you are going to carry on with this build thread Mark......:razz:

[mseepman]

Haha...I put water in the tank last night thank you very much! I'm up to about 280G in the Display. I didn't let it run into the overflow yet...I have a couple little drips to deal with.
Some other things that came up are that I'm not too impressed with how quiet this pump is...I find it very noisy but a lot of threads online suggested it was very quiet...so is my pump the problem or do we just have different perspectives?
Also, the flow is poor by my standards. I bet I have only about 1000-1100 gph getting to the display. I was hoping for more.
Lastly, I got one of my MP40ES's going last night (the new one that had been sitting in the box for 2 years) and it's crazy noisy. but not at the wet end, the dry end sounds like a buzzsaw. My other MP40 is half as loud but it's still in my old display. Could this be because I have 16mil of glass on that end? I have it on the 5/8 setting. Any thoughts?

[Myka]

Mark, is the pump noisy because you're not used to listening to a big pump? It may be quiet by "big pump" standards? Or maybe there is something in the way it is setup?

:lol: Shoulda bought Tunzes! :p

[Delphinus]

I recently replaced one of my Reeflo pumps and I was horrified at how loud the new one was, it was louder than the one I was replacing that had a failed bearing. I called Reeflo and put the phone up to the pump after asking "should it sound like this?" .... He thought it was a dry bearing so he suggested I let it run for 10-15 minutes. After that it still was loud so he thought maybe a bad bearing so he asked that I send it back and he'd send me a replacement. As I went to take it offline I noticed that the fan cover had a small dent in it. Went and grabbed some needle nose pliers and pulled it out and sure enough what was happening was the fan blades were hitting the low spot caused by the dent and were basically slowly grinding off.

Anyhow the pump is flawlessly quiet now that I pulled that dent out.

Just something to check. A bit of a long shot, but it couldn't hurt to check for that...

[mseepman]

Thanks everyone for their suggestions. I will follow up on both ideas. One thing I noticed is that both pumps are Blackfin 3600's but the 2nd one I put online weighs almost half of the other one. They are otherwise identical.

Any thoughts on my Vortech?

[Goatman]

Haha...I put water in the tank last night thank you very much! I'm up to about 280G in the Display. I didn't let it run into the overflow yet...I have a couple little drips to deal with.
Some other things that came up are that I'm not too impressed with how quiet this pump is...I find it very noisy but a lot of threads online suggested it was very quiet...so is my pump the problem or do we just have different perspectives?
Also, the flow is poor by my standards. I bet I have only about 1000-1100 gph getting to the display. I was hoping for more.
Lastly, I got one of my MP40ES's going last night (the new one that had been sitting in the box for 2 years) and it's crazy noisy. but not at the wet end, the dry end sounds like a buzzsaw. My other MP40 is half as loud but it's still in my old display. Could this be because I have 16mil of glass on that end? I have it on the 5/8 setting. Any thoughts?

Bad Bearings? It does happen..

[mike31154]

Any thoughts on my Vortech?

Let it run in for a bit. Could be 2 years in the box, the bearing grease needs to be warmed up good & get to all the nooks & crannies. If you're not sure about the spacer setting, you can always play around with that a bit. Also, when I align my VorTechs, I always put my ear to the glass to help find the sweet spot. Even though it's your dry side making all the noise, a slight misalignment could be a factor.

I'd give it a few days to run in, if that doesn't work, you might have a dud dry side.

[sphelps]

The pump noise is likely a result from the rigid plumbing attached to it, installing rubber couplings will help if you can squeeze them in. I see space on the output for sure but not so much on the input unless you remove your union valve. However removing the valve is an option, a rubber coupling can serve the same purpose as a union and you could keep a threaded plug handy to replace the purpose of the valve, just not as convenient.

You can get pipe thread compound for threaded joints which I find works good on pumps. Might help with leaks, Teflon tape isn't as effective and using too much can crack the pump housing. The pipe compound is a paste and you can't use too much.

[mseepman]

Thanks everyone...I've got my fingers crossed on running them a bit for noise reduction. The Vortech does seem a little (key word "little) quieter today.

I never got a chance to run the return pump more than a few minutes as it was just filling my tank.

Because everyone likes pictures...she's still pretty cloudy.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-19135702_zps0cdb291b.jpg

[Myka]

Wahoooooo!!!!

[Skimmerking]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHH


much better:razz:

[mseepman]

Okay...in the name of progress, I got to working on the two Tunze pumps tonight. They are not wired up pretty, but they are running. Sadly they are noisy as hell. They make the Vortech seem quiet. These were bought from a fellow Canreefer about two years ago after being used for only two months by him. I'm running them through the 7096 controller.
Feeling the dirty looks from my spouse burning through me over the noise...I ordered the new c-clamps that these 6105's now ship with when new...along with a spare impeller in case that will fix it.

[lastlight]

that's really surprising about the Tunze... really too bad.

Are these new enough to have the one-piece impeller assembly at least?

[mseepman]

that's really surprising about the Tunze... really too bad.

Are these new enough to have the one-piece impeller assembly at least?

You know what, I'm not sure. I have ordered some parts as "spare" but plan to take the noisiest of the two and pull it out to "rebuild" it again and at that time I will check out the details. Tunze makes so many changes so fast that I couldn't keep up. The pumps are at least 3 years old from manufacture.

[Myka]

Noisy Tunzes??? :eek: Wtf. My 6055 is from the bfirst batch that came to Canada in 2008(?) and it is silent same with the two newest model 6105 I recently bought. I have had others over the years too, and have never had a Tunze that could be classified anywhere near "loud". The only thing I can hear is if I put my ear up to the pump I can hear it ramping up in power, but they definitely don't hum or rattle. Have you inspected the propellers and housing to make sure they haven't been dropped or had sand sucked into them?

[mseepman]

As you might have seen in prior postings, I have these too close to the sand bed but I thought about that and tried the pump free of the c-clamp and it's still chattering like a son of gun. I will take it apart tonight and re-clean it in Vinegar and see if something I haven't spotted is giving issue.

[mseepman]

More frustrating today is that I called Reeflo as they didn't return my e-mails. I didn't get to speak to Chris, but they were pretty rude in telling me that they discontinued the Blackfins and not only don't they have any spare parts but that the pump never really performed the way it was quoted to and that I will probably always get less flow than expected.

[Delphinus]

Ouch about the Blackfin :(

Something is not right with the Tunze. I'm thinking you might have debris in the impeller assembly or it's missing one of the pin guide things. The vinegar bath should help. I hope you get it all sorted out..

[Myka]

More frustrating today is that I called Reeflo as they didn't return my e-mails. I didn't get to speak to Chris, but they were pretty rude in telling me that they discontinued the Blackfins and not only don't they have any spare parts but that the pump never really performed the way it was quoted to and that I will probably always get less flow than expected.

Oh my. :sad: I guess you should try to call back and speak with Chris. Or make a thread in Reef Central with the above info... *snicker* ...that should get a reaction.

[mseepman]

Oh my. :sad: I guess you should try to call back and speak with Chris. Or make a thread in Reef Central with the above info... *snicker* ...that should get a reaction.

I'm pretty sure that would get a reaction. I left an e-mail for Chris so I'm hoping he will respond. Otherwise, I have a dead but brand new pump and i will have to come up with a a backup plan. I guess if one failed, I could remove the volute from the failed unit and put it on the cracked unit. That would give me a "painful" backup plan.

[bkelly]

Hi Mark try getting hold of Chris at Interior reef in town / I think he has a few blackfins may have some parts.

[mseepman]

Thanks Brent, I will do that.

[mseepman]

She's ALIVE!!! I started everything up last night...after completely taking apart my overflow and re-building it because I had a premonition that it would leak (now it does not for sure).

The return pump is pretty loud...my wife hates it so I'm working on methods to quiet it down.
The Bean Animal is dead silent...once I got it going right and tuned in. Amazing but a 1/4" turn of the gate valve will move the water level 1/4" in my overflow...so I can see why ball valves would be crazy tough to tune.

Still dealing with some cloudiness in the water, but working on that too. :)

[lastlight]

congrats man! it's both thrilling and terrifying all at once :biggrin:

have you managed to get flex hose in between the tank and the pump anywhere? you could also place some soundproofing tiles on the ceiling in your fish room maybe? if the sound is from pipe vibrating against walls though no soundproofing down there is going to help.

[mseepman]

I'm just not sure. I just took apart the fan cover on the pump and put some padding into it where it touches the metal body. Haven't restarted it as I'm fixing a few spots where my unions needed to be "tightened".
If I can't get it to be quieter, I might take apart the return plumbing just out of the pump and try black spa-flex. The stores tell me it shouldn't be used salt as in salt pools, it degrades quickly. I'm also watching for the Blowhole 2750 pump as it might be enough to replace my Blackfin (with less watts and better head pressure abilities). I hear they may be out in March.

[Reef Pilot]

Is your pump base bolted down to something solid? If not, it is free to vibrate and transfer motion noise to your plumbing.

[mseepman]

Yup, bolted to the bench, through several layers of padding and another 5/8" board. She can't move. The bench is bolted to the floor and is 1" plywood with 4" beams. You can't feel any vibration in the bench at all.

[mseepman]

Okay...lots of effort but not a lot to show for it today. Kids were home sick so I was off and trying to get some tank work done.
Here's my skimmer getting its first workout. My daughter really wanted to help (be in the way) and so she jumped in the pic.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-22163013_zps1300d5e2.jpg

[gregzz4]

She's ALIVE!!! I started everything up last night
Yeah :lol:
Hope you find a way to calm down that return pump

[mseepman]

Today I dosed the tank with 30 ampules of Prodibio Startup. That actually took a long time!! Glad I don't have to do 30 ever again at the same time. Hoping that with some proper attention to the stats, in the next few days I will be able to add my limited live rock and two little fish that have been living on their own for a long time prepping that live rock.

Current numbers for the tank are:
Ammonia: 0
PH: 8.0
Temp: 79
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

[lockrookie]

I have used prodibio twice now for tank startup and it works as it says.

[mseepman]

Good to hear considering that I have bought enough Prodibio for the coming year already. :-)

[mseepman]

Got the APEX up and running, updated the firmware and then started working on getting my lights on. Voila, here we go. This is them set at about 70% and the lights are about 14" off the water. This is a phone picture and it seems way more blue than when you see it in person.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-24123440_zpsacb47974.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-24123448_zps677a26d4.jpg

My water hasn't fully cleared up yet. I know my pumps are blowing the sand a little and I'm thinking this is contributing to the problem but how quickly should I expect the water to clear? It's been mostly filled for about 5 days and the sand was well rinsed before it went in.

[phi delt reefer]

Run a 50 micron mesh sock or stuff one of your baffles with filter floss


The filter floss works best due to its density. I use the method to catch carbon and gfo fines when I don't properly rinse the stuff.

[asylumdown]

This is really looking fantastic. I'm eagerly following this keeping a little log of what I'm going to do on my next build!

FWIW, I have never been happy with the noise level of my Reeflo pump. I've got the dart, and from day one it sounded like someone was using a hair dryer in the next room. I got replacement bearings from Reeflo and swapped them out myself, but it didn't help at all. Shortly there after the seal went (why, oh why can't they make the metal components on pump seals out of stainless?) and it started to leak, so I ordered new seals from Reeflo, but this time I went with my dad to one of the high end transmission/bearing places and bought the highest end bearings of that size that they sold. The pump is still louder than I think it should be, but it's reduced to more of a hum that fades in to the background as compared to the high pitch whine that made it hard to talk on the phone in the office before.

I don't think the bearings that come with the pump, or that Reeflo will send you as a replacement are necessarily the greatest quality. If you can't solve the noise issue any other way, I would try sourcing your own, much higher quality bearings and see if that helps. I'm not sure about your model of pump, but the swap on the dart was relatively painless to do, you just need a bearing puller (super cheap) and the right deep socket to help tap the new bearings in place. I found a photo tutorial online showing exactly how to take the dart apart and do the swap.

[mseepman]

Hey thank you so much for the info. I bet I could source some high quality bearings from my buddy at BC Bearing. The pump has settled a tiny bit...and if we close the fish room door, then it's just a hum that you can hear through the livingroom and kitchen upstairs. I think it comes from the pipes coming up to the tank.
Tonight I added my liverock and the one little Chromis that's been making it "live" for the last year. He's hiding right now and the tank looks quite different. Not sure where I stand on it still, gonna have to get used to the extra rock. I will get a new picture up shortly.

[mseepman]

Here's some terrible phone pics as promised. :)

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-24182508_zps18d2f519.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-02-24182638_zps51106497.jpg

[mseepman]

Today I began the tear-down of my old tanks at my previous house. I'm very tired of going there every day to feed and clean the tanks. (more feed than clean as evidenced by the look of the tanks right now).

I also bought my first two fish for the new tank. Two little glass cardinals will see the display if they fare well over the next month in my quarantine tank. I'm hoping to give myself some good habits instead of the bad ones I've been culturing for years in this hobby. :)

The Display is looking really good and the Chromis and Goby have done well, along with the small clean up crew that I added. Tests are all still reading zero so I have to say, Prodibio Startup has really come through for me.

[Scythanith]

I have to agree with sphelps that adding rubber couplers inline between the return pump and the output to the tank, especially before it makes contact with the wall should really help with the noise transfer upstairs.

If you really have no room, which I can understand as it looks pretty tight, then maybe consider cutting an access panel where the return plumbing enters the wall and adding the coupler there.

Other than that, great looking build!

[mseepman]

Yesterday I added the fish from my other tanks into the main display...they seem very happy though I was worried about my clown as he seemed distressed while in transfer between my houses.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-03-04092502_zps9435eb18.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-03-03170009_zps1d5b838c.jpg

I'm using Prodibio on this tank but the instructions for use from both them and from Aqua-digital are pretty vague, so after dosing 30 vials of Startup 8 days ago, today I started with the bio-digest and bioptim. I will start tracking them at 15 days now. Hopefully this keeps my tank ticking along the way that it's supposed to. :)

[Myka]

30 vials? :lol:

YAY, FISH!!!! I just bought a 6-pack of those Cardinalfish for my 50-gallon LPS tank. They are very pretty.

[mseepman]

Figured an update is long overdue. Last week, I purchased my first batch of frags during a trip to Kamloops. Thanks again Matt.

Here they are in a little quarantine tank after i dipped and inspected them thoroughly. They are just under three stunners right now but I plan to move a couple of them up to the display today.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-03-13200511_zpscd770d22.jpg

[Myka]

I see sticks! :D

[mseepman]

Yup...4 of the in the display now. Having a few lighting issues. One LED went out in one of my parallel strings and the fuses shortly followed to protect the other LEDS in those strings. Needless to say...changing some fuses and troubleshooting that LED today.

[Myka]

Oh fun stuff...not.

[mike31154]

Yup...4 of the in the display now. Having a few lighting issues. One LED went out in one of my parallel strings and the fuses shortly followed to protect the other LEDS in those strings. Needless to say...changing some fuses and troubleshooting that LED today.

Hey Mark, what's your LED set up? Fuses? Aren't you using constant current drivers? Hope you get it sorted out. LMK if you need assistance, I've got some electrical know how.

[mseepman]

Hey Mike, thanks for the offer of help...I might take you up on that sometime. If you take a look early in my build...this DIY light uses some big drivers and I chose to do parallel strings so resistors and fuses were needed...and they worked well...I hope. Didn't end up fixing the light yet...there are still more than enough lights there to cook whatever is in the tank so I've delayed till the weekend.

[mike31154]

Hey Mike, thanks for the offer of help...I might take you up on that sometime. If you take a look early in my build...this DIY light uses some big drivers and I chose to do parallel strings so resistors and fuses were needed...and they worked well...I hope. Didn't end up fixing the light yet...there are still more than enough lights there to cook whatever is in the tank so I've delayed till the weekend.

I'll need to back in the thread to check out your LED build. My LEDs are hooked up in parallel as well, however not strings, rather single 10 watt multi-chip LEDs. I really should have fuses as well, but just haven't got 'round to it. I opted for 12 VDC power supplies rather than 'drivers', but am making sure the voltage I feed my LEDs is always less than the rated maximum vf, so underdriving. So far so good, the fixture is coming up on a full year of use in early April and haven't had a LED burn out yet. Only failures so far are several of the fans on the heatsinks. I have spares, so replacement is no problem & it takes all of 10 minutes. If I were to do another build using 10 watt multichips, I would use the larger heatsinks without fan now available and simply run a couple of bigger fans over the whole fixture. Probably would go with larger multichips with optics next time around as well. Three or four 50 to 100 watt multichips would be much simpler & less cluttered. They're fairly affordable these days & come in a good selection of spectrums, including multiple colours per chip.

[mseepman]

Yeah, I love my light for coverage...no complaints at all, but it did appear that one led had an issue after being hung and that caused the "event" that the fuses were there to protect against. I have about six spare fuses and the control boards are readily accessible, so the biggest pain will be working on replacing the led as I don't want to take the fixture down.
You'll have to come by some time to check out the tank.

[Skimmerking]

pictures mark get on with it

[mseepman]

The tank is progressing along through the stages of "newness" and I'm still trying to get ahead of the "automation curve" that I've set for myself. Stockpiled for all this time while the house was built have been various pieces of the setup that only now am I wading through. My dosing and my ATO are not yet up. My activated carbon reactor is up but will be undergoing some changes shortly and my desk in the fish room is only half built.

I have learned that no matter how big you think your fish room is...it's not big enough!

I'm also starting to get some hair algae popping up in the tank. I know it's all part of the new tank syndrome but I still don't like it so I beefed up my CUC a little today with some turbos. They really are tanks but their already making a dent.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-03-28204641_zpsb87639b3.jpg

[mseepman]

Thought it was time for a quick update.

Thanks to H202, I received a bunch of amazing frags / colonies from FragitDan and from Chowder. Really thrilled with the stuff I got and looking forward to seeing go into my display. For now, as with all things...quarantine time!

Here are a few pics (at 12:30 last night when I landed them) because I realize all the short attention spans on here. :lol: Remember that some of these had to travel from the Island and some from Vancouver so many of the "frags" are broken pieces off the colonies.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-04-09001422_zps0f7fc75a.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-04-09001550_zps9a8f531a.jpg

You can see in this third picture all the large colonies below the frag rack that also came.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-04-09001428_zps7cab4b3b.jpg

[nrosdal]

have you gottem any those new corals in the display yet Mark? Quarentine shmorintine.. lets see some action :twised:

[mseepman]

I believe I should call you a bad influence Nick. 4 more corals made it into the display tonight...two of which were fighting STN when I got them and may still be losing. I suspect at least 4 or 5 more will make the journey tomorrow. Will get some pictures then as I moved them with lights pretty much out.

[nrosdal]

last i saw that frag rack it was not nearly as full. What happened to all the corals that were on it? Can we see where they are now?

[mseepman]

yeah...gotta get some FTS up on here. Thanks for the reminder Nick. My current phone takes terrible pics so I'll see about using my point and shoot. Tanks mostly dark now so it will have to be tomorrow.

[Myka]

You're going to need a nice camera to take pics of your nice tank you know! ;)

[mseepman]

Well, not sure this is a nice camera but it's been a great point and shoot up til now.

Sadly, you can't really see my coral in this picture. Will have to see what I can do again this weekend.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_2123_zpsed272f0f.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/IMG_2136_zps992a2e08.jpg

Also, got someone exciting to add to the tank tonight. It was a deal that I could not pass up and assuming my yellow tang doesn't beat him to death...He's tough to get a picture of.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-04-24200220_zpsf2285002.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-04-24200234_zps66b51ddd.jpg

[Ginu]

Love the Kole tang and hopefully the YT doesn't beat him to death. I have one in my 75g and contemplating if I should try a small YT, such awesome show fish due to its color.

The display looks amazing, great job so far, and how is the fish/desk room looking like nowadays?

[michika]

Cute little sohal you've got there!

Your tank looks so clear and sharp. Are you running/dosing anything other then the bio capsules you mentioned before?

[mseepman]

Cute little sohal you've got there!

Your tank looks so clear and sharp. Are you running/dosing anything other then the bio capsules you mentioned before?

Thanks.

I only run prodibio...plus a little carbon. I have always thought it could look sharper...haha.

[mseepman]

I broke my cardinal rule and put the Sohal in directly. I was not planning on buying any new fish and so my QT was not up to snuff ready. He had been in the store for several months (at $250) and was terrorizing everyone else in the tank. The store put him in a 15g partition. He is fat, eats well and has no spots or anything. The owner just needed to be able to use that tank for more so he offered to sell him to me for $99 "take it or leave it" and that was a deal I couldn't pass up.
Sadly, this morning my clown is covered in ICK...my wrasse has one or two spots as well.
My Yellow Tang is still beating the crap out of the Sohal and I'm not sure how to stop it either.

Ah...the pleasant joys of keeping saltwater.

[The Codfather]

He is fat, eats well and has no spots or anything.My Yellow Tang is still beating the crap out of the Sohal and I'm not sure how to stop it either.


Im sure it wont be long before the tide turns, Ive never had a sohal that wasnt king of the tank after a month or two. The one I have now is the smallest in the bunch, but wow, does he have attitude. Give him a couple days, im sure he'll be holding his own, and he'll set that yellow straight.

[H2o2]

Maybe try the mirror on the outside of the tank and maybe just the stress of the new fish brought it on but tank is looking great

[andestang]

Im sure it wont be long before the tide turns, Ive never had a sohal that wasnt king of the tank after a month or two. The one I have now is the smallest in the bunch, but wow, does he have attitude. Give him a couple days, im sure he'll be holding his own, and he'll set that yellow straight.

Yes the yellow better enjoy it while he can because it will turn the other way. The mirror sometimes is effective and will usually distract things a little. You could also put a egg crate panel to seperate for awhile, won't look nice but would maybe help break things in. Things are looking really good since the last time I seen your build !

[mseepman]

Thanks everyone. I will see about doing something with a mirror. I'll let you know how the ick turns out too.

[mseepman]

Sadly, after moving it to quarantine, my black and white clown died this afternoon. Now I see that my flame angel has quite a few spots on it and it has stopped responding to food...its just hiding among the rocks. Not a good sign so hopefully I can get it out of there with some enticing food tomorrow.

[H2o2]

So sorry Mark

[Myka]

I broke my cardinal rule and put the Sohal in directly. [...] Sadly, this morning my clown is covered in ICK...my wrasse has one or two spots as well.

My Yellow Tang is still beating the crap out of the Sohal and I'm not sure how to stop it either.

Ah...the pleasant joys of keeping saltwater.


Oh no Mark! At least you learned the lesson early on instead of when the tank is full of fish.

The mirror trick should work for the Tang issue. YTs can be real a-holes.

Good luck!!!

[mseepman]

I continue to reap the rewards of my mistake and this morning the flame Angel i'vehad for 7 years was dead in the display.

[Myka]

Ohhh noooo! Sorry to hear Mark. :cry:

[Ginu]

Sorry to hear that Mark.

[andestang]

Ok this is sad, sorry man !:sad:

[lastlight]

Sorry to hear man. :sad:

[Chowder]

Sorry to here that Mark.

Chris

[mseepman]

The tank has been stable since the loss of my two fish after adding the Sohal. I see today that it has ick but it's eating well and doesn't seem too distressed. Hopefully for all the trouble it's caused, it makes it.

I also got to add two new additions that I've been looking forward to.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-05-02095538_zps33b12231.jpg

Great little guys that I hope will have the personality that I know these fish can have.

I've been steadily adding corals as well.
Here's a frag I picked up at the LFS
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr220/mseepman/2013-05-02184911_zps38e170fa.jpg

I'll try to add some more shots in the short future.

[Skimmerking]

Looking great Mark. the tank is well on its way.