Antrias' Venture into Saltwater

[Antrias]

Hey Everyone!

I am new to saltwater fish but here is my new 27g tank setup! I'll post more pictures as I complete it with more rock and corals.

First I bought this 14G BioCube... and was like... lame not enough space and the lighting in it makes it way to hot during the day. but I got it cheap off kijiji with a few corals in it already - all of which will be moving to the 27g once I get my new lighting.

http://i.imgur.com/SjGLHtv.jpg

Anemone is attached to the Zoa... He likes it there apparently
http://i.imgur.com/HHkilrm.jpg

Four fish in this shot - Cardinal Fish (Spock), Purple fire fish (Unicorn), Royal Gramma (Scar - his face looks like it has a scar :P), and a black clown fish (Oreo)
http://i.imgur.com/8k8clKO.jpg

In my sump 1) didn't think about it at the time but i used grey pvc cemend and purple pvc primer... Next time I now know that they both come in clear.
2) Media bag covers the end of the drain to stop a lot of microbubbles
3)Skimmer Chamber (Skimmer coming)
4)Foam between the baffold - the baffold system didn't eliminate enough microbubbles

As well on the drain pipe I have a ball valve to create some back pressure so that the system is silent.
You will also notice my terrible cut job on the stand... I had to open it up more to fit the sump in... I was going to buy a little plastic cap for that to make it look better
http://i.imgur.com/YObbUhi.jpg

I'll post more once I build my LEDs - waiting for the heatsink to come in the mail

[Edmonton newbie]

welcome looks good, just a tip tho, that particle board will come right apart if you dont get it sealed, water even evap is very hard on it. a little paint or epoxy now will save you lots later

[Antrias]

I was thinking about trying to put a lid on the sump somehow to get less evap. Will the paint / stain thats on the board already be good enough or i need more? Or are you talking about the part where i made a cut on the board. I could paint that and seal the board with a plastic cap

[The Grizz]

Welcome Antrias, nice to see another salty in red deer. When it comes to partical board stands its best to seal any joints & cuts with silicone to help prevent swelling if it gets wet.

[Antrias]

Got the heatsink today (just took 24 days to ship... Terrible)! Got the LEDs and drivers on there and tomorrow i'll be soldering the connections and testing it out.
Http://imgur.com/Lgq5Xjb.jpg

[Antrias]

I got the LEDs up and running and everything moved into the tank. Now I'm second guessing if i actually have enough LEDs on the tank. My mushrooms aren't opening up very much anymore. Maybe I need some 90 degree optics on them?
http://i.imgur.com/GNqyPFQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/NpUAxoC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/I0NYvHm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GSj8lQS.jpg

[The Grizz]

Looks good, that candy canes in the one pic look happy. Corals need time to acclimate from one light to another. Give things time to get used to the LED's before you do anything.

[Antrias]

I'll give them some time - my anemone is also completely hidden - he jammed himself between rocks. Also go the interior of my stand water proofed. It seemed worked out good actually just taking some clear drying silicone and painted a coat of that on - cant even tell it's there.

Now I'm on a hunt for a good yet cheap protein skimmer to throw underneath and I'm ordering a new nozzle for the return line form the sump: http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-Tube-Directional-Return-Aquarium-Outflow-3-4-1-/290799019873?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43b4f8e761

My self made PVC one is ugly and can't direct the flow at all.

Sometime in the future (probably sooner than alter) I'll build / find a case for the heatsink to go in so that it looks a bit nicer - and so the dimmers have a spot to go

http://i.imgur.com/ha8lLUE.jpg

as well a case for the PSU to go in so that it's not sitting on my sub woofer and can get proper cooling

http://i.imgur.com/8VfD70l.jpg

As well Thanks Grizz for some input :)

[chef]

nice tank
I'd move the rocks away from the glass. much easier to clean and you will be happier in the long run.Just sayin'

[Antrias]

That's a good idea. I'll have to rearrange it. I already noticed that in these salt tanks the stuff that crusts on the glass is super hard to get off! I'm going to buy a cleaner / scraper too of some sorts because my sponge doesn't cut it anymore.

[Dearth]

You can use a razor blade to clean the hard algae off the glass but be warned razors disintegrate fast with salt water even cleaning with fresh water

[kien]

That's looking pretty good!

I'm not sure if you intended to include those photos as URL links or not, but another option (in case you didn't already know) is to include those photos inline using the IMG tags. It's the little yellow icon (looks like a mountain with a moon) in the post editor :-) This way your photos can appear without having to click the link, like this.

http://i.imgur.com/SjGLHtv.jpg

Again, you may already know all this. I only bring it up because people (ME) are lazy :lol:

[Antrias]

I can switch the way I post the photos - I did it the other way because the resolution of the photos is fairly large.

I got my SWC 120 cone skimmer from spit.fire the other day got it setup at 7.5" depth - but all I get is the cup filling with water in about 2 seconds :( I have the air valve wide open and I'v tried adjusting the flow valve but haven't had any success. Anyone have any tips?

[kien]

I can switch the way I post the photos - I did it the other way because the resolution of the photos is fairly large.

Ya, that would be a good reason to post the photos the way that you were originally doing it :-) Carry on :-)

[The Grizz]

If its possible to raise the skimmer some more it might help, recommended height is 5-8".

[Antrias]

I'm bad at this. I sold my 90G freshwater tank and bought a 120G saltwater tank now >.<.

Now I need new LEDs and a new skimmer!

Only debate for me now is do i want to put the effort in again and build the LEDs again or just buy some pre-built ones

[Dearth]

With pre builds its pretty well what you see is what you get with DIY you get to choose colour spectrum and lighting needs

Me I have a phobia of electricity once bitten twice shy so I would just buy premade

[Antrias]

got http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=141010929943&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:CA:3160

Seems like a crazy low price for the specs. Screw building LEDs haha

[Antrias]

Not sure which skimmer to go with - is the price difference worth it?

http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Bubble-Magus-Curve-7-Cone-Skimmer-canada.html

or

http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Reef-Octopus-Diablo-7-w-DC-Pump-170int-200gal.html

[The Grizz]

I would go with the Diablo skimmer. With a controllable DC pump they are very silent & give you a little more control to get the skimmer set just right plus it's a quality built skimmer.

[Antrias]

Now my final debate is the extra $100 for the larger size on my 120 + 40(ish) gal sump

http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Reef-Octopus-Diablo-7-w-DC-Pump-170int-200gal.html

or

http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Reef-Octopus-Diablo-6-w-DC-Pump-150int-125gal.html

More money than I wanted to spend on a skimmer but the specs on these diablo skimmer pumps are just amazing with the 900 l/h of air vs 520 l/h air - from what I understand more air the better + pinwheel gets a finer skim to the needlewheel

[Antrias]

Got the 120G cleaned up and filled with water! But I have to empty it :( the overflow has a small leak in it so it doesn't stop overflowing and causes the sump to overflow when the pump is off :( so now I have to find the spot where it's leaking and fix it. :(

[The Grizz]

Go with the diablo you will not regrete the extra $100. As for the leak, fill the OF with water and see where it leaks out always works for me.

[Antrias]

It was just the difference between two diablo models - i had reef octopus help me out because both descriptions said 300G tanks.

I found the leak it's at the bottom of the overflow :( time to take all the water out to fix it!

[Antrias]

Got the leak in the overflow fixed and the tank filled with water again. Got the DCS-170 ordered, sand and rocks coming to fill the tank up

http://imgur.com/Urgz1Ue

only problem is the overflow is super loud - on my small tank to quiet it up i just used a simple ball valve but it's not working so good on this setup and the slip/slip setup the previous owner was using leaks and constantly drips water at the joints

http://imgur.com/LXpLG4O

I'm not sure what the best way to go from here is - the stand pipes in both overflows are different sizes and they are siliconed into the bulkhead it looks like and the bulkheads are also silconed to the glass

Should i replumb the setup and throw in new bulkheads / standpipes with two separate drains going into the sump or make minor adjustments to what i have?

[Antrias]

Well after all the problems I finally have it all going!

The rock in the tank is just dry rock I got from reefsupplies.ca
http://i.imgur.com/4hVq1og.jpg

I had the wooden canopy made by Bill - Bills woodworking in Delburn it was a really good price. I had to do a little modification because I didn't plan light placement very well but the end result works good
http://i.imgur.com/lLcAsX8.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/78RFunr.jpg

My Reef Octo- DCs-170 and i re plumped the tank from what i had bought it as so that i could get it dead silent.
http://i.imgur.com/NieiRds.jpg