'Fringe Benefits'... On hold...

BlueAbyss · #1 10-23-2008, 07:35 AM

I've been putting a lot of thought into my tank build, and in the end I think I've decided to build my own 60 G acrylic tank. That is, after I experiment a bit with something on a smaller scale

So I'm starting up the 20 after all. As it goes (and it will go slow, I have a lot of ideas I want to implement and experiment with) I will document it here, including pics (when there's something to see), and costs involved (including time). Here's where I'm at so far:

I went to Walmart today and bought 2 Aquarium Products 100w heaters, thinking they were a cheap model (not the case, Aquarium Products makes Instant Ocean salt which for being around as long as it has must be a decent product). They were hanging on a rack that said 4.17, and the boxes are not at all flashy or overly interesting looking. After getting them for that price instead of the over 20 bucks that I paid at the till (when I noticed they had been mislabeled), I got them home and did some research and sure enough got an awesome deal on a pair of good quality (hopefully) heaters.

While I was down there I went to Canadian Tire and checked out some prices on PVC and other plumbing stuff. I'll be making a trip to Home Hardware to check stuff out there too, one of these days. I have a feeling I'm going to be doing some... lets say interesting plumbing, so this little foray to the plumbing section helped me get an idea of the cost of what I'm thinking about.

So here's a couple things I want to experiment with:

Surge devices. I have a couple ideas about this and have done some research, so I want to play with this. I'm thinking of a super low velocity, high flow system...
LED lighting. I eventually want to build my own fixture...
Building my own downdraft skimmer (more on this later). I decided that I would build my own, related to the build of my sump / algae filter (I say algae filter since most of those little critters that live in refugiums apparently don't survive the trip through the impeller in the pump)

That's where I'm at. Like I said earlier, this will be a slow build as both time and money (mostly money

and my lack of experience are factors here. There will be pics when there is something to show everyone!

michika · #2 10-23-2008, 01:45 PM

I hope your going to be taking photos, because this sounds really cool!

Whatigot · #3 10-23-2008, 01:57 PM

yeah...
this hs tank journal written all over it.

BlueAbyss · #4 10-24-2008, 05:43 AM

After discovering that the floor where I'm choosing to put the tank (and the furniture it's sitting on) isn't level and that I'm going to have to shim before I decide to fill it (which will be in a few months at best), I spent the day thinking deeply and doing more research on surge devices.

EDIT: Having done a bit more research, I've settled on a CSD. I will be building an accessory baffle chamber to remove the bubbles incorporated into the CSDs siphon.

I will be updating this thread later this month with some of my new ideas, to gauge what more experienced people think. My plan has evolved a bit since it's inception, partially because I feel I need a bigger tank to accomplish what I want, and some other reasons... more to come.

BlueAbyss · #5 01-25-2009, 09:20 AM

So here's what I've come to...

20 gallon display, half seagrass planted, half reef.

The seagrass will be Halophila spp. (Oar, Paddle, or Star grass), with some Halodule spp. (Shoal grass) for contrast. These will be planted in a substrate of 'mud' in a container hidden under the sand, making for easy removal (when it comes time to thin the stands and to help contain the mud).

The reef will start off as uncured live rock, probably about 30 lbs worth... I was looking at J&L's website, and would likely go with half Irian Jaya, and half Vanuatu. This may seem like a lot of live rock but this way I can pick and choose which pieces I like best, and also because it's uncured, anything that will live in the conditions that I can provide will survive and multiply. I realize that this is a bad idea in most cases, but since the tank is just starting out I can likely just use this as the tank cycle. I will give it normal light, change water daily, and skim heavily... I'll lay it all out in detail later, in a further post, with a proposed stocking list etc.

The display and sump...

Detail of chipped sump edge, I water tested it though and it's good... I'll silicone it double just to be safe.

Stripping silicone really sucks. Is it true that acetone will take off the residue left from stripping it with a blade?

BlueAbyss · #6 01-25-2009, 08:45 PM

Alright, so here's the proposed tank plan, if anyone would like to critique...

20 gallon display, 15 gallon sump.

I was thinking that I'd like to go with a coast-to-coast across the back of the tank because the vast majority of the water flow through this tank will be surged, and I don't think I'm gonna bother with trying to make it all quiet beyond making the siphon for the CSD quieter... Herbie's don't work overly well with surge. There will be a 1" bulkhead returning the water from the tank to the sump, which should be enough to handle the 600 gph I want to run through this tank. But without further ado, lets talk about flow and surge!

I will be running 2 pumps on timers. Pump 1 will run during the day, turning over the tank at a total rate of roughly 600 gph or around 30X. Most of this will run through a tuned surge tank that will drop a volume of about 1.5 liters every 2.5 seconds, the balance will run through the tank directly. Pump 2 will run at night, about 300 gph... 15X turnover. More of this will make it through the tank without being surged, though there will be a smaller surge of 1 liter every 4 or 5 seconds. Both surge and direct flow will be piped into the tank through a plenum system built into the rockwork... likely 4" acrylic tube will be used for this.

I will be running a skimmer (I've been looking at the Tunze 9005 or 9205), at least during the startup phase (first 4 months). I also have a pair of 100W heaters...

that will reside in the sump with the pumps and skimmer. I may also consider an ATO, though probably not unless the need is shown ie: the fluctuations in the sump are severe enough to warrant it. This tank will be uncovered, so evaporation may become a problem but I'll welcome the extra humidity in the mean time.

As far as lighting goes, I'm currently torn. MH seems like the way to go, but I'll still need T5s to go with it, so I'm not 'light-shocking' the tank when the MHs come on. It may be better to just get T5HO to start off with... any thoughts here would be greatly appreciated. One problem with MHs is I find many to be too blue for my liking, but I still want to be able to get some fluorescence out of my corals and zoos... and I love the shimmer they produce. So what is everyone's experience with lighting? I could really use some insight.

TENTATIVE STOCKING LIST!

Plants:
Halimeda spp., calcareous algae
Chlorodemsis spp. (Maidens Hair algae)
Peyssonnelia spp. (Red Plate algae)
Halophila spp. (Oar, Paddle, or Star grass)
Halodule spp. (Shoal grass)

Sessile Inverts:
Christmas Tree Worm Rock, with Porites spp. coral... I love feather dusters

Photosynthetic sponges Halichondria or Haliclona spp.
Zoanthids, I'll be running carbon.
Montipora / Acropora spp.
Caulastrea or some other LPS coral that will keeps it's tentacles to itself. Maybe Blastomussa?
Muriceopsis flavida, Purple plume gorgonian, or some other photosynthetic gorgonian.

Benthic Inverts:
Gnathophyllum americanum (Bumblebee Shrimp) - probably a group of 5
Lybia tesselata (Pom Pom Crab) - single. I may decide against this one, I haven't decided yet.
Snails - I haven't decided if I will buy snails for this tank, I'm hoping something comes in on my live rock. If not (or if nothing survives) I'll go with a couple Nerite spp.

Fishes:
Doryrhamphus excisus (Bluestriped Pipefish) - a pair. These will likely be the only fish in the tank.
Discordipinna griessingeri (Flaming Prawn Goby) or Stonogobiops yasha (Yasha Goby) - single if I decide that I need another fish, and the 'pod population can handle it.

Thoughts are appreciated, thanks for reading

BlueAbyss · #7 01-26-2009, 10:50 AM

The section of the reef I am trying to replicate is called the 'fringe', where seagrass beds meet the edge of the reef. Hence the change in name to this thread. A little wierd, I know... but I'm up late reading about aquarium stuff, so I'm probably slightly delerious

Whatigot · #8 01-27-2009, 09:34 PM

can't wait to see it in action.
sounds like a lot of planning, and that always seems to translate into a very nice tank.

Marlin65 · #9 01-28-2009, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

Stripping silicone really sucks. Is it true that acetone will take off the residue left from stripping it with a blade?

No that won't work probably too late with my response, but they make some silicone remover look for it at home depot.

BlueAbyss · #10 01-29-2009, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marlin65

No that won't work probably too late with my response, but they make some silicone remover look for it at home depot.

Nope not too late, I'm drawing on the tank with a whiteboard marker to figure out where the holes are going and what my proposed aquascape will look like... I'll be ordering a couple glass drill bits once I get the stand built. Part of the system will now become a 'fuge, namely part of the surge tank... more on this later as I work out the details.

Thanks for the info, I'll ask at Can Tire or Home Hardware to see what they have.