Asylumdown's 275 Tank build

[gregzz4]

About cutting the PVC ...
Ask around your neighbourhood for someone with a mitre/chop saw.
I ended up buying one of these as I had tons of cuts to make and didn't want rough edges

[gregzz4]

As for your heaters ....
3-5 watts/g is a good idea. I don't know what your total water volume is or I'd suggest a heater group.
I like having multiple smaller heaters so no single one can cook the tank if it is stuck on and I'm not relying so much on a few to do the job of many.
I have my heaters connected to a controller and they are set 1-2 degrees above my target temp so they always engage.
Also, this way if something goes sideways and they are all permanently on, there's less chance they will thoroughly cook everyone.

[gregzz4]

I ran my heaters one at a time in a bucket with a powerhead and a trusted thermometer to pre-set them

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

About cutting the PVC ...
Ask around your neighbourhood for someone with a mitre/chop saw.
I ended up buying one of these as I had tons of cuts to make and didn't want rough edges

It turns out I go to school in a faculty that has a fully equipped shop, so I got one of my master's of Architecture friends to cut lengths for me on the saw, worked out perfectly!

Originally Posted by gregzz4

As for your heaters ....
3-5 watts/g is a good idea. I don't know what your total water volume is or I'd suggest a heater group.
I like having multiple smaller heaters so no single one can cook the tank if it is stuck on and I'm not relying so much on a few to do the job of many.
I have my heaters connected to a controller and they are set 1-2 degrees above my target temp so they always engage.
Also, this way if something goes sideways and they are all permanently on, there's less chance they will thoroughly cook everyone.

Yah, I wanted more heaters to spread out the risk. My total volume is somewhere in the 350-400 gallon range, so I don't think the 900 watts that I was planning is going to cut it.

[asylumdown]

Here's the tank as seen from my desk


I can't wait to get lights over it!

I also got my new toy running


Hopefully it will pull some of the cloudiness out of the water over the next couple of days.

The cocktail shrimp in the sump are starting to stink to high heaven. I've got the ceiling fan (which is unacceptably loud, we'll see what my options for fixing that are) running to keep the sump from gagging me every time I open the doors.

Ammonia: 3ppm
Nitirite: Between 0.25 and 0.50ppm
Nitrate: Between 0 and 5ppm. API test kits are sort of crappy for that. It's closer to zero.

The Dr. Tim's appears to have sped the process up at least.

[asylumdown]

I'm starting to think that 10 rotting cocktail shrimp might have been a tad excessive...

Day 5 of the cycle, and the shrimp in the bag are starting to melt.

Ammonia: between 1 and 2ppm, but probably closer to 2
Nitrite: off the chart. It goes to 5ppm, and my vial is even darker and more brilliant than that. It's quite pretty actually.
Nitrate: Between 10 and 20ppm

So the bacterial conveyor belt is working, I think I've just overloaded it

Oh well, the rocks will be more than able to support life when it's done.

I'm picking up my lights today!

[soaptray]

Cant wait to see the lights - what did you end up going with again? Don't recall seeing it in your thread.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by soaptray

Cant wait to see the lights - what did you end up going with again? Don't recall seeing it in your thread.

I went with radions. Here's hoping they're everything they're cracked up to be!

[soaptray]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

I went with radions. Here's hoping they're everything they're cracked up to be!

I'm envious! How many did it take 3 or 4?

Ill be doing my 200g this summer, and would like to do the same if I can get them at a good price.

[justincgdick]

Can I ask how you had your panels done? What exactly are they?