40 gallon build with 30 gallon sump
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Topic: 40 gallon build with 30 gallon sump
Posted By: xessive force
Subject: 40 gallon build with 30 gallon sump
Date Posted: December 28 2013 at 10:29pm
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We'll after being out of the hobby for almost 2 years I am jumping back in. I just picked up a 47 gallon Acrylic DT and a 30 gallon sump. Project one was to get the tank and parts that came with the tank cleaned. Quick trip to Smiths for a bottle of vinegar, some quick soaking, and even more elbow grease the tank is sparkling. (Trying to decide if I want to polish the small scratches out of the tank or just leave them. I am sure as soon as it's filled you won't even see them). Project two was to turn the sump into a fuge. Quick trip to Home Depot for some acrylic sheets and a little silicone. After a few measurements and a couple of cuts, boom, the sump is now a three chamber refugium. I truly do hate working with silicone I seem to make an epic mess every time. Next project is to get the plumbing updated to the way I want it and a leak test. I will be relying mostly on fellow reef addicts for every thing that is going in the tank. I am going to try my best to go ultra slow with this tank but it is always so hard.  I am looking for some good rock to build a interesting landscape with so if any of you have some rock for sale let me know. Also still looking for an affordable lighting system. Tank is 36 inches across.  ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Replies:
Posted By: bstuver
Date Posted: December 28 2013 at 10:36pm
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Welcome back, looking forward to see the progress! ------------- Jackie Stuver "wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: December 29 2013 at 8:39pm
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Holy cow I forgot how much work this can be to get everything up and going. I am ready for water now though I think, I hope Couple of questions first for the first fill up do you guys just start with salt water, or ro, or just water from the house. I am not planning on any leaks I tried to double check everything making sure it was tight etc. Second and the one I most need help with, the way the tank is drilled I am trying to conceive how the drain to the sump will work. I am thinking I may have to build some corner overflow boxes to get it to work right. I am going to try to post some pics so you can get an idea of what I am working with.  ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: December 29 2013 at 8:50pm
 Here is a shot of the tank from the front. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: December 29 2013 at 9:15pm
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I have done some research on building a overflow box both cutting a really large diameter PVC pipe and painting it black or bending an acrylic sheet over heat seem to be a good diy option. I think I would lean towards the PVC if indeed I do need to build the box. Has anyone tried this? Any better ideas? ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: December 30 2013 at 1:45am
| Looking at the tank I have a question . I see 2 pipes with screens on them half way down on the rear , what are they ? Closed loop drains with the return over the back ? |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: December 30 2013 at 8:02am
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To be perfectly honest I am not sure why they are there in the middle of the tank. They are plummed to the main drain to the sump. I am pretty sure I will be building boxes around them to skim the water and have it fall into the newly created chamber and drain from that chamber through the drains you see. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Fatman
Date Posted: December 30 2013 at 8:27am
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Looks like you'll drain half the tank when you shut off the return. You might try a 90 degree elbow out of the bulkhead pointed to the top of the tank, then a pipe up to where you want the water to actually drain from, with the second drain set up the same way, but just a bit higher than the other you have a Herbie. Fat |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 02 2014 at 11:18am
couple of updates of rock work (before I polished the tank) and of murky cloud soup, I am hoping to see a tank full of clear water when I get home from work today. I am still looking for an affordable 36 inch lighting solution for this tank. If anyone has one avalible let me know. Next project is building a canopy.
  ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 02 2014 at 11:24am
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I so wish my tank was ready for Coral so I could get some from the Frag Fest tonight. Have to admit I am kinda jellous of the deals that are going to be there tonight. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 02 2014 at 11:09pm
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So my tank still looks like a light colored miso soup. I was really hoping it would mostly cleared up by now but I guess the waiting game continues. I am running my return pump, my in tank pumps and my skimmer. Wondering if I should shut everything down and wait for it settle? Or just keep doing what I'm doing and be patient? ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: January 03 2014 at 5:36am
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It should be settled by today. I don't know if you are running a filter sock but I usually do and maybe it helps filter the finer particles out of the water. -------------  |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 05 2014 at 8:55pm
Starting to come along here are a couple of pictures of the rock work with the lights on.  Another angle of the rock work  Here is a pic of the set up sump ( thanks for the cheato Dmower)  The canopy that I built is out in the garage with the paint drying. I will post some full tank shots once I get the canopy finished and up on the tank. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: January 05 2014 at 9:07pm
Do this! Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Fatman wrote:Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 07 2014 at 4:39pm
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I did fix the overflows by attaching and elbow joint and raising the drain level with a Herbie method. Seems to be working great.
I have had water in my tank with the rock and live sand. I seeded with live rock and have recently added Cheato from an established tank. I tested my water today and there are no or very minimal nitrates or nitrites ... is the cycle done??? My guess is it still really has not started but it seems wierd to me that it has not started yet.. What are your thoughts ? ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Deluxe247
Date Posted: January 10 2014 at 3:35pm
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What do you have in there to start the cycle? I don't see any fish. You need a source of ammonia to start the cycle. If you don't want to put in a hardy fish or two, try throwing in some frozen krill or shrimp - something that will start to decompose and give the bacteria something to eat and colonize. ------------- 90G Mixed Reef |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 27 2014 at 9:00pm
 ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: jbuck13
Date Posted: January 27 2014 at 9:08pm
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Love the rockwork looks killer! |
Posted By: SNOWRIDER
Date Posted: January 27 2014 at 10:07pm
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Looks good, are you done with your cycle? how long did it take for your tank to cycle? I just started mine. ------------- 75g Just starting out, Stand and canopy From Richins carpentry. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 8:00am
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Edited ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 8:06am
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I believe that I am done with my cycle. I put the dottyback in over the weekend so I am sure there will be another mini cycle but for the most part I believe its done. All the tank chems are in line. No amonia and almost no nitrates or nitrites. The diatom bloom has come and gone. I would say it was two week for the first major cycle and then I have seen bumps adding the clowns three weeks ago the chromis last week and the dotty back last Saturday.
To start the cycle I used live sand, and seeded with live rock both in the sump and a couple of pieces in the display tank. I also was gifted a huge chunk of macro algee from a fellow Utah Reefer that I think helped a lot with the process. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 11:57am
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update youtube link to be non private
------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: 80cent
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 4:14pm
| Tank video looks great. YouTube comments... not so much. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: January 28 2014 at 7:35pm
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Yeah I work with a guy with who finds himself quite the inappropriate comedian. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 04 2014 at 7:48pm
Thanks to a couple frags from Ann the tank has some new color.  I do have a question for you guys though why does my hammer look like this  It has not extended since it went into the tank. I have tried it in a few different positions but it seems to only come out this far. My tank params seem to be right on the money. I tested today and from what I can tell with my kits (api) my calcium is at 480 to 500 ppm. my nitrates and nitrites are close to 0. my alk is at 8. my phosphates are close to 0. What else can I do? ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 04 2014 at 8:00pm
one more shot that did not upload with the first batch. My cell phone does not take the best pictures of course but this frag is a really great Orange color with green mouths. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 04 2014 at 8:23pm
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Is the flow in that area too much for the hammer? ------------- |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 04 2014 at 10:47pm
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There is a decent amount of flow but nothing too heavy and no direct flow from a power head. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 05 2014 at 5:42am
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If it is not flow then I would look closely at ammonia/nitrate/nitrites. ------------- |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: February 05 2014 at 8:40pm
| If all params are good try tucking him in a low flow shaded area for a few days then move him out when he is used to the new system and has some decent extension . Just my O2 as it has worked for me when dealing with LPS |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 14 2014 at 7:32pm
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The hammer does not seem to be making any progress and in fact seems to be bleaching out or something. It has not extended in more than 3 weeks. I am afraide I am going to loose it. It's a nice size piece with 4 heads. Green and purple if it recovers. The parent colony is really good looking. I am thinking of giving it away or maybe trading it for a small frag of something else if anyone wants to trade. I am going to try to get a good shot of what it looks like now. No flesh melting or anything like that just won't open and it's loosing color. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: bmac2
Date Posted: February 15 2014 at 10:10am
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I have had hammer problems wiht new tanks. I would say find someone near you with a more established tank and let it sit in their tank for a couple of weeks and get healthy. Give your tank a while to mature then try again. ------------- Aquarium Creations 300 gallon tank Stand by Dion |
Posted By: LaRue
Date Posted: February 15 2014 at 12:23pm
| You can bring it over and put it in my tank if you want and I'll try to save it for you or if you want a frag for it I can do that also (801)389-9187 |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 21 2014 at 7:08pm
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what is this and why is it killing corals? My rocks were dry, bright white rocks when I put them in the tank. They got a small break out on them when the tank went through its cycle but this has been on them for over two weeks. Kind of slimy/hairy looking covering all the rocks as some of the corals where they touch the rocks. I had two corals that were doing well in the tank for a couple of weeks that were on plugs. I popped the glue off the frag plugs and re-glued the frags to the rocks. The couple of corals that I did that with died within a week. One of them a coral that I really liked so I am pretty bummed. The tanks params all test out fine. The tank life is all doing great except anything that is touching the "white rock." Anything that I put in the tank that is on rubble or frag plugs is still doing just fine. Any help or ideas of what it is and what I need to do to address the issue? you can see it starting to crawl up the ora and it killed one of the limbs  here you can see it clinging to the shadow side of one of the bigger rocks  ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 4:18pm
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? ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 4:20pm
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What are your parameters? Specifically nitrates, phosphates, calcium, and alkalinity. ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: Durff
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 4:36pm
| What kind of light are you running? |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 6:28pm
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4 bulb t5s .. Two actinic, a purple plus, and a 10k bulb. Nitrates and phosphates test out to pretty much 0 calcium is at 340 ppm. I need to test for alk. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Ann_A
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 6:29pm
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How old are the bulbs? ------------- http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53856&title=annes-65g-rsm-reef" rel="nofollow - RSM 250 Reef |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 6:36pm
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About 4 weeks ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: Durff
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 6:50pm
| I'm guessing a lot of your rock was dry rock? If so, how long did you wait for your dry rock to turn to live rock? |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: February 22 2014 at 7:07pm
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One month by far the vast majority of the rock was dry. I did seed the tank with live rock chunks and live sand. My guess is it's some form of Bactria growing on the rocks due to their dry state when I put them in the tank. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |
Posted By: xessive force
Date Posted: March 09 2014 at 7:32pm
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So it's now been about 3 months with the tank fully up and running. The issues that I had with the bacteria covering the rocks and some of the corals seems to have figured itself out. The tank is looking pretty good except no real coriline has started to grow. I have done so much messing with the t5 lights etc from changing bulbs to changing the hight of the fixture ect that I am not supprised. I have settled on one 10k bulb one blue plus bulb and two actinic bulbs. The sump seems to be going great the macro is growing great the bug life is doing great as well. In an attempt to help the coriline get going I used some "purple up" by seachem and I think the swing of ph caused the demise of two of the SPS corals. They bleached out in one day to my anger, that and I saw my coral beauty nipping at one of them . I did not see the fish nip at it until the flesh started melting off. So I think it was a case of it dying first then the fish nipping. With a disclaimer, I have not had good luck with the SPS in the tank however the softies, and zoa's seem to be growing great with quite a few new eyes growing on the zoa's. The leather has been growing and has its feeders out quite a bit. The two mushrooms in the tank look great and are growing. The hammer seems to be doing better. The disclaimer is I went way to fast trying to put corals in before the tank was ready for them I think. I am trying to slow myself down and get the tank more automated let it mature and then I will start adding frags slowly. For now I am just going to let it keep growing up as hard as it is because the rocks sure do look bare Big new for my little tank is this week I added an auto top off system that is pretty diy. I got the switches from Adam and I wired in a small maxi jet pump. Seems to be working for now, I will keep my eyes on it for the next few days to make sure the water levels stay constant. ------------- Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why they call it the present. |