220 FOWL Tank Diary

[hefner413]

Base rock in first, either way... then sand or water next. Either way, you'll get a sand/dust storm - if you haven't rinsed the sand first.
I preferred water first, then adding sand. Just remember about displacement if you do it this way. I filled the tank with water to about 75%, then cut a hole in the sand bag and put the entire bag down in the tank. The sand flowed out with a little less of a sand storm this way.
But I figure adding sand first and then water would work fine too..

 

[aquaknight]

Well I guess it depends what you use. If you use strickly "live sand"

, and live rock, then the water has to be in first. If you use Home Depot sand, I'd at the sand first, then water, then the rock. Be sure to push the rocks all the way to the bottom of the tank.
Definitely wash Depot sand either way...

 

[gtdarock]

Hey guys ! Everything is up and running. I used my old live sand from my old 175. I put in the salt first, then added water, then added two tunze's to get the water stirring up. After that I put some eggcrate on the bottom, then some base rock and finally sand. Also the Mag 18 I bought didn't work, it won't come on. So I am using an old Mag 24,temporally but the dam thing is vibrating like crazy. I can even lift the pump up and its still vibrating, a loud humming noise. Even the pipes are vibrating. Do you guys thing its coming from the pipes-? Because its mounted against the stand -? I am waiting to get another Mag 18, maybe next week.

 

[rcreations]

Looking good! I bet it feels nice to get everything up and running.
Not sure what the problem is with the Mag24 vibrating. Mine is really quiet. I can hear the water running in the pipes more than the pump. They do take a few days to get going and are a little noisy at first.

 

[gtdarock]

Really ! Noisy at first. Glad to hear that, so maybe it will go away. Do you have anything under the pump-?

 

[rcreations]

Yes, I have that foam piece that comes with the pump. It's sort of like a thick mouse pad that sticks under the pump. Also my pump is connected using flexible PVC pipe. Not sure if that makes a difference with the noise.

 

[gtdarock]

Ok, thanks again for the info. I'll change to the flexible tubing.
I do have most of the piping attached to the stand with a horseshoe clamp, it might be that also. Because when I put my hand on the pipe, you can feel the vibration.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey guys ! I know the pics are a little bad, but what do you think of the rock work-? Also, how much of a sand bed I should have in my Display-? 2- 3inches-? Thanks !

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by GTDAROCK
http:///forum/post/2817226
Hey guys ! I know the pics are a little bad, but what do you think of the rock work-? Also, how much of a sand bed I should have in my Display-? 2- 3inches-? Thanks !
Lookin good man!

I like 2 inchs for the sandbed, of course I don't use sand in a FOWLR so I'm not the best to answer. I would play around with the rockwork a bit, try some different stuff while you don't have any fish in there. Maybe try the "2 tower" approach, create some tunnels, so on, personally I like to see more open swimming area, but to each their own. Messing around with it until you like it is fun to me though.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey Kjr ! How are you -? So 2in for the sandbed, sounds good. How come you don't use sand in your FOWLR-? Yea, your right about the rocks, more swimming room. The way I got it now, I was trying to hide the overflow box.But its also blocking the back of the tank. I'll work on it this weekend

 

[kjr_trig]

Originally Posted by GTDAROCK
http:///forum/post/2817490
Hey Kjr ! How are you -? So 2in for the sandbed, sounds good. How come you don't use sand in your FOWLR-? Yea, your right about the rocks, more swimming room. The way I got it now, I was trying to hide the overflow box.But its also blocking the back of the tank. I'll work on it this weekend
With the bruisers (2 Wrasses and 2 Triggers) I have in my tank, I can't have much of a clean up crew, I vacuum the substrate to keep it clean, I find crushed coral much easier to vacuum. I would prefer sand, but if its not clean, I don't like the look of it.

 

[rcreations]

I think the rockwork you choose depends on the fish you'll keep. Some fish like more hiding spaces, other more open space. Either way, I'd create lots of caves, both small and large. Looks good so far! 2" of sand is ok...1 to 2 is what I have in my tank.

 

[gtdarock]

Most likely, I'll have some tangs, a puffer, a lion, and I'll try two angels. So what kind of rockwork should I have -?

 

[rcreations]

I think you need a lot of LR for tangs and angels. These are fish that like to graze off the LR a lot. I think you need more than what I see in your picture. I know in my tank, I see the two tangs and queen angel constantly eating off the rocks. Plus my powder blue just loves swimming in and out of caves. The naso is more of a straight swimmer, back and forth in the front.
Fish that don't need a whole lot of LR are triggers, wrasses and even lions. They need some but not as much.

 

[aquaknight]

I would agree with KJR, and consider a 2 tower or 2 island approach. Doing this will actually use up a ton more rock then you'd think, especially when you try to make it all the way to the top of the water

. The way it's aquascaped now, there's really only one 'cave' per side. But with a nice thick tower, there can be multiple caves, side-by-side, if you get what I'm trying to say. Then that lets tons of swimming room, on the sides and middle.

 

[hefner413]

hey man. I like your rock and sand! I see that it would be nice to cover the overflow, but I would probably agree that a 2 tower approach might be better. You might do one larger and then one smaller.
I see that you have the sand blowing around problem like I did. I kept having the front center sand blown to bare glass. It's a pain to try to get the ph's right. But don't try adjusting the ph's until you have the rock in place... you move the rock and the flow changes again.
And you sump/plumbing look awesome. I would love to do something that nice under my 55.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey Hef ! Yea, I'll go with the two tower setup, thanks. I'll do it this weekend and have the pics up soon. Yep, I got the sand blowing all over the place, but your right, I'll wait till I setup the rocks. The plumbing, I gotta do over, cuz I used all PVC, and the pump is vibrating like crazy, so I have to change all to flexible tubing. Also, you have any ideas on what kind of light I should get-? I was looking to get one, that will cover the whole tank,from side to side.

 

[rcreations]

Before redoing your entire plumbing, I think you should check that the pump itself isn't the problem. Maybe you have a bad pump. I'd hate to see you do all that work if you don't have to. Take out the pump and run it in a bucket of water, see if it still makes noise.

 

[gtdarock]

Hey guys ! Hey R ! Its been a while,but things progressing with the tank. I did over half of the plumbing with flexible tubing, and the vibrating noise kind of went away. It still has a hum to it. Maybe I should put some large pieces of foam under it.Hey R, I did check the pump in a bucket of water, and it was quite.
So basically that my only problem. I am working on the two tower approach with the rocks, I should have pics tomorrow.
I got 2in of sand in the display, but how much of a DSB should I have in the refugium-? Should I put some Mud first-? I heard a 6in DSB is good.And finally, I need advise of finding a light for the tank. I did started a thread, on the lighting section on this site. I found a 2008 Odessea 72in fixture on the net, will that be ok -? As always, your help would be greatly appreciated !

 

[gtdarock]

Wow, I guess no Odessea, they are pron on catching on fire. Any suggestions guys-?