My 90 gal build + stand build

gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3159151
I like your end table, stand. You have some good wood working skills.

You forgot electronics holder but I do appreciate the compliment. What I have in woodworking I lack in the ability to run a drain from the dang tank to the sump.
I did get a design from the LFS guy but I bought a 1 1/2 fitting for a 1 1/4 hose. That dont work so good!
Well thers always tomorrow.
Oh I think I forgot to mention. I actually have a SALTWATER tank now. YAY!
I also have 140lb LR coming Friday.
24lb Fiji Fancy Branch
90lb Select Fiji Premium
30lb Vanuatu LR
Hope it looks as good as it did where I ordered it from.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Ok finally I have a solution to a lot of the noise from the down pipe (drain) on the aquarium. Here is a diagram of what I am calling a muffler.

Here is the thought behind the design. Credit to LFS owner plus my added twist.
Run your drain pipe to a larger PVC pipe. I went from 1 1/4 to a 2 pvc pipe. Thats where the reducer in the diagram fits in. Then you put a T fitting on the PVC pipe and then extend the pipe to the bottom of the tank. Remember to dry fit everything. No need to glue due to no pressure anyway. Ok, now you want to place the 90 elbow on the T fitting. This also can be just dry fit. You want the hole in the end of the 90 to be just above the water line in your sump. What this piece allows for is air to escape prior to being forced out of the bottom of the muffler (pipe) This is what stops all that violant bubbles and burping. Now in the pipe you extended down to the bottom of the tank. You want to cut 2 large holes in the pipe on each side of the pipe. The holes need to be large enough so that the flow from your return pump is not restricted. Now the final thing I did to add to the muffling effect was to cut some of that sponge (used primarily for bubble trap) small enough to fit tightly into the elbow of the 90 degree fitting. Twist the fitting so that its hole is horizontal to the water and not perpendicular. This will quite the noise inside the pipe as well as stop any "spitting" that my occur.
This worked pretty well for me. Give it a try and let me know if you have other methods you use to fix such issues.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
I don't guess I follow you. Is this up high by the OF box, or down in the sump area?
Sorry, just can't picture it in my head right now.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Thanks, I hope to get a first look at my LR in a couple of hours. I have my fingers crossed that the selections will be nice chunks with some very diverse pieces.
Ill post some pics when I get them in the tank.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Man the Live Rock came in and it looks great. Big chunks with lots of color. One of the pieces still had ocean mud on it. I really am happy with the pieces. Here are some pics after I started placing them in the tank.

 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Ok tank cleared for the most part. Used oolite grade sand. Its real pretty but dang that stuff made a fog in my tank.
Got all the rock back in and if it looks good in the morning when I get total visibility back then I will post some pics. I found that the 18" width of the tank really limits what I had originally thought I would be able to do. I didnt want to end up with a wall of rock. I think I have a nice looking reef with the different shapes and kind of rock. We will see what the night and morning reveals.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
I would agree with you on the wall thing. I too fight with myself trying not to get that look. Or the pile of rock look. Then you fight with it cause it doesn't lend to a lot of coral placement.
Maybe I think about it too hard.
Anyway, I bet what you will see, will be very nice. You have an eye for detail.
I am looking forward to the pics.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Thanks Posiden. I see a couple of things I might change today but all in all I dont think that I can do much different then what I have this morning. One very nice thing is that I did end up with a lot of caves and tunnels. I will probably need to add some epoxy to a couple of the rocks but most of them seemed to settle into their spots nicely. Again I think I will post some pictures in a little while.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Ok I haven't done an update in a while but this whole sit and wait for the cycle thing doesn't have a lot of points of interest. I have been getting some readings for ammonia and nitrite. Things seem to be doing just what they are suppose to. Hard to tell how long the tank will take this being the 9th day and all. I am setting up the Reefkeeper Elite today. Getting the PH probe calibrated this morning. I also went ahead and ordered an ORP probe. Why not its only money! Next big, well major effort, task will be running a CAT 5 cable. For some reason I thought the Reefkeeper was a wireless Head unit. You would think for the bargain price of (with optional modules) around $700.00 it would have that little bell or whistle. Well never fear the DA folks say that by the end of the year it probably will. Thats just great! That means for the next 2 months I can use this cable that is probably gonna cause me some major work and stress then I can fork out another 79.99 and get the wireless module. Hey thats great. Im not bitter I love progress!! Oh yeah I didn't mention that they released this thing without a software package to track my parameters on my PC. However again they are suppose to have the most up to date progressive software package of any controller out by, you guessed it, the end of the year! Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased with my purchase so far and its great to have the cutting edge versus waiting on updates. On another note the LR seems to be getting more color. It appears it likes its new home. Pics on the controller to come. I know you people love pictures!
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Everyone should have a controller. No, I dont mean my wife! I mean an aquarium controller. I am having much fun. Just hooked up the Moonlight control and I went with the blue led. Looks amazing. I would take a pic but I am sure it would lose its beauty so I will spare the crowd (the 3 people reading this thread) the pain of trying to make the color out. Next I have to figure out how to make my T-5s fade in and out. From what I understand about the icecap 660 its capable of doing this. I also understand that it will kill the bulbs quicker but hey I dont want to stall the economy by slowing down the cash flow to the LFS.

Thanks for the compliment JAXFishGirl. I have been working hard but I am starting to see good progress so its all worth it.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Been working on the auto top off with the Digital Aquatics controller. It looks like it is gonna work well. Also I have been looking at the ammonia and nitrite levels. The ammonia continues down and the nitrite is starting to fall as well.
I would assume, with this being the end of the second week, that due to my using as much LR as I did and it being of quality cured well prior to receiving that this is the reason for the cycle moving so quickly. Looking at the nitrite level coming in around .4 and the ammonia at .2 or lower . I would say we are getting close. I plan however to give it an additional week after I reach 0 ammonia. The coraline algae seems to really be on the come back. Lots of color on the rocks. I also added another Koralia 2 pump to the system. I may use it as well as an additional one for night time seas. For now I am going to use it to pump a little more water around the rocks.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Appears that some "life" has emerged or been washed off the LR. I have several, 5 to 8, small brown cocoon like things floating in the tank and have found 1 on the rock itself. Any idea to what these are? They are about the size of rice grain and brown. I took one out and looked at it and it appeared grub like is the best way I could describe it. I also have something attached to a rock that appears to be coral. It has a purple appearance. I will try to get a picture of it and the brown things and post the.
Here is a link to some youtube video I did on the "life" forms and some inside look at the LR in the tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emdGmcT03nE
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top