Novahobbies official 110g rebuild thread

kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
oh okay.
I had the black sand in my 29 cube, liked it alot.
Grab a magnet and hold it to the bag. My black sand was magnetic. Not good. Got in my powerheads and the magnet behind it, my magnafloat and scratched my glass.
Just a heads up.
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
It had lead in it. This is probably why my Zoa's died off. Who knows.
Just try the magnet trick. Run it through the sand and check.
 
S

siptang

Guest
Holy crap, magnet? Lead? Wow... yea nova, do the magnet check... that's crazy...
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/280#post_3486020
oh okay.
I had the black sand in my 29 cube, liked it alot.
Grab a magnet and hold it to the bag. My black sand was magnetic. Not good. Got in my powerheads and the magnet behind it, my magnafloat and scratched my glass.
Just a heads up.
I remember that thread or one like it...the sand was not a magnet per say...there was some other reason only the saltwater professors could explain ..LOL, even after they explained it..I didn't understand it. In the end it was safe to use. However it is good to have the headsup about the stuff scratching the glass/acrylic with the magfloat.
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/280#post_3486035
It had lead in it. This is probably why my Zoa's died off. Who knows.
Just try the magnet trick. Run it through the sand and check.
Kiefers, this is very interesting - thank you! Couple o' questions:
1) how attractive was the sand to the magnet? I just did a dual test on some dry sand. Nothing at all picked up with a regular style magnet. I grabbed a big honkin' neodymium magnet I had laying around (you know, like you do.....) and that one picked up a couple pieces. This is a strong magnet, though....over 250 lbs pull force, and the kind of magnet that will "energize" even diamagnetic elements.**
2) How do you know that the sand had lead in it? Did you have it tested for lead at any point? I ask because lead has no magnetic properties...not even a diamagnetic metal....so the fact the sand is magnetic doesn't necessarily mean there is lead in it.
I think given the low magnetic pull I'm going to proceed....but with caution. I didn't know AT ALL about this issue, so kudos to Kiefers for pointing it out. I'll make sure my powerheads are a little higher up so there's no chance (little chance, anyway) of sand getting into the impeller housing, and I already planned to put a stained wood border along the tank bottom to cover the black plastic band of the tank....this just sealed the deal for me. I'll make it a little bit taller so I don't risk going too close to the sand.
I'm also going to run a polyfilter in it to see what, if any, metals show up on the filter. IIRC polyfilter changes color depending on the metals it "filters out," so I'll report on that when I start cycling.
Seriously, though...thanks for the heads up. Now I know I may have to swap it out. I don't mind, as long as I'm prepared for it.
**Diamagnetic elements will change their electron spin to oppose a magnetic field, so whatever is in the sand is not diamagnetic....rather most likely some very small amount of iron, cobalt, or nickel. Can't be very much, though, as the regular magnet didn't have any effect.
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
The magnet I used was the one from my powerhead and magnifloat. It looks very similar to lead and took it to my LFS where I got the sand.
I liked the black sand, really, but when I discover sand in my magnet from my powerhead it bothered me a little. Just ran it through the wet sand and it picked up alot.
You are right tho, I should have taken it to the lab at work and ask if they could run a test on it. My bad
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/280#post_3486060
I remember that thread or one like it...the sand was not a magnet per say...there was some other reason only the saltwater professors could explain ..LOL, even after they explained it..I didn't understand it. In the end it was safe to use. However it is good to have the headsup about the stuff scratching the glass/acrylic with the magfloat.
I too remember that thread, it was mine Lol....
I believe Sir Joe and Mr. Spanko looked into it, I can't however remember the final outcome
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/280#post_3486070
The magnet I used was the one from my powerhead and magnifloat. It looks very similar to lead and took it to my LFS where I got the sand.
I liked the black sand, really, but when I discover sand in my magnet from my powerhead it bothered me a little. Just ran it through the wet sand and it picked up alot.
You are right tho, I should have taken it to the lab at work and ask if they could run a test on it. My bad
Well, like you said.....regardless of lead or not, SOMETHING was killing off your zoas. And I can easily see how this stuff would scratch the glass. I'm going to have to be very careful with it, clearly.
I'm draining the tank now. That return pump is frelling LOUD. Glad I could turn it off after a few minutes and let the siphon do its thing. No leaks, not that I was expecting any. But still....close to two years dry, at least 12 months of that being knocked around in a POD storage....it would have been foolish in the extreme to just throw sand and saltwater in there. When the tank's drained, I'll install the overflow plumbing today, do a small leak check for the seals, then I'll add the sand and the rocks back. I'll also place the powerheads and run the electrical for them.
Speaking of powerheads. I have two Koralia Evolution 1400gph pumps and two older Koralia "3" pumps that push 850gph. My thought was to put the two 1400gph Evos on the wavemaker and set it to 30 second intervals. These two will go on the sides of the tank, near the back glass but angled towards the front glass, about 2/3rds the way up the tank. The two 850gph pumps are going to go on the back glass itself, about 1/3rd the way up....one on either side of the RR overflow. These will point parallel to the sand bed but angle across the tank just a little...and these two will be constant on. I'm thinking the actual return nozzles will point down against the back of the tank to help keep debris from settling...but now I need to make sure it's not too strong a flow to create a sandstorm. I will also need to drill a siphon break of I do that. Thoughts or suggestions?
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
In regards to your powerheads, I believe that to be great for the flow. Powerheads are crazy in the fact that you have to play with them to find the "happy place".
I have 2 750's and the are pointed upwards to creat the tsunomi effect but I get great flow on the bottom to. Thinking of putting a 550 on the bottom side and pointing it to the other side to get the crap out from the back.
I do believe you will have great flow for what you have. Keep the other for maybe the back of thr tank.
Going to follow now for sure. I'm excited!
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Taking a break. Tank is siphoned and mostly empty...might be a gallon or so on the bottom that I can't reach. I'll adjust the salinity as needed. I managed to sneak in a water change for the seahorse tank while the siphon was doing its job. I also dug out ALL my jugs to load in the back of the van for tomorrow. I was toying with the thought of getting water today, but they close at 5 on Sundays and I'm really nowhere near that point yet. If all goes well, I'll post some pics of the tank tonight with just sand and rock.
 
S

siptang

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///t/391428/novahobbies-official-110g-rebuild-thread/280#post_3486075
Well, like you said.....regardless of lead or not, SOMETHING was killing off your zoas. And I can easily see how this stuff would scratch the glass. I'm going to have to be very careful with it, clearly.
I'm draining the tank now. That return pump is frelling LOUD. Glad I could turn it off after a few minutes and let the siphon do its thing. No leaks, not that I was expecting any. But still....close to two years dry, at least 12 months of that being knocked around in a POD storage....it would have been foolish in the extreme to just throw sand and saltwater in there. When the tank's drained, I'll install the overflow plumbing today, do a small leak check for the seals, then I'll add the sand and the rocks back. I'll also place the powerheads and run the electrical for them.
Speaking of powerheads. I have two Koralia Evolution 1400gph pumps and two older Koralia "3" pumps that push 850gph. My thought was to put the two 1400gph Evos on the wavemaker and set it to 30 second intervals. These two will go on the sides of the tank, near the back glass but angled towards the front glass, about 2/3rds the way up the tank. The two 850gph pumps are going to go on the back glass itself, about 1/3rd the way up....one on either side of the RR overflow. These will point parallel to the sand bed but angle across the tank just a little...and these two will be constant on. I'm thinking the actual return nozzles will point down against the back of the tank to help keep debris from settling...but now I need to make sure it's not too strong a flow to create a sandstorm. I will also need to drill a siphon break of I do that. Thoughts or suggestions?
I have same powerhead as you (evo 1400) and a k3 however my k3 makes click sounds as koralia wavemaker turns back on. (magnets finding it's place is what I found out)
I heard that applying some epoxy inside the pole area where the fan sits will hold it stiff yet not interfere with the overall function of the power head. I will post pics up later to show you what I mean.
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
Sounds good. Look forward to it. I just got my new covers because for some unknown reason I kept finding little rubber stopper at the bottom of my tank. They sent me 6 new covers free!! Wow.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Kiefers, Your SN reminds me of an actor.... Kiefer Sutherland.... Like your last name starts with an S and the only S last name that goes through my head is Sutherland. LOL Speaking of vampires....
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Oh, wow. Yeah, I think we are pretty close in age then. HAHA. That's awesome.
For some reason, I thought you were some old geezer with white hair... always complaining about having to lift things. BWHAHAHAHA j/k
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Picture time.
The left hand main power cabinet:

Right hand cabinet. This will be for ATO, but I figured it was best to have a few outlets in here for just-in-case purposes.

All power is mounted up and out of the way of any potential water hazards. I hope.
Columns being replaced:

Sand is in, and adding some more rock:

Still more rock:

A view down the side:

Full tank shot:

Full Cabinet Shot:

That's it for tonight, folks. Tomorrow's afternoon job will be installing the sump, the hoses from the overflow, and routing all the power cords from the sump equipment back to the main electrical cabinet. I'll also be picking up 30g of saltwater from the LFS after work. It will probably go in the tank tomorrow night as well...depends on how tired I am.
There's probably about 3 gallons of fresh water in the tank, what with the water left over from the siphon, the leak-test water in the overflow, and the water from the sand bags. I'll have to check the salinity and add some Prime to make sure there are no chloramines, but this small amount of tap water shouldn't be too problematic.
 
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