Saltn00b's Multi-Phase Upgrade Diary!

[saltn00b]

so far so good! the fuge is holding strong!
when i first added the 40 lbs plain aragonite it was a finer grain and the loose particles blew a cloud of fine white silt on everything in my DT! its almost all gone now, but it looked like a giant snow globe for a while there.
also the return line from skimmer was being directed via PVC straight into the sand making a giant crater. i was taken back by how much pressure the skimmer pushes out, because it always used to seems like it just 'fell out' of the gate valve. anyway, i popped a 90 degree elbow on it so the flow is now across the surface.
I also continued the PVC from the DT drain to be submerged ~1" below the surface in the entry chamber to reduce evaporation. well --- that worked , slightly! i am losing about 1.25 gallons a day i am figuring so far. The third section to feed the pump should have been larger to lengthen time between top offs, but eventually i would like to get an auto top off unit so it wouldnt matter.

 

[chuckcac]

Hi there saltn00b - I just recently posted a sump/refugium DIY thread (i heard Sqiudd id THE MAN) - in Lighting/EQ/DIY section :jumping:
Would i be able to entice you to comment on it? Ive never done this before and i've been following your thread, & it sure looks like you know what you're doing...

:help: ?

 

[isistius]

aren't you happy that we made it the size we did? you would have been swearing like a sailor if we made it smaller.

 

[saltn00b]

chuck - sure i will be happy to check it out, thanks for reading along!
isistius - i told you so nannana

yea, at first i was worried about how quickly it was going , but i slowed evap rate another 50% easily by submerging the drain pipe. i would venture if i directed the skimmer return to drop into say, the up baffle as to not churn up and agitate the huge surface area of the skimmer section, it be reduced even more so....

 

[isistius]

probably. then again, maybe not
:thinking:

 

[saltn00b]

well if you are ever having heat problems a surefire trick to help you along is aim some PHs at the surface of your DT to keep it nice and rippled to aid in evap. so it should work the same way working backwards if i already have a lot of surface agitation...

 

[isistius]

so you think, young grasshopper

 

[saltn00b]

 

[saltn00b]

well everything is still holding up. the new dead aragonite sand must have spurred a mini cycle that i wasnt prepared for or expecting. ammo was zero but my trites were up to .1 and my trates around 50 ...
also my alk was on the lower side of around 1.6 Meql - does anyone know a good buffer for just alkalinity? i have the kent super buffer that does pH and Alk, but my pH was high, around 8.4 so i dont want to add that.
on the plus side, the new sand and the phosban reactor are indeed working, my PO4 tested at 0.1 !!!! the lowest reading i have ever gotten !!!
performed a 15 gal water change so hopefully tonight stuff is returning to normal.

 

[stdreb27]

That is pretty cool stuff. I"m almost done building my sump. And have the same problem. I'm having to wait for a dang cycles that I wasn't expecting. And what makes it worse it is below freezing in south texas. So I had to pull my heater out of my fuge and stick it in my main tank. Only slowing the process down.

 

[saltn00b]

thanks stdreb - cant be too often that it gets below freezing in south texas! im reminded of 'the day after tomorrow' when all the refugees from the US are being stopped at the border from entering mexico (sweet irony) and staying in camps while it is snowing....
head on over across the bay, its a balmy 78 degree here in the sofla.

 

[stdreb27]

Well I don't really blame global warming. Al Gore contributes more than anyone with all his hot hair.

If he closed his mouth the earths temperature would drop! But it is pretty chilly. I do agree that was a hilariously ironic scene of that movie. Hey so what kind of flaura are you going to have in your sump?

 

[kayak385]

this is an awesome thread. On the acrylic glue side of things that you were asking for experts I could probably give some info.
I myself am not an expert, but I seem to surround myself with experts in everything. My roommates are in construction and when I created an overflow for my 75 gallon they did the work and i bought the beer.
I don't know how you applied the glue, but when I watched them this is what I saw.
They would get a thick steady flow of glue and start from the bottom of the edges they wanted to connect at a 45degree angle(the tube) and go to the top. They would then (the nasty part) litterally put spit on their finger and again going from the bottom to top smooth the glue out while pushing it into the 90degree angle of the acrylic connected to the glass(repeated as neccesary). After this was done, it looked exactly like the tanks original corners(after rubbing off the extra bubbles on the outer edges of the sides after it dried.
I tried it and first time was a joke with me saying "um" and then an immediate "give me that" and they started doing their thing again. As for reapplying, they used the same method. I hope this helps, I probably need n00b in my title than you though.
All of my overflow chambers were done this way and surprisingly I had no leaks first time around. When I glued the hoses to the drilled holes(now I know that I should have bought pvc connections) I had leaks but I did those myself.

 

[saltn00b]

thanks for the post kayak - so you are saying the construction gurus used the thick goopy gel glue and didnt mess with the runny liquid glue in the syringe at all?
the first few joints that we put together had that perfect clear look, but as we connected more and more, the imperfect straight cuts reminded us how unstraight they really were, yielding not-as-clean looking joints, shall we say.
stdreb - i will be putting in cheatopomorpha (sp?)

 

[kayak385]

They used a tube of the really thick stuff, yea. The tube that you get at lowes(aquarium safe of course) Blue bottle. Works great, didn't have any problems and it takes about 15 hrs to dry.

 

[kayak385]

how much did your sheets of acrylic cost you?

 

[reefkprz]

Come on man I wanna see more pictures. Is there anything in your tank other than rock? like cheato etcetera.
by the way have you checked out my picture thread on my 75g latley I added a frag shelf to my sump today.

 

[isistius]

i think he walked out of the acrylic shop paying $130 for 1 sheet of 1/4", 2 types of glue, and 1 syringe.

 

[kayak385]

Originally Posted by Isistius
i think he walked out of the acrylic shop paying $130 for 1 sheet of 1/4", 2 types of glue, and 1 syringe.
is that 1/4" sheet good enough to hold 300gallons?

 

[isistius]

Originally Posted by kayak385
is that 1/4" sheet good enough to hold 300gallons?
there is on way a 1/4" would hold that. you would need to use probably 3/4" or maybe even 7/8" or 1" to hold 300 gallons.

i wouldn't have the slightest idea as to wah ta shhet that thick would run. maybe in the $300-400 range?!?!?! :thinking:
but that is a whole lot cheaper then buying a 300 gallon tank already built!!