leslie hempel
Member
looking great, massive skills there!
120 gallon rimless with basement sump
- Thread starter ReefingHavoc
- Start date
ReefingHavoc
Member
ReefingHavoc
Member
Been a while since my last post. I did a water test and had a slight leak on the return line flow meter. Turns out I didn't seal the threads enough. Disassembled and sealed.
Once I got the rock and sand in the tank I wasn't happy with the height, especially since I'm going mixed reef. I ended up ordering 30 lbs of rock from reafcleaners.org. I let them know I was using it for one structure and they cut the rock flat on top and bottom, making stacking easy.
Got the new rock in and water.
Still debating on the height as it's about 16" tall
The problem I'm facing now is that after seeing the Apex report wattage on my return pump north of 600 I immediately shut the pump down and contacted the manufacturer. Turns out the pump was mislabeled and I have a 4,000 gph pump vs the 1,750 that I expected. They were very accommodating and are sending me the correct one. In the meantime, I'll focus on building the canopy
Once I got the rock and sand in the tank I wasn't happy with the height, especially since I'm going mixed reef. I ended up ordering 30 lbs of rock from reafcleaners.org. I let them know I was using it for one structure and they cut the rock flat on top and bottom, making stacking easy.
Got the new rock in and water.
Still debating on the height as it's about 16" tall
The problem I'm facing now is that after seeing the Apex report wattage on my return pump north of 600 I immediately shut the pump down and contacted the manufacturer. Turns out the pump was mislabeled and I have a 4,000 gph pump vs the 1,750 that I expected. They were very accommodating and are sending me the correct one. In the meantime, I'll focus on building the canopy
ReefingHavoc
Member
The new pump came and it was an easy swap. Started the cycle with a shrimp and added Fritz TurboStart. Never used bacteria in a bottle; we'll see.
Finished up the shell of the canopy, part of which included notching out for the 80/20 bar to connect to the vertical support
Needed a way to eliminate the wires when hanging the light fixture. Found that I could slide pan head bolts into the slots
Those bolts are fastened to the canopy in eight spots
80/20 support is also connected to the canopy by drilling holes through the channel and using bolts and nuts. Nuts are in the 80/20 channel
Test fitted on the tank to see if the light spillage is under control. The wife approved so I'll add the final trim pieces and start painting
Finished up the shell of the canopy, part of which included notching out for the 80/20 bar to connect to the vertical support
Needed a way to eliminate the wires when hanging the light fixture. Found that I could slide pan head bolts into the slots
Those bolts are fastened to the canopy in eight spots
80/20 support is also connected to the canopy by drilling holes through the channel and using bolts and nuts. Nuts are in the 80/20 channel
Test fitted on the tank to see if the light spillage is under control. The wife approved so I'll add the final trim pieces and start painting
ReefingHavoc
Member
120 gallon rimless with basement sump
Figured I post an update on the sump. Running around 750 gph with GFO and carbon in reactors coming off the manifold
I originally had issues with housing filter floss between the last two baffles before the return chamber; it floated. Found out that I could create a basket out of light diffuser and hold the filter floss in place. Here it is in the sump.
Figured I post an update on the sump. Running around 750 gph with GFO and carbon in reactors coming off the manifold
I originally had issues with housing filter floss between the last two baffles before the return chamber; it floated. Found out that I could create a basket out of light diffuser and hold the filter floss in place. Here it is in the sump.
ReefingHavoc
Member
Thanks. It's been fun to think about a problem I've had in the past and find ways to solve it. While some of the ideas for the build have been from me, the majority come from lots of research and adapting them to my situation.
I plan on doing some recap updates once everything is done for those that aren't as interested in the build process and more in the outcome and functionality.
ReefingHavoc
Member
This is a cool thread. I'm jusst starting building a rimless 120 setup myself. Tank is ordered, so waiting on it to come in. Just wish I could do a basement, but they don't do basements in Texas very often.But have gotten a few ideas from your build.
Thanks. Glad you're getting something out of it
ReefingHavoc
Member
While the tank is cycling I've shifted focus on some of the smaller things. I picked up an Avast Marine Skimmer Swabbie for the vertex. I went with the "œyou build it" option and it was pretty straightforward.
The most nerve racking thing was drilling the hole in the lid...measure 5x, drill once
Turned out good
One thing I made a slight mistake on was with the height of my skimmer stand. I measured from the floor of the sump to the top of the baffle to get the depth of the water in the chamber. Should have accounted for the height of the water going over the baffle. This left the skimmer sitting a little too low. Decided to create a disc made out of leftover acrylic to add additional height
The most nerve racking thing was drilling the hole in the lid...measure 5x, drill once
Turned out good
One thing I made a slight mistake on was with the height of my skimmer stand. I measured from the floor of the sump to the top of the baffle to get the depth of the water in the chamber. Should have accounted for the height of the water going over the baffle. This left the skimmer sitting a little too low. Decided to create a disc made out of leftover acrylic to add additional height
MrTyler585
New member
least you found a solution to your problem, a good one at that ! Whats the next few steps ??
Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
ReefingHavoc
Member
Thanks for following along. Here's where my head is at with next steps:
- painting on the canopy is almost done; I'll install shortly after
- install the ledge on the stand
- start working on a mount for the dosing containers
One thing I've been working on in the background is diluting out the copper in my QT. I have a magnificent fox face that had ich and am at the point where he's been symptom free for almost 4 weeks. Been doing water changes to lower the copper to 0.
The cycle is almost at 3 weeks and while ammonia goes down overnight (adding small amount of ammonia daily), nitrites are still around 1 ppm. I added Fritz TurboStart when I started the cycle. I thought the tank would cycle much faster. Possibly a bad batch?
MrTyler585
New member
Sounds like a solid plan. & looking forward to the pictures/updates. It could possibly be a bad batch.
Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
ReefingHavoc
Member
Big milestone hit as I finally got the finishing touches put on the display stand. Canopy is painted and installed. Here you can see the underside when it's up for maintenance
Added the first piece of shelf trim.
To prevent any spills from getting into the stand itself I added a bead of silicone between the trim and tank. Not sure how well it will work, but worth a shot
...and with the final shelf piece in place
I also broke down and picked up a Neptune Dos to do auto water changes. While I was originally looking to do Triton and avoid water changes, since this will be a new tank, I'd like the ability to do some consistent water changes.
Now I just need to find a place to mount it.
For the cycle, I'm consistently getting 0 ammonia and nitrites after dosing 15 ml of ammonia daily. Going to do a 50 gallon water change in the next couple days to bring down nitrates. The fish are ready for their new home!
Added the first piece of shelf trim.
To prevent any spills from getting into the stand itself I added a bead of silicone between the trim and tank. Not sure how well it will work, but worth a shot
...and with the final shelf piece in place
I also broke down and picked up a Neptune Dos to do auto water changes. While I was originally looking to do Triton and avoid water changes, since this will be a new tank, I'd like the ability to do some consistent water changes.
Now I just need to find a place to mount it.
For the cycle, I'm consistently getting 0 ammonia and nitrites after dosing 15 ml of ammonia daily. Going to do a 50 gallon water change in the next couple days to bring down nitrates. The fish are ready for their new home!
ReefingHavoc
Member
ReefingHavoc
Member
First attempt at a large water change (52 gallons) was a success. Simply turned on the pump for the new water; turned on the pump to drain the sump and adjusted a ball valve to balance out the ratio of incoming to outgoing water.
Took about 5-10 minutes with no lifting of anything or lugging around hoses.
I'll test nitrates tonight to see where they sit after the change
Took about 5-10 minutes with no lifting of anything or lugging around hoses.
I'll test nitrates tonight to see where they sit after the change
ReefingHavoc
Member
Nitrates were at 50 so I did another water change this morning. Sitting at 25. Prepping for another tomorrow. Went to a frag swap today and picked up some zoas, acans, and ricordea's (pics to come)
Crossing my fingers I can start adding livestock tomorrow
Crossing my fingers I can start adding livestock tomorrow
ReefingHavoc
Member
120 gallon rimless with basement sump
Since I have a melanurus wrasse and probably getting another I need some netting to prevent jumpers. I did a diy screen on my old tank but with the rimless 120 that wasn't going to work as it would take away from the look of a rimless. Came across the DD JumpGuard and liked the look of it. It has a rim all the way around it that allows the frame to sit below the rim.
My only complaint about the kit is that the netting was next to impossible to square up per the instructions. Luckily I had some extra from my last screen that worked well.
After 3x 50 gallon water changes the nitrates were finally down to where I felt comfortable adding the first fish. The Magnificent Foxface was the first one in. Within a 24 hour period he's already swimming around and showing good color
To help keep parameters in check I hooked up the Dos for auto water changes. Super simple to run lines and calibrate. Now I just need my salt to mix up and I can start running it. I calculated that I can go about 90 days between mixing up a new batch.
For pulling water out of the sump I installed a 1/4" bulkhead and added ridged tubing. Did the same for the new saltwater barrel
I'm looking to start moving the coral and other two fish over the next week.
Since I have a melanurus wrasse and probably getting another I need some netting to prevent jumpers. I did a diy screen on my old tank but with the rimless 120 that wasn't going to work as it would take away from the look of a rimless. Came across the DD JumpGuard and liked the look of it. It has a rim all the way around it that allows the frame to sit below the rim.
My only complaint about the kit is that the netting was next to impossible to square up per the instructions. Luckily I had some extra from my last screen that worked well.
After 3x 50 gallon water changes the nitrates were finally down to where I felt comfortable adding the first fish. The Magnificent Foxface was the first one in. Within a 24 hour period he's already swimming around and showing good color
To help keep parameters in check I hooked up the Dos for auto water changes. Super simple to run lines and calibrate. Now I just need my salt to mix up and I can start running it. I calculated that I can go about 90 days between mixing up a new batch.
For pulling water out of the sump I installed a 1/4" bulkhead and added ridged tubing. Did the same for the new saltwater barrel
I'm looking to start moving the coral and other two fish over the next week.
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