150 Gallon Build Thread
- Thread starter inktomi
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inktomi
Aviator
Today, my sump cracked. I guess one of the baffles was too tight and was putting pressure on the walls of the tank.
I went to petco (/sigh) and bought another 40g breeder to replace it with. This weekend I'll need to drain the tank so I can move it away from the wall, so that I can remove the old sump and put the new one back in.
Fun times....
I went to petco (/sigh) and bought another 40g breeder to replace it with. This weekend I'll need to drain the tank so I can move it away from the wall, so that I can remove the old sump and put the new one back in.
Fun times....
thats a bummer about the sump..i bought an onyx from PA(love being about 15 min away from them)and it has done great..it eats flake along with mysis and brine..and have bonded with my percula clown(he was about 2 in when i got him though,but i did have 2 percs that were very small about 1/4 in and they ate flake just fine)..good luck-drew
inktomi
Aviator
Sounds like I'll be making a trip to airgas at some point in the future =)
I'm happy to say that I've...
- Drained my tank into trash cans
- Removed the broken sump
- Removed and cleaned the acrylic baffles
- Bought a new 40g breeder ($130! What?!??)
- Put the baffles into the new sump
I'm going to go get a submersible pump of some sort to use to pump the water out of the trashcans back into the display. In the future this pump shall be known as my water change return pump.
I've learned that if your baffles are tight fitting /at all/ then you need to sand them down more. I sanded until I got blisters between my thumbs and my fingers (yea, should have worn gloves..). They were still tight, and so to avoid ever having to do this again they're all in there at weird angles.
Yea, my sump won't be winning any beauty contests. It's true. But it'll work, and it's only a few degrees off 90 on each baffle. I'm more than willing to have an ugly yet functional sump if it means I won't have to deal with a cracked sump in the future.
....if it happens again I'm going to make a vacation out of Fort Worth and buy an acrylic sump from melev.
I'm happy to say that I've...
- Drained my tank into trash cans
- Removed the broken sump
- Removed and cleaned the acrylic baffles
- Bought a new 40g breeder ($130! What?!??)
- Put the baffles into the new sump
I'm going to go get a submersible pump of some sort to use to pump the water out of the trashcans back into the display. In the future this pump shall be known as my water change return pump.
I've learned that if your baffles are tight fitting /at all/ then you need to sand them down more. I sanded until I got blisters between my thumbs and my fingers (yea, should have worn gloves..). They were still tight, and so to avoid ever having to do this again they're all in there at weird angles.
Yea, my sump won't be winning any beauty contests. It's true. But it'll work, and it's only a few degrees off 90 on each baffle. I'm more than willing to have an ugly yet functional sump if it means I won't have to deal with a cracked sump in the future.
....if it happens again I'm going to make a vacation out of Fort Worth and buy an acrylic sump from melev.
inktomi
Aviator
In other news, I'm setting up a dart frog tank at work for 5 of these little beauties (R. fantastica)..
I've been out of the dart frog world for a few years, but wanted to get back into it. I'm setting up the tank at work, and then a smaller tank at home for a trio of R. imitator:
The frogs will be here sometime early December (so I'm sure you'll be seeing some frog related updates mixed in.. )
I've been out of the dart frog world for a few years, but wanted to get back into it. I'm setting up the tank at work, and then a smaller tank at home for a trio of R. imitator:
The frogs will be here sometime early December (so I'm sure you'll be seeing some frog related updates mixed in.. )
hillscp
Soylent Green is People!!
Hi inktomi,
I am looking through your build again. It is very nice!
Sorry about your sump. I assume that the baffles broke the glass because they were applying pressure outward? I am wondering why you wouldn't use glass baffles in a glass aquarium. Seems like a cheaper solution and probably a little more forgiving of size. You can always fill any gaps with silicone.
The next thing I need to do is build a sump. I can get all the acrylic for about $150 in Sacramento. I am a woodworker and own a table saw, router and 6" jointer and a 14" bandsaw. I hope I can use the jointer or router to make all of my edges nice and clean. I have not milled any acrylic since High School Shop class. I hear it mills kinda like wood (except melts instead of burns).
Anyway, I really like how your tank is coming along. Keep up the good work. Patience really pays off in the long run.
I am looking through your build again. It is very nice!
Sorry about your sump. I assume that the baffles broke the glass because they were applying pressure outward? I am wondering why you wouldn't use glass baffles in a glass aquarium. Seems like a cheaper solution and probably a little more forgiving of size. You can always fill any gaps with silicone.
The next thing I need to do is build a sump. I can get all the acrylic for about $150 in Sacramento. I am a woodworker and own a table saw, router and 6" jointer and a 14" bandsaw. I hope I can use the jointer or router to make all of my edges nice and clean. I have not milled any acrylic since High School Shop class. I hear it mills kinda like wood (except melts instead of burns).
Anyway, I really like how your tank is coming along. Keep up the good work. Patience really pays off in the long run.
Last edited:
inktomi
Aviator
Yes, my sump cracked due to outward pressure from the baffles.
I chose acrylic baffles only because they were easier for me to get. If I/when I do this again I would most certainly go the extra little bit of time to get glass baffles cut to size. So much nicer.
My acrylic baffles work. They're just ugly.
How do people get the baffles siliconed in anyway? I could hardly get my hands between them to get silicone on each side heh.
It sounds like you have the tools needed to make a very nice acrylic sump. I don't own any of them, so I went with the fish tank conversion. I'd love to see how yours turns out though - they don't seem to be super hard to build.
Patience pays off in reefing in a way that it doesn't in almost every other path in life. A tank that's rushed at the beginning gets to be plagued by algae and all that fun stuff for years simply because it wasn't in balance before it was stocked. I'm going to wait for Ammonia and Nitrate to be zero, and then perhaps another week to let it all get in balance as I order snails.
I chose acrylic baffles only because they were easier for me to get. If I/when I do this again I would most certainly go the extra little bit of time to get glass baffles cut to size. So much nicer.
My acrylic baffles work. They're just ugly.
How do people get the baffles siliconed in anyway? I could hardly get my hands between them to get silicone on each side heh.
It sounds like you have the tools needed to make a very nice acrylic sump. I don't own any of them, so I went with the fish tank conversion. I'd love to see how yours turns out though - they don't seem to be super hard to build.
Patience pays off in reefing in a way that it doesn't in almost every other path in life. A tank that's rushed at the beginning gets to be plagued by algae and all that fun stuff for years simply because it wasn't in balance before it was stocked. I'm going to wait for Ammonia and Nitrate to be zero, and then perhaps another week to let it all get in balance as I order snails.
inktomi
Aviator
The tank is coming along very nicely. I'll have some more photos for you all (all two of you) this weekend.
I'm going to be adding in my Special Reef Aragonite Sand this weekend. I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about washing it off though.. should I waste that much RO/DI water - or is the hose and good old Henderson, NV city water good enough?
I'd never use my city water for a water change.. but maybe the amount that would be "stuck" to the sand after being rinsed would be small enough to make it not really matter.. hmm.. what do you all think?
I'm going to be adding in my Special Reef Aragonite Sand this weekend. I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about washing it off though.. should I waste that much RO/DI water - or is the hose and good old Henderson, NV city water good enough?
I'd never use my city water for a water change.. but maybe the amount that would be "stuck" to the sand after being rinsed would be small enough to make it not really matter.. hmm.. what do you all think?
hillscp
Soylent Green is People!!
I think you are being a little too fastidious. The amount of water left clinging to the sand will be so diluted by the RO/DI/Salt you are going to put on top of it that it can't possibly be an issue. Now I haven't been in O-Chem since 1984 so don't take my word as gospel 
I think the basic idea is to wash the dust out of it. I have done it before. Just get a 5 gallon pickle bucket and put the sand in there. Then take a hose and push it in and out from bottom to top til the water spilling over looks nice and clear. That won't get it all but it will get most of it. It takes a lot of water. I don't think you could make that much RO.
I think the basic idea is to wash the dust out of it. I have done it before. Just get a 5 gallon pickle bucket and put the sand in there. Then take a hose and push it in and out from bottom to top til the water spilling over looks nice and clear. That won't get it all but it will get most of it. It takes a lot of water. I don't think you could make that much RO.
inktomi
Aviator
Yea, I've always done the hose method when I had freshwater tanks way back... when I didn't worry about things like TDS!
I think you're probably right, the amount of water needed to actually flush off the dust is so much that using RO water would take forever. I'll just drain off as much water as I can before I put it into the tank to avoid as much random junk as I can.
Other than hitch hikers, there's nothing actually living in the tank yet - just here towards the end of the cycle getting ready to add in some snails sometime next week.
I think you're probably right, the amount of water needed to actually flush off the dust is so much that using RO water would take forever. I'll just drain off as much water as I can before I put it into the tank to avoid as much random junk as I can.
Other than hitch hikers, there's nothing actually living in the tank yet - just here towards the end of the cycle getting ready to add in some snails sometime next week.
inktomi
Aviator
A quick update
A quick update
I'm at the point where things that came in on the rock are starting to grow. I'm not sure if they're all good or not - but here's a few of the more interesting ones:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3976152970/" title="DSC_0073 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3976152970_f080aa9431.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0073" /></a>
I have these little triangular pebble looking things around the tank. They're pretty common, and don't appear to move - but then again I find them a few inches up the glass and I've never seen them floating around - so I think they actually do move, just very slowly. Any ideas? Here's another photo of one:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3976153106/" title="DSC_0074 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3976153106_85c6030597.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0074" /></a>
I've also got this really interesting fan shaped algae growing on a couple of the rocks now (even with almost no lights...). It's pretty cool, but it looks like something tangs and the like might munch on so I doubt it'll be around forever.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3975392179/" title="DSC_0077 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3492/3975392179_39878ae491.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0077" /></a>
Among some little bumps in the rock I noticed some tentacles sticking out. You may need to click this one and go to the "large size" to really see them..
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3975392347/" title="DSC_0080 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/3975392347_dd4da2d21f.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0080" /></a>
I'm crossing my fingers that these are not some horrible form of anemone, and that they're also not hydroids. Any ideas? They're only in one little place right now - so I could kaulk paste them easily if they might go crazy and kill things one day.
... and finally ... a full tank shot showing the aquascape.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3976153580/" title="DSC_0085 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/3976153580_425875f4dd.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0085" /></a>
I'll be adding in a few inches of sand tomorrow, so that'll probably end up with myself redoing some of the rock as I work the sand in between the rocks. I'll get another FTS when the dust settles.
A quick update
I'm at the point where things that came in on the rock are starting to grow. I'm not sure if they're all good or not - but here's a few of the more interesting ones:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3976152970/" title="DSC_0073 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3976152970_f080aa9431.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0073" /></a>
I have these little triangular pebble looking things around the tank. They're pretty common, and don't appear to move - but then again I find them a few inches up the glass and I've never seen them floating around - so I think they actually do move, just very slowly. Any ideas? Here's another photo of one:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3976153106/" title="DSC_0074 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3976153106_85c6030597.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0074" /></a>
I've also got this really interesting fan shaped algae growing on a couple of the rocks now (even with almost no lights...). It's pretty cool, but it looks like something tangs and the like might munch on so I doubt it'll be around forever.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3975392179/" title="DSC_0077 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3492/3975392179_39878ae491.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0077" /></a>
Among some little bumps in the rock I noticed some tentacles sticking out. You may need to click this one and go to the "large size" to really see them..
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3975392347/" title="DSC_0080 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/3975392347_dd4da2d21f.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0080" /></a>
I'm crossing my fingers that these are not some horrible form of anemone, and that they're also not hydroids. Any ideas? They're only in one little place right now - so I could kaulk paste them easily if they might go crazy and kill things one day.
... and finally ... a full tank shot showing the aquascape.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3976153580/" title="DSC_0085 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/3976153580_425875f4dd.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0085" /></a>
I'll be adding in a few inches of sand tomorrow, so that'll probably end up with myself redoing some of the rock as I work the sand in between the rocks. I'll get another FTS when the dust settles.
hillscp
Soylent Green is People!!
Here is a nice link about worms you might find hitchhiking.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rs/index.php
Scroll down to the section on Spionidae and the Chaetopteridae.
I think the ones in you pic are the Spionidae. I have them too. They have two tentacles that stick out of the reef rock. They never hurt anything.
I don't know what the triangles are. Some sort of snail?
Take some of the algae and stick it in the sump.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rs/index.php
Scroll down to the section on Spionidae and the Chaetopteridae.
I think the ones in you pic are the Spionidae. I have them too. They have two tentacles that stick out of the reef rock. They never hurt anything.
I don't know what the triangles are. Some sort of snail?
Take some of the algae and stick it in the sump.
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goochesfish
New member
Why didn't you cycle with the sand? Won't adding sand start another cycle? After hosing the sand, you could fill the bucket one last time with ro if you are concerned about your tap. You know what I noticed? I get alot of salt creep on the top bracing of the tank so that when I run my mag float under it, the salt all floats down. I've read that you don't want the salt crystals landing on the coral but I don't know how to avoid it.
inktomi
Aviator
I didn't cycle with the sand because I didn't want it to pick up all the little pieces and parts that fall out of the live rock while it cycled. I wanted the sand to start clean, and not be able to hold nitrates or anything that might come in from the big part of the rock's cycle.
I doubt that the sand will start another cycle, as there's nothing live in it. It's just dry Special Reef Sand from caribsea in 40 pound plastic bags. If nothing else, it should give any bacteria /a lot/ more space to grow on and maybe even speed up cycling.
Maybe it'll do something, but I doubt it. My cycle is almost over in the tank, so hopefully it won't mess things up too much =)
I doubt that the sand will start another cycle, as there's nothing live in it. It's just dry Special Reef Sand from caribsea in 40 pound plastic bags. If nothing else, it should give any bacteria /a lot/ more space to grow on and maybe even speed up cycling.
Maybe it'll do something, but I doubt it. My cycle is almost over in the tank, so hopefully it won't mess things up too much =)
goochesfish
New member
I know what you mean. My sand was covered in dead sponges that blew off the live rock. Then, the chaeto tumbled in the fuge and kicked up the fiji mud so refugium mud was all over the surface of my nice white sand. All that is gone now since the goby sifted the sand clean.
inktomi
Aviator
Quick update. Added the sand, which is now covering a bit of rock - as the rock is sitting on the floor of the tank rather than on top of the sand. I like the effect!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3993815419/" title="DSC_0013 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2646/3993815419_4236173135.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0013" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3994576360/" title="DSC_0014 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2433/3994576360_7e4f509962.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0014" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3993815419/" title="DSC_0013 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2646/3993815419_4236173135.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0013" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30998766@N03/3994576360/" title="DSC_0014 by inktomi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2433/3994576360_7e4f509962.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="DSC_0014" /></a>
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