220 Inwall - Plan
- Thread starter bheron
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bheron
Active member
Wow, get stuck in meetings all day and come back to some good dialog....
Marc -
- I hear you, and alot of other people. See more on this below.
- Cool. I like this plan!
- Well, I'm not going to use it for QT. All new fish will sit in a 6 week QT beforehand.
Conda -
- Wow! I didnt realize it would take this long.
- Well....
guess what!?!?! I checked out a link to a local forum from Conda and am buying 55lbs of live rock for about $2 a lb from a guy. And...strangest thing....he works in my company! One floor above me!
rdmpe - No problem. Share alike in this thread!!
Marc -
- Now that I'm buying it from a local person, whats the best way to examine it? ALso, he's gonna bring it into the office, about 20 mins away, in a cooler with the pieces wrapped in wet paper towel. I'll then rush it home. Should be no prob.
Marc -
- I hear you, and alot of other people. See more on this below.
- Cool. I like this plan!
- Well, I'm not going to use it for QT. All new fish will sit in a 6 week QT beforehand.
Conda -
- Wow! I didnt realize it would take this long.
- Well....
guess what!?!?! I checked out a link to a local forum from Conda and am buying 55lbs of live rock for about $2 a lb from a guy. And...strangest thing....he works in my company! One floor above me!rdmpe - No problem. Share alike in this thread!!
Marc -
- Now that I'm buying it from a local person, whats the best way to examine it? ALso, he's gonna bring it into the office, about 20 mins away, in a cooler with the pieces wrapped in wet paper towel. I'll then rush it home. Should be no prob.
melev
Well-known member
If you want to really examine it, put it in a separate tank and put each rock on a pedestal of eggcrate. Then you can look at it over time, and see what crawls out of it. Put some shrimp in the corner (a few chunks) and see if anything curious crawls out to get the food. If it is a good guy, keep it. If it is a bad one, like a gorilla crab, you can safely remove the rock and not introduce the bad crab into your tank.
Typically the seller should give you a heads up about what may lurk in the rockwork.
If you want to 'cook' the rock a little before introducing it into your tank, that is an entirely different topic.
Typically the seller should give you a heads up about what may lurk in the rockwork.
If you want to 'cook' the rock a little before introducing it into your tank, that is an entirely different topic.
bheron
Active member
Interesting. Thats a good idea. Yea, I beleive the guy will give me a good heads up, but you can never be sure whats in your own rock. I was figuring on cooking it anyway, just to clean it out a bit. BUt, observing it in my "observation tank" might be a good way to check it after its clean? hmmm?
bheron
Active member
Right now I still have this massive sand storm in the tank. Real bummer, but thats what comes with southdown. I'm hoping that when I put some of this LR in the tank the bacteria will settle things down a bit. Very frustrating.
Ok, two more items up next I wanted to run by everyone:
1) The overflow drains. The pic in the previous page shows the drains just emptying straight into the sump. Well, a heck of alot of noise is created by this. I'm eventually going to install a bubble trap like the one marc invented, but i still have to silence the noise. So, instead of having them go straigt down at a 0 degree angle, I put 90 degree bends on them and have them enter the water like this:
It definitely makes a big difference. Any other ideas on how to silence the huge gush of water?
2) Also, I'm thinking about ideas for my background. I know alot of people either a) paint their tank backs or b) paint acrylic and use that. I dont want to do either. I saw some really cheap ($2.25) pieces of 1/8" thick hardboard at HD the other day. You know, that brown stuff they use and put holes in for pegboard to hang your tools? Well, the stuff is really lightweight. I was hoping I could paint these blue and use them for my background. I want something inexpensive, lightweight, removable, and blue! I think this idea will work. Thoughts?
Ok, two more items up next I wanted to run by everyone:
1) The overflow drains. The pic in the previous page shows the drains just emptying straight into the sump. Well, a heck of alot of noise is created by this. I'm eventually going to install a bubble trap like the one marc invented, but i still have to silence the noise. So, instead of having them go straigt down at a 0 degree angle, I put 90 degree bends on them and have them enter the water like this:
It definitely makes a big difference. Any other ideas on how to silence the huge gush of water?
2) Also, I'm thinking about ideas for my background. I know alot of people either a) paint their tank backs or b) paint acrylic and use that. I dont want to do either. I saw some really cheap ($2.25) pieces of 1/8" thick hardboard at HD the other day. You know, that brown stuff they use and put holes in for pegboard to hang your tools? Well, the stuff is really lightweight. I was hoping I could paint these blue and use them for my background. I want something inexpensive, lightweight, removable, and blue! I think this idea will work. Thoughts?
melev
Well-known member
You just need a sheet of cloroplast. You can see a tiny image of some here: http://www.bigdaddyssigns.com/PoliticalSignsInformation.htm
It is plastic cardboard basically. Cheap, lightweight, easy to clean, won't rot.
To solve the noise in the sump since you haven't made a bubble tower yet: http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/pvc_solution.jpg
It is plastic cardboard basically. Cheap, lightweight, easy to clean, won't rot.
To solve the noise in the sump since you haven't made a bubble tower yet: http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/pvc_solution.jpg
rdmpe
New member
I'm going to be doing the same thing in the next few weeks, putting southdown in the tank for the first time. So a couple of questions...bheron said:
- Do you wash any of the fines out first? I was not planning to do this as I thought that was part of the benefit of southdown...
- Do you run all of your circulation pumps as you normally would? I thought I should just run the pumps. If I don't, I'll get things settled down then turn the pump on and find the sand gets blown around in certain areas and I'll have milk again...
If you have two drains available you might want to try this
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=344892
I set it up and it works perfectly. It is silent. And it does not bring any bubbles into the sump.
For backgrounds, I prefer to roll some latex paint onto the exterior of the glass.
tgunn
Active member
I got a minimal sandstorm when I started up my pumps. Best to start them up now and see if any flow patterns you have are going to be moving things around; I had to adjust a few nozzles in my setup once I turned on the closed loop and realized it was going to blast the sand off front half of the tank.
Marc's suggestion to get the plastic cardboard is a great one. I was trying to remember what it was called but couldn't. I used that stuff for a number of projects in my tank; shrouds for my canopy fans, a cover for the "splashy end" of the sump, and a cover for my overflow. It's dirt cheap and easy to work with...
One thing to mention about mounting a piece of something outside the tank rather than painting... I noticed with my setup that the color of my acylic backing doesn't show through as well as I thought. I have the same color blue acrylic that's covering my overflow on the outside back of the tank:
Could just be how I positioned my lights but I had wanted the background to be all one color, but it doesn't look that way in my setup..
IF you're going black you'll be fine though.
Tyler
Marc's suggestion to get the plastic cardboard is a great one. I was trying to remember what it was called but couldn't. I used that stuff for a number of projects in my tank; shrouds for my canopy fans, a cover for the "splashy end" of the sump, and a cover for my overflow. It's dirt cheap and easy to work with...
One thing to mention about mounting a piece of something outside the tank rather than painting... I noticed with my setup that the color of my acylic backing doesn't show through as well as I thought. I have the same color blue acrylic that's covering my overflow on the outside back of the tank:
Could just be how I positioned my lights but I had wanted the background to be all one color, but it doesn't look that way in my setup..
IF you're going black you'll be fine though.
Tyler
bheron
Active member
Marc -
- WOW! This is cool b/c I have a good friend in the sign business. I never heard of this stuff, but I have a feeling its the same stuff he uses allthe time. I'm gonna research this as soon as I'm done this post.
See! RC is the best!
Marc -
- So you think this might be better than the bubble tower? And, come to think of it, I dont think bubbles will be a problem in my large sump. Should I implement this idea first? Seems pretty easy.
rdmpe -
- I've used southdown before and have been through this. Def dont wash it first. the fine granules are one of the benefits of using southdown. What I did, and it worked well this time around, is put the sand in the tank first -- dry. then i filled the tank slowly. for me, I used my RODI directly so it filled so slowly i had literally no storm! Once the pumps start up, however, it will be inevitable. So I dont see any way out of it - you can just minimize it hopefully. Once the bacteria cycle starts, the sand will become coated and will weight down more. My question posted was about using skimmer to help. I've seen people do this but not sure if it really helps?
- Also, I'll have to check out that thread on silencing the noise in the sump! Thanks! I'll let you know what I find.
Tyler -
- Thats a really good point. It will look very different.
Which brings me to another ques: what kind of paint do I use? I assumed spray paint but dont know where to get it? I checked out paint at HD already and found a nice color of latex. Also, I'm expecting to get water on the background occasionally.
Ok, off to check out a couple of things you guys posted here. Thanks!
- WOW! This is cool b/c I have a good friend in the sign business. I never heard of this stuff, but I have a feeling its the same stuff he uses allthe time. I'm gonna research this as soon as I'm done this post.
See! RC is the best!
Marc -
- So you think this might be better than the bubble tower? And, come to think of it, I dont think bubbles will be a problem in my large sump. Should I implement this idea first? Seems pretty easy.
rdmpe -
- I've used southdown before and have been through this. Def dont wash it first. the fine granules are one of the benefits of using southdown. What I did, and it worked well this time around, is put the sand in the tank first -- dry. then i filled the tank slowly. for me, I used my RODI directly so it filled so slowly i had literally no storm! Once the pumps start up, however, it will be inevitable. So I dont see any way out of it - you can just minimize it hopefully. Once the bacteria cycle starts, the sand will become coated and will weight down more. My question posted was about using skimmer to help. I've seen people do this but not sure if it really helps?
- Also, I'll have to check out that thread on silencing the noise in the sump! Thanks! I'll let you know what I find.
Tyler -
- Thats a really good point. It will look very different.
Which brings me to another ques: what kind of paint do I use? I assumed spray paint but dont know where to get it? I checked out paint at HD already and found a nice color of latex. Also, I'm expecting to get water on the background occasionally.
Ok, off to check out a couple of things you guys posted here. Thanks!
tgunn
Active member
bheron said:
I imagine latex would work fine. Spray paint should be available at Home Depot, any of the standard rustoleum paints would be fine. Personally I'd use regular latex and roll is on; I'm HORRIBLE with spray paint and the background wouldn't look too hot if I did it that way. :lol:
You may want to look into the "plastic cardboard" more with your friend in the sign business. I bought mine in white a the local hardware store. It was also available in red and yellow. Your friend in the sign business may be able to get it in a color you like and then there'd be no worries about paint.
Tyler
bheron
Active member
Ok, just got off the horn. The wheels are in motion. At tailgate at next week's Monday night football game between the Eagles and the Cowboys, I'll get to pick out my choice of absolutely any color in the rainbow and my buddy will get me the cloroplast custom made. He say's the stuff is impervious to any weather so I wont have to worry about that. And its cheap! Cool!
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much!
rdmpe
New member
If you decide on painting the back of the glass, I personally have tried spray paint and the roll on latex. Roll on latex is the way to go. Spray paint is 10X more difficult and time consuming.
Did I mention that plumbing method is silent?
I love it. My tank is right behind my couch in the room with the TV, so it has to be very quiet...
Did I mention that plumbing method is silent?
I love it. My tank is right behind my couch in the room with the TV, so it has to be very quiet...
bheron
Active member
rdmpe - I checked out that link, the design by "herbie". It looks like this is a design for the overflow boxes? If so, I'm looking for something to silence the water splashing into the sump. My overflow boxes both have durso standpipes in them and I have no noise whatsoever. Did I misread? Or not read far enough?
tgunn
Active member
Bryan,
You got it right; the overflow solution in that thread is to silent the overflow boxes..
In my case it did help with noise in the sump because I was no longer pushing a mixture of air and water into the sump. With just straight water going into the sump with no air mixed in the sump is very quiet too.
Tyler
You got it right; the overflow solution in that thread is to silent the overflow boxes..
In my case it did help with noise in the sump because I was no longer pushing a mixture of air and water into the sump. With just straight water going into the sump with no air mixed in the sump is very quiet too.
Tyler
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