400g system from scratch pictorial

Thanks guys, I believe I now have a good idea about how to handle the rock and what to look for in my aquascaping endeavors!

Next up is trying to size an ozonizer for my system. I'm looking at the Red Sea models and don't know which size to get. My ORP has remained pretty constant at just under 200. I'm looking to pull it up into the 365-385 range. Will a 100mg/hr unit do that without running all the time, or would a 200mg/hr unit be more appropriate for a system my size? I haven't been able to find any guide lines for sizing, so I thought I'd ask.
 
Awesome backoffice setup on this project. I just wanted to reiterate the excellent advise that Beverly and others have given you:

1. Sandbeds are detritus traps and are difficult to maintain if not done properly (DSB's can work but you'll need to research them). I'd not suggest using a shallow sandbed, they'll trap detritus and lead to problems unless you siphon it regularly.

2. Take the time now to remove each piece of rock and swish it around in clean salt water to remove detritus (You can look up rock "cooking"). Do this often.

3. Make your rockwork open to allow plenty of flow through it. This will minimize the detritus buildup, look better and be fish friendly.

4. Build a rack of some sorts to put the rock on...It'll make the rock go alot further...

5. Take the time now to really design the aquascaping. It's much easier to do with no livestock in there.

Good luck.

Art
 
Thanks Art. I'll modify the pvc rack that I built to better suit my new design goals. I'm leaning towards a 6" DSB and plan to construct my rack so that only 1" of rock will be submerged into the sand. In other words, it will raise the rock about 5" off the bottom. It has been suggested that I should drill holes in the PVC pipes to allow critter to enter to clean out the detritus, so I'll probably go ahead and do that.

I'll continue to swish the rocks in clean salt water each time I return them to the tank. Since I'm doing plenty of water changes during the curing process anyway, I might as well put the waste water to good use!

After putting the rocks back in the tank last night and turning the CL pump back on, I saw this little guy caught in the jet streams for a while. Then he got a foot hold on one of the rocks and crawled into a hole. He looks like an Isopod to me, so I'll definitely have the net ready the next time he goes for a swim!

pod1.jpg
 
I spoke to a very knowledgeable guy at Marine Depot about ozonizers, and he said that I'd likely need the 200mg/hr unit. However, he recommended that I wait and see what my ORP looks like after the tank has stabilized and then go from there and start with a low dosage and slowly work my way up, making sure to keep an eye on all the livestock.

He also mentioned that running an ozonizer could often mask other problems in the tank. For example, if a fish died and was rotting, the ozonizer would make up for it by applying additional ozone, so that the root of the problem was not discovered as the ORP reading would remain "healthy". And if the ozonizer then failed, it could crash the tank. You guys probably already knew all that, but I just thought I'd pass it along in case some didn't.
 
Thanks. Got past my 100th post and figured I'd put up an avatar. His name is Rufus and he's a couple of years old. He seems quite interested in my reef project and really enjoyed the smell of the rocks as I pulled out out of the shipping containers. lol
 
Ammonia this morning remained at 0.4 as it had the previous 2 mornings. I also tested nitrite, but there was none. It would appear that my cycle is going to be very gentle given the water volume. I don't know if that means the cycle will take longer or not? I suspect me doing 10% water changes daily (coincides with my ritual of pulling out all the rocks to give them their daily swish in a container of water from the tank and then re-aquascaping) has something to do with it. Perhaps I should stop that for a couple of days and allow the ammonia to reach 1.0 to move the cycle along?

I took a couple of pics after today's "swishing ritual". This time I sat the rocks on my PVC rack, although I'm not fully satisfied with it. I want to make the rack longer. I tried to re-arrange to rocks into a non-wall structure, but its hard to do without resorting to using zip-ties and/or rods inserted through holes drilled through the rocks. At any rate, here is what it looks like right now. I do have several tunnels and what not, and there is a lot more space between a lot of the rocks than before.

rockscape2-6.jpg


rockscape2-4.jpg


rockscape2-5.jpg


The PVC rack is 5" tall, so a 6" sand bed will cover it completely. I got about 6 really large pieces of rock, and a bunch of medium sized pieces and then another handful of small pieces. I'm thinking of combining some of the smaller ones into a bridge of sorts. I have a feeling I'll be playing with the rock arrangement for quite some time to come, keeping an eye on towards being able to place corals on them. This is not an easy task!

In other news, turns out my 44g BRUTE sw mix tank doesn't need a heater. That internal Mag 9.5 does all the heating for me. After mixing overnight, the temp is right at 81 degrees.

I'm a little concerned about the single 2" inlet for my CL pump. I'm probably pulling close to 4000gph through it and don't want my invertebrates to get sucked into it. I do have a 2" screw in screen, but I'd like to also add a larger cage around it somehow. I was just reading how Skeets had 2 of his cleaner shrimp sucked into his and he split his into 2 where I just have the single inlet.
 
This rock design is much better than the last, the hills and crevices look good. Just think how good you'll be in another week LOL

colleen
BTW Rufus is a beautiful dog. If he is good around other dogs one day may be he could play with my 2.
 
Yes, I did get some pretty big chunks! On my next aquascape adventure, I think I'll try to use the large chunks up high to form a bridge or two, supporting them with some of the mid size pieces. There are just so many possibilities and I guess you just have to keep trying until something jumps out at ya!

Spent a little time on the fish room tonight. I added a shelf above the sink for my test kits:

fishroomshelf.jpg


And another shelf for the calcium/kalk reactors, and dosing pump. (My kalk reactor isn't here yet, but I went with a reeftek unit):

fishroomcontrollers.jpg


And here is a sump shot showing the probes floating on a piece of Styrofoam. The pH and ORP probes are 10" apart ensuring there won't be any interference.

fishroomsump.jpg


And finally a shot of the fuge with the live rock rubble. I plan to add a 6" sand bed to this as well as the display.

fishroomfuge.jpg
 
Rufus is great around other dogs Colleen. I made sure to expose him to all kinds of other dogs (and people, babies, loud noises, etc when he was a puppy). Funny thing is that he's a bit of a wimp when the neighbors dogs some into the yard. They are older than he is and they showed him who was the boss back when he was a puppy. It's funny since he is so much larger than them, but I guess that's how it goes.

What kind of dogs do you have?
 
Wow, 2 DSB's, very nice! The only thing I'd like to mention about your remote DSB is that Dr Ron suggests that unless you can feed a remote DSB then don't bother having it as the critters will die and you'll end up with a pile of sand. That being said I have my 55g sump as a DSB but my skimmer gets my overflow before it makes it to the 55g so when I feed I turn off the skimmer and allow the water to freely flow through the sump and system for about 2 hrs then turn the skimmer back on. I think it has worked, I certainly have an abundance of critters in there.

colleen
 
My overflows dumps into both my fuge and skimmer, so I think the DSB in the fuge will be able to stay fed. Those bubbles you see on the water surface in the fuge are coming from the overflows from the main tank (outlets on the left). I would say that I'm feeding the fuge about 800 gph and the skimmer another 800 gph from my overflows.
 
My dump dog Sam(lol, found him at the dump) is a white/cream dog about 55lbs and he is ruled by my 10lb Poodle/lapsa mix girl Noodles who I got at the SPCA. She had NO idea she was a dog till I got Sam. Its funny to watch them play together, she is growling and yanking on his ears or anypart of him that she can reach,while he takes little nibbles on her paws. I've seen him with her head in his mouth but she doesn't even miss a beat,more than I can say for my heart the first time I saw it. I actually worry more about HER getting too rough with him. lol

colleen
 
pclausen said:
My overflows dumps into both my fuge and skimmer, so I think the DSB in the fuge will be able to stay fed. Those bubbles you see on the water surface in the fuge are coming from the overflows from the main tank (outlets on the left). I would say that I'm feeding the fuge about 800 gph and the skimmer another 800 gph from my overflows.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you have it all covered! I really have to say I am so impressed with all the thought and care that you've put into this design.

colleen
 
I'd put my 14 1/2 year old English Springer on my avitar, but then she would "know for sure" that she was #1 over my fish and I wouldn't have any leverage with her! :)
 
Bax said:
I'd put my 14 1/2 year old English Springer on my avitar, but then she would "know for sure" that she was #1 over my fish and I wouldn't have any leverage with her! :)
Click to expand...


:lol: :lol: :lol: I bet she already knows:lol: :lol: :lol:
 
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