~450G Display (~1000G system) documentary starting
- Thread starter kwl1763
- Start date
lovetoreef
New member
keith -
sorry to hear you had so much trouble getting the leaks taken care of - i knew there would be some work to be done - just no that much - but, that is a sight to behold!! i hope it kicks butt for you
gerard
sorry to hear you had so much trouble getting the leaks taken care of - i knew there would be some work to be done - just no that much - but, that is a sight to behold!! i hope it kicks butt for you
gerard
Saltwater Guy
New member
that skimmer is the ****!!!!
jnarowe
New member
prostaff: Sounds good but very bad things can also find the protection of pipes and get majorly out-of-control.
Check out Oregon Reef Worm Incident as one such example. I will never put open pipe in my tank!!!
Check out Oregon Reef Worm Incident as one such example. I will never put open pipe in my tank!!!
Oh I see. I am not too worried about that I guess. The rock I am using has been with me for 5 years plus and has been transferred several times without finding any major creepy crawlies. All new additions will be just corals and fish and will be quarrantined for a month so I should be able to keep those guys out of the system
kwl1763
Premium Member
I will probably drill a slot on the bottom of every piece of mine so detritus can't settle in there. I'm not going to cap them because no telling what nasty compounds will build in the stagnent water inside. You could seal everything up but then it would float, etc, etc.
There is no reason something large like that couldn't live inside your rockwork just as easily as your piping!
To those that have asked I don't have detailed plans for the skimmer. I would be glad to explain anything but I bought this thing about 95% complete from RC user lovetoreef.
I ordered 200 lbs of tonga kaelini from Dr. Mac to get here on Friday and I've got contractors starting on the basement this weekend so things are moving along pretty good!
I have 2 of the tubs actually hooked together now with a Mag 9.5 rigged to pump from the bottem to the top and it overflows to the bottom. They both have racks in there for curing the LR to allow for better circulation. I'm going to put a Tunze in the bottom of each to provide circulation when curing. I'm making water like crazy and should have both full by tonight so I'll bring the SG up to around 1.025 for the rock to arrive. I have to throw the heaters in there tonight also as the water is in the mid 50's right now.
I'll post some pics after the rock comes in.
There is no reason something large like that couldn't live inside your rockwork just as easily as your piping!
To those that have asked I don't have detailed plans for the skimmer. I would be glad to explain anything but I bought this thing about 95% complete from RC user lovetoreef.
I ordered 200 lbs of tonga kaelini from Dr. Mac to get here on Friday and I've got contractors starting on the basement this weekend so things are moving along pretty good!
I have 2 of the tubs actually hooked together now with a Mag 9.5 rigged to pump from the bottem to the top and it overflows to the bottom. They both have racks in there for curing the LR to allow for better circulation. I'm going to put a Tunze in the bottom of each to provide circulation when curing. I'm making water like crazy and should have both full by tonight so I'll bring the SG up to around 1.025 for the rock to arrive. I have to throw the heaters in there tonight also as the water is in the mid 50's right now.
I'll post some pics after the rock comes in.
melev
Well-known member
Keith, how is that Merlin system working for you? Did you happen to measure the waste ratio? I did a little research on that unit, and may have already pointed you to the FAQ page about them. It did indicate you'd want some prefilters, but then again I think you mentioned your TDS were rediculously low (under 5) right out of the tap. 
kwl1763
Premium Member
Marc, the Merlin is working out great. It's very much gheto rigged right now since there is currently no plumbing in the basement. I actually am using prefilters. I'm using a set of 3 off of an old low GPD RO unit I've had for years collecting dust! I'll get a picture of it when I move it to it's real home in a few weeks.
The water is super cold now so I'm getting around 400GPD. Still beats the heck out of the 60 or so I'd be getting at these temps with a standard 100GPD unit.
I haven't really measured the waste but can tell it's at least slightly less waste ratio than my old unit.
The tap here is actually around 20ppm which is still darn good.
I know if I didn't have the unit I for sure would have just used tap water with some Amquel. I wouldn't have waited for 3 days to fill each sump and the like 10 when the tank came! Now it only takes a few hours for each sump and the tank should take less than a day.
The water is super cold now so I'm getting around 400GPD. Still beats the heck out of the 60 or so I'd be getting at these temps with a standard 100GPD unit.
I haven't really measured the waste but can tell it's at least slightly less waste ratio than my old unit.
The tap here is actually around 20ppm which is still darn good.
I know if I didn't have the unit I for sure would have just used tap water with some Amquel. I wouldn't have waited for 3 days to fill each sump and the like 10 when the tank came! Now it only takes a few hours for each sump and the tank should take less than a day.
kwl1763
Premium Member
Wow I'm definitely not disappointed! Worn out and tired YES but it was a fun evening today.
First of all I can't say enough about the value of the rock from Dr. Mac. It was the 1st grade Tonga. For right at $2.50 INCLUDING shipping I got some really nice stuff. Now I have seen more corraline coverage, etc but not for under $3 a lb. This exceeded my expectations for sure!
OK so a little about the setup first I have the skimmer connected to one of the troughs. I have a Mag 9.5 pumping water from the bottom trough into the upper trough then it drains back down through 2 1.5" bulkhead. In each trough I have 2 150W heaters and a Tunze 6100.
When I got the rock I had 2 20G rubbermaids full of saltwater to dunk and swish before putting them into the troughs on the rock racks I made which ended up working out great!
Anyway onto the pics of the rock. About half the rocks were at least 10" and a few were monsters!
Boxes waiting to be opened!
First Box
Box 2
Box 3
Box 4
First of all I can't say enough about the value of the rock from Dr. Mac. It was the 1st grade Tonga. For right at $2.50 INCLUDING shipping I got some really nice stuff. Now I have seen more corraline coverage, etc but not for under $3 a lb. This exceeded my expectations for sure!
OK so a little about the setup first I have the skimmer connected to one of the troughs. I have a Mag 9.5 pumping water from the bottom trough into the upper trough then it drains back down through 2 1.5" bulkhead. In each trough I have 2 150W heaters and a Tunze 6100.
When I got the rock I had 2 20G rubbermaids full of saltwater to dunk and swish before putting them into the troughs on the rock racks I made which ended up working out great!
Anyway onto the pics of the rock. About half the rocks were at least 10" and a few were monsters!
Boxes waiting to be opened!
First Box
Box 2
Box 3
Box 4
kwl1763
Premium Member
Here are a couple closups. It was dark so the autofocus didn't work to well obviously!!!
Here is what the "swish and dunk" buckets look like when I was finished! Pretty nasty!
Then here is everythig loaded onto the racks in the troughs
Top Trough
The racks have really worked out great. Everything is suspended and the rocks for the most part aren't even touching each other!
I finished up about 30 minutes ago and the skimmer is starting to get some foam. I'm sure tommorow I can post some pics of the skimmate it pulls!
I also officially ordered the tank today so moving right along!!!
Here is what the "swish and dunk" buckets look like when I was finished! Pretty nasty!
Then here is everythig loaded onto the racks in the troughs
Top Trough
The racks have really worked out great. Everything is suspended and the rocks for the most part aren't even touching each other!
I finished up about 30 minutes ago and the skimmer is starting to get some foam. I'm sure tommorow I can post some pics of the skimmate it pulls!
I also officially ordered the tank today so moving right along!!!
