600 gallon Display/ 900 gallon system
- Thread starter 46bfinGA
- Start date
jjk_reef00
New member
Great work!
It is filling up very nicely, can't wait to see it when all the corals grow out.
It is filling up very nicely, can't wait to see it when all the corals grow out.
The return pipe is roughed into the wall before I sheetrocked. That way I could run it up to the top of the tanks without drilling thru the stand,etc.... and running it externally. By doing that, it increases the back pressure on the pump a bit, but the dart still produces plenty of flow for what I am using it for. It then T's and feeds the frag tank and main display.
Here is a pic of the top of the return pipe that goes into the wall.... As you can see it comes out to a T and splits off to the frag tank on left and the main display on right. They are both valved so I can control the amount of water I want in each tank, as well as cutting off either in case I need to.
Here is a pic of the top-off reservoirs as well as the frag tank.
ecpierce, marcus.breaux , AndyH5512 , Elliott , and jjk_reef00, Thanks alot guys ! I appreciate the comments. This project has been a lonnnnnnnng one and I am just glad to finally be at this point. Now I can sit back and try to enjoy it a bit.
I am battling the dreaded diatoms right now, but I picked up a couple hundred snails yesterday and they are already hard at work. My Bursa trigger is wiping them out at a pretty fast pace, so I am in the process of catching him and moving him into the sump. I still have a pretty large To Do List, but they have been put on the back burner for a bit.
I am battling the dreaded diatoms right now, but I picked up a couple hundred snails yesterday and they are already hard at work. My Bursa trigger is wiping them out at a pretty fast pace, so I am in the process of catching him and moving him into the sump. I still have a pretty large To Do List, but they have been put on the back burner for a bit.
Thanks Man, I actually have been keeping a build thread at my local Reef club(Atlanta Reef Club) for quite some time, but I did not want to post here until I had the tank around 90% done. It takes alot of effort and time to keep up with these threads, and I got a pretty busy schedule at home with my 10 month old , 12 yr. old son and my work schedule on top of that.
Well by DIY, I meant it was a not a big Manuf. who built these, just a guy in his garage. A friend of mine built the tank and skimmer for me. I wish I had the skills to build things with acrylic. The only thing I built was the acrylic racks for my rock in the sump. Pretty simple stuff.
I got my Aqua UV running finally last weekend. I had broke one of the sleeves while putting a lamp in. I was quite upset since I had just bought a new sleeve and three new lamps. I really did not want to spend more money on it.
Here is the big ballast box for the 120 watt UV...
and the UV connections....
Here is the big ballast box for the 120 watt UV...
and the UV connections....
For those interested, I made a simple silencer for my skimmer.....as posted before I was using CPVC for the air feed from the Alita 40. Where I was bleeding off air was so loud I could hear it upstairs in the house. Well the Wife was not pleased as you could Imagine..... so I put together a silencer using a male CPVC connector, a 1" - 1/2" female threaded reducer and a short piece of 1" PVC filled with cotton balls topped off with a 1" PVC cap drilled with a 3/8" hole on the end. this thing worked tremendously well and is completely silent.....
I made a few videos of the tank....and working on uploading them to YouTube. Here is one of them,hopefully it works.... Please ignore the red net in the videos, I'm hoping by leaving it in the tank and feeding the fish in it for a few days, the trigger gets used to it and I can catch him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDIPzrxf5G4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDIPzrxf5G4
Chrisrush
New member
Thanks for the updates on the plumbing. Very smart to put the pipe in while building the walls. Were you able to insulate the pipe as well?
I like the idea of the external wave box. How do you like it so far?
I used one of those DIY silencers but mine was for the air input side. I put some carbon and floss in it. Made it silent.
I like the idea of the external wave box. How do you like it so far?
I used one of those DIY silencers but mine was for the air input side. I put some carbon and floss in it. Made it silent.
ChrisRush, Thanks. No I did not insulate the pipes but all the walls are insulated to keep the sound out of the rest of the basement. Worked really well. The external waveboxes are nice! You dont even know I have waveboxes by looking into the tank, you would have to go behind the scenes to see them. One of the best things I ever did to the tank IMO. I though about using carbon in my silencer but the cotton balls are so cheap and I only have to use a few of them to fill the pipe up. I am also using the silencer on the input side of the venturi, between the Alita and the Dart. The Alita makes no noise whatsoever as it sucks air in, I would imagine because of the air filter it utilizes on top.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14191427#post14191427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jar*Head
I don't think your tank will fall apart with that much of wave. It looks pretty good
Your probably right, but my tank is 3/4" all around and I am not 100% confident the joints were done that great. So keeping the wave down helps me sleep at night. The flow is good even without the waves, IMO...
BTW, I need my magnets whats the hold up
LOL
