Reefski's
Active member
thank you! sometimes i will post and no one comments and i feel like no one is out there. it is fun sharing the ups and downs. i like photography too and still can improve greatly in that area.
700 gallon tank, or how i spent my daughters inheritance
- Thread starter BlueCorn
- Start date
thank you! sometimes i will post and no one comments and i feel like no one is out there. it is fun sharing the ups and downs. i like photography too and still can improve greatly in that area.
Reefski's
Active member
i have done a little fish dissection. i have taken a course by the AKCA about all aspects of Koi keeping. in the labs we did dissect Koi.
if i had been here when it happened i still probably couldn't have done it. the fish is still in the freezer though and one day when i have more time...
Reefski's
Active member
thank you, that tank was 260 gallons. i just recently sold it and it is getting buffed out and should be a nice tank again for the new owner.
Reefski's
Active member
here are some comments By Eric Borneman posted in another thread.
Oh. My. God.
Now, being aware of all this, I should be less shocked than I am. You never mentioned the limestone rocks, or, if you did, I forgot. This is a big deal. Just out of curiosity, does it look sort of like this?
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&tbs=isch:1
I'm not even sure where to begin, except that I think what you are doing is probably the right thing. I think you will uncover and fix the one or multiple issues that exist.
Here's what I think, and I say this despite the fact that I know others use these things, may be successful and not have problems, and may disagree with me. I say this because I have been down that road personally or been involved with these issues with others more times than I care to think.
Closed loops and the valves and plumbing. Ditch 'em. Ditch 'em all. I did the closed loop thing because when that idea first came out, it seemed to be a good solution to getting more flow in a tank given that powerheads at the time sucked so badly for larger tanks. But, the idea of using big expensive high power draw pumps to push water through lots of toxic PVC, splitting it and having tons of pipes that get filled with all manner of growth is dumb and wasteful and overly complex and past its time. It all needs regular maintenance that is rarely if ever done because of what a PITA it is to do it. The valves everyone uses - straight valves - are horrible. They always get stuck over periods of time. I wouldn't use another straight valve in a tank if you paid me.
Your paint. It was definitely a good catch and something I am very careful with. I either use epoxy paint or epoxy clear coat anything anywhere near the tanks. I would not use latex in a closed area with seawater or on anything that is over the water without an epoxy clear coat. Latex paints also have mildew resistants in them and they peel.
Your sand. As you know, I thought that sand was an issue from the start. Everyone I know that has used that sand has the same issues. Despite people saying "oh, I have it and it's fine...it will work...it has life in it....it is functional," I have never seen a sand bed look like it should using that sand and the cyano and the reduced porosity and the life in the sand is almost invariably the same. Can you use your old sand? You know, I don't know. I don't know what airborne contaminants might have accumulated. You live in a big toxic city with smog. So do I. If I had a container of sand sitting outside for a year or more, I wouldn't use it. That's just me, and maybe I'm wrong. As to your questions, those are easy to answer. Take some sand and put an inch in a glass of tank water, and another in an inch of distilled freshwater and let it sit for a week. Measure the phosphate in the water before adding the sand and then after a week in each glass and see if anything happens. As for the real carbonate sand you have in the tanks, I would reuse it. I would use a bin or bucket and put about 6-8 inches of sand in it, and then use tank water you are going to replace to do several rinses and then sift through it to make sure there are no other screws or other foreign objects in there. Add at least a few inches of seawater above the sand level, throw a powerhead in there, and then let it sit while you do the rest of the work.
On the rock. Rock is cheap, and rock repopulates. Torching it it the places it needs to rid it of hydroids is fine in my book. I think you will have plenty of diversity left that it will be fine. After torching, you can toss it in the sand bins and cover with water and keep the water flow running (may have to add more water to cover it).
On the concrete blocks and the limestone rock. Use the blocks to stand on while you are working and then stack them in the garage. Take the limestone rocks out and use them for landscaping. I bought some West Texas lace rock (old coral reef limestone) from a rock yard and not only did nothing want to grow on it, the tank always had issues. I thought at the time, "hmmm limestone, nice big holes, heavy and will make a sound foundation and will be great. How ingenious of me." It sucked. I even tried using a single really pretty piece after scrapping the rest as landscaping, and it caused issues in that tank even with a single piece. After removing it, issues disappeared. I don't know what it is, I could speculate, but don't care. Learned my lesson and moved on.
On your water. I don't really care that you had a nice tank before using coastal water. Don't know if it was the issue or part of the issue with this tank. I wouldn't put LA coastal water in my tank any more than I would put Texas coastal water in my tank. I think artificial salts suck, but I am pretty sure they don't have pesticides and pollutants and herbicides and phthlates in them. Unless I had access to really clear filtered NSW (to 0.5 microns), I wouldn't use it.
So, that's all for now. More as it comes to me. Take my advice with whatever grain of salt you want. I'm happy you are doing this, and I want to see you happy, despite all the effort and money and stress and issues you have been through. And, just another thing to you and Pam. If possible at all, please don't sell that house. It is just too beautiful. It suits you, it's part of you in more ways than one, and I cannot imagine you in another house unless you were leaving the area. To think of someone else living in the fruits of your labor and work and decisions, from the layout, to the floors, to the pond/pool, to the area, to the solar panels. It's too nice to let anyone but your family enjoy. Just adjust the dang motion sensor timers in the bathroom!
>>thanks for the encouragement and kind words. that means a lot to us. Pam and I read the last paragraph with a tear in our eyes. we would be very sad if it comes to selling the house but if it comes to that we can build something smaller but just as nice, (smaller house, better tank) next time. or we could sell the house and travel the world for the rest of our lives instead of working the next 30 years to pay for the house. learn to dive at my advanced age, do some volunteer work, decisions, decisions. or our daughter and her family, (she doesn't have one yet) live with us and help pay the bills, and that would be great. she is just about to graduate from UCLA grad school and become a Social Worker, she has a job starting in August. her first "real" job.<<
Carl (and Pam), your alternative scenario is the other option and a good one if that is something you two would do. I am sure that would be terribly rewarding and life changing, and to me (and Brandee) what our other alternative would be, as well (were it not for a whole lot of animals right now). There is a lot to be said for the stability and comfort of a home you love, and a lot to be said for experiencing this amazing world and all its cultures and sights to behold. I wouldn't trade my/our expereinces abroad for anything but you have to like doing it. As for diving - even snorkeling - you will find it far surpasses any reef aquarium (cheaper, too!), but you will also be faced with the same heartaches and disappointments the more you see as you witness some magnificent awe-inspiring reef and then see another so degraded that it makes you despair for our oceans and reefs. But, in a way, just another version of almost everything around us, including your current situation.
>>but for now... on to the rebuild
the limestone is solid without holes and very dense, so it is different than in the photo you linked to above. i reread the large tank issue of Coral magazine about Atlantis Marine World where Joe used 75% limestone. i will take it out of my tank though and use it in the yard. you didn't miss that, i don't think i ever mentioned that before about the limestone.<<
Joe is an outrageously good aquarist, but in your comparison to Atlantis (and previously to Long Beach), you have to remember you are dealing with a totally different scale and beast in a display like that. There is a staff. I don't see you wanting to jump in the tank with a freshwater hose to spray off AEFW's. He's had nudibranchs. Public aquariums have deaths and replacements, just like home aquarists. In good ones, they are impressive but the good ones are few and far between, and I think some of the alternative materials and chosen for practicality or due to the sheer size of needs of the display rather than being the ideal choice. Spend some time dealing with one or the head aquarist, and you'll hear of all the nightmares that happen due to all manner of things, from staff issues to budget issues to administration issues. I don't know what limestone he used, and some limestone should theoretically be fine and especially when diluted to the extent it is. He uses Lanthium so there are still phosphate issues Everything is not always what it seems despite the visual end result.
>>i was looking at the rock in the tank last night and there is a lot of Hydroids to kill but also a lot of different Corallines, and different snails that only come out at night, and tubeworms and fanworms, and... i think there will be some good rock to use again. it is interesting that the coralines are on the shadier parts of the rock and the more top light exposed parts are more algae dominated. the white PVC returns are still white on the tops but coraline covered on the sides and bottoms.<<
Not surprising - many types of corallines and many if not most are more shade species - the ones that do well in the high light high flow are usually of fewer types, even if much larger total area covered and in coverage/calcification. The question is why those seem to be missing for you. I think if you use one of the microtorches, you can be accurate enough to get the areas you want without disturbing too much of the desirables if you get it back in water afterwards.
>>tangent- how does nitrate reduction occur in coraline covered rock? how does it penetrate the rock. how deep in the rock does denitrification occur? <<
I know Ron has made this argument, and I have not seen convincing data for aquariums but there is plenty in the literature. Much of the live rock we get is literally mostly solid coralline. I do not buy that coralline "seals" the rock, and there is and should be sufficient porosity that it is essentially irrelevant. Every study I have read indicates plenty of life, every piece of rock I have broken is not at all sterile inside, often with reductive grey areas. Everytime I turkey baste rock that looks covered in coralline, plumes of detritus and boring and carbonate come blowing out, often on the complete opposite side or at some odd angle from the borings and tunnels in the rock which is not at all coralline covered (being in the dark interior). Coralline itself is porous, too, and acts to support other epilithic species on it, around it, and under it. Coral skeleton is home to bejillions of algal, microbial, fungal, and other life, and that has a living barrier to entrance with the coral tissue. So, I don't think you have to worry.
>>i may get a couple of hundred pounds of rock just in from Fiji and cure it myself to add some more diversity. this rock can just go into the sumps after curing.
when i was at one of the wholesalers near LAX a few weeks ago i asked about the many dozens of boxes of LR stacked in the back of the warehouse. i was told that it sits out like that until it is sold still in the shipping boxes. it is little wonder there isn't much life left in it. they get new shipments about every three weeks. if i get rock from them i would be there when it first comes into the warehouse so i could get it curing at my place immediately.<<
Yes, this is one of the ultimate tragedies of live rock harvest is the horrible treatment it gets. Blasted of life on site, shipped dry, no effort to preserve the diversity and then usually cured in unlit, ammonia filled, yellow water to kill off what remains. I again rely on others to provide insight as to any good sources as I haven't had the need to buy any - fortunately before this practice began to keep costs so low. I did get one special shipment from Fiji about eight years ago and it was really nice, but was a special order direct from the source.
>>when you said you would not use our coastal water are you saying even from Catalina Water Company? i need a lot of water over a short period of time to change out. what do you think of getting the 2000 gallons for use during the redo and then making my own after that? <<
I meant the coastal water you were using. In terms of Catalina water, I have never had access to it or used it and would rely on your west coast groups for the verdict. It had been my impression when it was first available that it was superior to ASW but expensive. I know it was used in some earlier conference displays and the end of the conference results were not much better than the new ASW results that preceded it. In contrast, it seemed NutriSea tanks looked pretty good by comparison. But this is an observation made on the effects of throwing a bunch of new livestock into tanks set up for an event with new water and looking at the results 3-4 days later. I wouldn't make a judgement for long term use based on those extreme criteria.
>>the quartz sand from http://www.reefsand.com/ that i used was and is still being sold as aragonite. it is the Marine sand #0 grade. i never got any help from the company to replace the sand. i think i have a strong case against them for false claims but how would i pursue it. they are in florida and i am in Los Angeles.<<
Point well made. But hey, there was SOME carbonate in there.
>>i have not spoken to them in about a year since you told me that it was not aragonite. now i could tell the difference but i was naive and trusting that i got what they advertised it as. when i pointed out to the owner of the company that the website was misrepresenting the sand he just discounted that saying that people should know what they are getting when the title says Marine sand, nevermind it says aragonite in the description of benefits.<<
Why am I not surprised?
>>within seconds of seeing my tank Eric saw that the sand was quartz.<<
I was actually surprised as much dissolved in acid as it did but there was a lot of quartz!
>>i will get rid of the closed loops and use one of the intakes for pumping to the surges. they shoud flow twice as much with the decreased head of not pumping from the garage.<<
You don't have to - remember, it just my opinion and experience. I would up using athreaded plugs on some with silicone to seal the threads, and the other I foresaw and easy water change opportunity and put a valve there. Never used it, but it seems/seemed like a good idea at the time and might be useful.
>>how to patch the holes? a piece of acryic glued over the nine holes or leave in the bulkheads and cap them off? more questions about circulation and powerheads later.<<
As mentioned I left the bulkheads in place and used threaded plugs
the skimmer is off right now.
Or thinking about that i wonder if i could replumb the skimmer to be fed by the overflow? i have the two overflow areas in the tank. there are 5 2" pipes total but most of the flow in each one is with a siphon and the other three are backup. it could flow about 5000 gph into the skimmer from the overflow.
would that work?
eliminating another pump would save another 250 watts per hour.
it would have to have a bypass so it could be skimming or just go to the sump.
my system has been using 5 Reeflo Hammerhead pumps each at 250 watts. if i eliminate the two closed loop and skimmer pumps i could have one pump return from the sumps and one of the old closed loop pumps directly under the tank pumping to the surge tanks. have better flow with three less big pumps with adding a couple of Tunzes that i already have into the DT for additional flow.
a couple other things.
the epoxy paint. my painter doesn't know anything about using epoxy paint. Daniel Knop used Latex when painting over his mold resistant paint. isn't that good enough? high sheen, low sheen? i am still on a budget, a budget of credit cards.
here's another thought, possible source of toxic fumes. all the aluminum in the skylight shaft was put in with contact cement and screwed down too. the sun is very intense in the shaft. could there be off gassing of contact cement stuff after two years?
Oh. My. God.
Now, being aware of all this, I should be less shocked than I am. You never mentioned the limestone rocks, or, if you did, I forgot. This is a big deal. Just out of curiosity, does it look sort of like this?
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&tbs=isch:1
I'm not even sure where to begin, except that I think what you are doing is probably the right thing. I think you will uncover and fix the one or multiple issues that exist.
Here's what I think, and I say this despite the fact that I know others use these things, may be successful and not have problems, and may disagree with me. I say this because I have been down that road personally or been involved with these issues with others more times than I care to think.
Closed loops and the valves and plumbing. Ditch 'em. Ditch 'em all. I did the closed loop thing because when that idea first came out, it seemed to be a good solution to getting more flow in a tank given that powerheads at the time sucked so badly for larger tanks. But, the idea of using big expensive high power draw pumps to push water through lots of toxic PVC, splitting it and having tons of pipes that get filled with all manner of growth is dumb and wasteful and overly complex and past its time. It all needs regular maintenance that is rarely if ever done because of what a PITA it is to do it. The valves everyone uses - straight valves - are horrible. They always get stuck over periods of time. I wouldn't use another straight valve in a tank if you paid me.
Your paint. It was definitely a good catch and something I am very careful with. I either use epoxy paint or epoxy clear coat anything anywhere near the tanks. I would not use latex in a closed area with seawater or on anything that is over the water without an epoxy clear coat. Latex paints also have mildew resistants in them and they peel.
Your sand. As you know, I thought that sand was an issue from the start. Everyone I know that has used that sand has the same issues. Despite people saying "oh, I have it and it's fine...it will work...it has life in it....it is functional," I have never seen a sand bed look like it should using that sand and the cyano and the reduced porosity and the life in the sand is almost invariably the same. Can you use your old sand? You know, I don't know. I don't know what airborne contaminants might have accumulated. You live in a big toxic city with smog. So do I. If I had a container of sand sitting outside for a year or more, I wouldn't use it. That's just me, and maybe I'm wrong. As to your questions, those are easy to answer. Take some sand and put an inch in a glass of tank water, and another in an inch of distilled freshwater and let it sit for a week. Measure the phosphate in the water before adding the sand and then after a week in each glass and see if anything happens. As for the real carbonate sand you have in the tanks, I would reuse it. I would use a bin or bucket and put about 6-8 inches of sand in it, and then use tank water you are going to replace to do several rinses and then sift through it to make sure there are no other screws or other foreign objects in there. Add at least a few inches of seawater above the sand level, throw a powerhead in there, and then let it sit while you do the rest of the work.
On the rock. Rock is cheap, and rock repopulates. Torching it it the places it needs to rid it of hydroids is fine in my book. I think you will have plenty of diversity left that it will be fine. After torching, you can toss it in the sand bins and cover with water and keep the water flow running (may have to add more water to cover it).
On the concrete blocks and the limestone rock. Use the blocks to stand on while you are working and then stack them in the garage. Take the limestone rocks out and use them for landscaping. I bought some West Texas lace rock (old coral reef limestone) from a rock yard and not only did nothing want to grow on it, the tank always had issues. I thought at the time, "hmmm limestone, nice big holes, heavy and will make a sound foundation and will be great. How ingenious of me." It sucked. I even tried using a single really pretty piece after scrapping the rest as landscaping, and it caused issues in that tank even with a single piece. After removing it, issues disappeared. I don't know what it is, I could speculate, but don't care. Learned my lesson and moved on.
On your water. I don't really care that you had a nice tank before using coastal water. Don't know if it was the issue or part of the issue with this tank. I wouldn't put LA coastal water in my tank any more than I would put Texas coastal water in my tank. I think artificial salts suck, but I am pretty sure they don't have pesticides and pollutants and herbicides and phthlates in them. Unless I had access to really clear filtered NSW (to 0.5 microns), I wouldn't use it.
So, that's all for now. More as it comes to me. Take my advice with whatever grain of salt you want. I'm happy you are doing this, and I want to see you happy, despite all the effort and money and stress and issues you have been through. And, just another thing to you and Pam. If possible at all, please don't sell that house. It is just too beautiful. It suits you, it's part of you in more ways than one, and I cannot imagine you in another house unless you were leaving the area. To think of someone else living in the fruits of your labor and work and decisions, from the layout, to the floors, to the pond/pool, to the area, to the solar panels. It's too nice to let anyone but your family enjoy. Just adjust the dang motion sensor timers in the bathroom!
>>thanks for the encouragement and kind words. that means a lot to us. Pam and I read the last paragraph with a tear in our eyes. we would be very sad if it comes to selling the house but if it comes to that we can build something smaller but just as nice, (smaller house, better tank) next time. or we could sell the house and travel the world for the rest of our lives instead of working the next 30 years to pay for the house. learn to dive at my advanced age, do some volunteer work, decisions, decisions. or our daughter and her family, (she doesn't have one yet) live with us and help pay the bills, and that would be great. she is just about to graduate from UCLA grad school and become a Social Worker, she has a job starting in August. her first "real" job.<<
Carl (and Pam), your alternative scenario is the other option and a good one if that is something you two would do. I am sure that would be terribly rewarding and life changing, and to me (and Brandee) what our other alternative would be, as well (were it not for a whole lot of animals right now). There is a lot to be said for the stability and comfort of a home you love, and a lot to be said for experiencing this amazing world and all its cultures and sights to behold. I wouldn't trade my/our expereinces abroad for anything but you have to like doing it. As for diving - even snorkeling - you will find it far surpasses any reef aquarium (cheaper, too!), but you will also be faced with the same heartaches and disappointments the more you see as you witness some magnificent awe-inspiring reef and then see another so degraded that it makes you despair for our oceans and reefs. But, in a way, just another version of almost everything around us, including your current situation.
>>but for now... on to the rebuild
the limestone is solid without holes and very dense, so it is different than in the photo you linked to above. i reread the large tank issue of Coral magazine about Atlantis Marine World where Joe used 75% limestone. i will take it out of my tank though and use it in the yard. you didn't miss that, i don't think i ever mentioned that before about the limestone.<<
Joe is an outrageously good aquarist, but in your comparison to Atlantis (and previously to Long Beach), you have to remember you are dealing with a totally different scale and beast in a display like that. There is a staff. I don't see you wanting to jump in the tank with a freshwater hose to spray off AEFW's. He's had nudibranchs. Public aquariums have deaths and replacements, just like home aquarists. In good ones, they are impressive but the good ones are few and far between, and I think some of the alternative materials and chosen for practicality or due to the sheer size of needs of the display rather than being the ideal choice. Spend some time dealing with one or the head aquarist, and you'll hear of all the nightmares that happen due to all manner of things, from staff issues to budget issues to administration issues. I don't know what limestone he used, and some limestone should theoretically be fine and especially when diluted to the extent it is. He uses Lanthium so there are still phosphate issues Everything is not always what it seems despite the visual end result.
>>i was looking at the rock in the tank last night and there is a lot of Hydroids to kill but also a lot of different Corallines, and different snails that only come out at night, and tubeworms and fanworms, and... i think there will be some good rock to use again. it is interesting that the coralines are on the shadier parts of the rock and the more top light exposed parts are more algae dominated. the white PVC returns are still white on the tops but coraline covered on the sides and bottoms.<<
Not surprising - many types of corallines and many if not most are more shade species - the ones that do well in the high light high flow are usually of fewer types, even if much larger total area covered and in coverage/calcification. The question is why those seem to be missing for you. I think if you use one of the microtorches, you can be accurate enough to get the areas you want without disturbing too much of the desirables if you get it back in water afterwards.
>>tangent- how does nitrate reduction occur in coraline covered rock? how does it penetrate the rock. how deep in the rock does denitrification occur? <<
I know Ron has made this argument, and I have not seen convincing data for aquariums but there is plenty in the literature. Much of the live rock we get is literally mostly solid coralline. I do not buy that coralline "seals" the rock, and there is and should be sufficient porosity that it is essentially irrelevant. Every study I have read indicates plenty of life, every piece of rock I have broken is not at all sterile inside, often with reductive grey areas. Everytime I turkey baste rock that looks covered in coralline, plumes of detritus and boring and carbonate come blowing out, often on the complete opposite side or at some odd angle from the borings and tunnels in the rock which is not at all coralline covered (being in the dark interior). Coralline itself is porous, too, and acts to support other epilithic species on it, around it, and under it. Coral skeleton is home to bejillions of algal, microbial, fungal, and other life, and that has a living barrier to entrance with the coral tissue. So, I don't think you have to worry.
>>i may get a couple of hundred pounds of rock just in from Fiji and cure it myself to add some more diversity. this rock can just go into the sumps after curing.
when i was at one of the wholesalers near LAX a few weeks ago i asked about the many dozens of boxes of LR stacked in the back of the warehouse. i was told that it sits out like that until it is sold still in the shipping boxes. it is little wonder there isn't much life left in it. they get new shipments about every three weeks. if i get rock from them i would be there when it first comes into the warehouse so i could get it curing at my place immediately.<<
Yes, this is one of the ultimate tragedies of live rock harvest is the horrible treatment it gets. Blasted of life on site, shipped dry, no effort to preserve the diversity and then usually cured in unlit, ammonia filled, yellow water to kill off what remains. I again rely on others to provide insight as to any good sources as I haven't had the need to buy any - fortunately before this practice began to keep costs so low. I did get one special shipment from Fiji about eight years ago and it was really nice, but was a special order direct from the source.
>>when you said you would not use our coastal water are you saying even from Catalina Water Company? i need a lot of water over a short period of time to change out. what do you think of getting the 2000 gallons for use during the redo and then making my own after that? <<
I meant the coastal water you were using. In terms of Catalina water, I have never had access to it or used it and would rely on your west coast groups for the verdict. It had been my impression when it was first available that it was superior to ASW but expensive. I know it was used in some earlier conference displays and the end of the conference results were not much better than the new ASW results that preceded it. In contrast, it seemed NutriSea tanks looked pretty good by comparison. But this is an observation made on the effects of throwing a bunch of new livestock into tanks set up for an event with new water and looking at the results 3-4 days later. I wouldn't make a judgement for long term use based on those extreme criteria.
>>the quartz sand from http://www.reefsand.com/ that i used was and is still being sold as aragonite. it is the Marine sand #0 grade. i never got any help from the company to replace the sand. i think i have a strong case against them for false claims but how would i pursue it. they are in florida and i am in Los Angeles.<<
Point well made. But hey, there was SOME carbonate in there.
>>i have not spoken to them in about a year since you told me that it was not aragonite. now i could tell the difference but i was naive and trusting that i got what they advertised it as. when i pointed out to the owner of the company that the website was misrepresenting the sand he just discounted that saying that people should know what they are getting when the title says Marine sand, nevermind it says aragonite in the description of benefits.<<
Why am I not surprised?
>>within seconds of seeing my tank Eric saw that the sand was quartz.<<
I was actually surprised as much dissolved in acid as it did but there was a lot of quartz!
>>i will get rid of the closed loops and use one of the intakes for pumping to the surges. they shoud flow twice as much with the decreased head of not pumping from the garage.<<
You don't have to - remember, it just my opinion and experience. I would up using athreaded plugs on some with silicone to seal the threads, and the other I foresaw and easy water change opportunity and put a valve there. Never used it, but it seems/seemed like a good idea at the time and might be useful.
>>how to patch the holes? a piece of acryic glued over the nine holes or leave in the bulkheads and cap them off? more questions about circulation and powerheads later.<<
As mentioned I left the bulkheads in place and used threaded plugs
the skimmer is off right now.
Or thinking about that i wonder if i could replumb the skimmer to be fed by the overflow? i have the two overflow areas in the tank. there are 5 2" pipes total but most of the flow in each one is with a siphon and the other three are backup. it could flow about 5000 gph into the skimmer from the overflow.
would that work?
eliminating another pump would save another 250 watts per hour.
it would have to have a bypass so it could be skimming or just go to the sump.
my system has been using 5 Reeflo Hammerhead pumps each at 250 watts. if i eliminate the two closed loop and skimmer pumps i could have one pump return from the sumps and one of the old closed loop pumps directly under the tank pumping to the surge tanks. have better flow with three less big pumps with adding a couple of Tunzes that i already have into the DT for additional flow.
a couple other things.
the epoxy paint. my painter doesn't know anything about using epoxy paint. Daniel Knop used Latex when painting over his mold resistant paint. isn't that good enough? high sheen, low sheen? i am still on a budget, a budget of credit cards.
here's another thought, possible source of toxic fumes. all the aluminum in the skylight shaft was put in with contact cement and screwed down too. the sun is very intense in the shaft. could there be off gassing of contact cement stuff after two years?
Reeftanks6
Active member
Wow that must have been a great tank. But this one i ams sure you like it 10 times more. Beautiful tank!
matt & pam
Member
How is your tank grounded? any stray currents?
Reefski's
Active member
i don't have grounds in the tank. the tanks system uses several 20 amp circuits.
i put my fingers in the tank a couple times a day while feeding. i have had shorts in powerheads before and i know what that feels like. i suppose if it was a small voltage leak i wouldn't feel it.
i have a voltage meter and could check it.
Carl
i put my fingers in the tank a couple times a day while feeding. i have had shorts in powerheads before and i know what that feels like. i suppose if it was a small voltage leak i wouldn't feel it.
i have a voltage meter and could check it.
Carl
Reeftanks6
Active member
That is some weird thing that your pinktail trigger is doing. Never seen that before. But I have heard about triggers doing it, never seen it.
Reefski's
Active member
i have been thinking along these lines too. how i could use some of the return water from the surge closet over a screen before dumping into the tank. it would have to be something like a big plastic tray on a slant with screen material that would be easy to clean. it could be 36"x 36"-48"or so.
by using one of the pumps just under the tank for the surge instead of the closed loops i can get a lot more volume of water pumped to the surges instead of pumping all the way from the garage.
i could T off some of the flow to the ATS for continuous water flow over it. maybe direct one of the two surges onto the screen as well or just both of them to the tank. hmmm...
techreef
Premium Member
In regard to something Eric Borneman wrote to you Reefski, when did PVC get labeled "toxic?" I thought it was inert? I can see issues for sure with uncured solvent or cleaner, but once it's cured, I thought it was all safe. Is this along the same lines as the toxic Rubbermaid Brute cans?
Last Version
New member
Montipora very beautiful! nice pics.
Znut Reefer
Premium Member
Sorry to hear about your friend. I hope you'll get things worked out with your tank. Hang in there.
PaPa_Johnny
Premium Member
Reefski, have you seen Paul B's thread? he has an algae scrubber, albeit on a much smaller scale, that has worked for years for him. I'm not sure how you would adapt to your tank but just a thought.
Reefski's
Active member
no one has any comments or explanation of the Trigger behavior?
i went to the paint store yesterday and spoke with them about my situation. this is what they recommended. i think i will use it in the garage and the surge closet.
www.mythicpaint.com in the semigloss. about $45 a gallon.
no VOC's
Carl
i went to the paint store yesterday and spoke with them about my situation. this is what they recommended. i think i will use it in the garage and the surge closet.
www.mythicpaint.com in the semigloss. about $45 a gallon.
no VOC's
Carl
lostintheocean
New member
thats great you took in the that dog, he is one lucky pup. good looking to. Thats a crazy tank, nice work
