BK's 110 Gallon Build

[Schplitter]

They all look very happy to be home. How did you treat them ick?

I treated with copper for 4 weeks. Then did a 100% water change and treated with other meds that kill parasites for 3 weeks. One more 100% water change. Then I did another 30 days of copper.

I don't think the 2nd and 3rd step were necessary but I had nothing but time.

 

[Schplitter]

Can you describe your water change process?

-Mike

Pictures help too.

MS Paint Drawings are even better

I'll take some pictures but it's nothing fancy really.

I have two 27 gal brute containers in which I mix and warm the fresh salt water. I will plumb them together eventually buy right now they are seperate.

Then when I designed my sump I divided it in half. 1st half is the return and fuge and 2nd half is where the skimmer and return pump are. The 1st half is exactly 25 gallons. I take the cheato out and place it into a container slowly so I save as many critters as possible. Then I use a MJ 400 to pump all of the water and gunk out of the compartment. At this time I would normally just refill the compartment and my 25% water change would be done but I wanted to change out 50 gallons so I took a hose and siphoned water from the tank straight into the sump. Once that compartment was full I stopped the siphon. Then I pumped that out again. All of this takes a good 8-10 minutes.

The next step is the refilling. I have a 3000 gallon pond pump that I connected to a garden hose. The hose is clamped onto the sump and the pump is dropped into the container with the fresh salt water. 2 minutes later the water change is done.

Eventually I'll let the pond pump mix and pump the water up but no have yet to get to connecting and plumbing it permanently.

 

[Pife]

Sounds like a very good system. Thanks for sharing it worth us. Did all your fish make it through your treatment program?

 

[Schplitter]

Sounds like a very good system. Thanks for sharing it worth us. Did all your fish make it through your treatment program?

Thanks. It sure beats lugging 5 gal buckets from the basement.

Yes, all of the fish made it and are now perfectly healthy. I'll never add another critter again without QT and treatment.

 

[Schplitter]

I'm almost done with my latest toy. Only dry fired for the time being.

The Chamber has a 6" diameter and is 15" tall.
Total reactor height is 17".
Cobalt MaxyJet 1200 for re circulation.
PH port in the lid.
Self filling bubble counter.

That's it for now.

 

[awais98]

I'm almost done with my latest toy. Only dry fired for the time being.

The Chamber has a 6" diameter and is 15" tall.
Total reactor height is 17".
Cobalt MaxyJet 1200 for re circulation.
PH port in the lid.
Self filling bubble counter.

That's it for now.

Good job dude!!
Let me know how it works out. A small second chamber would be good for the pH balance. Do it while u have it dry.

 

[mpcart]

That looks great. I am very jealous of the acrylic work that some of you guys can do.

-Mike

 

[Schplitter]

That looks great. I am very jealous of the acrylic work that some of you guys can do.

-Mike

Thanks Mike.

 

[Schplitter]

I glued and bonded all the pieces together today and a few minutes ago I leak tested it. The only leak came from the maxijet pump. I'll play with it a little more tomorrow and if all else fails I'll just glue it shut. It's weird how some of these pumps leak and others don't. If I rally can't make it stop leaking then I' might switch it out for a mag 3 or similar pump.

 

[kegogut]

I used plumbers tape. I took the head off and wrapped some around the rubber gasket and squeezed the head back on and it worked.

 

[smoothdog]

If you can't get it to stop leaking, look at the Marineland maxi-jet utility pumps. The med and large size ones have threaded and barb fittings for external use and are pretty affordable. Also, cobalt has come out with an inline pump that has compression fittings for vinyl tubing at either end.

 

[Schplitter]

It sealed and the leaking has stopped. I just had to wiggle it around a little and clean it out from the gunk. The usual...

I did forget one big part. When I measured the height of the available space and decided .5" of play is enough I forgot to account for the PH probe sticking out further than the rest of the plumbing. I'm not sure if I want to mess with it any more or if I should just let the reactor sit in an inch of water in my fuge. Decisions, decissions...

 

[Schplitter]

I ended up making a stand for the reactor so I don't have to make it any shorter. The reactor sits in one inch of water. This should not mess with its function.

Filled the reactor with media.

Tested the stand to make sure it doesn't collapse. It's not bonded but I made slots so it fits together like a puzzle. Had to do this so I can take it out if I ever need to. Tight cabinet space...

Everything fit without an inch to spare.

The reactor is behind the CO2 tank. I should have put the tank in the background but I'm not moving this thing unless it's the absolute only way to get something done. What a PITA tight space!

 

[Pife]

Looks great!

 

[McCune]

I have the same tank sitting in my garage got it for a steal. I have been torn on whether I should upgrade from my 72 bow front or just sell it. My main concern is the height of the tank. How is it when you have to get in there? Do you like the extra height?

 

[Schplitter]

I have the same tank sitting in my garage got it for a steal. I have been torn on whether I should upgrade from my 72 bow front or just sell it. My main concern is the height of the tank. How is it when you have to get in there? Do you like the extra height?

I love the height but it can be a bit hard to get to the bottom. I specifically wanted a 110 tall because of the space I had to work with. I didn't want to go with the boring 75/90 gal tanks.

I would say stick with your 72 gal if you plan on re-upgrading to something larger down the road. Switching from a 72 to a 110 is not worth it if it were me. Too much work and too may chances to kill too many things. I would wait until I'm ready to upgrade to my fantasy tank.

On the other hand if you can't go larger then go for it. It has a very dramatic look to it. Most of my friends that come over and know nothing about this hobby think its "custom made" just because hey are not used to seeing such a tall tank other than in hospitals and such.

 

[Schplitter]

Looks great!

Thanks! It turned out better than I was thinking it would.

 

[Schplitter]

The reactor is officially up and running with Co2 on and the re-circulation going.

Effluent = 60 drops per minute.
CO2 flow= 10 bubbles per minute.
Current PH inside the reactor is 7.57 and dropping slowly.

The controller is set to kill the CO2 if the PH inside the reactor hits 6.6 with 0.1 hysteresis.

 

[Schplitter]

Current ph in the reactor is 6.82. I wonder if I should bump the CO2 up a little?

 

[smoothdog]

Everything I have ever read says to keep pH between 6.7-6.5. I keep mine right at 6.5 because I use zeomag to keep mag up and it requires lower pH to dissolve. Anything lower than 6.5 and your media may turn to mush and clog.