Build thread of the Monterey Marinland 265 84x24x30

[Biggar]

More Sand

More Sand

Ordered 100 pounds of dry sand

Based on a 2inch sand bed, there should be 200 pounds

5 x 20lbs bags of nature's ocean 1.2-1.7mm Australian gold

Plan on taking about 40% of the original out, cleaning it, then maybe use for a deep sand bed in the fuge

Leaving the rest to seed new sand

My diamond goby and sand sifting star are constantly moving my sand around, therefore I believe its not too dirty.

Hopefully only a small mini cycle takes place

 

[Crawfish00]

Sounds good.. I was gonna say somthing about the bubble king but every time I do I have gotten a lot of people saying bs about it.. Good choice with the octopus they mak a damn good skimmer. I'm gonna sell my etss and buy one soon for my new tank I'll be getting in a few months..

 

[fragyoureef]

The water is going to stay at your highest height it won't be 17" in one chamber and 15" in another.. So that idea won't work..

why wouldn't it work? the chambers are decreasing not increaseing the water will flow through the sump with no problem....... since there is no space on the bottom of the sump water can only travel up till it flows over. then in the next chamber it will continue to raise till it falls over again which is 15inch and so forth repeating.
I dont understand you reasoning and I'd like to know what you mean it would not work. Only reason I ask is because im in the process of drilling my tank hopefully this weekend and making a sump.........

 

[fragyoureef]

is it the inertia from the return pump and the force from the overflow into the sump creating a siphon act? I cant figure it out but thats the only thing i can creatively come up with to make any sense....?

 

[Biggar]

Filter Sock Creation

Filter Sock Creation

Had to make the socks hang into the water a bit lower due to the Reef Octopus skimmer water operation height , so I came up with with contraption.

Pump should be here Monday :wildone:

Used acetone, I will let you know if it works

Finished Product

Nice height in the sump for my set up

Cut the acrylic in shape of a C to pull sock in and out easy

 

[Biggar]

Picking up baffles and getting hole drilled next week

Picking up baffles and getting hole drilled next week

Pump Monday
Sump should be done by the 11th

 

[Biggar]

More rock aquired

More rock aquired

Thanks Blennymower! Cant beat 50 bucks for all these

Just weighed the rocks. Came to 85lbs.

I will need to prep these for sure. Ill research that

They smell abit

 

[Crawfish00]

I would glue some gussets in the corners of the filter sock holder just I case the welds don't hold up.. When tose socks get wet and dirty they get heavy.. In case you don't under stand what I mean by gussets just triangle pieces for where the top (piece that lays on the edge of the aquarium) to the side piece that holds the bottom filter sock holder..

 

[Crawfish00]

why wouldn't it work? the chambers are decreasing not increaseing the water will flow through the sump with no problem....... since there is no space on the bottom of the sump water can only travel up till it flows over. then in the next chamber it will continue to raise till it falls over again which is 15inch and so forth repeating.
I dont understand you reasoning and I'd like to know what you mean it would not work. Only reason I ask is because im in the process of drilling my tank hopefully this weekend and making a sump.........

Just because your last chamber has a shorter vertical block doesn't mean your water level will stay at that height. Your water level will be the same through out the whole sump. If you were to make it different levels in the sump it will be really noisy.. You will hear the water splash down plus if you don't get it perfect timing with your drain down and your return pump you will end up with lots of air bubbles in your tank.. A smooth flow and equal water height is the way to go IMO..

 

[Biggar]

Reinforced Sock holder

Reinforced Sock holder

I would glue some gussets in the corners of the filter sock holder just I case the welds don't hold up.. When tose socks get wet and dirty they get heavy.. In case you don't under stand what I mean by gussets just triangle pieces for where the top (piece that lays on the edge of the aquarium) to the side piece that holds the bottom filter sock holder..

I pulled on the contraption, its pretty strong. I'm surprised how strong it is actually. I guess reinforcement would not hurt. I put couple tie wraps on it just in case.

Its holding 20lbs ok, that should be enough

 

[Biggar]

Newly aquired rock prep

Newly aquired rock prep

Figured I would start rinsing all the dead stuff off these rocks. They probably have been sitting for awhile.

I put them in R/O bath after rinsing. I plan on bathing about 4 days with water changes, then putting them in saltwater and seeding the bin with couple of my established rocks and some sand. Then monitor for phosphates and nitrates and smell over the next couple weeks. Hope this works

I read so many ways to do this, so everyone has their own opinions. This is mine

Good old Christmas bin :fun2:

 

[Biggar]

Picking up some of the guts

Picking up some of the guts

Couple pieces PVC

Im still not 100% on whether to use Teflon tape or Teflon pipe dope

 

[Biggar]

Curing (Biggars method)

Curing (Biggars method)

Rocks are actually somewhat clean.

After several day R/O bath, couple water changes, almost no more smell

Now letting them sit in salt water with heater and establish rock(temporary) and established sand to speed up the cycle

 

[Biggar]

Drilling 3 inch hole in glass

Drilling 3 inch hole in glass

I planned on having someone else do this, but realized I just had cake for breakfast.

Like Emeril....."BAM"!

 

[Crawfish00]

Very nice...easy to drill right...

 

[Biggar]

Very nice...easy to drill right...

Yea, much easier than expected.

 

[Biggar]

PVC Time

PVC Time

Getting a bit of plumbing done. This takes longer than I thought. Havent glued most pieces if I need to change

I decided to keep the "All Glass Megaflow" over flow kit, and add another return.

There was only two pipes 3/4 inch thick to return up to 4000 GPH. A 3rd line wont hurt.

Going to paint back of tank black soon

 

[mrx66699]

If you have a choice be careful with all those home depot ball valves they tend to stick and break from time to time....lowes ...even though I hate lowes has true union ball valves for almost the same price......and I would change the ball valve you have coming out of your sump into a true union ball valve like you have coming out of the pump, you will save some room on that end under your tank and its a much better choice for a valve system then a union and that HD ball valve..

 

[mrx66699]

Couple pieces PVC

Im still not 100% on whether to use Teflon tape or Teflon pipe dope

whenever you have a choice always use the paste with plastic the tape will tend to move the threads apart causing stress when tightened if over used (which most people tend to do)

 

[Crawfish00]

I'm with Matt those home depot valves are awful.