Deleau's 258G Reef Tank

[ghellin]

Beautiful tank!

I would go drains directly below the overflow since this water is not pressurized and would drain better flowing straight down. The Return has more options as you can run one main line that then splits 3 ways to the return bulkheads. Just to confirm the 5 holes will allow you to use bulkheads supporting two 1.5" drains and three 1" returns correct?

 

[deleau]

Beautiful tank!

I would go drains directly below the overflow since this water is not pressurized and would drain better flowing straight down. The Return has more options as you can run one main line that then splits 3 ways to the return bulkheads. Just to confirm the 5 holes will allow you to use bulkheads supporting two 1.5" drains and three 1" returns correct?

Correct, and I'm intending on a herbie design. and FWIW, I'm going to paint all the plumbing in the overflow black to blend in better.

 

[dave.m]

On orienting the sump: I would put the drains of the sump farthest away from this end of the tank (where the holes are). Use soft hoses and 90° bends to go to the top drains in the sump. This will reduce/eliminate noise from falling water plus any micro-bubbles from forming in the sump (and returning to the tank) while evening out the flow. Put the return pump directly under this end of the tank.

Dave.M

 

[SPotter]

Have you test fitted the bulkheads yet? It looks like there could be some crowding.

 

[deleau]

Have you test fitted the bulkheads yet? It looks like there could be some crowding.

No, the bulkheads that were shipped were not the correct size. I am on a trek today to find some local. If not, I'll be ordering online later today.

I do have the 1.5" bulkheads on the sump...I may take those off and fit them to see if there looks to be any crowding. Good catch. Thank you!

 

[deleau]

The holes were overdrilled, so there is a good 1/8"-1/4" clearance on each hole when I put in the bulkheads.

 

[deleau]

A few things have happened since my last post (Thanksgiving only being a minor delaying event).

Of most importance (to me) is that while I was cleaning the packing tape residue off the outside of the glass, I noticed a 3/4" scratch on the inside of the tank. It is just deep enough that it barely catches my fingernail. It took a bit, but I did get in touch with the people at Planet (who were super helpful), and long story short, I will be using a slurry of Cerium Oxide and a polishing wheel to remove the scratch (with the help of my brother-in-law who has experience doing this since he restores classic cars for a living). This is the best solution for me and has the blessing of the tank guy at Planet.

I've had the plumbing parts ready to go for a while:

Tonight I plumbed up the overflow. As you can see, since space was limited I went with "classic" Herbie design without Durso standpipes (no room). This weekend I hope to get the under-tank plumbing done, so I can get the return hole in the sump drilled and do some tap water leak testing.

 

[ghellin]

Very nice.

 

[deleau]

Jeez...I just noticed the date of my last post...one month ago. Now, I feel even worse with how long it is taking to get this tank wet. (Even the LFS ladies are starting to give me good natured...for now...stick for taking so long.

To pick up from the last post, I ended up buffing out the scratch by myself. I ended up buying a new Rigid cordless drill (Black Friday sale + dead NiCd batteries on old cordless drill) to do the job.

6.5 hours & 5 full (large) battery packs later...

 

[deleau]

So the scratch is gone...one ulcer inducing issue resolved.

Since it's taken so long I decided to make the tank dual use, so I made some money babysitting during the holidays...



:lol2:

On to the next ulcer inducer...drilling the return hole in the sump.

I thought I may have miscalculated and was going to have to put a 90 right after the ball valve to fit the return pump under the stand, but I was able to shorten the total length with the use of a couple spigot x thread adapters to get the return pump to fit.

Then it was on to gluing the return manifold and doing some tape measure calculations to determine where I should drill the hole in the sump. Oh, and I also bought a drill bit and guide for one hole...



All things considered, it went very well and looks good.

Installed bulkhead, placed back under the tank, hooked up ball valve and return pump.



Glued in the check value, cut spa flex to length and completed the return plumbing.



Leak test tomorrow...feels like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Water, rock and sand should happen this week...

 

[dave.m]

You should really consider installing some sort of pan or drip tray underneath everything in your sump.

Dave.M

 

[ghellin]

Wow! Glad you got the scratch out! Everything looks great. Can't wait for the leak test!

 

[deleau]

@dave.m: I got some 1/8" roofing material that intended to use as a drip pan around the sump, and I started to cut it out to fit inside, but I didn't like how it was coming together and being so shallow it wouldn't prevent any significant disaster, so I stopped with that plan.

@ghellin: Leak test successful. One call to a plumber (found one that has tanks himself, so he's not scared to mess with them), and we now have a plan to deal with one very small drip from a bad joint.

The drip did not stop me from filling it with water and rock (mainly because the schedule of other helpers dictated as such), so the tank is now full and the cycle has started.

There are still a few issues to iron out, but at least I feel like a huge milestone has been reached.

From the land of "***. How could I have anticipated this?", I found out last night that the wall outlet that I am using to power the whole system (remember this is partially under a stair well, so it acts as a peninsula build where the back side extends the office hallway) is connected to the light switch that powers the overhead lights in the entryway of the office. (i.e. turn off lights = turn off whole tank). Seriously, who wires a building like that???

So come Monday, I will have an electrician out to remedy...

 

[ghellin]

Wow good find lol! Glad to hear the cycle is started! How are you going to hang the lights?

 

[deleau]

I have the wire hanging kits (as well as multiple rail kits) from Ecotech, and my intention is to hang the lights from the "red iron" above the drop tile of the ceiling.

I also intent to run the power lines and transformer bricks above the drop tiles as well, but with how things seem to be going of late, we'll see how that goes, lol...

 

[ghellin]

Oh sweet!

 

[deleau]

Depending on how things go tomorrow with the plumber, I may do a major overhaul of the return plumbing for 3 reasons:

1.) fix the drip (duh)
2.) install a gate valve on the return to manage the return flow
3.) move plumbing to give additional clearance to raise the SRO-3000SSS (it's sitting in too much water but cannot raise it too much with the plumbing as is)

I suppose it wouldn't be "my" tank if I'm not constantly tinkering....

 

[deleau]

The plumber has been out, and the drip is fixed. Underneath plumbing shows a small battle scar (coupler), but it's watertight now.

I ordered loc line gate valves to be able to both affect the flow of each return nozzle and also throttle down the overall flow, so I am going to leave the Snapper impeller in the return pump.

Once the silt/sediment/crud settled down from the initial fill, the skimmer is now acting normal in the appropriate chamber even though it is sitting in a couple inches more water than recommended, so I am probably going to leave it as is for now.

I was introduced to another local reefer who also happens to be a licensed electrician, and he's coming back tonight to work on the ceiling wiring, so that the light switch can no longer turn off my tank and also install the lights.

Once again, I am very impressed with the reef community. Both on RC and the locals that I have met. The advise, encouragement and flat out assistance have been invaluable in making this build come together. I really hope that some day I will be able to pay that forward for others who decide to get into this hobby.

 

[ghellin]

Good to hear it's coming along!

 

[deleau]

So, it has been a while. It's been slightly over a year since the physical tank has been in the office, and not quite 9 month that it's been wet.

As seems normal, there have been ups and downs and a lot of learning. I wanted to try and get through an Oklahoma summer without using a chiller which meant that I had to crank down the office A/C to lower than maybe I'd like (74 during the day, 75 at night). This resulted in a larger electricity bill than expected, but no one in the office complained (I guess since I'm the boss, maybe they wouldn't complain too much). The tank temperature stayed relatively constant around 76-77 F all summer once I made the A/C change, but it did cause a pretty significant GHA outbreak that only recently got under control.

I set up a GFO reactor and am using 2 cups of BRS GFO. The hair algae is gone, but I do still have a bubble algae outbreak as well as "cotton candy algae".

I also scrapped the hanging light idea and instead went with the RMS route. This is working well. At first, I was annoyed that the bolt used to secure the endpieces to the tank would not fit with a eurobraced tank (although I was told otherwise), but then once I put a screen on the top (had a couple pyramid butterflies go carpet surfing), I've found it's nice to be able to lift the lights off the edge to be able to easily remove the screen.

This photo is from this morning; I had to step outside to get everything in the frame. Normally, I do not keep on the overhead lights (some other photos to come will show that), but I'm trying to figure out how to take good photos with my iPhone 6s.

Notice the black fabric table skirt; I put up Velcro on the frame to hold that. It works well when we have company to the office; I leave it off the rest of the time. I have a carpenter working on wooden panels that will be held with magnets onto the frame. Likewise, he's working on designs for an enclosure for all the electronics on the right (hence the slight sloppiness of it).