Diary of a Newbie's 46g Tank. What to do Next?

[zoltetov]

The funny thing is, I already have a 90 downstairs. I've just not wanted to bite the bullet and spend more money. It's sitting there empty.

As far as lighting, don't go by the watts per gallon thing. the important thing is the intensity of the light, not the watts. There's an awesome thread in this forum by waterkeeper on lighting!

Depending on what you want to keep, I'd really advise you to go more t5/vho/MH route than PC. PCs are really limiting. I got an awesome deal on my MH set-up by watching the used equipment forum. You might find a good deal there if you monitor it a few days.

The one thing I wish i had more of, aside from money, is space. I would like my 46 a lot more if I didn't have to try to cram everything into a 10g sump in the stand. I don't really have much more of an option.

 

[robilium]

Hey guys,

Had some fun the past two days. :bum:

After some sealant issues with some sump plumbing I finally got the pump attached! It is all done with Unions for easy disconnects. For now I hve it mounted on a peice of normal wood. I will have to swap it out for painted wood or PT Pine.

I called spectra pure and they are going to send me a different flow restrictor. they said that since i have a well and low PSI (25-43) I will not be able to get 60GPD and just 25. So the flow restrictor will allow me to cut back on waste water.

In order to fill my tank and get the salt circulating I hijacked all the Distilled water in my town 3 stores worth. My RODI was running for the past two days so I will have plenty of water for water changes.

The biggest problm I had was figuring out how the Overflow/pump combination works! You see I have a proclear overflow which is supposed to deliver 300-600gph out its 1" outlet. That 1" outlet changes into a 1 1/4 pipe on the way down into the sump. Then I have a 3/4" return.

I got to say, my pump DESTROYS that overflow. It appears the J Tube itself is the limiting factor. It simply cant deliver enough water to the HOB box and its 1 and 1 1/4 piping. I can tell its the jtube because when I open the gate valvle on my sump feed all the water just rushes out of the HOB part of the overflow. I end up with a kitchen sink/ toilet flush effect where the water swirls around the piping and makes a racket.

So in the end I racheted my Iwaki's return gate valve down and now it works pretty good. I know one thing for sure, All my equipment will definitely handle the upgrade to a 120!

So I am now cycling my salt and warming up the water in preparatin for my TUESDAY TBS delivery

Hey anyone know how these Iwakis handle reduced output flow? I did what the directions said and maid sure the gatevalve was AFTER the pump.

 

[robilium]

Forgot the pics

Completed sump with circulating water.

Iwaki Pump Connection.

20 gallons of RO/DI Spectrapure water. Now to get an Airstone!.

 

[liverock]

Thanks for the bump Doggy!
I will install pictures of the pump install tonite.

If my Spectrapure RD/DI arrives tonight I will install that as well and begin filling the tank. It is a 60gpd unit, so I should be able to almost fill the tank and sump and get the water salted up and cycling.

I would then order the TBS (35g Package) for delivery on Saturday.

That would mean,
Thu-Fri: Fill Tank with water and salt
Fri-Sat: Mix the salt up....
Sat Afternoon: Receive rock via Southwest?

The big unknown is whether TBS can ship with that little notice.

A 35g package would get me 70lbs of rock. I would then like to buy about 10-15 lbs of Marshall or tonga premium rock to mix it up a lil.

Sloooow down......after the salt goes in the tank, it needs to circulate for at least 4-5 days before you add anything.....freshly mixed saltwater is chemically "hot" and needs to dissolve for days before use, this applies to your change out water also.....

TBS

 

[robilium]

Hey TBS!

You got it!

Just like you said. I put the Salt in Friday and it is now circulating wonderfully! It is at just the right salinity. Tuesday evening my shipment will arrive at MHT and that will have given me 4+ days.

I also have salt mixed for water changes in that trashcan pitured above with an airstone in it

The darn books said circulate salt for 1 day so thanks for the advice and slowing me down!

 

[robilium]

Salt is in and cycling.

RO/DI is hung on wall, waste water line run outside (water garden ), and RO line run. i tapped into cold water feed via saddle valve.

I need to get an airstone for my Salt water replacement tank.
Ran an electrical line off the GFI outlet up to the tank, got to love velcor for creating a drip loop.

Still need lights!
I am looking for a used MH/PC/T5 set if anyone has it.
Otherwise I may get a 2x96 Jebo off ebay.

 

[robilium]

TBS came in!

TBS came in!

We everyone the TBS rock came in!

Looks great, I was almost scared to touch it! Lots of sponges, crabs, and barnacles? I will have to wait until the sandstorm calms down to see more!

I do have a couple questions... again!

Protein Skimmer: My Bullet 1 skimmer wont be here for 48 hours! The TBS instructions said to wait 5 or so hours before turning on a protein skimmer - can I wait 48? Do I need to go buy a cheapy one in the meantime?

Lights I bought a 150w MH and 2 25w PC light fixture from markandkristen in the For Sale forums. However, it isnt being shipped from florida until tommorow and wont be here til min. Friday. Is it ok to continue running the cheapy Perfecto hood with Actinic and Daylight bulbs until then? I am prolly only pushing 40w rght now and I bet these are NO.

So the question in - can the Protein Skimmer and Lights wait 48 hours and 72 hours respectively? Or do i need to borrow or buy some cheapies in the meantime to hold me over?

Unpacking the boxes.

Sandstorm! Need more rocks

The cat was watching.... man this was a funny pose!

Rock close up

I need a better camera! There is a little red crab there eating algae!

 

[jdmhonda954]

I'd go buy Southdown and then get some ls from someone in your area. It'll be more diverse than the stuff that comes sealed in a bag anyway. Besides, by the time you're adding livestock, you'll have a nice live sandbed.

btw, in 4, 10 years, watch out! My 'phins are on the way uhm..up! I hope.

i live in south florida too and as sad as it is to say i dont think the fins are going anywhere lol.

 

[robilium]

hahaha!

Well you got Bill Belicheck Jr. there ! We sorta.... he seems to be a bit of a control freak and Napoleonesque.

Anybody have comments o advice on the lights or smimmer? Can I wait til tommorow?

 

[robilium]

Sandstorm is over!

Sandstorm is over!

So I am starting to see some stuff.

Protein skimmer is coming tommorow and the lights on Fri/sat.

Talk about life! I dont think this thing is a rock at all. In fact, I believe it is a small peice of rock with a BIG clam, and numberous living things holding it together!

Lots of "stuff" I have to go ID it all.

Look at all the algae! I have seen purple, red, and blue coraline so far. There is also some sort of living object, coral? Looks like a golfball and coral.

Red sponge?
Also feather duster and some sort of coral?

 

[robilium]

Hmmm I looked at the ID site and couldnt find matches for the above things.

Any ideas?

 

[robilium]

Been taking tests:

Day 1 AM
Amonia: < .25
Nitrate: 2
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: 1.0225
Temp 78.1

Day 1 PM
Amonia: .25
Nitrate: 2
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: 1.0225
Temp 78.1

Day 2 AM
Amonia: < .25
Nitrate: 5
Nitrite: 2
Salinity: 1.0225
Temp 78.1


That isnt much of a spike! I wonder if that have been due to the short shipping time - ~ 4 hours on a plane.

I havent changed water yet due to the low readings.
the low reading may also be due to the large amount of water in my system. The Sump holds about 20g of water which is 50% of the water in the 46g bf tank.

 

[djacob]

This is a cool thread , im watching it like a hawk, gonna be setting up my 125g soon, and im thinking now im def going with TBS, that rock is so cool.

keep posting, i want more

Dave

 

[alphaferret]

- nice - good deal on the tank- it always helps if you can get anything for free
are you still going w/ one mh - if so you ma want to do 2 so that yuo can have one on each side of the tank support-(i have a 46 bow too) or you will have a serious shadow in the middle of the tank- just an idea- lookin good!

 

[robilium]

Thanks guys!

I am receiving the light on Saturday and will post pics. It has a middle 150/175W HQI MH bulb and 2 smaller actinic lights.

I hope it is a high quality light. I bought it off the used forums for 220 shipped. They were supposed to have purchased it for 600$.

Since I am looking to move up to a 120 next year I am hesitant to invest in a real nice 36" hood.

I will be posting some better pictures tonite. Hopefully second shipment will be ready on Monday!

I am really thinking about buying more TBS rock too. Prevously I had thought of getting Marshall rock or something else just for variety. But this TBS rock is much more porous than I had thought. And pretty interesting.

 

[alphaferret]

so that bulb will be directly over your support- thuis blocking out much of the light

 

[robilium]

Thats right!

Well that just sucks.
I will have to figure something out.... or get a new light.
The MH lights seem to have a pretty good resale value.

Lighting is turning out to be the most diffucult part for me I suppose thats common though. There are sooo many variables - placement, hood, NO / VHO / T5 / MH / Watts / Spectrum / Used or New etc.

 

[robilium]

Having trouble getting the camera to focus on the correct things

Sorry about the lack of pics. But check out these rocks! Like a living being.

I am pretty ticked off about my proten skimmer tho. I got my PM bullet 1 in the mail today. It is a beast! I am taicked off tho that the nuts are plastic and one broke on the air valve. Now each half of the broken plastic screw are stuck in the acrylic and valve.

Well time to use some good old epoxy.
I will call PM and ask for a few new peices to be shipped.

 

[Spuds725]

I want to say your set up looks nice-- especially your rock.

But I do have a little critique of your plumbing.

I looked up your pump an it has a 1" output and you have it reduced down to 3/4" and you shut down a discharge valve on it further to reduce your flow so as not to overwhelm your overflow.

This is not good for your pump and may shorten its life as well as cause some heating problems.

To reduce your flow to your tank you would be better off installing a tee right after your pump of at least 1", then run a line back to your sump with a valve on it leave it open all the way to start and don't shut any valves down between your sump and the tank. When you start your pump up, most (if not all) of the flow should come out the line to your sump-- now shut down on this valve slowly to send more water back to the tank and set your flow to your tank this way. That way, the pump's flow is not restricted and you can still reduce flow to your tank.

Spuds

 

[Freeskier98]

Completely Agree with the above post.
Thats an expensive motor, and it should last a long time.
Also instead of returning the excess water back into the sump, you could set up a fuge and use this flow to feed it. =)