drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[drummereef]

wow - things are looking great Brett

for what its worth my nitrates are hanging around 4-5 (salifert test) so they seem to have bottomed out and maybe even come up a tad. I did increase feeding slightly in hopes thate my red sponges would recover some from me cutting back.

i'm going to add a few more pellets, I'm thinking about taking it to 80% recomended and se what happens.

Thanks Pete! Pretty excited about these new pellets. Immediately they started clumping and forming bubbles on them. My WM pellets never did this, they clumped slightly after a few days but nothing like this. Fingers crossed for good results. Glad you are getting close to dialing in the amount of pellets needed for your system too. :thumbsup:

 

[fishcatdog66]

Could you put up a few general pics of the equipment room?We haven't seen much of that since you first set up?

 

[cromedogg33]

Thanks Pete! Pretty excited about these new pellets. Immediately they started clumping and forming bubbles on them. My WM pellets never did this, they clumped slightly after a few days but nothing like this. Fingers crossed for good results. Glad you are getting close to dialing in the amount of pellets needed for your system too. :thumbsup:

Do you think this has anything to do with you having bacteria that has taken hold in the tank? I felt like a lot of my problems stemmed from starting the tank with the pellets and not letting bacteria take hold in the tank prior to putting them online. I may eventually put them back on again.

 

[psteeleb]

Do you think this has anything to do with you having bacteria that has taken hold in the tank? I felt like a lot of my problems stemmed from starting the tank with the pellets and not letting bacteria take hold in the tank prior to putting them online. I may eventually put them back on again.

that's a good question, and I think your right on. I never did see the real value of starting a new (from scratch) system on bio pellets or carbon dosing. I would also think low nutrient counts would also contribute.

My thoughts of force feeding bacteria as a system is first starting up may actually stagnate the growth of other organizims from contributing to estalishing and over all system ballance.

 

[drummereef]

Could you put up a few general pics of the equipment room?We haven't seen much of that since you first set up?

Yes I can fishcatdog. I was planning on putting up some pics and maybe an updated video of the fish room when I get a minute. I don't think I've shown everyone the finished electrical panels and whatnot yet anyway. Thanks for the reminder.

Do you think this has anything to do with you having bacteria that has taken hold in the tank? I felt like a lot of my problems stemmed from starting the tank with the pellets and not letting bacteria take hold in the tank prior to putting them online. I may eventually put them back on again.

Yes I'm sure it does. Obviously we know how long initial cycles take, but I'm not sure anyone really knows how long it takes after that to for the tank's bacterial populations to completely max out and "mature" in a sense. It was months after initial start-up that I began to incorporate bio pellets, which you would think have been enough time to culture some relatively mature bacteria organisms, but like I said who knows? Good thoughts!

that's a good question, and I think your right on. I never did see the real value of starting a new (from scratch) system on bio pellets or carbon dosing. I would also think low nutrient counts would also contribute.

My thoughts of force feeding bacteria as a system is first starting up may actually stagnate the growth of other organizims from contributing to estalishing and over all system ballance.

Good thoughts Pete. I definitely agree. It's nearly impossible to replicate the full spectrum of bacteria strains a full blown reef tank needs with over-the-counter bacteria in a bottle strains indeed. In retrospect I wish I would have incorporated a few pieces (or even 1 piece) of healthy live rock to the system at start-up, but that's 20/20 right? But for guys like me that start systems with 100% (sterile) dead rock, I would presume the only option is bacteria supplementation to propagate a healthy culture of good bacteria? At least to avoid some of the really bad outbreaks of GHA and other invasive, quick growing algaes. I for some reason avoided all that but still managed to pick up the Dinos... guess it's just darn luck! :headwally: :lol:

 

[drummereef]

Does anyone know if YouTube changed their embedding settings? Trying to embed a video using the "old code" but for some reason I can't preview the post to see what it will look like. Embed setting for the video is turned on. It's the same with my older videos too, can't get them to embed using the same codes I used to.

I can however use the [ youtube ] [ /youtube ] HTML to embed the video but it's a small frame size and can't be adjusted to look like the normal video. Hmmm...

 

[psteeleb]

did you select the "use old embed" box? it comes up as an option after you select share then embed. they changes it a couple months ago

 

[drummereef]

did you select the "use old embed" box? it comes up as an option after you select share then embed. they changes it a couple months ago

Yes, I made sure to check that box. :headwally: Is it just that I'm trying to preview my post? I thought the video would show up in the preview as well as when you actually post it...?

 

[psteeleb]

Yes, I made sure to check that box. :headwally: Is it just that I'm trying to preview my post? I thought the video would show up in the preview as well as when you actually post it...?

I thought they did - I'll try one

<object width="853" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/i4DfdQSA35E?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/i4DfdQSA35E?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="853" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

okay I just tried this one and was able to see the preview

 

[drummereef]

So wierd... I can also copy and paste HTML code from your videos and preview them in my thread, but I can't preview my own videos from YouTube. None of my videos will preview, it just shows up as a bunch of empty space where the video player would be. Makes me think there's some sort of global setting in my YouTube account that is funky. Any thoughts?

 

[psteeleb]

So wierd... I can also copy and paste HTML code from your videos and preview them in my thread, but I can't preview my own videos from YouTube. None of my videos will preview, it just shows up as a bunch of empty space where the video player would be. Makes me think there's some sort of global setting in my YouTube account that is funky. Any thoughts?

try clearing your que
that happens to me sometimes with pictures

 

[drummereef]

try clearing your que
that happens to me sometimes with pictures

Just tried it, no luck. :hmm4:


Here's my YouTube Channel. If you have a minute, see if you can preview/embed one of my vids on here. The one I'm trying to embed is the NPX Bioplastics vid.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DRUMMEREEFvideos?feature=mhee

 

[psteeleb]

Just tried it, no luck. :hmm4:


Here's my YouTube Channel. If you have a minute, see if you can preview/embed one of my vids on here. The one I'm trying to embed is the NPX Bioplastics vid.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DRUMMEREEFvideos?feature=mhee

ha - save the link to my favorites

it worked for me no problem. I just used the old embed code and selected a larger size then pasted it in a response and previewed with no issues

 

[drummereef]

Well lookie there... The reef gods have spoken. :lol: Just did the same routine for the umpteenth time and it worked - finally!

So, here's the video of the NPX Bioplastics tumbling in the SMR1 Reactor. Enjoy!


<object width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eUGch03YUxg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eUGch03YUxg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

 

[LoJack]

Well I have just skimmed all 139 pages of your phenomenal thread.

All I can say is great job, love the clean look, and you have inspired my build tremendously. Most of the equipment has shown up and I'm just waiting on the tank from my tank builder.

I do have some question though. Do you have any pictures of real good close ups mapping your plumbing?

I have the Dart as well for my return pump, and am very interested in your manifold, and the return lines going into the tank itself.

I picked up some 3/4" Loc-Line and attachments for my return but havn't settled on how to run the return pump back into the tank

The tank I had built is 60"x24"x24" ... so 1 foot shorter than yours but everything else is identical (except LED's instead of halides)

Again, just a great job!

 

[LoJack]

Oh, and I wanted to ask about the dual MP40's

This was the setup I was interested in, but have read conflicting reviews regarding them for a span of this distance.

Do you find the 2 Mp40's is significant enough for your tank? Do you ever regret not going with MP60's for flow?

 

[reefnut2012]

I just completed the whole 139 pages. It took me a week. Awesome thread. I appreciate your attention to detail. I hope to start my build soon and I plan on using some of your ideas (Ive been away from the hobby for 15 yrs) Thanks

 

[drummereef]

Well I have just skimmed all 139 pages of your phenomenal thread.

All I can say is great job, love the clean look, and you have inspired my build tremendously. Most of the equipment has shown up and I'm just waiting on the tank from my tank builder.

I do have some question though. Do you have any pictures of real good close ups mapping your plumbing?

I have the Dart as well for my return pump, and am very interested in your manifold, and the return lines going into the tank itself.

I picked up some 3/4" Loc-Line and attachments for my return but havn't settled on how to run the return pump back into the tank

The tank I had built is 60"x24"x24" ... so 1 foot shorter than yours but everything else is identical (except LED's instead of halides)

Again, just a great job!

Thank you so much LoJack. I made an index on pg 100 of my thread (link below) that might come in handy for you. As far as detailed plumbing diagrams and pics you'll probably find pgs 12-18 to be particularly helpful, which are linked in the index for ease of reference. Closeup pics of the Manifold can be viewed on pg 65 as well. Let me know, after reviewing the pics, if there's any other question I can answer. Thanks again and good luck on your build - sounds like a good one!

Index Link
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1599945&page=100

Oh, and I wanted to ask about the dual MP40's

This was the setup I was interested in, but have read conflicting reviews regarding them for a span of this distance.

Do you find the 2 Mp40's is significant enough for your tank? Do you ever regret not going with MP60's for flow?

The MP40's do a good job at projecting about a 3' distance into the tank. Currently I find that two of them are plenty for the corals I keep along with my two Tunze 6025's for additional flow and return pump. The MP60's weren't out when I started my build so it wasn't an option. If you have the budget I wouldn't hesitate getting the MP60's. At least that way you can dial them way back if need be and still have the headroom to crank them up when you want.

I just completed the whole 139 pages. It took me a week. Awesome thread. I appreciate your attention to detail. I hope to start my build soon and I plan on using some of your ideas (Ive been away from the hobby for 15 yrs) Thanks

Thank you for taking the time reefnut! Good luck on your build and don't hesitate to ask your questions here. There's some great guys hanging in the wings that really know their stuff.

 

[cbellm]

Drummereef I am looking forward to seeing how you will plumb in this refugium. I have to thank you as well. I am in the planning process for my build and like that manifold you have. space and power saving is always nice. When do you think you will start putting in a fuge? Also how large will you go? I was thinking with the volume of the tank and the rock work being on the light side, that adding substantlially more rock in the fuge plus some cheeto or calerpa might benifit your system. Should help with Nitrate/nitrite breakbown, and of course the phosphates.

 

[salali]

I love this thread because you are so patient