drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[psteeleb]

... if you ran a calcium reactor how would you plumb it up to the manifold? Ive never seen reducer fittings that small that are designed to work with pvc thanks again

with a 1/2" pipe to 1/4" tubing John Guest fitting available at HD or Lowes, at least thats what I use

 

[drummereef]

drummereef....Im liking your manifold it looks like you went from a 1 inch return to 3/4 pvc on the manifold mind if I ask y? My return line is 3/4 do you reccomend a 1/2 manifold? Also why does is split from the main line? Why not just have t fittings with valves off the main return? thanks a lot sweet set up !! One more quick question is if you ran a calcium reactor how would you plumb it up to the manifold? Ive never seen reducer fittings that small that are designed to work with pvc thanks again

Thanks for the kind words Rothaquatix. All my plumbing is 1.5". I reduced down to 1" for my manifold because of space issues and also it was easier to transition down to 3/4" and 1/2" valves for the reactors I use. The manifold is TEE'd off the main return line if that's what you are asking. I wanted all the valves to sit over the sump just in case they decided to leak/drip, but in any event the manifold is plumbed directly into the return side plumbing. Water flows through the manifold and is dumped back into the skimmer section of the sump, so it acts as a recirc line as well. Helps purge bubbles from the system when the return pump is shut down for water changes. Pete is the expert on Ca Reactors so follow his advice in the above post.

sounds like early stage of cyno - even mature tanks will get it
for me it was always a good sign it was time to add to my CuC
and that's exacly what I just did as I am also getting some brown fuzz on the sand bed

did you seed your tak with any live sand or rock? sorry I just can't recall
it may be a good time to introduce some live sand not so much for the bacteria but fo the sand dweling critters

did you up your feeding lately and are you using flake food?

I seeded the tank with live sand from the start, no live rock at this point. I have been feeding a small amount of flakes. Maybe I'll cut that way back and see if it helps reduce PO4. Also, the fuzz on my sand is about an 1" long. Looks more like the same hair algae that's on the rock. Bob Fenner said all of it could be a cyanophyte but would need to be evaluated under a microscope. Hmmm...

 

[aquaph8]

I'll tell you, your patience is amazing. Your on the right track though. I have yet to see an algae that cant be beat in the long run. Give it time and you will win. I honestly believe what you have just needs to run its course. I agree with psteeleb about it being something in your rocks. Give it time your tank will do its thing.

 

[110galreef]

Thanks for the help Pete. I'm also getting the same kind of algae on the sand bed as well. Looks like a brown fuzz all over it. What do you think this could be from? My sand bed is now only 1/2" deep at most.

How long are you running your lights right now? maybe cut back on that since you have no corals......

FYI & others if they want this...........I did run some test on my dilema for the background & sides & overflow. :dance: I mocked up a 20G H tank in a raw doorway I had in the basement! Poster boarded it in...so was like an inwall tank! I also used an old MH fixture for the lighting. I put a black background on one side, left the other clear. Looking from the front the sides looked exactly the same. Very mirrored. I then added a blue background on the back.....The sides mirrored the blue background.

I then tested the clear side to see how that would handle water. As soon as I dripped water down the side, you could very easily see it running down the side.

So the concensus (for me anyway) for an inwall w/ side overflow.... The side w/ the overflow needs to be colored, black probably makes the most sense. The rear background can be blue or black then as the sides will mirror/reflect the rear background! I'llk spare your thread with my ghetto mock:rollface: up!

 

[cmooreinor]

DrummerReef... I discovered you and your tank yesterday and have since read through your entire process... I just have to say how impressed I am. I am new to saltwater aquariums and am in the process of cycling my first reef tank. I am so glad I found Reef Central to help me along the way. Keep up the good work, I can only dream of having a setup like yours one day!

 

[drummereef]

I'll tell you, your patience is amazing. Your on the right track though. I have yet to see an algae that cant be beat in the long run. Give it time and you will win. I honestly believe what you have just needs to run its course. I agree with psteeleb about it being something in your rocks. Give it time your tank will do its thing.

Thank you so much aquaph8. Every bit of encouragement helps and I agree we can do this!

So the concensus (for me anyway) for an inwall w/ side overflow.... The side w/ the overflow needs to be colored, black probably makes the most sense. The rear background can be blue or black then as the sides will mirror/reflect the rear background! I'llk spare your thread with my ghetto mock:rollface: up!

Good, I'm glad you are seeing the light. Now get that tank ordered!!! :dance:

DrummerReef... I discovered you and your tank yesterday and have since read through your entire process... I just have to say how impressed I am. I am new to saltwater aquariums and am in the process of cycling my first reef tank. I am so glad I found Reef Central to help me along the way. Keep up the good work, I can only dream of having a setup like yours one day!

cmooreinor, welcome to RC! Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. Stick around in here, there's a lot of great people who post regularly so you'll learn all kinds of stuff from them.

 

[sslater0679]

All i can say is wow, and congrats on that huge build. It took me about 3 days on and off reading your posts, but it was well worth it.

 

[jmait769]

Brett, just wanted to also say I have followed along from the beginning and have actually incorporated many of your ideas or variations of them into my current build. Your attention to detail is fantastic. :thumbsup: I'm so glad you were ahead of me!! I modified the Drummereef's Bubble Killer's slightly by using 3" PVC but they work great! I'm hopeful your algae issue clears soon! I used 100 pounds of Marco but also seeded with liverock. I'm dosing the MicroBacter. So far so good but it is still early. Thanks again!

Jay

 

[psteeleb]

I seeded the tank with live sand from the start, no live rock at this point. I have been feeding a small amount of flakes. Maybe I'll cut that way back and see if it helps reduce PO4. Also, the fuzz on my sand is about an 1" long. Looks more like the same hair algae that's on the rock. Bob Fenner said all of it could be a cyanophyte but would need to be evaluated under a microscope. Hmmm...

You may be at a point you need to seed the micro and macro critters you get with live rock, but be careful where you get it from to avoid any pest nems etc.

One thing thing that I would suggest for people when seeding live rock is to try and work it into your system in a dark place for a month or more to kill off any and light dependent nems and polyps. You want the critters, like dusters, sponges, ball nems, worms, pods (eg filter and waste feeders) etc. But most everything that requires light to survive you want to avoid or kill off. Even a small rock about 4" can be very helpful when trying to get through these early cycles. At the end of the day you want ballanced biodiversity so you don't keep going through population growth and die off swings. Bacterias and algeas will continue consume each other and die off restarting the cycles. More biodiversity will lead to a more ballanced system. It's also what happens with the old tank syndrome - it's loss of biodiversity and over population of fewer yet specific life forms that eventually crater in on themselves.

That all said, it is kind of old school and with carbon dosing and now these new bio pellets things may prove out different in the long run. But I'm still old school, give me biodiversity (but avoid the baddies)

It's a good thing to introduce some fresh live sand or fresh live rock from ever once and a while to maintain biodiversity but each time you do you do take chances.

As for flake food - it's been known for some time that flake contributes to P04 and DOC's more so then pellets. There may be some better stuff out there now, so just consider that old school advice.

 

[scott26]

Wow what a great thread I just got done scan/reading the whole thing great pictures as well it feels good to know that someone else out there is as OCD as I am at times if not more!

Great build lots of good info since the way you set up your tank is the way I plan to set up mine at least the cycling process since I cannot afford some of your equipment.

 

[drummereef]

All i can say is wow, and congrats on that huge build. It took me about 3 days on and off reading your posts, but it was well worth it.

Thanks sslater. Glad you have enjoyed it.

Brett, just wanted to also say I have followed along from the beginning and have actually incorporated many of your ideas or variations of them into my current build. Your attention to detail is fantastic. :thumbsup: I’m so glad you were ahead of me!! I modified the Drummereef's Bubble Killer’s slightly by using 3” PVC but they work great! I’m hopeful your algae issue clears soon! I used 100 pounds of Marco but also seeded with liverock. I'm dosing the MicroBacter. So far so good but it is still early. Thanks again!

Jay

Awesome Jay. Glad the Bubble Killers are working for you! Thanks for the feedback.

...There may be some better stuff out there now, so just consider that old school advice.

Old School or New School, Pete you always give great advice! I'm considering getting some more live sand from Premium Aquatics. I would presume through the initial cycle many of the sand dwelling organisms died from the ammonia spike. I think I might want to replenish some of that now that the tank is relatively stable. I'm always afraid of the addition of live rock just for the reasons you mention but I might have to add a piece or two at some point. Hydroids were my nemesis in my old 40g, which is why I decided to try all base rock in this one.

Wow what a great thread I just got done scan/reading the whole thing great pictures as well it feels good to know that someone else out there is as OCD as I am at times if not more!

Great build lots of good info since the way you set up your tank is the way I plan to set up mine at least the cycling process since I cannot afford some of your equipment.

Thanks Scott. Good luck to you on the build!

 

[henrystyle]

I've stopped using my ecobak pellets. It caused a major bacteria bloom in my tank. Had it running for about a month only. Killed all my fish and had algae everywhere. Took the pellets out and the problem went away. I went back to running pura-complete and a refugium with cheato in it. Keeping it simple. You might want to test that out. Really no reason you should have algae growing like that. Try the process of elimination and see whats causing it. I believe those bio pellets are better used in mature systems. My tank was actually start around the same time yours was. Just my 2 cents.

 

[110galreef]

Drum....

I looked back and didn't find.....Your tank footprint is 72 x 24.....

waht were the stand dimensions and your plywood top plate as well? I assume you have an extra inch or so, but wondering? (74 x 25?)
Thanks...i hope your darn algae clears up......I am going to layout my dry rock design & then probably cook it while I await the build & tank. Hopefully this helps.

BTW...got the tank ordered!

 

[drummereef]

I've stopped using my ecobak pellets. It caused a major bacteria bloom in my tank. Had it running for about a month only. Killed all my fish and had algae everywhere. Took the pellets out and the problem went away. I went back to running pura-complete and a refugium with cheato in it. Keeping it simple. You might want to test that out. Really no reason you should have algae growing like that. Try the process of elimination and see whats causing it. I believe those bio pellets are better used in mature systems. My tank was actually start around the same time yours was. Just my 2 cents.

Sorry to hear the problems and loss you had Henrystyle. I don't think the algae blooms I've experienced have had any correlation to running the ecoBAK though. The first sign of algae started to show a 1.5 months before I ever started running ecoBAK, so I don't think the ecoBAK had anything to do with starting or necessarily feeding the bloom as it did briefly disappear a few weeks ago. This is the second wave of algae. I've also never seen a bacterial bloom since starting it. I wonder if your flow rate was too high which caused the bloom and also sloughed off enough dead bacteria into the display to cause a nutrient bloom. Here's a short time line to show the incorporation of the medias, which is all documented in the thread.

7-16-2010 First spores of brown algae noted.
8-3-2010 Started running GFO
8-25-2010 Started running ecoBAK
9-1-2010 GFO taken offline (no substantial reduction in nutrients/algae noted while in use)

So I currently only have the ecoBAK and Carbon reactor running. I have a really low flow rate in the ecoBAK reactor right now. With the placement of the outlet and how low flow is going through there I'd assume most of the excess bacteria is getting sucked up by the skimmer.

Drum....

I looked back and didn't find.....Your tank footprint is 72 x 24.....

waht were the stand dimensions and your plywood top plate as well? I assume you have an extra inch or so, but wondering? (74 x 25?)
Thanks...i hope your darn algae clears up......I am going to layout my dry rock design & then probably cook it while I await the build & tank. Hopefully this helps.

BTW...got the tank ordered!

Yes the plywood overlaps the stand by about 3/4" or so. Not too much. You're stand will probably be different since you have an external overflow so I'd design it around your tank in mind. I definitely made some intricate measurements to avoid putting the bulkheads too close to the supporting members but your tank should help dictate the proper stand design for your system.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Here's an interesting fact about the correlation between elevated CO2 and depressed pH.

We had a family gathering today (Sunday) where 14 or so people were in our house. They stayed from approximately 2-7pm. The windows were closed and the air conditioning was on and running. Normally we keep the windows closed and the air on, so nothing changed there.

Graph 1 shows a 7 day period where the pH has a relatively normal swing from lights on to lights off each day. pH normally runs from around 8.1-8.3 give or take. As you can see at the end of the week (Sunday) there is a sudden drop in pH, down to 7.86 starting at 2pm and ending around 7pm. The system lights don't come on until 8pm so the halides were off during this event.

Graph 2 shows only Sunday's pH. Here you can see the drop starts right around the time our relatives showed up (2pm) and tapers off when they left 7(pm). The Aquacontroller alerted me of an issue on my iPhone. Once I realized what the problem was I opened some windows. And, as you see in the graph, the pH starts to climb again as the fresh outside air mixed with the stale CO2 rich air.

So, believe it or not, even that amount of people breathing, talking and laughing (and bad joke telling) had a clear impact on the pH of the tank. The aspiration of human CO2 caused a distinct drop in pH. So, if you are ever having depressed pH issues, open some windows or kick your in-laws out!

 

[tegee]

GREAT stuff Brett.....thanks for sharing this valuable information. Good to see this as fact and not anecdotal info you sometimes receive on RC.

 

[110galreef]

Wow that is a sweet graph and neat info!

 

[platax88]

Same thing happened to my tank when i had 25+ people in the house for my son's bday... in the middle of July .. IN FLORIDA!!! So as you can imagine the windows/doors were kept shut while the ac tried to keep up as much as possible.

The scary thing is that since my PH runs low (7.8 - 8.1 range) it dropped to a scary 7.7 in the middle of the day. Everything was ok though, by the next day it was within range again.

 

[crvz]

I used to see that all the time when we had our church group to our newer (read: well insulated) small home in the middle of the summer with the AC going. pH would plummet easily as much as you're showing on the graphs. Never cause an issue, though I'll admit I was rather freaked out the first coupe times it happened.

 

[bheron]

Hey Brett, thas is awesome info to share!!! Wow, thanks so much!