Matt's 5000ltr Display

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

:bounce3:

 

[ssscuz]

Love the scape, gonna be an amazing tank

 

[d3hree]

Congrats on the fill Matt, happy cycling.

Thanks Brett

:bounce3:

Thanks Fuzzy...I need to pick up wioth you where we left off last time. Sorry I havent been in touch, I have been so very busy. I will shoot you a pm.

Love the scape, gonna be an amazing tank

Thanks ssscuz

I thought I had better give you guys an update.

I ran into a problem early on in the cycling process.
the tank was running well..up to temp and salted. i was turning on each induvidual closed loop and inspecting the flow and grew concerned that there was no filtration between the closed loop in takes and the pumps. in normal opperation i wouldnt be worried so much but with the water slightly cloudy from the sand i was concerned that sand could get into the oceans motions and jam it.

in my wisdom i stuffed the closed loop manifold in takes with filter floss. i underestimated the suction power off 64000lph and once two pumps were running the filter floss got sucked up into the manifold!!!

i quickly removed the intakes to avoid any more floss being sucked up leaving just the open pipes. I had some plastic cups in the tank to help highlight the flow a little better. yep, you guessed it. with the cls intakes un guarded a plastic cup was sucked up into the manifold!!!

a poor design on my part was to not valve the manifold so as to isolate the tank and diss assemble the pipework. i have to drain the tank down about 18" so i can take it apart.

so I had to part drain the tank and i needed to figure out a way of having the manifold so that it can be valved off and taken apart and also a reasonable way to filter it.

I got two 75mm ball valves to use on the cls manifold so I can remove it later if needed

Take two started last night. The tank is full and running well.
It took a while to fit the time in but I managed to redo the plumbing including the ball valves for the CLS manifold. In the future if anything untoward gets into the plumbing I will be able to isolate the tank and dismantle the pipe work.

I found 3 plastic cups and filter floss wedged into the old pipework when I cut it off!

This was the item that caused me to re-think, the intake guards for the closed loop manifold. They are 4" in diameter and for koi ponds.

The gaps are too large for a marine tank and small fish will be able to swim up and get mangled by the pumps. My first (stupid) idea was to pack the guard with filter floss. Its a 4" guard but the pipe is only 3" so I assumed it would be OK. The filter floss got sucked into the pipework and although it didnt block the pipe it didnt help with the flow to the 4 pumps. This was compounded by the plastic cups being sucked in to the pipework when I panicked and removed the guards!

My new solution.....

100 denier tights

enough to stop fish swimming up the pipes but not restrict the flow.

I sat this morning in front of the tank, watching the ocean motions purge the air out of the pipework and tracking the tiny bubbles across the tank. I have no fish, no corals and yet I still lost two hours just sat watching the tank. When its stocked I doubt I will get much else done.

 

[dave.m]

Matt, great to see the progress. If I may, I would like to suggest you rethink the fine filter over the intake screen. That will quickly become clogged once you have live rock and fish food and all the other things that create floating debris in your tank. I think you should look for other types of intake screens with smaller openings but leave off the really fine stuff unless you want to be cleaning intake filters every day.

Dave.M

 

[d3hree]

cheers Dave. This has caused some discussion on a local forum too. The filter "tights" can not impede flow because the 75mm manifold is constantly flooded. True they will get clogged, especially when the reef is fully up and running but I would rather they get clogged than the debris gets into the pumps, especially the OM drive. If it hinders the flow to the pumps I will re-assess but I hope they will just become a nutrient control process and as such swapping them weekly should suffice. They are just slip grates and are easily swapped out.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

This is an example but how about something like this?

 

[d3hree]

I couldn't find those for 4" pipe. When you go that large they are for koi ponds and so the gaps are pretty large...easily large enough for chromis or cardinals to swim through

 

[dave.m]

I'm trying to find the drain screens that look like a big pie, but I don't know the name of them. Peter (nineball) has them in his tank. So does the guy in Ottawa whose username escapes me at the moment but his avatar is of a guy with his head upside-down in a fishbowl. You may end up making your own out of the ends of plastic watering cans.

Dave.M

 

[ipaul]

WOW.. your tank so good, nice build..

 

[d3hree]

I'm trying to find the drain screens that look like a big pie, but I don't know the name of them. Peter (nineball) has them in his tank. So does the guy in Ottawa whose username escapes me at the moment but his avatar is of a guy with his head upside-down in a fishbowl. You may end up making your own out of the ends of plastic watering cans.

Dave.M

I know the ones you mean...again, I couldn't find them for 4" pipe

WOW.. your tank so good, nice build..

Thank you ipaul

 

[launchnukes]

I've been following this build since the beginning. great planning and attention to detail. love the aquascaping too!

 

[d3hree]

I've been following this build since the beginning. great planning and attention to detail. love the aquascaping too!

Thanks launchnukes

...Not the best pics, just used my phone and I haven't had chance to do a video of the surge yet but these give you an idea of what I am staring at daily

IMG]http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/d3hree/630C1EDE-3367-4F67-9479-1E429FF71984-279-00000076DB0518C6.jpg[/IMG]

IMG]http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/d3hree/0F08F8C3-828C-448E-97D1-C03A70B690A4-279-000000752459E5E6.jpg[/IMG]

IMG]http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/d3hree/1F7DCCFA-86FD-4553-A075-65E6187F3416-279-0000007515F0AF1B.jpg[/IMG]

and finally after adding 3 bottles of ammonia I have a visible reading

IMG]http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/d3hree/E525CA88-76BD-4F10-B0A7-C03C2D93948A-279-00000076F753FC00.jpg[/IMG]

 

[dave.m]

This is terrible and very funny at the same time. :lmao:

Dave.M

 

[d3hree]

Ha Dave, that was to take the pi$$ out of someone on a local forum.

It looks like the whypad struggled to copy the entire image tags..here are the photos that should have been posted yesterday. Its a PITA the edit post function has a limited time span.

 

[Reefocd]

Could you explain your approach to cycling this monster tank. Give us an idea of products and quantities used? I never thought to actually ADD ammonia? Adding bacteria?

Thanks!

 

[prop-frags]

Matt,
Gotta agree with Dave on this. You're gonna wind up having to take that nylon off the CL intake. The trick to this is having an intake that is of sufficient size that doesn't create a concentrated area of suction that will pull in small crustaceans or fish. I think you're on the right track with that strainer that you have. Recall the one we are using for our 2" intake. We had similar worries as yourself initially, but if the strainer is of sufficient size, you don't get concentrated suction and healthy animals just stay safely away. Another thing you can do, is line the inside with the plastic screening used for tank covers if the 4" intake strainer has huge slots...

 

[dave.m]

That's what I was thinking, too; some form of plastic screening. You could experiment with the size of mesh. You could start off with plastic window screen approx 2mm mesh. Or you could try the various type of gutter guard for eaves troughs - 4mm up to 2cm mesh available.

Dave.M

 

[AJT]

Hobby Lobby sells the plastic screen in different sized holes. Think its used for yarn. You could silicone it in. Wouldn't use zip ties unless large part of zip is on the outside. Don't want one sucked into a pump.

my .02

you could also put another strainer inside that one....

 

[d3hree]

Could you explain your approach to cycling this monster tank. Give us an idea of products and quantities used? I never thought to actually ADD ammonia? Adding bacteria?

Thanks!

Hi Reefocd. Its quite a simple cycle really. I have added 3 bottles of 500ml pure ammonia. i added each bottle singularly, waited a day and then tested ammonia. After 3 bottles I got a visible reading of a spike. The rest will just be like any other cycle. I added the ammonia to replace the kick start that die off would normally give you. No bacteria or anything. i have breifly looked at a couple of products but I am not a fan of the quick/instant cycle and I would need about 50 bottles worth of the products I have looked at. Not worth it IMO.

Matt,
Gotta agree with Dave on this. You're gonna wind up having to take that nylon off the CL intake. The trick to this is having an intake that is of sufficient size that doesn't create a concentrated area of suction that will pull in small crustaceans or fish. I think you're on the right track with that strainer that you have. Recall the one we are using for our 2" intake. We had similar worries as yourself initially, but if the strainer is of sufficient size, you don't get concentrated suction and healthy animals just stay safely away. Another thing you can do, is line the inside with the plastic screening used for tank covers if the 4" intake strainer has huge slots...

Hi Mike/Terry.
Is it OK to agree with Dave?, I didnt think it was allowed?

i know what you're saying..I know what Dave was saying but the pump feed cant possibly be restricted by the nylon getting clogged up. When the tank is 2/3rds full the pump manifold is flooded and the nylon cannot hold that much water back. True the nylon is collecting detritus, dust from the sand and other nondescript things floating around but thats exactly what I want it to catch. Everything it catches isnt getting into the pumps. From then on it becomes a nutrient management task...the same way that 200micron socks will need swapping out.

I have 2 sets of these grates with the nylon fitted. I swapped them out yesterday and it took approximately 5 minutes to remove the existing ones, replace with fresh ones and wash out the old ones ready for next time.

I am not saying these are a permanent fixture, when the tank is settled and I am not adding any more sand or blowing sand from upper ledges and the water is crystal clear I can change them if I want. When theres fish food et al floating around the tank they will definitely gather more gunk...they wont clog and restrict flow but I may find that I am cleaning them more than I have time for so i can remove them entirely and replace with something else or leave clear.

That's what I was thinking, too; some form of plastic screening. You could experiment with the size of mesh. You could start off with plastic window screen approx 2mm mesh. Or you could try the various type of gutter guard for eaves troughs - 4mm up to 2cm mesh available.

Dave.M

yes..thats an option in the future

Hobby Lobby sells the plastic screen in different sized holes. Think its used for yarn. You could silicone it in. Wouldn't use zip ties unless large part of zip is on the outside. Don't want one sucked into a pump.

my .02

you could also put another strainer inside that one....

I dont think we have a hobby lobby over here. I am sure we'll have similar that I can have a look at if I need to.

 

[smirkis]

wow, i just lost 2 days of my life reading through this. awesome build and i can't wait to see it all stocked up!