Project 150!!
- Thread starter maxxII
- Start date
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Due to the design of the WavySea, and the current mounting bracket I have, I need to use a longer return on the WavySea to keep a wall of water from blowing over the front lip of the tank. This longer return sits deeper into the tank, which means it drains out more water in a back siphon event caused by a power shortage. This means I need to to keep the max water level in the sump lower than I'd like to accomodate any water back siphoned in. The fun part comes in where the minimum water level is to prevent microbubbles from the return....I've got about an inch between the two and that's about what the tank currently evaporates on a daily basis.
I called Premium Aquatics and ordered a new larger mounting bracket for the WavySea so I can mount it on the edge of my aquarium as opposed to the centerbrace which sits lower in the tank. This will also move the WavySea back a few inches. I'm hoping between the two, I wont have as much water back siphon into the sump, and I wont get a wave over the front of the tank.
I also ordered some loc-line parts so I can mod the return on the WavySea. They dont make an adapter for loc-line, but the WavySea is made to accept plumbing. So I can get a Loc-line 3/4 inch male pipe thread connector and attach it to a 1" PVC Female Adapter. I can then connect a loc-line Y to the WavySea's return and spread the flow out more....hopefully no longer disturbing the sand at the bottom of the tank...
The new parts will most likely arrive Friday or Saturday...so i should know by then what I can do.
Failing that, it looks like I'll be getting rid of the sand.....somehow.
I also need to find a way to get ahold of some Thorite. I would like to use this to cover some 1/2 " pvc. I want to use the pvc to make rock racks, to support my rockwork and keep it off the sand. Allegedly, the Thorite is safe to use in aquariums, (most public aquariums have been using it for years...also see "The Reef Aquarium Vol 3" (Chapt 9) for references...but more importantly...it doesnt have the lengthy cure time that normal home made rock mixes require. Homemade rocks using the GARF recipe, (or any other recipe using cement) typically need anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months curing time where they continuously leach out an alkaline solution. This alkaline solution will raise tank pH significantly to a point of causing problems...
So if I can get ahold of some Thorite, which isnt supposed to need this curing time, I might be able to get my rock racks made, and get something nice in the tank sooner. If I cant...welll...then I wait for normal rock recipes to cure.
Nick
I called Premium Aquatics and ordered a new larger mounting bracket for the WavySea so I can mount it on the edge of my aquarium as opposed to the centerbrace which sits lower in the tank. This will also move the WavySea back a few inches. I'm hoping between the two, I wont have as much water back siphon into the sump, and I wont get a wave over the front of the tank.
I also ordered some loc-line parts so I can mod the return on the WavySea. They dont make an adapter for loc-line, but the WavySea is made to accept plumbing. So I can get a Loc-line 3/4 inch male pipe thread connector and attach it to a 1" PVC Female Adapter. I can then connect a loc-line Y to the WavySea's return and spread the flow out more....hopefully no longer disturbing the sand at the bottom of the tank...
The new parts will most likely arrive Friday or Saturday...so i should know by then what I can do.
Failing that, it looks like I'll be getting rid of the sand.....somehow.
I also need to find a way to get ahold of some Thorite. I would like to use this to cover some 1/2 " pvc. I want to use the pvc to make rock racks, to support my rockwork and keep it off the sand. Allegedly, the Thorite is safe to use in aquariums, (most public aquariums have been using it for years...also see "The Reef Aquarium Vol 3" (Chapt 9) for references...but more importantly...it doesnt have the lengthy cure time that normal home made rock mixes require. Homemade rocks using the GARF recipe, (or any other recipe using cement) typically need anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months curing time where they continuously leach out an alkaline solution. This alkaline solution will raise tank pH significantly to a point of causing problems...
So if I can get ahold of some Thorite, which isnt supposed to need this curing time, I might be able to get my rock racks made, and get something nice in the tank sooner. If I cant...welll...then I wait for normal rock recipes to cure.
Nick
Pkelley228
New member
Looking good bud. No thanks necessary for the light, I just appreciate the fact that you told everyone that I wasn't the one who did the original shimming of your stand.
By the way, dont give up so easily on the idea of keeping the sand bed. depending on how your rock is placed and set up will effect the flow in the tank. I know your doubtful, but it does make a difference in mine.
By the way, dont give up so easily on the idea of keeping the sand bed. depending on how your rock is placed and set up will effect the flow in the tank. I know your doubtful, but it does make a difference in mine.
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Hey Pat!
Yeah I know....its settled down a bit already. I'm waiting to see how it goes when I move the WavySea back some more.
Heard you guys had some fun yesterday....Did you notice the pic from the CCTV looked kinda like Jason B?
Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
Hows the tank doing BTW?
Nick
Yeah I know....its settled down a bit already. I'm waiting to see how it goes when I move the WavySea back some more.
Heard you guys had some fun yesterday....Did you notice the pic from the CCTV looked kinda like Jason B?
Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
Hows the tank doing BTW?
Nick
Pkelley228
New member
Going good but slow, I want to fill it all up! Time and money.
Pkelley228
New member
We must have pretty screwy schedules to be on here posting at 3 something in the morning. Didn't really expect such a quick reply. I left a few other replies on your other post about the Thorite.
Pkelley228
New member
I think that true value might. I will check the one by my house next time I am in there
Company called "thoro" manufactures all sorts of the stuff as patch repair and sealant for concrete.
Company called "thoro" manufactures all sorts of the stuff as patch repair and sealant for concrete.
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
03-23-2007
Okay, the new bracket arrived today for the WavySea.
The black one is the standard bracket that comes with the WavySea. The clear acrylic one is the 1.25 inch large bracket.
The standard bracket wouldnt fit over the lip of the tank, so it had to be mounted on the center brace....which put the WavySea lower in the water.
The WavySea attaches to the bracket by a mounting plate...sorry no pics at the moment.
Its tough to see in the pic above, but the large bracket actually has two sets of mounting plate holes, where as the standard bracket only has one set of holes. The large bracket allows you to raise or lower the mounting plate about half an inch. I chose the higher set of mounting plate holes to raise the WavySea as high as possible. In addition, mounting the WavySea to the back of the tank as opposed to the centerbrace raised the WavySea higher also.
I also modified the output of the WavySea by glueing a 3/4 inch Loc-line Y to the end of it.
I didnt want to do this, but trying to use the PVC female adapter I mentioned earlier didnt work out so well. I used PVC glue to attach the Loc-line to the output. Its not the strongest bond in the world, but it will hold as long as I dont really torque on it...
The difference in the flow is amazing. Instead of a jetstream of 750 gph I now have two fans blowing about 375 gph each which disturbs the sand very little. After all was said and done, I went ahead and turned off the return pump to see how much water now backsiphoned into the sump. It wound up siphoning alot less water than before, I can now add 3 more inches of water to my sump and still have 1.5 inches from the top of the sump. So that worked out well.
I moved the sand back to some semblance of normal, (covered up the huge empty open areas of cutting board) and will leave it like that over night to see
how much moves now.
I was also worried about the jet of water coming from the stock output as I will be moving my H.magnifica anemone to this tank. These anemone's really like high flow, but this was a bit much IMO...
While I'm on the subject of the H.magnifica, I want to pass something on to anyone reading this thread...
Sounds stupid, (as in DUH!) but anemone's can pass bacterial infections to each other.
I've had the H.magnifica for a year as of 03-10-07. Late last year, I bought another H.mag from an online vendor and it came in looking like crap. These anemone's ship worse than most other anemones, (which already ship poorly to begin with). I was concerned about it so I hurried up and placed it in the tank, where it started looking better. However, it never really recovered from shipping stress and died. And, as a parting gift, it also infected my healthy H.mag with whatever it had.
I didnt think the sick anemone could infect my healthy anemone in a healthy system...WRONG.
I waited and hoped for a long while, but the H.mag wasnt getting better at all...finally, at the advice of a LFS that dips all its incoming anemones in doxycycline for 8-12 hours before introducing them to the display tanks, I tried a dip. I used 1 pill (100mgs) in a large specimen container, (anemone is smaller), placed that in my main tank for temp control, and added an airstone. (LFS guy uses 1 pill ,100 mgs, in a 5 gallon bucket with a Maxi jet mini behind egg crate to protect the anemones from wandering...)
The anemone slimed pretty badly at first, the airstone turned the slime into a skimmer. After 6 hours, I did a 100% water change in the container, added a new 100mg pill of dox, and let it sit for another 15 hours in the container.
That was almost two weeks ago. The anemone looks better than it has in the last two months, (still not great and still back where it should be), but I have seen it eat a little, its mouth is tightening up, and its tentacles are more inflated and coloring up again.
I debated long and hard before dipping, but looked at it this way...it was definately going to die if I didnt do something, so I really had nothing to lose.
After two weeks, the anemone now looks like it will survive, but its still not back to where it was previously.
I read about using the Doxycycline on RC. Joe Yaiullo posted this:
Joe runs the Atlantis Marine World Reef Aquarium. He has also set up an anemone specific reeftank for Atlantis Marine World...so he's got some experiance with reeftanks and anemones.
After my experiance with the sick H.mag infecting my healthy H.mag...no anemone's will go into my display tank without being dipped in Doxycycline.
Nick
Okay, the new bracket arrived today for the WavySea.
The black one is the standard bracket that comes with the WavySea. The clear acrylic one is the 1.25 inch large bracket.
The standard bracket wouldnt fit over the lip of the tank, so it had to be mounted on the center brace....which put the WavySea lower in the water.
The WavySea attaches to the bracket by a mounting plate...sorry no pics at the moment.
Its tough to see in the pic above, but the large bracket actually has two sets of mounting plate holes, where as the standard bracket only has one set of holes. The large bracket allows you to raise or lower the mounting plate about half an inch. I chose the higher set of mounting plate holes to raise the WavySea as high as possible. In addition, mounting the WavySea to the back of the tank as opposed to the centerbrace raised the WavySea higher also.
I also modified the output of the WavySea by glueing a 3/4 inch Loc-line Y to the end of it.
I didnt want to do this, but trying to use the PVC female adapter I mentioned earlier didnt work out so well. I used PVC glue to attach the Loc-line to the output. Its not the strongest bond in the world, but it will hold as long as I dont really torque on it...
The difference in the flow is amazing. Instead of a jetstream of 750 gph I now have two fans blowing about 375 gph each which disturbs the sand very little. After all was said and done, I went ahead and turned off the return pump to see how much water now backsiphoned into the sump. It wound up siphoning alot less water than before, I can now add 3 more inches of water to my sump and still have 1.5 inches from the top of the sump. So that worked out well.
I moved the sand back to some semblance of normal, (covered up the huge empty open areas of cutting board) and will leave it like that over night to see
how much moves now.
I was also worried about the jet of water coming from the stock output as I will be moving my H.magnifica anemone to this tank. These anemone's really like high flow, but this was a bit much IMO...
While I'm on the subject of the H.magnifica, I want to pass something on to anyone reading this thread...
Sounds stupid, (as in DUH!) but anemone's can pass bacterial infections to each other.
I've had the H.magnifica for a year as of 03-10-07. Late last year, I bought another H.mag from an online vendor and it came in looking like crap. These anemone's ship worse than most other anemones, (which already ship poorly to begin with). I was concerned about it so I hurried up and placed it in the tank, where it started looking better. However, it never really recovered from shipping stress and died. And, as a parting gift, it also infected my healthy H.mag with whatever it had.
I didnt think the sick anemone could infect my healthy anemone in a healthy system...WRONG.
I waited and hoped for a long while, but the H.mag wasnt getting better at all...finally, at the advice of a LFS that dips all its incoming anemones in doxycycline for 8-12 hours before introducing them to the display tanks, I tried a dip. I used 1 pill (100mgs) in a large specimen container, (anemone is smaller), placed that in my main tank for temp control, and added an airstone. (LFS guy uses 1 pill ,100 mgs, in a 5 gallon bucket with a Maxi jet mini behind egg crate to protect the anemones from wandering...)
The anemone slimed pretty badly at first, the airstone turned the slime into a skimmer. After 6 hours, I did a 100% water change in the container, added a new 100mg pill of dox, and let it sit for another 15 hours in the container.
That was almost two weeks ago. The anemone looks better than it has in the last two months, (still not great and still back where it should be), but I have seen it eat a little, its mouth is tightening up, and its tentacles are more inflated and coloring up again.
I debated long and hard before dipping, but looked at it this way...it was definately going to die if I didnt do something, so I really had nothing to lose.
After two weeks, the anemone now looks like it will survive, but its still not back to where it was previously.
I read about using the Doxycycline on RC. Joe Yaiullo posted this:
Joe runs the Atlantis Marine World Reef Aquarium. He has also set up an anemone specific reeftank for Atlantis Marine World...so he's got some experiance with reeftanks and anemones.
After my experiance with the sick H.mag infecting my healthy H.mag...no anemone's will go into my display tank without being dipped in Doxycycline.
Nick
ctazmartin
New member
Nick,
If you still need more adjustment let me know. I believe with the addition of a simple plate your bracket could have even more depth adjustment.
Chris
If you still need more adjustment let me know. I believe with the addition of a simple plate your bracket could have even more depth adjustment.
Chris
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Hey Chris! I think its working out just fine for right now.
There is a small bare spot in the front left corner of the tank now as opposed to the large ones on the right and center. The center front areas is pushed back into a dune of sorts....but nothing that is a deal breaker IMO.
I'm kinda in a holding pattern right now...
I found some Thorite, and ordered it from Ace Hardware....they will ship free to a nearby store, or charge me $20.00 to bring it to my doorstep. Call me a tightwad, but for $20 I'll drive 15 minutes away to go pick it up.
I plan on using the Thorite to try and coat the PVC rock support racks I want to build to keep the rocks solid and stable. Currently in my 58, the left side rockwork is really just carefully stacked, and it bothers me. I'd rather have the rocks in a stable support system with no worries if I later decide to remove the sand for whatever reason. I tried using Pond Foam for the first attempt.....
that didnt work so well. Actually, to be fair, you had no idea there was PVC under the foam, and it looked pretty interesting....but it was so buoyant that there was absolutely no way to get it under water. So I'll try the Thorite and see what happens.
On Monday, (When they open again) I will go to Regal Plastic and purchase some 3/8 inch acrylic rod to drill through some leftover base rock I have to secure it and make some smaller supports, keeping it off the sand. I used this in my 58 gallon to make one large rock from 4 smaller ones. It worked very well , and I have to point out the small areas where the acrylic rod is visible to just about everybody...
Tonight, I threw bioballs into the sump of my 58 gallon tank. I plan on using these to speed up the cycling process in the 120. I dont know how many I chucked in there, but it was a significant amount.
List of things to do:
Buy acrylic rod
Use Thorite on rock racks for camoflage
build light canopy and figure out how I'm going to hang it/support it.
On my current tank, I can raise and lower the lights to accomodate for new bulbs and/or new corals. I like being able to do that, and want to try and do that here....I just dont know if that will be feasible. The stand's height kinda eats up the available space.
Ideally, I'd like to be able to drill holes through the floor joists to accomodate some sort of pipe/pole/dowel to mount the canopy on. I just dont know how safe that is...
Could I possibly get away with drilling 3/4 to 1 inch holes in the floor joists above the tank? They are 2x10's...I'm not talking multiple holes in the same joist...just series of holes through several joists, to allow a pipe to slide through for raising/lowering the lights.
Nick
There is a small bare spot in the front left corner of the tank now as opposed to the large ones on the right and center. The center front areas is pushed back into a dune of sorts....but nothing that is a deal breaker IMO.
I'm kinda in a holding pattern right now...
I found some Thorite, and ordered it from Ace Hardware....they will ship free to a nearby store, or charge me $20.00 to bring it to my doorstep. Call me a tightwad, but for $20 I'll drive 15 minutes away to go pick it up.
I plan on using the Thorite to try and coat the PVC rock support racks I want to build to keep the rocks solid and stable. Currently in my 58, the left side rockwork is really just carefully stacked, and it bothers me. I'd rather have the rocks in a stable support system with no worries if I later decide to remove the sand for whatever reason. I tried using Pond Foam for the first attempt.....
that didnt work so well. Actually, to be fair, you had no idea there was PVC under the foam, and it looked pretty interesting....but it was so buoyant that there was absolutely no way to get it under water. So I'll try the Thorite and see what happens.
On Monday, (When they open again) I will go to Regal Plastic and purchase some 3/8 inch acrylic rod to drill through some leftover base rock I have to secure it and make some smaller supports, keeping it off the sand. I used this in my 58 gallon to make one large rock from 4 smaller ones. It worked very well , and I have to point out the small areas where the acrylic rod is visible to just about everybody...
Tonight, I threw bioballs into the sump of my 58 gallon tank. I plan on using these to speed up the cycling process in the 120. I dont know how many I chucked in there, but it was a significant amount.
List of things to do:
Buy acrylic rod
Use Thorite on rock racks for camoflage
build light canopy and figure out how I'm going to hang it/support it.
On my current tank, I can raise and lower the lights to accomodate for new bulbs and/or new corals. I like being able to do that, and want to try and do that here....I just dont know if that will be feasible. The stand's height kinda eats up the available space.
Ideally, I'd like to be able to drill holes through the floor joists to accomodate some sort of pipe/pole/dowel to mount the canopy on. I just dont know how safe that is...
Could I possibly get away with drilling 3/4 to 1 inch holes in the floor joists above the tank? They are 2x10's...I'm not talking multiple holes in the same joist...just series of holes through several joists, to allow a pipe to slide through for raising/lowering the lights.
Nick
Pkelley228
New member
It shouldn't be a problem at all Nick. People drill holes in them for all sorts of reasons, ( running electric, water pipes, etc.). Just make sure you line them all up real good or you will be playing with your dremmel again!
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
03-26-07
Got the acrylic rod today and made two good size rocks into one larger more stable rock.
Here are the two rocks I started with.
And here's what it looks like now.
I shot this with the flash which caused the acrylic rod to shine like that....wont do it in the tank.
Here are two back to back shots at about the same angle....one w/ flash, one w/o
Right side...you can see where the rod was inserted
![url]](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5Burl%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.reeffrontiers.com%2Fphotos_members%2Fdata%2F500%2FTwo_rocks5_right_side_.JPG%5B%2Furl%5D&hash=2cbd87ae5a644edaead4860ab9ec3e67)
Rear
Left side
Top
The rods all but disappear when inside the tank and any sort of algae starts to grow. I just used regular masonry drill bits and drilled through the rock. This is pretty porous and IMO, soft rock. I have some nice pieces of rock that are denser and harder, and they dont drill as well....in fact, they have a tendancy to shatter and break when drilled. From what I've been able to determine by screwing around with some less attractive/less usable pieces, is that drilling holes partially through the dense rock is doable, but as soon as the drill bit begins to pass through the back side of the rock, it shatters.
I also have a Lava rock that is almost impossible to drill through....so for these pieces, I'm waiting for the Thorite to make the racks...
Gonna measure out the canopy and try to get the frame built tonight.
Nick
Got the acrylic rod today and made two good size rocks into one larger more stable rock.
Here are the two rocks I started with.
And here's what it looks like now.
I shot this with the flash which caused the acrylic rod to shine like that....wont do it in the tank.
Here are two back to back shots at about the same angle....one w/ flash, one w/o
Right side...you can see where the rod was inserted
Rear
Left side
Top
The rods all but disappear when inside the tank and any sort of algae starts to grow. I just used regular masonry drill bits and drilled through the rock. This is pretty porous and IMO, soft rock. I have some nice pieces of rock that are denser and harder, and they dont drill as well....in fact, they have a tendancy to shatter and break when drilled. From what I've been able to determine by screwing around with some less attractive/less usable pieces, is that drilling holes partially through the dense rock is doable, but as soon as the drill bit begins to pass through the back side of the rock, it shatters.
I also have a Lava rock that is almost impossible to drill through....so for these pieces, I'm waiting for the Thorite to make the racks...
Gonna measure out the canopy and try to get the frame built tonight.
Nick
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Just about completed the frame of the canopy....will have it finished and will put a coat of polyurethane on it today....figure two coats should do it since its not going to subject to spills.
Also, its not looking like I'm gonna be able to keep sand in this tank.....the flow from the return bounces off the front glass and pushes the sand back for about 4-5 inches and leaves a bare spot of exposed cuttingboard for about a foot and a half...I'll know for sure when I get the Thorite and can make the rock racks...More rock in the tank might make a difference...
need to take a pic of the tank with the rock in it and the huge bare spot...
Progress is slow, but steady...
Nick
Also, its not looking like I'm gonna be able to keep sand in this tank.....the flow from the return bounces off the front glass and pushes the sand back for about 4-5 inches and leaves a bare spot of exposed cuttingboard for about a foot and a half...I'll know for sure when I get the Thorite and can make the rock racks...More rock in the tank might make a difference...
need to take a pic of the tank with the rock in it and the huge bare spot...
Progress is slow, but steady...
Nick
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Thanks Curt...
Jerry,
I was actually planning on drilling those holes through the joists horizontally. The canopy isnt going to be that heavy, maybe 25 lbs max...
But I was thinking of using 3/4 inch PVC, (or dowel rod/whatever) to hang the canopy from. I wanted to run the PVC/dowel rod/metal pipe though the joists...if that makes sense?
Nick
Jerry,
I was actually planning on drilling those holes through the joists horizontally. The canopy isnt going to be that heavy, maybe 25 lbs max...
But I was thinking of using 3/4 inch PVC, (or dowel rod/whatever) to hang the canopy from. I wanted to run the PVC/dowel rod/metal pipe though the joists...if that makes sense?
Nick
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Just got off the phone w/ Chris from Sunlight Supply. I'm using their reflectors and ballasts on my 58 gallon and decided to use more of their stuff on the 120.
I've got two Lumen Max 2 Reflectors I will be using on the 120. I called Chris to ask him if it mattered which direction they were mounted since the reflector portion of the unit is actually square...(I couldnt see how it could, but wanted to know for sure...these guys are the rocket scientists who built the damn things....for all I know, they'll freaking explode if mounted wrong...)
Chris told me they were fine to mount either parallel or perpendicular to the tank, as they reflected in a square pattern.
This works out well as I was wanting to hook up my VHO's for dawn/dusk periods and wasnt going to be able to if they needed to be mounted perpendicular to the tank.
So I've got that going for me...
Nick
I've got two Lumen Max 2 Reflectors I will be using on the 120. I called Chris to ask him if it mattered which direction they were mounted since the reflector portion of the unit is actually square...(I couldnt see how it could, but wanted to know for sure...these guys are the rocket scientists who built the damn things....for all I know, they'll freaking explode if mounted wrong...)
Chris told me they were fine to mount either parallel or perpendicular to the tank, as they reflected in a square pattern.
This works out well as I was wanting to hook up my VHO's for dawn/dusk periods and wasnt going to be able to if they needed to be mounted perpendicular to the tank.
So I've got that going for me...
Nick
