Sinistard's 68.8 Acrylic Tank Journal [Photo Intense]

[Kinetic]

not sure exactly where your inlets are, but won't two 90 degree elbows from the bulkheads going straight up, then connected to strainers solve the problem? savko dot com has a ton of black fittings to keep the eyesore on the downlow.

otherwise drain the water, close up those two holes and drill again =/

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7286265#post7286265 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by koden
not sure exactly where your inlets are, but won't two 90 degree elbows from the bulkheads going straight up, then connected to strainers solve the problem? savko dot com has a ton of black fittings to keep the eyesore on the downlow.

otherwise drain the water, close up those two holes and drill again =/

Drain and drill, yuck I'll find some other way before I resort to that LOL.

90s are my plan, Savko does not have the fitting you showed (I called earlier today) in black so I will not be able to do that plus my bulkhead is to close the the side to screw a 90 in. I am going to have to stick a threaded pipe in the bulkhead then slip on a black 90 with a strainer. Basically the same result as what you suggested but a couple pieces. This shouldn't look to bad.

I need to pick up a couple pieces to make a syphon break on my return lines as well.

I'm considering Hydor Flo rotating heads for the 2 lower closed loop outlets to give a more random flow. These will require lower flow but I planned on having lower flow around the bottom anyways.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[reefarchitect]

Just a thought. You could screw in a slip X MPT adaptor and then just slide in a street ele. Theis would give you the upward 90 you seek without having to actually screw it in. It doesnt have to be a watertight seal, just enough to intake from the top.

Good luck

 

[reefarchitect]

We just posted the same thing simultaneously! Too funny.

 

[goda]

your lr looks great. where did you get it?

 

[xdusty6920]

congrats sinistard on finally getting that system wet! seems like its taken a while and i was starting to wonder if you had just given up on it for the time being. glad to see the thread back up.

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7286789#post7286789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefarchitect
We just posted the same thing simultaneously! Too funny.

, Great minds think alike. I'm going to buy the parts here in a few minutes.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7286864#post7286864 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by goda
your lr looks great. where did you get it?

Thanks, I got LR from a fellow reefer that was getting rid of it.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7287411#post7287411 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xdusty6920
congrats sinistard on finally getting that system wet! seems like its taken a while and i was starting to wonder if you had just given up on it for the time being. glad to see the thread back up.

Thanks Dusty, it definitely took a while

 

[Sinistard]

Here is my new Closed loop inlet. It does not look as bad as I was worried it might

And my first shot of the tank with water in it. Think that's enough LR

I'm going to start adding more LR now

 

[melev]

That looks okay to me.

I'd add another rock or two.

 

[Kinetic]

wow, those intakes ARE seriously close to the bottom. Good work though, it looks good now.

and NO MORE ROCK! It's perfect =)


j/k

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7291793#post7291793 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by koden
wow, those intakes ARE seriously close to the bottom. Good work though, it looks good now.

and NO MORE ROCK! It's perfect =)


j/k

Thanks

I was going for the less is more look. It's getting a bit crowded on the left but just about perfect on the right. Do you like the small LR island to the right of the mountain on the left LOL

 

[Kinetic]

grow gsp and xenia on that island see who wins!

 

[Sinistard]

Here is my first go at the aquascaping. I moved it around a couple times and it ended up like this. I'm pretty happy with it, the pieces of rock I got were really nice for the price I payed for it.

There were 2 real big pieces that I stuck on each side then built up around them.

 

[Kinetic]

looks pretty good. I'd recommend moving the rock away fromt he sides of the tank. 1) It's easier to clean, trust me you'll be happy when you can reach that area, even if you have one of those low profile kent scrapers. 2) it makes the tank look even bigger because of the room around the rockscape.

That flat piece that creates a cave on the left side of the right island looks like it will be a dead spot underneath. You'll probably collect a bit of nasties there, or some algae buildup. Not a big deal, though just helping you nitpick

looks awesome nevertheless. The rocks are great!!

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7292906#post7292906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by koden
looks pretty good. I'd recommend moving the rock away fromt he sides of the tank. 1) It's easier to clean, trust me you'll be happy when you can reach that area, even if you have one of those low profile kent scrapers. 2) it makes the tank look even bigger because of the room around the rockscape.

That flat piece that creates a cave on the left side of the right island looks like it will be a dead spot underneath. You'll probably collect a bit of nasties there, or some algae buildup. Not a big deal, though just helping you nitpick

looks awesome nevertheless. The rocks are great!!

Thanks for the ideas.

The picture is a bit deceiving as far as how close the rock is to the side. I can actually fit my hand to the bottom on both sides fairly easily. I made sure of this so it will be easier for me to clean.

I was a bit worried about dead spots but I have the flow from the return pointed down toward the cave and it seems to be getting a good amount of flow even under the rock on both sides.

Anyway I have already changed a few things and tweaked a few pieces. I'll get a picture once I finish everything up.

Thanks again.

 

[melev]

As long as your cleaning magnet fits and doesn't slam against any corals, the rockwork is fine. I like the layout, but caves do collect waste.

 

[Kinetic]

sounds good. looks like you got it covered. one way to test for dead spots, put a piece of flake food in various places, turn on your flow full blast, and see what happens =) if it shoots out of the cave and into the flow then you're good to go

 

[Sinistard]

A couple pictures of the tank with the tweaked aquascaping. I need to get a couple more small pieces of LR to finish up.

I'll have to try the flack food trick. I have the 2 lower closed loop outlets behind the aquascaping and I hope that they will keep dead spots from forming under the rocks.

 

[Sinistard]

I did a test for ammonia today and it came back at 0. I hope since I cycled the rocks for a month in a tub I will not have much die off and I will have a very short cycle.

Also my skimmer has not pulled anything out of the water yet. When I added the sand it foamed up due to the sand storm but that's about it.

 

[KNUCKLEHEAD]

68.658742 GAL

68.658742 GAL

This shows how planning & patience has it`s own reward. Your final pix are a testament to that.
Congrats on a nice, I mean beautiful display. Don`t ya love it when someone asks " where did you get this? who did this?" and all other questions, you get to say "ME".
It`s definitely a "Wow" in my book. It`s also obvious that the people who have been following
your progress are impressed, even as they have done similar diaries & have responded to many others & helped along also.