The Dream Tank 400 Gallon Display - IN THE WORKS - Input appreciated!!!!

[obiwanthegoby]

Update....

From what I calculated the tank has approx. 78 gallons to go until it is full... then about another 75 to go in the 1st sump to get the main pump rolling. So... Friday night.... Ill be adding salt. Sunday Working on rock work if everything goes as planned. here are some pics of the temporary plumbing until I can get some more time tomorrow to get the skimmer plumbed in. and run the right hand side over flow over to sump 1. (This will be only temporary until I get the rock out of my second tub to use as the secondary sump/Fuge. At that point I will drop the drain straight into the secondary tub or into a spray low pressure spray bar to turn over the chaeto that will be in the tub.)


What it should look like with the lights dimmed in the room outside....

Inside of the room....

 

[Ed Reef]

Looking really good..... another day or so and you can start scaping the tank.

 

[erics3000]

Nice build. Sweet skimmer

 

[obiwanthegoby]

My 500 Watt heater blew out apparently. MD has agreed to take it back for a refund. It was one of the new titanium Azoo units, and its malfunctioning. It was room temp when I pulled it from the rock tank, I unplugged and plugged it back in and re inserted into the tank. The top rubber grommet began to expand like a balloon so i unplugged and removed it. Sending it back on Monday in exchange/refund for a Rena 300 trio. Here are some updated pictures. The tank should be circulating by tonight's end and I hope the two 300 w heaters I hae on hand will bring the water temp up enough to put the live rock in in the next day or so. Here are some updated pictures, I'm also rethinking the huge "cave" system in the center. May split it in two and stagger it for two cave systems.

Its cloudy.... NEED SOME CIRCULATION and a Protein skimmer online...

 

[thisisme]

cool

 

[obiwanthegoby]

IT IS ALIVE!!!!!!


...pictures to follow tonight or tommorow... Must quite down the noisy overflows and drains.

The Orca 250 is doing a darn good job stripping out the sand particles that the power heads have stirred up. Very impressed with the white chamber!! (due to the massive ammount of bubbles inside)

 

[byrdman81]

cant wait to see them

 

[Ed Reef]

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES....!! WE WANT PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES!

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Sorry I havn't posted pictures yet, It's the week before spring break and that means crunch time for studying/tests/ ect. On top of it I was out of the office for a week and a half and am trying to catch up at work too, havnt had much time for the tank. (I'm actually writing this sitting in class... )

I have two small leaks in the PVC!!! These need to be fixed before I can get the rock in the tank. Someone I work with mentioned a product called Marine Tex they use for fiberglass boat repair, it will bond to anything in almost any condition (he said he has used it to repair leaks in gas tanks) Said it was safe for potable water? I may try this since it is on the PVC. One leak is on the return line from the pump into the center bulkehead between the 90 elbow and the ball valve... the other is on the left overflow bulkhead. Not sure if i didn't get a good cover with the PVC cement or what, but they both have a drip about every 15 seconds.

I also want to rework my PVC for two smaller caves staggered maybe an arch in the middle. I wanted a more open rock scape and I eliminated that with the huge structure in the middle. So I'm going to re work it.

My lights came in with the wrong ballast, they were suppose to be 400W dimmable and I got straight 400W. Coral Vue took care of everything and express shipped the correct ones to the LFS. (I ordered 3 Lumen Bright Large, 400 W dimmable, Reeflux 12K, and will be supplementing with 2 6 ft VHO super actintics... unless it ends up too blue.)

I also ordered a GEO 818 Calcium reactor on monday of this week, with a milwaukee Reg, and Milwaukee PH/ORP controller.

I plan to get the leaks fixed, rock work done, and the lights hung this weekend and if my calcium reactor comes in that hopefully plumbed in. Sorry I haven't posted any pictures Ed, I've just been swamped. I will have them up ASAP though!!! Believe me, I am much more dissapointed about my lack of time for the tank than you are ..... I am waaaay behind the schedule I planned out.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Ok here are some pictures not much has changed other than the fact everything "can" be run now. I haven't been running it while I have been away or asleep due to the two small leaks I spoke of and fear that something will crap out .....

The flash made the tank seem cloudier than it really is. I wish I could trust it/myself to leave it on permanently so this would all clear up, but I'm being a little cautious,...... ok I'm a chicken.

Flow through sump needs to be fixed, eventually the 2" drain you see in the left hand side of the picture will be directed into another 110 gallon sump for use as a fuge. The two crossed 2" drains on the right are from the other overflow and the protein skimmer. Working on a solution for the vortex created by the pump suction, it comes and goes but i want it to stay gone.

Back side of the tank: I tried to get the gurgling to a minimum by using stand pipes cut off at a 45 degree angle it helped a little but not much. I also tried a trick the LFS told me and shoved 3?8" tubing into the drain pipes to pull air out... everything has quieted down a lot after all the changes but I'd still like to see it get a tad bit more quiet.
[IMG]http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/qq314/admart04/IMAG0154.jpg

Skimmer running and pulling sand dust from the water column... Im impressed with the skimmer already and cant wait for the upgraded collection cup on friday.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Here are some pictures of the LB larges... they are massive 20.5 X 20.5. I had not removed the protective film or mounted the bulb holder yet.

Here is a picture with a teflon tape roll for size comparison, and that is a reeflo dart in the background.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Equipment smorgasboard:

Lights, Ballasts, Bulbs:

Geo 818 Calcium Reactor, Milwaukee Reg, Waiting on Milwaukee PH/ORP Controller, Anybody got suggestions on media?

Reef Specialty Upgraded Collection Cup,

Still waiting on 6 ft. VHO bulb kit, PH/EC/TDS Tester, My 2nd and third Rena 300 Watt Heaters and a couple of small things. Will post pictures. Plan to get rock work done tomorrow night and Saturday Time allowing. I have re siliconed the leaky bulkhead and it is no longer leaking. Tried some "magic tape" on the leaking ball valve, will see tomorrow if it has fixed or not. :rollface:

 

[erics3000]

Sweet lights

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Got the Reeflo PRO kit installed, didn't realize I needed to drill the venturi out, so I'll have to drain the skimmer and do this sometime this week. Also built the platform for the Fuge sump to sit on (so that it can drain back into the main sump) I have figured out that my 120 gallon may not comfortably fit in the place that I wanted now that the platform is in place, So I am trying to figure out where to locate it. I have rock in the tank, I took out the PVC structure and will be reworking it tonight. For the time being I went ahead and got the live rock in the tank. I put the more delicate pieces into the sump. I will rebuild my PVC structures and try to git it situated tonight. I will be putting the FUGE sump in tonight also, with 300 lbs of oolitic sand, and fed via one over flow and drain back into the main sump. Eventually the fuge will have a 250W HQI on it, and Ill probably use it for a frag space too, instead of a separate tank.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

The lights are wired, and ready to be hung. Need some help hanging the 2 X 6 scabs that will support them. Soon as I get it the Lights will be on the tank. I may hold off on this until the rock is situated though to allow me more room.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

lots of crappy news, the router was burned up by the wife... she plugged the wrong AC cord in, and my computer for some reason has not/will not connect to the internet through the modem only.... So until I get a resolutions posting pictures will be tough,

Ive had several large leaks from bulkheads with crappy gaskets over the past week and I went through a ton of silicon getting them all sealed. I believe everything is good to go now... waiting on the silt in the fuge to settle and trying to get the salinity right so I can bring it online, hopefully tonight.

The calcium reactor isnt hooked up yet. I bought some Estes crushed coral for 20 bucks ( 40 lbs) to use in the reactor versus using 150 bucks or more for 25 - 30 lbs of REACTOR media. I have been soaking a bit of it in RO/DI to test for phosphates, pending test results tonight Ill hook it in and start adjusting.

I threw a few blue leg hermits, bristle worms, spaghetti worms, and pods into the tank and everything is still aliive to the best of my knowledge. I may try a hardy piece of coral late next week after the reactor is adjusted.

I do have an issue,....Micro bubbles!!! anyone have recommendations? thought about trying to build a gurggle buster but Im affraid of overflow...my overflows are flowing ~1250 - 1500 gallons an hour through 2 - 2" pipes. Any suggestions or insight on this?

Also one thing im not to happy about is that my LB pendants came in and the light bulb supports are not inline with the eye bolts. This makes them tilt to the side and not hang flat with the water... only two of them are like this, the center was built with the bulb mount inline. Other than this issue I have no complaints on them, awesome color. will be fixing with a chain and s-hook temporarily until I find a better solution.

Will post pics of the progress soon ---- obi

 

[JohnnyBassMan]

Hey obiwanthegoby everything looks good, cant wait for more pictures. See ya soon.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

little to no phosphate in the substrate so Ill bring the reactor online tonight.. The fuge is to temp and salinity is good but the water is still very cloudy. I have my ASM G3 pulling the silt out its just taking a while.

I have fixed the majority of my micro bubble problem by using filter socks and what i will call the Double Durso. The scare of having an over flow by a drain being clogged I came up with the fix of using a 2" cross and two 90 street elbows on each side with a cap on the top vertical opening. This effectively gives me a back up if one side is clogged. There are still a few micro bubbles and im trying to find a final solution,....this may be a custom acrylic sump... which would be my VERY last resort.

I have developed two more small leaks that I hope I can fix without causing more leaks. After siliconing the crap out of my bulk head gaskets and outside "perimeter" the cap and male adapter that I used on each one is leaking from the threads, I only used teflon tape. I am going to insert a stand pipe into the in tank side of the bulkhead that comes above the water level to remove, re tape AND silicone the threads. Hopefully I wont break the silicone seal on the bulkehead gaskets while removing or re installing the cap and the male adapter.

I will post pictures tommorow.... .........obi

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Here are the pics Ive been promising. FIrst few pictures are with the 4ft T-5 on top. Youll know the difference.

Side view with T-5

Close up of some of the rock

Metal Halides

Longview

The Tank Room

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Some of the equipment

ALWAYS RINSE YOUR SANDs... fuge pics

the muck!!!

Still not clean 36 hrs later

Tank shot... still had the bubbles

Double Durso

Tank a few minutes ago...