Third Time's A Charm!
- Thread starter dascharisma
- Start date
got2lb
New member
I heard reeferrocks closed down a while ago but then someone bought it out and they're in the middle of reorganizing things. I heard that capt. jer is still going to be running things though. If you ever hear back from them that's the way I would go. They "had" some pretty nice stuff. That's all I have in my tank.
dascharisma
New member
Well, here is the deal. I figure that most rock that was sitting in somebody's tank is going to need to be dried out completely in order to kill any undesirables. Then I would need to "cook" the rock for a number of months to get rid of all the organic matter left over from the die-off and from higher nutrient levels in a non-sps tank.
With true base rock I would simply put it in a container of rodi water for a couple weeks in order to let the rock leach anything nasty out of it. Then I would dry it out and start the construction process.
I am pretty sure that if I were to order base rock today, it would be the thing that would delay the setup of the new tank. Using live rock, or dried out live rock, would just add to the time.
Brad
lllosingit
New member
I read a thread here on RC where a guy bought from www.marcorocks.com The rock looked really good, It might be worth checking into.
They also sell on E-bay under the name marco.67
I don't have a premium memnership so I can't use the search function on RC right now or I would look for the post.
They also sell on E-bay under the name marco.67
I don't have a premium memnership so I can't use the search function on RC right now or I would look for the post.
lllosingit
New member
Edit:Fixed bad link.
Covey
New member
DIY them. The salty rock reciepe from here http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=807988&perpage=25&pagenumber=1 turned out really good in my case and your talking about over a 100lbs of rock for $12. Plus it allows you to build whatever shape is called for. I needed a large tall stable rock to sit in front of my overflow so I made one. Measured the space shaped it to suit and even made the bottom flat so it won't every tip. You want a cave, a ledge, an arch you can just make it.
Anyway this seem like a long term project and I think you would have time to work the rock cure time in.
dascharisma
New member
I emailed them earlier today and have already received a response, which is a good sign in my book. I told them about some specific pieces I am interested in and they said they would send me some pics in the morning. I'll post them here once I get them.
Brad
dascharisma
New member
A friend of mine is going to help me create the aquascaping for the new tank. He suggested that we try making the rock too. I just keep thinking back to art class, and how my clay ashtrays and bowls looked like turds. Maybe that isn't such a bad thing when it comes to making rocks though. I guess I should think about making a single rock and see how that goes.
Either way I plan to do a very open structure. I have considered using acrylic rods and epoxy to make some really unique shapes. If the majority of people don't think my rockwork looks weird, then I probably won't have acheived what I am going for.
Brad
glaspie69
Premium Member
I would also suggest making rock......I just made a second batch(cause the first one we didn't mix right) and it turned out great. Lightweight, very porous, and you can make it any size and shape you want. And since you have a month or more to get things setup I would definitely consider it. Just a thought.....Jason
Hmm. I think I'll try this as well! I'll be starting to set up a different tank and it will take several weeks to plumb it/wire it/ etc. so I'll have enough time to cure the rocks.
Plus - my wife is all about saving money and she knows I'll need the rock so she'll be all for it!
Covey
New member
People get impatient and want to cut back on the cure time and get the ph thing. Also there are a bunch of people trying damn near every random thing you can add to the rock to monkey with the mix. That plus the handful of people that thought it would be easier to cure there rock in a stream or a lake so they get to skip out on water changes.
Bad idea.
Portland cement
water softner salt
and 1.5 month cure time
Safe as can be. I got like 50# of this stuff in my tank and it would be nice if it up'ed the pH.
Bad idea.
Portland cement
water softner salt
and 1.5 month cure time
Safe as can be. I got like 50# of this stuff in my tank and it would be nice if it up'ed the pH.
dascharisma
New member
Good questions. Right now I am still trying to figure out the exact size of the tank. I think i have finally settled on 60" X 36" 31" so around 290 gallons. The only problem is glasscages can't get this tank done with low iron glass in time to ship on their truck coming to Des Moines. So I will either have to go with a 30" width or skip the low iron glass if I want to avoid the shipping costs. I think I am going to just bite the bullet, wait it out, and pay to ship the 36" tank with low iron glass. In the grand scheme of things a few hundred bucks and a month or two aren't really worth sacrificing the project as a whole.
I am still undecided about the lighting. Since the tank will likely be 36" front to back, I have more options on how many T5s and how many VHOs I use. Since I am using an icecap 660 ballast for the VHOs, I think it makes sense to use the same type of ballast for the T5s. That way I can buy a third to have as a back-up, since I know that one of them will eventually fail. What I am unsure of is what exact reflectors to use with the T5s. I know that some are supposed to be much better than others, but width matters too.
This weekend I had two big projects. The first was to take down my 30 gallon tank that was in my office. All of that tank's corals are now in the prop tank in the basement. That means that there are now 3 healthy sps in the prop tank. I should know shortly whether or not there is still something deadly in the water. If those sps die, I will likely drain the tank and start from scratch. At some point I also need to get an electrician to come move the circuit that ran my little tank to a location that the new tank can use. That will give me a total of 3 20 amp GFI protected circuits to use.
My second project was to set up a media center pc connected to my tv. I plan to get the aquacontroller III pro for the new tank. Once I do that I will be able to hook up the aquacontroller to my tv/internet and have all the fancy email alerts sent to my phone via the web.
For flow in the tank it is looking like 2 Vortechs, 2 Tunze 6200s on a multicontroller, and a pair of Tunze minis. Once the tank is running I will be able to see if I need more flow or not.
As for the return pump(s) I would like to run very little flow through the return. Maybe just 500 or 600 gph. I still don't know what pump to use to accomplish that. All I know is it must be very reliable. The best plan would be to split the flow between 2 pumps, and have each pump on a different circuit. I think that would give me the most protection. Since the new tank will have lots of fish (high O2 consumption) , I know that keeping the return running is the most important part of keeping the tank alive.
I am still trying to figure out what to do with getting rock. Marcorocks.com gave me some lame excuse for not sending me pics of the rock I am interested in, so I doubt I will be buying from them. Making the rock is an option, but I really worry that mine will turn out poorly.
Brad
Double-J
Premium Member
for the pumps just use one with the ACIIIP all you have to do is put a float valve just above the waterline of your sump... so when your pump shuts down the water in your sump will fill up enough from your tank and trip that float valve which will intern trip your alarm which will call you on the phone. Another way to set this up is to put one in your overflow and gate down your return so the water level in the overflow is always constant and have the float valve inside of it so when the pump turns off the water level in your overflows lowers which activates the alarm. There are some other ways to make the alarm work if you pump goes out but it's a little hard to expalain so I'll just talk to you tonight at POKER.
I'm not against two return pumps but you said you have 14ft of head to compete with which I think running two pumps is just a waste of electricity, with the alarms set up right your tank will be fine running with no sump for 12+ hours, even if your cooling is down in your basememnt you can program the ACIIIP to turn off the lights in case your temp in your tank gets to high or if your probes are in the basement sump then you just tell your lights to turn off if the float valve is tripped. The programming on this controller is amazing with the different things you can do it's all about how creative you can get with it.
A 36" wide tank is worth the wait with the low iron glass.
For T-'5s you could either take the 2x36" reflectors and hook them together. I suggest not using the Tek reflectors studies have show that you get ~20% more par with the SLR type reflectors althought they are 2.5" compared the teks 2" so might want to consider that in the scheme of things.
Talk with Dan about the Electrical, The only crappy part about this is you don't have much room in that pipe where we ran the 12-2 to your office. If were going to have to run wire to the basement which we are might as well run 4 guage wire so you can just put a 100A sub panel down there so you can always add more with ease, plus if you finish your basement your could just go off that box instead of running from your garage again.
Have fun you might add this all up in your head and think you got a good number for what it all cost.... I would say add 30% to that and thats what it will cost to run this mama jama.
AND WHAT ABOUT ANOTHER SKIMMER
I'm not against two return pumps but you said you have 14ft of head to compete with which I think running two pumps is just a waste of electricity, with the alarms set up right your tank will be fine running with no sump for 12+ hours, even if your cooling is down in your basememnt you can program the ACIIIP to turn off the lights in case your temp in your tank gets to high or if your probes are in the basement sump then you just tell your lights to turn off if the float valve is tripped. The programming on this controller is amazing with the different things you can do it's all about how creative you can get with it.
A 36" wide tank is worth the wait with the low iron glass.
For T-'5s you could either take the 2x36" reflectors and hook them together. I suggest not using the Tek reflectors studies have show that you get ~20% more par with the SLR type reflectors althought they are 2.5" compared the teks 2" so might want to consider that in the scheme of things.
Talk with Dan about the Electrical, The only crappy part about this is you don't have much room in that pipe where we ran the 12-2 to your office. If were going to have to run wire to the basement which we are might as well run 4 guage wire so you can just put a 100A sub panel down there so you can always add more with ease, plus if you finish your basement your could just go off that box instead of running from your garage again.
Have fun you might add this all up in your head and think you got a good number for what it all cost.... I would say add 30% to that and thats what it will cost to run this mama jama.
AND WHAT ABOUT ANOTHER SKIMMER
Covey
New member
I have teks the screws rust and the alunimium pits unless you run them where they won't get spray. Anyway your right they don't throw as much PAR as the Icecap.
One thing to consider, one thing that I ran into with my 72" tank is that the Icecap reflector only comes in lengths up to 48". You can run them staggered or some thing like that.
The Aqualux reflector are as good as the IceCap and they come in lengths up to 60" but there 3" across so you end up needing to drop bulbs versus the IceCap reflector.
Philby
New member
Just found this thread after not being on RC too much over the past few weeks - dude this sucks - especially since I hadn't made it up there to see your tank yet...and now i can't.
Just an update on my status - i'm trying to figure out if/how i want my tank drilled and once i figure that out i need to buy 1 or 2 pumps and maybe some power heads (depends on if i go CL or not) and a bunch of PVC. When that happens I'll definitely need your help with plumbing.
I'm still trying to figure out something to shield my electronics in my stand and what to use as a top coat on my stand. Its just painted black now, but its got no shine. I don't think i want to go quite piano finish, but something more than what I've got now.
We need to get together sometime, although this month I've got plans every weekend.
Not that I have much experience, but when you do get around to setting up your new tank let me know cause I can follow instructions well and could learn a lot I'm sure.
Just an update on my status - i'm trying to figure out if/how i want my tank drilled and once i figure that out i need to buy 1 or 2 pumps and maybe some power heads (depends on if i go CL or not) and a bunch of PVC. When that happens I'll definitely need your help with plumbing.
I'm still trying to figure out something to shield my electronics in my stand and what to use as a top coat on my stand. Its just painted black now, but its got no shine. I don't think i want to go quite piano finish, but something more than what I've got now.
We need to get together sometime, although this month I've got plans every weekend.
Not that I have much experience, but when you do get around to setting up your new tank let me know cause I can follow instructions well and could learn a lot I'm sure.
dascharisma
New member
A month later and a few things have changed.
After taking the tank out of my living room, I have decided to put the new tank in the basement. That will give me some more options, but since my basement is currently unfinished, it will create some work and expense as well. I am starting by creating a home theater room in the basement. Once the room is constructed, I will worry about dealing with the new tank. The tank is going to be 61X48X31 low iron with external overflows. The front 3 feet will be in the theater room, and the back foot and external overflow will be recessed into the fishroom. I decided not to let glasscages build the tank. I am going with miracles instead.
Here is the basement as of 1 week ago.
The room with the junk is the future fishroom.
Here is the start of the framing. You can see that we found a bunch of moisture behind the insulation. I am planning to keep the new fish room as sealed off from the rest of the house as possible.
Now we are drying out the walls.
And here is the room framed with electrical run and lights installed.
Brad
After taking the tank out of my living room, I have decided to put the new tank in the basement. That will give me some more options, but since my basement is currently unfinished, it will create some work and expense as well. I am starting by creating a home theater room in the basement. Once the room is constructed, I will worry about dealing with the new tank. The tank is going to be 61X48X31 low iron with external overflows. The front 3 feet will be in the theater room, and the back foot and external overflow will be recessed into the fishroom. I decided not to let glasscages build the tank. I am going with miracles instead.
Here is the basement as of 1 week ago.
The room with the junk is the future fishroom.
Here is the start of the framing. You can see that we found a bunch of moisture behind the insulation. I am planning to keep the new fish room as sealed off from the rest of the house as possible.
Now we are drying out the walls.
And here is the room framed with electrical run and lights installed.
Brad
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