Tracy & Cindy's Reef - 150 gal build

Goibot

Goibot

New member
Hello All,
Here is a link to my build page. It isn't done yet but it is enough to show where I'm going with it.

I want to thank all of you for answering my many beginner questions!
Tracy

Tracy & Cindy's Reef
 
Tracy I am very impressed. Isn,t hard not to just add everything you want??? Your patience and approach through this has been very impressive. I know I thought long and hard for a number of years and planed and took it slow"I thought" when in reallity I did rush some things.. Ahh hindsight!!! I will have to start all over again one of these days to apply what I have learned.

I think all of us in the club have probably learned quite a bit from your approach and patience. I know that I have!!

Great start, I can not wait to see it as it matures!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12868649#post12868649 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by glitzyone
Wow that is looking really good. I do have one question why is plexiglass needed on the bottom?
Click to expand...

The tank has an additional half sheet of 1/2" glass running down the middle on the bottom pane for support. By mounting the bottom layer of rocks on plexiglass I was able to shim up the portions that didn't have the extra glass on it and level them out. It also provides some cushion between the rock and glass.
Tracy
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12868846#post12868846 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ducklabdad
I think all of us in the club have probably learned quite a bit from your approach and patience. I know that I have!!
Click to expand...
Well lets see.. patience is not really one of my strong points and truth be told I am going against conventional wisdom just a bit.

After I got the water stable I picked up some bags of Bio-Spira to help kick off the process. The company claims that it is an instant type cycle in one day. Well we know that is crap but I did talk to one fellow that cycled his with 4 damsels in his tank. He said the ammonia and Nitrites were barely detectable for about 2 weeks then it was completely cycled and no harm to his fish.

This stuff only works if you have a constant supply of ammonia to cycle with. The company recomends putting in about half the fish you want to end up with to do the cycle. Since I only had 10lbs of live rock I did add a few little fishy's to keep ammonia and do the cycle.

So far all is good - this stuff seems to work. My ammonia and Nitrites are barely detectable and Nitrates are about 8. The fishy's are loving the rocks too. Look good and healthy. We will see in about a week.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12869308#post12869308 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrRyanT
Looking great so far! Were you able to quiet the drain any?
Click to expand...

I was able to stop all the sump gurgles. Thank God! It sounded like a toilet flushing every few minuites. I ran across a thread on here that really helped me. I think this method goes against conventional wisdom as well. Here is what I did:

First I removed one of the standpipes and cut it off about 3" lower than the drain of the standpipe next to it.

Then I put a ball valve on the end of the drain line in the sump.

I adjust the ball valve where the water level in the overflow is between the top of the one I cut and the other standpipe.

Now it drains through suction instead of just flowing down the standpipes. The one that drains has no air in the pipe at all.

I really had to think about this before I did it because it sounds a little risky blocking part of your drain. I really didn't want to flood my house:confused:

But if that drain gets blocked the other standpipe will act as a backup and prevent it. I closed the ball valve completely just to test it and it handled the full load just fine. :smokin:
 
Last edited:
I want to thank all of you for your kind words, support and help with this. I will get some more pics up this week I promise.
Tracy
 
Week 6

Week 6

Here is a hard lesson to learn:

takeyourtime.jpg


Week 6 and it is still cycling. The Bio Spera has kept the ammonia and NO2 to where they are barely detectable but it is still there. I thought I had it all gone a couple of weeks ago so I put in a small clean-up crew. The PH was running really low so I kicked off the Kalkwasser. The next morning I was back to showing just a trace of ammonium. I am thinking that increasing the PH made the ammonium more detectable than before???

After talking it over with Richard, I dont think I started it off with enough live rock - so back to the store we go...

I added about 13 more pounds of live rock that was pretty well cured a couple of weeks ago. Got some nice pieces too. We will see if this helps.

I have updated the web site (added some photos, started the critters section and the archive).
Take a peek here:
Tracy & Cindy's Reef

Still learning the lesson,
Tracy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
RSM Max Nano XL Plan / Build
2
Replies
21
Views
473
griss
griss
AZBigJohn
New Build... I'm back
Replies
15
Views
446
Dustin07
D
E
Ben’s back at it 20G long
2
Replies
24
Views
506
ExitTrauma
E
T
Returning to the hobby
Replies
13
Views
323
griss
griss
M
Aquascape Opinions on 55gal mixed reef
Replies
7
Views
260
Reefing102
Reefing102
Back
Top