Winterfell Reef - A 100 Gallon Journey

[mr.wilson]

As long as you keep the magnet clean and store it out of the tank, and use a good quality mag-scraper, you won't get scratches. make sure to use a dedicated cleaning tool for the substrate area and NEVER use the magnet down there. I like to use coarse sand to keep it out of cleaning tools.

 

[dtum]

Chapter 3. Plumbing

Chapter 3. Plumbing

Chapter 3. Plumbing.

Plumbing the tank... Although I understood how my JBJ Nanocube simple plumbing worked and have read a number of reef aquarium books, I must admit that I just did not have the full picture of what I wanted to do in my head. All these terms: bulkheads, nozzles, overflows, herbie, durso, lockline... Let's just say that there's a steep learning curve.

All of this meant that when I was ordering my aquarium and when asked what type of overflow and holes I wanted I had to ask one of my friends about it and just relay the answer. No matter how much reading I did I just could not grasp the whole concept, just isolated parts. I knew that there will come a day when I will have to understand and build it and continued to hope for the best.

That day had come once the tank was delivered. There was no going back. I am much better at understanding things when I have something tangible, something I can see and feel. When I saw other people's build diaries and saw photos of 40+ plumbing parts laid out on the floor I could not figure out where each part would go.

So I started with a simple sketch, then adjusted it a bit and then some more. Then I showed it on reef forums and got tons of feedback. Slowly things started to make sense, I must've made over a dozen revisions to the diagram. But what really helped was printing the diagram and going to other aquarist's houses, seeing their plumbing and then updating my diagram with their help.

Finally the diagram was ready and I went to Lowe's to buy the parts. There I quickly figured out the difference between Schedule 40 and 80, ABS, PVC and CPVC plumbing types, elbows, tees, bushings and valves. I've also learned that some of the parts could not be bought there and that I needed specialty stores for 1.25'' threaded adapters and gate valves. And these stores are not close by and you better know what you want before you visit them. It took at least 4 trips to Lowe's to get the parts.

Another lesson learned was not to glue anything until all of the plumbing was assembled. I've learned the difference between different PVC cements, primers and cleaners. Once my plumbing was semi-done one of my fellow aquarists had visited me at my home and made some invaluable comments.

After that the plumbing was ready. My diagram now started to make sense.

The plumbing was put in place and glued.

I filled aquarium with tap water and let it run for 24 hours.

And here is the lockline

Once the water test was finished my aquarium was emptied. Next stop: aquascaping.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MCSw_twsqqE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[RaineyDays]

Game of Thrones! Winterfell! What a great idea. Love that show and you just gave me a ton of ideas. Thanks!

 

[DIYnitemare]

Very nice indeed. The skimmer zone seems to be full of plumbing, is the skimmer going to fit? I would think the optics on the new Radions would keep stray light to a minimum.

 

[dtum]

Very nice indeed. The skimmer zone seems to be full of plumbing, is the skimmer going to fit? I would think the optics on the new Radions would keep stray light to a minimum.

I am thinking of making a cardboard mock up of the skimmer and checking whether it will fit there or not.
I am torn between the new Radion Pros and a T5 Sunpower Dimmable.

 

[E.intheC]

I like where this thread is going. That's a beautiful stand and tank combo. Good luck with the build :thumbsup:

 

[dtum]

Chapter 4. Aquascaping

Aquascaping is tricky. There are a lot of options to choose from and lots of nuances. Since this is not my first aquascape attempt, I’m already accounting for my previous mistakes: not leaving enough room between the rock and the glass, not envisioning space occupied by fully grown corals.

I also want to have a fair bit of negative space (at least 30% of the sandbed and walls) and have an illusion of depth. Another important thing is to consider different view points - the tank must look nice from different angles.

Originally I have envisioned a single rock wall massive in the middle of the tank (hence the Winterfell name), so when I was choosing rock at the store I did make a wall first. Well, first I did make a 48x24 egg crate with a cutout for the overflow and brought that to the store so I could use it as aquarium footprint.

However, once I got home and started laying out the rocks in the tank I quickly realized that something was amiss, it was definitely too bland. I could not achieve the illusion of depth and the tank being more on the deep side (front to back) I wanted to emphasize and utilize that.

I finally decided to have a trench (any castle will have its main gates) and have split the wall into two parts. Did a few iterations of the layout, looked at it from different parts of the room and decided on the aquascape that I like.

It looks pretty good from any side.

It is a good thing I’ve discussed it with a fellow member - he had made a good suggestion of not having the eggcrate cover the whole bottom. Since then I’ve cut out most of it and now only have eggcrate underneath the rocks.

Next step is to get some water in the tank and start cycling.

 

[natedogg]

Looking good! Let me know if you have any questions, I set the same thing up recently.

 

[DIYnitemare]

I would start cooking that rock right away with no light. Many people that have started with dry rock have struggled with algae issues most likely caused by phosphate leaching from base rock. Use a phosphate remover a couple of times and be sure to start the tank with something like Prodibio to really get the bacteria going. Just my .02

 

[dtum]

I would start cooking that rock right away with no light. Many people that have started with dry rock have struggled with algae issues most likely caused by phosphate leaching from base rock. Use a phosphate remover a couple of times and be sure to start the tank with something like Prodibio to really get the bacteria going. Just my .02

Thanks. I think that some algae is inevitable in my case, I'll try to ride it out.
I'm dosing ZeoBak instead of Prodibio.

 

[dtum]

Looking good! Let me know if you have any questions, I set the same thing up recently.

I like your choice
Thanks, will make sure to check out your thread.

 

[dtum]

Chapter 5. Simply Add Water

Chapter 5. Simply Add Water

Chapter 5. Simply Add Water

Now that aquascaping is finished it is time to start brewing. The day when water is added to the tank is the day I officially count as its birthday.

One last look at the tank sans water... and let's begin.

It took about two days for my 90 gph RODI system to produce enough water to fill the tank.

Almost there.

And we are done.

While I was setting up the tank my skimmer has arrived. I've agonized over the choice of a skimmer. So many models to chose from and definitely quite a price range. While I did not want to overspend, one thing I have learned in this hobby is that if one goes for a cheaper item, there's a 50/50 chance that very soon I'd regret for not going with something better. Having heard tons of positive feedback on Bubble King skimmer I've decided to take the plunge.

The moment I've opened the box and saw the skimmer I knew I made the right decision. The quality, finish, weight of the unit is simply superb. Too bad this bad boy is going to be hidden inside the cabinet.
My biggest concern was whether this unit would fit. Originally I chose a 160 model, but later decided to go for 180. Even though I did make a cut out template to try as well as double and triple checked all the measurements, I was certain that the unit would fit, but was not sure whether I would be able to put it in the sump under the cabinet. Let's just say that my heart started beating faster when I was about to try getting the unit in.

And it did fit.

Now that's a load off. The whole system was now running smoothly... Or so I thought. As you will find out in my next post, nothing, especially projects like these go according to plan.

 

[dtum]

Chapter 6. A Little Detour

Chapter 6. A Little Detour

Chapter 6. A Little Detour
"œThe best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry". Or should I say "œfish and men", or "œcorals and men"? "œinvertebrate"?

In my previous post I mentioned that something unexpected had happened. And no, there was no leakage (thank God!).

Once the tank was filled with water, salt was added and the aquarium was waiting patiently for some inhabitants, I noticed that there was something bugging me every time I was admiring the tank from the side. It was not perfectly level. First I did not pay much attention to it, after all I thought I'd made everything was level up to 1/8" when the tank was setup, but after a day or so I've decided to re-check it.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed that while the tank was perfectly level from the front, it had a discrepancy of about 1/4" between front and back glass. I've re-measured and got the same results. It started to bug me, no matter how many times I told myself that it is not noticeable, I knew that it was there and certainly took away from the experience. This is also not very good for the glass structure longer term.

So having pondered on it for a day I decided to do the unthinkable - I would empty the tank. Just did not quite work out the logistics of it, where would the water go? I've emptied smaller tanks in the past and also large freshwater, but discarding 120+ gallons of perfectly fine saltwater seemed like an unnecessary waste. And my largest trash can was 20 gallons.

Eureka! There's a kids' pond I can use. I knew that there was never any soap in it and decided to take my chances.

So after about 40 minutes of siphoning water the tank was almost empty. I had to also empty the sump.

Next step was the shimming. I could not lift the tank and the stand, but it became light enough to be able to shim it. Now that took a long time.

It took even longer to get the water back in the tank. I did not use a pump, so it was all manual labour. A solid hour, splashing and some saltwater.

Now that looks much better. The tank is perfectly level.

Next I've installed a T5 light fixture - Sunlight Supply Tek (8 bulbs) and turned the lights on. Oh, what a beautiful sight.

The water was still a bit murky but it did get better a few hours later.

When I was sitting in front of the tank after spending a day on this task I knew that it was totally worth it.

Stay tuned for the next post where some fish will be introduced. And a video.

 

[Reef264]

Nice build Bud, Beautiful Setup!

-Ray

 

[HV1990]

What fish\invert would you name John Snow!!!!!!

 

[dtum]

What fish\invert would you name John Snow!!!!!!

Well, Powder Blue Tang of course. The eventual Mandarin is going to be Tyrion Lannister and Yellow Tang will be Jamie Lannister. :fish1:

 

[DIYnitemare]

That looks great, I am so glad you took the time to level it! Twisting the tank is the absolute worst thing for it.

 

[cdrewferd]

Great progress. I really like the updates that you're doing and the explination you're giving. Can't wait to see fish in there.

 

[Mussin]

Love it.. what bulbs did you go with??

 

[dtum]

Love it.. what bulbs did you go with??

Right now I am borrowing someone else's T5 fixture and it already did come with the bulbs. There are 4 blues and the rest seem white and yellow. I tried figuring out what they were, but they are definitely on the older side and will get replaced in the next month or two.

Even though the bulbs are old, the tank looks twice as bright as the JBJ with Advanced LEDs. I will definitely make sure to document my choice of the new bulbs as soon as I will place the order.