supercon71
New member
Nate, are you stopping by too? Looking forward to getting all the little stuff done.......
Yet Another Oceanic 90g Tech Tank Build Thread!
- Thread starter supercon71
- Start date
I will try and stop by after my hockey practice which ends at 3:30....
Might be able to get there by 4-ish...not sure how long I can stay as the in-laws are here.
Looks good.
And yea, might want to find a way to protect the drywall...mine has some stains above the tank from salt accumulation and the humidity.
Might also want to make sure you have a dehumidifier working in that small room - I've got one and it really needs to run for a good 12 hours/day to keep the humidity at a sane level. This might be all you need to protect the drywall and keep the musty smell out....
If it were a bigger room I don't think it would be an issue. Just something to think about.
Might be able to get there by 4-ish...not sure how long I can stay as the in-laws are here.
Looks good.
And yea, might want to find a way to protect the drywall...mine has some stains above the tank from salt accumulation and the humidity.
Might also want to make sure you have a dehumidifier working in that small room - I've got one and it really needs to run for a good 12 hours/day to keep the humidity at a sane level. This might be all you need to protect the drywall and keep the musty smell out....
If it were a bigger room I don't think it would be an issue. Just something to think about.
supercon71
New member
Hah, well..... lesson learned here!
That last picture that shows the 20 gallon high refugium crapped the bed last night.
This tank had a *tiny* crack at the top of one of the bulkheads that I foolishly thought wasnt going to cause any issues, and hadn't for 4 days with good amount of water flowing through it.
Here's what happened, in an effort to work on eliminating some microbubbles that were bothering me, I redirected the flow coming from the drain into this tank and shifted some sand around in this tank..... no big deal, right? I went back outside to mow the lawn, came back in an hour later went downstairs and immediately noticed the main tank filled with air bubbles. I walked back into the fish room area and noticed what probably was maybe 5 gallons of water (maybe less) on the floor..... some had begun to creep into the beginnings of carpet in the finished area. Immediately, I scan the area to find out where the leak was coming from and notice a HUGE crack with loose glass coming from one of the bulkheads and stretching diagonally across the entire length of the tank. No full fledged tank explosion, but clearly enough of a leak to dump a lot of water onto the floor in one hours worth of time. If I had not checked this, it eventually would have leaked a LOT more.
Thanks to the "complicated" nature of my sump, lol, I was able to immediately shut off flow to this tank via a ball valve and just redirect flow to go through the remaining two sumps which is how things stand now. It took about 20 minutes to clean up the mess, and drain what water was left in this tank......
I shudder to think what would have happened if this went on in the middle of the night, or while I was at work (that thought makes me nervous even now as I am at work). My wife suggested I get a webcam based monitoring system so I can observe the fish room at any time during the day.....I am thinking she might be right.....lol
Alls well that ends well, and it could have been ALOT worse, but a lesson (probably something that everyone else already knows) was learned........ ANY crack, no matter how seemingly insignificant is enough to weaken the structural integrity of the glass that it may fail. Maybe not today, maybe not tomrrow.....but someday. It just isnt worth the risk.
So right now, the dual drains of the oceanic techtank mega overflow are now down to just 1.....however this is doing just fine. I've just dialed back the Iwaki a bit until I get things back to fully functional again.
That last picture that shows the 20 gallon high refugium crapped the bed last night.
This tank had a *tiny* crack at the top of one of the bulkheads that I foolishly thought wasnt going to cause any issues, and hadn't for 4 days with good amount of water flowing through it.
Here's what happened, in an effort to work on eliminating some microbubbles that were bothering me, I redirected the flow coming from the drain into this tank and shifted some sand around in this tank..... no big deal, right? I went back outside to mow the lawn, came back in an hour later went downstairs and immediately noticed the main tank filled with air bubbles. I walked back into the fish room area and noticed what probably was maybe 5 gallons of water (maybe less) on the floor..... some had begun to creep into the beginnings of carpet in the finished area. Immediately, I scan the area to find out where the leak was coming from and notice a HUGE crack with loose glass coming from one of the bulkheads and stretching diagonally across the entire length of the tank. No full fledged tank explosion, but clearly enough of a leak to dump a lot of water onto the floor in one hours worth of time. If I had not checked this, it eventually would have leaked a LOT more.
Thanks to the "complicated" nature of my sump, lol, I was able to immediately shut off flow to this tank via a ball valve and just redirect flow to go through the remaining two sumps which is how things stand now. It took about 20 minutes to clean up the mess, and drain what water was left in this tank......
I shudder to think what would have happened if this went on in the middle of the night, or while I was at work (that thought makes me nervous even now as I am at work). My wife suggested I get a webcam based monitoring system so I can observe the fish room at any time during the day.....I am thinking she might be right.....lol
Alls well that ends well, and it could have been ALOT worse, but a lesson (probably something that everyone else already knows) was learned........ ANY crack, no matter how seemingly insignificant is enough to weaken the structural integrity of the glass that it may fail. Maybe not today, maybe not tomrrow.....but someday. It just isnt worth the risk.
So right now, the dual drains of the oceanic techtank mega overflow are now down to just 1.....however this is doing just fine. I've just dialed back the Iwaki a bit until I get things back to fully functional again.
supercon71
New member
Yep, seriously....... a little wet carpet and one less tank in the sump is ok, at least comparitively.
On another subject......
Microbubbles: I seem to be having a fair amount that are coming from the return. It doesnt seem to be in bursts, just a fair amount consistently.
I have dialed back the iwaki external (for the above reasons) and we'll see if that helps but i'm wondering if it could be from something else.
Specifically, the overflow return plumbing for the oceanic megaflows have 2 90 degree elbows with an "anti siphon" hole drilled into the returns. Could this be causing it?
Did you try adding a coupling to the water feed into the sump? As it stands now, he is producing a large amount of microbubbles in the Sump (where the feed for the pump is, albeit on the other side)...
His feed from main tank via PVC comes straight down but PVC ends about 2-3 inches above water level. My suggestion is to lengthen that PVC to under water level to reduce bubbles. Since it's coming straight down via 100% gravity there should be no back-pressure due to pvc being under water level.
What do you guys think?
supercon71
New member
Yo, I did add those couplings and it did help with the bubbles a good amount.... but i'm still getting them coming out from the return nozzles.
The overflow water level is lower than the 90 degree elbow return nozzle "anti siphon" hole, so maybe that is it?
Gtstricky
New member
A filter sock at the end of the drains can be a quick fix.
What I have seen work the best is using a bubble tower or putting a 90 degree right at the top of the water level. The 90 degree should be half under water and half out of the water this allows the draining water to flow into the sump instead of dropping into the sump.
What I have seen work the best is using a bubble tower or putting a 90 degree right at the top of the water level. The 90 degree should be half under water and half out of the water this allows the draining water to flow into the sump instead of dropping into the sump.
Andy,maybe you should try plastic this time.These are what I use for my sump system.
http://www.restaurantsource.com/prodDetail.cfm/37666,22 gal. Camwear Food Storage Container,MX2
http://www.restaurantsource.com/prodDetail.cfm/37666,22 gal. Camwear Food Storage Container,MX2
supercon71
New member
That's a good idea too, but actually I was thinking of going through glasscages.com and have them custom drill them. They use thicker glass than standard 20g tanks and will do all the drilling. Personally, i'm fine with the drilling part, I just think drilling a thicker glass aquarium is far better. But the fact that they can drill them as well is added security.
The thing that is driving me nuts now is the microbubbles. I've severely restricted flow from the Iwaki, tweaked the amount of flow going into the sump and while the amount of microbubbles is far less, I still see them going out the return. The filter sock is really my next thing to try I guess..... I suppose I do them on all the drains? Even coming from the fuge (when I get that part back in)?
supercon71
New member
Great suggestions, thanks........ the sock is my next thing I plan on trying, but the 90 degree elbow sounds like an interesting thing to try. I am 90% sure these microbubbles are created from the flow into the sump and not due to any pin hole leaks in the return.
There is the other suggestion that I have read that basically states:
"sometimes tanks that are really, really new just do that. It takes time for slime to accumulate in the pipes and when this happens people find their bubbles disappear."
I've only had water flowing into the sump now for less than a week......
I'll post more detailed pics soon.
Oh, and the Outer Orbit is up!
supercon71
New member
Ok, instead of using 90 degree elbows (which I have no more of) I used T's on all my active drains (3 right now.....1 going from the 1 still active tank drain into the skimmer sump, and 2 going from the skimmer sump bulkheads into the middle return sump). In addition, I have again restricted the flow from my Iwaki as well as restricted the amount my tank overall drains.
There obviously is still a fair amount of turnover, but i'm definitely relying on my 3 HK4's for flow inside the display.
However, the amount of microbubbles is considerably less and hopefully will be almost none when I put on filter socks........
I'm feeling like an incredible noob here and have no idea if severely crippling the amount of turnover in my tank to cure bubbles is the right thing to do or not.......
pictures coming a bit later......
(i'll let you know ian, chances are I will place an order with them..... just trying to convince the accountant/wife)
There obviously is still a fair amount of turnover, but i'm definitely relying on my 3 HK4's for flow inside the display.
However, the amount of microbubbles is considerably less and hopefully will be almost none when I put on filter socks........
I'm feeling like an incredible noob here and have no idea if severely crippling the amount of turnover in my tank to cure bubbles is the right thing to do or not.......
pictures coming a bit later......
(i'll let you know ian, chances are I will place an order with them..... just trying to convince the accountant/wife)
supercon71
New member
Pictures
Pictures
Ok, these first few are before any modifications for microbubbles......
You really can't tell from the pictures though......
Pictures
Ok, these first few are before any modifications for microbubbles......
You really can't tell from the pictures though......
supercon71
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supercon71
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supercon71
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supercon71
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supercon71
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supercon71
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These ones are all post-modifications:
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