Yoccm's 300G DD In Wall Build

[prop-frags]

Exciting news about the sump, Chris! Can't wait to see it.

As far as your "seeding", once your nitrites fall, you may want to grab some healthy chunks of rubble from several different friends tanks to throw in there. Bacterial diversity is a valuable and important thing to have.

 

[yoccm]

Hey Guys - sump is in my garage. Looks awesome!! Been too busy to get into basement and will be out of town at my cottage for the next week + so nothing will be happening for awhile. But I am trying to think thru my plumbing and could use some advice. I have decided to go with Herbie drains in both overflows. I was planning on converting the larger 1 1/2" Durso pipe to the full siphon since it would give more flow but I now realize that it converts down to 1" at the bottom. If I put back up to 1 1/2" after the bulkhead will it do me any good? Seems that my flow will be limited to the tightest constriction point at the 1" bulkhead.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tahoe69]

Awesome build so far can't wait to see you tank in full effect

 

[yoccm]

Awesome build so far can't wait to see you tank in full effect

Thanks Tahoe!!!

Plumbing has always been my nemesis :uzi:

I am a little anxious about getting the sump set up right but excited to get the skimmer and reactors in their permanent home.

Also, ordered my Apex just before we headed out of town. Should be waiting when I get back. Once the sump is plumbed I can start wiring everything to the controller.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I am going to be watching this thread. I plan on eventually building a 300 gallon reef. Only difference is that I plan on doing a 120x24x24. This tank is still a few years out so just joining in to watch how this goes. Looks great thus far

 

[yoccm]

I am going to be watching this thread. I plan on eventually building a 300 gallon reef. Only difference is that I plan on doing a 120x24x24. This tank is still a few years out so just joining in to watch how this goes. Looks great thus far

Welcome to the thread! 10 foot long tank sounds awesome! Look forward to seeing it once you get started.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Yeah the 125 gallon I have is going to be stocked with corals and fish before I start buying anything for the 300. I love your tank thus far! GL!

 

[yoccm]

Hey Guys - sump is in my garage. Looks awesome!! Been too busy to get into basement and will be out of town at my cottage for the next week + so nothing will be happening for awhile. But I am trying to think thru my plumbing and could use some advice. I have decided to go with Herbie drains in both overflows. I was planning on converting the larger 1 1/2" Durso pipe to the full siphon since it would give more flow but I now realize that it converts down to 1" at the bottom. If I put back up to 1 1/2" after the bulkhead will it do me any good? Seems that my flow will be limited to the tightest constriction point at the 1" bulkhead.

Any thoughts?

Bump on my plumbing question....any opinions out there?:wavehand:

 

[launchnukes]

I always go wider after the bulkhead on my drains. I must say that im not sure of its the right thing to do or not but it seems to work for me. Lol.

 

[yoccm]

WAY overdue update:

Been over a month since I had a chance to get pics and find the time to upload them.

I have the sump and done some finish work/clean up of fish room:

Really pleased with the sump -

 

[yoccm]

Also got some work done in the fish room:

Got the floor painted

And got the blue background on the tank

And got some storage and set up a QT tank as well - I will get some better pics of it and a FTS later

 

[prop-frags]

Wow, you've been busy Chris! Sump looks awesome. Looking forward to seeing an FTS of your DT.

:beer:

 

[yoccm]

Wow, you've been busy Chris! Sump looks awesome. Looking forward to seeing an FTS of your DT.

:beer:

Thanks Mike - I don't even try to keep up with you! Your tank is looking awesome!!!

 

[yoccm]

BTW - tank finally cycled. Ammonia and nitrite are zero, nitrate is a bit high at 15 ppm. Phosphates have also dropped - .22 ppm so still a bit high but plan to run GFO once sump is plumbed. Haven't done a water change for nitrates since I will be adding 50+ gallons of clean RODI water when I start the plumbing up.

 

[yoccm]

Some shots of the QT tank I set up. Picked up a used 28G Nano for cheap.

The "seed" rock I am watching for bad hitchhickers. Hoping it will get the coraline going on the dry rock in the DT.

 

[yoccm]

FTS but not much change. Can't wait to get the skimmer out and get sand and lights on it!!!

 

[prop-frags]

Hey Chris - have your PO4 numbers been high? where do you think that is coming from?

 

[yoccm]

Hey Chris - have your PO4 numbers been high? where do you think that is coming from?

Yeah - they were very high when I first started cycling the tank. Over 1 ppm I am using a Hanna checker so think I have pretty accurate reads. I assumed it was phoshate leeching out of the rock. I have read several threads here where others had issues with high PO4 from dry rock. I have seen some success with vinegar baths to draw off alot of surface material to pull off the phosphate but I hadn't done anything but give a powerwash so to late to try that.

They have been coming down consistently but still are at .22 ppm. I have been doing some research on using Lanthanum chloride (SeaKleer) to reduce them. Looks like you have to be careful to filter and skim out the precipitate that forms when it binds to the PO4 but since I have a barren system at the moment thought it might be worth a try. I was wanting to get a radical reduction and then see if it stabilzed or started to creep back up. I am a little nervous that I might end up with a long term issue with the rocks I am using if I can't get it under control.

 

[launchnukes]

Everythings looking great. Sorry to hear about the po4. That was my concern with starting with dry rock but I've been lucky with po4 so far. Are you running phosban?

 

[yoccm]

Everythings looking great. Sorry to hear about the po4. That was my concern with starting with dry rock but I've been lucky with po4 so far. Are you running phosban?

Thanks, I've been happy so far with how it is progressing. As to PO4, I haven't done any intervention yet to try to reduce it. What's interesting is that even though I haven't done anything other than top off evaporation with RODI water, use carbon and skim ... The PO4 has been steadily dropping. First time I tested it was well over 1 ppm and has been steadily dropping ever since. Last read was .22. No water changes and no algae to draw it off so ..... Where is it going? Hopefully not being "bound back up" in my system somewhere.