29 gal external overflow all DIY - yep another one

[impur]

Well i've been working on my 29gal trying to get it up and running with an external overflow. I will be moving the contents of my 10 gal into this tank. I will have a 250w 14k hamilton MH pendant, 10 gal sump, ~5gal fuge and returned through a scwd. Here we go with pics:

Dremel bits used:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1060110.jpg

Cut away molding:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1060106.jpg

I used the ball point bit to make a groove:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1060108.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1060107.jpg

All cut out, using lots of water is important!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1080001.jpg

[impur]

Glass for external overflow and 3 baffles for the sump cost me $10
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1080005.jpg

Bulkheads:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1080004.jpg

Cutting the holes for the bulkheads. I used electrical PVC fittings because the male adapter had a more pronounced edge that would seal better with a washer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1080003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1080006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1080007.jpg

[impur]

Glue on the bottom:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090010.jpg

While this was drying i moved onto the sump:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1080002.jpg

Sump done:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090009.jpg

[impur]

Glue on one of the sides:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090011.jpg

While that was drying i started on the overflow teeth:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090012.jpg

[impur]

Thats where it stands now. I'm off for a half day of boarding so i'll finish tonight i imagine.

[Morbo]

:thumbsup: -Looking good.

[impur]

Thanks! Got the overflow completely done last night. I'll post the rest of the pics tonight.

[dufferdan]

Good work!

My setup is similar on a 20L. I used a Mag9.5 return through a OM squirt 4way. I very happy with my setup.

[impur]

Dan hows the flow through your 10g sump? I am concerned that the 9.5 will be too much and cause excessive evap.

[dufferdan]

The flow through the sump is pretty quick as you guessed. Evap. for me is around 1/2 to 2/3 gal per day.
For me this was the comprise I chose so, instead of building a closed loop for flow in the display and/or powerheads in the display. With the Mag9.5 on the OM Squirt 4way I am very happy with the flow, and as I want to build my tank as SPS dominant, flow is important.
Also, my tank is bare bottom, so I want a lot of flow to keep any detruis(sp) from settling in my display tank.

[doody]

Are you useing the revolutions on the squirt? If so, which ones? I want to use them, but I don't know which ones to get. My returns will be in each corner.

[dufferdan]

doody,
I'm not using the revolutions.

[impur]

Got new washers, and these don't leak. So i finished up and have about 2" of water sitting in the overflow box for the leak test

New washers:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1120017.jpg

Ready to glue on back:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090013.jpg

Back glued on:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090014.jpg

All done:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090015.jpg

I'm setting it up this weekend and running it with FW to work out any kinks that may arise. Next week i'll start on hanging the light so i'll have more pics to add then.

[shadofax69]

Wow that looks great keep us updated

[impur]

Thanks! I set the tank up on a metal stand today for the leak test. So far so good!

[MacnReef]

Hey, looks familiar! Lookin good! :thumbsup:

Are you putting in a piece of black acrylic with teeth like I did?

Mike

[impur]

I'm gonna use some limo tint on the back, and the clear acrylic for the teeth. But i will use a black piece of acrylic glued to the back to hide the plumping. I want the teeth removable for cleaning. Picking up a new bottom for my overflow box tonight, and starting on the pendant also. Plus i picked up a stand so i need to assemble that. Gonna be a busy week, but i hope to have SW in it by saturday!

[MacnReef]

Cool, shooting for SW in my on Saturday too! Just need to figure out my top off.

Mike

[impur]

Yah topoff is a concern for me too. I may just get a relay and wire my floatswitch to a powerhead in a 5gal bucket or something. What do you have in mind for yours?

[MacnReef]

I just ordered my top off from www.autotopoff.com. Cost me $46 delivered with a snail guard. I will run the pump cord through the wall to the tank. The pump will be in a closet behind the tank with RODI supply to it. I will only run the RODI once the container gets low.

Mike

[impur]

Ahh nice, i hear they make good topoffs. Since i have the floatswitch, tubing and pump, i figure i'll just make my own.

[MacnReef]

Cool...man I want to put water in my tank but I know I need to be patient.

Mike

[impur]

LOL i know the feeling :p

[impur]

Ok got enough together to put er up for a test run. Heres some more pics. I should have the pendant early next week :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210036b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210035bv.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210037.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210038.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210039.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210040.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210041.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1210042.jpg

[impur]

Seems to be working well. I'm concerned that the flow isn't going to be enough. I might have to add a close loop with my other pump.

[ToUcHoFeLeGaNcE]

So just outta couriousity...why didnt you just use plexi glass instead of real glass? Wouldnt it have been easier and less $$? And.. any plans for a fuge? Looks good. Keep the pix comming.

[impur]

The acrylic would not bond to the glass and hold for good. Glass and silicon bond at the molecular level, silicon doesn't bond well to acrylic.

I do have a ~5 gal tank i will use for a fuge, i will have the slower of the 2 drains drain into that, and the fuge will drain into the sump.

[MacnReef]

impur...here is what I went with...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=511805

-Mac

[impur]

Looking good Mike. Mine has been running on my porch for 4 days now no problem. I don't think the flow will be enough for me though, i'm gonna work on a closed loop with a GenX 2400 pump i have. My pendant should be here tomorrow and i got the stand all done. Should work on getting it in place later this week!!

[MacnReef]

Got my fixture today. Nice fixture but missing the ballast and the legs. Plus sent me a 10K bulb when I ordered 20K....:eek: :eek2: :eek1: :confused:

-Mac

[impur]

Doh! That sucks, my pendant shell got here today. I'm so stoked. Gonna install the reflector in it tonight and get some pics up.

[Simms142]

Looks nice, one thing to consider...

The sump you made is nice and all, but you should have the wider portion of the bubble trap nearest the intake so more bubbles can gas off due to the slover velocity.

[impur]

So you think I should put the pump on the other side of the sump and drain into the smaller side? Thanks for the info!! Since this is just a test run i'm not too concerned, the plumbing isn't even glued yet. I'll be sure to try if the way you said when i get it all up and running.

[impur]

Ok a few more pics. Here is the stand:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1220043.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1220044.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1220045.jpg

[impur]

And the pendant shell:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1240046.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1240047.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1240048.jpg

[impur]

Going to drain the tank tonight and bring it back inside. I need to move my 55 gal over about 5 feet to make room for this tank, so i'll try to do that tonight also. I will be cutting the reflector to fit inside the pendant and wiring up the ballast too. Will keep this thread updated.

[impur]

Cutting reflector to mount in the pendant shell:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1260049.jpg

Installed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1260050.jpg

All wired up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1260051.jpg

Test run:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1260052.jpg

All done:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1260054.jpg

[doody]

Looking good! What did you use for the bulkheads?

[impur]

THanks Robert!! I used 1.25" electrical PVC fittings, 2 male adapters and 2 female. The electrical fittings had more of a lip for the washer to seal against.

[doody]

How about the washers? I noticed you had probs with the first washers whats the difference with the new ones?

[impur]

The washers are on the outside of the box. As you can see in the pic on the first page, the new ones i used have about 1" of material. The previous ones where about 1/8" thick. The new ones haven't leaked at all.

This weekend i'll be finishing the arm to hang the pendant from, tinting the back of the tank, and gluing the rest of the plumbing in. I don't think i'll have it set up till next weekend. I was shooting for this weekend, but i just have too much stuff i need to do.

[impur]

Teeth done, it was freehand so no laughing!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2010056.jpg

First coat of paint on the tank:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2010055.jpg

Paint dry:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2010057.jpg

This is the black acrylic i will glue to the inside of the tank to hide the overflow box plumbing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2010058.jpg

Being held in place:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2010059.jpg

Here is the project tonight. Move the 55g to the right about 3 feet.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2010060.jpg

[DurangoReeFarm,]

ill be rereading this over and over as i am about to setup my 29 w/ a sump/fuge..

[impur]

Cool, i'm glad i could help!!

[impur]

Few more pics. I got some 3/4" EMT and an elbow last night. I plan to hang the pendant from this. Thats the project for tonight.

Ok, painting all done:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2020001.jpg

Plumbing glued into place:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2030002.jpg

[DurangoReeFarm,]

can i get a shot of the sump from the side? i can't really judge exactly where the baffles are in the sump..

[DurangoReeFarm,]

whoops i guess i can see it in the last pic sorry. more pics would be cool though.

[CPT. MURPHY]

looking very nice :)

[Simms142]

Sorry this took so long. What i was saying earlier is the bubble trap will work better if it drains into the bogger baffle, then goes over the smaller baffle. It will work better because the velocity of the water will slow down and allow more bubbles to rise up.

BTW looks nice, and where did you order just the pendant shell?

[impur]

Originally posted by DurangoReeFarm,
whoops i guess i can see it in the last pic sorry. more pics would be cool though.

More coming tonight. Just have to paint the pendant arm and i'm all done ready to fill it up.

Simms142: I get what you mean, thanks i'll make sure its setup that way when i start filling it up. I got the pendant shell off a guy here at RC. He gutted it and wasn't using it so he sold it to me :D

[Reefingismyweekends]

That is a great job nice work

[impur]

Thanks, i've put quite a bit of work into it. I appreciate the compliment!!

Ok a few more till the pendant arm is completed. The paint isn't coming out the way I would like on it. I may just leave it and set the thing up then change the mounting of the pendant later down the road. Anyway, i finished up the PVC support rack for the LR. The right side will be sloping upward with zoos and such on it. The paper towel folded in half you see represents a sandy area i would like to keep open, sort of like a ravine.

My cat helping. Or looking for something to steal and play with:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2070022.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2070023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2070024.jpg

Miles

[vinnycaz]

Originally posted by impur
The acrylic would not bond to the glass and hold for good. Glass and silicon bond at the molecular level, silicon doesn't bond well to acrylic.



glass and silicon bond at the molecular level, and acrylic and glass do not bond at the molecular level as well??? so what level do they bond? i never knew some molecules dont bond at teh molecular level. four years of chemistry and i never knew that.......u need to find a new glue brotha.

[impur]

Glass and silicon are made from the same thing. Acrylic is a plastic - completely different animal. Maybe 4 more years? Or a refund.

[vinnycaz]

just because they arent the same (glass and acrylic) doesnt mean they dont bond at the molecular level, how else do things bond??? answer this and i will go back to school for another four.

[Cichlidius]

Originally posted by vinnycaz
just because they arent the same (glass and acrylic) doesnt mean they dont bond at the molecular level, how else do things bond??? answer this and i will go back to school for another four.

Make a tank out of glass using silicone to bond it together. Then make a tank from acrylic to bond it together. Tell us which one leaks first. If silicone was an acrylic bonding agent why do we need weld-on? Answer those then go back for 4 more years.

[impur]

Originally posted by vinnycaz
just because they arent the same (glass and acrylic) doesnt mean they dont bond at the molecular level, how else do things bond??? answer this and i will go back to school for another four.

This isn't a chemistry forum, and i'd like to stay on the subject of my project. But just to humor you..... We get glass from silicon. Since they contain the same types of molecules they bond much more readily. This is why your glass tank is glued together with......you got it - SILICON. Acrylic does not contain the same kind of molecules. Glues for acrylic involve a chemical reaction that actually melts the acrylic together to form the bond. Now since silicon is not one of those glues, it cannot melt the acrylic to the glass or vice versa.

Do some research of your own and I'm sure you will find this is the case. Or try making your own tank. Use 2 sheets of glass and 2 sheets of acrylic. Fill it up in your living room for a short period of time and when it fails that should be all the info you need. Elmers glue will stick to metal, would you build a car out of it?

[The Yellow Longnose]

your tank just keeps on getting nicer and nicer
Joe

[vinnycaz]

Originally posted by impur
But just to humor you..... We get glass from silicon. Since they contain the same types of molecules they bond much more readily. This is why your glass tank is glued together with......you got it - SILICON. Acrylic does not contain the same kind of molecules. Glues for acrylic involve a chemical reaction that actually melts the acrylic together to form the bond. Now since silicon is not one of those glues, it cannot melt the acrylic to the glass or vice versa.



I am not disputing the fact that silicon and acrylic do not bond, that you have to weld it or whatever else youre thinking, u guys know, u build some pretty sweet stuff... i am saying that when you talk about agents bonding, you are talking about the agents sharing and pulling each others electrons- this brings the atoms together and makes a bond. this is at the molecular level. even when u use a chemical reaction to bond acrylic, that chemical reaction (new bonds are being formed) is at the molecular level, u cant get around it. everything bonds (-key word) at the molecular level....... this is getting old so lets just drop this subject, didnt mean to ruffle anyones feathers.

[impur]

Originally posted by The Yellow Longnose
your tank just keeps on getting nicer and nicer
Joe

Thanks Joe! I just got my 55g FW moved last night. Lots of room for this tank now. I can't wait for this weekend!

[impur]

Well got it put into place and about half filled with water. The pendant arm i was making isn't going to work like i wanted so i'll just suspend it from the ceiling. Also my skimmer is in!!!! Picking it up tonight so i'll have a bunch more pics later today.

[impur]

Ok FW tank moved:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2080025.jpg

Tank in place and begin filling:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2090031.jpg

New needlewheel skimmer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2100034.jpg

Just barely enough room in the sump. My fuge isn't going to fit where i planned, so I may be setting it up outside the stand. Or i have to get a smaller fuge. Not sure at this point.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2110039.jpg

[impur]

Here is what i put together to hang the pendant from:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2090032.jpg

It wasn't holding the pendant as i had planned. The elbow had to much of a bend and the horizontal piece sagged a bit. But i found these:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2100036.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2100035.jpg

They work great!! Retractable:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2100037.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2100038.jpg

[impur]

Ok pretty much finished the job tonight. Here are some more pics:

FIlling:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2110040.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2110041.jpg

Sand in. Should have rinsed it first. The silt stuck to EVERYTHING. A pain in the @$$.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2110042.jpg

[impur]

All clear. I ended up ordering a Reef Optix I pendant from premiumaquatics.com. I didn't like how my DIY one threw so much light outside the tank:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2180045.jpg

Still a bit cloudy but putting racks in place:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190007.jpg

My fix to the micro bubble problem. I still have a few, and i've isolated it to a leak in a threaded nipple. I'll take care of it tomorrow since its late now:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190008.jpg

[impur]

Heres a few pieces of rock holding the racks in place:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190009.jpg

Coral holding tub:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190012.jpg

[impur]

Heres whats left of the nano:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190011.jpg

More rock in:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190020.jpg

[impur]

Corals being added after a little over an hour of acclimation time:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190022.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190024.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190025.jpg

[impur]

Still need some more rock to complete the aquascaping. But looks good to me for now. I'm glad it all went so smoothly.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190026.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2190027.jpg

[impur]

Well its sunday the first night went great. No losses. Everything was open this morning and looking great. I'm leaving the light about 24" off the surface now, and will lower it a few inches every couple days. I'm off to see Sean at cichlids and salt now to trade my YWG and pick up my blastos he got in LA. I'll put up a few more pics later.

[impur]

Picked up my blastos and a royal gramma. Of course the gramma went right into a cave and hasn't come out since. The exact reason i got rid of the YWG. We'll see if he comes out more. I'll put up some more pics tonight.

[E-Reefer]

looks great

[impur]

Thanks!! I'm happy with the result. My Seio 820 will be here today so i can get rid of the 2 powerheads that are in the tank now. Pretty excited for that! More pics:

Whole tank:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2200034.jpg

New Royal Gramma:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2210053.jpg

New blastos:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2210048.jpg

Ric:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2200042.jpg

Zoos:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2200040.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2210051.jpg

[impur]

Couple of new acros - browned out now we'll see what they color up to:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2200043.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2210052.jpg

Gorgonian:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2200045.jpg

[impur]

I took a few pics, i'll get them up around lunch time. Frustration is beginning to set in with these damn MB. Last night i removed the hard plumped section of my return because it had a leak and i suspected it to be the main culprit in the MB dilema. I used PVC cement and coated the area real well. Let it dry. Hooked it back up. No more leaks but more MB than before. Hmmm now that is messed up. So i have a couple of options to contimplate.

1. I could use the GenX 2400 and replace the Mag9.5, going with all soft plumbing. This would lower the flow rate in my sump a bit and hopefully give the MB time to rise and pop. But it would also lower the flow in my tank, which i would like to keep high.

2. Replace the hard plumbed part with soft plumbing to see if there is a difference.

3. Ditch the SCWD, get an OM Squirt and hard plumb it all the way with either pump.

4. Remove all livestock and water, sell it, take my bat and smash it all!!!

Number 4 has crossed my mind several times during this project. But i just can't bring myself to do it at this point. The thing that gets me is there are VERY few MB in the last chamber of my sump, plus i have a sponge on the intake of the pump. I really don't think its sucking up any of the bubbles. It has to be coming from the return plumbing, either the SCWD or the locline returns. I might try adding an elbow to the line going over the tank and screw the loclines into the elbow. I guess the small area of locline that is not submerged could be sucking in air. Anyways, thats my rant for today

[doody]

Try putting some glue around the seems of the scwd. Maybe the seal is bad or something. Just a guess.

[impur]

Good idea, could be since i bought it used. If thats not it I guess i'll just have to test each spot air might be sucked in and use elimination.

[impur]

Few more pics. Got the auto topoff done. I'll add a relay this weekend to get the voltage down that is near the water.

Float switch - the elbow is just for weight:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3020074.jpg

Bucket, water, powerhead:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3020075.jpg

Wired up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3020076.jpg

[impur]

The Seio is awesome!! I love this thing, from now on will be the only pumps in any of my tanks. There is not a dead spot in my tank!! :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3010070.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3010071.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3010073.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3010072.jpg

[doody]

I thought you used a mag9.5 on the return? Was that not enough?

[impur]

Not really. The backpressure and scwd really drained the mag of its flow. I would say its cut in half. So the Seio gives me no deadspots and collides with one of the returns, it gets pretty chaotic in there.

[doody]

Ohh. Your tank is looking awsome. I cut out my 29 like you did. Hopefully, I will get the other bit this weekend and smooth out the cut sometime next week. For now I got all my live rock, cleaners, and yasha hase goby in a 20L with a maxi1200 for flow. It keeps me happy till I get the 29 ready.

[impur]

Nice! Have any pics or your progress? One key i must stress to cutting the back is smooth rounded corners. You might have read about MacNreef's 29 that cracked. I think another guy posted in there as well and his cracked too. But no problems with mine thus far :D

[impur]

Well reefscience had a sale, buy 4 frags get free shipping so i went for it.

Heres what i'm getting:



http://www.reefscience.com/images/corals/0220/DSCF0016.JPG



The woman had to have a green frogspawn in addition to our purple

http://www.reefscience.com/images/corals/0227/DSCF0101.JPG



http://www.reefscience.com/images/corals/frags/tri_tip.JPG



Mine browned out and now has STN to just a couple dabs of brown left. Don't think it will make it but i really like this coral

http://www.reefscience.com/images/corals/frags/greenpurplerim_cap.JPG



Should be here tomorrow, i'll take pics as i add them of course :D

[doody]

Yeah I seen that thread. Glad I did cause I was'nt gonna smooth or round the cuts. I am also gonna put 1/2" thick black plexi on the back just in case. I'm a broke man so progress is slow, but I'll get some pics tonight of the cut.

[impur]

Looking forward to the pics!! I hear ya on being broke. This is an expensive hobby so every dollar you can save by DIY is a bonus.

[davelin315]

I have never cut the trim on a tank before because I always thought that it provided some sort of support. Are you at all worried that the structural integrity of the set-up is somehow compromised? Not asking to be critical, just curious. I'm setting up my first really small tank ever and am trying to figure out how to improve the set-up as I'm used to the more forgiving large tanks...

[impur]

I'm not really concerned with the trim. From what i have read they are just for looks and so you don't cut yourself on the glass. The trim was held on with silicon and very flimsy. Since i just cut out a section, and because the rest of the trim is siliconed on very well, i don't think taking a section out will compromise the tanks structural integrity even if it is used for that purpose. On a larger tank i might be more worried, but with those they have added bracing.

[LobsterOfJustice]

I have had a 15 without the trim in and out of use for a year or two now, and have never had any problems.

Now let's see those frags!

[impur]

Crap i didn't post em here!! LOL Here they are. Naturally the one i wanted the most didn't make it, the purple tipped tricolor. But the rest looks great.

Clam and frogspawn:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3050087.jpg

Pink Poccilopora(sp?) - freebee
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3050086.jpg

Whats left of the tricolor:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3050085.jpg

Heres the purple rimmed cap
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3050084.jpg

[DurangoReeFarm,]

im still lurking on this thread.. my 29 is set-up now..made a diy 10gal sump simialr to yours, ive got 50lbs of rock coming this week and the dsb is allready in the tank...now i just have to get that halide pc combo i want..

your tank is looking nice. imma be watchin you..

[impur]

Thanks! You have any pics of the process? Shoot me the link i'd love to check it out

Well thought i'd update with some more pics. Enjoy!!



2 new additions!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010004.jpg

Cap looking good still:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010010.jpg

Can't get much polyp extension on this guy yet. Giving it time to color up and feel better:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010011.jpg

Pink Pocc. doing well too:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010012.jpg

[impur]

Heres the clam looking good:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010006.jpg

Some of the slowest growing zoos i've ever seen!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010005.jpg

These are finally getting some nice color too them. I can't wait to see what they turn into:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010008.jpg

One of my favs
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010009.jpg

[impur]

Blastos, the polyp in the back has already split:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010007.jpg

The newer green frogspawn:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010013.jpg

The older purple and also the clown fishes home:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010014.jpg

Good pic of my Royal Gramma:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010017.jpg

[doody]

I tried to take pics of the cut I made on my 29, but my camera's crap. I figure that you already know what it looks like:)
Why's the frogspawn in the pvc?

[impur]

Just a temp way to hold it. I don't have all the LR yet so i won't be ready to put them in place until thats all in.

[impur]

Well Chad has been nice enough to give me credit for the tricolor that didn't make the trip. So i'll be putting in another order with him soon. More corals :D

[impur]

Did a little more toying this morning and took some pics. I did the Seio mod so i can mount it on the rim of the tank. Now i don't have to worry about the suction cups falling off. I also picked up a couple of frags from Sean. He helped me put together an old magnum canister filter i had in pieces from a friend. There is no way i could have gotten it together myself. Thanks Sean!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010019.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010022.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010023.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010024.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010026.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010027.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010028.jpg

[impur]

New frag and a new fish!!

Green bali slimer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010403.jpg

Spotted mandarin. Hasn't taken to frozen food yet but its only been 4 days.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010902.jpg

[TigerWoods]

The tank is looking great! That mandarin may never eat frozen food since they mostly love live pods. I want a mandarin so bad but most people recommend 75lbs of live rock or just keep restocking the pods often. Good luck and keep the pics coming.

[impur]

Yah i am aware of the 1000lbs of rock needed for a mandarin rule. But for every person that says that, i've found a person who had success feeding frozen to their mandarin. This has been especially true for the spotted ones. I have several good LFS around me and if i do not think the fish will make it i will give it a good home. I figure with as many different kinds of food i can offer it, one of them has to be intriguing. The good news is that the fish has picked at some frozen enriched brine soaked in selcon. I'm also trying cyclopeeze flake, marine cuisine, and frozen mysis soaked in brine. Somethings gotta work!!

Thanks for the comments, i'm going to work on some DIY LR soon to finish the reef. I'll keep up with the pics for sure!

Miles

[doody]

Try feeding it blood worms.

[impur]

Tried it this weekend but didn't take any. If she doesn't eat by wednesday i might start trying to catch her and take her to the LFS. Although she has plumped up a little since going into my tank, probably from eating ALL of my copepods. I dropped the food right in front of her and it even hit her lips, but not even a nibble. Oh well, I tried :(

[impur]

Well got my fuge plumbed in this weekend. It was an odd experience because it went very smoothly and i had no leaks. That NEVER happens. I did have a minor flood, about a gallon of water on the carpet. Thats a usual thing though. Its lite by a 20w daylight PC bulb in a cliplamp. I got 8 lbs of sand from Sean, some LR and a small bunch of cheato. 6 beers and 2 hrs later (basketball kept me occupied as well) here is what we have:

Start off with an updated shot of the tank. All is well except a small hair algae outbreak on the sand. It seems my alk was a bit low but i have since raised it and am now dripping kalk at night:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3260008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3260009.jpg

This is the empty fuge with bulkhead installed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3260010.jpg

Elbow for drain. Used my dremel and a cutting disc to cut the teeth:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3260012.jpg

[impur]

Mixing SW:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3270013.jpg

Plumbing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3270014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3270020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3270017.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3270016.jpg

Here is how it looked this morning:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3270016.jpg

[Silver_Stang]

nice setup, I too have a 29g and I want to add a sump/ref with my old 10g tank in the garage. I wish I could cut the back of mine but it has fish in it. Do you recommend any syphon overflows for me? I was thinking about using a mag 5 with an overflow with a 3/4" bulkhead. I also have what I think is a good idea for a float switch. I will use a spdt relay and run low voltage through the coil of the relay and float switch, keeping the high voltage isolated on the other contacts. This will keep 120v out of my sump. Also, I had a royal gramma and at night he would come out and attack my clowns --- so keep an eye on yours.

[impur]

Thanks!! I'm not real up on the syphon overflows but whenever they are talked about i think its the lifereef ones i hear are good. The mag 5 should be fine for your return. I hear ya on the float switch and 120v. I will be getting a relay this weekend and rewiring mine. Looks like you got a good plan there. Thanks for the heads up on the gramma. I haven't seen a problem yet but will keep an eye on em!

You have any pics of your tank?

[Silver_Stang]

here are two recent pictures of my tank, one with the flash and one without --- it is a work in progress. Supprisingly the duller picture is with the flash on. I want to get more live rock and some coral as soon as I get the nitrates lower and get the hang of the whole adding calcium thing. I hope the sump/ref I want to build will help with this, also I can move my bakpak skimmer and heater down into the sump. Where did you get your plumbing supplies from? Would home depot have everything I need? Also, where did you get the sheets of glass, the hardware store?


http://home.comcast.net/~danhruska/tank_4-2-05_no_flash.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~danhruska/Tank_4-2-05.jpg

[impur]

Looks pretty good!! Some more LR and your set. I got all my plumbing from HD and ACE, and the glass from a local glass shop. Just called em up and gave them the sizes i needed.

[impur]

More pics to update. My mandarin took to frozen food this morning for the first time!! I'm so stoked as i thought she was a goner. This is the first time in 10 days of trying. I was trying to figure out how to get her out of the tank and decided to toss some food in while i starred at the tank. She took 3 brine shrimp and 1 blood worm that i saw. Anyway, on to the pics!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3250001.jpg

Babies on the purple frogspawn:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3250005.jpg

Ric close to splitting
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3250007.jpg

Top down look at my clam:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3290001.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4040013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4040012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4040011.jpg

Getting some good growth on this monti already:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4020010.jpg

[Silver_Stang]

hey impur, check out this link http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=572559

it is of my 10g sump. I am almost done building it. I am wiring the relays and float switches tonight.

[alphaferret]

read the whole thing-very nice work -great inspiration for all

[impur]

Thanks! I hope it helps at least a few ppl out in the future, or at least assists in providing ideas. I'll be getting a few new frags this weekend, most important an oregon tort. Picking it up sunday, can't wait!!

[Silver_Stang]

Hey, how do you take such nice pictures, what kind of camera are you using? flash, no flash? All of my pictures turn out really crappy. That clam is really nice, are they hard to take care of? I want one for my tank.

[impur]

My camera isn't anything special, a 3.2 megapixel olympus. I use the cloudy day setting on the white balance, macro mode, no flash, all lights in room turned off, and the key is........(drum roll).......a magnifying glass. Yah, just a $3 magnifying glass from walmart. Makes a world of difference!! It takes practice though, i take around 10 pics just to get 1 good one.

The clam is great. I've always liked em. I don't do anything special for it. Just needs steady water conditions and lots of light.

[impur]

More corals, new fish, time to update this!

Oregon Blue Tort:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4180019.jpg

Green catspaw
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4180021.jpg

Black perc
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4180020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4180023.jpg

[Silver_Stang]

I wanted to get a black perc and the guy at the LFS told me that he wouldn't be compatable with my orange one. You had any problems yet.

[impur]

If you call the black perc NEVER leaving the side of the orange a problem then i guess so :P

Check it out, these guys are best buds now. Hope they spawn someday!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4180003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4180004.jpg

[impur]

BTW, there is no difference between black and orange percs besides the color. So the LFS guy was either a moron or misinformed.

[impur]

More pics to update. You can really see the changes in some of my corals since the upgrade

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4200017.jpg

[impur]

Pink pocc then:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010012.jpg

Now:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4200012.jpg

[impur]

Browned out unknown acro then:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P2200043.jpg

Now:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4200006.jpg

[impur]

Walt Smith frag then:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010004.jpg

Now:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4200011.jpg

[Silver_Stang]

hey, I think the guy at the LFS was probably a moron. I don't go to the LFS with any questions about the hobby any more, the web is a much better source. Good to see your tank doing so well. I am currently looking for a good beginner coral. Also, could you tell me a little more about your light setup, like the wattage, cost of balast, light, etc.

[impur]

I hear ya there. Most LFS employees now little to nothing about the hobby.

My lighting is pretty simple. I bought a Reef Optix I pendant from premiumaquatics.com for 110 shipped. The bulb is a 250w 14k hamilton, i bought this off a local guy for 45 bucks. It had 2 weeks of use. The ballast is an ARO electronic ballast from hellolights.com for 105. The hangers i got from a LFS but are made by sunlightsupply.com, head over to their site and you can find them there. These things are slick! 30 bucks for those and i can raise and lower the light with one hand.

Hope that helps, thanks for the compliments! Let me know if you have any other questions, and keep up the good work on your tank. I've been following its progress and thats gonna be one sweet setup.

[Silver_Stang]

Thanks, my progress on my tank is slow, but steady. I do the best I can on a collage student's budget. Is that MH light bulb half atinic and half daylight?

[impur]

No its just 14000k. Head over to the lighting forum and check out the sticky at the top. It has a bunch of pics under different lighting. 10k is pretty much pure white, 14k adds some blue and as you get higher the blue is more pronounced. 20k for example is pretty blue.

[impur]

WC day went well so more pics for updating. I'm plumbing in my OM Super Squirt this weekend, goodbye SCWD! Picked up some 1" PVC spa flex for .94 a foot, not too bad.

Found this yesterday, snail eggs!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4250026.jpg

Another growth pic - first day in my tank back on March 13th 05
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1010003.jpg

Today:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260032.jpg

[impur]

Clam still doing excellent:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4220025.jpg

New zoos! These are the brightest zoos i've ever seen
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260031.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260041.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260042.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260046.jpg

[impur]

This seems to be some sort of encrusting monti, not sure on the id
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260033.jpg

Caps showing impressive growth in a month
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260035.jpg

Green frogspawn already split from 3 heads to 5
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260036.jpg

Pink ric now has 2 mouths. Also is splitting off another new ric on the right side.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260039.jpg

Candy cane just keeps growing. I've fragged it 3 times and it needs it again
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260044.jpg

Blastos feeling happy after eating:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260045.jpg

[impur]

Can't forget my spotted mandarin. Shes still a bit skinny, but has finally taken to the Mandarin Diner (see melevsreef.com)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4260038.jpg

[impur]

Anybody know what that orange area is on the rock? Its growing in 2 spots and only on this rock. Its very bright and grows like coraline.

[Silver_Stang]

Man, you got a lot of growth on that first frag. those orange zoos are really cool, I think I might try to pick some up for my tank. Keep the pictures coming.

[Silver_Stang]

Impur -

What kind of calcium additive and buffer do you use? What brand test kit do you use? I use the seatest calcium test kit and every time I get a reading of like 550ppm in my tank, I didn't think the kit was acurate so I tested a fresh batch of salt water I mixed for a water change. the kit said calcium was 750ppm! I need an acurate kit, I am feed up with the seatest kit.

[impur]

I use aquarium pharmaceuticals. Has worked well for me since i started keeping tanks. I dose about 25-30ml of B-ionic part 1 (the alk part) daily. Once i get my alk up to about 9dKH i'll be using a dosing pump and dosing kalk 24/7. I don't dose anything for calcium and maintain steady levels of about 440-460ppm using oceanic salt. Alk is all i dose.

What salt are you using? I've heard those seatests are off too.

[Silver_Stang]

I use instant ocean salt. I started a thread in the chem. forum. It seems like salifert is a popular easy to use test kit for calcium. I am going to try it out. You get 50-100 tests for $21, my old kit gave 20 unaccurate tests for $13.

How often are you doing water changes to keep calcium up? and how much water?

[impur]

I do weekly 5 gal wcs. :D

[impur]

Broke out the camera yesterday and got a few pics. I got a couple new frags, 2 new colonies. Here we go

First wanted to show the growth on my Oregon Tort. I'm pretty happy with it.

4/19/05
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4290007.jpg

5/17/05
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5170022.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5170023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5100014.jpg

[impur]

New danae
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5100016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5100015.jpg

Mandarin getting fatter by the day
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5100008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5100009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5100011.jpg

[impur]

Lazy cats. Why can't they get up and help me with my WCs!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5140021.jpg

[Silver_Stang]

impur -

your Mandarin goby is so cool........ If I only had a sand bed in my tank I could get one. LOL

I noticed you deep six hydrometer in your last picture. Do you think yours gives you accurate readings? I have one and it usually reads 1.022 or 1.023 and when the LFS tests my water they get higer readings, like 1.025 or 1.026. I think they use a refractometer, because I only bring in about 1/4 cup of water for testing but I never asked them.

[impur]

I doubt its right. I've never actually tested it or had it tested with a refractometer. I haven't had any problems though so it can't be off by that much. I mix my water to 1.025 according to the hydrometer. I usually buy a new one each year just to be on the safe side.

[cateyes]

hey miles,,, thanks for the link to your thread!!! i'm really impressed with your work, tank looks great!!!!!! i'll deffinatly be rereading it and taking some ideas from it..
could you post a full tank pic including the lighting set up???
i'm also in a search for a pendant style light system(no canopy) and i'm liking the looks of yours!! i'm partial to the 14k bulbs, they seem to be just the right balance for me.. and you seem to be getting good growth on your corals with it...have you had any heat issues with it???
thanks a lot,,,,,,,,,,,,lisa :)
i have 2 "helpers" just like yours!!!!

[impur]

Thanks Lisa, i worked pretty hard on the tank and its nice to get compliments! :D

I'll get ya a full tank pic tonight. Its about time for some updates anyhow. I do have an older pic of the complete setup tho so here ya go. Keep an eye out in the used equip forum for a pendant and ballast combo, i see them quite often for good prices. I do have some heat issues popping up now that the weather is getting nicer. It was getting up to the mid-80s here a few weeks ago and because of the orientation of my apt, the sun just beats down on the roof all afternoon causing my tank to reach 84 with a fan on the sump. I have since installed the window AC unit and kept the fan in place, viola no more heat problems! In fact i found the tank to stay much more stable temps with the fan on permanently so i plugged it into the timer to come on with the lights each day.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P3280022.jpg

[cateyes]

hey miles - i've reread your thread and got a few questions for you if you don't mind...sorry, i'm a few months behind with my questions..
i see you have a 10 gal for your sump..i was thinking of using it or a 15high, but there's not really enough vertical height in the stand, especially when you start plumbing.. i see a 10gal. will work so i'll go with it.
here come the questions:::

1.do you have to use an auto top off if you have a sump???

2.what do you use to "glue" the glass baffles to the glass tank??

3.what type of skimmer is that you are using??

4.were the loc-lines the cause or your MB issue?? i see you submerged them...

5.i'm planning on having the back glass double drilled and gravity flow to the sump then use a pump to pump water back up and over the top. what size bulkhead would you suggest?? and drain and return line???

6.also should the water in the sump go over-under-over , as far as baffles go??? or under-over-under???

7.how many baffles do you need ???

8.which should be larger, the intake side or the return side???

9.and last but not least,, can you just come build one for me?!?! :)
it would save you from many further questions...:)

thanks a TON!!!!! lisa :) :)

would you rather me pm you with all of this or is going through your thread ok???
i hate to hog it with a los of after the fact questions...... :)

[Silver_Stang]

i am not impur,

but an auto top off is a must, otherwise you will be refilling a pitcher a day onto your tank (I assume you too are setting up a 29g with sump)

1 inch drains work nicely, I have a 1 inch drain and a mag 5 (1/2 inch return) on mine and it works great.

the more baffels you can fit in the better, I have a MB problem in mine and it is really anoying -- in fact i am thinking about making another sump with more baffels to get rid of the problem.

good luck

[cateyes]

Silver_Stang --
sorry, yep it's a 29, i had PM'ed impure so he had my specs but i should ofincluded that info here too...
as far as the auto top off being a must, is it from a convience standpoint or a functional one??? i top off my 75gal. daily so one more gallon would be ok with me...would it be something that could be added later???
i've read your thread about your 29, it was very interesting also.. i see you are using a HOB overflow, that is what had thought about and may still consider if drilling proves too difficult.. have you had any problems with it???
thanks,,,,,,,,,,lisa :)

[impur]

Originally posted by seafan79
hey miles - i've reread your thread and got a few questions for you if you don't mind...sorry, i'm a few months behind with my questions..
i see you have a 10 gal for your sump..i was thinking of using it or a 15high, but there's not really enough vertical height in the stand, especially when you start plumbing.. i see a 10gal. will work so i'll go with it.
here come the questions:::

1.do you have to use an auto top off if you have a sump???

2.what do you use to "glue" the glass baffles to the glass tank??

3.what type of skimmer is that you are using??

4.were the loc-lines the cause or your MB issue?? i see you submerged them...

5.i'm planning on having the back glass double drilled and gravity flow to the sump then use a pump to pump water back up and over the top. what size bulkhead would you suggest?? and drain and return line???

6.also should the water in the sump go over-under-over , as far as baffles go??? or under-over-under???

7.how many baffles do you need ???

8.which should be larger, the intake side or the return side???

9.and last but not least,, can you just come build one for me?!?! :)
it would save you from many further questions...:)

thanks a TON!!!!! lisa :) :)

would you rather me pm you with all of this or is going through your thread ok???
i hate to hog it with a los of after the fact questions...... :)

Hey there Lisa, its fine with me if you ask questions here. Might help other ppl along the way :D

1. You don't have to use an auto topoff, but i like the automation it provides. Sometimes i'll be gone all day and not get to see the tank at all with the lights on so its nice to know that the water is being topped off and SG being held constant throughout the day.

2. Glass bonds with 100% silicon, that is what i used for the baffles and external overflow box. Let it cure for 24 hours. I actually picked up the entire tank by holding just the external overflow box and it was as sturdy as can be.

3. The skimmer is a Pacific Coast Imports skimmer. They are made in Portland OR i believe and a local LFS here gets them pretty cheap. I figured 100 bucks for a needle-wheel skimmer can't be all that bad. This skimmer isn't the best out there, but i think it suits the tank nicely.

4. I think the scwd is the cause of the MB problem. It has since become just a minor nuisance. You can't even see the MB anymore unless you look at the tank from below up thru the water.

5. The drain size depends on your return pump. What pump do you plan to use? Figure out its gph then use RC's calculator on the front page to determine the best sized drain and return.

6. over-under-over IMO

7. I used 3. Some ppl incorporate a fuge into their sump, but my fuge is seperate so 3 suited me fine. If you add the fuge in the sump, you'll need 4-5.

8. Return side, this is where all your evap will occur.

9. Call my boss, book me a ticket and you got a deal! :D

Miles

[impur]

Took a couple pics, of course forgot your full tank pic Lisa :sad2: Will get that tonight.

Still getting more color on this acro, looks like it will be yellow with purple tips
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6060015.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6060016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6060017.jpg

Yuma is producing 3 new babies, here are 2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6060018.jpg

Fragged my 2 frogspawns over the weekend, good pic of one of em
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6070025.jpg

More to come tonight!

Miles

[Silver_Stang]

Originally posted by seafan79
Silver_Stang --
sorry, yep it's a 29, i had PM'ed impure so he had my specs but i should ofincluded that info here too...
as far as the auto top off being a must, is it from a convience standpoint or a functional one??? i top off my 75gal. daily so one more gallon would be ok with me...would it be something that could be added later???
i've read your thread about your 29, it was very interesting also.. i see you are using a HOB overflow, that is what had thought about and may still consider if drilling proves too difficult.. have you had any problems with it???
thanks,,,,,,,,,,lisa :)

my auto top off was not working properly for the first week or so, I had to fill my tank every morning or the water level in the return would drop lower that the mag 5. I think it is a must because your tank won't be able to run for more that 24 hours without you topping off. I have not had any problems with my HOB overflow, I could not cut the back of my tank because I was adding on to an existing system. the only thing I don't like about the HOB is it takes up quite a bit of room inside my tank, if you can make an overflow like impur you should do it. This wouldn't be such an issue if I had a larger tank.

[xtrstangx]

I would say get a refractometer now. They are so much more accurate and why risk all the money you have in coral to accidently put in high salinity water and risk loosing some of your SPS?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11275&ref=2020&subref=AC

Theres a cheap one and it works very well, IMO.

Tank looks great, good job.

[impur]

Originally posted by xtrstangx
I would say get a refractometer now. They are so much more accurate and why risk all the money you have in coral to accidently put in high salinity water and risk loosing some of your SPS?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11275&ref=2020&subref=AC

Theres a cheap one and it works very well, IMO.

Tank looks great, good job.

Thanks!

I recently picked up a glass hydrometer. This is much more accurate, i have also calibrated it against a refractometer so i know for sure how much its off. I guess i'm just cheap! I really don't want to drop 40 bucks on one now. I am in the middle of planning a wedding which is big money, so any extra money goes to that.

[impur]

Ok time for an update. Lots of pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080026.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080027.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080028.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080039.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080040.jpg

[impur]

Need to do some coraline scraping. I've actually been working on it, it was worse than this :bigeyes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6030006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080031.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080032.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080033.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080034.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080036.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080037.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080038.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080042.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080047.jpg

Check out the claws on my porcelin crab!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080044.jpg

[impur]

Heres my kalk res and doser.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6080041.jpg

[cateyes]

hey Miles,, thanks for the help,, i actually think i'm gonna get this sump thing figured out!!! your thread has be especially helpful!!! the pics are a great help,, i'm a visual type of person, they help me immensly!!
ok -- so the auto top off isn't an immediate project for me..
will any silicon be ok?? is it all reef safe??

that skimmer looks a lot like the new coralife super-skimmer i've been eyeballing, do you have it in your sump?? i saw one pic where it was kinda scrunched in a compartment.

as far as the pump i will be using , i don't know yet. i see you're using a mag 9.5.. would that be what you would recommend for me??? on a 29 i will need about 5-600 gph flow, i would guess..
if i use a sqwd or om squirt i'm guessing i'll lose some flow, so a powerhead or possiably another pump on a CL might be in order..

i had to order a new 29 today,, the one i had planned on using was just too scratched up!! the last thing i wanted to do was have a neat set up and a lot of pretty corals in there, then the only thing i would manage to see would be the scratches!!!!
it'll be here in about a week , then the LFS will drill it for me. so i have about a week to decide on exactly where i want the drain(s) and if i want the return drilled or just come over the back..
i was leaning towards 2 drains in case 1 clogged for whatever reason but they didn't seem to think it was necessary.. what would you advise?? 1 or 2 drains?? and would it be better for the return to be drilled or just come over the back??
i'll also need to be working on the sump plans, spacing, baffles, etc.
i'm sure to have numerous questions to come yet!!!.

thanks for posting all of those pics, your tank looks great!! i love your clowns having the 2 different colors makes them very eyecatching!!! and your manderin looks very fat and happy, i'm working on getting one of those in my 75g. just need to build up the pods... my wrasse keeps them on the run...

if you get time would you mind posting a pic or two of your sump? one with the skimmer and all hooked up...
remember,, i'm very visual!!!!!:)

thanks a TON!!!!!!!!!!! lisa :)

oh, i almost forgot... your boss said no way!! you're much to valuable!!!!:D

[Silver_Stang]

Wow, your tank is looking really nice. Your coraline is growing like crazy. All of your frags seem to be showing some impressive growth as well. thanks for the update.

[impur]

Thanks! Yah that coraline is everywhere. Tough to scrape too.

Lisa - the scwd cuts the flow from the mag by half i'd say. There is maybe 500gph coming from it. The OM Squirt will not cut the flow like the scwd does, so that might be the best route if you really want some sort of wave action. I think the 2 drains are the way to go. If you only have one, you are just asking for trouble. All it takes is a snail to get into the drain and back up the water onto your floor. Just safer to have a backup. A closed loop would be a great way to increase the flow in the tank. I originally planned to go that route with a genx 2400 pump i have, but ended up going with the Seio. For the baffles in the sump, one thing i learned is the spacing should be 3-4", otherwise the velocity of the water going between a smaller gap is greater, and that will in turn just carry any MB or other particles along with the water back to the display. I'll get ya a pic of the sump tonight :D

[cateyes]

hey Miles -- what happened to my sump pic???? not the old one, a new one... lisa :)

[impur]

Doh! Totally slipped my mind. Give me 2 hrs i'll get it up :D

[impur]

Picked up a blue milli over the weekend!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Picture001.jpg

Here you go Lisa :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Picture002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Picture003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Picture004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Picture005.jpg

[X88&94GT]

nice set-up just took a little while and read all of it!

I have a 75 and will be using a HOB overflow with dual 1" drains.

I am thinking of using 10 gal tanks for my sump, return and refigium. 2 or 3 seperate tanks, will this work? and whats the best way to join them.

I am going to be running a little giant 4md qsc and have a scwd on the way. Any ideas would be greatm i just want the most space possible for each section of my sump/refigium.

[cateyes]

hey Miles -- thanks for the pics!!!
i think i will be following your sump set up.. i don't want anything complex and yours seems basic enough that even i can replicate it, seeing that i'm DIY challenged. but i am looking forward to this project..
with that last "over" from the media compartment to the return area, are there many bubbles created from that drop over to the return??
i think i'm going to use a 15 gal, 24x12x12, so i will have the space and was thinking about adding a few more baffles before the return area. to further decrease the MB's getting to the display...
would it be benificial or just unnecessary baffle use??
thanks a lot,,,,,,,,,,lisa :)

[impur]

Originally posted by X88&94GT
nice set-up just took a little while and read all of it!

I have a 75 and will be using a HOB overflow with dual 1" drains.

I am thinking of using 10 gal tanks for my sump, return and refigium. 2 or 3 seperate tanks, will this work? and whats the best way to join them.

I am going to be running a little giant 4md qsc and have a scwd on the way. Any ideas would be greatm i just want the most space possible for each section of my sump/refigium.

Thanks! It sure has turned into quite a thread.

Well you have a few options. First and probably the best would be to drill the sides and connect them with some PVC pipe. There is a guy here that did this with 3 five gallon buckets for his sump. So if you have a dremel and want to give it a shot this is how i'd do it.

The other option i can think of would be to use HOB overflows. In this setup you would have to have the first 10 gal higher than the second, and the second higher than the 3rd so the drains would work right. Depends on where you will be keeping the 10 gals, on a rack or something or in the stand?

[impur]

Originally posted by seafan79
hey Miles -- thanks for the pics!!!
i think i will be following your sump set up.. i don't want anything complex and yours seems basic enough that even i can replicate it, seeing that i'm DIY challenged. but i am looking forward to this project..
with that last "over" from the media compartment to the return area, are there many bubbles created from that drop over to the return??
i think i'm going to use a 15 gal, 24x12x12, so i will have the space and was thinking about adding a few more baffles before the return area. to further decrease the MB's getting to the display...
would it be benificial or just unnecessary baffle use??
thanks a lot,,,,,,,,,,lisa :)

My pleasure :D The only thing i would change on my sump is that first baffle spacing. I'd suggest 2-3 inches apart on the baffles, like my last one. The flow is much faster thru the first baffle since its such a smaller area.

I have the intake on the return pump facing away from the waterfall created over the last baffle. You could do one more under baffle to eliminate the waterfall. But i do not see any MB from how i have the pump positioned. I even cut a piece of plexi that sits there like a ramp for the water if need be, but ended up just turning the pump intake away from the bubbles.

[cateyes]

Miles -- that's one reason i want to go with the 15gal. it will give me a little more baffle spacing..
if i were to add an extra baffle before the return, would it go over then under then to the return pump, or under then over then return???
i have descided to go with a larger pump for the return, either a mag 7 of 9.5, not sure which one yet...probable the mag7 then add a powerhead or a CL if additional flow is needed....
thanks a lot,,,,lisa :)

[X88&94GT]

Thatnks for the info, I was thinking of either doing the bulheads or the external overflow like you did here. My main issue is knowing how high the water levels need to be with my baffles.

I know that the external overflow will work on the refigium which is fine, but is it just as good to use a bulkhead and a elbow turned up? And what size bulkheads ? (Btwn the tanks and comming out of the refigium)? I think the refigium will be a little higher anyways, b/c of my refturn pump.

All of this is going in my stand, i figured it up and I can get 3 10 gal to fit fine, just takes a little figuring on spacing.
I am going to mount 2 side by side like this I I then have the other one a little higher T-boning into the other 2 like this II-- the horizontal tank is gunna be my refigium and will prob be 6in or so higher than the other 2.

I actually went and bought my 3 10 gal tanks yesterday. I'm ready to get this thing going!! :)

keep the advice comming! Ony other thing I wondered was what thickness glass did you use for your external overflow?

[impur]

Originally posted by seafan79
Miles -- that's one reason i want to go with the 15gal. it will give me a little more baffle spacing..
if i were to add an extra baffle before the return, would it go over then under then to the return pump, or under then over then return???
i have descided to go with a larger pump for the return, either a mag 7 of 9.5, not sure which one yet...probable the mag7 then add a powerhead or a CL if additional flow is needed....
thanks a lot,,,,lisa :)

I would just add an under, so it would start: over, under, over under then return pump. The mag 7 and CL or PH is a good way to go, i think you'll like that a lot.

[impur]

Originally posted by X88&94GT
Thatnks for the info, I was thinking of either doing the bulheads or the external overflow like you did here. My main issue is knowing how high the water levels need to be with my baffles.

I know that the external overflow will work on the refigium which is fine, but is it just as good to use a bulkhead and a elbow turned up? And what size bulkheads ? (Btwn the tanks and comming out of the refigium)? I think the refigium will be a little higher anyways, b/c of my refturn pump.

All of this is going in my stand, i figured it up and I can get 3 10 gal to fit fine, just takes a little figuring on spacing.
I am going to mount 2 side by side like this I I then have the other one a little higher T-boning into the other 2 like this II-- the horizontal tank is gunna be my refigium and will prob be 6in or so higher than the other 2.

I actually went and bought my 3 10 gal tanks yesterday. I'm ready to get this thing going!! :)

keep the advice comming! Ony other thing I wondered was what thickness glass did you use for your external overflow?

I think you can get buy with just the elbow turned up. With 3 10 gals your really increasing the total water volume, thats awesome. On my tank i used 1.25" just to be on the safe side. There is no way i'm going to push too much for those drain lines. You could probably do fine with 1" its really up to you. I like to have larger drains that i need just for peace of mind. If a snail gets into 1.25" its harder for it to get stuck than in 1". On my overflow box i used 1/8" glass. Keep in mind i broke the bottom piece that the bulkheads go thru, so i upped that to 1/4" and it has been fine ever since even with some small tweaking to the drains while installed. The rest of the glass is still 1/8". Be sure to let me know when you start and take lots of pics! I love going thru these types of journals, fun to watch ppls tanks evolve.

[gjuarez3]

Wow, you have an awesome setup. Your coral growth is amazing. I also have a 29 gallon tank and I am redoing it again because it had a few leaks. I hope you dont mind me copying your idea. The only difference is that mine has a canopy. I didnt know they made single ended phoenix 14k bulbs. I am definately going to check into that. I will be PMing you along the process so you can assist me, is that ok? Is there anything that you would change or regret not doing? Once again, very nice setup.
Jerry

[impur]

Hi Jerry! Thanks for the compliments! Thats unfortunate about your leaks, but at least you get to start new! I don't mind you copying at all, feel free thats kinda why i've been keeping this updated. I really like the 14k bulb, but i don't like the SE type. I would go with a DE bulb in the future. I don't know if it is the Reef Optix III pendant or if it applies to all SE pendants, but it throws that shadow right down the center of the tank. If it wasn't right in the middle i probably wouldn't mind.

Go ahead and shoot me a PM anytime, i'll get back to ya asap :D

Miles

[impur]

Just thought i'd update the growth on my oregon tort since its my fav. I've been taking monthly pics of it, here we go

4/19 first day in tank
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P4180002.jpg

5/17
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P5170022.jpg

6/22
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6210007.jpg

[Sugar Magnolia]

Sweet! I killed one of those once. :( Darn Visatherm heaters!

[impur]

That sucks! Especially for what you gotta pay for a little nub like this lol

[cj_basser]

What is that frog mounted on?

[Silver_Stang]

X88&94GT-

you own a 88 an 94 mustang????

[impur]

Originally posted by cj_basser
What is that frog mounted on?

An ice cube! I have to reglue it every hour or so :P

Its just an acrylic cube that it came on. I wanted let give the frag time to adjust and didn't remove it from the cube, and now its encrusted to it as you see so its too late. Oh well, i'll find a nice spot to shove the cube down into so you can't see it.

[cthompson]

nice tank impur. what brand skimmer is that?

thanks,
ct

[cj_basser]

I really like the ides of the acrylic cube. It looks like the coraline is really growing on it, as well.

[impur]

Originally posted by cthompson
nice tank impur. what brand skimmer is that?

thanks,
ct

Its a Pacific Imports skimmer, i think the guy who makes them live just a few hours north of me in Portland.



I got a refractometer the other day, boy am i glad i did. SG tested at 1.027, a bit high. The swing arm was reading 1.025 and the glass hydrometer was reading 1.024. I thought the glass would have been more accurate. Lesson learned! If you've been thinking about it but would rather spend the 40 bucks on a frag or something, DON'T! I think this is why i lost the teal polyp digi and why my danae is now going downhill.

[spoon671]

I am heading down to the refractometer store ASAP! I always wondered if those refractothingys were worth it.

[impur]

Originally posted by cj_basser
I really like the ides of the acrylic cube. It looks like the coraline is really growing on it, as well.

Yah the coraline likes the plastic stuff. Whats really cool about that little cube is it fits perfectly into the squares of eggcrate.


Good call spoon671! There is a deal at drsfostersmith.com for 40 bucks for reefcentral.com members. It was like 44 bucks total with shipping.

[xtrstangx]

Good to see you went with a refractometer. In the grand scheme of things, $40 isn't that bad especially since most coral at my LFS are atleast $60.

Tank looking good as always.

[X88&94GT]

silver stang,

I used to own a 88 GT (my 1st car) and then had a 94GT vert (1 of 9 made, long story not known at the time) then the last mustang I had was a 89 saleen replica. I had about $10K invested and still not done. But we had a baby so I ended up selling to my best bud.

My SN comes from corral.net, it was the first message boards i was on way back in the day. And ended up just using this same SN when I can on everyboards.

Now I drive an 89 Land Cruiser yeah its alot diff than the stangs, but now i can just drive over whatever :)

Well I got my sump and other 2 tanks drilled and set-up somewhat. I used 3 10 gal tanks. Well I eneded up cracking 2 of them putting in my homemade bulkheads, b/c im to anxious to wait on the ones I have on order. But I think I was able to fix them with extra blass siliconed over the cracks. Only time will tell i guess as to if they will continue to hold water fine.

I am considering just going with the rubbermaid for the sump/return and using the last 10 gal for the fuge. (since I havent cracked it yet. :)

And I think I decided I wanna go with an in sump return pump so I will be selling the little giant I bought on ebay. I will prob just run a mag 9.5 or mag 12?

[xtrstangx]

You had to order 10g tanks? Dang, the Petsmart near me carries atleast 20 10g's at a time and they don't have a very big tank selection (the biggest is a 55g).

Sorry to hijack!

[impur]

That sux they cracked. Rubbermaids make good sumps too sounds like a good plan. Keep in mind on the mags, my 9.5 keeps the tank at 80 degrees alone. My heater never kicks on, its set at 77. I have a fan blowing over the sump to keep the temp steady, but the mags add quite a bit of heat to the water.

[X88&94GT]

i have the bulkheads on order no tthe 10gal tanks. Thanks for the info on the mag pumps. Any ideas on in sump pumps that dont add a ton of heat? I dont have an issue with heat, but dont want to either.

I do have a rio 2100 and a 1700 that i got cheap, but i was just going to use those as circulating pumps for mixing stuff/and or a return for another smaller tank. (thinking of doing a 10 or 29gal later down the road.)

[impur]

I don't know of any pump that can go in the sump and not add heat. I am contimplating adding an external.

[impur]

Aother month or so has passed, i thought i'd update with a few new pics

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190078.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190081.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190083.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190084.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190086.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190085.jpg

[impur]

My oregon tort and a. suharsonoi are both acting odd. Neither has shown any polyp extension for a good week. Not sure why either, my alk has been fluctuating some, from 7 to 9dKH. Its been tough to get stable. I've been able to keep it at 8 for the last few days. I'm hoping this is the only reason they aren't showing PE.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190080.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7190087.jpg

[impur]

So i'm starting up my next DIY project, the WmTasker DIY calcium reactor. I have the body and pump, still need the co2 tank, regulator and controller. I'll have to finish up in a couple weeks, I've got my wedding this weekend and then i'm off to Maui for all next week!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7170077.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7170074.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7170075.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7170076.jpg

[ctreefer]

Impur,
I've really been enjoying your progress on your tank. I finally decided to take the plunge and do the same to my 29. I have a couple questions for you regarding your cutting methods. When you say a nice smooth rounded corner to your overflow, how do you attain the smoothness. I've been grinding away with the dremel bit and it always wants to created gouges rather than smooth areas. Should I be concerned that the shallow gouges may become a fracture area?

Also, I have about a .5inch radius in my corners. I couldn't pull up the pic's of MacNreefs damaged tank, but did he have any radius' in his corners that you recall?

Finally, are you still happy with the Seio, or if you could do it over again would you do a closed loop? I was planning on a closed loop with a squid return powered by the mag 9.5, plus a mag 3 to push water back to the tank from the sump/refugium. Not sure if this will be enough, however I only plan on maybe 5 colonies of sps in the tank the rest will be lps,softies.

thanks.
vince

[impur]

Originally posted by ctreefer
Impur,
I've really been enjoying your progress on your tank. I finally decided to take the plunge and do the same to my 29. I have a couple questions for you regarding your cutting methods. When you say a nice smooth rounded corner to your overflow, how do you attain the smoothness. I've been grinding away with the dremel bit and it always wants to created gouges rather than smooth areas. Should I be concerned that the shallow gouges may become a fracture area?

Thanks Vince! I'm in a holding patter for adding corals, some of my SPS are showing signs of stress so until i have the DIY calcium reactor finished i'm just trying to keep things stable. I didn't really have a method to making the cut smooth, i just made sure that it had a nice slow slope to it. If you are using the bullet shaped bit to get the cut, i used both hands, one to put some pressure in the direction i wanted to cut, the other to move the bit up and down real slowely. I would go over these gouges (not sure how bad they might be) with the bullet shaped bit and try to smooth them out. You have any pics? The key is lots of water and go slow. As you cut you will see the glass mixing with the water to create a white looking paste. Try to keep as much water on the cut as possible to keep it cool and flush that stuff out of there.

Also, I have about a .5inch radius in my corners. I couldn't pull up the pic's of MacNreefs damaged tank, but did he have any radius' in his corners that you recall?

He did have more of a corner to his cut. It wasn't sloped on the sides as much as mine. It was more like a 90 degree corner that has been rounded with a sanding drum or something. Thats the best i can describe it. Sounds like yours should be fine.

Finally, are you still happy with the Seio, or if you could do it over again would you do a closed loop? I was planning on a closed loop with a squid return powered by the mag 9.5, plus a mag 3 to push water back to the tank from the sump/refugium. Not sure if this will be enough, however I only plan on maybe 5 colonies of sps in the tank the rest will be lps,softies.

thanks.
vince

I still do like the flow from the Seio. My only peeve about it is the snails keep trying to clean behind it, then their shells barely touch the glass and it makes a vibrating noise that gets very annoying. The other thing is that it makes it difficult to get flow on the side of the tank i have it mounted on. That is also somewhat of a plus because i can put lower flow corals there so its a toss up. Sounds like you have a great plan, if i did it over again, i'd probably go with the closed loop for the simple fact that there is one less piece of equipment in the tank.



I worked a little more on my CA reactor. Got the regulator in the mail saturday and glued about half the PVC fittings. I'll try to get some pics up tonight. Getting pretty excited about finishing it.

Miles

[szesteve]

Congratulations on your wedding!

I really like your thread especially the use of PVC pipes for rock scaping. I will be using the same method to acheive some height too.

Thanks impur!

[impur]

Originally posted by szesteve
Congratulations on your wedding!

I really like your thread especially the use of PVC pipes for rock scaping. I will be using the same method to acheive some height too.

Thanks impur!

Thanks! It was an awesome day followed by a great week in Maui. I'm picking up my snorkeling pics today so i'll probably put a few of the better ones here.

The PVC worked great for stacking the rocks. The sand under the rack is as white as the day i put it in. Its nice not having to worry about crap building up under there.


Miles

[ctreefer]

Thanks Impur, and yes, congrats on the wedding!!!! I was just talking to my brothers roomate who just got his scuba diving license about how much I really am going to have to get one. Snorkeling is fun, but some of the stories you here from divers makes you realize what you're missing out on.

My biggest concern right now with my cut on the tank is that I started with the two angled cuts leading to the main cut, but didn't radius where the two met. ( I somehow missed that some people's tanks had cracked based on this style cut.) I ended up going back before filling the tank with water and the only way I could get a radius in there was to loose the bevel. So now I have a verticle cut that leads to a .50 radius on each side. How crucial do you think that bevel is, for I don't have any more room to widen the cut for my outside overflow prohibits me from cutting any more?

thanks
vince

[impur]

Thanks again Vince! I thought about getting certified but since the ocean off the Oregon coast is so cold, and the fact you don't have much visability, i decided to just go with snorkeling. I'm sure it would be so much more fun to actually dive, but i just don't know how often i would actually get to go. My wife (man thats still crazy to say!) has her certification though.

Hmm i'm having troubles picturing what you are referring to. Do you have any pics?

Do you mean you basically started at each endpoint of the overflow cut and working in to the middle? So you cut a "V" more or less? Also not sure about the bevel you are taking about.

[ctreefer]

sorry, I knew when I was typing that bevel wasn't what I was looking for. I'll try and attach an image.

[ctreefer]

Ok, here's what I meant by bevel, sorry for the confusion. Do you think this will be problematical?http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/1447729galcut.jpg

[impur]

Ok i see now, thanks for the pic. That is close to how MacnReef did his, but i think his radius was a big sharper. I would set the tank up outside running for a week or so. Thats what i did, just to be on the safe side. Are you planning to silicon any black acrylic to the inside to hide the plumbing? I think that would be beneficial and if you use a decent amount of silicon it would help reinforce the glass. I can't say for sure if it will crack, but if its only about a .5" radius i'd think you would be safe. Good luck, keep me updated. I love seeing external overflows, they just make the tank look so much cleaner by remove those components from in the tank.

Miles

[gjuarez3]

Hey Miles, I have keeping up lately with the thread. What is the name of the tool you used to cut the glass? Can you give me this info as I am ready to start with my external overflow. Can you please also tell me what other tools I will be needing. THanks for your help and I will be keeping up with the thread to ask questioms. I hope you dont mind.

[impur]

I used a cordless dremel. You can pick them up for 25-50 bucks depending on bells and whistles you get with it, or you can rent one. There is a picture of the bits i used on the first page of this thread, you can find those at walmart. You will need some eye goggles. Only other thing you'll need is somehow to keep water on the cut and bits to keep them cool and some silicon. I think thats about it.

Keep me updated on how it goes!

Miles

[impur]

Well i had discovered the dreaded red bugs on one of my corals so over the weekend i dosed interceptor. Lost all my hermits but crabs and shrimp made it fine. The main reason i wanted to dose is to try and get my blue tort back healthy. It hasn't shown PE for a long time. Now this morning i can see the tips of the polyps poking out so thats encouraging. I need to scrape the glass again, coraline is sure growing like crazy. I also built a CA reactor so i'll get some pics up of it soon.

[Mr. Eko]

I didnt find this, but how much flow do you have in there?

Thanks =-)

[impur]

Well its more of a guesstimation, but i'd say 1300-1400gph. Not real sure of how much the scwd cuts down on the mag9, i'm guessing about half.

[impur]

Quick update. Treated tank with interceptor over the weekend. Lost all hermits and killed all red bugs, also lost most pods. Shrimp and crabs were fine thru treatment. My tort is looking a tad bit better, not much though. I also finished up my reactor. I changed the standpipe inside it. I ended up using a 3" X 1.5" reducer, cutting off the bottom where the 3" pipe goes into it, and used a reducer to 1". I drilled about 150 holes in it for waterflow. On the other side i used a male adapter and an o ring to seal things up better. Pics

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8070337.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8080338.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8160340.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8080339.jpg

[impur]

Also i never put up any of my snorkeling pics, so here are some of them. I still have a role to develop.

This is where we went, off the coast of Lanai'i and also at Honaloa Bay. Most of these pics are from Honaloa.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Maui/IMG023.jpg

Hawkfish
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Maui/IMG019.jpg

Good pic of the reef and a Morish Idol
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Maui/IMG024.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Maui/IMG005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Maui/IMG003.jpg

A large eel
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Maui/IMG004.jpg

Big puffer
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/Maui/IMG012.jpg

[gjuarez3]

cool pics. I really liked your reactor. Keep the pics coming

[cateyes]

yeah,, great pics Miles... i bet it was neat seeing those fish in their natural environment!!!! lisa

[impur]

Thanks! Yah the coral and fish were amazing. I was kind of disappointed with the coral, not as many bright colors as i had expected. Mostly some light blues, yellow, pink, and brown. Lots of catspaw there, i mean LOTS.

[ctreefer]

Cool pics Miles!! That was pretty much about what I saw in the carribean 5 years ago. At least you don’t feel as upset that you can’t take a piece of it home with you.

I might have to start following your DIY on the calcium reactor after the tank is done.

I haven’t taken any pic’s of my tank yet, but I should get some by this Thursday. I filled the tank with water on Saturday and still no cracks so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I kept going back and dremeling a little more to clean up the cuts and make the radius bigger. In the end I ended up with probably a ¾ radius in each corner. I even put a little force with my hands against the cut back wall with the water in it and no cracks, so I’m feeling more confident.

Now onto the color for the back of the tank. I noticed you used acrylic to cover the plumbing and painted the back of the main tank. I’m still up in the air on using acrylic to cover everything up and just letting the coralline cover the tank. Did you come up with any other thoughts to hide the plumbing?

Also, just to keep me posted. How’s the seio doing? I’m debating on the closed loop with the mag 9 and squid for one source of flow and I have an old mag 3 lying around that I was going to use for a return from the sump. I’m a little concerned that the mag 9 is too much flow for a 29 gallon and at the same time the mag 3 is too little. I have run the mag 3 for a return when my tank was set up previously and since I’m going to most likely set up the sump as a part refugium, that flow is probably just about right through a 10 gallon sump. What are your thoughts.

Anyways, keep up the good work. Sorry on the red bugs, I’ve had them before and it’s a PIA. Ended up loosing the few sps I had.

Vince

[impur]

Hey Vince. Yah i was just fine with leaving the stuff on the reef. I would bet that most of the great looking stuff has been picked clean anyway which is unfortunate. I had thought about maybe getting a fish to bring back but decided against it in the end. They just look too happy out there in the wild.

I'm pretty stoked to get that reactor up and running. I figure i saved at least 200 bucks by building it. Plus its one more thing my tank can do on its own!

Let me know when you get the pics, looking forward to em. It sounds like you did a good job on that cut. Of all the ones i've seen crack they usually did it in the first week or so. If you put some force to it and nothing cracked you should be good to go! :D

Letting the coralline cover the back would work too. On my tank the coralline covers all the glass EXCEPT the back now, which is odd but since its black i don't mind. Just a pain in the arse to scrape all the time. My only thoughts where the acrylic or leaving it bare.

The Seio is doing good. I actually think its lost a bit of its umph, not sure why or how. I've cleaned it regularly so i'm a bit puzzled. Now i'm getting a bit of diatom growth on the sand under where i have it mounted. I don't recall what you plan to keep but i still think you'd be fine with both pumps. The mag 3 would be good for your return if you plan to have that fuge down there. You can always put a ball valve on the mag 9 return to throttle it down a bit if need be.

Thanks for the support, i think we all need it in this hobby! I'm actually glad i got rid of those red bugs, i'd hate to introduce them to another person's tank in a trade or something. Keep me updated!

Miles

[ctreefer]

Miles, How's the reactor coming along? I definitely plan on either getting one or making one in the future. Maybe not for the 29, but definitely once I get the 90 back up and running. (maybe I can test it on the 29)

How much $$$$ does one cost approx. after you've gotten everything . Are you going to get a controller as well?

thanks

vince

[impur]

Reactor is all done, just need co2 in the tank and hook er up. I am getting a controller, i plan on getting an aquacontroller JR with a DC8. The reactor cost me about $250-270 to build completely with everything needed except the controller. Looking at other reactors i saved at least 200 bucks building it, and it has been running strong with tanks up to 120gal with lots of SPS and keeping up fine. So worst case if i upgrade sometime to a 180 i'll have to add a second canister which would cost me 30 bucks max. Its definately a great DIY build that would work well on most tanks.

I also picked up an Aqua C Remora used from a fellow reefer here on RC. Its been running since saturday and still pulling only clear stuff out. The guy cleaned it real well so its still in its break-in period. Hoping it pulls out more than the crappy PS100 i was using.

[ctreefer]

Sounds like a great winter project. Where did you get the lid(top) to the unit? It looks like some kind of pool filter.

[impur]

That comes with the canister. Its just your basic whole house water filter that accepts the larger filters, 4.5" sized. It runs about 50 bucks and comes with the white lid, the clear canister, a wrench that fits the canister and some intructions.

[ctreefer]

Thanks. That's perfect, no need to buy acrylic tube and deal with nylon nuts. What's nice is it will be able to handle the 90 once its up and running.

gotta go,

see ya.

vince

[impur]

Yah thats what i really liked about it. It will work on larger tanks and i know i'm gonna upgrade again sometime. Let me know when you get some pics, looking forward to em.

Miles

[vanmo92]

cool

[ctreefer]

Hey Miles,

Its Vince again. Still no pics, sorry. I’ve been doing more research than work on the tank and I’m also in the process of cooking all my old rock which is taking up 6 hrs a week from my setup. I do have a couple more questions for you though .

I seem to recall somewhere in your thread a comment about the return from your mag 9.5 needing to go through some larger diameter plumbing. I can’t for the life of me find it and my literature that came with the pump says nothing about this, but I see in your pic’s that its definitely larger than ¾. What size was it? It seems rather odd that I have to go from ¾ output to larger diameter tubing and then back to ¾ inputs to the sqwd.

My second question pertains to the return from your overflow. I notice you have yours dumping with an elbow into the sump. Do you get a lot of gurgling noise? I’ve had this similar setup on my 90 and always had a lot of noise down in the sump area. I was thinking of trying out something similar to a durso for the return, but if you don’t get any noise I may put it off for now. BTW my return is a 1 ½ return so just one.

My third question is with the mb. Did you ever narrow it down to what was causing this?

Hope things are going well. I still haven’t decided on whether to paint the back of the tank or just let the coralline do its thing. I have cut my overflow teeth at least. Just need to buy all the fittings once I get them figured out.

thanks

vince

[impur]

Hey Vince! I've got more pics to update this with later today :D

Since i got my mag9.5 used i did some research and everything i found said you need to double the outlet pipe size. I guess in theory it makes sense, fluid dynamics and all. Lets take the 3/4 pip for instance. In any sized pipe you have a thin layer of water at the wall of the pipe that moves very little. The friction of the wall keeps its movement to a minimum. So lets say its 1/8 inch layer of water. That comes out to 1/4 inch of water that doesn't move, leaving 1/2 inch in the middle of the pipe that does move. That is a significant amount in a small diameter pipe. If you double the size of the pipe to 1.25" you have much more water in the middle of the pipe moving. Thats what i ended up using, 1.25" pipe up to the scwd and then 3/4 from the scwd to the tank.

I do have an elbow on one of the drain lines in the sump. But above that elbow i have about 30 small holes in the pipe. This lets any air out, and the elbow directs the water over toward and by the pump for the skimmer. I wanted to try and get as much new water as possible being skimmed.

The scwd and locline are the cause of the MB.

I'll put up some more pics in a few hours!

Miles

[impur]

Ok here we go. Lots of pics!!

I'll start with softies, they are ALL doing wonderfully. I had an astrea snail die the other day, and you'd think the hermits would take care of it. Nope! Not in my tank

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8290364.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270357.jpg

New zoo frag
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6290010.jpg

Another
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7120065.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7120066.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7120071.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P7120069.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270353.jpg

[impur]

Haven't seen another SPS like this with silver polyps. Very unusual
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P6290011.jpg

Tort getting back to normal
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270350.jpg

My 2 blue milli frags. One started off green with red polyps. Both growing super fast
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270351.jpg

I just love what this is coloring up to.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270352.jpg

Monti cap grows like a weed
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270354.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270358.jpg

[impur]

Porcelin crab out for food
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P9070390.jpg

Percs!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270355.jpg

[impur]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270359.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8270360.jpg

[gjuarez3]

Hey Miles, do you have any updated pics of the tank? its been about two months since the last update. I am seting up my 29 on monday. I would like to get some ideas.
Jerry

[impur]

Hey Jerry! Holy cow it has been 2 months huh. Time flies i guess. I'll take some more pics saturday morning after my WC. I treated for redbugs and got a horrible cyno outbreak. I'm finally almost rid of it now. But the redbugs are back. I'm going to be doing another DIY project, a 10-15gal cube all DIY from the tank, to the lights, to the skimmer, etc. It will be a BB tank and i'll move all my SPS into that tank for the time being so i can treat for the redbugs and not kill off any more of my pod population or any more hermits/crabs/shrimp. That should help ensure my mandarin stays healthy and fat. I'll also be cooking the rocks starting this weekend.

The only thing i've changed on my 29gal is the plumbing. My scwd froze, sending the return water thru just one side. So i removed the scwd altogether, added a bypass on the return to feed my DIY CA reactor, and had to add a ball valve to throttle back the flow. My sump is just too small for lots of flow thru it. I also have been having low pH problems, drops to about 7.7 at night and only up to 8.1 daytime. I've extended the airline for the venturi on my skimmer to draw in strictly outside air, has helped keep the pH steady at least. A few days i was down to 7.5 in the morning!!!

So i'll get some more pics up tomorrow morning. I'll also post a link here to my other thread i'll be starting to document my SPS DIY build :)

Miles

[gjuarez3]

awesome, I would love to see that one from start to finish. Oh, and sorry about the red bugs. Their a PITA to treat, specially when you have to kill the cleaning crew and all the little critters in the sand bed. Best of luck with that and I will wait for the updates pics.
Jerry

[impur]

Ok sorry about slacking on the pics. I hurried home and got a few decent ones, then the lights went off. I'll try to get some more tomorrow!! You'll notice the MB problem is back as a result of changing the plumbing. I'm sure they'll go away in a month or so.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB140040.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB140039.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB140038.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB140037.jpg

[impur]

The cyno was covering the whole substrate and a lot of my zoos. Its gotten much better over the past month. Still have a bit to go but if you would have seen it before........

[gjuarez3]

Thanks for the pics Miles. THat is some awesome growth. Keep the pics coming.
Jerry

[impur]

Ok got a few more pics, then of course batteries went dead in the camera.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB150045.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB150044.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB150043.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PB150042.jpg

[ctreefer]

Nice pics miles!!! I can't believe its taking me so long to get my tank set up. Sorry to hear about the bugs as well as the scwd. I had decided in my planning to just remove it as well being concerned about maintanance and the possibility of it breaking. Hoping the flow of the mag 9.5 with two outputs will be enough to keep away dead spots.

So you're telling me you're sustaining all that coral growth without the reactor still? Maybe I still have some hope.

Here's my progress:
Tank is ready.
I just finished the canopy and now need to order the t5 retro fit.
I've rough plumbed the closed loop, however, I'm still deathly scared of cavitation once its all together with my 9.5 mag.
I finally (today) have a solution for my return to the sump. (I had been concerned with noise and have opted for the "herbie" method using a gate valve to control my return and noise as well as an emergency overflow in conjunction with this.

Received my protein skimmer (coralife SS 65 needle wheel) yesterday.

I've been cooking all my LR for the past 2 months (even though I haven't been diligent in my cooking process in the past 3 weeks due to kids and us being sick now that cold season is here. I think for the most part the rock is ready though. A couple more times and it will be complete.

What remains.....
Finish my plumbing now that its all figured out and hope the mag doesn't cavitate.

order lights

setup topoff that I bought used

Take some Da*# pictures!!!!

Find a piece of black acrylic for my back of tank

Decide if I want to do the starfire bottom.

Keep up the good work.

vince

[impur]

Hey there Vince! Sounds like your tank is coming along nicely. At least you have the patience to make sure its all done correctly the first time. I commend you on that!

Yes i'm getting some decent growth and still have not hooked up the reactor. Weekly 5gal WCs, kalk 24/7, and daily addition of baking soda seems to be working well. I've got pretty steady readings of 9dKH and 400ppm calcium. I would really like to hook the reactor up, but don't really want to add a dedicated circuit into my stupid apartment.

Be sure to give me a link to your pics when you finally get some!!!

[impur]

Had a sad day yesterday, my mandarin decided to try carpet surfing. Found her dried up near my fuge yesterday after work. Very depressing, i'd had her for 8 months and brought her back from almost certain starvation by training her to eat frozen foods. I had hoped to keep that fish into old age.

:(

[ctreefer]

That's a bummer, sorry dude. Its rare to hear of people getting mandarin's to eat frozen.

[sr71pav]

How did you hold the glass upright when you glued it on for the overflow? Is the silicon really strong enough to do that without support? I'm planning on doing something similar to my 15 early next year and I'm just trying to get all the info and figure out everything I need for it.

[impur]

I just used my tape measure to hold up the glass. See this pic, the bulkhead is resting on the tape measure.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P1090010.jpg

Then for the sides I used a lot of silicon and used a couple books to hold the glass straight. Maybe not the mark of a pro, but it worked great for me!

[sr71pav]

I saw the tape measure. Just figured it was sitting there, I never even considered the bulkhead was sitting on it. Easy enough!

[impur]

Yep, pretty simple. Those bulkheads are from the electrical department at HD. I used them cuz they had a more pronounced lip that seals against the washer much better. I put some silicon around where the bulkhead meets the glass inside the overflow box, and used the washer on the outside. Has worked like a charm for 8 months now!!

[sidjam]

did you get the washers for the bulkheads from HD too?

[impur]

The wide washers i used I found at ACE hardware. The first ones i tried leaked, i did get those at HD.

[impur]

Well did my WC after dosing chemi clean and wow what a difference. All my cyno is completely gone. All livestock was normal thru the treatment, i just added an airstone to help oxygenate the water. Dosed on saturday at 5:00 pm and did my WC at 5:00 pm on Tuesday. Great stuff i highly recommend it if all other attempts fail

Of course after going thru all this, adding carbon and skimming a bit wet, the Rio needlewheel pump on my skimmer quit. What a load of crap, it was only 8 months old!!! So i had a maxijet laying around, busted it out and went to town trying to make a needlewheel for it and a venturi. Here is how it came out:

Cut down a bioball for the needlewheel:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PC060081.jpg

Used the venturi from the Rio and a short piece of tubing to attach it to the maxijet
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PC060082.jpg

This thing produces much more, much finer bubbles, and is about half the size!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/PC060083.jpg