Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build - Page 7

MrsReefK · 01/08/2016, 11:02 AM

Well, the time has come to start Aqua scaping. We are giving the tank a final "wash down" inside tonight to make sure all compounds from buffing are gone. We will use vinegar and water. Once washed out... Bring on the rocks! I have a feeling it'll take me a bit to get the rocks right... Few challenges are black background - can't see what I'm doing from that angle, and no front access. It'll take a bit of time. I'm excited as can be though! We bought drill bit and some PVC to help with stacking, will post pics along the way.

We bought ocean direct sand. I plan on doing rocks, adding sand, adding fresh water, then adding salt to mix the first full tank in the DT. Do we need to mix the saltwater before adding to the tank to not ruin the sand bacteria? Or can it be in freshwater?

Our RO unit is rather slow, and I don't have the necessary buckets/containers to mix 290 gallons of salt water properly. What's the correct way to do this?

dave.m · 01/08/2016, 01:36 PM

I hope you didn't buy too much live sand as it is generally full of a lot of sediments you don't need. Live sand is good for seeding the rest of the substrate but you could do the rest in dry sand that you have pre-rinsed well.

Dave.M

MrsReefK · 01/08/2016, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

I hope you didn't buy too much live sand as it is generally full of a lot of sediments you don't need. Live sand is good for seeding the rest of the substrate but you could do the rest in dry sand that you have pre-rinsed well.

Dave.M

We bought ALL live sand.

So I guess that brings up two questions.

1) should we use all live
2) can we fill the tank as mentioned in the previous post?

MrsReefK · 01/09/2016, 05:18 PM

First pics of the Rock scaping! Lots and lots of places for SPS's

.

It was definitely hard to keep the scaping "simple" liked I planned. Overall I'm happy with it.

reefchile · 01/09/2016, 05:21 PM

Great. How many pounds did you use?

MrsReefK · 01/09/2016, 05:26 PM

Better photos.

MrsReefK · 01/09/2016, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefchile

Great. How many pounds did you use?

200 in the picture. The fuge will be put up this week, we will weigh how much is going in there too. We have plenty leftover!

reefchile · 01/09/2016, 05:30 PM

🏻

dave.m · 01/09/2016, 08:15 PM

I would suggest if you've already bought the sand you might as well use it, but go through it looking for debris. Keep some for seeding bacteria (25%) and rinse the rest out before use.

Dave.M

MrsReefK · 01/09/2016, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

I would suggest if you've already bought the sand you might as well use it, but go through it looking for debris. Keep some for seeding bacteria (25%) and rinse the rest out before use.

Dave.M

Sounds great Dave, thanks for the suggestion!

MrsReefK · 01/10/2016, 06:03 PM

I am traveling for work for the next 2 weeks, so Jeremy will be hard at work on the fish room! He has lots of plumbing and more electrical to do. We will be picking up a Neptune DOS tomorrow for our auto water changes from a friend of Jeremy's. Excited to have the DOS. I'm placing an order this week with BRS for all kinds of goodies including GFO, carbon, auto feeder for flakes/pellets, kalkwasser, ARM, reef chili, much much more. Can't wait to get it! We're so close I can taste it. Getting the rocks in was a huge step. We have water mixing in brute trash cans now. It'll be a bit before we have enough to fill this bad boy with!

MrsReefK · 01/18/2016, 07:19 PM

Warning, lots of pictures

. Jeremy has made a ton of progress on the fish room in the last couple of days!! He's working hard while I'm on the road. He always seems to get more done when I'm not there, must be my nagging slows him down usually. Haha.

MrsReefK · 01/26/2016, 07:22 PM

Well, bryopsis reared its ugly head in our fallow 40g. Brought it in on a frag that I didn't QT or see signs of algae on it. Thankfully it spread to the frag rack only. Rather than battling it... I cute that section out of the rack. This setup is entirely temporary until the 290 and frag tank are ready. Hope that's the last of it!

Bogue Chitto · 01/26/2016, 08:45 PM

Yep, it's always something to have to worry about. I hope you can get rid of it without too much trouble

MrReefK · 01/27/2016, 08:25 PM

Did water testing today to find some issues. When I have the bypass gate valve open, water flows through. As soon as I closed it and tried to run water through the UV, the pump started working hard and water won't push through. There was a small leak in the UV plumbing that was allowing air in. Shouldn't be enough to impact flow that much though. Any ideas? See video for walk through of plumbing and flow.

dave.m · 01/28/2016, 12:34 AM

Perhaps the extra bends and turns of the UV unit plus all the extra plumbing associated with the unit exceeds the pump's maximum head capacity (?).

Dave.M

druzzelle · 01/28/2016, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsReefK

Here are the sump plans we are thinking of. See anything that doesn't look right? Anything we're missing?

Help please!

I think the only thing i'd change is location of the UV... considering the flow rate of your pumps i'd want mine on a much slower flow rate to create more contact time inside the UV

MrsReefK · 01/28/2016, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

Perhaps the extra bends and turns of the UV unit plus all the extra plumbing associated with the unit exceeds the pump's maximum head capacity (?).

Dave.M

We were hoping this isn't the case. Due to the leak, couldn't turn the pump all of the way up, but when we ramped it up as much as we could, it still wouldn't push through. Pump is rated for 21' head pressure.

MrsReefK · 01/28/2016, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by druzzelle

I think the only thing i'd change is location of the UV... considering the flow rate of your pumps i'd want mine on a much slower flow rate to create more contact time inside the UV

Great, thanks!

MrReefK · 01/28/2016, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

Perhaps the extra bends and turns of the UV unit plus all the extra plumbing associated with the unit exceeds the pump's maximum head capacity (?).

Dave.M

That's my fear as well. "To much for the pump". There is 7 90s alone in the uv. I have an old iwaki 70 might be running it off just that. We wanted the efficiency of the ecotech pump.

The uv has a 1600 gph flow rating spec.

MrsReefK · 01/28/2016, 09:06 AM

We're thinking we will run another pump for the UV. Sucks. We wanted Vectras for the efficiency. We do have an Iwaki 70 and 100. Sounds like we'll be hooking up the 70 to run UV. We don't plan i'm running the UV all of the time, only for a couple of weeks after new additions come out of QT. Not sure if that's right or not.

dave.m · 01/28/2016, 11:19 AM

I would run the UV on the QT... no, not quietly.

Dave.M

druzzelle · 01/28/2016, 11:56 AM

I agree with dave... if you're quarantining everything it makes sense to put the UV on the QT... catch it before you move livestock to the DT

winwar · 01/28/2016, 11:58 AM

Very nice!

How you like the Vestra Pump?

rjjr1963 · 01/28/2016, 12:10 PM

How do you like your lifereef sump? I'm planning to buy that same model you have.

01/08/2016, 01:36 PM	#152
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	I hope you didn't buy too much live sand as it is generally full of a lot of sediments you don't need. Live sand is good for seeding the rest of the substrate but you could do the rest in dry sand that you have pre-rinsed well. Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

01/09/2016, 05:18 PM	#154
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build First pics of the Rock scaping! Lots and lots of places for SPS's . It was definitely hard to keep the scaping "simple" liked I planned. Overall I'm happy with it.

01/09/2016, 08:15 PM	#159
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	I would suggest if you've already bought the sand you might as well use it, but go through it looking for debris. Keep some for seeding bacteria (25%) and rinse the rest out before use. Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

01/18/2016, 07:19 PM	#162
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	Mr and Mrs Reef - 290g in wall build Warning, lots of pictures . Jeremy has made a ton of progress on the fish room in the last couple of days!! He's working hard while I'm on the road. He always seems to get more done when I'm not there, must be my nagging slows him down usually. Haha.

01/28/2016, 12:34 AM	#166
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Perhaps the extra bends and turns of the UV unit plus all the extra plumbing associated with the unit exceeds the pump's maximum head capacity (?). Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

01/08/2016, 11:02 AM	#151
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	Well, the time has come to start Aqua scaping. We are giving the tank a final "wash down" inside tonight to make sure all compounds from buffing are gone. We will use vinegar and water. Once washed out... Bring on the rocks! I have a feeling it'll take me a bit to get the rocks right... Few challenges are black background - can't see what I'm doing from that angle, and no front access. It'll take a bit of time. I'm excited as can be though! We bought drill bit and some PVC to help with stacking, will post pics along the way. We bought ocean direct sand. I plan on doing rocks, adding sand, adding fresh water, then adding salt to mix the first full tank in the DT. Do we need to mix the saltwater before adding to the tank to not ruin the sand bacteria? Or can it be in freshwater? Our RO unit is rather slow, and I don't have the necessary buckets/containers to mix 290 gallons of salt water properly. What's the correct way to do this?

01/09/2016, 05:21 PM	#155
reefchile Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Chile Posts: 60	Great. How many pounds did you use?

01/09/2016, 05:26 PM	#156
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	Better photos.

01/09/2016, 05:30 PM	#158
reefchile Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Chile Posts: 60	🏻

01/10/2016, 06:03 PM	#161
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	I am traveling for work for the next 2 weeks, so Jeremy will be hard at work on the fish room! He has lots of plumbing and more electrical to do. We will be picking up a Neptune DOS tomorrow for our auto water changes from a friend of Jeremy's. Excited to have the DOS. I'm placing an order this week with BRS for all kinds of goodies including GFO, carbon, auto feeder for flakes/pellets, kalkwasser, ARM, reef chili, much much more. Can't wait to get it! We're so close I can taste it. Getting the rocks in was a huge step. We have water mixing in brute trash cans now. It'll be a bit before we have enough to fill this bad boy with!

01/26/2016, 07:22 PM	#163
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	Well, bryopsis reared its ugly head in our fallow 40g. Brought it in on a frag that I didn't QT or see signs of algae on it. Thankfully it spread to the frag rack only. Rather than battling it... I cute that section out of the rack. This setup is entirely temporary until the 290 and frag tank are ready. Hope that's the last of it!

01/26/2016, 08:45 PM	#164
Bogue Chitto Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 960	Yep, it's always something to have to worry about. I hope you can get rid of it without too much trouble

01/27/2016, 08:25 PM	#165
MrReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 36	Did water testing today to find some issues. When I have the bypass gate valve open, water flows through. As soon as I closed it and tried to run water through the UV, the pump started working hard and water won't push through. There was a small leak in the UV plumbing that was allowing air in. Shouldn't be enough to impact flow that much though. Any ideas? See video for walk through of plumbing and flow.

01/28/2016, 09:06 AM	#171
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	We're thinking we will run another pump for the UV. Sucks. We wanted Vectras for the efficiency. We do have an Iwaki 70 and 100. Sounds like we'll be hooking up the 70 to run UV. We don't plan i'm running the UV all of the time, only for a couple of weeks after new additions come out of QT. Not sure if that's right or not.

01/28/2016, 11:19 AM	#172
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	I would run the UV on the QT... no, not quietly. Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

01/28/2016, 11:56 AM	#173
druzzelle Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 74	I agree with dave... if you're quarantining everything it makes sense to put the UV on the QT... catch it before you move livestock to the DT

01/28/2016, 11:58 AM	#174
winwar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Murphy, TX Posts: 53	Very nice! How you like the Vestra Pump? __________________ 300 Gallon Room Divider, 3-400 Watt MH, 2 Radion G2, 1 MP60, 2 Tunze 6155 control via Apex Current Tank Info: 300 Gallons SPS

01/28/2016, 12:10 PM	#175
rjjr1963 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Nebraska/Missouri Posts: 770	How do you like your lifereef sump? I'm planning to buy that same model you have. __________________ 72x24x16 115 gallon under construction Current Tank Info: 40 gallon reef