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Unread 03/08/2017, 06:26 PM   #76
mvsjrs
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Coming out of stasis after nearly a year. Back surgery to delay degenerative vertebrae. Mother diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Another plantar fascia injury--bball after back surgery. All the while though, my rock was cooking and cooking and cooking. I also added a turtle toilet for my ornate box turtles to flush their waste directly into the septic. Indoor reptile plumbing! Anyway, I apologize for the gaps in details that have been missed in documenting the build.

From this:


To this:




Turtle Toilet:

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Single system called Pandora Too of three tanks:
• Pandemonium: 92gal corner Softies/FOWLR on fish overload (office)
• Coral Country: 150Xgal LPS (&SPS?) (family room)
• Sanctuary: 120gal REFUGIUM (50% chaeto/50% all dark bacterial LR) (fish/man cave)
• Filtration: 90gal sump, 60gal settling tank?, DSB?

• Serenity: FW105gal Discus (MBr...mood fish...)

"Physics is a b!tch. She's always right no matter how sure you were about your plumbing design." Me, standing in a puddle of water...

"You cannot allow [yourself] to avoid the brutal facts. If [you] start living in a dream world, it's going to be bad." General "Mad Dog” Mattis.



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Unread 03/08/2017, 06:36 PM   #77
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I decided to go with a semi-bare bottom / semi-faux sand bed for the 92Cor display tank. First, because this tank is intended to house primarily:
- Snowflake Eel,
- Zebra Moray Eel,
- Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish,
- Fu Manchu,
- Marine Betta,
- Yellow Tang,
- Foxface,
- Spotted Dwarf Scorpionfish, and
- Maroon Clown Pair.
That is also the rough order that I plan to add the fish in.



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Unread 03/08/2017, 06:40 PM   #78
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Correction:

The NWV of the setup with only the 92gal running is 332gal = (92 [DT] + 60 [sump] + 60 [setting tank] + 60 [chaeto] + 60 [LR tank]) with a design for 60gal water changes (18%).

The MWV would be around 272gal = (62 [DT] + 60 [sump]+ 60 [setting tank] + 60 [chaeto] + 30 [LR tank]) with a design for 60gal water changes (22%).



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Unread 03/09/2017, 08:11 PM   #79
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Meanwhile, I settled on the arrangement of the internal CL returns. I already covered the drilling of the CL drain on the rear right and that has not changed. Here are the four 1” vertical runs in black PVC to get the CL to the bottom of the tank.



The left side vertical has an 3/4" eductor 2/3 of the way down (not in the picture but in the build) to blast waste from the back of the tank where I will make a recess for the eels to bed down.



This is the eductor that I used. I combined it on the left side with a flare nozzle. Both the eductor and the flare nozzle are downsized to 3/4” from the 1” in order to restrict and better balance flow between the nozzles.



The right side vertical has a 90deg and a 3/4" reducer to direct flow forward (remember…from the eel alcove…). The end is also a 3/4” flare nozzle matching the other side





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Unread 03/10/2017, 07:59 PM   #80
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The front vertical on each side follows the edge of the wall to the front of the tank and then wraps around. This allowed an nozzle on the corner and at the ends.





This is how the corners were made to stay low, provide an outlet and move water to the next outlet.





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Unread 03/10/2017, 08:04 PM   #81
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I bought a 2 in thick rectangle of polypropylene block. The plan was to use this block to elevate the center back region without using live rock and to provide a block to drill into so that I could put dowels down coral to prevent toppling by the eels. As stakes, Rural King (if there’s any anywhere other than Ohio) sells 4 foot long 3/8 in diameter fiberglass rods in white. They were only $1.49 each in the clearance bin.





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Unread 03/10/2017, 08:11 PM   #82
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So, I shaped the PP block to fit the tank bottom and used the extra pieces to build up the sides while hiding the closed loop pipes. Looks good without any covering so I siliconed the block to the tank base. Then to the sand bed. First, I used cement called QuikWall from Quikrete “surface bonding cement” with an “acrylic fortifier”. I did a great deal of web research and others have had very good success with this material and it is CHEAP. This was a long time ago, but I remember many details about the pH and toxicity—this material fit the bill. Also, I knew that much of the surface area of the cement would be covered in epoxy so exchange between the water column and the cement would be minimal (but possible).









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Unread 03/10/2017, 08:13 PM   #83
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EXTRA COMMENTS:

Since I wasn’t pushing the mechanical flexural limit of the concrete, I sifted out the fiberglass fibers so as not to have any little spears for my fingers or the fish. Then, with a fair firm paste, I built up the areas where water flow would allow detritus to accumulate and that pleased my eye. Heat was not a problem and even thin areas were very strong. I tapered the edges but always got to 2-4mm quickly and had no flats. You may also notice that in the rear of the tank I keep the 2in of the PP block free are the start of a eels’ lair. In addition, I thought it wise to use an inductor just above the region to give plenty of flow for poop removal and water freshening for the snowflake.


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Unread 03/16/2017, 02:22 PM   #84
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GOOD GRIEF!



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Unread 03/16/2017, 02:32 PM   #85
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Rules 1 and 3 seems to have killed any chance of keeping temps down.
Also any chance of getting this up and running before the next decade.
Keep at it! I want to see if your plumbing works!


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Unread 03/16/2017, 03:16 PM   #86
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Welcome back after your long hiatus. Looking forward to seeing your tanks with some life in them.


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Unread 03/16/2017, 04:21 PM   #87
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Welcome back after your long hiatus. Looking forward to seeing your tanks with some life in them.


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Unread 03/16/2017, 07:11 PM   #88
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This is a great thread. I remember reading this awhile ago - when the basement plumbing turned into a percussion room. �� Best of luck and keep the posts coming. This is truly something else!


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Current Tank Info: 120g Mixed Reef/30g sump
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Unread 03/17/2017, 06:49 PM   #89
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Scubadan206, the temperature in the tank is 76 degF. Now I have a heater in the sump which I honestly don’t know is activating or not. The basement has the 120LiveRock tank, 90gal sump and 60gal inductor so there is a larger reserve of water at a constant 68 degF. The 150 watt MH currently on the 92Cor is being repurposed for a freshwater tank since it is way too weak for SPS. Some of the LED systems are really coming into their own and the heat is minimal so that might be the ticket for my Den high temperatures.


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Unread 03/17/2017, 06:55 PM   #90
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Skynite, I do have some life in the tank…bacteria…wow! Here is a picture of what I wet skim daily without any source of organics except what is deep in the live rock. I also have to vacuum the “sump” regularly since there are no real baffles yet except to set the skimmer’s depth.



My first two non-bacteria inhabitants have already been bought and are in quarantine—snowflake eel and zebra eel. I decided to risk two larger starter fish because I wanted them to have time in the tank to acclimate to each other and to regular feeding. Then, I can introduce other fish without threatening the eels’ comfort. A couple extra WX and the system should handle the dramatic introduction of bioload. The eels also have another 6 weeks in quarantine so I can introduce so artificial ammonia sources in the meantime.





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Unread 03/17/2017, 06:55 PM   #91
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*dry skim


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Unread 03/17/2017, 06:58 PM   #92
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Back to the bottom…
The next step was to sift aragonite sand. Wow, what a pain when you have to bend with a bad back. I quickly moved to the kitchen and a chair, ahhh, the wife definitely did not see my wisdom! I wanted particles that were just less than 1mm—I felt that would give me the most pleasing look and inhibit coralline algae from covering over the sand. (G~ explains this phenomenon in several articles.) So I sifted out the big stuff with my lizard pooper scooper then the little stuff with a 600μm. From my previous boring experiment, I knew this would pass the cruddy stuff through and the remaining particulars would have relatively little phosphate which would cook off during the build.





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Unread 03/17/2017, 07:03 PM   #93
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Oh look, shiny thing…

Got distracted by building a bucket filling station on the 96gal RO/DI barrel. This barrel serves double duty to prepare freshwater for a planted discus tank.







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Unread 03/17/2017, 07:07 PM   #94
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Unread 03/17/2017, 07:13 PM   #95
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Next, I mixed MAX ACR aquarium construction resin and poured & spread this resin over distinct areas. Then I poured sand over the curing resin about an 1/2 in thick, packing the sand hard. Let it cure overnight and a quick vacuum…bam…faux sand bed. Now, I did try pouring the resin into the sand and several over methods but the described method worked best for a textured surface. A smooth surface with a reasonably sandy looking bottom could be achieved but this was my personal preference.













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Unread 03/17/2017, 07:18 PM   #96
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KRBNSOL, I have collected a variety of foams, rubber pads and other possible dampening materials. In the meantime, I had to overcoming my OCD and unscrew the clamps from the wood supports for the pipes. That way, the flexible PVC dampens the vibrations and the frame is no longer attached to the ceiling. Serenity reigns again.


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Unread 03/18/2017, 01:49 AM   #97
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I have moved the Tonga rock to my 92Cor display tank and am building the structure.



My final plan is to house a Snowflake Moray, a Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish, a Fu Manchu Lionfish, and any other tank mates that are compatible and bring functional attributes to the tank. This will be an SPS dominated tank with extremely high flow except for a couple lower flow nooks for the lionfish.





I am still thinking that the Dolphin Diamond Amp Master 6250-T3 (6258 gph, 23 ft max head) is just too much pump for the closed loop system. But again, I already own it and I probably couldn’t sell it for its value because it would be deemed “used.”

Here is a detritus and crude gathering station at the front. The large, log-like piece is just in front of the CL nozzles and creates a dead spot in circulation for larger stuff that would otherwise hide...broken shells especially because they usually trap detritus...here I can vacuum them clean and a happly hermit home.





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Unread 03/18/2017, 02:07 AM   #98
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I am fighting the urge to put too much rock in the 92Cor so that the corals have plenty of space to grow in. But when you already own the rock, it always all looks great in a nearly empty tank. Here is how the aquascaping was accomplished.

This is the drill I used to thread a dowel throught the rock and into the polypropylene.


First I placed the several heavy base rocks directly on the polypropylene. Then I measure water depth with a rod against water depth on my 3/8" drill bit...and merrily drilled down into the polypro until I hit glass and hopefully stopped.





After unpuckering my sphincter, I had base dowels drilled to start stacking upward.











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Unread 03/18/2017, 02:11 AM   #99
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Some final perspective:

Center:


Down the left:


Down the right:




Last edited by mvsjrs; 03/29/2018 at 04:12 PM.
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Unread 03/18/2017, 11:07 PM   #100
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The rock work looks great.

Can you still clean the tank and glass properly with the aquascape so close to glass?


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