Tank Journal Archive

[Grug]

Hi All.. this will be my second tank.. upgrading from an "aquaone 620T" which got modded into uglyness and was sold to me as a "reef suitable tank" a year ago.. ive had success with it.. but now that ive learned a bit and want to expand.. this "off the shelf" Reefer 350 system fits the space and the budget i have perfectly.

Reefing Since: Late 2010

System Objectives: To have a great looking mixed reef that fits the house, budget and to stop chasing the "magic numbers" that everyone (in other places) preach

Type of reef:Mix reef

Display System:

Initial Fill Date: Projected Sunday 4th Dec 2011

Display Tank Dimensions: 100cm Wide 55cm deep 59cm tall.

Display Lighting: Supreme aqua 6x 39w T5 HO (2 x 14k 2 x 10k 2x "marine blue")

Stand: supplied with Reefer 350

Hood or Rimless: Braced to all buggery with open top "Crown" White like stand..

Sump Design:83cm wide 38cm deep 40cm tall. 3 section (skimmer/????/Return.)

Filtration: Skimmer/ Active carbon? / Crushed coral or DSB not decided yet

Support systems:

NSW or ASW: NSW

Display Water circulation: TBA

Return Pump: 3000L/h chinese (HY-806)

Skimmer: Aqua one G series (the middle one 800L capable)

Evaporation Top Up: ATO from 10L container if it will fit in stand.. unsure.

Chemical additions:

Calcium Addition: Maybe

Alkilinity Addition: Maybe

Magnesium Addition: Maybe

Prodibiotics Addition: Maybe

Coral Food Addition: Red Sea "reef success coralgrow"

As i said.. im not going to chase the magic numbers in this tank.. i will do my best to keep stuff alive but if the numbers balance and inhabitants are happy then i will be happy.

 

[Grug]

Orright.. So.. tank and lights have arrived as most of you will already know.. heres some pics of my initial plumbing design..




Thank God we sell Loc-Line at work.. That stuff is expensive.. i would have preferred a loc line right angle but this allows the Durso standpipe to fit without squishing the pipes .. Tank was designed to have just a hole as the main overflow

 

[VaultBoy]

Nice... Tidy plumbing job ;)

That cat looks hungry never turn your back on it!

 

[MTG]

looking good mate this will be a ripper!

 

[WoodyMackay]

Looks good mate :) are u having the siphon ad backup? may I suggest having the siphon as your main drain and the durso as back up? How big are both? Just stick a ball valve on the siphon and have it an inch or so shorter than the bottom of the dursos elbow, MUCH MUCH quieter :)

 

[Grug]

@WoodyMacay .... i am planing to have the durso as main drain and the tall pipe as backup... i thought this was the quiet way to do it.. stops the gurgling?? ive followed all designs (air hole etc) for the durso with that being the main silencing system??? it also fits inside the weir better and keeps the waterfall over the weir to a minimum height.. the durso has a tap on it under the stand and the emergency overflow is just a freefall..

 

[WoodyMackay]

Yeh it definitely still works mate not arguing there, but because a full siphon sucks 100% water there is no gurgling. U have it set up so it is fully submerged. The trick is to tune it so it drains juuuusssttt less than what the return pump is returning. The water then slowly fills up in the weir until it reaches the durso, which then takes the remaining water that is rising. The water is do minimal (1%) that there is NO noise. Have the durso fully open. If the siphon ever clogs, the durso will take all the flow and you know there is something wrong cause you will hear it :) check my build out to see Wat i mean.but entirely upto u I was just throwing it out there. Anyway everything looks really neat and nice looking forward to seeing this thing get built! Cheers

 

[Grug]

Update time..
Did some basic electrics.. 2 x 6 point el-cheapo power boards (one more currently in use in current tank.) 2 x digital timers (for lights one more in use in current tank).

Moved extraction fan to center of the 3 drilled holes in back of stand so i can run most power through the right hand end. and sorted out a bracket to hold up some of the cords and the return pump pipe..

Glued a couple of the joints in the return pump pipe.. its still removable .. (for adding a valve to do water changes with later.) but less likely to be knocked off by accident..

Washed inside of tank with water only.. its a brand new tank.. im pretty confident that that should do it.. am i wrong??

time to get back to cable ties and sore knees.. eres some photos.. (all photos are so far iphone quality.. i do have a DSLR and Macro lenses for real photos when its up and running :) )

 

[VaultBoy]

Thats a sexy tank I cant wait to see it post move :D

 

[Grug]

YOU cant wait.. you wanna stand in my shoes for a min.. :P

Currently thinking about putting an extra baffle in the sump to make a DSB possible.. this means im going to need an accurately cut peice of 6mm glass in the next 12 hours.. thank god i work in the glass industry.

 

[MagicJ]

Looks good mate :) are u having the siphon ad backup? may I suggest having the siphon as your main drain and the durso as back up? How big are both? Just stick a ball valve on the siphon and have it an inch or so shorter than the bottom of the dursos elbow, MUCH MUCH quieter :)

I agree with Woody on this one - I am running with a durso solely and it does make a bit of noise. You will also find a bit more saltcreep in your sump as the air sucked down the pipe creates bubbles on the water surface. If poosible, I would look to set up a full syphon and durso backup.

I don't think you need to change much - (from the photo above) cut your middle pipe a bit shorter for the full syphon (this pipe already has the valve installed) and move the durso over to the right hand pipe.

 

[Grug]

so is there any value to actually have the durso top on the backup pipe?? or is the aim to actually have a little bit of water constantly going down the backup?

The valve placement isnt an issue.. none of these pipes are glued so the valve can be moved to the left which will make fitting it all in the small weir section still possible.. The loc-line return bends at exactly the right moment to have the durso in place without having pipes touching each other..

 

[MagicJ]

Have a read of this for the setup of the beananimal system http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx - you are using a similar system but without the extra emergency overflow.

You will want to control the flow in the full syphon so that about 95% of the water will flow down the syphon - the remaining 5% fill flow down the durso.

 

[Grug]

Yeah ive read the bean system.. over and over.. was planning on having it in the custom tank i was designing before i bought this one off the shelf..
orright.. ill cut the tall pipe to be just below the intake of the durso and then swap the valve to the other pipe... should i have the hole on the durso open or closed?
(i got smart and put the hole on the side of the cap so i could rotate the cap to adjust the hole.)

 

[MagicJ]

I would leave it closed - then if the full syphon is blocked and you have a large volume of water travelling down the durso you will be alerted to the problem by the loud gurgling noises being made. If you have the hole open it will still be relatively silent and you may not realise there is a problem for a while.

(i got smart and put the hole on the side of the cap so i could rotate the cap to adjust the hole.)

Good thinking ;)

 

[Grug]

okies... will make mods tonight.. thanks for the ideas. MagicJ and WoodyMackay

 

[jashay]

is that base lit up from underneath? thats cool! if you are going BB then if you get a lot of coralline growth it would block out this lighting wouldnt it? or if it is thin enough it would shine through with a pinkish purple colour!

 

[MagicJ]

is that base lit up from underneath? thats cool! if you are going BB then if you get a lot of coralline growth it would block out this lighting wouldnt it? or if it is thin enough it would shine through with a pinkish purple colour!

Don't think so mate, just the lights on but no water in the tank?

 

[Grug]

No base isnt lit. just an odd effect of lighting and iphone camera..
Just picked up the bit of glass for my extra baffle that im installing in the sump tonight.. i work in the glass trade so i asked a mate for a favor.. i now have a starphire baffle!!! this means that technically i have a starphire sump! :)

 

[VaultBoy]

You need to change the title of you thread journal... Grug's 350 Reefer now with starphire sump!