[aquasalt]

Nice DIY Jeremy! This is going to be sweet!

[Jeremy0322]

There will be more pictures on hopefully tomorrow because the tank is starting to clear up and i have the skimmer and 3 powerheads running. We will see though, it is midterms week in school and that is kind of taking priority over the tank while it is cycling

[e_baer]

Who needs to study? pshh. Forget school! lol

[Jeremy0322]

That is what i have been saying for the past 7 weeks, and I was so close to actually getting a D in my first class ever. I did however own me some discrete math today so that will not be happening. Yay for studying for like 8 hours.

[Jeremy0322]

Just a few more pictures of the cycling process. I took Elliotts advice and got as much flow on the rocks as I could. I also am starting to get a nice color from my skimmer so i know that something is coming out of the water. Did some tests today and the ammonia is 2ppm so the cycle has started fo sho.


Wires everywhere because all the powerheads are going. And there is a water jug in there because i needed something to set the one powerhead on since it usually hangs on the back of a tank, but with the water level where it is it was completely useless.


Skimmer is definitely accomplishing something, been in there for around 48 hours and already getting some great results.


Making some progress on the plumbing, there is an on/off valve at the end of that line so that i can maybe get some more water in the tank, but i need the PVC glue to cure completely first.

[Jeremy0322]

Good news. Did a batch of tests today for the water parameters and there is proof that my cycle is happening. I got really excited when i found out that there was 20ppm nitrates and .5 ppm nitrites. Ammonia is still way up there at around 3 ppm, but i am assuming it will start to drop soon. I just thought i would let everyone know that.

[DEWAYNE]

looks like you have a good start, keep it up

[Jeremy0322]

I have a few extra power filters laying around my room. If i hooked one up to the tank and ran like carbon or nitrate sponge through it would it make the cycle go quicker or would it have no effect. I know I am supposed to be patient but if there is a safe way to make the cycle faster i do not see why i wouldnt do it.

[Tonz of fun]

Its not all about getting levels at zero, You want to grow healthy bacteria and make it stable. Fast is bad.

[Jeremy0322]

I figured. I just didnt know if it would help at all of not. Thanks Tonz

[Jeremy0322]

Alright, I think I had a really good idea. I was sitting on my bed reading an article in mays Aquarium Fish International(alright magazine, there are better ones out there though) about patch reefs because i was still a little off about what they were(Page 74 if anyone gets the mag and is interested).The author did a really good job about presenting his argument and why it is better than the normal "fruit stand" design that most tanks implement, mainly because it is easy and most tanks are not build for a reef since they are too narrow. He said that the problem with most tanks is old tank syndrome, and he went on to explain that as you accumulate corals most people dont tank into account that as they grow they create more waste. So we sit here with out small bio loads are the tanks flourish, than in 2 years when all the fish and corals are all grown up out filtration can not handle the new massive load and it crashes, slowly killing the corals and fish. I looked at my tank and realized this was the problem i may run into. If you have looked at the pictures you can see that there is almost no way to get flow in the cave that I have created on the far right side of the tank, and since that is where the main wall also is, that is a disaster waiting to happen. I dont want to set a power head on the front of the tank because that would look ugly. So i started to think about how this problem may be fixed and I may have come up with it. Heck, someone could already be doing this and I just didn't come across it yet.



A vertical spray bar would be perfect for this problem. It would let me shoot water out of small holes that i make in a 1" PVC pipe in three different directions creating flow throughout the entire wall as well as the cave and the rocks that is sits on. It would be really easy given the location of the return bulkhead, all I would need is a 90 bend, a piece of 1" PVC thats 15 or so inches long, and an end cap. The only question I have about this is pressure from the pump. There will be like 50 or so holes in it ranging in size from small to large, but is there still going to be too much force from a Mag 9.5. It will be teed off going to the fuge and hopefully returning at about 550 or 600 gph because that is all the water i can support going through my overflow. Does anyone see a problem in this or will it work as good as I am hoping it will. I may also be able to cut the return line in half in the tank and have a locline return for 300gph and than this for 300gph, but if its possible to use all the power behind the rocks i would really like to do that. I can always get another powerhead for more flow, and i will already have 2 Koralia 1's and an Aquaclear 70, all three producing 400 gph independently. Suggestions, Comments, Bombshells, please let me have them. Thanks

[Jeremy0322]

And i thought it was a really good idea. Thanks for all the suggestions and comments guys. Lets not overload the servers and all comment at once. lol Just Kidding

[Jeremy0322]

Alright, I was finally able to get pictures today so time to show off some of my handy work. First we will start on top in the main tank. The first picture was my attempt at a vertical spray bar, and i think it turned out pretty well, it should make nice even flow from behind the rock wall.



Here is a picture that i took from inside the cave, gives you an idea of how far down in actually runs.



Here is a good picture of the drain line and return line above the stand, the closer one is the drain.



And this is where they end up when you go under the stand. Now I am going to run another piece of pipe straight down into the skimmer section of the sump, but i want to get that in place and level first before I put the pipe in.

[Jeremy0322]

nd the return line is built so that i can take clean water and send it to the fuge, keeping the fuge a wee bit cleaner, and allowing me more options for controlling the return pump.



The pipe that dips in is for the fuge, and comes directly from the return pump. I teed it off so that I can control the flow to a level that i find perfect, and drilled holes in a pipe so that the water enters the fuge gently, thereby not disturbing anything.



I also picked up a light for the fuge finally, it was about 14 dollars at Lowes and seems like its going to work nicely.



Another picture of the light....

[Jeremy0322]

And just a few more pictures, because I have them... The bulbs that i used incase anyone was curious.



And a little leftover pipe, I may have overdone it at the hardware store, but they only sell 10 foot pipes.



And my best friend right now, if you ever considering doing plumbing on a tank you will NEED one of these. Made it SUPER easy...



And, finally, what the tank looks like right now.



Did a water test Tuesday and all the levels looked really good.

Temp - 80
Salinity - 1.025
Nitrates - 5
Nitrites - 0
PH - 8.0
Ammonia - .1
Phosphates - 0
Calcium - 350

[Jeremy0322]

So i tested again tonight(my every other day regiment) and this is what i got.

Temp - 80
Salinity - 1.027(fix it when i fill the tank the rest of the way)
Nitrates - 5
Nitrites - 0
PH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Phosphates - 0

What is my next move? I will get the bulbs and pumps that i need this Friday, so the tank will be ready Saturday morning. Are you supposed to jump start the process with something that can be broken down of if you just add one fish will that do the same trick? The reason I ask is because I have a sad little clown in a 10 gallon that has been dying for his new home? Thanks for the help guys.

[aquasalt]

Very nice work Jeremy! I posted in another thread about your drain pipe into the fuge. I'm thinking about adopting your idea. I recently replaced my wet/dry with a sump and am having a lot of problems with saltspray from the heavy drain.

Let us know how you like the vertical spray bar. Only disadvantage I see, compared to the more traditional horizontal spraybar, is that your concept is more likely going to be visible since most of us don't have rock all the way to the top.

As I've said before, I like your build and am enjoying your creativity and insight on this project! You're doing a nice job of documenting it as well!

[aquasalt]

Did you glue your plumbing?

[Jeremy0322]

Yes, I did glue my plumbing. And the stuff that i need is not going to come until tomorrow now. Anyways, I am contemplating adding the clownfish that I have to the tank. He has been stuck in a 10 gallon for a long time and would really like the swimming room. All of my levels have hit zero and clownfish are pretty rugged so I do not see a huge problem with it. Plus, he will give me a tiny bit of waste to get the bacteria growing again? Does anyone see a huge problem with this?

[e_baer]

I would wait a little longer. Perhaps a week?

It is better to be safe than sorry.

[Jeremy0322]

I was just trying to figure out if there was a downside and was not able to find one. I may be missing something but the tank is bigger, has better filtration and better flow, and all of the levels are at 0. I dont know what im going to do, it is probably a better idea to wait I guess, i just dont see what thats going to change.

[e_baer]

The salt is at 0ppm?!?!?!?!

jk


But, the filtration is probably not strong enough to support a fish yet. I would look into getting a coral or 2 first.

[Jeremy0322]

Yes it is, as is the PH!! lol

And for the filtration until the bio filter is established I would hope that the skimmer will suffice, and the tank should seed within a week or so, right?

[Jeremy0322]

Just a little update. The pump and plumbing and lights came in, along with everything else i ordered. It is all up and running and all I need to do is get some pictures to post. Also, if anyone has any kind of pictures or instructions for sound proofing a stand please let me know. So far it is a tad louder than I would like it, and most of the noise is coming from under the stand. There is the sound of the Durso, but that is not very bad and after tinkering with all the on off valves for a while I think that is there to stay, but if i can make the sounds from under the stand go away than I will be a happy camper.

[dinor2]

I like to set up noisemakers onto a folded old towel and space them apart from other objects... that may be hard to do with your sump though... Very cool tank btw, looks great! You put a lot of sweat, time and money into, I have to agree with elliot, patience is always the safer way to go in this hobby. Keep the pics coming!