1000 gallon tank for a beginner!

[mythesis]

Wow just seeing this for the first time. What an incredible challenge.

Looks like you're being amazingly patient and doing great work.

Tagging in so I can follow along!

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Its been a minute! Hows it going?

Good! Lot's of progress to report.

I have built and placed a (very shallow) box for my ATO and protein skimmer to sit in in case of leaks. A drain has been plumbed in near the back wall to allow for drainage to the floor drain should a leak occur.

Speaking of ATO. That has been placed into the fish room and I have plumbed it. On side of the plumbing allows for draining into buckets should I need to empty and remove it. The other side passes through a pvc electronic valve (normally closed) that I will hook up to a Hydros outlet for auto top-offs just below it and into the sump return chamber. The protein skimmer has now been plumbed in as well. I have also rough-plumbed in a manifold for future use that runs from my top sump over to the cabinet top. Further plumbing will be much easier with that part in place.

I originally had plans to break down some old aquariums for my sump baffles. I live in a small town and each time I reached out got no answers from these folks. After striking out several times I switched gears. Enter the 3D printer which has been printing non stop for months now it seems. I designed and printed out my sump baffles.

In addition I also printed out some 7 inch-ish (custom sized to fit into my top sump) filter sock rings. In my previous freshwater setup I used 5-gallon mesh paint-strainer filters. The fit over a 5-gallon barrel and I was very pleased with their results in this prior iteration. They fit easily into my 4 filter socks as well. The rough size of the mesh is 200 microns and I found they trap the larger detritus well. I can place quilt batting into each sock should I want further polishing (this is what I did in my freshwater setup as well).

Everything was printed out in high flow PETG. It has printed well and I know PETG is reef-safe however high flow PETG types are pretty new. I couldn't find any info on their safety specifically so there's a bit of an unknown there. Anyhow, with everything printed out they were promptly secured into place with some Momentive RTV caulk.

I have installed four gyres and two octo pulse 4's into the tank. The magnets they came with were printed into large PETG encasings and then secured into place on the rock walls with water-weld. I sure wish I could hide the wires but it is what it is.

And the final and most exciting update to post... WATER! It is slowly getting filled. It takes about 20 hours or so to fill up my 100 gallon storage tank followed by mixing up the salt. I'm still dialing in the amount of salt needed by weight to reach a specific gravity of 1.026 so it's taking a little longer at first then it will with future changes. I have attached one of my two Hydros wave engines and turned on one gyre to get the water moving. Going to take the better part of the week to get it fully filled but then can get everything circulating through the sump and ensure there are no leaks from my plumbing. I still need to set up the automation for my ATO but I can manually do that until then.

Very excited to finally see water back in the aquarium. It feels like a big milestone!

 

[BristleWormHater]

Cant wait to see this tank with fish and coral!!!!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

looks fabulous!

 

[twentyleagues]

Good! Lot's of progress to report.

I have built and placed a (very shallow) box for my ATO and protein skimmer to sit in in case of leaks. A drain has been plumbed in near the back wall to allow for drainage to the floor drain should a leak occur.

Speaking of ATO. That has been placed into the fish room and I have plumbed it. On side of the plumbing allows for draining into buckets should I need to empty and remove it. The other side passes through a pvc electronic valve (normally closed) that I will hook up to a Hydros outlet for auto top-offs just below it and into the sump return chamber. The protein skimmer has now been plumbed in as well. I have also rough-plumbed in a manifold for future use that runs from my top sump over to the cabinet top. Further plumbing will be much easier with that part in place.

I originally had plans to break down some old aquariums for my sump baffles. I live in a small town and each time I reached out got no answers from these folks. After striking out several times I switched gears. Enter the 3D printer which has been printing non stop for months now it seems. I designed and printed out my sump baffles.

In addition I also printed out some 7 inch-ish (custom sized to fit into my top sump) filter sock rings. In my previous freshwater setup I used 5-gallon mesh paint-strainer filters. The fit over a 5-gallon barrel and I was very pleased with their results in this prior iteration. They fit easily into my 4 filter socks as well. The rough size of the mesh is 200 microns and I found they trap the larger detritus well. I can place quilt batting into each sock should I want further polishing (this is what I did in my freshwater setup as well).

Everything was printed out in high flow PETG. It has printed well and I know PETG is reef-safe however high flow PETG types are pretty new. I couldn't find any info on their safety specifically so there's a bit of an unknown there. Anyhow, with everything printed out they were promptly secured into place with some Momentive RTV caulk.

I have installed four gyres and two octo pulse 4's into the tank. The magnets they came with were printed into large PETG encasings and then secured into place on the rock walls with water-weld. I sure wish I could hide the wires but it is what it is.

And the final and most exciting update to post... WATER! It is slowly getting filled. It takes about 20 hours or so to fill up my 100 gallon storage tank followed by mixing up the salt. I'm still dialing in the amount of salt needed by weight to reach a specific gravity of 1.026 so it's taking a little longer at first then it will with future changes. I have attached one of my two Hydros wave engines and turned on one gyre to get the water moving. Going to take the better part of the week to get it fully filled but then can get everything circulating through the sump and ensure there are no leaks from my plumbing. I still need to set up the automation for my ATO but I can manually do that until then.

Very excited to finally see water back in the aquarium. It feels like a big milestone!

Nice update! Eagerly awaiting....

 

[Dburr1014]

I think this can be a really cool tank with that height! Are you planning to do fish and corals?

In my opinion I'd keep a close eye on the water parameters with that stone/mortar. I would probably run an ICP test after it has cycled (before inverts/corals, personally I'd do it before fish too) to make sure it isn't leeching anything toxic to corals/inverts into the water.

Agreed, and test the ph. With mortar, it may or maybe not raise the ph. I would assume it's fine after all these years but it was fresh not salt.

Edit: I didn't see this was started months ago. What an incredible journey! That looks really nice.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

One small set back. When filling up the overflow I noticed some leaking from some of the bulkheads. All of the bulkheads are at least 10 years old. Drained the overflow, ordered new bulkheads, and replaced them. The gasket was hard and brittle and had cracked. No new leaks when refilled though I noticed one of my 2 inch bulkheads on a different overflow was sweating ever so slightly. Not even enough to drip onto the floor after 3 days time. I ordered a new gasket for it and am going to take apart the pvc pipe and apply new pipe dope to it as well but am going on vacation today until late next week so will address next week when I get back. Once that is complete and confirmed dry I should be able to fill the rest of the way and begin cycling.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Arrived home this evening and got back to work. Removed the old 2-inch bulkhead and replaced with the new one. Filled the overflow with some water and so far no leak! Will let it sit like that until tomorrow evening after work. If still no leaks then I will complete the filling of the aquarium. Here's hoping for no more surprises or hiccups with plumbing!

 

[Barncat]

This is such a cool build, I can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Was really hoping to test the tank's plumbing and get the pumps running today. I have had the overflows filled up to test for further leaks and have seen nothing from the bulkheads on the one overflow I redid. Alas, I noticed some salt around the 2 inch bulkhead on the opposite end when I came home this evening and inspected the tank. I some some sweat around the pipe draining that bulkhead. I think the weight of the water column is exposing those weak areas where the were not leaking with only a small amount of water sitting in the overflows.

Although it is mentally exhausting and frustrating to keep back-tracking and emptying things out to redo I reminded myself that this is the best time to be doing these things so then when everything is truly up and running I hopefully won't run into these issues. I broke down the left-side bulkhead and replaced its gasket. The pipe thread where the pipe entered the bulkhead had very little in the way of teflon tape. I removed it and replaced it with pipe dope. I have had better luck with it on these larger pipes. Hooked everything back up and filled the overflow back up with no obvious leaks so far.

I also filled the sump up to above its bulkheads. They have already been tested before moving the sump into position, but I just want to make sure everything is still working since moving it into place. Whelp, there's always tomorrow!

 

[buruskeee]

Better now than later for sure. Make sure to tackle and add/upgrade everything you wish to do now as well.

 

[DucRacer1199]

Beautiful Build!

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Frustrating week to say the least. The left and middle overflow bulkheads are good, no leaks. The right sided bulkhead is leaking from the pipe threads where the pvc joins the bulkhead. I can see the drip forming so I know it's here and not at the gasket. It does not leak when there is only a small amount of water but when fully filled the pressure of the 3ish feet of water pressing down causes a drip once every 30 seconds or so. Tightening the pvc at the bulkhead does not help.

This is with a new bulkhead/gasket. So far I have tried teflon tape, pipe dope, and last night I broke everything down and replaced all of the pvc this time using a combination of teflon tape and pipe dope at the threads. Again no leak with a little water in it but drips when full. My current theory is a bulkhead issue. I saw now cracks on visual inspection when I pulled everything out last night but still could be. I suppose there could be a crack in the new pvc adapter I got but I had the same issue with the old pvc as well so I suspect not. Possibly badly formed threads?

My current plan is to break it all back down and go back to the old bulkhead while using my new gasket to see if it is any better. It's such a bear to reach the bulkhead to screw down and back off. I'm planning to cut out the plumbing to the sump to allow me to reach it easier and plumb in some unions here.

If it still doesn't fix things I guess I'm left with finding a slip fitting bulkhead and gluing it in permanently. If I ever have issues with it in the future though now I'll have to physically cut out the bulkhead to remove it all the while dealing with a confined space...

 

[rhitee93]

Wow, just "found" this thread. Cool build, and good luck with the debugin phase. You'll get it licked before long.

 

[McPuff]

I would go with the slip bulkheads. Although it's "permanent" how often would you need to remove it/them?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I would go with the slip bulkheads. Although it's "permanent" how often would you need to remove it/them?

If it continues I'm doing it but am going to work my way through my options before going nuclear on it. The main issue is it is hard to find anyone that carries slip bulkheads at that size. CoralVue apparently makes one but it appears to be a smaller diameter hole required for it. I'm not sure if it will work.

Edit: Actually I located one with an appropriate size hole needed. I'm ordering it to have on hand in case these other options don't work out.

 

[BryanM]

I would definitely replace gaskets/etc, just to feel better about it, especially since you've already found some leaks.

This thing is going to be awesome.

 

[Sltloser]

Frustrating week to say the least. The left and middle overflow bulkheads are good, no leaks. The right sided bulkhead is leaking from the pipe threads where the pvc joins the bulkhead. I can see the drip forming so I know it's here and not at the gasket. It does not leak when there is only a small amount of water but when fully filled the pressure of the 3ish feet of water pressing down causes a drip once every 30 seconds or so. Tightening the pvc at the bulkhead does not help.

This is with a new bulkhead/gasket. So far I have tried teflon tape, pipe dope, and last night I broke everything down and replaced all of the pvc this time using a combination of teflon tape and pipe dope at the threads. Again no leak with a little water in it but drips when full. My current theory is a bulkhead issue. I saw now cracks on visual inspection when I pulled everything out last night but still could be. I suppose there could be a crack in the new pvc adapter I got but I had the same issue with the old pvc as well so I suspect not. Possibly badly formed threads?

My current plan is to break it all back down and go back to the old bulkhead while using my new gasket to see if it is any better. It's such a bear to reach the bulkhead to screw down and back off. I'm planning to cut out the plumbing to the sump to allow me to reach it easier and plumb in some unions here.

If it still doesn't fix things I guess I'm left with finding a slip fitting bulkhead and gluing it in permanently. If I ever have issues with it in the future though now I'll have to physically cut out the bulkhead to remove it all the while dealing with a confined space...

That is frustrating but I think you/we can get it figured out! Do you have any pictures of where the drip is occuring and a picture of the bulkhead setup?

This is going to feel like a dumb question, but did you clean out the acrylic where the rubber gasket goes? I've seen residual sand in an overflow make it appear to be leaking from the pipe but in ends up being from the gasket side.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

That is frustrating but I think you/we can get it figured out! Do you have any pictures of where the drip is occuring and a picture of the bulkhead setup?

This is going to feel like a dumb question, but did you clean out the acrylic where the rubber gasket goes? I've seen residual sand in an overflow make it appear to be leaking from the pipe but in ends up being from the gasket side.

Yes, the hole was large enough to fit my hand into and clean the bottom. I have it emptied again so I can't take a picture of it leaking however I could watch the drop form in the small space where the bulkhead thread ends and the pvc adapter comes out of. There area above it is dry. I ran my hand along the outside of the bulkhead and external threads which are palpably dry as well.

 

[buruskeee]

Noob question since I’ve never had acrylic - can you silicon and seal the bulkhead from the exterior side of the tank? It might be easier to remove silicon from just one side than to cut the piping if you glue a slip in.