125 Gallon Office Tank

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Another 30 gallons in the tank. I put two power heads in there to get the water moving, so please excuse the cords. I'm not sure if that's beneficial or not, but I just don't like the thought of stagnant water sitting in the tank. I hope to have this thing completely filled by tomorrow evening.
IMG_20210708_141705.jpg
 
Ok, I definitely need to run one pump. The two pumps are bringing the water level really low in the return chamber. Once I start closing the overflow valves, the return chamber gets low enough for the pumps to start sucking air.

Right now there's a Rio 26 HF and a Rio 20 HF in there. I think I may just run the Rio 20, and tee off to both returns in the tank.
 
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One pump is working like a charm. I got the overflows balanced out this morning. So now I am adding salt a little at a time. I currently have 50 gallons worth (25 cups) in there. I'll let that mix for a while before adding more.

The entire system is around 115 gallons full. I guess I'll stop at around 50 cups then test for salinity, and go from there.
 
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Yeah, so this little Rio 20 is freaking loud. I thought maybe it was vibrating against the bottom of the sump, so I bought silicone mats. Still loud.

I pulled it out the of sump, took it apart, and the impeller and ceramic shaft are clean and in good shape.

I reassembled it, filled the kitchen sink with water, and held it in my had so it wasn't touching any part of the sink. Still droned like crazy. Its just a loud pump.

I'll keep it running for now, but I know its going to drive me crazy. I need to look at similar pumps that are a bit more quite.
 
i recommend the sicce Syncra SDC, that's what i use Ive got 2 of the 7.0 running in my tank and they are silent (like actual wow) ive got mine running at 78% and 86% and i will have to put my hand on them to feel the vibration to see it they are running and i have them sitting direct on the glass with no matt (they do have tiny silicone feet tho) they are a bit pricey but for how long they are running (like years) they are worth the investment for the reliability and come with like a 5 or 7 year warranty i also when with 2 because the return pump is the beating heart of a reef system when i start dosing or something like that i dont want to kill my tank because my sump kept getting dossed for a few hours while my pump is off then floods the system with chemicals because it hasnt been circulating (super unlikely but you never know what can go wrong and id rather have redundancy)

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So, discovered the two bulkheads we replaced were leaking again. I had to stop everything - good thing I hadn't put fish in there yet - remove the plumbing, and replace the bulkheads again.

So far, no leaks. If these bulkheads leak again, I'm quitting the hobby and moving to Tibet to become a monk.
 
Sounds like a silly question but you do have the rubbers on the right side of the bulkhead? (Under the head not the nut) failing that have you checked it's flat against the glass and did you try adding some silicone? (Only if you don't intend on ever removing it)
 
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ilawis said:
Sounds like a silly question but you do have the rubbers on the right side of the bulkhead? (Under the head not the nut) failing that have you checked it's flat against the glass and did you try adding some silicone? (Only if you don't intend on ever removing it)
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Yeah, we have the rubber o-ring on the correct side. This newest leak is the strangest thing; there has been water in the overflow for over a month, and the bulkhead only just started leaking over the weekend. It was completely dry on Friday.

So I'm going to have to cut the plumbing out install a new bulkhead with silicone, and pray to the plumbing gods that we have no more leaks.
 
Don't stress too much about small leaks btw I don't know why but it's common in a lot of tanks and the salt in the water plugs them up. Sounds like yours is a heavy leak tho but you will get it there. There is a lot of bumps in the road with getting these tanks right but just enjoy doing the puzzle
 
The pump crapped out on me. Can't say I'm angry, because I hated that thing. Ran to the LFS and picked this up.
IMG_20210803_171051.jpg


Sicce pumps are supposed to be super quiet and very reliable. I'll install it tomorrow morning and pray to the fish gods that nothing else goes wrong with this tank
 
Hey... Posts on this stopped on Aug. 20, 2020? How can you do that to your adoring fish-fans? ;Wideyed

EDIT: I think I got my dates confused... glad to see your progress!
 
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Good choice on pump! Have you got it set up yet? You find its quieter than the last one?
 
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ilawis said:
Good choice on pump! Have you got it set up yet? You find its quieter than the last one?
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I haven't yet. I'll be installing it later this morning.

I like that it has an adjustable flow rate. Hopefully that will allow me to better fine tune the drains.
 
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New pump installed this morning. Took a while to get the overflows balanced again, but everything seems to be running smoothly.

Both fish are still alive, so that's a plus. The past two days, I've been feeding them pellet food but they didn't seem interested in that. So I picked up some flake food, and they lost their little fishy minds over it. So flake food it is.
 
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IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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