Angry Upgrade 120 to 230 Peninsula!

[AngryOwl]

Never got around to adding the sand today. Spent all day plumbing and I'm still not done. Tank is still showing 1ppm ammonia. Tomorrow I should be able to finish the rest of the plumbing... such a time consuming task. If it leaks I'm burning it down ;Hilarious

 

[elisa h]

Looking good! I love the red paint along with the red plumbing

 

[AngryOwl]

Looking good! I love the red paint along with the red plumbing

Thank you! I wish the sump was red too though... kind of ruins the theme but maybe I'll upgrade in the future! I wanted to get the plumbing done tonight but caught a bit of food poisoning :mad:

 

[elisa h]

Thank you! I wish the sump was red too though... kind of ruins the theme but maybe I'll upgrade in the future! I wanted to get the plumbing done tonight but caught a bit of food poisoning :mad:

Well the green with the red is certainly in season right now [emoji6]. I think either way it’s a nice color combo and can always be changed in the future. Sorry to hear about the food poisoning that’s never fun [emoji17]

 

[AngryOwl]

Well the green with the red is certainly in season right now [emoji6]. I think either way it’s a nice color combo and can always be changed in the future. Sorry to hear about the food poisoning that’s never fun [emoji17]

Exactly why I did it, for the holidays! It was definitely not fun at all... but I think I'm almost back to normal.

I was able to finish the plumbing yesterday and filled the tank with sand and another 40 gallons of water... bringing the total up to 160g. The tank is just about full to the point of going down the overflow box. Maybe only another 3-4 inches or 20-30 gallons.

I really wanted to try to get this tank filled up and test the plumbing today but I have to attend a Christmas party and the hosts decided to make it super late on a work night... I will attempt to sneak away the first chance I get. If it's not too late I'll try to fill it up... or we might just have to wait in suspense until tomorrow :mad:

 

[AngryOwl]

The plumbing is done! Thank magotes! I hated every single minute of it.

During testing we had a few minor problems but none of them were with my glued or threaded connections. The external overflow box leaked at the bulkheads so I added the extra gaskets I had... which I only had because they sent me an extra box from before... got lucky!

Then I had to tighten up a few bulkheads. Lastly my main drain lines gate valve ended up leaking out of the part you turn... so I swapped the primary valve and emergency. This was easy because it was threaded.

Return pump is running strong and the flow increasing nozzles put out some awesome flow without any power heads!

I think that is it for plumbing for now... I still need to plumb in the reactor and scrubber to the manifold.

On another note.... I got the sand nice and distributed in the tank and we have nitrites! I thought this was interesting timing because I originally started with some fritz zyme 9 and then added microbacter7 and then bio digest over this past week... but last night I dumped in dr tims one and only and then boom... nitrites... interesting... coincidence possibly... either way we are moving in the right direction! I think I will add the other fritz I have tonight as well.

After the cycle I plan to put my clowns into the tank. 2 from my 120g and the 2 from my 25g. Then I will break down the 25g because I need an ATO on this tank while I have both the 120 and 230g tanks up.

So much left to do!

 

[AngryOwl]

For those interested in some video explanation I uploaded two videos. One going over the design and the other to perform the leak test.

 

[AngryOwl]

The cycle is finally starting to progress more. Ammonia is slowly dropping and Nitrites are going up. Shouldn't be much longer before I can add some fish. The plan will be to add my 4 clown fish and I think I will be shutting down my IM 25 lagoon tank. Not sure if I care to keep it as a potential frag system because I am a long ways away from that. Might just sell it off to try to recover some of these costs for the 230!

 

[AngryOwl]

Placed a heater in the tank today in preparation to add some fish tomorrow! I will also take that time to transfer over my ATO from the 120 to the 230 and move the ATO on the IM 25 lagoon to the 120... something like that Either way I think we will get our first fish in tomorrow. Will test when I get home to make sure I get a warm and fuzzy feeling. My fear about adding these clowns is they will immediately start fighting.... hope not.

I just remembered I need to make the screen-tops for the tank before adding the fish.... because if they fight they might jump and I'm not having any of those shenanigans.

 

[AquaDaddy]

Excited to see some fish! I think we are doing similar builds.

 

[AngryOwl]

Excited to see some fish! I think we are doing similar builds.

Checked it out! Spot on, very similar.. even down to the minimalist aquascape!

 

[AquaDaddy]

Very cool. I'm going to be posting more pictures tonight. Black sump and red plumbing... LOL

 

[saintsreturn]

Wow, glad i found this build thread! Beautiful work thus far!

 

[AngryOwl]

Wow, glad i found this build thread! Beautiful work thus far!

Thanks! Looks like you're hard at work yourself with some really interesting projects. I keep debating on how I want my electrical box to be configured.... what I'm thinking, if you can picture it... is a simple box mounted on the far left side of my "dry" section. That box would have a cover door attached with magnets and then I would put my apex power bars and controllers on it... while behind it is a rats nest of wires no one will ever see! I think I like this idea best because the apex controller needs to be relatively close to the energy bar... and if I remove the panel to change or unplug something I don't want to go through an ordeal...

I'm going to guess no one is following what I'm saying at all so you're just going to have to stay tuned to this weekend when I make it. If I hate it I will post a picture of it destroyed ;Rage

I'll also need to run some extensions for the lights and ATO controller.... it all makes sense in my head but I assure you... you cannot handle what goes on in there...

 

[saintsreturn]

Thanks! Looks like you're hard at work yourself with some really interesting projects. I keep debating on how I want my electrical box to be configured.... what I'm thinking, if you can picture it... is a simple box mounted on the far left side of my "dry" section. That box would have a cover door attached with magnets and then I would put my apex power bars and controllers on it... while behind it is a rats nest of wires no one will ever see! I think I like this idea best because the apex controller needs to be relatively close to the energy bar... and if I remove the panel to change or unplug something I don't want to go through an ordeal...

I'm going to guess no one is following what I'm saying at all so you're just going to have to stay tuned to this weekend when I make it. If I hate it I will post a picture of it destroyed ;Rage

I'll also need to run some extensions for the lights and ATO controller.... it all makes sense in my head but I assure you... you cannot handle what goes on in there...

Actually, i feel like i am following. Sounds similar to what i did. I added in a pullout drawer method so that i can reach the wiring without any acrobatics. The magnets i used are from home depot in the cabinet section and work great. I wish i was home so i could send you the drawings i made up of it. I wanted to have the back end cleaned up, but i just ran out of GAF's once i had it put together. That said, i did use velcro straps on all wiring in the back to make sure it stayed untangled in the event i need to move something.

 

[AngryOwl]

Actually, i feel like i am following. Sounds similar to what i did. I added in a pullout drawer method so that i can reach the wiring without any acrobatics. The magnets i used are from home depot in the cabinet section and work great. I wish i was home so i could send you the drawings i made up of it. I wanted to have the back end cleaned up, but i just ran out of GAF's once i had it put together. That said, i did use velcro straps on all wiring in the back to make sure it stayed untangled in the event i need to move something.

So the pull out method is definitely an option for me as well... but I would end up losing a lot of height in that section and the door would have tons of controllers on it so it would just be more of a PITA than it's worth. Velco straps will be a plenty and I'm looking at getting some of the raceway wire tracks as well!

 

[AngryOwl]

The 230 has fish! I was able to catch each pair in about 15 minutes a piece. Just as with the 120, my bullethole and Wyoming white clowns went in first... I put them in the middle of the tank and then added the Davinci's in the same spot. There was no immediate aggression upon entry but after a few minutes the females started going after each other a bit.

So far I'd say this was 50% successful... this morning I checked on everyone and they were all doing fine and no noticeable damage and no deaths! It was funny to me because the Wyoming white (male) was hanging in the back of the tank with the Davinci's who seemed to have accepted him nicely... while the bullethole was in a little cove by herself ;Hilarious such betrayal by her spouse but maybe she should have treated him better...

I'll keep a close eye on things but they will just have to play out. Hopefully they figure out they can each one 100 gallon halves of the tank... but then again they are clowns...

 

[AquaDaddy]

I'm exploring all these options as well. I have limited space as I made my sump too big. LOL Definitely interested in what you do.

 

[NaH20nerd]

Any reason you’re not using the trigger systems sump for the new tank? I’ve just ordered the sapphire 39 and would love to hear your feed back on that sump. Seems like it would handle the 230 but I dunno.

 

[AngryOwl]

Any reason you’re not using the trigger systems sump for the new tank? I’ve just ordered the sapphire 39 and would love to hear your feed back on that sump. Seems like it would handle the 230 but I dunno.

In my original intro I mentioned I was going to DIY a 50 or 55g sump... but I changed my mind and ended up using my emerald 39 sump. I'd say this is pushing it very close to comfort in terms of holding the water that drains down... it gets really close and I have the baffle set to the lowest setting. Overall it is a great sump and works just fine! There are pictures of it plumbed up on page 10!