Nano No More!

reef_junkie · Jul 6, 2016

If you have threaded bulkheads the standard thing to do is use a Male threaded barb fitting for return and a threaded make adapter for hard pipe.

DracoKat · Jul 6, 2016

@reef_junkie I am either sleepy, or not getting it. lol

I have male threaded bulkheads.. I'll either need a female to go over it and 1.25 inch pipes... or a 1 inch non-threaded coupling or something to go INSIDE.. right?

reef_junkie · Jul 6, 2016

Oh, you have slip bulkheads. You glue in 1" pvc pipe not a fitting. Use green traditional cement for the pvc-to- bulkhead but standard glue for the rest of the pvc.
That's if they are 1" bulkheads but the process is the same no matter what size pipe your dealing with.

DracoKat · Jul 7, 2016

thank you!! That makes sense. Got it! Tonight just some trimming of the pipes, I want to try a different valve since the ball valve is hard to turn and the pipe isn't mounted to anything- if I can't get an easier gate valve, I'll mount the pipe to the stand.

Then I can glue and let it cure for a few days before I fill up this weekend!

Agamerce · Jul 7, 2016

No help here with that question and a picture. One thing that did stand out to me about sump is the bags. Bags will collect a lot of things, but I recommend stocking up and changing them once or twice a week. Yeah, you can clean it out regularly but you will still just be contaminating the water after very long

DracoKat · Jul 7, 2016

Smart advice, I do need to order extras so I can switch them without getting the gunk into the water while I clean the used ones.

I heard I can throw the used bags into the wash with a bit of bleach to reuse them and clean them well

Agamerce · Jul 7, 2016

Sounds good.

DracoKat · Jul 7, 2016

I am planning on filling my tank this weekend.. I am dreading the thought of filling a large bucket of water, mixing with salt over night and putting into the tank..

I am wondering if I can fill the tank directly with RO water, and slowly add the salt to the sump to bring up the salinity that way? or is it bad for the dry rock? (Once water is filled and salinity is to par, I am going to add some LR and sand from my existing tank)

Agamerce · Jul 7, 2016

Honestly, go to lowes or HomeDepot and buy a brute 32 gal trashcan with a lid. That much tank, you will thank me later.

Agamerce · Jul 7, 2016

Never heard anyone recommend in-tank mixing. There are times when you will need fresh RODI without salt mix. Consider buying two trashcans or having a small bucket hold-over. Nice place to bulk all-at-once RODI, and time saver.

DracoKat · Jul 7, 2016

thanks

I have a 32 gallon tub that I'll be using. Was hoping to cheat a little, but guess I really shouldn't!!

I got my sump all plumbed in. I decided to just glue the pieces together, as they're small and I really don't think I'll be adding extra equipment for this tank. Not photo'd, but I have braided flexible tubing attached to the pump and to the hard PVC

DracoKat · Jul 8, 2016

Tonight I will start to fill the bin with RO water and salt to mix over night. Fill the tank tomorrow morning.. and refill the bucket again.. and top off the tank.

I am a bit nervous about turning the sump on. how much water should I have in both sump and DT? Fill the DT up and sump to the baffles? I want to test in case of power outage.. not exactly sure how to do this either. Advice please?

Agamerce · Jul 8, 2016

I would start with the tank first. You can pull the pump out of the sump to pump water into the tank until you get another one or setup permanent solution. In short, you need enough water to ALWAYS keep the pump wet. Never dry run.

DracoKat · Jul 8, 2016

that's a good idea, using the pump to fill the tank. I didn't think about that. it'll make my life easier, lol

DracoKat · Jul 8, 2016

my 32 gal brute can is now being filled up with RO water and salt. about a 3rd of the way through, then I'll let it sit overnight with the pump to dissolve the salt. Pump that into the tank tomorrow after I add the sand.. then do it all over again with another batch to fill up the the rest of the way!

When the first batch of water is in, depending on how much, I'll add the sand and a rock or two from my existing tank to get the cycle going. Will have to test my plumbing job tomorrow too. I am confident about it!

DracoKat · Jul 9, 2016

Tank is 1/3 filled.. refilling can now. going to take all weekend, lol.

decided to go with shallow sand bed in my tank, and deep bed in my sump. Hope this is OK

DracoKat · Jul 10, 2016

Tank, and sump filled! Sump is running smoothly. Had a little issue with the overflow, but all fixed now (Thanks to some amazing people helping out on another thread)

I set up my ATO and heater in the sump.

I put in about a cup of sand from my established tank into the new, and a few small rubble- hopefully that'll kick start the cycle.

My skimmer is also set up, but it's going crazy, bubbling over. the cover is not staying down and I can't seem to adjust the pump. I turned it off for now, but anyone have ideas how I can keep it from pushing the cover off and splattering everywhere? the link is the skimmer I have
http://www.coralvue.com/classic-225int-protein-skimmer

Agamerce · Jul 11, 2016

Buy a shrimp (grocery store kind) or, my preference, aqua vitro bacteria to start cycle. It's $10 for AV.

You will also need AV bacteria, or whatever you choose, for water changes for some time too.

DracoKat · Jul 11, 2016

Thank you @Agamerce for the advice! I will look into the AV and see what it's all about

DracoKat · Jul 11, 2016

I dropped in half a shrimp into the tank.. it was a medium/large size.

oohh, I forgot a friend of mine gave me a Reefkeeper Lite controller a while ago! Needs a new probe, I broke the end.. oops. at least the probes are cheap to replace.

Now I need to figure out how to work this thing, lol