New 220 Accountability Thread

[ZsWithTheFishes]

But probably don't need to worry about that with a couple chromis in there

That's my next post... I did a lot of stocking recently. Probably a little too quickly, but hopefully it will handle well given the size of the tank and how long I let it sit.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

Ok, onto the fish. The tank sat with 2 chromis & a turbo snail for ~4 months. Over the last 2 weeks i have added:
5 firefish
1 yellow tang
1 small hippo tang (adopted from a 40b)
4 more chromis
1 sally lightfoot crab
2 o. clowns
1 foxface tang
1 citron goby
1 orchid dottyback

All is as expected with parameters, and fish are healthy (I don't QT saltwater fish). I have a bit of nitrate & phosphorus, but the resultant algae is eaten quickly by the tangs. Will have pictures soon.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

And my personal favorite, the brittle star: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzgV8_Llzvw/?igshid=ub888r5khoq7

The other beasts are swimming in the background. The brittle is the star of this tank (see what I did there ).

 

[MnFish1]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EASTMAN-1-1-2-in-x-1-ft-PVC-Flexible-Schedule-40-Hose/1000365073

A couple of observations:

• The word flexible here is a... liberal definition of the word. It is not parpicularly flexible and it does not come off the roll easily. I found that it became much more flexible after being put in a tub of hot water.
• I glued this the same way as I do all PVC, but I would not trust gluing it directly into a bulkhead. It does not insert as far into the fittings as rigid PVC and combining it with the smooth edges of a bulkhead could spell disaster.

Thus came the combination design, with the flexible pieces comprising the middle of the connections only.

I will not go back to all-rigid PVC. This got rid of all the vibration from the return pump and I haven't had one leak. Not to mention how forgiving it is in design.

Looks very nice. Be a big careful though - We have this type of PVC/flexible plumbing in our water fall - about every 2 years - it slowly leaks then breaks open (in a waterfall thats not a big deal) - its fairly high pressure though - I'm not sure how much yours is.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

Looks very nice. Be a big careful though - We have this type of PVC/flexible plumbing in our water fall - about every 2 years - it slowly leaks then breaks open (in a waterfall thats not a big deal) - its fairly high pressure though - I'm not sure how much yours is.

That is the first I've heard of that. I'll keep an eye out for leaks... It sounds like i should expedite getting the stand's basin plumbed to the outdoors. I don't need a second flood.

 

[MnFish1]

That is the first I've heard of that. I'll keep an eye out for leaks... It sounds like i should expedite getting the stand's basin plumbed to the outdoors. I don't need a second flood.

Dont know - what kind of 'chemical' did you use to join them? The builder here used the 'purple' compound to join them - it took some time to leak (i.e. it wasnt anything quick) -but once it started it was not 'repairable'. I guess Im just saying make sure that whatever you use to join them is 'permanent' per the manufacturer. It looks great though

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

Dont know - what kind of 'chemical' did you use to join them? The builder here used the 'purple' compound to join them - it took some time to leak (i.e. it wasnt anything quick) -but once it started it was not 'repairable'. I guess Im just saying make sure that whatever you use to join them is 'permanent' per the manufacturer. It looks great though

Same thing here - typical PVC solvent weld with primer + cement.

I have some experience in this area outside of the fish keeping world, but I don't have as much experience with flex PVC as rigid. I know that good application of the primer is even more important than in rigid applications (little known fact: it is colored purple for inspection purposes when codes require primer). I used clear to keep it clean looking but it's the same mix. I'm assuming since the purple was there it was used on yours, and so I'm not sure what the issue could be and I can't speak to the longevity of the tubing. It does not go as far into the joints as rigid, which is why I did not trust it at all on the bulkheads. Good to know!

 

[MnFish1]

Same thing here - typical PVC solvent weld with primer + cement.

I have some experience in this area outside of the fish keeping world, but I don't have as much experience with flex PVC as rigid. I know that good application of the primer is even more important than in rigid applications (little known fact: it is colored purple for inspection purposes when codes require primer). I used clear to keep it clean looking but it's the same mix. I'm assuming since the purple was there it was used on yours, and so I'm not sure what the issue could be and I can't speak to the longevity of the tubing. It does not go as far into the joints as rigid, which is why I did not trust it at all on the bulkheads. Good to know!

Right - I think it might have to do with the pressure in the system - in a waterfall - its a much bigger pump - with a 10 foot head. So - hopefully it will be ok - I would just double check before you do the whole thing right>?

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

I decided to do some plumbing for my remote refugium today. I had plenty of flex PVC left over so I used that to plumb it to the sump:

There isn't much clearance at the top of the tank here, so getting the sand in was messy:

I decided to go with a 2in sandbed of oolite. I'm hoping to be able to grow seagrasses that don't require a deep sandbed. I was originally going to use Miracle mud but I wasn't convinced of the sales pitch after reading through some of the forums.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

In the meantime on various other updates, the skimmer is doing very well:

That's about 2 days of skimmate, which is more than I'm accustomed to seeing.

The fish look healthy as well, even though their home is in the "ugly stage."

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

I started filling it with RO water expecting to have to take most of the silly mess out. About a third of the way and I'm actually pretty pleased with the water clarity.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

Fortunately I had some salt water cooking for a different tank. It looks like I'll be putting that in the fuge today instead.

Looks like I'll be doing some cleaning today as well.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

I'm also being reminded by the occasional splash that walking around the room all day and not dropping food into the other tanks is an unacceptable practice...

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

And of course as soon as the fuge was full, the pump to the fuge died. It must be time for the obligatory hardware store run that comes with every tank build day.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

I found a pump at the hardware store. It's a little more than I want long term, but it work for now. It's in the last skimmer chamber with the return.

The rigid pvc will be safer than the hose I was going to use for the old pump -

 

[Red_Beard]

Following, it is looking really good so far! I love reading through these kinds of threads to stay motivated and get ideas for my build.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

Thanks, @Red_Beard. The forum has seemed relatively dead lately. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

I'm liking the look of the rigid PVC. The fuge pump is the thinner tube that runs up from the last chamber of the sump and then to the left to the fuge. I did not glue the portion of the pipe that goes into the pump to allow for easy removal.

Input to the fuge. It's a little blurry, I'm stuck using a subpar rental phone for pictures.

There are also no leaks in the fuge overflow, which is surprising. When I glued the PVC outputs into the two overflow exit bulkhead it appeared to melt the bulkhead plastic and took hours before it bonded. I figured I would try it and then switch out the bulkheads if it didn't work.

It's a little more flow than I prefer even on the lowest setting (I would estimate 80-100 gph just by looking at how much water is coming out), but it will work for now.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

I've never added fish to a 12 hour old tank before now.

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]