Seattle 75, Scratch that, 120 Gallon Build
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rbarr110
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So I have been completely unsuccessful at removing the water stains. I have tried water/vinegar solution, straight vinegar, glass scraper/razer blade, bar keepers friend, and muriatic acid. The stains will not come off. At this point I am going to fill with water and hope the stains are not too visible.
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rbarr110
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I typically see people keep their heaters in the sump, but looking at my Aqueon with the built-in overflows, I figured putting my heaters in the overflow would be a good place for them. Is this a dumb idea? I have (2) 200 watt Neotherms, I figured I would place one in each overflow. I decided to go with two or three smaller heaters rather than 1 large heater for some backup if one fails.
Also is 77 a reasonable temperature to try to maintain? I see lots of people pushing 80 plus, which I thought was high.
Also is 77 a reasonable temperature to try to maintain? I see lots of people pushing 80 plus, which I thought was high.
rbarr110
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Almost got all my plumbing done now, hopefully finish tonight or tomorrow evening. As soon as plumbing is done I want to start cycling.
So here is my dumb newbie question: I know I can mix my saltwater in the tank since it has no livestock, however, is it ok to have the rock and sand in it, or should I wait to add sand and rock after it is mixed? It is dry rock and not live. I plan on adding a little live rock when I am ready to add the nitrifying bacteria to start the cycle.
So here is my dumb newbie question: I know I can mix my saltwater in the tank since it has no livestock, however, is it ok to have the rock and sand in it, or should I wait to add sand and rock after it is mixed? It is dry rock and not live. I plan on adding a little live rock when I am ready to add the nitrifying bacteria to start the cycle.
Micksfish
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dang! Well done on that diy sump, that is a super clean build on it.
Where in seattle are you? I'm in the Kirkland area, if you ever need a hand with anything happy to help! Looking forward to seeing where this build goes!
Mick
Where in seattle are you? I'm in the Kirkland area, if you ever need a hand with anything happy to help! Looking forward to seeing where this build goes!
Mick
rbarr110
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Thanks. I am in the West Seattle/White Center area.
I am super happy the sump came out. I liked the Trigger sumps, but when I saw that it would be over $550 for the one I wanted, I figured I could build something very similar for less than half that price and still have material left over for an ATO reservoir. It took more time and anxiety, was scared to mess up and waste the money on the materials, but only had one minor mess up with enough material still to fix it and still have material for a 20 gallon reservoir. I built the stand extra tall so there would be plenty of room underneath which is one of the complaints I often read that people didn't have enough room underneath for everything....at the same time it makes it so I have to use a step ladder to get into the tank.
rbarr110
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I had cut out my panel for mounting my Neptune products and realized I used the measurements for the back panel when I cut it. The mistake took the wind out my sails and I modified the panel but some of my holes for the cables are obstructed. So I can modify it slightly and make it work, but the desire to stain and finish has diminished. So I will probably end up using it still with the thought that I will redo the panel....but we know how that goes, it will probably be in use forever.
rbarr110
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OK...so Neptune equipment mounted and setup the APEX and calibrated probes. Still have to add modules and setup everything else. But getting closer. Panel not mounted, but set in place so I can run wires a bit easier.
Still need to setup COR 20 return, 2nd COR 20 to feed manifold and UV, flow meters, ATK, WXM module for lights, and the WAV pumps. SO MANY WIRES.... (photo prior to making connections)
Still need to setup COR 20 return, 2nd COR 20 to feed manifold and UV, flow meters, ATK, WXM module for lights, and the WAV pumps. SO MANY WIRES.... (photo prior to making connections)
rbarr110
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Setup the APEX the other night. I have a 120 tank and about a 40 gallon capacity sump, sump has about 20 gallons in use so about 140 gallons of saltwater in the system. I ran the calibration for the conductivity probe and calibration kept failing. Finally went through on the 4th or 5th try.
I started adding rodi water to the tank and mixed the salt in the empty tank and did not yet circulate with the sump rodi water. I didn't go for the full amount of salt needed, I didn't want to over mix/add too much salt. I got it to where I figured I would be close to 30 ppt once I mixed the sump rodi water with the tank water.
Started circulating water and the probe read 6. I let that go 24 hours and it stayed there at 6. I figured there was probably a bubble in the probe, so shook the probe, bubbles came out and now it is reading 50 and has stayed there for 16 hours. I took a reading on the refractometer and it is at about 28. The refractometer was a relatively cheap $24 item on Amazon, I am assuming it is not a great piece of hardware but should be fairly accurate out of the box ....but I could be wrong. I figure I need to re-calibrate the conductivity probe. Yes?
I started adding rodi water to the tank and mixed the salt in the empty tank and did not yet circulate with the sump rodi water. I didn't go for the full amount of salt needed, I didn't want to over mix/add too much salt. I got it to where I figured I would be close to 30 ppt once I mixed the sump rodi water with the tank water.
Started circulating water and the probe read 6. I let that go 24 hours and it stayed there at 6. I figured there was probably a bubble in the probe, so shook the probe, bubbles came out and now it is reading 50 and has stayed there for 16 hours. I took a reading on the refractometer and it is at about 28. The refractometer was a relatively cheap $24 item on Amazon, I am assuming it is not a great piece of hardware but should be fairly accurate out of the box ....but I could be wrong. I figure I need to re-calibrate the conductivity probe. Yes?
Octane13
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WOW some of the stuff that people DIY here are amazing and this is no exception, extremely clean set up!
edit: I thought I was cool 3d printing a random flow generator
edit: I thought I was cool 3d printing a random flow generator
rbarr110
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Need to add the rest of the sand, plug in heaters, and figure out exactly where my salt levels are at, then adding bacteria in a bottle to cycle.
rbarr110
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Question regarding turnover rates. I have read all kinds of things, and 10x seems to be a popular answer. At the moment I am set right about 9x turnover. However, the water falling into the overflows is LOUD. I am wondering what lower turnover is a decent amount. I want to see of the rate of falling water is decreased, will the change in noise be significant. The water is dropping about 2" or so. I am running with (2) 1" in full siphon drains as well as with (2) 3/4" open channel drain. Still need to tune the drains a little more, but is staying relatively consistent. Reference the linked youtube video to see how I copied this guy for the drains.
rbarr110
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Ugggh. I wish I would have used different shutoff valves for my drains. The lever ones that only rotate 90 degrees are way to stiff to fine tune the drain. I was ablke to get one of full siphons to balance out fine, but the other will slowly overfill and cause the open channel to gurgle about every 5-8 minutes for about 10 seconds....driving me crazy.
rbarr110
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I need some advice. I have my tank cycling and am running into top off problems with all the evaporation. My ATO works fine, and is located in the chamber with the skimmer. However, the chambered sump is losing its water level in the return pump chamber which only receives water if the water level is 8" deep or more on the refugium section.
I think I will have to locate the ATO in the return pump chamber, but makes me nervous as the return pump chamber intentionally has limited volume to prevent overfilling the tank if for some reason the drains were blocked the return section would go dry before overfilling the tank. So if the ATO is in the pump chamber, it has a much larger volume of water accessible. The ATO is a neptune ATK and technically is programmed to limit how long it will pump water and how often it comes on. So maybe it isn't a big deal but it isn't doing its job in the other chamber before the pumps.
I think I will have to locate the ATO in the return pump chamber, but makes me nervous as the return pump chamber intentionally has limited volume to prevent overfilling the tank if for some reason the drains were blocked the return section would go dry before overfilling the tank. So if the ATO is in the pump chamber, it has a much larger volume of water accessible. The ATO is a neptune ATK and technically is programmed to limit how long it will pump water and how often it comes on. So maybe it isn't a big deal but it isn't doing its job in the other chamber before the pumps.
mfinn
likes zoanthids
I keep my ato sensor in the return section specifically to keep the return pump from sucking air.
I also really like the JBJ ATO because it does have a time out feature to limit the amount of water that can be pumped at any one given time.
Plus I use a 3 drain system to help eliminate the drain getting plugged.
I don't like extra water suddenly getting into the skimmer section as that could possibly affect the skimmers performance.
I also really like the JBJ ATO because it does have a time out feature to limit the amount of water that can be pumped at any one given time.
Plus I use a 3 drain system to help eliminate the drain getting plugged.
I don't like extra water suddenly getting into the skimmer section as that could possibly affect the skimmers performance.
rbarr110
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Thanks, I figured putting the ATO in the return section would solve the problem. I technically have (4) drains, (2)-1" full siphon but not fully open, maybe 50-70%%, and (2) 3/4" fully open channel no siphon unless overfilling the overflow, so I should be ok. I will move the ATO and not worry.
rbarr110
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ATO moved, water levels are behaving but still struggling to balance my drains with my return. As of now I have about 210 gph on one pump that goes through the UV sterilizer and manifold (UV off while cycling). On my main return pump I was running about 700 gph but the overflows were loud waterfall like, so I slowed it down and currently have it around 630 gph. The waterfall sound is not nearly as loud but am struggling with balancing the drain. I either have to increase the return and open up the drains more or slow down the return and close the drains a little.
For a 120 gallon tank, what kind of flow should I put on my return pumps? As of now I am running around 800-850 total for both the pumps, but need to adjust to get my drains balanced as the shutoff valves I am using are difficult to fine tune (lesson learned, may revise plumbing to get easier to tune shut offs, at least for the full siphon drains).
For a 120 gallon tank, what kind of flow should I put on my return pumps? As of now I am running around 800-850 total for both the pumps, but need to adjust to get my drains balanced as the shutoff valves I am using are difficult to fine tune (lesson learned, may revise plumbing to get easier to tune shut offs, at least for the full siphon drains).
mfinn
likes zoanthids
After looking at your drain setup, if this were my tank and I wanted quiet drains, I would remove the fittings at the top of each drain pipe and go with a Herbie drain system.
I've done a couple tanks this way and it is very quiet. Do this with both overflows
http://gmacreef.com/herbie-overflow-reef-tank-plumbing-method-basics/
As far as total flow, I would go with 600 gph to 700 gph tops.
I've done a couple tanks this way and it is very quiet. Do this with both overflows
http://gmacreef.com/herbie-overflow-reef-tank-plumbing-method-basics/
As far as total flow, I would go with 600 gph to 700 gph tops.
