Yeah I realized that after I had cemented everything and that is actually why I have put this all aside for a while. My fish will have to wait. Im really sick of dealing with all this at the moment. Would have even been nice to have paid someone to do it. A friend of mine did that last year and it has worked out great for him!

So anyways it will most likely be a few weeks or a month until I do much more.

What kind of strainer were you thinking though? I really do not want to see a bigger strainer in the tank. I already hate how that one looks! I actually wanted something smaller. I was going to test it with this one and then see how it goes. I knew there might be a lot of suction but there are also no fish smaller than about 10" going in this tank. Maybe the eel could get hurt though...

Bigger surface area. Something like this:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pro...duct%5Fid=2457

No fish smaller than 10"??? Yikes. I would agree that fish that large shouldn't have a problem with that intake.

Well there was only going to be 2 fish. Both are around 8" or 9" now. The porc should only reach about 10-12" and the Stars and Stripes about 12-15", so yeah no fish under 10". My eel is about 24" and very strong. Im not sure he could get hurt by the intake but like I said, I was going to do a test and see how hard the suction is. Because I will be putting this project aside for a few months now, we have decided to sell the porc. I think when this does get set up, it will just be the S&S and the eel. Just makes things easier having the one fish!

Anyways...That test will not be happening for a while now. Your right about the valves on the output and input of the closed loop pumps. Thats exactly why I wanted to post everything here and hope people caught these kinds of things. Well, it would not be very hard to cut out a section of the input and add a valve but for the output, theres no room between the union and reducer. I will not have the time or desire to fix this until after the new year when I will be taking 3 months off work. I am working about 60 hour weeks right now and just do not have the time. I needed to have this tank done by last weekend before I picked up all this freelance work but it obviously did not happen, so I have no problem waiting until January to finish this up. Thats just the way things go I guess...

Well after being really discouraged and out of time the other night I stayed up until about 4am and finished the plumbing and fixed added valves to the input and output of the closed loop pump (Thank you Untamed for noticing that).

I was going to bed and thought I would go see my Stars and Stripes Puffer, "Crush", as I do every night. I couldn't find him. I looked all over the tank and finally found him in the PVC cave he usually sleeps in but he was not moving. Turned on the lights to find that Crush had passed away. I have no idea what happened, he was his usual playful, energetic self just hours earlier. This has been absolutely devastating. I did not end up sleeping at all the other night. I tested the water MANY MANY times trying to figure it out but found nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing has changed in his tank that I can find. I checked him all over and there were no marks on him. His eyes looked fine and same with his gills. I have never had a fish just die on me and I still can't believe he is gone:cry:

Crush was an incredible companion for the year I had him and he will be very, very missed. Its already weird to not see him come to the glass everytime you pass his tank and spit for food. Its so sad too that he died the night his tank was pretty much ready to go.

Anyways, really not sure whats going to happen now. Tank is ready for water testing but I just have not had any motivation for a few days now to even bother. My fiance wants me to keep going with setting it up and get my porcupine and eel in there but I am now seriously considering selling them and taking a break. Crush really was like family to us and its been so hard to see him go...







Sorry about the length of that. Its just been very upsetting.

I'm so sorry to hear that.

I know how you feel (well, we probably all do, at some point). Take some time to grieve but press forward. You'll likely have more regrets about ending it on a note like that than if you kept with it.

That's so sad, sorry.

Dang GSP, I am sorry to hear that, but like delphinus said, Take a breather, then come back. You know youll kick yourselff if you dont.

Thanks. I have lost fish in the past of course but its never felt like this. None of them were quite as personable as this guy or really connected with me like he did.

Oh yeah I can't give up the hobby for sure. I just meant I may take some time away from it for a bit but I doubt it because Im pretty attached to my porc too and I would have to give him up.

Thanks to all you guys for the support.

I really do wish I knew what happened though. I guess it doesnt matter but I can't help but feel I did something wrong, just can't think of what it could have been.

Oh man sorry to hear about Crush.

Im glad your sticking with it

J

Thanks Jason. Well everyone here makes it impossible to give up because you constantly see great, beautiful tanks and fish! Plus you guys have all been so helpful with setting this tank up over the past month or so, I would hate to see it all go to waste.

I guess my fiance and I will rethink the sticking of this tank now but most likely it will be the same just with one less. Maybe just the Porcupine and eel. My fiance has always wanted a Dogface Puffer but I do not think I want another Puffer.




Jason I was just checking out your Tank Blog and man that FTS is gorgeous! What a beautiful tank! I was actually just out in Ladner last weekend, I should have seen if you had a few minutes to show it to me. Maybe next time.

Well I was just looking through old pictures of Crush back in the big tank and thought I would post a few...


He looks so little in these pics!

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/DSC00100.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/DSC00069.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...DSC00142-1.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/DSC00058.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/DSC00145.jpg

Ok, back to the tank!

I filled the tank with about 10G of water this morning but had to stop. Seems that the overflow has a slow leak near the bottom, so when I add water tot he tank it gets into the overflow a little. This is obviously a problem.

My question is, do I need to get the water back out completely to add more silicone to the overflow or can it be done wet? Im guessing it all has to come out.

You will need to remove the water for the silicone to set up properly

Good to see you're moving ahead.

If it's the overflow tower itself, does it really matter if it leaks?

Realize yours is laid out different, but thinking on mine with the heights of the Dursos and room in the sump, if the towers leaked, wouldn't matter.

Now if it was the overflow bulkheads...

I guess the only thing is that if it was leaking into the overflow with only 10g of water then it's probably worth addressing now. Ordinarily I wouldn't sweat a tiny leak into the overflow if the tank was full and the overflow empty, it just means the water would equalize into the overflow. But if you had a short standpipe or just a strainer on the bulkhead (eg. if it was a Herbie overflow) then potentially the water level in the tank is at risk in a power fail situation, so in that case I'd fix it. But I think if you're noticing water slip in with only 10g then it's probably going to be a pretty fast leak when the tank is completely full, so I think either way, better to say a few swear words now (Well OK that's only if you're me ;) ), then err on the side of caution. It's easier to deal with this now (and not ever know if it's "really" needed) than to find out down the road when there's livestock in there that it IS a problem and you have to deal with it then.

Just my $0.02 :) Murphy's Law and all that ;)

If you're are going to re-silicone, might want to check if you can just smear some new over the old or would you need to cut out.

When I re-did a QTank, I just cut out the fillet but didn't worry about where the plates actually met and worked okay.

Ya, if your sump can handle the whole tank draining down to the level of your drains, then no problem. I would, for piece of mind want my sump to be able to hold all the tank water down to drain level. That way, if there is a problem in future, you know for sure that the sump will not overflow.

Yeah I would too but this is a Herbie overflow and therefore the bulkhead is on the bottom and no stand pipe except for the emergency one. This is actually why I wanted a bit of a standpipe but people here were telling me not to have one at all. On RC I have seen most people use a short standpipe for the main drain of the herbie.

Thing is, its a small leak at the bottom of the overflow but if the power went out, it could drain the entire tank, slowly. I hope I can just add more silicone ontop of whats there but Im not sure. How can I tell if I need to cut it all out or just put a good layer ontop?

The overflow itself is very stable and well attached. I tried before to pull it off to see how well it was attached and it wouldnt budge. I used so much silicone on the outside of the overflow that Im really surprised it has a leak! I think it may be just in the corner where the overflow glass meets the tanks silicone.

I don't know how to make the call on pre-cutting the old or just gooping over top.

When I make an overflow, it's never a thing of beauty and it usually takes me 2 or 3 tries before it's completely watertight (I usually just goop over top).

I suppose you could try gooping over top and see how it goes. Hope for a lucky break :) Or if you're feeling ambitious, just cut it and reseal it. But it's probably worth resealing on both sides of the overflow (if you can).

Ahh, ya. I was thinking about the herbie style, but with my first time siliconing plexi to glass, and the worry about a leak, thats why I went Durso. That and I am to lazy to drill my tank for larger bulkheads LOL

No stub at all? You just have a open bulkhed in the bottom of your overflow?

Can't see why you wouldn't have a stub but just lower than your emergency standpipe for issues just such as this. Think tuning would be similiar, you have a pipe run below you bulkhead so just basically just adding an extension above.

Well I had a stub with a strainer and a few people told me not to do that. I think I will go back to a stub but forget the strainer. There really is not reason I can think of not to have a small pipe on the bulkhead...Like you said, its really no different than an open bulkhead. I think then I can just goop a bunch of silicone ontop and hope it works. If not, at least the whole tank will not drain if power goes out, just to below the short length of pipe.

Actually Herbie himself has a standpipe for both the regular drain and emergency drain...Not that his is necessarily the best but it seems to have been working for many years now.

Well I have most water drained now. Its going to be hard to get all the water out completely...Maybe I should bust out the wet dry vac!

I found the leak, it was a small gap in the corner. I added a bunch of silicone on the inside of the overflow and outside. It looks ugly but I think it should work.

How long does silicone take to cure? I want to water test as soon as I can.

The silicone should be nicely cured tomorrow, if you never put it on real thick. I bond auto parts instantly and put into service within the hr, but the tank, I would wait overnigth

I did put it on pretty thick, so I will wait a few days. I am in no hurry anymore because Crush is gone and now my porc has ich all of a sudden. I have never seen a fish so covered in ich but yet show no other signs of being bothered by it. Its so bad that its ALL over his body, every fin and even a bit on one eye. But he keeps swimming, eating, nothing different about him. He will now go into QT with hypo for 6 weeks. So like I said, no hurry anymore to get this tank up. It will just sit there with no fish anyways!

Damn, sorry to hear that. I got a silly Q though, I have been in FW for years, but never got desieases that I know about, but occasionally, a neon will pass etc. What does Ich look like?


My SW tank is on hold for a while too. Financally in trouble ATM. First time in 5 years that the overdraft is maxed out. OOPS my bad. Got carried away buyin tank stuff, and finishing my snowmobile project.

I took a bit of time away from this tank and feel much better about finishing it now! I filled the tank with RO water today and began testing the CL...I think its too much flow. Im not so sure my puffer will like it. Seems a little bit too strong. Im not sure yet what I will do to fix that but otherwise the closed loop works well. A little less flow on the left side as I thought but still a good amount. Actually the left side is better than the right because its a bit less...Only other problem so far is that the pump is way too loud! Im not sure if it will get quieter but Im scared to turn it on again when my fiance is home. I promised her this tank would be quiet:neutral: Maybe it will get a bit quieter once its used a bit longer...One can only hope!

I will post pics soon.

Yeah so the Sequence 5800 pump is WAY too loud, not to mention the amount of vibration is ridiculous! So I have absolutely no idea now where to go from here...Even the Mag18 is too loud...The skimmer is too loud...Man this all really sucks. :sad:

How is it loud? What type of PVC are you using? (sorry, haven't read the whole thread, maybe you already said). The reason I ask is because, some people use spa flex PVC to connect their return/closed-loop pumps so that it absorbs some of the rattle or chatter. Additionally, maybe you could put the pump on some neoprene or something to absorb the noise? Line the stand with something (carpet? too ghetto?) to absorb more noise?

Its Flex PVC already and I have a few layers carpet Underpad under the pump. Its quite loud. Loud enough that watching TV with it on is annoying. The floor under the stand is vibrating and Im sure would **** off the people downstaris eventually...It ****ed me off after about 10 minutes.

I may try some of your suggestions but I think we may get rid of the pump all together and go back to powerheads. Im not sure though what I would do with the bulkheads though...I guess just plug them???

WOW. My Mag18 is pretty quiet acctually. Much quieter than I had thought it was going to be. You must have sensitive ears LOL

Did it get quieter after using it for a while? Mine was bought used and is a few years old, maybe thats the problem. Whatever the reason, we have decided we HAVE to replace all the pumps or else just scrap the project. I think we have decided though to just go back to powerheads and forget the closed loop. Its the biggest problem. Hopefully it will all work out.

At the start people where commenting on the monster pump and you posted quiet. Realize now it's plumbed but what's really changed, how where you running it on the test, what was it sitting on, was the fan pointing the other way, etc?

If you can't get it quieted down don't abandon your plumbing but look into what might drop in it's place. I've got a Dart (same make, sort of) and a close fit (2" in, 1.5" out). It's not whisper quiet but can guarantee way more quiet than yours. There's also the Snapper.

Quote from a marinedepot page "Quiet Sequence pumps installed near areas of relaxation and entertainment generate minimal noise levels For example, the 1/4 H.P. unit has 52 dB noise level at 10`. A normal conversation is 60 dB for reference." And the Dart is 1/8HP.

If you can try to hear one though first. I offered a reefer in Edm to come over and hear mine, I sure someone in Van would do the same.

It did seem quiet when I ran it in my bathtub with some old plumbing I had. It was on the floor there. I have no idea why its SO loud now. One of the biggest problems is how much it vibrates in the stand and all the way to the floor. I can feel it from across the room! Regardeless of what we do, it will be without this pump and most likely with powerheads instead of a closed loop. Ive pretty much had it with this build and just want to enjoy a tank!

I have followed this thread from the beggining, as the tank that I wanted is very simalar, it has been interesting to follow the planning and progression of the tank. Hope that you find something that works for you. Hopefully I have better luck with my plumbing / equipemnt (next week!) then you have had.

I hope you have better luck too!

Well I got the pump a lot quieter with carpet under it but I still think I may go with powerheads instead. If I can sell the pump in the next week, I will grab a few Tunze Stream 6080's. Im still glad I tried to closed loop because I have never built one but with such a shallow tank, its really not working too well.

For now, we have decided just use a few Koralia 4's for flow until next year when I will upgrade to Tunzes. We already have one Koralia 4 and a Seio 1100 to use and will add another Koralia 4. That along with the Mag 18 return, should be enough flow. This way my fiance get the sand she wanted too! I think I can hide most of the powerheads behind the very tall rock pillars, so it will not be so bad. You could see all the closed loop outlets anyways and they stood out pretty bad, so a few powerheads will not make any difference. I would buy the Tunzes now but it was working out to be about $1000 and we are going on vacation soon...not a good time! I think I will buy them in the New Year when we get back. Darn Canadian dollar is screwing things up too (I get paid in US dollars). Anyways, I will set it all up by tonight and finally should have the LR in the tank! YAY!

So I capped the Bulkheads from the closed loop and will be using powerheads like I said above. I ended up deciding to buy two of the mods kits for Maxi Jet 1200's making them 1600 GPH and they are quite impressive now. I also bought 2 Koralia 3's. I thought the 4's were WAY to big and would be a huge eyesore. The 3's are much smaller and along with the Modded Maxijets and mag 18 return, will be more than enough flow. Although I would have like to keep the closed loop, this has turned out very good I think. You will see 2 powerheads near the top of the tank and the others are hidden. I think I will keep the maxijets in sight since they are even smaller than the Koralias.

If anyone is interested, I will post pics. Most of the LR pillars are also done and looking pretty good. The first 2 reach right to the top of the water. It creates a pretty cool look.