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Daplatapus's 77 Gal
Well, I thought I would get a couple pics up of my system. I had this tank since 1992 but was running Cichlid's in it for a few years back in Alberta. When we started thinking of moving from Alberta my sister took it for a few years and it was treated fairly roughly so now it has tons of scratches. But it still holds water and I was dying to have SW fish. I had no experience what-so-ever and didn't really know what I was in for. We've since moved to the island and got the green light from the wife to set it up :D
I pretty much started last March, reading everything I could. Along the way I've made mistakes but hopefully have learned from them (like not using copper and Amquel together :( ) Anyway... by late Aug last year I felt I was ready to start ordering some gear and putting this thing together. Here's a couple pics of some equipment I purchased over the summer last year. Skimmer http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...skimmerbox.jpg refractometer http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ractometer.jpg RO/DI system http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...agecloseup.jpg heaters and Koralia's http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...powerheads.jpg |
And here's the tank I am using. A 77 gal Hagen tank. Dimensions absolutely suck for aquascaping, a fact I didn't really realize until after. 48" long, 24" tall and only 16" front to back.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...eforepaint.jpg I got the tank drilled on the bottom corner and siliconed 2 pcs of glass and the plan was to laminate 2 pcs of abs sheet overtop with the overflow teeth cut into it. The pic above is just before painting the back with Krylon Fusion. and after painting... http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...kfirstcoat.jpg water testing http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...kleaktest3.jpg glass partitions for the over flow http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...erflowpic2.jpg and the abs sheets to be laminated over http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...lowbaffels.jpg |
Here's the stand the whole thing is going on, again Hagen original from 1992. It's solid plywood, some of the tape is lifting off the edges and my brother in law (who's a cabinet maker) replaced the top tie 3/4" plywood and it's a bit ugly but still really solid.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...standholes.jpg I'm plumbing everything down to my 6' basement where I placed my sump. Again remember I've never done this, have never seen this done and only have a ton of reading under my belt. I'm fairly handy (I'm a renovation contractor) but I was really nervous about all this. Thankfully the wife was back in Alberta visiting friends so drilling holes in the walls and fishing spa flex through the floors and walls was a bit less nerve racking :) Here's the 1 1/2" safety line being run through the cabinet. I'm running a full siphon herbie into a 80 gal sump. http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...nsthustand.jpg and here's the main drain. I started out with a 3/4" line but it proved too small for my pump. I am using a Laguna 2900 pond pump and figured I was pushing around 1000 gph after the 12' of head but the 3/4" siphon was probably a couple hundred gph short of that. I was already drill for 3/4" bulkhead and it was a bit late to change now so I just transitioned as quickly as I could to 1 1/4" on both sides of the bulk head and it works like a charm. The only disadvantage I can tell is it is does creat a bit of turbulence in the line and sometimes you can hear the water rushing through the bulk head, but the house has to be dead quiet to hear it. http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...pus/safety.jpg |
I'm really kicking myself for not drilling my supplies. Anyway, here's a pic of the plumbing for them before the tank was slid into place.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...upplylines.jpg and another of it pretty much in place http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...eekingover.jpg |
Moving down into my basement now. I read voraciously on RC for months. On there I found prints from Rocketengineer on stand building and built a stand of a bunch of old cedar 2X6 decking and some 4X4's I had laying around. Here's the cut pcs:
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...dmaterials.jpg midway through assembling http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...sumpstand2.jpg and the finished product http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...sumpstand3.jpg |
Just to the right of the stand is my hot water tank and water distribution for the house so I thought it was as good a place as any for my RO/DI system. so here it is.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...oseupflash.jpg I also got a couple Brute 30 gal cans for RO/DI storage and SW mixing. I still haven't got the mixing station built but am working on it. http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...lshotflash.jpg have to go to work but will post more later |
Nice Job
Very neat setup, and I'm sure that stand would survive a nuclear blast.
:lol::lol: What are your plans for the tank? Full reef ? |
Nice job so far. My 77 is a Hagen as well, purchased used a number of years ago. No idea how old it is, but it's pretty robust that's for sure, no center brace needed apparently. Interesting that you mention your stand is solid plywood. I've peeled a little of the black vinyl off the bottom piece of mine & it looks like very high density presswood. Not sure about any of the other parts, doors etc, haven't peeled any vinyl off those to check. Perhaps mine is a bit newer than 1992 & they went from plywood to presswood to increase the profit margin in later years.
Mine is not drilled, running sumpless but also have plans for a new tank with basement sump. Aquascaping is a bit of a challenge as you mention with the narrow 16 inch side dimension. I have two groups of rock more or less running down the center so I'm able to clean most of the glass, although there are a couple of spots I can't get with the magfloat where one rock & a coral are too close to the glass. C'est la vie. My livestock seems relatively content with the way things are arranged, but I guess they don't have a choice, they're stuck with where they are for the moment. Your RODI system looks bomber. Might even be overkill for your area. Not sure about Victoria, but I know from reading various threads here that the Vancouver folks have very low TDS water to start with. Some of them could probably run DI only to get pure water & the DI media would still last a long time. You've got a TDS meter built on to yours, might be an idea to see what your tap water TDS is and tune your RODI rig for better efficiency. If TDS is really low, you may be able to run one or more of your housings empty & save money on filter media plus increase production with less waste water. Looks like it also includes a booster pump, which may or may not be required depending on incoming water pressure. If you're on a well, the booster pump will definitely help production. Looking forward to seeing more. I started SW with no experience either (not even a freshwater tank) and aside from the odd newb mistake, haven't had any major set backs. |
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The original plan was just FOWLR but it's funny how that changes as soon as you put water in it :D It's 9 months old now and counting and I have fish, LPS softies and SPS in it. |
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Yeah, no center brace in mine although if you put your eye to the front panel it's got a clear deflection to it, maybe 3/8" or so. But It's always had that so not too worried. I did re-seal it when I got it back from my sister and other than some cracking on the top rim that oozes salt creep (that drives me nuts!) it's still a great tank. My rock work ended up being just a wall with a couple top pieces leaning on the back glass with a bit of epoxy in-between. I too have a couple pieces too close to the sides and can't clean as well as I probably should. Not real happy with it and I'm going to try re-aquascaping once I get my nano up and running. I'm going to try and move 30% of the rock to the nano and the sump. As far as the RO/DI system, you're totally right, way over kill. I tested the incoming water once I had it set up and if memory serves me correctly it was around 70 TDS or so. after the RO it's 0. I actually never thought of skipping a chamber, thanks for the idea. My house pressure is barely 60psi and with the 2nd reef miser membrane they recommended at least 80 psi to get the 1:1 discharge rate. I'm on a water meter so water conservation is pretty key for me. |
I got a used 80 gallon from my lfs for cheap for my sump. Here's a pic of running spa flex from upstairs down to the sump and getting my baffles set up.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...umpre-seal.jpg Water testing the refugium side of the sump http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...mpleaktest.jpg This Version 1 of my drain plumbing. http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...thskimmer2.jpg And from the other side http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ithskimmer.jpg To get the right height for my skimmer I cut 4 pieces of 4" ABS and drilled a bunch or 2" holes in it all. I took all my LR rubble and packed it into them once I got the system up and running. And yes, that is the remnants of my under gravel filter I used as my skimmer platform :) |
Here's where I finally had just fresh water in it trying everything and leak testing.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...umprunning.jpg I quickly learned that because the water level in my skimmer section was lower than the water level in my refugium section it won the battle with gravity and I'd estimate 95% of the water goes to the skimmer section. Turns out that was a blessing in disguise. It first plumbed it as you see in the earlier post with 2 ball valves after the T. I never was able to balance the system out. I ended up cutting in a gate valve above the T and it works great now. |
Next step was getting sand and salt water mixed up and in the tank. I went and bought 120 lbs of Tonga LR and because of time constraints had to just shove it all in the DT.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...Tsept26-11.jpg It sat like that for at least 2-3 weeks. I ended up sticking 3 cocktail shrimp in there over that period. They totally disintegrated and dissolved in the tank and I never saw any ammonia, Nitrite or nitrate. To this day, I've never seen any of the 3. Version 2 of the sump drain plumbing looked like this http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/PA042084.jpg and my first attempt at aquascaping which is pretty much how it looks now. Although I may have moved 1 or 2 top pieces http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...atapus/fts.jpg |
Within a couple weeks I had tons of weird little things growing and crawling all over the place. After 8 weeks I decided I was never going to see a cycle and got some critters. With the addition of a dozen or so snails and some hermit crabs I bought a Yellow watchman goby which I still have and a skunk cleaner shrimp.
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...tapus/ywg2.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ingstripe2.jpg next was a pathetic piece of GSP http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/.../starpolyp.jpg |
Then came a peppermint shrimp and a pair of Occellaris clowns which to this day have not hosted anything :(
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...apus/Nemos.jpg A couple nights after I got the clowns the male decided to go hardwood floor surfing :( http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...peppermint.jpg I also got a blastomussa which I didn't know how to care for and pretty much melted with my MH's http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...stomussa-1.jpg It has since rebounded and is doing quite well now. I also added a little zoo colony and a torch http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/PB052211.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...torchcoral.jpg And here's a FTS after about 4 or 5 months. You'll notice a few other additions from what's been mentioned thus far. http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/PB172253.jpg |
With all that was going on in the tank I had a tough time keeping my PO4 under control, and my over feeding didn't help either. So I got a couple BRS reactors and started running GFO and carbon. I had a heck of a time with running the reactors with Maxijet's so gave up and plumbed a manifold off my main pump to run them
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...atapus/2-2.jpg |
Fell in love with this guy at the lfs so got him
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/PC042282.jpg |
Great job on the scape, lots of caves and places for coral.
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Next addition was a starry blenny
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/P3052534.jpg A kenya tree. If you EVER think of getting one of these... STOPPP!!!! DO NOT GET ONE :D They are constantly dropping arms all over and you'll never get it out http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/P3052530.jpg |
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I also added a cool green duster
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/P3052531.jpg and a fire fish http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/P3052529.jpg and a couple sps http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/P3052528.jpg |
Nice lookin' setup. I'm happy for ya with that massive sump. Nothing like having lots of water :wink:
How's the algae doin' with the GFO and how long have you had the reactor running ? |
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I think I still have algae problems. I've been running GFO now for probably 3-4 months, the high capacity stuff from BRS, and there's still stuff growing that I wish wouldn't. I have one rock almost completely covered in Halimeda which is cool. But I have others that have Dictyota dichotomy. It was ok at first but now it's spreading and from what I read, nothing really eats it regularly and I have to get in there and mow it every week or so. I may have to pull all the rocks with it on and cook it or something. Still not sure how to deal with it... I'm pretty sure I'm still overfeeding and no doubt that plays a lot into it. |
Well, I made the big jump to a good size pump last week. I bought a used hammerhead pump from grizz and plumbed it into my system. The pump I had was a bit small and I think was under performing given the fact it was pushing 9' of head from my basement sump to my living room display. I also wanted to add another tank in my dining room for a couple fish that seemed to be not getting along with my yellow eye hole tang and starry blenny. I ended up setting up a 25 gal cube tied into the main system. According to the flow chart, the hammer head was a bit much flow so I got reefflo to send me the barracuda impeller for $20. I also hot tapped my sump (talk about exciting). I drained the return section of the sump leaving the skimmer and refugium full and drilled the side of the tank for a bulkhead to feed the new pump. :)
Everything worked perfect. I plumbed in the new cube and new pump. I was still a bit concerned about how much water this thing was going to flow so I added 2 bypass valves. But after firing it up and waiting until the siphon caught on both tanks I was able to shut both bypass valves totally off. I figure my flow has increased in my main display to about 1400 gph from slightly over 1000. I figure the cube is getting about 350-400 gph. I'm also feeding my refugium and 2 reactors off the main pump. I'm getting a bit of vibration running up the main supply line and it's transferring a bit through my floor joists, so I have to work on that. While I was plumbing the new bulkhead and line to the suction side of the pump, I also Y'd off and provided a valve for draining the system for water changes and plumbed it over to a floor drain. I plan on taking the old Laguna pump and using it for a mixing station pump. Bought all the fittings yesterday, just got to find time to get it done. |
Well my job for today fell through so I had the day to plumb in my mixing station and work on the vibration issue with the main return pump. Turned out some of the spa flex was a bit tight on my floor joist and the platform the pump was sitting on was resonating the vibration through everything. I had a chunk of 6" thick rigid styrofoam so sat the pump on that and shortened one length of spa flex and the vibration noise is now 90% gone :)
I plumbed in my original Laguna pump in between my RO/DI barrel and SW mixing barrel and plumbed it all into the main manifold for my reactors. I can now drain my sump by turning a valve and it goes directly into a drain. Then by opening a couple more valves and hitting a switch I can fill it back up from my SW mixing barrel. A couple more valves opened and closed and I can pump water from my RO/DI storage/top off barrel into my SW mixing barrel. Another couple valve turns and I can use the pump to recirculate the SW mixing barrel as I add the salt. Once it's all dissolved I turn the pump off and turn on my little Koralia 1040 I have in there to keep it moving. In less than 10 min, I changed 30 gal in the DT, and mixed a new batch of SW. I never even got my hands wet :) I'm totally stoked. Pictures to follow... |
I love hearing about water change stations coming together...that is my most hated job in reefing and my new tank will work just like you described above.
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Thought I'd throw up some recent pics.
FTS http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0057.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0063.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0062.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0061.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0060.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0059.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0058.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0057.jpg Weird how every time I pull out my camera the fish scatter. 90% of the time I turn the flash off but they seem to know the camera when they see it. |
love the tank looking really good, the color of the lights are a crisp white,.:biggrin:
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Took a couple video's of my latest addition to my 20 gal cube and my main DT. Hope you all enjoy. If anyone knows what might be wrong with my clam in the main DT video, I'd love to hear what it might be. It was a rescue from a friends tank and I've no idea about clams or what to do about it.
http://youtu.be/0JMXDKphrJk http://youtu.be/UYxq-uKTGVI |
Finally finished my DIY LED light. The OCW's I put on there have optics and I can see red's on the sand bed. But then again my light is just sitting on some eggcrate I have over the tank. I'm hoping when I get the mount built for it 12" over the tank that'll go away. I guess time will tell. Sorry about the crappy video but my cell is the only digital movie camera I have. The colours look way better in person.
http://youtu.be/Sxlgnli6G-M |
I was bored yesterday so took a few pics of some corals in my 77 DT and my 20 gal cube.
I've certainly noticed growth rates pick up since adding my calcium reactor a month or 2 ago. Way steadier Ca and dkh levels. Anyway, let me know what ya think... http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0372.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0370.jpg Is it possible for Mandy's to be too fat? http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0366.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0365.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0357.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0355.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0353.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0352.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0351.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0350.jpg |
Bum Bum Bum
Rainy today and don't feel like working outside :) Today is D-Day for switching this: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/PB172259.jpg That is a really old pic of the sump, several mods were done to it including a water change system, Calcium reactor, etc etc etc. This is the new sump http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/newsump4.jpg Wish me luck.... |
The new Sump looks Slick!
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Ya, once I figured out that first 1/4" line I tried using wasn't seating in the JG fitting and switched it out for new stuff, all's been good. I really like it. Well it is semi-finished. I still have some shelving to re-build to put the Ca reactor and the Mg dosing equipment and clean up some stray wires and hoses, but it's up and running. I also have to still plumb in the drain to the floor drain for my water changes but that's just a couple elbows to re-tie that back in where it used to be. The new filter sock configuration is AWESOME! And for some reason even my main herbie drain from the 77 gal catches siphon faster than it used to, not sure why. I replaced my glass heaters with a couple 300W Titanium heaters and put them in the upflow from the filter socks to the skimmer section. The one section that has the pile of rock in it is going to house my algae turf scrubber and the rock will end up in the 210 when I get it set up. Still researching those upflow ATS so it may be a bit for that. I've drilled the bottom of the return chamber and the pump is fed from under the tank. Any thoughts to the new setup? Do any of you see anything I might have missed that will cause me headaches in the future? http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0394.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0392.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMAG0391.jpg |
you can use neomag or zeomag as magnesium media in the reactor, 10% of the total media used in the reactor. or just fill the second chamber with it.
than you don't have to dose magnesium. |
GAH! I have flat worms. I don't see them at all in my main DT but there's got to be a couple hundred all of a sudden in my cube (which is all tied together through a common sump).
For some reason I was expecting something much larger. But I can see a bunch on my front glass and maybe some on the base frag plugs of a couple sps. Arghh... I knew things were going too well.... |
Figured I'd post a few updated pics. I've definitely got a nutrient issue. Probably from me feeding too much. Seriously looking into vodka dosing again and re-visiting my meal plan...
I've had this tank over 20 years and it's so full of scratches I can't clean it properly anymore but here goes. FTS of the 77: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0af3dba8.jpg FTS of the cube: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps036cfc58.jpg Right side: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...psb985f810.jpg Left Side: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8c7a8f45.jpg And some various random tank shots: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps59523225.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8bd3c566.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...psceaadb8b.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps408d027d.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps408d4f41.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5d8782bb.jpg |
And some top down shots. First time I've tried this. I just used one of my wife's Pyrex dishes :D
Green birdsnest (I think) http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps34dbab9b.jpg Digitalis http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6141aac8.jpg Some acro http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...psce9bc3b2.jpg Pink Birdsnest http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps06a65e3c.jpg Hammer http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps69c5e619.jpg A bonsai I can't get to colour up :( http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...pscbb7584d.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...psa196b76a.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0e875a60.jpg |
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