400 gallon project

Phanman · #1 03-15-2007, 09:08 PM

More pics man, lol. Im dying to see the progress on this bad boy.

04scoobysti · #2 03-15-2007, 09:31 PM

Love the rockwork and bar rail!! I had the same sort of plan for my next tank! You have executed every detail perfectly, im very impressed!

deep6er · #3 03-16-2007, 06:34 AM

I think you need to invest in a few more heaters just incase, that big of a tank you don't want to risk anything.

Great work, keep it up.

untamed · #4 03-17-2007, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deep6er

I think you need to invest in a few more heaters just incase, that big of a tank you don't want to risk anything.

Great work, keep it up.

I just ordered a single 500W Finnex titanium. That will increase my total heater wattage from 500W to 750W.

The good (OK, GREAT) people of JL were able to double-check a water test and they confirmed what I suspected...my ammonia test kit was too old and it simply wasn't working at all. (Thanks!!) I certainly have ammonia present, so my tank cycling is well underway. Yeah!

I did an immediate 40 gallon water change, even though none of the tank's few inhabitants are showing any stress. (Mantis haven't lost their appetite!)

I've also got to find out some way of preventing sand from being sucked up into the CL intakes. It's OK now that everything has settled down, but if any sand gets stirred up, there's nothing preventing it from being sucked into the CL. I've already had one of the 4-ways jam up from getting some sand in it. A 6"L x 4"W x 2"D piece of sponge over the inlet worked well until I just caught one of the sponges before it got completely sucked into the intake. I need some sort of combination of strainer and sponge. Maybe a sponge wrapped around a strainer with zip ties...but I would like something more elegant than that. I've got some new strainers on the way to experiment with.

honkey sauce · #5 03-17-2007, 07:17 AM

i have 350gal with 4x250w heaters that work well.Id rather have 1 too many in case 1 fails

Jason McK · #6 03-17-2007, 04:54 PM

If you "T" off the intake of your closed loop then each end of the "T" will have less preasure draw. His will help with the sand issue. It's not pretty but it works. Also I had Paul @ OM mod my drum so that the drum was full width on the edges but in the middle it is about 2mm narrower. this way sand passes freely through the unit. I havn't needed to pull my OM 4-way appart in 8 or 9 months.

J

untamed · #7 03-17-2007, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason McK

If you "T" off the intake of your closed loop then each end of the "T" will have less preasure draw. His will help with the sand issue. It's not pretty but it works. Also I had Paul @ OM mod my drum so that the drum was full width on the edges but in the middle it is about 2mm narrower. this way sand passes freely through the unit. I havn't needed to pull my OM 4-way apart in 8 or 9 months.

J

I had heard that you had some trouble with sand in your four ways...but never heard your solution. Here's a reason to take your 4-way apart...so you can show me a photo! I'm imagining the drum as a concave shape....From the side, it looks like ")("....?

I had been thinking about the "T" on the intakes...That would really increase the amount of plumbing in the tank. If it all can be hidden behind the rocks, it might be OK.