Slick's Tank Journal(s)

[Slick Fork]

So... Now it was time to install the horizontal overflow. Of course, in my infinite wisdom I decided to just remove half the water in the tank and install it "without stressing the fish by removing them"... I think at this point they would all gather in a cave at night and plot my death. Here's some pic's of the instal job



I supported the overflow from the bottom by putting lengths of pvc pipe underneath, then clamped it to the sides. Way more awkward to do then it is to talk about. My dog learned a few new words that day!



Now, with a proper overflow, I set the 55 gallon up as a sump behind the tank. I've struggled finding an affordable return pump that is quiet and doesn't use too much energy and have finally settled on a hydor selz.



The eggcrate structure in the sump raises the Chaeto up closer so I can get away with a cf light. It is also supposed to be part of a benthic zone, but so far that idea hasn't taken flight. Looking at this picture, I can't believe how clean it is!

[Slick Fork]

The next few months have me scanning the for sale section relentlessly looking for live rock to buy. It seemed like someone would post it and it would disappear in an hour so it took some doing but I finally found all the liverock I needed.



I resisted putting my heater in the sump for the longest time, no idea why. Just the way it worked out.

Next big addition to the tank was FINALLY a proper light. Bought a used Geisemann, 2x250watt MH with 2x54watt t5's.



The colour change took some getting used too. I still think it's a little yellow some days (bulbs are 13000k mh's and actinic + t5's) Maybe I'll try a 14k next time.



About this time, I finally started to get some frags in slowly as time and money allowed.

Devils hand



So now we're into June and I start reading about this miracle cure for bryopsis with magnesium. Here is a small corner of the tank before the magnesuim...



This stuff was everywhere, after the magnesium I had almost none left. Fortunately I had 2 kinds of bryopsis and 1 wasn't affected by the magnesium. Lots of days with boiling water seems to have been the end of that.

[Slick Fork]

In June, my coralife powerbars gave up the ghost so I got my birthday present a little early...



Absolutely love the controller... need more things to control now!

The next big event for the tank was this summers frag swap in Calgary. Met some great people and got some awesome frags... even won a door prize!

Here are some of the corals I got at the swap







Also got a green digitata, but didn't have a picture of it from back then

Door Prize courtesy of Gold's:


At this point, flow in the tank was the Koralia 3, a 6045 and the sump return.

[Slick Fork]

Grabbed this beautiful purple tang from Golds in June, he left Quarantine and went into the display just after the frag swap



Since then, haven't done too much new with the tank until this week, picked up this deal from Gold's...



That was just an hour after acclimatization, I figured he'd be shy and stay "clammed" up for a few days but was pleasantly surprised!

Here's some growth shots... I don't think it's too bad for about 3 months on these guys but I'm not sure.

Frogspawn hasn't really branched out but is definately "bushier" very colourful and happy



Birdsnest is growing like a weed, much thicker and a whole lot branchier



CandyCane has a few more heads



Here are a few shots of the digitata, I mounted it on it's side because I remember reading that you'll get growth at both ends and so you do! This one has probably grown by 50% in mass since July




And just for fun a full tank shot from tonight...

[Delphinus]

Wow, nice work.

[mark]

Nice honest narrative, and shows patience pays off.

About your horizontal overflow, what's the size of bulkhead and how much flow? I'm trying one here with not a lot of flow.

[Slick Fork]

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to look back, even on some of the mistakes, and see how far the tank and my knowledge have come! Hopefully by showcasing my mistakes as well as my successes someone else can avoid them!

Mark:

The overflow I've got in there right now stretches the whole length of the tank, with a single 1.5" bulkhead in the back corner. I had tried using a cannister filter as a return because I originally had a spare one lying around and it seemed like a good spot to run carbon and rowaphos, but after burning out the second one last week I decided to put a Hydor Seltz on. I went with the L45 model which is rated for 900gph at 0 head. The climb up to the tank is through 1/2" flexible vinyl tubing so I'm imagining the final output is about 650-700gph. I don't think I'd want to go any more than that.

I looked at your thread, and that's exactly what my original rubbermaid sump attempt sounded like. If you take a look at the picture where I'm talking about the new MH light you'll see my plumbing solution, I simply ran spa flex all the way into the sump. Maybe that's the difference, not necessarily in the bulkhead but in the pipe?