Lance's 225 gal tank

Lance · #1 12-16-2008, 01:33 AM

Got the return pump plumbed and ready to go. Reeflo Barracuda.

The controller (Aqua Controller Jr.) and Direct Connect 8. These will monitor and control the lighting, powerheads, temperature, etc.

Also got the ballasts mounted and labelled.

So I'm pretty much just waiting on the glass drill bit to get here to drill the sump. Be nice to get it done and get the skimmer going. Can't wait to see that baby perform.
The tank has been cycling now for 9 days. Added a few more pieces of live rock with corals on them. Hopefully they do ok. I've been changing some water whenever the ammonia level gets too high. Nitrite showed up 4 days ago and nitrate already showing up yesterday. I'm using tank water from my 90 gal, a fair amount of cured live rock and a large piece of filter floss from the other sump so I think this will be a pretty quick cycle.

Skimmerking · #2 12-16-2008, 01:42 AM

looks great Lance don't worry once that Beckett is powered up run it dry for a bit to get it going and then start it wet and man you watch that clena up nicely... you have a great skimmer there my friend.

Lance · #3 12-21-2008, 01:58 AM

So, the tank cycling is going pretty good. It has now had water in it for 13 days. Ran some water tests today and ammonia level is down to .25 mg/l; nitrite is at .75 mg/l and nitrate at 40 mg/l. I've been changing 10% of the water every 3 days. Glass bit is still not here yet and I'm getting impatient to get the sump drilled and the skimmer going. Not much to take pics of but will post some when I get the sump and skimmer going.

Skimmerking · #4 12-21-2008, 02:16 AM

sounds like it going man , wanna try something to get the cycle going Lance. buy some hagen cycle like 2x 500ml bottles and pour it all in and you will have no cycle lots of biological creatures in there i have always used it since day 1

Lance · #5 12-21-2008, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmodeus

sounds like it going man , wanna try something to get the cycle going Lance. buy some hagen cycle like 2x 500ml bottles and pour it all in and you will have no cycle lots of biological creatures in there i have always used it since day 1

I have some Mike, but I was following the directions of 10 ml per 10 gals. So I just dump the whole bottle in at once and then get another bottle. OK, I'll give it a try.

fdiddy · #6 12-21-2008, 04:14 AM

That stuff is actually a pretty good product in my experience.. i put it in my sump and refugium when i started to get that stuff on as much LR and filter media as possible, had "almost" zero cycle... i still waited the 40 day nitrogen cycle out though.. .never know..

Lance · #7 12-21-2008, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdiddy

That stuff is actually a pretty good product in my experience.. i put it in my sump and refugium when i started to get that stuff on as much LR and filter media as possible, had "almost" zero cycle... i still waited the 40 day nitrogen cycle out though.. .never know..

Yeah, I've used it before and am using it now; but never so much at once.

Lance · #8 01-02-2009, 03:23 AM

Then I farted around for the better part of an hour adjusting the gate valves from the drains and the Barracuda, until I had the tank and sump water levels where I wanted them. That was when I found a leak. One of the unions was leaking, so I took it back to the plumbing supplier and got another one. This one was fine. I found another small drip on a PVC connection, but a small dab of Oatey FIX-it Stick cured that.

Everything was running nicely, so I took the time to add sand and live rock to the sump.

There was a bit of a problem with micro bubbles, even though the sump has 4baffles; so I took a large piece of filter floss and folded it nicely in between 2 of the baffles. No more bubbles. Great! So, then I took a coffee break, and while drinking my coffee I hear the pump labouring. I rush back to find that a big piece of filter floss had gotten pulled loose and got sucked into the pump. #%&@!!!! Turned the pump off, disconnected the unions, and took the pump apart. Bloody pump is so powerful it sucked a large piece of floss right off the sheet from about 8" away and at the top of a baffle. Removed the floss, put the pump back together and clamped the floos to the baffle this time: looks kind of silly but does the trick.

So, now it's time to hook-up the skimmer. Can't wait to see how this big guy performs. It's an MR-3 with dual Becketts powered by an Iwaki MD-70RLT. I have the skimmer on top of a Large PVC tower so that it is sitting above the water level.