A noobs first attempt at a tank...by rjengen

rjengen · #2 11-19-2009, 03:26 AM

Well, not too much has gone on in the last few days. Once leducreef got me set straight on my stand, and paint I did manage to get two coats onto the stand of kilz, a mold and mildew resistant primer. I put the second coat on it last night, and got the tank set back on it tonight. I hope to put some water in the tank tomorrow night and give it a leak test...fingers crossed

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leducreef · #3 11-19-2009, 04:50 AM

looks good

rjengen · #4 12-06-2009, 10:48 PM

I moved the rocks around a little to where I like them. I'd like to get a little feedback from some of the "old guard" around here on their thoughts. Any thing I could do different with it? I have a micro bubble issue that I'm working on right now, and hope to have solved here sooner rather then later.

leducreef · #5 12-06-2009, 10:56 PM

i will bet you lol
that your micro bubbles are comeing from the input side of the pumps
prob a air leak around the poly line with the hose clamps
i had the same prob with my t3 pump it was sucking air around one of the conections i took it apart and put more teflon tape around it and my prob was solved

Ryan · #6 12-06-2009, 11:28 PM

Looks good. Glad to see more people up there getting into it. I thought forsure I was the only one up there with a SW tank. I used to make trips to edmonton every 2 weeks on my days off. I hated that 8 hour round trip drive.

rjengen · #7 12-15-2009, 02:26 AM

I've been working so much lately...back and forth from Edmonton, and I think I missed an ammonia spike, or at least I hope so. Anyways, not a lot has gone on, I did pick up a 150w metal halide fixture when I was in Edmonton from leducreef (Once I finally found his house...lol) , and bought a 150w Ice Cap ballast for it. Got it all wired up today and mounted in the canopy and it does make a nice difference to the tank.

I'm about ready to take the resun pump out of the skimmer and set it up for target practice, everyone is welcome to come see what happens when a 12g goes after it. I don't know what it is about them, but I guess...well...anyways, I'm trying to find a Sicce PSK 2500 and once it's found, it will be slapped on the skimmer and life should be good. I have the supplies as well bought to add a silencer to the venturi tube. Turns out I have a first get IN-180 (Noob mistake #2 of the thread) and if the new pump doesn't do the trick, I'll end up adding it on.

There is rumor of another Poseidon pump for sale in the Edmonton area (back off...it's mine...just got to get back there!) and I plan on picking that up and plumbing it into my water station as a mixing & transfer pump over to my main tank. I'll post pictures of that mess once I get it all rigged up...I think it should work fairly good, since the same plumbing philosophy has been used in the oilpatch for the last 100 year...unchanged

There's not much that is picture worthy right now, hope to have the controller and OM here over Christmas, then there will be some pics.

Edit...I found out the source of the micro bubbles, the level in the sump was too low. I had it down a bit for the skimmer, but once I raised the level the bubbles dropped off 95%. I raised the skimmer out of the water so it's only in 7" and everything is looking good.

BlueWorldAquatic · #8 12-15-2009, 02:47 AM

Looking good Rob.

Sorry I missed you on the weekend, you got my number call if you need anything.

I got lotsa PVC and ends in the back room if you need any more.

Ken

leducreef · #9 12-15-2009, 04:53 AM

if you take a 12g to that pump you gota take a clip of that
i wanna see lol
glad the light worked out for you !

rjengen · #10 05-04-2010, 04:23 PM

So it's been way too long since I have updated this...partly due to the fact that this winter was a crazy time at work, and my daily routine was eat, sleep, work, and come home and check the tank, then back to sleep. I have not forgotten you all though, and I guess it's my turn to make a post.

When we last left off on my saga, I had bought dumb and dumber and the green monster and life looked like it was going good. Well, the carpet I had turned out to be a great guest in the tank, and he really thrived and was a great host to the fish. He found a stop and attached his foot, and did not move which made things very easy for me. I bought an OM 4 way, as well as a snapper, and made an attempt at getting some different flow patterns in the tank. Then one of the bulkheads decided it just didn't like my anymore, and started leaking. I'm sure this was my fault in some shape or form...and Karma was just getting me back...what can I say...it's a noobs attempt at a tank right?

I ended up putting the fish and the carpet into a 10g tank, and drained the display, pulled the rock, and sand out, gave it a good cleaning and changed out all the buckheads in it...this time actually taking the time to make sure they were not too tight. I also switched up the plumbing a bit, to give myself more room under the tank. During this I cracked the sump...again...and gave up on drilling my sumps. I built a new sump myself, since I found the LFS here just hard to deal with when it came to ordering me a new tank the size I wanted. The new sump is 1/2 glass, 36 x 18 x 18 and eurobraced, and gave me the room I needed to actually house my skimmer. This left me with no room for the closed loop and the OM 4 way. Since I am planning to build a larger tank in the new house, I kept the 4way, but sold the pump (Now there's another story...) and just set the CL back up with one of the PS4's...the one that was making the least amount of micro bubbles.

Flash forward about a month, and everything back into the tank...I ended up with a HUGE H.A. problem...that was to the point where I was about to tear down everything and sell it all. I made a trip to Edmonton though, and after about an hour in blue world, I had a cuc that we figured would take care of the problem. After a little trimming, and a great cuc...I had taken care of the algae problem.

I added a foxface to the tank, and he started to thrive in there...and had taken the whole tank over and claimed it as his own. One morning though I woke up, and it had looked like he went through hell and back. I was in the process of getting another tank going so I could pull him out and figure out what was wrong with him, when he decided...sorry, the green monster decided it was time to eat. So yeh, my carpet decided the foxface would make a tasty snack. I could not believe it, and I pulled out the rock too look for him after a day, which gave me time to rock scape the tank.

That just about has got us caught up...I would like to say I have pictures of the whole process...but I was too drained mentally and physically to even bother with the camera...talk to my wife though and she will tell you...I wasn't a happy camper. Anyways, I'm still not sure where I'm going to take the tank, but one thing was certain, the green monster had to go to a better home. He's now sitting in one of ken's display tanks at blue world in Edmonton...I think he was pretty ****ed that he had to leave my tank, but hopefully he has gotten over it and has opened up a little more. Ken, if he eat's any of you fish...well...sorry

I have a profilux ordered, and hoping that it show's up soon...I will also be upgrading the lights in the tank in the near future, adding some of the LED moonlights from profilux...as well as one of their heater/ chilling units. All great things take time though, and so this is humbly this noobs progress thus far. I'm not the best at taking pictures, so sorry...and if you guys have suggestions for me...please speak up!