Myka's 90 gallon build & 3 province move (Pics Feb 6)

[banditpowdercoat]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Sorry if we're getting a little of your tank build topic here Myka, but Mark, I was looking at the cables used to keep your copper pipes from freezing in the winter. They come in quite a few different wattage sizes and may be an option as well. They simply wrap around the copper pipe in areas that are exposed to freezing temperatures. No reason why they couldn't be adapted for use in heating our RO/DI input water. Of course if you have the newer PEX plumbing, I'm not sure they work for that, didn't look that close at the instructions on the packaging.

And Myka, I might still bite the bullet and go for a 120, it's only a few inches wider than a 90 and I like the perimeter of my tank to be free of live rock, allowing for swimming space and easier cleaning of the glass. I also have a yellow tang in my 75 and I'm sure he'd appreciate the extra real estate. Not a fan of stacking rock against the glass at all.

Heat tape will work fine on PEX, but it is self regulating and only really gets warm when its below freezing out. It's meant to keep the water just above freezing, Normally, heat trace wont heat the water.

[mike31154]

Aha, no controller/thermostat to dial in the temp. Thanks for that bandit.

[mseepman]

Hey Myka,

I always knew that leaving SW would be a mistake for you. It's just too much fun!

As for those fans, if you mean the ones that I plan to put into that nano cooler that I still haven't built, then here is the link: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...re=Thermaltake

I've also heard great things on these:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...facture=Noctua

You'll need to cut the wires and re-wire them to a variable voltage resistor with enough mA to run however many you plan to put on the adapter. That way, you can control the speed of the fans and therefore the noise.

I used one of the Silent Cats on my PC and man was it quiet.

Mike, yeah I looked into those pipe heaters but found that they used too much electricity and were pretty un-controllable. This little cord for reptiles only uses 11w and I figure if I use it wrapped around the input line then it just might make the RO a little more efficient.

[Myka]

Thanks for the links Mark! I'm not sure I can DIY the fans like that. I have no clue about electricity.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by mseepman

Mike, yeah I looked into those pipe heaters but found that they used too much electricity and were pretty un-controllable. This little cord for reptiles only uses 11w and I figure if I use it wrapped around the input line then it just might make the RO a little more efficient.

Thanks Mark. There was a fellow on RC that posted a great idea that's a win win situation with regard to RO/DI production and cooling your tank. Instead of coiling extra RO/DI input line in a warm bucket as Melev suggested, this guy runs a length of his RO/DI input line thru his sump. This warms up the RO/DI input and cools his system water. Not sure how well this would work in our cool climate, but for those running high power lights and using chillers, it might be an option.

[mseepman]

I had thought of this as well since Nigel (Gools) on here does it, but because of the length of input hose required to do this, he had to move up to a larger hose if I'm not mistaken. I just wasn't ready to do this until I build my new house.

Otherwise, I agree this makes total sense.

[Myka]

Tested the tank for the first time:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 ppm
Phosphates 0.5

I'm happy to not see any ammonia or nitrite. This is promising.

The reading for phosphate should be fairly accurate since there is no nuisance algae growing, but with phosphate that high it sure will be soon!! I'm not impressed that the rock is leaching so much phosphate. I'm actually surprised because the rock is very clean of algae, has been cooking for about 6 weeks, and it has been 2 years since the rock was initially cured (I think).

Time to order a few pounds of GFO!

I found a crab that someone is coming to pick up for his sump today. I would have put him in my sump, but my sump is small and the crab would have been sucked up by the pump or something! Oh, I also found an old plastic button and some really heavy plastic fishing line. Both embedded in the rock and covered with coralline. I removed those too.

I can't seem to find 1" slip unions or 3/4" bulkheads in the entire city. I have tried everywhere, so I will have to order. I can't plumb my sump in until they arrive.

[Myka]

I just added the rest of the live rock I had cooking. I was checking the rock out, and so far I have found:

1 Hairy crab (rehomed yesterday)
1 plastic button covered in coralline and calcified into the rock (pried out)
6" of heavy fishing line covered in coralline and running through the middle of a chunk of rock (pulled out with pliers)
3 little anemones (!!!) ...i haven't IDed yet, but I think they might be "Ball" anemones.
5 or 6 patches of hydroids
GHA starting (ack!)

I will test the tank tomorrow and see what the new rock has done to the water. Seeing as I have over 150 lbs of live rock I get to cherry pick my pieces and sell the rest. I'm pretty stoked on this as I have never in my life had excess rock. I put it all in the tank where I can take a closer look at it for pests, and get some aquascaping ideas.

The tank is still about 4" low for water which is where the overflow box has been drilled for a return line. I have to cut a bulkhead shorter to fit in there otherwise the end protrudes into the Herbie stand pipes.

BONUS!! After using the MJ1200 with the SureFlow mod as a salt mixing pump because it's so frickin noisy I have figured out how to quieten the thing! Turn it kinda upside down pointing at the surface. It's now fairly silent. Woo hoo! My tank NEEDS that flow right now!

So this is what a 90 gallon looks like when you cram 153 lbs of live rock in it.
I actually think it looks kinda cool. Some awesome caves goin on, but this is SO not how it's being left!!!


Here's an angle shot so you can see the cool caves.

[BlueAbyss]

Wow, you cooked the rock for that long and STILL had hitchhikers? Goes to show you how tenacious some things are. I'll bet the fishing line that was through the middle of the rock has been embedded in that rock for like 50 years, laying on the bottom of the ocean has that effect on things

Looks full, but not bad at all. I like it, actually, even if you are planning on removing some of the rock. Which should come live in my rimless 29 gallon

[Myka]

Oh you need to cook rock for several months to kill off all the hitch hikers. 6 weeks isn't even enough to kill GSP, polyps, or bubble algae. Although I think most/all of the hydroids are actually dead, and it's just the tubes left. I don't see any little heads poking out anywhere. Those nems still aren't out yet. I think I shocked the crap outta them though. That rock was in 1.012 (was in hypo at 1.009, but evaporation raised it), and the temp was 86. The tank is 1.026 and the temp is 78. So I don't think the nems liked the change.

The excess rock will be for sale in the next couple weeks for sure, if not sooner.

LOL, ya I think that fishing line is antique!! Maybe I will sell it on Ebay!

Tested the tank just now:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 ppm
Phosphate 1.0+ ppm (it's at least 1, but definitely not near 3...I wish the Salifert kit had some gradients in between)

Eep! Phosphate is even higher now, which is what I suspected would happen when I added the rest of the rock. I ordered some GFO from Bulk Reef Supply, but it won't be here until next week, so I'm going to see if I can go find some locally for a decent price.