BornToHula

The tank officially has water in it! ...Tap water counts, right...? The only issues so far has been a bad O-ring on a union and the bean animal drain doesn't work yet.

What, you can't read my mind to know what I am talking about?! I was talking about where the red arrows are in the picture below. I can't think of a reason why those connections would need to be 100% water tight, but then again, I can't really think of a reason to not glue them in. They are slip bulkheads by the way. I'm probably over thinking things .

Question on the plumbing in the overflow. Do y'all usually glue the drain & return pipes to the bulkheads or just push fit them in?

I think it's totally worth it for the fish and for me at least, detritus isn't really the enemy in any tank that has a good oversized skimmer and methods in place to remove nitrates and phosphates. I haven't removed detritus manually (besides what gets sucked up in my skimmer) for 3 years in my old 125-gallon. There was literally 1/2" to 1" of detritus in my sump! In my new 215-gallon, the same thing, about 3 years now, no detritus removal ever manually, and things aren't blowing up for me. Just adding my experience with it. I've never been too worried on detritus in the sump, I don't like looking at it in the display though. Maybe one day I can get my tank running well enough without water changes, but I plan on needing to for for the foreseeable future. I may as well be able to vacuum the sand.

Thanks! I agree,detritus is a bit of an issue with caves. The cave on my 75g collects detritus as well, but the fish love swimming in it so much I think its worth it. I do need to make sure the sand vacuum will reach in there to keep it somewhat tidy.

I played around with the aquascape some this weekend. Ended up liking this design for the left side of the tank. Its not very stable so I will be using the cement from marcos rock to ensure it will stay together. I also glued most of the plumbing this weekend. Only thing left is to glue the pipes to the bulkheads.

Sounds like it would be a good idea to get some marine pure blocks.

I was wondering about the quantity of live rock in larger tanks. Does "rule" of 1 pound of live rock per gallon still hold true? How many pounds of live rock are you guys with larger tanks running with? I currently have about 100 pounds of dry rock (a mix of Marco rock, Fiji and man-made) and will be transferring another 50 pounds from my 75 gallon tank for a total of 150 pounds. Aquascape wise, this is all that I want to have in my display, but I do have room to add several of the large MarinePure blocks to my sump.

****, it must be some serious water deposits. Maybe try the vinegar and the magic eraser together? If that doesn't work the next thing I would try is the Bon Ami, which is a harsher abrasive cleaner than the magic eraser. The ingredients are listed on their website, but you probably will want to use a tray or something underneath the brace to be sure none of it falls into the tank. I know it works on rain/sprinkler deposits - don't know if they are any different than saltwater deposits. I bet this will work but you will need to be extremely careful. Have you seen what it does to live rock!?

I think those are just air bubbles from the foam maybe? I would read on the package to make sure there aren't any additional cleaners added, but your regular old magic eraser doesn't have any chemicals in it. It maybe worth a google search to see if anyone else has used it around a reef tank.

There's actually no chemicals in a magic eraser, its just melamine foam which is an abrasive. I don't know if I would dip it in the tank but you should be fine using it on the brace.

The only other suggestion I have is to use Bon Ami and a buffer. I've used this to remove water deposits from glass on outdoor furniture.

Is that just water deposits or scratches? You can get glass scratches professionally removed. They have to use chemicals though so you would have to empty the tank more than likely.

That manifold is lookin good. Where did you find your push connect fittings for it? I asked the guy at Lowes if they had any and he looked at me like I was crazy

Thanks for the advice Reburn and Ty. I think I'm going to change the manifold to four 1/2 inch outlets and run the UV off its own pump when/if I get one. I was reading more on the CaRX and it looks like as long as you restrict the effluent outflow to the desired rate there isn't any drawback on running it off of the manifold. The outlets will be: 1. Biopellets 2. Carbon/GFO 3. CaRX 4. empty for now. Plumbing is almost complete. Need change the manifold and to get some bracing to help it stay up, then its on to glue!

Looking for some advice on the manifold I built. The more I look at it the more unsure I get about it. It currently has 4 outlets, one 1" outlet and three 1/2" outlets. The manifold is supplied by the Vectra L1 return pump which is 3100 gph not accounting for head pressure or friction from the return piping. The returns are about 5'6" above the pump. If possible I want to have the following items running from it, let me know if you think this is feasible or not before I glue it in! Biopellet reactor ~150 gph - needs 1/2" barb fitting Carbon/GFO dual reactor ~150 gph - needs 1/2" push connect fitting (future upgrade) UV sterilizer ~500 gph - looking at different models they all have 1-1/2" to 2" inlets which seems huge to me considering they only need about 500gph. Do these require their own pumps or would adapting a 1" pipe up to the size required be okay ? (future upgrade) Calcium Reactor - I can't find the typical flow needed for these but if I remember right it is a low flow. Will a 1/2" valve be enough to feed one?

Got quite a bit of work done this weekend. Filter sock holder is complete. LED strip lights were installed under the tank and the sump was moved into place. About this time I was wondering what I had gotten myself into How far I got before I had to call it quits. The Bean Animal plumbing is mostly complete except I need to find a 1/4" NPTF tap for the durso drain's air hole. Going to check Lowes today.

Thanks for hosting Ty, the eggrolls were delicious .

Corals, raffles and egg rolls. Sounds like a party!

Yeah, the cords are both facing the center. The sides have an about an inch and a half of room, which I hope is enough to allow the hot air to rise and be exhausted by fans I installed. If the lights end up being too hot then I will have to install side fans, but I really don't want to for aesthetic reasons.

I think they said commercial horticulture. I'm guessing it's probably a better / less crowded market, lower production cost, and higher margins on those types of products. Makes sense. I'd imagine Colorado and other states that have legalized a certain plant has made the demand for indoor horticulture lights to skyrocket.

That's too bad. I currently use them on both my freshwater planted tank and on my 75g reef and have been pretty happy with them, especially the freshwater light. I wonder what they are focusing on now? I was in their offices last month and they had clearly outgrown the space and said they were expanding or moving offices. Didn't seem like they were lacking any business.

Wow time sure does fly by, I've been so busy I have been neglecting the tank build. Anyway, with a renewed focus things are going to start moving again, and hopefully moving along fast! I have mostly completed the canopy. The exhaust fans have been installed, and the lights are fitting snugly. I had to beef up the canopy quite a bit to where it could handle the weight of the lights, but it looks like it is handling them perfectly. I still need to add a shim to one side of the canopy so it rests on the tank evenly, and I need to add something so the canopy cannot slide backwards off the tank when I'm putting the lights in. I also have completed installing the glass into the sump. The silicone job I did was very messy, but I think it will perform just fine. Some of the silicone is still drying so the jigs are still in place. Still TONS of stuff to do but I'm getting back on track. Here's part of the schedule I've been working off of for the past week. I'm not certain I can keep up the pace, but right now we're on track to going wet on 3/5/16 to start cycling the tank.

Got the exhaust fans installed in the canopy. I don't think I'll have to worry about the lights overheating! The only items left to do on the canopy are to install the middle rail that holds up the ATI lights and then stain/seal the new wood.

I like early afternoons (or even around lunch time) on either Saturday or Sundays. I wouldn't be able to make many meetings if they were in the evenings, usually too much going on at that time.