A Newbies attempt at a 48gal Corner tank

[ryleary]

Hmmmm. Why did they say it wasn't good? I have ball valves on every single pipe I have... never been an issue. But, gate valves are supposed to be even better...

Yeah I couldn't find any gate valves at my local hardware store. I was told I was asking for a flood by reducing flow on my drain. But if I open the ball valve a fraction more I get bubbles and noise like crazy.

I have found the perfect balance between the pump and drain but if anything got lodged in the drain by the ball valve I would have a flood on my hands... I have a few weeks to figure it out while my tank cycles.

 

[prsnlty]

That's true, I have had a couple a small fish go down in them as well as a few small snails. But mine wide open so I was worried about it.

 

[ryleary]

That's true, I have had a couple a small fish go down in them as well as a few small snails. But mine wide open so I was worried about it.

Yeah I have 2 different caps and netting blocking the pipe, I don't know how anything could get down there. But life always finds a way ~Jeff Goldblum

 

[prsnlty]

My power went out during the night 2 days ago and I guess when it came back on the overflow sucked in one of my 3 baby Kauderns cardinals. The force of my drains killed him. I went to Sally beauty supply and bought a couple of hair nets, bun size, and put them over top of my overflows. Hopefully this will keep it from happening again.

 

[ryleary]

So sorry to hear that

I hear this kind of thing happens all the time. I made the decision to replumb my drain with 1.5" hardpipe so I wont have any similar issues or bubbling. Just going to suck to have to drain the tank, move it off the wall, rip all old plumbing out, drill a bigger hole and replumb. BUT its better than having 40 gallons pour out onto my floor. :frusty:

 

[ryleary]

Finally got my LED hung. Really makes the rock look awesome. Waiting for an ammonia spike from the shrimp I put in there...

 

[ryleary]

Mounting the light consisted of 4 toggle bolts, scrap piece of popular 1x, 50lb chain, 2 s-hooks, 2 carabiner. About $15 at Lowe's.

Only thing I don't like is the dangling cord. Otherwise I just can't stop staring. My addiction is now full blown. My psychiatrist will read this one day.

 

[prsnlty]

Looks fantastic!

 

[ryleary]

Coming from the owner of that 180 mixed reef, I am deeply honored.

Seriously those overflow columns are amazing.

 

[prsnlty]

Coming from the owner of that 180 mixed reef, I am deeply honored.

Seriously those overflow columns are amazing.

Thank you

 

[ryleary]

I got bored with waiting tfor the tank to cycle so I took a video. Just waiting for my amonia levels to rise. Shrimp has it up to 1.0ppm after 4 days. There is a white film now covering the shrimp and it is decomposing. I guess the bacteria are doing their job. I plan on pulling the shrimp once the ammonia reaches 4-5 ppm and adding bio spira.

Other things I still have to tackle before its fish ready.

- Temp - I have a 250w heater in the DT, and 50w in the sump. My temp hovers around 75 with both heaters maxed. The temp difference in the basement is whats making the heaters work for it. probably about 10 deg cooler than the upstairs which hovers between 65-70 during the day. I think I am going to get a 150w for the sump and use the 50 for mixing saltwater. I have been topping off with cold saltwater to raise my salinty. Its slowly climing and is at 1.022 right now. So with an extra heater I think i can solve the temp problem.

- drain - I still need to replumb my drainline to a full 1.5" from the overflow. I reduced to 1" and it turned out to be a mistake. Gurgling and bubbling when the drain ball valve is all the way open. I plan on doing this when i do a large water change after the cycle. Not happy about it.

- rodi - Still have to mount rodi on wall and install a new pump for the mixing station. I think in another 2 weeks i could be ready for a cuc!

Enjoy!

[video=youtube;NKyDkQ6bbUU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKyDkQ6bbUU[/video]

 

[prsnlty]

How cool is it in your basement?

Smaller bodies of water heat and cool faster then larger ones. If your equipment doesn't give off much heat collectively and the air surrounding the tank is cool, it makes it much more difficult to keep warm. An open top has it's good and bad quirks also. It allows heat to escape when you need to keep it in. (Being the bad in your case) are you also running a lamp over your sump/fuge? Is it on opposite of your tank lights?

Part of the reason I don't use LEDs on my corner tank and do have a canopy is to keep the temperature from dropping too low. I run 2 (24") 65w PCs (equivalent to 4 t5s, a deep blue led strip for night and 100w heater. My house temperature averages 72-73 continuously. (Unless it's around that temp outside then my house is open)

Maybe you could add some pipe wrap on the drain to the sump and return line in the basement? My thinking is that the PVC is cold and by the time the warmed water travels through them the cold pipes cool it. Possibly even wrap the outside of the sump. Just an idea....

 

[ryleary]

How cool is it in your basement?

Smaller bodies of water heat and cool faster then larger ones. If your equipment doesn't give off much heat collectively and the air surrounding the tank is cool, it makes it much more difficult to keep warm. An open top has it's good and bad quirks also. It allows heat to escape when you need to keep it in. (Being the bad in your case) are you also running a lamp over your sump/fuge? Is it on opposite of your tank lights?

Part of the reason I don't use LEDs on my corner tank and do have a canopy is to keep the temperature from dropping too low. I run 2 (24") 65w PCs (equivalent to 4 t5s, a deep blue led strip for night and 100w heater. My house temperature averages 72-73 continuously. (Unless it's around that temp outside then my house is open)

Maybe you could add some pipe wrap on the drain to the sump and return line in the basement? My thinking is that the PVC is cold and by the time the warmed water travels through them the cold pipes cool it. Possibly even wrap the outside of the sump. Just an idea....

It's unfinished and is usually about10 degrees cooler down there. I did pick up some pipe wrap this weekend so I can insulate. That should give me a few degrees back.

I still haven't set up my sump light because I have nothing in there yet other than sand. So maybe those two fixes will bring me up to 78-79.

 

[prsnlty]

Yes, hopefully that will do it. There is also a heated pipewrap but it's been many years since I've had to work with it. I don't think that you can actually control the temp and it might over heat it. Unless you had a apex, reefkeeper or maybe a reefangel controller.

 

[ryleary]

Yes, hopefully that will do it. There is also a heated pipewrap but it's been many years since I've had to work with it. I don't think that you can actually control the temp and it might over heat it. Unless you had a apex, reefkeeper or maybe a reefangel controller.

Yeah I don't have any controllers yet, I'm going to have to do it the old fashioned way. I may end up insulating the sump as well.

 

[prsnlty]

I don't either..... i would do that also

 

[ryleary]

Final shot of my sump and saltwater mixing station. Finally got around to mounting my rodi and gfci power strip. Waiting on a better pump for mixing to finalize that plumbing. Also going to try a reverse durso to quiet my sump drain.

Also took a shot of my rock that I liked. For some reason my vertical shots come out sideways when I post, anyone know how to fix that?

Still waiting for tank to cycle, added bio Spira after an ammonia spike of about 1ppm from a shrimp. Ammonia was down to 0 today but nitrates are still up.

Trying to be patient.

 

[ryleary]

I don't either..... i would do that also

I insulated the pipes and moved my 250w dt heater away from the return and my temp was up to 82 today! I guess the warm water from the sump was telling the dt heater to shut off. Silly me. Just a little more fine tuning and I'll be ready to go.

 

[prsnlty]

Looks like it's all coming together good now Try to get your temp stable around 78. Love the mixing station! I have had SW tanks in my house for about 9 years and still haven't gotten around to doing ours lol!

Just remember to have patience with the cycle and you should be good to go for a clean up crew in a week or so

 

[ryleary]

Looks like it's all coming together good now Try to get your temp stable around 78. Love the mixing station! I have had SW tanks in my house for about 9 years and still haven't gotten around to doing ours lol!

Just remember to have patience with the cycle and you should be good to go for a clean up crew in a week or so

Thanks! Didn't take much, just 2 brutes and 30$ worth of plumbing. I cheaped out on the first pump and am waiting for a mag3 to do my mixing.

I am shooting for 78 so I will fine tune my dials and see if I can get it to hold steady.

I am getting some brown spotting on the sand and rock. I'm guessing diatoms? I guess it will be good eating for cuc. I have had my lights on so I'm sure that's why I'm seeing diatoms. You can barely see in in the pic.