Austin's Build

[austinl]

Beautiful build. Your equipment looks stellar!

I hate to say it, but that algae looks like the short beginning stems of briopsys.

I took a closer look at it today and I cant really tell if its green hair algae, Green turf algae or Briopsys. Still will make sure it doesn't get out of control will probably pull the rock out and give it a scrub.

How do you guys get exact diagnosis when stuff looks so similar :squigglemouth:

 

[vasilithegreek]

Hey austin the stand looks awesome. did you sand the stand by hand or did you have a portable sander? Do you have any other pics and also some tips on how you built the stand. I like what you did and want to replicate it but for a 64" long stand. Thanks!

 

[austinl]

Hey austin the stand looks awesome. did you sand the stand by hand or did you have a portable sander? Do you have any other pics and also some tips on how you built the stand. I like what you did and want to replicate it but for a 64" long stand. Thanks!

Thanks for the compliment......I posted most of the pics at the beginning of the thread but I'll see if I have a few more.

I sanded with just a little palm sander from 80 grit on spots that were bad down to 220 grit, for the finishing I hand sanded as machine would be to harsh nod would go through the Varathane too fast. I posted a step by step earlier but happy to answer any specific question you have or will have if and when you try doing it yourself

I would if doing it over make my stand bigger than the aquarium just to make fitting equipment easier but that's a preference thing.

For doing a larger stand there is a calculator to determine the wood you need all you have to do is input the dimensions, i will try and see if I can find the link but I think there is a thread here for it somewhere.

Hope that helps and any more questions fire away.

 

[austinl]

Hey everyone,

I woke up to a nice surprise today, Miracles Aquariums who are building my tank sent me some progress pictures......looks like it getting close, hopefully there next update will be a delivery date :bigsmile:

 

[kingrl2]

Love the stand, tank is pretty awesome too.

 

[DSP]

Very nice! Gotta love the external overflows

 

[DSP]

Gettin close! Can't wait to see this up and running!

 

[austinl]

Love the stand, tank is pretty awesome too.

Thanks Kingrl2,

I hope the tank looks as good in person...hate the waiting game though still waiting to hear when my delivery is.


Side note I had a separate cabinet already built to house all my electrical but decided if I was going to spend all that time moving my electrical I might as well free up a little more space so I have built a bigger cabinet to house all the electrical equipment, controllers etc etc and it will not hold my ATO container and Dosing Containers, this will leave me with more space under the stand for whatever reactors I may need in the future as I don't have any GFO or Carbon .


I will post some shots later of the two cabinets.

Until then would still like to get some input on my stocking list for all you subscribers out there



2 x Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish - Tank-Bred (Amphiprion ocellaris var.)
or
2 x Amphiprion Percula (True Percula Clownfish)
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1 x Paracheilinus carpenteri (Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse)
1 x Paracheilinus cyaneus (Blue Flasher Wrasse)
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1 x Pseudanthias bartlettorum (bartletts anthias)
1 x Pseudanthias rubrizontaus (Tricolor, redbelted anthias)
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3 Green/Blue Chromis
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Depending on available stock 1 of the below
1 x Ctenochaetus Flavicauda (White Tail Bristletooth Tang) — 1st Choice
or
1 x Ctenochaetus Tominiensis (Bristletooth Tomini Tang)

And 1 Purple Tang



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Input on a killer CUC would be helpful too.

 

[austinl]

Very nice! Gotta love the external overflows

Gettin close! Can't wait to see this up and running!

Thanks DSP, waiting hurts lol........any tips on setting the flow rate? I wanna make sure I don't overflow my sump when the power goes out lol

 

[DSP]

I think you should go with more Bartletts for sure! Will be a nice active fish for that tank.

 

[vasilithegreek]

Austin, if I were to go with a different color to get that nice gloss say black what would I need

 

[austinl]

Austin, if I were to go with a different color to get that nice gloss say black what would I need

I would do the same steps regardless of the color, your gloss will come from the topcoat in my case varathane but there are other topcoats you can choose so any paint should work....I stayed away from latex because I found that stuff sometimes sticks to it when left sitting on it...shouldn't be an issue because of the top coat but i just didn't want to chance it.. I went with the glossiest Waterbased Varathane I could find to get the shine I wanted.

The real key in all of this is the prep work I really cant stress that enough. Also when it comes time to do the final steps (top coats) make sure the area your working in is free of dust and if possible work away from anything that can or will create air movement its amazing how you will see little bits stick to the clear coat, thats why we lightly sand between coats.

 

[DSP]

Thanks DSP, waiting hurts lol........any tips on setting the flow rate? I wanna make sure I don't overflow my sump when the power goes out lol

I bet! But it's gunna be fun setting it up haha, As far as flow a mag 7 or 9.5 would be great for your build, or any pump with similar specs, assuming those are 1 inch drains correct? Mine has two 1 inch drains and I'm using a mag 5 right now which works well but I'll be upgrading to a 7 soon, If you get a mag 9 you can always tune it down with a ball valve or even split it off to run a reactor as well if need be but a 7 would be perfect, And I normally leave Atleast 4-5inches in my sumps so it leaves plenty of room for water to drain during a power outage, You can also keep your return line/locline close to the surface that way it will break the siphon pretty quick and not very much water will drain into the sump.

 

[DSP]

Man im as excited with this build as I am with my own build haha! Gunna be a sweet setup!

 

[austinl]

Man im as excited with this build as I am with my own build haha! Gunna be a sweet setup!

Thanks DSP...im super pumped as well LOL....what really hurts is I saw probably the nicest pair of clowns yesterday...I almost bought them and a tank just to house them until my tanks arrives but decided to wait.

I really envy you guys...you seem to have a much better selection and a lot more vendors to choose from in the states than we do here in Canada, I find it very hard to find good livestock even back in my freshwater days.

 

[austinl]

Little update,


I have completed building two new stands to house all my electrical components, now all thats left is to match them to my existing cabinet so on to painting again

I think I will use a frosted piece of glass to change the look on both of these just a little bit to add some diversity. I am also thinking I can utilize the tops for a frag and quarantine tank on each of them depending on where I place them.

Quick shot before painting.

 

[DSP]

Awesome bro looks real good!!

 

[petemichelle]

what size return pumps are you going to be using? I am in the middle of a 150 gal build right now. I have tap water in the tank to check for leaks and function. the tank has 2 durso overflows on the back (not corners). I called aqueon and they say the overflows are rated at 600 gph. I have 2 mag 9's for the return and it is just noisy. I have tried putting the rigid tubing down the durso's, I have tried making stockman returns and they are just as loud. The only thing I can think of doing is going with smaller pumps. The mags are rated at 680 gph at 5 feet, which is the height of the return line outlet in the display tank. One of the returns run through a UV sterilizer, and I can physically feel the difference between that line and the one that is going straight into the tank, so it's got to be at least a third less. anyway, the question is how much flow do you usually shoot for on the return pumps? I plan on using 3 vortex mp40's for the powerheads, so overall total flow is not really my concern. everybody keeps giving me the same formula of 10 times the capacity of the display, for total flow. Which doesn't help with my question of "what is the minimal and what is the average return pump size one should get for a 150 gal display???? can I cut it to 600 or 700 total? would that hurt or diminish the overall system in anyway if I make up for the overall flow with my power head????

thanks for any light you can shed on this...

 

[austinl]

My plan was always using my mp40 for flow, for my return I'm using a sicce 4.0 as in plan to have lowing flow through my sump so I can utilize macro algae for as much phosphate and nitrate removal to start and then decide if I need any reactors to help in removing any excess also want the low flow for copepod etc etc.

Also as you said I would like to have minimal noise as well but can't comment yet as I'm not close to a water test as I still don't have my tank yet

But that's my goal low flow and let the mp40 do the work

Hope that helps if not keep asking

 

[petemichelle]

My plan was always using my mp40 for flow, for my return I'm using a sicce 4.0 as in plan to have lowing flow through my sump so I can utilize macro algae for as much phosphate and nitrate removal to start and then decide if I need any reactors to help in removing any excess also want the low flow for copepod etc etc.

Also as you said I would like to have minimal noise as well but can't comment yet as I'm not close to a water test as I still don't have my tank yet

But that's my goal low flow and let the mp40 do the work

Hope that helps if not keep asking

the sicce 4.0 has a flow rate of 951 gph and lets say 5 feet to the top of the return line as it enters the tank, you should have around 680 gph. that's like 10 times the volume of the 70 gal display tank you're having made. that's really on the upper scale of the 5-7 times return formula that everyone is throwing around as being correct. I thought it was 10 times the flow rate of your display with your return pump AND your power heads total. let me know what you think