320g build/journey/experiment :-)

LegoZ81 · Sep 9, 2010

Hope things start going better for you! Sorry for your current run of bad luck. Can you thermal epoxy some aluminum heatsinks to the top of the plate for some passive cooling?

barryfish · Sep 9, 2010

question about were the tank is located? How cold does it get there were you live? And have you thought about sunlight or algae growing due to the location? Also you said you had a leak that dripped about every 60 secs. Did you fix that? Other than that nice!!!! Wish I had the time to build my dream tank

Greenmaster · Sep 10, 2010

I'm in Courtenay Canada. Gets to be as cold as -15 C (5 F) for a low in the winter... usually it's around -5 (23) to 8 (46). Algae I don't think is that much of an enemy... we spend a great deal of our budget trying to synthesize sunlight I don't mind having a bit of real stuff. The leak fixed it's self, as often happens in saltwater tanks with slow leaks.

barryfish · Sep 13, 2010

I repaired my 80 gal for the 6th time. The first 5x's I did it crappy and a half job just to seal it now I did it right. So I knw what ur talking bout with a leak it sucks.

ironman · Sep 17, 2010

If your still looking at controllers ive been using the reefkeeper elite for over a year now and really like it alot. Depending on what all you order with it you can control anything you want. For your build you could use it to even dim the LEDs, you can monitor multiple temperature probes. If you buy the NET module you can set it up so you can monitor your levels from the web, and even turn things on and off from the web. Most everything is the same with it and the APEX, both are good products. I made my choice originally because the ELITE can be flush mounted to make it more apealing to the eye. But ive been very happy with it!

Greenmaster · Jan 19, 2011

Well It's been a while... I had some troubles with PH so I was having to flush the system as often as I had time... I forgot the water was on at one point and it flooded my house... so I left the tank empty for a while. I have been waiting for an apex controller to come on sale, not having any luck there. I have also been really busy with family and work... also my car ended up getting totaled as well. Anyways... I'm working on the tank again. I filled it with fresh water two weeks ago PH got up to 8.2 I emptied it last week and re-filled it. Today I emptied it and it was down to 8.0. I will be doing it again and again every week until I get a stable PH. I will try to post here next week as well and answer any questions.

skinz78 · Jan 19, 2011

Why are you flushing the tank?

Greenmaster · Jan 19, 2011

The DIY rock is still leaching lime and raising the PH.

skinz78 · Jan 19, 2011

Ahh I didn't see the DIY rock.

Greenmaster · Jan 28, 2011

This week the water is down to 8.0 I did a full change and I'll wait two weeks now to see if it stabilizes.

Greenmaster · Jan 28, 2011

So I got a new pump for my B-day and now I need some help figuring where to put it... I'll upload some photos of my tank and if someone would like to give me some ideas on how to set it up I'm all ears. I see two options for the source. Either I can do a closed loop (that would allow pulsing of the pump... like on 5 sec off 5 sec.) Or do it the same as my other two and just add a third return pump (that would increase turnover of the tank through the sump). The next question is where do I put the bulkhead... (in/out for the closed loop or just the return) I was thinking I would like it close to the bottom half of the tank considering that the other two are at the top of the water. Next question is do I put a flow accelerator on like I have already or do I put some kind of rotating/ switching nozzle on? If so what kind/brand do you think works well.

Full tank shot.

Left side, looking from front.

Right side, looking from front.

Left side looking from left to back.

Left side, looking to right side, looking across the front of the tank.

Right side, looking to left side, looking across the back.

The white and black 1/2" pipe that is inside the tank is only there for filling/emptying the tank while I sort out the pH issues, once that is done I will be removing those pipes.
Also the pump is a 950 GPH

skinz78 · Jan 28, 2011

I would do a closed loop just as you said with the flow on the bottom. Just make it with 2 intakes so if one get's plugged you are still OK.

Greenmaster · Feb 2, 2011

Week one of a two week test... current PH is 7.9 if it stays at 8.0 or less till next week then I will fill with salt water, and test for three weeks... I may have one to two weeks with the tank empty, before the salt... if I decide to drill another hole or two...

Greenmaster · Feb 7, 2011

So after 1.5 weeks my pH was still at 7.9 so I decided to drain it fill it with salt water and start a cycle going... as of February 6th at 8:30pm (PST) I added 60 ml of 14% ammonia solution to my tank putting my ammonia off the scale... I believe it is 6.5-7 PPM. At 9:30pm I added a 375ml/12.7 fl oz of Hagen/Nutrafin "Cycle" (bacteria), I will test in the morning and as often as I have time/deem appropriate and post results on or before Wednesday (probably on Tuesday night). After my cycle has completed (1-4 weeks) I will test my pH again... if the pH is off the chart again then I will dump the water and let it do a few more FW washes before I try the SW again.

skinz78 · Feb 7, 2011

Good to hear! Can we get a FTS to see how it looks now?

Greenmaster · Feb 7, 2011

skinz78 said:
Good to hear! Can we get a FTS to see how it looks now?

Look at post #111 first pic is a FTS... tank hasn't changed since that photo was taken.... except the water has fresh salt, so it's a little cloudy.

Greenmaster · Feb 9, 2011

So I'll do a full run down of the cycle when it's closer to completion, so all of the info is in one post. For now I'll just say my Ammonia is around 4-5, Nitrite is around 3, and my Nitrate is around 20-30. I'll post a complete run down of my cycle once it is, well... complete.

skinz78 · Feb 9, 2011

Is the PH still holding at 7.9 today?

BTW are you upgrading an old tank into this one? I mean do you already have some corals and critters to put in the new tank waiting in an old tank?

Greenmaster · Feb 9, 2011

skinz78 said:
Is the PH still holding at 7.9 today?

BTW are you upgrading an old tank into this one? I mean do you already have some corals and critters to put in the new tank waiting in an old tank?

About the pH not it's not holding at 7.9 when you add salt (calcium in the salt) it goes up by about 0.2-0.4 so now it is at 8.2 and holding for a couple days...
I had a SW tank about five years ago. I have a FW tank up and running but for salt I'm going to be starting again. I have been through this process once before... if you look in previous posts you will see I tried to add some livestock to the tank before the pH had stopped rising... that ended in disaster... my poor gobies... they were so awesome... :cry:
They taught me that I needed to slow down... May they rest in peace...