CCOMBS FIRST REEF!

[ccombs]

So I have a plumbing question...

Most sumps that are the appropriate size for me have 2 inlets from overflow. Now, since I want to do a bean animal with 3, is there an appropriate way to bring 2 of the drains together?

 

[samnaz]

not Sure what you mean by bring them together. The emergency doesn’t really need an inlet so long as it’s secured to the stand or sump somewhere.

 

[ccombs]

not Sure what you mean by bring them together. The emergency doesn’t really need an inlet so long as it’s secured to the stand or sump somewhere.

I realized after looking over some pictures that I had confused myself lol. I found what sump I am going to get and just looked at the way it was configured wrong haha.

Please just ignore me haha.

 

[samnaz]

I realized after looking over some pictures that I had confused myself lol. I found what sump I am going to get and just looked at the way it was configured wrong haha.

Please just ignore me haha.

What sump?!

 

[ccombs]

What sump?!

Synergy CL-34, but I am requesting some modifications to have a refugium chamber.

 

[vetteguy53081]

With a t or Y fitting

 

[ccombs]

With a t or Y fitting

Thanks! I figured out I was being dumb and looking at a picture backwards..... lol

 

[ccombs]

Big News today, I got my initial cut list for the shell of the stand. This whole shell will be built with 2 pieces of plywood. My biggest design hang up was on keeping any end grain of plywood from being exposed, and I played with a few ways to edge band my plywood before cutting rabbits, but I didn't like what I came up with. A must for me is being sure the top is supported from underneath, not the sides. I have seen too many custom built stands where people build the frame, then fit the top in the hole left, leaving all the weight to be supported by screws.

My design will have a double laminated top of 3/4" ply for a total of 1.5" Then sides will come down to the bottom 3/4" base. I will cut rabbits in the back to accept a rear panel that is 1/2". I want my stand to cover the bottom .5" of the stand just for an aesthetic standpoint. To accomplish this and hide end grain, I will skin the sides with 1/2" plywood, and they will be .5" proud at the top for aesthetics.

Finally, I will do some sort of face frame. I am undecided on either hardwood or edge banding ply.

At this point, I also do not have a design for the doors. They will either be flat with a hidden handle, or shaker style with a handle.

Internals are still top secret at this point lol....jk.

My plan is to do something similar to what Broadfield did with his orange lit equipment, but instead of being on the side, it would be a bar across the top of the sump area since my stand is tall and skinny. This whole contraption will be on Blum drawer slides for maintenance.

Stand will be 4" deeper than tank to allow for 5 holes that will accommodate a Bean Animal Overflow, as well as redundant returns.

I have decided on a Synergy Sump, jury is still out on a lot of other equipment.

I spent alot of time working on plumbing today, so much so, that I confused myself earlier today. I literally stared at a picture of the sump I am getting and then my brain decided to jump off the deep end.

I really like the idea of how my current set up is, hidden in plain sight, but it is so difficult to maintain, closed stand it is.

I will be adding some stretchers with pocket screws, these will not be structural, they will only be keeping cabinet square for assembly. A well built/glued cabinet is very strong.

Here is a rough drawing- I know its sloppy lol.

 

[ccombs]

What is this? It looks like an Asterina Starfish that is missing a few legs lol.

Thoughts?

 

[count krunk]

that is what it is IMO

 

[ccombs]

Finally got all my numbers together for what all the gear/plumbing is going to cost.....wow.....

Time to discuss with my wife and hopefully get this build going/sump ordered.

 

[ccombs]

Drum Roll Please....

Here is my new gear list. I will be building a custom stand.

Sump:
Synergy CL-34 with Custom Mods

Protein Skimmer:
Reef Octopus Essense S-130

Carbon/GFO Reactor:
Aquamaxx Standard (x2)

Overflow:
Synergy Shadow

Return Pump:
Vectra S2 (x2)

Powerhead:
MP10

Aquarium Control Screen:
Amazon Fire 7 Tablet

BRS Schedule 80/Fittings, Spears Valves

 

[ccombs]

Just wanted to share something interesting, I love seeing science in action while my wife and I are out of town. My tank (being in my bedroom) has always struggled with low pH. Even bringing in outside air via a skimmer or bubbler has not done all that much.

Anyway, I checked in on my parameters via APEX, and it is interesting to see the effect of no one in the house. Not only is the pH higher due to less carbon dioxide, the nightly swings are less significant because there are not 2 people sleeping in the room.

Check it out!

Next time that I go out of town but my wife stays, I will have to get a screen capture of that. Even just me being gone does have a noticeable difference.

 

[Victoria M]

The breathing...it is a problem.

 

[ccombs]

Got a new coral last night, it's this super cool trachey. I am concerned about this hole it has in its side that I found upon getting it in my tank. Thoughts? The small hole is right in the middle.

 

[ccombs]

I am super excited about my tank this year. It is always disappointing to see a new tank like mine and compare it to beautiful established reefs. I really think my tank will hit its stride this year (especially with the upgrade planned) and look good enough to be there with the big boys. I have learned so much in the first year of the hobby, and now I am ready to get this tank where it needs to be!

 

[Hallowhead]

Glad to see you're back. I know you stepped away for a bit! Love to see you always thinking of ideas like myself and truly in love with the hobby. I didn't fully read all I've missed but I have some insight.

I'm not sure someone mentioned this but for the nitrates have you tested your RODI water to make sure it's truly clean? Have you thought of lowering your photo period ?

I've had a serious bubble algae outbreak as well in my 30 AIO and it was gruseome battle but I won. The key is weekly water changes with a knife or a shiskabob stick - you have the siphon right over the algae and than prop it up so spores get sucked right away.

I just had to start dosing alk as my Coraline algae and corals are demanding it more than I can water change. I'll have to update my build thread.

Also I see you loss a DOS would you recommend them? I bought a single BRS dose

 

[ccombs]

Glad to see you're back. I know you stepped away for a bit! Love to see you always thinking of ideas like myself and truly in love with the hobby. I didn't fully read all I've missed but I have some insight.

I'm not sure someone mentioned this but for the nitrates have you tested your RODI water to make sure it's truly clean? Have you thought of lowering your photo period ?

I've had a serious bubble algae outbreak as well in my 30 AIO and it was gruseome battle but I won. The key is weekly water changes with a knife or a shiskabob stick - you have the siphon right over the algae and than prop it up so spores get sucked right away.

I just had to start dosing alk as my Coraline algae and corals are demanding it more than I can water change. I'll have to update my build thread.

Also I see you loss a DOS would you recommend them? I bought a single BRS dose

Hey!

Didn't quite step away from the hobby, just the forum for a little bit. I was so busy that keeping up with the tank was enough work, let alone writing about it lol.

The war with bubble algae has been won! Between manual removal and a couple of emerald crabs, I am all good now!

RODI water is clean on all parameters and I did make some adjustments to my photoperiod. I had been running higher whites so I could get better pictures, but it made algae worse. Between clean up crew adjustments and color of lighting, I am good on the algae front and nitrates are still high, but manageable at 40ppm.

I think what my issue comes down to is the complexity I am going for in a 30G AIO. With all the equipment in the back, my ratio of detritus (trapped in/under the gear) to water is really tough to keep up with.

In the next few months I am breaking down my tank, removing the divider, and drilling it to be a system with a sump. Having a 'real' protein skimmer and larger fuge will be huge positives, and make maintenance so much easier than trying to mess around in the back of this thing. I am also looking forward to the extra water volume this will buy me, probably around 15 gallons which is a lot for a tank this size.

I have started doing YouTube videos for my woodworking side hobby sorta thing, and I will be doing a full video series on this tank build and hopefully the R2R community can get behind it.

 

[ccombs]

Glad to see you're back. I know you stepped away for a bit! Love to see you always thinking of ideas like myself and truly in love with the hobby. I didn't fully read all I've missed but I have some insight.

I'm not sure someone mentioned this but for the nitrates have you tested your RODI water to make sure it's truly clean? Have you thought of lowering your photo period ?

I've had a serious bubble algae outbreak as well in my 30 AIO and it was gruseome battle but I won. The key is weekly water changes with a knife or a shiskabob stick - you have the siphon right over the algae and than prop it up so spores get sucked right away.

I just had to start dosing alk as my Coraline algae and corals are demanding it more than I can water change. I'll have to update my build thread.

Also I see you loss a DOS would you recommend them? I bought a single BRS dose

Also, I would still recommend a DOS because customer support from Neptune has been stellar. I just simply have a motor that will intermittently stop working. A simple power reset fixes it, but it is hard to catch until my water level is too high. I am sending it in tomorrow for warranty repair.

 

[Hallowhead]

Hey!

Didn't quite step away from the hobby, just the forum for a little bit. I was so busy that keeping up with the tank was enough work, let alone writing about it lol.

The war with bubble algae has been won! Between manual removal and a couple of emerald crabs, I am all good now!

RODI water is clean on all parameters and I did make some adjustments to my photoperiod. I had been running higher whites so I could get better pictures, but it made algae worse. Between clean up crew adjustments and color of lighting, I am good on the algae front and nitrates are still high, but manageable at 40ppm.

I think what my issue comes down to is the complexity I am going for in a 30G AIO. With all the equipment in the back, my ratio of detritus (trapped in/under the gear) to water is really tough to keep up with.

In the next few months I am breaking down my tank, removing the divider, and drilling it to be a system with a sump. Having a 'real' protein skimmer and larger fuge will be huge positives, and make maintenance so much easier than trying to mess around in the back of this thing. I am also looking forward to the extra water volume this will buy me, probably around 15 gallons which is a lot for a tank this size.

I have started doing YouTube videos for my woodworking side hobby sorta thing, and I will be doing a full video series on this tank build and hopefully the R2R community can get behind it.

Emerald crabs really do house bubble algae haha.

I am shocked you struggle with high nitrates as here I am struggling with low nitrates for the longest time. What are you feeding? Have you thought of adding some corals such as zoanthids to eat nitrates ? I barely run my protein skimmer as the water is clean enough from my water changes. Skimmer barely produces and sludge.

I have started a second tank a while back for frag grow outs a 34 gallon with a 15 gallons sump. My protein skimmer is overkill their too. I just won the battle with turf algae GHA and other algaes from frags I've bought. The hobby truly is an addiction so as long as you have the patience and dedication.

Looking forward to the new build. Do you run gfo or carbon? I would up having to remove all carbon gfo etc to raise my nitrates a little