Andrew Schubert
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2018
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So I just got into the reefing hobby about 4 months ago and decided I would share my story, successes, and most importantly my failures so that anyone new to the hobby also can learn!
Starting Out...
I love learning and building new things. This is probably the main reason I wanted to get into the hobby, to learn and do something new! Saying that, everything I do I seem to take it to the extreme. So I set out and bought a 120 acrylic aquarium that was still brand new off of craigslist. I also picked up a 55 Gal food drum off of craiglist and a 30 gallon aquarium from Petsmart that I planned on turning into my own refugium. I was in the process of moving, and still needed to build the stand for the display tank. So I knew I was still a good month or more from having the time to get it all setup.
However, I knew that being successful at reefing required patience I thought this was the perfect time to pick up some dry rock and get it cycling. So I order 120 lbs of dry rock and left it to cycle in the 30 gallon aquarium for a good month while I got the house in order and had time to build the aquarium stand. To help with the cycling process I picked up some pure ammonia from Menards and dosed some every day.
Waiting My month...
While I was waiting for my live rock to cure, I spend this time studying and learning as much as possible about the hobby. I great place to start is BRS TV's 52 week of reefing. This introduced me to many concepts I was clueless about. What is a protein skimmer? What is 2 Part? Corals (Softies, LPS, SPS), and much, much, more!
The Wait Is over...
After I had my tank stand build, my house was in order, and my rock was cured I began the process of setting up the display tank. But first, I needed to build my refugium. So I moved all my rock into the 50 barrel drum so I could DIY my refugium. At this time I purchased a protein skimmer that was good up to a 210 gallon tank. Even though this probably isn't needed this early on, I wanted it so I knew exactly where to put my baffles in the refugium. I split the 30 gallon into three comartments, with the first section holding the return intake and skimmer, the middle holding the refugium, and the final section holding the return pump.
I then setup my display tank, got all the rock in place and let it run fishless for a couple days to make sure there were no issues.
Issue One
Well after being setup for a day I noticed water trickling down the stand. I thought, 'great' I bought an acrylic tank so I didn't have to worry about leaks and I got one. So I tore everything back down only to find NO leak anywhere. Long story short, water got under the tank when I was filling it and that was where the water was leaking from.
Issue Two
I did not tank into account the amount of water needed to pass through the baffles. As the section with the return pump drained quicker then the water flowed into the section. Thankfully I used acylic to make the baffles so all I had to do was drain the refugium and drill a bunch of holes in the baffles to make enough flow.
Issue Three
After hooking the refugium back up and running it for a couple more days I discovered a leak through one of the PVC couplers on the overflow. This probably dumped about a gallon of water onto the carpet (yes, my tank was sitting on top of carpet). At this point I was still not using salt water just fresh RO/DI water so I wasn't to concerned with mold issues. I just put some fans on it and blew it dry. I did not want to have to tear the tank down AGAIN and pull the carpet back.
Issue Four
You definitely want a check valve on your return otherwise you will have some real problems during a power outage. In one of the BRS TV videos they recommend WYE check valve. However, I could not justify a 40+ dollar item when I could get one for 3 bucks at Menards. Boy do I wish I did. Within 2 weeks the check valves was already clogged up. I noticed the return pump was only pumping like 100 GPH, when I was doing 900 GPH at first. My first thought was there was soemthing wrong with the return pump (maybe algea from the refugium got in their and clogged it up?). So I took the return pump out of my tank and cleaned it up. But still, there was no flow. After a bunch of trail and error, and buying a new pump b/c I thought something was wrong with the pump I finally figured out it was the check-valve failing to open all the way up. So in the long run, I ended up having to buy the 40+ check valve. I was able to return the second pump back to Amazon.
Issue Five
The next morning after re-installing the pump back on my tank I came down stairs to feed the fish I found a total mess. In one of the BRS TV videos they recommend using flex tubing for the first couple fit on the return pump. This was to help with any vibration noise coming off the pump and the solid PVC piping. HOWEVER, as I learned this is not nearly as secure. I must not have gotten the tubing all the way secured on the pump because the tubing came off the pump that night and I was left with 30 gallons of saltwater all over the carpet.
This was a mess that I could not just cleanup with some fans. By this point I had added $800 worth of corals and 4 or 5 fishes to the tank. So I had to remove all the rock, the corals, and the fish and place them in buckets. I had to drain all the water, pull back the carpet and get everything dried out. Yes, I had to take the day off work to do this. It took me from 7am, until 9pm to get it all cleaned up (and I skipped breakfast, lunch, and dinner that day). It was not very much fun.
On top of it the water from the pump splashed up the stand and soaked my MaxSpect Gyre controller box destroying it. So I had to get a new one :-(.
Needless to say, I converted everything over to PVC as I was not about to let something like that to happen again. (Side Note: I do not notice any extra noise coming from the pump. In my opinion I would never not hard pipe my entire aquarium).
Also, at this point since I've already soaked the carpet twice I decided I'm moving the tank to the tile flooring. At the very least, I won't have to drain the tank if the carpet gets wet again sometime in the future.
Issue Six
At this point you may be wondering why In the world I am still in this hobby and why my wife even allows me to be? Well I'm stubborn and figured nothing else can go wrong right? Thankfully, this one wasn't as big of deal as the last since I've moved it off the carpet. But my refugium decided it didn't want to hold water and sprung a leak. The water did trickle its way to the carpet, but nothing a days worth of fans wasn't about to dry out. But I had to empty the refugium and seal the leak. I wasn't sure where the leak was coming from, so I just globed 2 entire tubes of silicone all over the bottom of the tank. A month later now, and haven't had any more issues since.
So If I could do it all over again?
I spent hours reading and studying to have a successful tank from the start. Yet, besides that it has been just one issue after the other.
So if I was just starting out again here are the things I would definitely make sure I would do moving forward.
1) Never put the tank on carpet. If all you have is carpet, remove the carpet from that location and convert it to tile or something else. Or at the least, put something under the tank so it isn't directly on top of the carpet. The carpet will still get wet underneath if you have a big issue, but at least you won't have to worry about the daily splashes, etc... that WILL happen with the tank.
2) Hard Pipe everything. Do NOT use flex tubing. Hard Piping is so much easier, and not really that much more difficult or expensive to install over flex.
3) Get a check valve, not not a cheap one. A cheap one will not hold up, and in my case you could make the argument it cost me a days of vacation, $200 for a new controller, and $100 for cleanup supply rental.
4) I couple years ago I purchased a freshwater tank brand new that leaked as well. So in total 50% of every new tank I've ever bought leaked on me within the first couple months of owning it. So, if you are going to use it as a refugium, you really don't care how it looks. So even if the tank isn't leaking add more silicone to the seals just in case! More is always better right?
Success Stories
Ok, so not everything has gone bad. One, I'm not sure if its the skimmer or the refugium but I still have never seen any trace of nitrate in my system. I now have 10 fish in my tank and still nothing. My fuge is really growing well. I didn't go cheap on the lighting as I'm using a kessil for the fuge light.
I've always only lost one fish. Thankfully it was just a little damsel that only cost a couple of bucks.
I have been using a quarantine tank as well. Currently I have a couple tangs and a copperband in their waiting to be added to my main tank. No signs of diseases. Just yesterday, my copperband is showing signs he is ready to start eating. I've spend the last week trying EVERYTHING to get him to eat. I think he might FINALLY make it!
Anways, that has been my story in my first few months in the hobby. Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, you will fail at some point. But as long as your wife lets yo u continue it's worth it
.
Starting Out...
I love learning and building new things. This is probably the main reason I wanted to get into the hobby, to learn and do something new! Saying that, everything I do I seem to take it to the extreme. So I set out and bought a 120 acrylic aquarium that was still brand new off of craigslist. I also picked up a 55 Gal food drum off of craiglist and a 30 gallon aquarium from Petsmart that I planned on turning into my own refugium. I was in the process of moving, and still needed to build the stand for the display tank. So I knew I was still a good month or more from having the time to get it all setup.
However, I knew that being successful at reefing required patience I thought this was the perfect time to pick up some dry rock and get it cycling. So I order 120 lbs of dry rock and left it to cycle in the 30 gallon aquarium for a good month while I got the house in order and had time to build the aquarium stand. To help with the cycling process I picked up some pure ammonia from Menards and dosed some every day.
Waiting My month...
While I was waiting for my live rock to cure, I spend this time studying and learning as much as possible about the hobby. I great place to start is BRS TV's 52 week of reefing. This introduced me to many concepts I was clueless about. What is a protein skimmer? What is 2 Part? Corals (Softies, LPS, SPS), and much, much, more!
The Wait Is over...
After I had my tank stand build, my house was in order, and my rock was cured I began the process of setting up the display tank. But first, I needed to build my refugium. So I moved all my rock into the 50 barrel drum so I could DIY my refugium. At this time I purchased a protein skimmer that was good up to a 210 gallon tank. Even though this probably isn't needed this early on, I wanted it so I knew exactly where to put my baffles in the refugium. I split the 30 gallon into three comartments, with the first section holding the return intake and skimmer, the middle holding the refugium, and the final section holding the return pump.
I then setup my display tank, got all the rock in place and let it run fishless for a couple days to make sure there were no issues.
Issue One
Well after being setup for a day I noticed water trickling down the stand. I thought, 'great' I bought an acrylic tank so I didn't have to worry about leaks and I got one. So I tore everything back down only to find NO leak anywhere. Long story short, water got under the tank when I was filling it and that was where the water was leaking from.
Issue Two
I did not tank into account the amount of water needed to pass through the baffles. As the section with the return pump drained quicker then the water flowed into the section. Thankfully I used acylic to make the baffles so all I had to do was drain the refugium and drill a bunch of holes in the baffles to make enough flow.
Issue Three
After hooking the refugium back up and running it for a couple more days I discovered a leak through one of the PVC couplers on the overflow. This probably dumped about a gallon of water onto the carpet (yes, my tank was sitting on top of carpet). At this point I was still not using salt water just fresh RO/DI water so I wasn't to concerned with mold issues. I just put some fans on it and blew it dry. I did not want to have to tear the tank down AGAIN and pull the carpet back.
Issue Four
You definitely want a check valve on your return otherwise you will have some real problems during a power outage. In one of the BRS TV videos they recommend WYE check valve. However, I could not justify a 40+ dollar item when I could get one for 3 bucks at Menards. Boy do I wish I did. Within 2 weeks the check valves was already clogged up. I noticed the return pump was only pumping like 100 GPH, when I was doing 900 GPH at first. My first thought was there was soemthing wrong with the return pump (maybe algea from the refugium got in their and clogged it up?). So I took the return pump out of my tank and cleaned it up. But still, there was no flow. After a bunch of trail and error, and buying a new pump b/c I thought something was wrong with the pump I finally figured out it was the check-valve failing to open all the way up. So in the long run, I ended up having to buy the 40+ check valve. I was able to return the second pump back to Amazon.
Issue Five
The next morning after re-installing the pump back on my tank I came down stairs to feed the fish I found a total mess. In one of the BRS TV videos they recommend using flex tubing for the first couple fit on the return pump. This was to help with any vibration noise coming off the pump and the solid PVC piping. HOWEVER, as I learned this is not nearly as secure. I must not have gotten the tubing all the way secured on the pump because the tubing came off the pump that night and I was left with 30 gallons of saltwater all over the carpet.
This was a mess that I could not just cleanup with some fans. By this point I had added $800 worth of corals and 4 or 5 fishes to the tank. So I had to remove all the rock, the corals, and the fish and place them in buckets. I had to drain all the water, pull back the carpet and get everything dried out. Yes, I had to take the day off work to do this. It took me from 7am, until 9pm to get it all cleaned up (and I skipped breakfast, lunch, and dinner that day). It was not very much fun.
On top of it the water from the pump splashed up the stand and soaked my MaxSpect Gyre controller box destroying it. So I had to get a new one :-(.
Needless to say, I converted everything over to PVC as I was not about to let something like that to happen again. (Side Note: I do not notice any extra noise coming from the pump. In my opinion I would never not hard pipe my entire aquarium).
Also, at this point since I've already soaked the carpet twice I decided I'm moving the tank to the tile flooring. At the very least, I won't have to drain the tank if the carpet gets wet again sometime in the future.
Issue Six
At this point you may be wondering why In the world I am still in this hobby and why my wife even allows me to be? Well I'm stubborn and figured nothing else can go wrong right? Thankfully, this one wasn't as big of deal as the last since I've moved it off the carpet. But my refugium decided it didn't want to hold water and sprung a leak. The water did trickle its way to the carpet, but nothing a days worth of fans wasn't about to dry out. But I had to empty the refugium and seal the leak. I wasn't sure where the leak was coming from, so I just globed 2 entire tubes of silicone all over the bottom of the tank. A month later now, and haven't had any more issues since.
So If I could do it all over again?
I spent hours reading and studying to have a successful tank from the start. Yet, besides that it has been just one issue after the other.
So if I was just starting out again here are the things I would definitely make sure I would do moving forward.
1) Never put the tank on carpet. If all you have is carpet, remove the carpet from that location and convert it to tile or something else. Or at the least, put something under the tank so it isn't directly on top of the carpet. The carpet will still get wet underneath if you have a big issue, but at least you won't have to worry about the daily splashes, etc... that WILL happen with the tank.
2) Hard Pipe everything. Do NOT use flex tubing. Hard Piping is so much easier, and not really that much more difficult or expensive to install over flex.
3) Get a check valve, not not a cheap one. A cheap one will not hold up, and in my case you could make the argument it cost me a days of vacation, $200 for a new controller, and $100 for cleanup supply rental.
4) I couple years ago I purchased a freshwater tank brand new that leaked as well. So in total 50% of every new tank I've ever bought leaked on me within the first couple months of owning it. So, if you are going to use it as a refugium, you really don't care how it looks. So even if the tank isn't leaking add more silicone to the seals just in case! More is always better right?
Success Stories
Ok, so not everything has gone bad. One, I'm not sure if its the skimmer or the refugium but I still have never seen any trace of nitrate in my system. I now have 10 fish in my tank and still nothing. My fuge is really growing well. I didn't go cheap on the lighting as I'm using a kessil for the fuge light.
I've always only lost one fish. Thankfully it was just a little damsel that only cost a couple of bucks.
I have been using a quarantine tank as well. Currently I have a couple tangs and a copperband in their waiting to be added to my main tank. No signs of diseases. Just yesterday, my copperband is showing signs he is ready to start eating. I've spend the last week trying EVERYTHING to get him to eat. I think he might FINALLY make it!
Anways, that has been my story in my first few months in the hobby. Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, you will fail at some point. But as long as your wife lets yo u continue it's worth it
.
