My new 135 build!!

[Jedi1199]

I think BRS has a video of one but it's a review video (not in operation I think).

Yes, I saw that video. It is just a review. It does not show it in operation.

Today is the big day!!! There is water in the new tank!!

I have it about 3/4 filled right now. Since I am not able to move my rocks and corals into it until I get the water cleared up, LOTS of dust from the sand right now, I am going to stop filling once I get it filled to just below the drain intakes.

I may even have to take some water back out so I can build the aquascape without the need of a diving mask and snorkel. Haha!

 

[tbrown]

 

[Jedi1199]

Just for fun, I plugged in my Wills 165 light just to see how the tank is looking... Well, it's as cloudy as a clear day in England... but I can see that it is clearing up quite a bit... its actually kind of a cool look on the tank as it is now...

 

[Jedi1199]

I hope the picture can show what I actually see...

I used my old sand, as-is on this new build. When I removed it from the tank 48 hours ago, it smelled like the ocean. When I dumped it into the tank this afternoon, it had a strong off scent. Pretty bad smell actually.

Most people would cringe at just the idea of reusing old sand, let alone as-is the way I did.

I did what I did for a reason. ALL of the microscopic and non-microscopic life that lives in the sand is valuable to a tank!! I can already see many of the little Asterina starfish climbing up onto the glass. (I hope they show up in the photo).

If I had washed that sand, I would have done what most people would do.. go outside and use the hose to rinse it till the water ran clean, then a few doses of RODI water to make it tank ready. Be honest, this is what almost EVERYONE would do!!

If I had done that, would I have those little Asterina's? now? How much of the microscopic stuff would simple be either flushed out or outright killed by chlorinated tap water?

How much of what we have been conditioned to believe as "carved in stone rules" are actually true? I can run a test for the major stuff on my tank right now, and show some actual numbers for parameters. What will that mean to the health of what we need to realize is an ECOSYSTEM, not an aquarium!!

There are no tests that I own, or am aware of for the hobbyist, that can test for the micro-fauna that we need in our tanks to have that thriving beautiful tank.

I am not usually a fan of BRStv stuff, but the presentation that Ryan did at Reef-A-Palooza which is on YouTube, started me thinking long and hard about the value of these microscopic critters and their value to a system overall.

This is why I made the decision NOT to wash the sand from my old tank.

 

[Jedi1199]

It has been 4 hours since I posted the last round of pictures of the cloudy tank. I first started adding water about 5-6 hours ago.

I can really see how well the canister is removing that dust from the tank. Clearly, it is far from clean, but I can at least see through the water to the back of the tank now. Bear in mind also, the fact that I have been actively stirring the sand and have a strong flow maker aimed at it that is digging out holes and keeping the finest dust suspended in the water column. My goal here is to remove the dust and as much of the filth from the old sand, but preserve as much of the microbiology as I can reasonably hope to salvage.

 

[Jedi1199]

Ok Reefers... I am due for an update...

The first 2 pictures were taken on Monday at about Noon, just before I left for work so, about 18 hours from first water going in. Those that dis on canister filters, this is what a good one can do!

I got home from work at about 2:30 am on Tuesday morning and put all the livestock into the tank!

The pictures here are from later that day before work, so about 12:30 pm.

This shot was about Noon on Wednesday. It is hard to see in photo, but this is an end on shot. I could easily see clear through the tank end to end with the naked eye. The pics do not do it justice at all.... Sorry.

Here we have a FTS from about an hour ago. I have all the lights mounted, the Sump is running, Canister removed, Wavemakers going, leaks all found and fixed!!! Basically, the tank is ready save for the final few elements such as finding a background, and routing all of the wiring so it is clean, neat and safe.

Once I get that done, I think I will let it be for a few weeks, then I will start tweaking the aquascape and adding in more rocks and corals.

 

[DarkReefer]

Let there be life!

Looks awesome and should grow out nicely!

 

[Jedi1199]

Here are a few pics with the blue removing filter added...

It's hard to get far enough back to capture the entire tank... lol

 

[tbrown]

She's up and running!!!

 

[Jedi1199]

She's up and running!!!

Well, I don't know about "running" more of a brisk walk at this point.

One of my most hated things EVER is plumbing. No matter what I do, how well I prepare, every single plumbing project either involves leaks, or an extra run to the hardware store... Usually both!! No difference here. After getting all the leaks fixed yesterday and watching it for several hours with no drips, I woke this morning to leaks from BOTH drains!!! Ugghh!!!!!

The right side drain had a small crack in the horizontal pipe just after the elbow. That was a pretty bad leak. I had to completely remove the run and cut out the offending pipe and reassemble it with a coupler in the run. The left side drain was leaking from the coupling tube I used to connect the PVC to the barbed bulkhead.

Spent the majority of the day repairing the leaks (with the above mentioned extra trip to the store for the coupling I needed). I STILL have a leak on the right drain. That tubing I used for that joint just isn't working. I have the soft ribbed tubing that I ordered for that run (the included tubing is only 3 ft long WHAT is up with THAT??).

I ended up scrapping the hard piping on the left side for the included soft ribbed stuff and after a couple hours, it appears I have that one fixed. I think in the morning I will scrap the long run for the soft tubing as well.

What a pain in the posterior!!! I seriously HATE plumbing!!!!

 

[Jedi1199]

@tbrown3589

As promised, here is a video of the Eshopps AR300 sump in actual operation.

I think this is a really sweet design. Seems to be working as advertised so far.

 

[tbrown]

The only thing I don't necessarily care for is the low water level in the skimmer section. Mine has that too.

Facebook marketplace has a R-300 for $70... I really want it but my wife said no. It's basically the same as yours but with an included ATO valve.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

OK guys.. The new tank is inside and on the stand!!!!

I have the overflows plumbed in and am leak testing them right now. If I don't get to it tonight, I will be plumbing in the sump in the morning.

I still need to complete this by end of the day Sunday as I have to go back to work on Monday morning and I won't have time to do anything with the tank until Thursday.

@tbrown3589 Here are a couple pics of the new AR300 sump. Notice in these pics, the bypass area below the fuge? I am actually excited to get this running and make a video of it in actual operation. I have searched YouTube in every way I can think of and have not found a single video of one of these in actual operation.

One thing I would suggest, dont use that return pipe hole from your overflow as a return. I did that with my tank and I have no emergency drain and I am regretting it. I am now trying to figure out how to retro fit a return that goes up and over the rim and making that second downspout bulk head as the emergency. I havent had a MAJOR problem yet, but I have had issues. My biggest issue is that my primary drain strainer (like you have) sometimes gets clogged a bit and causes the water levels to rise. Yes, the hole in the top will eventually trigger a siphon, but not before you potentially have a water level rise affecting your salinity because your ATO thinks it needs to add water (more water = lower salinity)

I would love to find a way of creating an emergency drain without having to change my set up...but dont think I have a choice in the two bulk head set up.

 

[OrchidMiss]

Just for fun, I plugged in my Wills 165 light just to see how the tank is looking... Well, it's as cloudy as a clear day in England... but I can see that it is clearing up quite a bit... its actually kind of a cool look on the tank as it is now...

How many of the Wills lights do you plan on using?
I have two 165watt ones I plan on selling/donating if you're interested.

 

[Jedi1199]

How many of the Wills lights do you plan on using?
I have two 165watt ones I plan on selling/donating if you're interested.

None if I don't have to... lol

I have 3 of them myself and I really don't like them. I kept one over my 55 because of the glass brace. The new 135 has a glass brace in the middle as well, but the 4 Kessils seem to be doing a good job so far.

 

[Jedi1199]

One thing I would suggest, dont use that return pipe hole from your overflow as a return. I did that with my tank and I have no emergency drain and I am regretting it. I am now trying to figure out how to retro fit a return that goes up and over the rim and making that second downspout bulk head as the emergency. I havent had a MAJOR problem yet, but I have had issues. My biggest issue is that my primary drain strainer (like you have) sometimes gets clogged a bit and causes the water levels to rise. Yes, the hole in the top will eventually trigger a siphon, but not before you potentially have a water level rise affecting your salinity because your ATO thinks it needs to add water (more water = lower salinity)

I would love to find a way of creating an emergency drain without having to change my set up...but dont think I have a choice in the two bulk head set up.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just clean the screens regularly? With the dual overflows it seems to me that it would take an awful lot of gunk to clog them up enough to actually restrict the flow to the point where the ATO is triggered. This is one of the reasons I ordered the tank with the dual overflows.

I have the same design on my 180 and never had an issue with it at all. There could be a debate with that tank being a FOWLR system that runs on a single 72" Orbit marine led. I don't have enough light to generate much algae. I get Diatoms in there once in a while but they come and go. never last more than a week or 10 days or so.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Wouldn't it be simpler to just clean the screens regularly? With the dual overflows it seems to me that it would take an awful lot of gunk to clog them up enough to actually restrict the flow to the point where the ATO is triggered. This is one of the reasons I ordered the tank with the dual overflows.

I have the same design on my 180 and never had an issue with it at all. There could be a debate with that tank being a FOWLR system that runs on a single 72" Orbit marine led. I don't have enough light to generate much algae. I get Diatoms in there once in a while but they come and go. never last more than a week or 10 days or so.

You’d think. I’ve had the situation multiple times that I was traveling for a couple of days and a very small clog caused it to happen. I am trying to find a larger strainer intake which should address it. But if I can’t, I gotta retro an emergency drain. I have the same size as you.

 

[Jedi1199]

You’d think. I’ve had the situation multiple times that I was traveling for a couple of days and a very small clog caused it to happen. I am trying to find a larger strainer intake which should address it. But if I can’t, I gotta retro an emergency drain. I have the same size as you.

What the heck do you have getting into your overflows through the wiers that is clogging the drains?

 

[Jedi1199]

You’d think. I’ve had the situation multiple times that I was traveling for a couple of days and a very small clog caused it to happen. I am trying to find a larger strainer intake which should address it. But if I can’t, I gotta retro an emergency drain. I have the same size as you.

If it really is that much of an issue.. maybe replace your drains with this kit (which I use on my 180)




MUCH larger screens on the drain tubes.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

If it really is that much of an issue.. maybe replace your drains with this kit (which I use on my 180)




MUCH larger screens on the drain tubes.

I actually just bought a larger strainer. A little over priced on amazon right now...but hopefully this will not clog as easily.



Edit. Got this on AquaCave

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www.aquacave.com