My Water Garden Adventure

[Todvod]

I've wanted a salt water tank for decades. Even though we couldn't afford one, I would often make the family stop in with me at the fish store to mill around and gawk at the beautiful fish and coral. Well, I aint gettin any younger. Three kids are already out of the house, but 2 are still left. I wanted to jump in so that I could atleast share it with them. I almost pulled the trigger once or twice before, but it was our Lego League project on saving coral reefs 2 years ago that finally got the ball rolling. I had been setting aside gift money for several years. while it would only cover just over half the cost, the wife said go for it. Love that woman! Black Friday(2017) was approaching and I was hoping to get a deal on an SCA PNP system. To my delight, It went on sale(YEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!) and I pulled the trigger. A couple weeks later, this truck showed up.

...And here is what was inside. The SCA 66 gallon Plug n Play system. Included tank, stand, sump, return pump, protein skimmer, bulk heads and flex tube plumbing.

More to come. Want to see how this first post(with pics) actually turns out. Still learning....

 

[NY_Caveman]

I've wanted a salt water tank for decades. Even though we couldn't afford one, I would often make the family stop in with me at the fish store to mill around and gawk at the beautiful fish and coral. Well, I aint gettin any younger. Three kids are already out of the house, but 2 are still left. I wanted to jump in so that I could atleast share it with them. I almost pulled the trigger once or twice before, but it was our Lego League project on saving coral reefs 2 years ago that finally got the ball rolling. I had been setting aside gift money for several years. while it would only cover just over half the cost, the wife said go for it. Love that woman! Black Friday(2017) was approaching and I was hoping to get a deal on an SCA PNP system. To my delight, It went on sale(YEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!) and I pulled the trigger. A couple weeks later, this truck showed up.

...And here is what was inside. The SCA 66 gallon Plug n Play system. Included tank, stand, sump, return pump, protein skimmer, bulk heads and flex tube plumbing.

More to come. Want to see how this first post(with pics) actually turns out. Still learning....

Awesome news!

 

[Todvod]

Like many of you out here, I wanted to make a few mods to suit my taste. Not sure I should have done some of it, as I have no experience with a reef tank. However, I've seen plenty of setups and found a few things that resonated with me, like a refugium with macro algae. I've seen some nice Trigger Systems sumps and made some mods accordingly. The stock sump was pretty good; basically divided into thirds, with the larger third further divided into 2 chambers(the smaller one for the overflow and the larger for the protein skimmer). The flow would come from the DT into the overflow section with filter pads(back right), exiting the bottom under the baffle into the skimmer section(front right). Then under/over the baffle into the middle section(refugium). And finally, over/under into the last section on the left(return). I liked the flow pattern, but wanted a larger middle section for the refugium. I also wanted a smaller section to put some filter media.
So, the plan was to:

• Move the baffles on the left, a little more to the left, making the middle section larger. I also wanted the baffle a little taller to raise the water level an inch or 2. My thinking was the bigger the better for the macro algae. so I took the larger of the 2 pieces to the glass shop to cut down to size. The smaller piece was also cut to make a retaining wall for another shelf to trap any algae from getting to the return section.
• Divide the overflow section into 2 equal sections by adding an additional baffle. The overflow would be in the back section and shelves for filter media will be in the new front section. The overflow would come into the back section and flow over this new baffle flowing down through the new shelves(egg crate) and then under the existing baffle into the skimmer section. I cut my own glass to close off the bottom of the overflow and to make ledges for the media shelves.

*Insight: working with silicone is a pain in the rear. It's messy and seems to get everywhere. I can't believe I actually had the thought of making my own tank. No way. Also, trying to cut/snap your own glass is kinda difficult as well. i went through a bunch of pieces. It works, but the edges are something to be desired.

I thought I took more pictures but I guess not. I'm missing shots of the finished product.
here is the sump before the mods:

cutting out the baffles with a utility knife.

This work was completed 5 months ago and for some reason I dont have any after mod pics. But, here are some current pictures.

This whole thing took me almost a month. But, it was a fun little project.

oh, one more thing I learned. The new baffle I added to divide the overflow section was a few inches higher than the water level and makes a nice(or not so nice) waterfall sound. With the filter pads in place it pretty much is silent. I do wish that baffle was a little lower though.

 

[Todvod]

Just finished setting up a water station and QT. RO/DI unit is plumbed to the top Brute container holding fresh water. Bottom container is for making salt water. I didn’t account for the shelf supports reducing the inside width affecting
the saltwater storage so had to perform a little surgery on the Brute to wedge it into place. The wife allowed me some real estate in her laundry room. Tapped into the cold water supply and drain for the washer.

 

[hatfielj]

Congrats! You deserve it after waiting all these years. Welcome to the hobby

 

[Todvod]

Well I never seem to have the time to write as much as I would like to, and often don’t bother to update the build thread. Need to change up the approach and get some updates (from the distant past) out here to bring me up to current.
The floors in the family are kinda spongy and shaped like a bowl. So I spent a month or so adding support under the floor in the crawl space.

And with that bowl shaped floor, only the back right corner of the stand actually touches the floor after leveling. The front left was 5/8” off the floor!! The stand easily shifted under all those plastic shims so I cemented under the stand. Then painted it black to match.

The circuit in the family room would not support a reef tank so was fortunate( read blessed) to be able to tap into another circuit on the outside wall next to the tank.

Drilled thru the back of that outlet into the living room and extended the line.

Added a surface mount outlet box(no pic).

More later...

 

[Todvod]

Laying out the plumbing.

The finished product. Screwed up the very first joint I glued. Forgot to put the nut on the pipe before cementing the top of the union. Doh!!!!

I cut the supports out of pine for easy removal. Didn’t want to use those straps.

 

[Todvod]

Cured the rock for about 5 weeks in 10% bleach solution. I just used regular tap water. I wanted to dry scape after curing so wasn’t concerned about the bacteria cycle.

 

[Todvod]

The tank was very nice. But in some spots the black silicone didn’t fill the outside beveled edge. I didn’t like that light leaking thru and wanted a solid black line. So filled that joint with some black silicone.

 

[mmw64]

The tank was very nice. But in some spots the black silicone didn’t fill the outside beveled edge. I didn’t like that light leaking thru and wanted a solid black line. So filled that joint with some black silicone.

following

 

[Todvod]

Meet Juice! He was my first fish. A Midas blenny. Very cool fish with lots of personality. Sadly, he only lasted a week. I have a rimless tank and when I bought him the LFS owner asked if I had a lid. I said no. He said you’re gonna want to get one. I said ok and started researching. I decided on a DIY lid and started buying the materials. Got it all purchased and was planning to assemble over the weekend. My wife called on Friday before lunch telling me I jumped. We were all so sad.

I finished the lid. It came out pretty well. Picked up screen frame from HD and tulle from JoAnn fabrics. I really like the tulle. It’s black and blends in very well. Glue worked for others, but I had to screw in the supports that hold the frame on the top edge.

 

[Todvod]

My clowns are trying to photo bomb!!!!

 

[Todvod]

I really liked the idea of sleek lights over an open top tank. No canopy for me. I had it going for a while with my GHL Mitras. But that didn’t last too long. Had to make a screen top recently; now a mini canopy(kind of). More like a skirt. Really disliked the lights shining in my eyes while seated on the couches. Didn’t like the spill over either, although not real bad. Made the skirt out of 1 3/4” foam trim.

 

[Todvod]

Thought my fire shrimp died this morning. First time he molted.

 

[Todvod]

Got this beautiful alge growing on the sand bed. Need to come up with a plan.

Here’s a closer look. Snake like bacteria.

 

[Todvod]

 

[Todvod]

Well, still dealing with that cyano. My nitrates are pretty much 0 and phosphates are .1. I’m thinking I need to bring up the nitrate and these 2 into balance. Considering dosing nitrate. But first I’m going to remove some macro in the fuge and reduce skimming. If anyone else has been the same boat as me I’d be interested in what you did.

 

[Todvod]

How about an FTS.

 

[Todvod]

Moved this Stylo up a little higher and I think I’m finally seeing some growth.

 

[Todvod]

The tank is 6 months old. so what do you do?.....you clean. Yesterday I cleaned all 4 pumps. This was the first time cleaning the return pump (DCP-8000) and skimmer pump. I was surprised to find them not too dirty. So far Jebao pumps have done well for me.

Still dealing with cyano. Just found out i've been measuring nitrate incorrectly using my Salifert kit. When 10ppm or below, supposed to look thru the side of the vial and divide value by 10. So, for the past 6 weeks i thought i had about 1ppm nitrate, when actually it was more like .1. This low nitrate value along with my elevated phosphate .10, may be part of the reason for the cyano. So, I made a dilution of KNO3 and dosed about 10ml or 2tsp to the DT(~80 twv). It raised the nitrate to 5ppm. May have overdosed slightly, but will see. Not sure whats eating up all the nitrate; I only have half a dozen coral frags. The cheato in the fuge hasn't grown since I got it months ago and the SCA skimmer, while working fine, isn't a high powered beast or anything.