Neil’s relocated 180 with bigger, better basement fishroom build out

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Ok- planning the plumbing for the lowboy

thinking I’ll use the (currently closed
Off) manifold branch from the return, and drop it down from 1” to 3/4”, and put a gate valve on it to regulate the flow down (main drain will be 1/2” non-siphon (durso), and put shutoff and bypass valves on it. I’ll just take that 3/4” line over the top of the tank for the return.

for drains- drill for 2x 1” bulkheads, then drop down to 1/2” for main drain, and for secondary. Non-siphon Main drain, dry secondary. Biased in the left glass towards the front.

Frag turnover will be minimal, maybe 2x, but supplemental flow will be with a jebao sw-20

Back left will hold the 8” cube mangrove container, so I can finally get them into the system. Currently hanging out under my main display in a tote. Not ideal.

drains will enter the 125 sump through the two bulkhead holes I drilled in it eons ago, back when I thought the 125 was going to be my main display. It took 4 months to get things ready to the point I wanted to drill it, drilled it on a Saturday, then we needed to move city for work on Monday. Bad timing lol.

also going to paint the back and the bulkhead side with black paint. Current occupants will be transferred to a 20 long for the day.

this is all planned for Wednesday and thursday
 
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Frag tank transfer didn’t happen

wife had some things come up with work (basically she is too nice and spends way too much time bailing other people out, despite warning them for literally MONTHS that what they were doing was going to lead to this outcome) so I was full time solo daddinf the past 3 days. We were supposed to get a hand from the grandparents, but they decided brunch at some crappy diner sans masks was more
Important than helping us clear our to-do list 32 days before our son is born. Whatever

so- I’m spending ALL WEEKEND on the fishroom, as that’s one of the last big things I need to square away before the big day, and the weeks of minimal sleep happen.

frag tank relocation, and new Quad barrel water station (105g Rodi, 105g SW). Got a plan for an over/under offset arrangement that’ll fit in the corner of the foshroom really well. But I have to hang 4 panels of plywood wall before that happens.

fingers crossed!
 
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Did a little something today...

teo trips to Lowe’s, a third required. I hate people who switch out the socket ends of unions and fittings with ones from the smaller size. Also- why is Lowe’s stocking pvc that appears to be in between sch40 and DWV? Some of my joints ended up really weak because the pvc was super thin and pretty much melted through

almost there though

pics in a bit
 
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Should I paint the lowboy bottom white, or light blue? The overflow side and the back are black, but I want something bright to both reflect light, and cover up the paint job on the stand top. I’ve got some discoloration coming through the paint because I didn’t use a separate stain block primer
 
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Someone mention GSP?

E328B1DB-73A8-40BE-98BF-B71E364C45E7.jpeg
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9E758DA1-5068-4C43-8893-C5E9EDB22369.jpeg

Temporary 20long frag tank is full!
 
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Got the plumbing finally finished, just rinsing to get rid of pvc glue residue and hand grease
06007CEF-9FF4-4D26-969F-EB15AD400B1F.jpeg


had to do a little surgery on the reducer couplings so the bulkhead nut would fit- ruined $30 worth of stuff yesterday not checking it. I ended up up-sizing the bulkheads to 1 1/4 since that’s what I had on hand and didn’t want to wait to get this done

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Man, that was a loooooooonnggg two days.

I’ll explain more about the setup later, but I got it running. 160gph for 3 x turnover. Now I just need to find the magnet for the sw20

 

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Frag tank looks really good. Pretty quiet too. Are you happy with that overflow? Looks like a good solution.

Do you think you will put a screen over the overflow? I assume you'll have some sort of wrasse in this tank eventually.
 

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Love the frag tank. Nice GSP, too. I laughed at how some ‘family drama’ got in the way of your build, but you pushed through. Lol! :)
 
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Frag tank looks really good. Pretty quiet too. Are you happy with that overflow? Looks like a good solution.

Do you think you will put a screen over the overflow? I assume you'll have some sort of wrasse in this tank eventually.
I’m thinking I might get a retrofit overflow box, but not sure. I do have a little screen for it, but it restricts flow to the point I get water down the emergency. I can tweak the valve but pretty much ran out of time last night.

ive been very happy with that type of overflow in the past. I have a restricted 3/4 incoming (valves at 150gph) plus the full 3/4 drain, which easily keeps up. Then a totally dry 3/4 emergency set 1/3rd inch higher. Testing worked out great, water gets about 1/4” below trim at full emergency drain.

more time to work on it today- frag racks and maybe the mangroves
 
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Frag tank looks really good. Pretty quiet too. Are you happy with that overflow? Looks like a good solution.

Do you think you will put a screen over the overflow? I assume you'll have some sort of wrasse in this tank eventually
I’m thinking I might get a retrofit overflow box, but not sure. I do have a little screen for it, but it restricts flow to the point I get water down the emergency. I can tweak the valve but pretty much ran out of time last night.

ive been very happy with that type of overflow in the past. I have a restricted 3/4 incoming (valves at 150gph) plus the full 3/4 drain, which easily keeps up. Then a totally dry 3/4 emergency set 1/3rd inch higher. Testing worked out great, water gets about 1/4” below trim at full emergency drain.

more time to work on it today- frag racks and maybe the mangroves
After reacquainting myself with the costs of a retrofit box- I won’t be going that route. That’s more than I think is reasonable for a acrylic box.

I might make something, or just wrap a piece of screen mesh over it. Eggcrate and mesh maybe
 
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Love the frag tank. Nice GSP, too. I laughed at how some ‘family drama’ got in the way of your build, but you pushed through. Lol! :)
Family drama gets in the way of our life, but whatever.

their first response to us telling them we were moving house, because we were a room short for the new baby, was “we aren’t helping”. Big reason why it took me 3 months to move us 90 minutes up the road. But whatever.
 

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Man that stinks! I can't believe they wouldn't help.

Makes sense on the overflow, and I agree about the price. Good opportunity for you to try your hand at fabrication!

My dream tank includes a 75g display fuge. Are you doing one here?
 
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Man that stinks! I can't believe they wouldn't help.

Makes sense on the overflow, and I agree about the price. Good opportunity for you to try your hand at fabrication!

My dream tank includes a 75g display fuge. Are you doing one here?
Once I get my upgrade 350-400, I’ll need to take the sump out (it won’t be big enough), and replace it with a Rubbermaid trough. That’ll give me space to rotate the frag tank 90 to the left, and free up that wall for a 40b display macro.

min the mean time- I’m considering making a TALL stand and putting it over the unused 40 gallon section on my sump. With the upgrade maybe happening in a year- I don’t want a decent display fuge there just to rip it out when I change the sump

I don’t know though. Still a little unsure on timing. A lot depends on babies first year and how the back to school transition works post kids vaccines.

also- I may go an get the new sump next week and do not anyway. I do crap like that sometimes lol
 
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I had big plans of putting my mangroves in the volcanic mud that they’ve been in for a year now, and putting it all in a 8” cube in the frag tank. That’s been the plan all along.

I went to do it today, and had a second of indecision. That’s all it takes. I’m now second guessing all the research I did 18 months ago. So- since I know it works, I’m going to do rock rubble in the cube and run a small 1/4” line from the return into the bottom of the cube for circulation. I’ll transfer the actual mangroves sometime this week.

I’ll keep the volcano mud for later, or keep two mangroves separate and have them under the stand

image.jpg
 

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I think doing it both ways would be interesting. I can confirm mangroves do VERY well in the muddy banks in brackish water in Thailand
 
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I think doing it both ways would be interesting. I can confirm mangroves do VERY well in the muddy banks in brackish water in Thailand
Oh, absolutely. It isn’t about the mud itself. I even confirmed it would be fine when I saw a reef breeders article, and that’s the mud I used.

They didn’t have it hooked up to a tank, though.

it was standalone.

Im worried the 7” deep mud will go anoxic, and start leaching sulphates into the main system. If I aerate by adding a circulation tube- I’m just going to grind up the mu and end up with silt in my tanks.
 
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