WVNeds's Tanks

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WVNed

WVNed

The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
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Hurry up Ned, we want to move.
IMG_1105-X3.jpg
 
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WVNed

WVNed

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Might have water in the new tank tomorrow night but definitely this weekend. I need one more piece to finish the drains which are still stubs sticking through the wall right now. The stock tank already has the bulkheads glued in so.
very soon.
Ya I used the overflow box. It was here.
IMG_1109-X2.jpg


Skimmer will sit in this and then drain down through 2 x 2 inch stand pipes to control the depth for the skimmer. The big stock tank sits underneath.
Should handle drain back just fine. I need to drill the siphon breaks.
Every 2 inches is 20 gallons.
The big pipes need to be glued into these bulkheads and the small ones run to the pumps.
IMG_1110-X2.jpg
 
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WVNed

WVNed

The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
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and so it begins
IMG_1116-XL.jpg


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No water on the floor yet. I was most concerned about where I glued the flex into the bottoms of the bulkheads laying underneath. That was a workout.

I need to vacuum the tank and open the crushed coral and dump it. I am not lifting those bags out.
 
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WVNed

WVNed

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I going to have to make water overnight. I will dump the top tank to the bottom late tonight and should have enough to get the pumps going tomorrow morning. I had to cut out a 1 inch 90 on the right return that was leaking. I had hoped the light timers would come today. I have an ATO coming and will have to figure out how to mount that to the bucket.
I am hoping I have a system with zero drain back. I ran the returns 5 inches above the tank on the wall which hurts the flow a tiny bit. I ran a pipe to the ceiling and added check valves installed backwards so they function as air admittance valves that break the siphon on the returns. I ran vinyl tubing back down to the sump in case the check valves fail. When you unplug a pump you hear the air suck into the tubes. It works.
IMG_1119-X3.jpg
 
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WVNed

WVNed

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Time for bed. I got it this full today.
IMG_1123-XL.jpg


Tomorrow is light timers and heater holders, flow pumps and waiting on more water. Once it all works I will siphon the water back into the water change station for the rocks. Gravity is so useful. Free energy.


The water hasnt hit the bulkheads yet so maybe more excitement.
 
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WVNed

WVNed

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The heaters are in and the Inkbird programmed. It's not full but I can make the water go around now. No leaks detected.
I am going to have to open the holes in the bucket to pass more water. It works with one pump but not both running.
Stop the pumps and it drains to the top of the overflows. It's not even below the frame.
IMG_1133-X2.jpg


It's been a long time coming.
 
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58534800758__B4D094DE-A949-4B92-BAD5-C9CF82F63359-XL.jpg


It's an old guy system
I can squeeze behind it and get to the overflows. Crank the light out of the way easily and they wont drop because its a worm drive winch.
Th electric is all above the water.
Just wiring in the stand. I will probably mount the pump controllers to the doors.
Nothing I need to fool with on the ground in the dark.
The pumps and skimmer are easy to get to and well lit.
IMG_1136-X3.jpg


Turn it all off and nothing happens. No huge amounts of water rushing here and there. Turn one pump off and its return doesn't become a drain. Nothing happens.

It needs about 20 more gallons to get to regular running levels
I need to rig the ATO
IMG_1135-S.jpg

I was going to use a Brut but I would like to find a 20 gallon rectangular trashcan. It will fit much better.

I am going to make a fixture to hold filter socks so they go on the 2 inch pipes going from the skimmer tub to the stock tank. That way they will be easy to get to. I very seldom run them but want to be able to. Those pipes arent glued in so I can change them for different needs. If one falls out nothing bad happens.The water still goes in the tub.

I will get to that tomorrow. Time for a break.
 
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WVNed

WVNed

The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
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It has 300 gallons of water with a salinity of 1.026 at 78 degrees. It is quiet and the skimmer is catching dirt.

It is now a marine aquarium and not just a dream.
1.5 200 gallon bags of Red Sea salt went in.
I am making a new bucket for the pumps to sit in. It needs to not have holes all the way around for the ATO sensors to work. It evaporated enough overnight to be blowing air this morning. I may have to try again or make more holes. I have lots of buckets.
 
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WVNed

WVNed

The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
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It has come out almost exactly as I imagined it.
IMG_1142-XL.jpg


The finest in TLAR West Virginia engineering.
IMG_1143-L.jpg


Time to order the rock tomorrow and infect the tank with some bacteria.
ATO is in. No bubbles in the morning. The Brut is teed into my filter with a float valve. Extra water is good. It's already full.

IMG_1145-L.jpg

I need to lift this tank up. It will drain into the top tub. I have some 4x4 pieces left to do that. I have to clean it too. Put 1 or 2 BB on there and grow some something whatever I want like Macro and pods probably.

IMG_1144-L.jpg

Bucket 3.0 with a slot. Much easier than holes to make. Works fine. The bricks may not be necessary. It was floating when it emptied but that was before the ATO was running. I should have bolted it down with some nylon bolts and sealed it to the bottom. Maybe later.

It might be ugly but it works, is quiet and it's easy to get to everything.

Tomorrow I power up the flow pumps. 2 XF350 gyres and 2 Rossmont 4100s.
 
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WVNed

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I have done all I am going to do for now.
Our first grandchild is coming between now and Sunday night.
I will order the rock when we get back from that.
Everything is running but the doser and I wont need that for a while.
I dumped a bucket of sand I had from the move in, added some bacteria and will start feeding the tank a tiny bit. It's a big cloudy mess right now.
IMG_1148-X2.jpg


The side tank is running and the skimmer is breaking in. I am going to grow some brown stuff and get this party started.
IMG_1149-X2.jpg


Tomorrow is clean up day.

See you next week.
 
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WVNed

WVNed

The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
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Tiny update
I added 80 pounds of crushed coral without rinsing it. No filtration but a new skimmer.
It has come clear. Which has always been my experience.
IMG_1152-XL.jpg


I took the bucket out. It was redundant. I mounted the ATO sensors to the large tub and it is working fine and no more bubbles.
My returns ended up a lot longer than I planned because in the end I decided to not butcher the paneling. The hole I passed the plumbing through already existed in the wall.
It is only draining through 1 of the 4 drains and the valve is closed quite a bit
so I ordered 2 much larger DC pumps so I can adjust them to the 1500 GPH I planned. The overflow is supposed to handle 2400 GPH and now that I have seen it work I may try for around 2000 GPH. I could stick a V8 powered pump in the big tub if I wanted.
 

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