WVNeds's Tanks

[WVNed]

My stock tank I use for mixed water storage started leaking Saturday night. I had to drain it at 2am. I still have my Brut cans for emergencies. I got a new bung at Tractor Supply Sunday and glued it with JB Weld Waterweld instead of silicone I used the first time.
All fixed

 

[WVNed]

I am still having trouble with the 240. I have decided to make some fundamental changes. Both my returns and overflow are maxed out. I have ordered a new overflow to be made by Modular Marine in a custom size of 20 x 3 x 7 to be glued to the back glass. I have 2 return pumps each pushing water through a 1 inch line to a single 3/4 inch bulkhead. It is killing the flow so I am going to split them and add a 1 inch over the top return to each. I will just glue a tee into the spa flex behind the tank. I am hoping this lets me get the dirt out of the tank and into the sump to be removed. Right now I stir it up and it settles right back down. The way it is now 2 x 2000gph pumps is only getting me 1000gph through the sump.
If I ever have another 240 made for me(LOL) I will know to have more that 2 x 3/4 inch return holes drilled.

The sulfur denitrator took off and was foaming like crazy but I screwed up and increased the flow to much and nerfed it.
I am looking for 8 liters an hour/200ml in 90 seconds. 48 gallons a day processed would be like doing a 10% water change every day.

The LaCl is keeping the nitrates under 0.1 by dosing 1.2ml into the skimmer every hour. I am not pushing it. The amount sequestered in the tank should come down over time.
Reducing the phosphates has brought on a huge cyano boom. I am trying to avoid using Chemiclean. I want to see what happens when the nitrates fall.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,i know you have "the lab" going over there..jme ,as all tanks run different ,i run po4 .25-.50 ,and like to see nitrates above 30.
knock on wood 3 decades ,never used chemiclean,heavy stocked well fed large reefs,bare bones filtration, oversize skimmers, phosguard,and denitrate ,with no real change out schedule,see some algae ,time to toss in another sack.
not a tester.. :rolleyes: just alk and cal,and ph monitor.for what its worth.
only difference ,i run bare bottom systems.
like the idea for more flow ,get the crap out of tank,sounds like it will work well..:cool:

 

[WVNed]

hi,i know you have "the lab" going over there..jme ,as all tanks run different ,i run po4 .25-.50 ,and like to see nitrates above 30.
knock on wood 3 decades ,never used chemiclean,heavy stocked well fed large reefs,bare bones filtration, oversize skimmers, phosguard,and denitrate ,with no real change out schedule,see some algae ,time to toss in another sack.
not a tester.. :rolleyes: just alk and cal,and ph monitor.for what its worth.
only difference ,i run bare bottom systems.
like the idea for more flow ,get the crap out of tank,sounds like it will work well..:cool:

I think the lab thing is more about how it looks that anything unusual I am doing. The 75 is fine but the 240 is holding too much dirt. I take a Maxijet and stir it up and it doesn't come out. It just settles back down.
There is always a lot of junk floating in the water. I didn't realize how little turnover I was getting until I had the UV in and measured it.
I will also admit I am experimenting a bit. I have always had the same kind of numbers you keep. 0.2 and 25. I never had the ability to get them much lower than that though.
I want to see how the other side lives. Once I can keep them anywhere I want I will truly be able to decide what I want them to be.

 

[WVNed]

Part of the mystery is solved. Both the drains and the returns were plugged up. I have no idea how returns could plug. The drains have done it before.
I plunged the drains with some polyethylene and got them open. A giant gob pile care out. I shot compressed air into the returns and blew a bunch of white goo into the tank.
I have never had a plumbing troubles like this before. I wonder if it is the spa flex I used. At least with no 90s it is easy to get something through them.

 

[dennis romano]

Part of the mystery is solved. Both the drains and the returns were plugged up. I have no idea how returns could plug. The drains have done it before.
I plunged the drains with some polyethylene and got them open. A giant gob pile care out. I shot compressed air into the returns and blew a bunch of white goo into the tank.
I have never had a plumbing troubles like this before. I wonder if it is the spa flex I used. At least with no 90s it is easy to get something through them.

Had the same problem in one drain. There was an entire ecosystem blocking flow...tube worms, aiptasia, snails. When I found it, had to disassemble everything and stuck a broomstick in the hose to break it.

 

[WVNed]

My paramaters are in the toilet. I am riding it out. The sulfur denitrator is bubbling away and processing 6 liters an hour now. NoPox is down to 5ml a day.
The cyano is pretty bad but not getting worse. The big tank looks moderately stressed and the 75 looks fine.

The xenia have fully grown back. Probably time to start pruning it again.

I am not sure why there is such a difference in the 2 tanks but my next attempt will be to increase the turnover to the sump on the big tank. I am waiting for the custom overflow to arrive. I think I had way to much flow in the tank but not enough flow to the sump. I turned the MP60s way down and moved them again.

I thought growing phyto would be hard but I am swimming in the stuff. I added about a liter of it to the system today just to get rid of it. I don't see where it is doing anything yet.

 

[WVNed]

The plan is to split the 1 inch return lines behind the tank and add 1 inch over the top nozzles. I am hoping that will reduce the backpressure on the pumps that are now hitting 3/4 inch bulkheads at the tank and allow the flow to increase. Each pump is supposed to be 2000 gph. I am getting no where near that with almost no head.

I am going to fit two strips of PVC plank in the back and then modify the tops to butt up to them to pass the nozzles into the tank so it will stay sealed.

These guys are doing fine and growing

I am thinking about moving one of the eels to the big tank.

 

[WVNed]

Sulfur reactor is fully online. Hanna says nitrates are 3.94 today, Phosphates 0.2.
Nopox is off.
I am adding a liter of phyto a day.
2 days ago I wrote off the melanurus wrasse. It has been 20 days since I say him. There he is again this morning.
Looks fine
Shrug

 

[WVNed]

The cyano has gone. I am quite amazed.
Got 50 mollies in the mail. The big guy ate 4.
A coworker gave Jill 2 lovebirds.

4 months old. I think Jill is going to call them Ash and Lola. I sent an email to a local vet about having them sexed but haven't heard anything back yet.

I put their cage together and made some perches out of apple wood.

Needs a robotic arm with a flyswatter for the cats.

 

[Wen]

Sulfur reactor is fully online. Hanna says nitrates are 3.94 today, Phosphates 0.2.
Nopox is off.
I am adding a liter of phyto a day.
2 days ago I wrote off the melanurus wrasse. It has been 20 days since I say him. There he is again this morning.
Looks fine
Shrug

What kind of phyto are you using?
Your main reason for dosing phyto?
Glad the Mel is still around!!!
And Your new lovebirds’ cage!

 

[WVNed]

What kind of phyto are you using?
Your main reason for dosing phyto?
Glad the Mel is still around!!!
And Your new lovebirds’ cage!

My main reason is to feed the gorgonians.
I ordered some from the guy on here
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fresh-live-phyto-8-species-blend-–-free-shipping.796578/
and started growing my own using that as a starter.
I got 3 more done 2.75 liters each today. This is batch 4. I will restart the new ones today. Mine look identical in color to the one I bought.

I am using the Melev's reef method.

This mixture is placed in front of a 20w 2' 6500K Normal Output Fluorescent bulb ( I am using an LED grow light from Home Depot) for 16 hours a day and 8 hours of darkness. Rigid airtubing is inserted through the cap of the bottle, and an air pump gently bubbles around the clock.

Recipe recap:
Starter culture from someone (even DT's would work, I've been told)
Tap water mixed to 1.019 sg
5 ml Miracle Grow Houseplant liquid food, per bottle, per batch
1 ml Kent's Essential Elements
I also add 1/2 ml Brightwell Ferrion as my own touch.
I shake them a bit every couple of days.

I opened the cage to trim the branches and the birds got out and were flying around. They go and hide. It took us an hour to find one of them. I finally turned a lovebird sounds video on Youtube on. They both started making noises and we found the missing one.

 

[fishguy242]

never a dull moment at Ned's place,glad you got them before the tigers did... ;) :cool:

 

[WVNed]

Sometimes you walk in the room and go
Wow!

I cant believe I managed to do that.

 

[WVNed]

The new ModularMarine overflow box is arriving tomorrow.
I moved the rocks down. Tomorrow is drain the tank down, clean the back, glue it in, cut the existing spaflex and install the new returns. Then wait for everything to dry. Mod the tops to close it all up.

20 x 3 x 7

2 more 1 inch returns

Makes me tired just thinking about it.

The fish are exploring all the new places to go. The angels are eating all the sponges they couldnt get to before.

 

[WVNed]

2.17 gallons less some to start the next batch. $116 worth if I bought it. This will all go in the tanks this week.

The tactical flashlight test. You shall not pass.

Not really hard to grow at all. Put it up and 7 days later it's done. No shaking or stirring or gently bubbling.
I have a 4 outlet air pump and each bottle gets one full blast. Grow light on a timer. Clean up with a little bleach. 3 growing and 3 in the fridge. I never did this because it seemed fussy when people posted about growing it. It isn't at all.

 

[WVNed]

@ReefSquad
I have removed the 2 overflow boxes I made from old HOB overflow front boxes and am about to glue a new one in
I had made at ModularMarine.

Now that the moment is here I am having a hard time deciding how high should I bring it up under the trim.
This is a CustomAquariums tank with 1 and 1/2 in aluminum trim on the outside.
I am thinking spacing it about 1/4 of an inch down. That way if the weir gets plugged the water can go over the top.
That would place the bottoms of the weir slots about 3/8th below the trim.
I don't want to screw up and have a visible water line though.
Or am I being silly and just raise it all the way?

 

[Billldg]

The MM2400 I have installed on my 225 gal CDA is about a 1/3 of and in below the eurobracing. I can remove the top of the weir, but barely. No matter how high you install it, you will likely have a water line because the bottom of the grill on the weir will be your water line.

I would go with a 1/4 in for the same reason you suggested.

Something to think about though, I have had my weir grill clog up, it never clogged up all the way as it will just steadily clog as the water level rises, so you do have time to see it before it becomes an issue. So you can also raise it up all the way...LOL!!!

 

[WVNed]

The MM2400 I have installed on my 225 gal CDA is about a 1/3 of and in below the eurobracing. I can remove the top of the weir, but barely. No matter how high you install it, you will likely have a water line because the bottom of the grill on the weir will be your water line.

I would go with a 1/4 in for the same reason you suggested.

Something to think about though, I have had my weir grill clog up, it never clogged up all the way as it will just steadily clog as the water level rises, so you do have time to see it before it becomes an issue. So you can also raise it up all the way...LOL!!!

I don't think my pumps are going to be able to push much water against this. MM says it's 3500gph.
I drilled my 75 to low and screwed up. I was able to fix that. Didnt want to glue this in wrong.
All the way up it is. No guts no glory. That will give me 1/2 inch before the water goes in the floor.
Meh, it's a basement with vinyl over concrete.

 

[WVNed]

It's done

2 New 1 inch over the top returns installed. I screwed up when I had this tank drilled for 3/4 inch bulkheads for the returns.

Now to let the glue dry.