DBrinson's 280G Odyssey
- Thread starter DBrinson
- Start date
DBrinson
Member
Bit of an update ... I plan to kick start the seagrass bed with a layered DSB on Sunday or Monday, depending on how long it takes my RO/DI to put out 300 gallons. Until the DT arrives, I will probably circulate between the sump and seagrass tank using the Iwaki.
Here is the current setup:
Here is how the ventilation fan looks on both sides of the wall, I wired it directly into the outlet so it would stay on whenever the outlet is powered:
I will probably put a carbon filter of some sort into the ventilation fan, anyone with any suggestions as to what kind of filter I should use? The air is passing through it pretty quickly, but I want to be able to strip the scent of ozone out of the air.
Here is the current setup:
Here is how the ventilation fan looks on both sides of the wall, I wired it directly into the outlet so it would stay on whenever the outlet is powered:
I will probably put a carbon filter of some sort into the ventilation fan, anyone with any suggestions as to what kind of filter I should use? The air is passing through it pretty quickly, but I want to be able to strip the scent of ozone out of the air.
DBrinson
Member
Those were a critical part of this project!
Since I remodeled my kids' bathroom to accomodate the RO/DI, a scary-sounding ventilation fan, and at least one water storage container, that fixture and the three colored lights convinced my three boys their bathroom was cool. They can even make colorful shadow puppets on the wall while using the facilities and brushing their teeth.
i.e. ... they won't be running through my bedroom to use my bathroom
I am thinking of putting a strobe light in there ... but so far the lights do the trick.
DBrinson
Member
Today I took my old laptop to the local computer store ... and though it was fried .. the HD was still good!!
Thus, I now have a few pics of the "old" tank, which I will include here in memoriam.
The pics are from about 1 year before Hurricane Ivan, by that time I had 6 or 7 clams and more advanced seagrass and coral growth but the layout is pretty much the same.
I had padded acoustic sound-absorbing foam under this tank, it ran ultra-quiet after that. You can see the white wire in the back, it leads to a pair of small PC blower fans I had to install after the padding was put in, to pull the hot air out.
The ORP controller was built in to the Ozone generator, the probe in an "always dark" area of the sump below. I kept the ORP 330-350 for the last couple of years.
I kept that tank at 81-82 degrees, day and night. The Medusa was the temp controller, that pH controller in the foreground was attached to the probe in the seagrass bed. The temperature probe was tucked into the overflow of the DT. The UV sterilizer was inline with the chiller.
Here are two views of my seagrass bed, the light strapped to the front of it was on at night to create a "reverse photocycle". The probe in the PVC tube there is the pH probe, it is measuring the pH of the effluent coming out of the Knop.
That stuff growing on the side of the seagrass bed, your guess is as good as mine, I had hitchikers unlike anything I had ever seen on live rock.
The auto water change system wasn't put in before I took these pics, but here is what the water changing tank looked like, it was built to precisely fit the remaining space on top of the hood of the DT:
Thus, I now have a few pics of the "old" tank, which I will include here in memoriam.
The pics are from about 1 year before Hurricane Ivan, by that time I had 6 or 7 clams and more advanced seagrass and coral growth but the layout is pretty much the same.
I had padded acoustic sound-absorbing foam under this tank, it ran ultra-quiet after that. You can see the white wire in the back, it leads to a pair of small PC blower fans I had to install after the padding was put in, to pull the hot air out.
The ORP controller was built in to the Ozone generator, the probe in an "always dark" area of the sump below. I kept the ORP 330-350 for the last couple of years.
I kept that tank at 81-82 degrees, day and night. The Medusa was the temp controller, that pH controller in the foreground was attached to the probe in the seagrass bed. The temperature probe was tucked into the overflow of the DT. The UV sterilizer was inline with the chiller.
Here are two views of my seagrass bed, the light strapped to the front of it was on at night to create a "reverse photocycle". The probe in the PVC tube there is the pH probe, it is measuring the pH of the effluent coming out of the Knop.
That stuff growing on the side of the seagrass bed, your guess is as good as mine, I had hitchikers unlike anything I had ever seen on live rock.
The auto water change system wasn't put in before I took these pics, but here is what the water changing tank looked like, it was built to precisely fit the remaining space on top of the hood of the DT:
DBrinson
Member
RO/DI water added, salt mixed, skimmer and calc reactor operating "normally" (though I cut off the CO2 for now). Apex configured to regulate pH of calc reactor internally for now, works well.
Seagrass bed substrate ready to pour next, I have 90 lbs. of Aragamax, 10 lbs of Miracle Mud, 12 lbs of Walt Smith's Fiji Mud, and 80 lbs of Aragonite base sand at the ready
My S.G. isn't quite where I want it yet, and I haven't connected the ozone, I need to reposition it for minimal line length and find a connector to interface it with the Reef Dynamics "silencer" air intake system.
Auto topoff is working well with a regular Kent Marine float switch for now.
Seagrass bed substrate ready to pour next, I have 90 lbs. of Aragamax, 10 lbs of Miracle Mud, 12 lbs of Walt Smith's Fiji Mud, and 80 lbs of Aragonite base sand at the ready
My S.G. isn't quite where I want it yet, and I haven't connected the ozone, I need to reposition it for minimal line length and find a connector to interface it with the Reef Dynamics "silencer" air intake system.
Auto topoff is working well with a regular Kent Marine float switch for now.
DBrinson
Member
A quick pic to show issues and developments:
See the "Overflow" in the back? It won't allow 6600 GPH to flow over top of it (though the plumbing was adequate, ironically) I may remove a few of the "teeth", when the Dolphin is pumping at "full steam" the waterfall over that overflow is an inch or two "over the top" of it.
The steel beam nailed down over top of the glass tank is barely enough to hold that flexible hose in place ... I won't be lacking in circulation at least. :tongue:
Will only have 3300 GPH once the DT is in place, since my two pumps will be pumping up 6' of head (see chart in above post)
Will probably move the ozone generator (far left) to under the "shelf" where the hanging steel beam is in the photo.
See the "Overflow" in the back? It won't allow 6600 GPH to flow over top of it (though the plumbing was adequate, ironically) I may remove a few of the "teeth", when the Dolphin is pumping at "full steam" the waterfall over that overflow is an inch or two "over the top" of it.
The steel beam nailed down over top of the glass tank is barely enough to hold that flexible hose in place ... I won't be lacking in circulation at least. :tongue:
Will only have 3300 GPH once the DT is in place, since my two pumps will be pumping up 6' of head (see chart in above post)
Will probably move the ozone generator (far left) to under the "shelf" where the hanging steel beam is in the photo.
jpsika08
Well-Known Member
Nice update DBrinson, what would be the worst case scenario if you remove all of the teeth from the overflow?, I'm guessing that if you remove 1 it's the same as removing all of them.
You can maybe think of using something like this to avoid debris going over, and can remove the overflow teeths,
Amazon.com: Thermwell Prods. Co. VX620 Plastic Gutter Guard: Home Improvement
Just my 0.02 cents
You can maybe think of using something like this to avoid debris going over, and can remove the overflow teeths,
Amazon.com: Thermwell Prods. Co. VX620 Plastic Gutter Guard: Home Improvement
Just my 0.02 cents
DBrinson
Member
Yeah, I'm going to probably knock out "every other" tooth, haha.
I'll wait until the DT is up and plumbed to make that call though.
Ozone is plumbed in now, raised the ORP of my empty tank to 200 pretty fast, I'm not going to push that very far until the tank is well established.
I'll wait until the DT is up and plumbed to make that call though.
Ozone is plumbed in now, raised the ORP of my empty tank to 200 pretty fast, I'm not going to push that very far until the tank is well established.
DBrinson
Member
Mud time!
Added 12 lbs. of Walt Smith's Fiji Mud first ...
Then mixed 40 lbs. of aragonite with 10 lbs. of "Miracle Mud".
Doesn't it look beautiful? Close-up on the right:
My skimmer liked the mud so much, I actually had to skim it ...
Today was the birth of the best line ever ...
My housekeeper (who remembers my last system) was using her swiffer mop as I was mixing the Miracle Mud with the aragonite ...
"Careful not to spray that near my mud, I'm trying to keep it clean!"
landlubbers ... sheesh
Added 12 lbs. of Walt Smith's Fiji Mud first ...
Then mixed 40 lbs. of aragonite with 10 lbs. of "Miracle Mud".
Doesn't it look beautiful? Close-up on the right:
My skimmer liked the mud so much, I actually had to skim it ...
Today was the birth of the best line ever ...
My housekeeper (who remembers my last system) was using her swiffer mop as I was mixing the Miracle Mud with the aragonite ...
"Careful not to spray that near my mud, I'm trying to keep it clean!"
landlubbers ... sheesh
DBrinson
Member
I should have snapped a photo of her expression when I told her that ...
The new 1.5" Sea Swirls are shipping tomorrow, I have been bothering Aquarium Currents day and night for two months and managed to get a 3-day early shipment, they become available from vendors Dec 9th. :apimp:
The DT ships later this week, next week at the very latest. I'll be planting the first seagrass tomorrow, my DSB now holds 80 lbs of fiji rock (on one end to break the flow of water) and the following layers:
The DSB is now roughly 4" deep between the live rock and the overflow, will post a few pics if I can stop obsessing over how flat the substrate is.
The new 1.5" Sea Swirls are shipping tomorrow, I have been bothering Aquarium Currents day and night for two months and managed to get a 3-day early shipment, they become available from vendors Dec 9th. :apimp:
The DT ships later this week, next week at the very latest. I'll be planting the first seagrass tomorrow, my DSB now holds 80 lbs of fiji rock (on one end to break the flow of water) and the following layers:
The DSB is now roughly 4" deep between the live rock and the overflow, will post a few pics if I can stop obsessing over how flat the substrate is.
Scariest part of the entire job!
Drilling a 2.5" hole through a half inch of acrylic, on the side of a premium Tenecor tank to boot.
Fortunately, I have been cultivating a "coolant system" for the last seven years, just for this purpose. My wife helped, in fact, she started out with just a frag.
(Kid pumped that spray bottle like a pro!!!)
Guess what he's bringing to show and tell this week ...
Can I borrow that coolant system for a day? I have two holes to drill soon in my shallow tank for a closed loop. Best coolant system I have ever seen
DBrinson
Member
Can I borrow that coolant system for a day? I have two holes to drill soon in my shallow tank for a closed loop. Best coolant system I have ever seen
A day? How about a weekend? :scram:
He actually brought that little circle and the photo in for show-and-tell, was the coolest first grader in school that week.
LOL
Very interesting the different sandbeds you are using, will love to see updates of this, I'm considering in changing my sump/fuge into only sump and re doing a complete new fuge so, learning from here.
Here's the latest:
I've got some shoal grass on order from a dealer, I plan to fit it up close to the rocks.
I have plans to thicken the bed of Thalassia in the coming weeks, just waiting for the DT and the 200 lbs of rock incoming with it first.
DBrinson
Member
Well ... the water isn't "matured" per se ... but the seagrass can handle the ammonia and nitrite spikes that will likely happen when the DT cycles later on. It's very resilient stuff.
Cheato is a whole different approach, doesn't have to involve a DSB, and you can add it when you feel like really. If you want to, wait until your system is at least ammonia and nitrite cycled before you add it or the cheato may clean your water before your ammonia and nitrite are balanced by important bacteria in the rest of the system. It doesn't really matter that much though.
I planted my seagrass bed before my DT was even up, in part because the bioload caused during planting is so huge, it really stressed my last system when I added the seagrass bed (and plenty of mud) to an otherwise stable 2-3 year old system. There can be some shocking "die off" as blades of grass are shed. Whatever trace elements/pollutants the seagrass absorbed (while still in the "wild") are dumped directly into the tank as the existing blades decay. The grass can handle those pollutants/elements, but invertabrates ... not so much. Seagrasses are masters of filtering trace metals from the water, for example.
As the seagrasses grow new leaves in the tank, those leaves will not carry the same high level of risk ... they will only contain trace elements absorbed in the aquarium. BP can't spill that far.
Getting the seagrass bed established before the DT will be safer for the more fragile DT, and having an established DSB will speed up the dreaded nitrates cycling process later on.
