Stealthy's White Box with water inside

[Stealthy Ninja]

I'm not new to fishkeeping or salt water tanks, but I've never had a tank with a sump before (apart from a crappy DIY One I made/had until it broke and flooded the floor). Also, I've not had a saltwater tank for a few years (planted tanks and then Cichlids for the last few years). But my wife and I moved recently and I took the opportunity to get a new tank (with sump) and decided to do it right this time (reef with proper lighting etc.).

Thus begins my journey...

Started with this thread: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/equipment/93104-some-help-hk-style-bulkheads-please.html

Now I've finally sorted this help (big thanks to every one who replied, especially StirCrayzy (Josh). Thanks everyone.

My tank was delivered last Wednesday evening (19th Nov 2014), that night I did nothing but install the bulkheads per the instructions of the LFS guy (see above thread if that sounds interesting to you).

20th Nov (Tues): Took a day off work. Installed all those pipes... arms hurt badly after that, but it was a lot of fun (I'm guessing you guys know the feeling). Wife suggested the night before we move the tank. So I do that too (man hard work) in the end it's ready for the next step:

21st Nov (Friday): I get a background for the tank after work. Have a semi-formal dinner to attend that night, so I'm sitting at the table with my suit on and a large roll of blue tank background. Fun.

22nd Nov (Saturday) I get up at about 7am on a SATURDAY!!! Time to put on that background. This process goes ok, few bubbles but nothing that looks bad... why stop there?! Let's leak test this sucker. I fill it up with filtered water. Set everything up and let it run. Minor leak at the top and the chiller needs a bit more tightening than I could do with my muscular hands, but nothing major and nothing that matters much or that I couldn't fix. YAY!

23rd Nov (Sunday afternoon, after church and lunch) Why not add salt? I ask myself. Nothing leaks... man refractometers are fun.

25th Nov (Tuesday): Decided I want to change the plumbing at the top and the return plumbing to go along the back of the sump area (giving me more room) instead of right across it. Thought I could do it in 30 min or so... I lost track of how long it actually took, but more than an hour...

Here's some pics. I changed the way the return comes in and added a light so I can see what I'm doing and honestly it looks cool (got the idea off my computer case ).

For want of a better support system, I'm currently using a "chain" made from zip ties attached to cup hooks.

The "famous" HK style bulkheads. Note the generous use of silicone.

Blurry, but you get the idea

LOL the motion blur, it was about 12am at this stage (was changing the pipes an hour or so)

My wife complained about the noise (as they do). Trying different solutions to stop the water crashing down, I'll work it out.

... now it is the current moment in time. Nothing else to report. I'm still waiting on my live rock, the shop is "out of stock" but I'll be getting that and putting it in ASAP.

 

[Joeys Tank]

Love the chronicle. Looking forward to following along on your journey!

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

Thanks Joey.

26th Nov (Wednesday): Went to the fish street here to buy something to reduce the noise in the tank. Ended up with a really cheap sponge thingy something like this:

I took it home and I thought I'd put it in the intake and where it outputs to the sump to reduce splashing noise.

Changed my mind because I don't really want something like that getting clogged up with gunk (eventually) and slowing my flow. So I did something different.

I raised up my standpipe so the water doesn't "waterfall" down to its level... wow... big difference there. Some minor gurgling, but apart from that it was way better.

This is the "gurgle buster" standpipe I made/use (note, that reducer part can slide up and down... I'm just showing you my holes - that's what she said):

Then I made my return pipe go directly into the water (under the surface)... A lot less splashing... I guess I'll get some sort of filter sock for times where I need to use mechanical filtration.

My pump is supposed to be a quiet one but the vibration through the piping makes it sound kinda loud. So I shoved that foam between my pump and the side of the sump. Reduced the vibration hum a little. I will try and replace this with styrofoam at one stage (didn't have any at home) to reduce the way the pump vibrates.

I have the Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0... silent enough, but the vibrations!

I also added a small amount of loc-line style stuff to the output so I can get it a little closer to the surface. I have an anti-siphon hole, but i don't want to rely on that alone to prevent floods.

 

[saltfan]

lookin good!

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

I found out last night that the guy in the store I bought the tank from's name is WATER (at first I thought he said Walter and automatically assumed he was a Breaking Bad fan). LOL that's what happens when people are allowed to pick their own names.

Still pretty apt name for a fish shop guy. Super nice and helpful dude.

Oh and he said my live rock will be in early next week (Monday or Tuesday). I will go there and get it, Water will call me a van that will help me bring it to my home (the van guy should be able to lend me a push trolley thing to help me carry the 45kg (100lb) of live rock I've ordered). This is cheaper than getting a taxi and saves me making two trips (up my apartment building's lift, I live on the 15th floor) with heavy boxes.

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

28th November (Friday) brought some eggcrate to make a “stand” for my rocks to go on (to raise it up a little) and some rubber stuff to silence my pump/pipe vibrations.

Wrapped the pipes and the pump in the black rubber stuff I bought…

Sound was reduced significantly. Though I will change this later to a more genius (I’m so modest) and less risky design later… but more on that later.

End of the night everything is looking up.

29th Nov (Saturday and my youngest son’s birthday)… didn’t want to do anything today, but late at night noticed my pH had dropped a lot… got thinking about different chemicals etc. and even though it’s probably not related I thought to myself: “HECK I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S IN THAT RUBBER STUFF I JUST SHOVED AROUND MY PUMP!!!”

Thought of different solutions and came up with the idea to use vinyl tubing. So I told my wife I had to do something with the tank and replaced the rubber with 3 pieces of vinyl tubing held on with zipties. One goes around the body of the pump, while two others are looped on the side and make it so the pump fits snugly into the space in the sump. Thus reducing most vibrations.

Here’s what it looks like (sorry forgot to take a picture before I put it in):

And here’s the sump at that point:

30th November (Sunday). My pH dropped to 1.0 according to the pH meter (lol) I put my hand in the tank and it didn't burn my flesh so I assumed the pH meter had a fault. So I cleaned it and stuck it back in and it went up… to 4.5. Stayed at 4.5-5.5 range for the rest of the day. I removed a glass of the water out and ran an airstone in it for a few minutes to see if it was a CO2 problem. Tested it again and it bumped up to 6.5-7.0. Yep, CO2 must have built up in the tank because I left it standing (no power) for a couple of days while I waited for some silicone I added to a joint to cure (a few days ago) or perhaps I’d not had enough surface agitation because I was running my wavemakers pretty slowly lately… anyway...
…stuck an airstone in the sump and let it go all night with the wavemakers on full (pointed at the surface of the water overnight. In the morning the pH registered 7.5-7.7. Much better, not ideal but better.

Also decided (Sunday afternoon) to put together the stands for the rocks… now I didn’t actually take a photo of them outside the tank (oops) but I did take a photo of the pipes I cut to put under the eggcrate:

EGGciting stuff. :smack:

Anyway, I decided to put some rocks I found on the beach (and cleaned etc.) into the tank with the sand:

The “rock stands” were mostly covered by sand (I’ll move the sand from on top of those sections to put the rock on later. You can make out the eggcrate in this shot:

In the back it’s about 5cm high and about 3cm high at the front part (you’ll see where I’m placing stuff later).

Rocks MAY come tonight (Monday) or tomorrow night, I’ll be heading off to the shop today to organise that. I'll be also adding 40lb of rock to my order (bringing it up to 100lb. Which is about 1lb per gallon.

Can't wait to get the live rock in there and get the nitrogen cycle started.

UPDATE: went to the shop and the live rock will be delivered tonight at about 7

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

1st December (Monday) ROCKS CAME AT LAST! (I also got some Ammonia/Nitrate tests some Seachem Marine Buffer to try and get the pH a bit closer to 8.2.

So let’s get to the pics already:
Firstly, here it is with its skirt off (so rude):

Blue/daylight lighting:

Warmer “sunset” lighting:

End view:

NOTE: It looks like it’s leaning against the back, but it isn’t really (there are no rocks that rely on glass for support and the main base rock(s) is sitting on eggcrate so it can’t topple.. If you could see back there, you can see opening at the back that water can flow through and fish can swim through. I am thinking of moving some of the rocks right on the top forward slightly to give a little more space at the back.

Alternative angle:

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

My aim was to provide lots of "shelf" space for corals and maintain an interesting shape all while providing enough swim room and shelter for the fish. So far so good.

 

[Biggles]

Starting to look like a reef tank now mate, what type of reef are you planning in relation to the corals and fish

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

Hi Biggles (you don't happen to fly planes do you ). I'm actually from Australia (was born and raised in Tasmania).

I'm not too sure about Corals, I was thinking to get some easy ones to start with and go from there.

As for fish:
Some sort of cleanup crew (Turbo Snails, Blue Legged Hermits or the like)
Lawnmower blenny (I love these fish, so much character)
Diamond (or other sand shifting) goby
Common Clownfish
Fire fish Goby
Flame Angelfish? I love this fish too, but from what I read it's a bit hit and miss in reef tanks).
Considering a tang, but I think my tank is a bit small.

 

[cracker]

Looking good man, nice setup!

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

Thanks cracker, it's fun, but balancing working on the tank and making the wife happy can be a bit of a challenge.

2nd Dec 2014 (Tuesday): After viewing some other tanks online and considering a few things, I decided to rearrange my rocks a bit to give more space between them (more flow and fish hiding spots). This is the result (still has “coral shelves” galore):

3rd Dec 2014 (Wednesday): woke up this morning to my pH meter on the floor and the probe wire ripped from the plug end… needless to say it needs replacing… though it’s pretty darned old (over 5 years) and probably needed replacing a while ago. So new one of those (and some test kits perhaps) will be bought today.

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

4th Dec 2014 - Time to get some supplements and test kits. Thinking of going the red sea route.

 

[Biggles]

The new scape looks good with plenty of nice spots for corals. The closest i've been to Tassie is walking past the Spirit docked at Port Melbourne lol.
I've always used Salifert for testing but Red Sea have a good name too. What supplements are you thinking of getting.
Bet your son is excited about Dad's new toy

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

The new scape looks good with plenty of nice spots for corals. The closest i've been to Tassie is walking past the Spirit docked at Port Melbourne lol.
I've always used Salifert for testing but Red Sea have a good name too. What supplements are you thinking of getting.
Bet your son is excited about Dad's new toy

Hey, lol yeh I went on the Spirit once. Also the wave piercing catamaran they used to run (I haven't lived there for about 15 years, do they still have that?).

I did get a Salifert test for ammonia, however after watching some BRS video I discovered the Red Sea Coral system. Seemed pretty darned nice, so I went with that. Will be trying it out tomorrow.

Supplements (for now) I got the Red Sea ABC+ which seems pretty easy to use and not terribly pricey.

According to the instructions you just add the powder weekly (or daily) straight into the sump. Seems too simple to be true... I assume it's a slow release thing or something.

They did say an imbalance between the Calcium Alk and Mag might occur, that's when I'll buy the individual A B or C to make up the difference. For now I'll stick with the ABC+ combo system.

 

[Biggles]

That wave cat thing couldn't handle Bass Strait and flopped within a couple of years lol.

I'm interested to see how that powder goes keeping your parameters stable mate, i think the entire reefing community would already be using it though if it was that easy lol.

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

That wave cat thing couldn't handle Bass Strait and flopped within a couple of years lol.

I'm interested to see how that powder goes keeping your parameters stable mate, i think the entire reefing community would already be using it though if it was that easy lol.

Bass Strait is a rough bit of water for sure.

From what I gather it's just another supplement, but trying to keep everything in balance. You still have to test and when an imbalance occurs adjust accordingly. The frequency of the dosing depends on what you're keeping in the tank. I don't have anything in there right (apart from rocks and sand etc.) so I don't need to dose at all.

Talking about that...

5th Dec 2014 (Friday): Got myself a couple of reactors. They're a bit oversized for my needs, but better to go big and not need it, than to find out later that everything is too small or whatever.
SKIMZ FM100 (x2):

This is how I’ve plumbed my reactors:
Firstly the pump going back to the tank has a branch sticking out the side:

That’s connected to rubber tubing that goes around the back of the skimmer.

Then one reactor is connected to the other with tubing and an in-line tap

GFO is in the first one (so I can have plenty of flow there) and carbon is in the second one (controlled flow by the in line tap). Carbon (front) GFO (back – not shown here, but I have GFO running now):

Also, I’ve hung some prawns (shrimp) in a mesh bag and left it dangling (to produce ammonia):

I also made a bottle trap to see if any life is in my tank

NOTE: Trap has been in a few days and I got nothing. I’ve not seen any crabs or any real forms of life on my live rock. There was one snail (looks dead) and some sort of slug. Some algae of course. I guess this is a good thing, maybe they removed all the crabs etc. beforehand. Still it would be nice to see some things moving about… oh well.

BTW I'm running a cup of GFO and 1/2 cup of carbon at the moment. I'll probably run 1 cup or so of carbon in the future (my tank is about 120 gallons all up). Seems so tiny in the bottom of those reactors, but at least if I find I need to run more I can add a bunch more in the future.

Right now I have a couple of bags (one is kinda old) of carbon sitting in my sump, so I think I don't need an awful lot of carbon in the reactor at this moment.

Skimz seems like a good company too. Quite reasonably priced here (considering it's an Asian company I assume we get it a bit cheaper) and the build quality is quite high (my skimmer is also from that brand and that's working really well).

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

7th Dec 2014 (Saturday)

Did my first water change (20L - it's a 380L tank approx).

Few hours later I did some tests and these were the results (I may have messed up the magnesium test)

PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 4ppm ( high of course, but expected at this stage)
Nitrite: 0 ppm (or so low I couldn’t tell)
Nitrate: 4ppm (I assume this was already in the rocks or something)
Phosphate: 0.36 mg/L (second highest the Red Sea test kit can record… needless to say I started GFO)
Calcium: 420ppm (probably the result of my salt mix
Alk: 9.7dKH (again salt mix)
Mag: 1600ppm (not sure if I messed this up, seems a tad high).

So far so good. Magnesium and Phosphate are a bit high. Cal/Alk are good. Nitrate/Nitrite are ok and Ammonia is as expected. My Salinity is perfect and the PH is pretty much on the money.
Not a bad start… now if this nitrogen cycle could kick in…


BTW the red sea pro phosphate tester is really easy to read. I'd recommend it to people who can't afford or find the Hanna Checker.

 

[Biggles]

That was good work hooking up the twin reactors in such a confined space mate, well done

See how those readings are after your next water change and if the Mg is still super high then you might want to think about going to the individual calcium and alk additives while you let the Mg come down slowly.
All in all everything seems to be going along very well mate.

 

[Stealthy Ninja]

That was good work hooking up the twin reactors in such a confined space mate, well done

See how those readings are after your next water change and if the Mg is still super high then you might want to think about going to the individual calcium and alk additives while you let the Mg come down slowly.
All in all everything seems to be going along very well mate.

Thanks, it turned out pretty good in the end.

Good point about the magnesium. I'll get some of the red sea A, B and C additives I think. Then I can adjust dosage as is needed. I'm hoping I messed up the test somehow though.