Roc's 1st Big reef

[Roc]

Ok, after listening to what everone had to say I think this is the final sump/fuge design.

Both drains will have ball valves so I can adjust the flow accordingly.

 

[Roc]

I did a mock up of the flooded standpipe design.

the water will drop about an inch from the overflow teeth

1" PVC Return pipe will Tee off to 2 3/4 bulkheads located on sides of overflow box

3/4" PVC will be used for the taller drain pipe. It is set right at water level will be tweeked with ball valve to accept 2-5% of drain water

1" PVC will be used for shorter drain pipe. It is set 2" below water level and will be tweeked to accept 98-95% of drain water.

Again excuse my sketchup skills

from the back (of course you would never actually be able to see this view)

from the front (I made the front piece of overflow box see through for this purpose)

And from the side (mainly to show side teeth)

 

[bookfish]

Should work great! Don't forget that this does nothing for your lower tank area flow rates so when you plumb for the closed loop you'll prob want to think mostly about lower tank flow.

 

[seminolecpa]

Sorry to be a little off topic but what program are you using to sketch up your drawings?

 

[Roc]

[quote author=seminolecpa link=topic=3622.msg42086#msg42086 date=1209577142]
Sorry to be a little off topic but what program are you using to sketch up your drawings?
[/quote]

google sketchup, it's free, pretty easy to use once you get the hang of the tools

 

[seminolecpa]

Thanks. I am sure that will look much nicer then my excel drawings.

 

[Gomer]

I used to do "excel" sketches...but then I was able to buy Rhino/Flamingo and was able to take it with me after grad school :-D

 

[Roc]

Got my bulkheads today they fit like a glove

I found out by moving some stuff around I can put this new tank on a wall with no windows behind it :!!: Jrock

I finished all the framing today this thing could hold 6,000 lbs if it had to
Here it is right before I added the cross brace

I started moving some of my LR into a container to de-aptasia it before it goes in the new tank

 

[Roc]

well the costs are starting to add up. I found a great deal on a buch of LR on CL, but I need to 1st pay for the mandtory items light (picking up from Nanu tomorrow), skimmer, plumbing parts, wood for stand, glass for baffles in sump, RO water, salt (anyone got a recommendtion on a brand, I used to just buy it pre-mixed?).

Now I am trying to figure out how I can get a bunch of LS and LR and am just not sure how much money I will have to spend. DAMN these big reefs are expensive

 

[Roc]

What are everyones feelings about using agrorite as the substrate under the live sand I already have (and any I can aquire for free or cheep)

What are the disadvantages to doing this? When I started my 20 gal I did it with established LR (which I am also doing this time) and my cycle was very short (seriously it was safe to add fish in like a week) would using agrorite charnge these results or the chance of them?

 

[Raddogz]

Crushed corals has a tendency to rise to the top while the finer stuff sinks to the bottom. Crushed coral tends to hold onto more detritus material.

 

[Roc]

So if I layed the LS on top of the crushed coral it would keep it down?

Is that the only drawback?

 

[tuberider]

As Eileen stated, it's not so much of an aesthetic issue, more that the CC tends to gather detritus. I've thrown handfulls of CC into displays with a lot of flow to create different textures on the sandbed, but haven't used very much of it since the undergravel filter days.

 

[Roc]

Let me 1st clairify that argorite and CC are the same thing? and it sounds like you guys are sayin not to use it

 

[Elite]

Check Petsmart to see if they still have the seachem dry sand onsale. I bought a 20lbs bag for only $7.
Check RC and here to see if anyone has LR forsale. It's much cheaper than the fish store.


Also, search for Stockman pipe when you make your standpipe.

 

[sfsuphysics]

aragonite is usually much much finer, like sand you'd see in an hourglass. Crushed coral is much larger sized sediment, imagine taking a hammer to a bunch of shells and what not, as opposed to fine grains.

 

[Roc]

Wow thats even cheeper then the CC thanks for the tip

 

[Roc]

Well big things happened today.

Got my lights

Aquactinics fixture with 5 X 54watt HO T5 giesemann bulbs

And picked up my skimmer

Aqua Euro AEPS135

I also picked up 60 lbs of dry sand and washed it up nicely.

I will be finishing the stand and plumlbing this weekend and hopefully filling her up (sump pump won't be here till wed so I will alny fill to about 2" below the overflow teeth

 

[Roc]

Well I think it's time for some progree pics and plus I just love to post.

Here is a pic of the 20 gal on it's last day with full set-up

I also got some new corals yesterday and wanted possitive ID's:

heard this was "red cap" but I can't find any info on it

Any ID's on this one?

 

[Roc]

Well I got the stand build (minus the doors) I did all the plumbing inside the Overflow box, but I need a couple of more parts to finish the sump plumbling.

I got all the LR and LR I had in my buckets in the tank and about 40 gals of water, right not I just have 1 Kolrila 4 for water movement and a heater to get the water up to temp. I should be getting the glass and missing parts tomorrow and I am gonna try to pull some long nights this week, I figure I need about 40 more rock if anyone knows of some at a good price.

Here is some pics.

Inside overflow

tank on stand

Here is my overflowing 20 gal (got a bunch of stuff today at the NCNRS swap)