(First Reef Tank Ever) *** 600gal Display *** 1300gal System

[mr_X]

haitian rock. did you notice anything interesting on it? any crazy, Ganja smoking hitch hikers?

 

[cbui2]

ok finally enough water is made to get sump, 1st fuge, skimmer and return online.
here are some more pic's, and i still cant believed the character in these Haitian Rocks.

Left Side

Middle Left

Middle Right

Right Side

Side view

 

[Anonymous]

From what I can see, I hope you never have a plumbing leaking in one of those lines that appear to come in through the bottom of the tank. If I am seeing this correctly, you'd have to empty the tank to repair them.

Am I seeing it correctly?

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Very nice rock work by the way. Haitian rock is very nice.

Louey

 

[cbui2]

From what I can see, I hope you never have a plumbing leaking in one of those lines that appear to come in through the bottom of the tank. If I am seeing this correctly, you'd have to empty the tank to repair them.

Am I seeing it correctly?

Louey

thanks, but the test was done prior to rock and sand that was added. 2 months ago i had the tank, sump, and all of the tanks full of water for 3 weeks to make sure nothing will be leaking along with all the plumbing. also the good things is that its in my garage so not worrying about any spillage. i used hayward sch 80 bulks for the entire setup and i can assure you no expense was taking into building this entire setup down to the last fittings. even my unions are sch 80, and hayward sch 80 ball valve. hope this helps.

 

[cbui2]

Very nice rock work by the way. Haitian rock is very nice.

Louey

thanks i flew down to tampa bay and hand picked them all, also broght them back with me the same day so no die-off occurs since my flight was only 1 hr 30min and keeping all the rock in the pool until we was ready to packed them. i had them out for about 30min just to see how much rocks was needed.

 

[Anonymous]

Louey wrote:

If I am seeing this correctly, you'd have to empty the tank to repair them.

Actually, I miss-spoke here. I meant to say that your tank would empty itself because it would leak down to the location where the bulkheads enter the tank, which is the bottom. 8O

I am glad you used the very best fittings, but in the unlikely event of a leak, your exposure remains the same--->empty tank.

But it is too late now to worry about this. Be careful to never accidentally break any of this plumbing.

Louey

 

[cbui2]

Louey wrote:

If I am seeing this correctly, you'd have to empty the tank to repair them.

Actually, I miss-spoke here. I meant to say that your tank would empty itself because it would leak down to the location where the bulkheads enter the tank, which is the bottom. 8O

I am glad you used the very best fittings, but in the unlikely event of a leak, your exposure remains the same--->empty tank.

But it is too late now to worry about this. Be careful to never accidentally break any of this plumbing.

Louey

thanks but i took extra precautions into putting everything together and bracing all plumbing around making sure it doesnt budge. also tons of pvc cements was use throughtout all the plumbing too. i knew exactly what was going to happened in event of failure, thats why i had change all hard pvc to spaflex and giving them more room to move around without having to worried breaking the seals on hard pvc. the entire system consist a mixture of hard and spa flex.

 

[ufotofu]

Ditto on the 'nice rock' comments. Can't wait to see it when the water clears up and you get your school of tangs in there.

 

[cbui2]

ok here are some more updates, got a chance to finished the sump adding enclosed baffles for all the returns from skimmer and reactors. skimmer was also hooked up but not 100% sure if i tune it right. it says 800gph intake and tunning the air valve. anyone can give me some pointers on tunning the skimmer. do you start with air valve or intake? how much water, it called to have the water below the black neck and adjust it from there.
here are some pics, and excuse the mess.

 

[ufotofu]

The level you have in the above pic looks good for starters. It takes a while to start accumulating some crud, though. I set mine according to the manu's instructions at first until I get a feel for how it's going to perform and adjust the air so I get a good foam buildup in the neck but not overflowing into the cup just yet. It takes a few hours - days to condition the skimmer as well as fine-tune it to produce a dry foam. I adjust the water flow like you have and then fine tune it with the air over the course of the next few days. If you've added any water conditioners it'll probably foam like mad for a while anyway. I usually don't add that crap, though.

Do you have the skimmate cup hooked up to an external overflow? I think I see one, but I can't tell for sure. With your system volume you'll definitely want one sooner or later. Take a pic in a about a week. I'd like to see how much skimmate you get and what it looks like given your volume and tank stock now.

 

[cbui2]

The level you have in the above pic looks good for starters. It takes a while to start accumulating some crud, though. I set mine according to the manu's instructions at first until I get a feel for how it's going to perform and adjust the air so I get a good foam buildup in the neck but not overflowing into the cup just yet. It takes a few hours - days to condition the skimmer as well as fine-tune it to produce a dry foam. I adjust the water flow like you have and then fine tune it with the air over the course of the next few days. If you've added any water conditioners it'll probably foam like mad for a while anyway. I usually don't add that crap, though.

Do you have the skimmate cup hooked up to an external overflow? I think I see one, but I can't tell for sure. With your system volume you'll definitely want one sooner or later. Take a pic in a about a week. I'd like to see how much skimmate you get and what it looks like given your volume and tank stock now.

i made a mistake as seen in the sump the return for skimmer is surbmerge below water level causing the skimmer return not to flow at all. so i removed it and works like a champ, thanks

 

[cbui2]

here are some more pic's, skimmer is working fine and will be fine tuning it some more. all four pumps is operational and air intake is at 2 o'clock now. i have also wired up 8 PFO moonlight which look awesome at night.

 

[dnorton1978]

Sweet rock work. i can't wait to see it when it is clear.

 

[cbui2]

thanks, ok skimmer should be good for now until more adjustment is done. my reactor is coming in today so i will be setting this up asap since micron bags is not my friend right about now. any sugesstion on cleaners i can add to get rid of my brown alage, since this is common correct.

check all water parameters today

Temp: 78d F +/- 1.0
Salinity: 1.025
pH: low 8.10 high 8.3
NO3: undetectable
NO2: undetectable
NH4: undetectable
PO4: undetectable
Ca: 420ppm
Alk: 9 – 10 DKH
Mg: 1300ppm

about 5hrs. what a beast?

 

[cbui2]

ok here are some more updates, reactor was plumb in and total of 3 1200g bucket phosban was used. and some more nog
:eek1:

 

[cbui2]

water clearing up real good and reactor is kicking in too. i have it dial in about 700gph just tumbling around the media and trying not to stir it up. i had to shut down my skimmer since there was nothing left to skim. except the water.. also did some cleaning today and all i can say is the magnavore 10 is truly amazing piece. will be finishing up on the chiller this week, but i might just take a break for few days or not :eek1:

left side

right side

side

 

[dnorton1978]

UM.
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Words just do not describe what I am feeling.. 8O

 

[cbui2]

thank you all, just wired up the other 2 MH left and right just to see how it would look. here are some pics with all 3 MH on. since my temp is rising i will have to finish chiller this week.

 

[ufotofu]

Other than all the rock and sand, what do you have in the tank (fish, inverts, etc)? When do you plan to start stocking it? Do you have a good LFS for livestock?