Matt's 225g Build Thread

[meschaefer]

My original plan was to put another hole in the sump, with a ball valve on it. The idea would be to place the valve at the precise level so that when open it would drain out the appropriate amount for a water change. Assuming that I already had the water, ready to go, a water change would only require me to open the valve on the sump and let it drain out, then turn on a pump that would be dedicated to moving water from the mixing container to the sump.

Putting a "T" on one of the over flow drains is not a bad idea. Not only is it one less hole , but I am already planning a "T" on the other one, so that i could run it into my skimmer. I would just need to watch how much water drained out.

 

[cali_reef]

Matt, I have a 55 gallon plastic drum you can have for water changes, just come get it from my back yard.

Warren has the right idea on setting the sump up so you can pump water out for water changes without shutting down the system, but I would built a filter sock stand for the drain from the tank, not dumping into the overflow box since glass cages makes the glass overflow too high up.

 

[meschaefer]

Matt, I have a 55 gallon plastic drum you can have for water changes, just come get it from my back yard.

Warren has the right idea on setting the sump up so you can pump water out for water changes without shutting down the system, but I would built a filter sock stand for the drain from the tank, not dumping into the overflow box since glass cages makes the glass overflow too high up.

I'll take the drum, next time out your way I will pick it up.

The filter sock stand is an interesting idea. I saw how Chris (Louismustdie) had his, but can't remember the specifics of it. Any pics out there on how to set one up. I know myself, if it isn't hassle free I will never change out the socks.

 

[meschaefer]

No pictures of filter sock stands out there?

Anyway, I was supposed to move the tank tonight but I couldn't get firm commitments on help and I was feeling a little rushed. Accordingly, it will not be until the first weekend in October till it is in place. Although I would love to have the tank in place, it was just not meant to be...yet anyway.

This will give me some time to finish everything else off, so that I can get the whole thing up an running. Even if I had picked it up tonight, I still need to finish the stand and sump, the lights, and figure out all my plumbing. Hopefully I can get all this done in the next two weeks.

 

[pecan2phat]

So Matt..........

Guessing that I don't need to leave the suctions at my office then, correct?

 

[meschaefer]

So Matt..........

Guessing that I don't need to leave the suctions at my office then, correct?

LOL... I just PM'd you about that.

 

[masterswimmer]

No pictures of filter sock stands out there?

My filter sock stand............

swimmer

 

[House of Laughter]

Matt,

Check out this post where I modified Swimmers great idea for a filter sock holder. Putting elbows at the top stabilized the diffuser quite a bit more by running them opposite direction from the "T"s with the cross members.

If you have any questions as to how, let me know - this is in a 90g tank/sump as well.

House

 

[PalmTree]

Hey Matt. Looks like you've made some good progress. I know how yo feel. Timing is everything. I like the hole in the sump idea because that way you can shut down the return pump and just turn the valve to drain the sump. You will have a better idea of how much water you are pulling out. Let me know when you want to stop by.

 

[meschaefer]

Hey Matt. Looks like you've made some good progress. I know how yo feel. Timing is everything. I like the hole in the sump idea because that way you can shut down the return pump and just turn the valve to drain the sump. You will have a better idea of how much water you are pulling out. Let me know when you want to stop by.

I am still playing around with the numbers to see how much I can drain out of the sump. I would like to be able to keep the return pump running, but I also would like to be able to change out enough water so that it is meaningful. 120 gallon tank for a sump sounds big, but when I play with the numbers it doesn't seem big enough. I would have liked to be able to drain out 50 gallons, but I might have to settle for 40.

Of course this begs the questions, of how i am going to set up all my plumbing. I still want to come take a look at how you did yours, I will send you a PM later this weekend to try and set up a time.

 

[meschaefer]

Matt,

Check out this post where I modified Swimmers great idea for a filter sock holder. Putting elbows at the top stabilized the diffuser quite a bit more by running them opposite direction from the "T"s with the cross members.

If you have any questions as to how, let me know - this is in a 90g tank/sump as well.

House

What are the filter socks attached to, and how do you change them? Do you just pull them out of the hole. How big is the "collar' that the filter sock is attached to?

I noticed that you do not have any baffles in that sump. Do you think that baffles are unnecessary when using the filter socks?

 

[PalmTree]

I forgot that you have a 120 as a sump. When I do a water change I try to drain my entire sump but thats cause that equals out to about 40-45 gallons of water. The T-off idea is better go for you then. It will take a lot of tweaking to know exactly how everything will run togetheir (return pump, water fluctuation from skimmer, etc.) Give me a call buddy! I'll be here.

 

[House of Laughter]

Matt,

the filter socks aren't attached to anything they sit in the hole I created in the diffuser. They are a standard at 7"x16" long - the collar I believe to be 7" - No, no baffles in any sump I own and many that we've installed. not necessary if you design it correctly. if you look closely, the last 7" of drain plumbing is a slip to slip coupler and a small length of pipe - I don't glue that so I can take it off when I need to change the filter socks - so, yes, I just take them out of the hole, replace with clean ones and put the coupler back on. The extension of the coupler and small length of pipe reduces the splashing noise - even though you have it in the room behind the living area, it is still monotonous listening to water while working in the room.

HTH

house

 

[meschaefer]

When I received my Tonga Shelf rock from Marco Rocks a couple of pieces had broke during shipping, I contacted Marc and he sent me the following piece as a replacement. The package weighed 13 lbs, so I figure the piece has to weigh 11 - 12 lbs (my original order was for only 25 lbs of tonga shelf). It is the nicest piece of rock i got in my two orders. As you can see it is sort of shaped like a mushroom, with short stem and a wide cap.

Once again a beer bottle for size reference.

 

[KathyC]

That is one really good looking rock!
Looking forward to more pics of what you're creating!

 

[masterswimmer]

Wow, a center piece rock as your replacement. Now that's sweet.

swimmer

 

[scarf_ace1981]

this is turning out to be quite the thread. i see you're taking your time with this build. cant wait to see it up and running

 

[meschaefer]

this is turning out to be quite the thread. i see you're taking your time with this build. cant wait to see it up and running

I can't wait to see it up and running either. It is part me taking my time and part just not having enough time to get this and everything else I need to do done.

I was just thinking yesterday as i was taking the pics of my new piece of rock, that it took me all of a day to set up my first freshwater tank. Granted that was only twenty gallons....since this tank is twelve times bigger, you would think it would only take me twelve times as long to set up. :arg:

 

[KathyC]

I was just thinking yesterday as i was taking the pics of my new piece of rock, that it took me all of a day to set up my first freshwater tank. Granted that was only twenty gallons....since this tank is twelve times bigger, you would think it would only take me twelve times as long to set up. :arg:

Nah..doesn't work that way..this is SW..so you need to square the 12...lol
It will still be worth it from what can be seen so far!

 

[meschaefer]

In terms of lighting, I am planning on using 3 250W MH supplemented by 4 39w T5s.

The MH will be run by Bluewave HQI ballasts that will overdrive single ended bulbs which will be mounted in lumeanarc reflectors. I have not completely settled on a bulb, but I am looking for something that will give me good par, which means for the most part 10K bulbs. Each MH will run for about 6 hours each. I would actually prefer a "bluer" bulb than a 10k, but there is such a drop off in par readings when you move beyond a 10K bulb.

The T5 will supplement the MH and will run for 12 hours. I am looking at the T5 retrofits from sunlight supply, with icecap ballasts and TEK reflectors.

When it comes to T5 bulbs, as with the MH I have not settled on bulbs. Although they will have the responsibility of supplementing the MH bulbs, there will be a couple of hours a day where they are the main source of viewing light. If my prior tank is any indicator, I will probably look at the tank more with just the T5 than with the MH on. This means that I need them to be somewhat "blue" to compensate for the 10K MH, but I don't want them to be so blue that they are not pleasing to the eye when I look at the tank with just the t5s on.