Tuni 40 breeder Report

[tunicata]

Hi there!

So, school is almost over, and I'm finding time to begin on my new tank. I really want it done by middle of next week the latest.
Here is my dream for it:

40G Breeder drilled on two top corners for the return. I hope to eventually use the black flex tubing but for now will probably use pvc elbows.
The bottom is drilled for the overflow. I will have the water flow down the pvc tube and down into the sump. I will put some sort of grate (I don't know what it is called but it looks like a big gray strainer I've seen on other folks tanks) on the top to keep critters from falling down the tube.
I don't know how sound will be affected by this.
I will 'mask' the tube by decorating it with rock work. May even coat it with sand and rubble rock (but not the styrofoam stuff).

2+ inches of sand bed

40lbs of LR

Rio+ 2200 which gives 780 gph or
Quiet One 1200 which gives 296 or
Sen 900 900gph

2x Koralia 2 (if it's too much flow, I'll just deflect it, do not want Koralia 1)

1 phosban reactor which will have nitrate remover as well as phosban and carbon. All co-mingling, or in baggies within chamber. Either way it's purpose is served as water will be running through it.

Berlin XXL Skimmer in sump, with stock pump

20g EShopps Model 100 sump/fuge

Right now I'm putting the stand together, and trying to figure out the plumbing. Thanks to this is my first RR tank and figuring this out is tons more interesting that throwing on a overflow with CPR kit!

I went to HD today to get more fittings, but decided I needed to take more measurements, and try to use the random pvc that I got from buying other things.

Any comments so far? Oh!!! That black stuff is called locline. Someone told me a website I could find it...I'll google.

-also, forgot.
I'll be using my Nova Extreme T5 36" set up. I'm hoping to get brand new Giesemann Aquablue + (60% actinic/40% white
spectrum, 11k, nice crisp white) for now. If I ever bother getting permission from landlord, I will instead hang my Sun pod 150w 12(or 10k reeflux ) pheonix DE.
The tank will be a general mix. It's not a deep tank so even easy SPS should be fine.

If I dose, it'll be ESV Bionic 2 Part CA/ALK and Magnesium. May buy Kent's essential elements just in case, but I'll be using Instant Ocean salt and RO water/Store bought water until/if I ever get another RO/DI system

[rbtwo4]

lol

[tunicata]

I know I know. I took 2 of me posing in the midst of the wood/tank/pvc chaos but my camera wont upload for me/it says they are corrupt!

I have little patience with things I cannot reason with. I will try again later
promise

[thesaent14]

Originally Posted by rbtwo4

lol

31109]
lol

come on

[marki24]

oh boy i see competition here LOL

[tunicata]

Lol, ok. Make sure you all tell me if anything I wrote is a bad idea! Especially the dual return. I am thinking of having the two returns connect into one pipe at the bottom/site of the return pump. There will probably only be a 3-4 ft head.

I'm going to HD again tomorrow, and I hope to have a clearer vision

Here is SOMETHING at least, I can't get any actual shots of progress till tomorrow night:
This is a pic of the skimmer and one of the possible pumps that will go into this.


A picture of the skimmer skimming:


My Cat!


My Snake!


A tunicate a friend of mine found diving


A nifty marine lab I worked/studied in with running sea tables!!! We had lobster babies in one of the tanks!

[mynd]

Hey Tuni,

It was a pleasure to meet you at the meeting... Thanks for sharing those photos.. Wish I worked in a lab that did coral research.. either that or I would like to work at seachem with a nano on my desk just talking to people about my products and how they work..

Keep us updated with your progress!

[tunicata]

Ok, so after those post in a hurry pics, I have some real ones!!
Cat checking out tank

Checking on the Cat double checking the tank


The huge mess of PVC I bought from HD and scraps from other builds I randomly have


Me using the drill for the wooden stand


igh: Almost done!

[tunicata]

The stand was pre-built, I just had to unscrew all the support beams (top and bottom) when I picked it up so it would fit into my car. Not sure if it's my floor or the wood, but the stand is lopsided. The bottom boards on one end are elevated about .5 inches.
If I cannot remedy this/find the cause in time then I will try and make those wrought metal stands pretty. I guess I'll use fabric to go around it.
That's actually a better way to go anyway since it'll fit my 40g sump which has decent size compartments as opposed to this wooden stand which can only fit a 20g High.

Here is the tank on the stand, just so I can elevate the tank and start figuring out the plumbing



It's late at night now so, I'm going to just stop for the night:

Do I NEED to make the lenght of pvc between the elbows coming from the tank (vertical pvc, not the horizontal pvc) any longer than that? Originally I cut them to be used as couplers (the lenght of pvc betw elbows), but am wondering if that's enough.

This is what I'm aiming for, a version that fits.


The two top holes will be my overflow. I'll have an elbow and strainer inside the tank for each overflow. They join at the bottom. Of course my sump's overflow section is only on 1 side of the tank, and not the middle. I will add more pvc and direct the flow towards it.

The return is on the bottom of the tank near a corner.
I am not sure what I will do with that. Maybe a decorated pvc pipe coming up and extending with locline/hose to utilize my SCWD? Or something neat, that comes up high into the tank so if I lose power, only 1-2 inches of total DT volume will flow to the sump.
Any piping in the tank will be covered with sand and rubble rock to see if it's a bit prettier.


Ok, so any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns? This is my first time doing this.

[tunicata]

Ok, only did a few things today. Made the return and near finished the overflow.

Unless I need to do major reconstruction, I'm finished until I change stands, and figure out which sump I'll use.
Here are some pics!
Here is the overall job. 2 overflows and one return.





Now question. The bulkhead for the hole on the bottom has this gray...thing in it. I suppose it wants me to attach a vinyl tube/etc and tighten it with those metal gray tube fasteners. I'm not sure I want to go that route BUT the inside thread has that white stretchy tape, so the connection is too strong for my measily arm power to untighten the connection.

Is there some way I can work around it? I was thinking I could just find a pvc connection peice that fits over the gray part and then will thread/screw onto the actual bulk head.
Does that sound ok?

[psychographic]

Originally Posted by tunicata

The stand was pre-built, I just had to unscrew all the support beams (top and bottom) when I picked it up so it would fit into my car. Not sure if it's my floor or the wood, but the stand is lopsided. The bottom boards on one end are elevated about .5 inches.
If I cannot remedy this/find the cause in time then I will try and make those wrought metal stands pretty.

If your floor is not level. DO NOT USE THE WROUGHT IRON STAND TO COMPENSATE FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!

The reason, the stand will twist, leaving you with an uneven base for your tank.

You need to shim the stand if your floor is uneven. Shims are wedge shaped pieces of wood about 2"x10", about 1/4" thick on one side and taper to 0/0" on the other, these can be bought at most any home store.

After you shim the stand and it is stable, check it to make it as level as possible, the more level a tank is, the less stress is applied to any of the glass panes.


The bulkhead in the bottom pic looks to have a barbed fitting in it. Unless you don't have room, I would leave it and use a short peice of Vinyl tubing to connect to your PVC. I do this an almost every connection, the reason is twofold, one, it isolates vibration and allows for flexing without stessing the glass, two, it allows for disconnecting the fitting. You could use Unions, but they are restrictive in smaller sizes and don't allow for any flexing, also if they are hard to reach, it's a royal PTA, should the O-ring fall out or get mis-seated. If you need, you can get screw in barb fittings that are 90 degree's, to save room.

You also don't need to drop the vertical pipes.

[psychographic]

I would also drill a Syphon break in your return, the outlet is a little low and without the SB, the tank is going to drain down to the outlet should the power go out.