SuperNan's 75 gallon build (for real this time!)

[SuperNan79]

I know that I've been going on and on... and on- lol, about this 75 gallon tank I bought from another member in July-ish 2013. Well, I can honestly show progress!

 

Stand was completed in June 2014. I popped the painted plywood panels off the outside of the frame and resided it with 2 x 4 pine stained with ebony stain then sanded to give a gray look and show the grain more. The pine gives the stand a lighter weight skin as well as something to admire as well. The dark color doesn't detract from the tank itself.

 

The tank top plywood was left on, sanded, then resurfaced with a dark gray vernier. I picked up a piece for $4 from our local 'ReStore' store. Doors are still a work in progress.

 

Since the tank was already drilled with 5 (yes FIVE) holes, I went ahead and decided on the beananimal overflow as it seemed the most obvious choice. Now, begins months of nervous plumbing research. I knew NOTHING about plumbing and the husband is an expert at just about everything EXCEPT plumbing!

 

August 28th, my birthday, I'm handed a credit card and told to order everything I need to plumb the tank :-) Time to take the plunge! I had already filled imaginary shopping carts online and found the best deals imaginable. Got all but a few fittings for this build including 3 easy turn repairable ball valves, 6 true unions, 3 sanitary tees, and more than enough 45 and 90 elbows to do TWO builds lol. Part of the elbow overkill was because I chose to use 1" on the return instead of 1.5" after already receiving the 1.5" fittings. Oh well, live and learn.

 

All weekend I have been working on measuring and cutting and glueing this masterpiece together lol- solo. I did it all myself! I feel quite accomplished and enlightened. I also feel a little more confident about the bathroom redo I was planning for next summer ;-)

[SuperNan79]

Hmmm where's my pic link?

[SuperNan79]

 

Stand 'Before'

 

Stand 'After' (but before trim and stain touch ups)

[TheClark]

Plumbing looks GREAT! Nice job!

 

So where did you find the '3 easy turn repairable ball valves' online for a good price?

[SuperNan79]

Plumbing looks GREAT! Nice job! So where did you find the '3 easy turn repairable ball valves' online for a good price?

 

I will PM u the site (i think there's a rule that says I can't post websites on the main thread?).

 

They ended up being about $5 each! It was a steal. Only downfall was shipping took the full 10 business days (almost 2 weeks).

[SuperNan79]

Update: tank is full of hose water... NO leaks in any of my plumbing! YAY! But... I have a leaky bulkhead:-( so, now I let the overflow area dry for a few hours then I resort to silicone before a second go tomorrow:-/ patience Nancy... patience. *sigh* If the slow leak is still there I will tear apart the cemented :-/ fittings (saw?) and replace with another bulkhead I have. I think it's a hole issue though. Holes were too big to properly fit the 1" bulkheads but too small to fit the next size up:-(. The woes of buying a used already drilled tank.

[scubasteve]

Lookin good Nancy!

[SuperNan79]

I just leak tested the second go 'round after siliconing the bulkhead and NO leaks! Drained the hose/tap water and hooking up the RODI unit to start running some 'good' water in the tank:-) New problem... how to get the tank/stand close to wall yet be able to have access to the valves in the back in order to fine tune the flow:-/ afterthought. I hate afterthoughts.

[rworegon]

First, do this before you get too much water in the tank. Once that 75 is full of water you aren't going to move it. Just keep shoving the stand closer to the wall and sticking your hand back there testing the valves. When you can barely get your hand back there and operate all three valves, you're there.

[SuperNan79]

Yep, no way that bad boy is budging. It already is farther from the wall than I wanted even when it's butted right against it with the plumbing :-( so I undid the unions and turned all the valves sideways so I can reach them from the side. Still can't get enough torque on my STICKY "easy turn" ball valves- gah! Easy turn my a**! So, I am just adjusting from under which sucks but isn't completely horrible. I think I have it fine tuned- running since Friday and I had to readjust only once and I don't think I HAD too. I cut power to see if the system started back up and it did- perfectly but then the main down pipe wasn't kicking into a full siphon and the noisy backup down pipe was taking over and has the tubing allowing it to drain air. I kept fiddling and adjusting and retesting and same thing- it was like there was an air lock and not enough head pressure to start the main siphon. ANYWAYS... I decided it's OK for it to do that in a power outage situation- it will alert me something happened and I need to do a whole once over on the tank (I don't have an apex or monitor like that). I can always get it going again after I mess with it. The emergency overflow works great if the other two are shut off.

 

Next project (after I finish cabinet floor and doors) will be to acquire gate valves and swap out the ball valves- at least the main.

[TheClark]

Ah good learning, I did not even think of that. All my drain valves are accessible under the sump which is not pretty nor easy to get to but still easier I suppose then by the wall. Thanks for sharing the good and the bad, we all learn from each other's experience.

[SuperNan79]

QUESTION: I cycled rock in brute can for 5+ months, bought live sand, added a bit of water from cycled rock can and the rest was freshly made. I added Aquabella to the water day 1, day 2, and day 3 treatments... soooooo- theoretically, my tank is cycled. It's been up and running since Sunday. I tested Monday and got 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. I threw in a squid leg to let it rot and see what happened (a small one) and it got stuck to the tunze. It finally finished 'melting' by the time I got home tonight and was gone so I tested again. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and I see the faintest change in color when I tested for nitrates which would be expected but it was still just barely above 0. SOOOOOOO... I feel very nervous to do it, but I really want to add some of the fish teasing me in the qt tanks for the past several months. SHOULD I DO IT? It just all seems too good to be true, but it was my plan to not have to cycle the tank after set up. Guess I'm just having a hard time believing it worked out so well.

[TheClark]

QUESTION: I cycled rock in brute can for 5+ months' date=' bought live sand, added a bit of water from cycled rock can and the rest was freshly made. I added Aquabella to the water day 1, day 2, and day 3 treatments... soooooo- theoretically, my tank is cycled. It's been up and running since Sunday. I tested Monday and got 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. I threw in a squid leg to let it rot and see what happened (a small one) and it got stuck to the tunze. It finally finished 'melting' by the time I got home tonight and was gone so I tested again. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and I see the faintest change in color when I tested for nitrates which would be expected but it was still just barely above 0. SOOOOOOO... I feel very nervous to do it, but I really want to add some of the fish teasing me in the qt tanks for the past several months. SHOULD I DO IT? It just all seems too good to be true, but it was my plan to not have to cycle the tank after set up. Guess I'm just having a hard time believing it worked out so well.[/quote']

 

Kind of a side note...

 

After my terrible, terrible battle with phosphate laden rock I feel compelled to recommend this.

 

I really recommend you do a phosphate test before getting too far into this. See if someone can do it on a hannah checker for ya.

 

If your rocks are leaching phosphate the next six months will be painful and expensive to fight it.

[SuperNan79]

Kind of a side note... After my terrible' date=' terrible battle with phosphate laden rock I feel compelled to recommend this. I really recommend you do a phosphate test before getting too far into this. See if someone can do it on a hannah checker for ya. If your rocks are leaching phosphate the next six months will be painful and expensive to fight it.[/quote']

Ooooooo- that is a VERY good point. I don't know anyone with a Hannah checker:-( so I'll run a test with my kit to be sure.

[SuperNan79]

Kind of a side note... After my terrible' date=' terrible battle with phosphate laden rock I feel compelled to recommend this. I really recommend you do a phosphate test before getting too far into this. See if someone can do it on a hannah checker for ya. If your rocks are leaching phosphate the next six months will be painful and expensive to fight it.[/quote']

 

Ok- tested my kit with fresh RODI water (been a while since I used this test) with reading of 0. Then tested tank water (it's a German kit so bear with me) and got .5 mg/L which is slightly high, but not much above ideal. I have some cheato I was planning on adding to sump, but without livestock and higher nitrates, will it survive? I know it will help eat up phosphates. Part of the phosphates could be from the water I added from the brute can that the rocks stewed in for over 5 months- I was feeding flake fish food to the bacteria lol- that sounds retarded. But, I know flake fish food has high levels of phosphates... I was just trying to help seed the tank with some of that water- probably 10-15 gallons. I got the rock after someone had already been cycling it which explains why I didn't get elevated nitrates as well by adding the brute water... What do y'all think?

[TheClark]

Well, keep in mind I am totally jaded after fighting this for a several months.

 

Allot of people shoot for .05 or even .02. So that means that you are running 10x higher or even more than some shoot for.

 

Because of recent experience, if it were me, I would acid bathe the rocks. Extreme I know and sure won't help your tank cycle, but it is probably what I would do. Others should chime in.

 

No matter what you decide, at least you are going in with eyes wide open! Good luck!!

[rworegon]

Our just run gfo in a reactor. It's a bit less extreme than acid bathing your rocks.

[scubasteve]

+1 with Randy, i run a pair of brs deluxe reactors ganged together, one with gfo the other with carbon. Have .02/.04 phosphates... alot easier than the muratic acid route.

[SuperNan79]

Our just run gfo in a reactor. It's a bit less extreme than acid bathing your rocks.

Yes, that will be the plan of attack if it remains a problem. I do also plan on feeding a lot of plant material to the tang to fatten it up- it's just a small juvenile, and get it growing more. I know that introducing high amounts of plant matter into the tank can release phosphates too so I assumes I'd be dealing with the levels raising anyways. Time to look for a reactor:-)

 

GOOD NEWS!... I have the tang, coral beauty, and chromi in the tank for a week now and they're doing great! Adding clean up crew gradually as there isn't a lot of debris yet and no algae growth. Just added a light tonight- temporary setup as I'm building a hood to house them in. Just have to figure out how to make easy access to the top of the tank and I'll be good as gold!

[SuperNan79]

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[SuperNan79]

Well' date=' keep in mind I am totally jaded after fighting this for a several months. Allot of people shoot for .05 or even .02. So that means that you are running 10x higher or even more than some shoot for. Because of recent experience, if it were me, I would acid bathe the rocks. Extreme I know and sure won't help your tank cycle, but it is probably what I would do. Others should chime in. No matter what you decide, at least you are going in with eyes wide open! Good luck!![/quote']

 

I have a sincerely curious question... My test kit is European and measures in parts per mL's... How does that translate to parts per gallon? And did you do the conversion when you gave me recommended levels? I honestly am just trying to decide where my current levels stand and if I'm really at 10 x's the norm or if you read my levels as if it were ppg's? I ordered this kit with my nano and it tests everything so I haven't ever looked into how other kits measure- I'm clueless lol.

[scubasteve]

If you have a euro teat kit thats measured in metric just do a google search for metric to standard. Conversion down to ml. Level

[rworegon]

Nan, the ".05 or even .02" that you were given is ppm, parts per million, not parts per gallon. I'm not sure how you would do the conversion. But as they say, Google is your friend. I would probably start looking for a new test kit. They are a good investment for the future anyway.

[TheClark]

I have a sincerely curious question... My test kit is European and measures in parts per mL's... How does that translate to parts per gallon? And did you do the conversion when you gave me recommended levels? I honestly am just trying to decide where my current levels stand and if I'm really at 10 x's the norm or if you read my levels as if it were ppg's? I ordered this kit with my nano and it tests everything so I haven't ever looked into how other kits measure- I'm clueless lol.

 

I did no conversion! Good catch. Things are looking good all the best to your new build.

[SuperNan79]

Fish are happy in the new tank... But do yellow tangs generally just plain act like they're on crack when given a large amount of area to inhabit? Lol. 'Big Bird', as he's been dubbed, is a wild child all of a sudden after being in a 10 gallon qt for months (wasn't supposed to take me that long) and behaving all relaxed and chill- now any time I come up to the tank he whips back and forth with all of his fins displayed to the max... Almost like he's trying to bluff me? It's absolutely hilarious! Who knew?!