XrayGuy

Check the cleaning isle next time your at the grocery store. They should have the elbow length ones for washing dishes.

I have checked WinCo and Fred Meyer and didn't see them. Also looked at HD and Lowe's with no luck

Sweet! I have a Harbor Freight here in Vancouver, so I will have to see if they have it in store.

Looks like you are off to a good start! I am very curious to see how your plumbing ends up looking when all hooked up. That manifold looks pretty serious! Do you have pics of your sump with baffles?

I would like to get a good glove to wear when messing around in the tank, but I can't seem to find long ones, just the slightly longer than normal cuff ones. Where can I get what I am looking for? Also, i know some gloves contain latex...is latex safe for reef tanks or do i need nitrile?

So it looks like I need to order some of that clear mesh from BRS so that I can make a screen for my nano tank as well as one for the cube. I told my 4 year old daughter and she said he probably wanted to die, but its ok because we can just get another one.

So about these screens, I buy the clear mesh from BRS and then at Home Depot or Lowe's I can get screen framing and just cut to size is that right?

I called my insurance company today (Allstate) and they told me that an aquarium does not need to be written into a policy as a separate item at all. My agent said that with the way their wording is, the tank leaking or breaking and causing damage would be the same as a bathtub leaking and causing damage. He also said that the tank and equipment are considered personal property and would be covered too, not just the damaged flooring etc. However, livestock is NOT covered just like a dog or cat or other pet is NOT covered by a homeowners policy. He said he doesn't even have a policy to sell me for livestock. Obviously different insurance companies will have different policies on this, but if you have Allstate, this is what you should expect.

That is fantastic news! Good luck with the leak test.

Oh btw, how did the seams and everything look on the replacement tank?

That's awesome that Jeff took care of you! I have been impressed with his dedication to customer service since I first went into his store.

I know where old town Tigard is. Sweet!

I am just curious, where is his warehouse located? I didn't realize he was local. I may have to order some stuff from him too.

I will take one of the montis from you. PM sent

Got my ATO in the mail today and hooked it up. Works great so far! Not sure about keeping the 5gal jug there permanently, but for now it will work fine because I will be easy for me to fill back up right there. Once I get a dosing pump, I will have to move stuff around a bit.

My tubing kept wanting to curl up inside the jug instead of staying at the bottom, so I attached a standard straw to the end of it to add just enough weight and now it is pointed at the bottom perfectly! I also drilled a hole through the cap of the jug to assist with same issue.

I have the end of the tubing secured to my drain pipe to make sure that it is above the aqualifter.

As the title says. I just thought I would share the info in case anyone needs a cheap tank for whatever reason.

Micro bubbles issue resolved!! Thank you filter floss and sump sock!

Looking good. How high was the water level in the sump when you turn the return pump off?

Power off water level is about 1/2" from the top of the sump. I had it lower than that originally, but not enough water was getting into my return section and I could not get the return and the herbie to balance unless I added more water. Might be an issue with my baffles, but anyways it is working now and I have turned power off a number of times to double check to make sure there is no DT siphon back...there isn't thank goodness! I am definitely a believer of that siphon hole in the lock line.

A couple of questions for you' date=' just got my 93 cube and was wondering how many lbs of dry rock did you end up using. Also how deep did the 40 lbs of sand make your sandbed. Trying to get a rough idea of what I need to buy.[/quote']

 

The dry rock I estimate is about 90-100 lbs...it was a short Brute garbage can full. Sand is about 3-4" deep all around.

Ok huge update! The tank is now filled and ready to begin cycling. Going to buy a shrimp at the store today to toss in to start it. Lots of pics here...

Tank in the house finally!

MY initial second try for aquascape. First one I tried one long peninsula from the overflow corner to the opposite, but I decided that I wanted a trench in the middle, so here it is. All of the rock was dry (dead). I rinsed it all in RODI water prior to putting in the tank.

Starting to fill. I washed the sand out 2x and man was it dirty. I used 40lbs of the DRY CaribSea aragonite sand that is medium size, not the super fine stuff that will blow around in the tank.

Cheap LED light for when I need to see down there, 2x controllers for Jebao RW-8's.

Reef Octopus SRO 1000 INT skimmer, Mag 18 return pump, 2x 200watt ViaAqua titanium heaters with digital controllers.

I painted the top part of my return piping black so that it is not as much of an eyesore since it matches the corner overflow. I had originally drilled a siphone hole into the bottom of the elbow closest to the overflow but on the overflow side, but it shot water straight into the overflow and was loud. I researched a better way to make a siphon hole, so I fixed the issue by using 2 part epoxy to seal up the hole I made and then I drilled a new hole on the tank side on the bottom of the lock line "Y" piece. The hole is under water while system is running and then when there is no power, it is exposed to the air and breaks the siphon from the return lock lines really quick.

I may try to get a different kind of power strip setup, but for now I think this will work just fine. I have all the cords going below the strips first as well, just in case of water drippage going down the cords.

Ocean Revive T247 LED light

I mounted the light hanger that I made (3/4" conduit pipe + pipe bender + rustoleum spray paint) by securing 1" PVC pipe (painted black) to the back of the stand and I have a furniture moving pad underneath that. I then was able to take the 3/4" conduit light hanger bar and slide it right into the PVC pipe. This allows me to just rotate the whole light bar out of my way when I need to get into the tank. I am using a small piece of rubber to wedge between the PVC and the conduit to keep the hanger bar from rotating...I just pull the small piece of rubber out of the pipe to be able to turn the hanger.

Full tank shot. Water is mostly clear, but I do have some microbubbles. From what I can tell, they are coming from my drain and my baffles before the return (I did a pretty crappy job on the baffles, but I am going to live with it for now). I will be buying some filter floss today to put in between the baffles before the return and I may add a filter sock also at the drains to try to get rid of the micro bubbles.

PM sent

Thanks for the hookup you two! The little monster is swimming around happy as can be in the nano. I have two candy stripe cardinals in there and they tried to nip at him as soon as I put him in the tank, but he chased them right back and now he seems to be claiming the whole tank as his own. I think he will be just fine

PM sent

Good lol. You should drill a hole though to prevent sucking a ton of water down when you turn off the return.

 

 

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Ok cool I will do that. Thanks for the warning

Do I need to have an anti siphon hole for sure and if so, can I just drill it so that it is facing down on the new elbow? I will have the elbow basically belly up...

have you tested the return yet? Gut feeling here. I have a feeling water will sprout from that anti siphon hole if you used the original 1" to 3/4" threaded elbow that came with the kit. Make sure the anti siphon hole is facing down into the water.

Funny you should mention that. I actually almost had that part of the plumbing done when I noticed the whole on there and had an "oh s**t" moment. I was still dry fitting that part though, so I went to Home Depot and got the same elbow minus the durso anti siphon hole. So, no there will not be any water shooting out of it And the return I got from Matt (mag 18) will be tested here shortly.

Have you tested that brass 3-way connection on the rodi unit? I bought one of those and hated it. Is that the one where you push the little pin inside the tube and then screw the nut on to clamp it down? I kept having my tubing burst off the nut every time I turned the pressure on.

Yes I have tested it and it is nice and tight with all the tubing and has no leaks at all. And no there are no pins, just the tubing going through the nut and it somehow pressure seals it I think? I tried pulling the tubing out to make sure it was secure and yeah its not coming out. The only issue I have with the RODI at the moment is the RO membrane housing is loud and sounds like the water is doing something weird near the bottom of the RO unit. I pulled the membrane out and double checked that I had it installed correctly and re-seated it in there, but it still makes the noise. The whole thing works fine and makes water as it is supposed to though, so who knows. I ordered a ShokBlok to add inline so that I can make sure the water pressure coming into the unit will not be able to get too high, so maybe that will help.