Blog Comments

Thanks to Justin for giving us the opportunity to do the make over of this awesome aquarium!

I'm looking forward to seeing Dion's work. He does beautiful cabinetry. I've seen some of his work in person.

And I'm looking forward to your updates. So much has been going on, and we missed all of it.

Oh of course I guessed..................ahahahhahaaha............ ........I have patience but that much, but i counted to 20 and did simple math from there...............and educated guess I would say??????????

I have always wanted to do a shoal of chromis in this system, but as you stated, survival rate is low and the Naso aka Max might be of concern. Also I am worried about the plankton concentration of the system. Not in its current state, but my future plans. It is my belief (and I may be wrong) but that the reason that the death rate of chromis is so high is due to lack of proper feeding. Seeing that chromis are type of damsels and being planktivores, I feel that large "schools" even small schools are decimated by lack of feeding. It is my opinion that the damsels, all varieties including clowns and chromis are so "cheap" given the abundance of availability..........supply and demand..............but the survival rate is dismal at best, due to lack of education and proper husbandry...too common is the shoe of the shelf approach.............that is for another comment or blog anywho............. Especially with the common blue green damselfish, from my research and experience it seems that food competition is common factor in why long term schools can't be kept. The acclimation rate is low to being with........you buy 10 and only 6 survive a matter of weeks.......hell days............(cycle fish..........i puke at that thought)................ And seemingly as you stated in most systems only 1-2 survive from that first batch. I believe that is simply on food supply. Chromis are very active eaters which leads to the appeal, watch your chromis or any damsels for that matter, they are ferocious and active eaters and make for a blast a feeding time. Like most fish they require "multiple feedings" but even with multiple feedings the "weak" will be out competed.............massive supplemental feeding is needed for larger schools of chromis. And by larger schools I mean supplemental feedings for any more than your current level, in most systems that is 2-3, but you started with 5-10. If there is science to defeat or debunk these claims, or experience of others and steps taken to keep and maintain large "schools" of blue green chromis I would love to know. Love the questions and discussions!

gettareef..........thanks for you comment, the repair was very scary and honestly a few tears were shed in the process, but we are 4 days in and still successful, I'm not ready to say I am out of the clear, but signs are pointing up. Melev is the acrylic pro so I would follow his advice on the repair for the sump. My only recommendations would be to first be patient and allow what ever sealant you use to properly cure. WAY to often we are too impatient even though we know that PATIENCE is key in everything we do. In all reality I would really push you to just do a sump replacement there are many options out there, and possibly even contact Melev for a custom sump to fit your needs. IMO and IME a repair is just that, a repair, that is why I made the decision to replace the bulkhead vs. just loading it up with silicone or other barriers. My thought is that water made the Grand Canyon, leaks are a guarantee at some point in time, and every repair or temp fix we do is just delaying the inevitable. It is many times a better choice to pay the extra amount. later to rYou can spend 50 bucks now on some acrylic and silicone or 4000eplace your carpet that the "angry wife" says smells like fish. Also while it is a pain, while you have everything a part, this is a perfect time to do some major maintenance on all of your equipment. I'm glad that you are enjoying reading the progress, as while this progress is big, blogging it is a job all in its own and it is motivating to hear that people are enjoying it. I know I am a few days behind but I will rectify this as soon as possible, but with the bulk of the work done I have fallen way behind on the rest of my accounts and tanks and need to catch up on so then so time is very very thin. I am glad you mentioned "miracle mud" as I call it "miracle detritus" I am not a fan, but not going to rant too much here. But please remove that and just run a sand bed with rock and macro. Maybe one day I will blog about my opinions on certain products, or certain ways I like to set up my systems. But even if not you can always contact me personally via a message here on RA and I will give you my contact info, as I am always more than willing and happy to speak to fellow reefers and aquarists.

To fix your sump's leak, I would patch the spot internally with a small piece of acrylic. 3/8" x 3/8" x 3" would be a good size. Clean out the area well, wipe it down with a swipe or two of Acetone, and then apply Weld-on #16 to the area, and press that acrylic rod into place. Hold it for 60 seconds, then let go. Inspect it for any areas of concern. You could run a bead of #16 around the edges of the new piece if you see the need. 24 hours later, do a water test.

Wow is all I can say. Nice DIY, quick, Macgyver-style fix! Thank you for posting your progress, experiences, successes and failures on this crazy project you've undertaken. The only thing I can relate to regarding this post is one time my sump on my 75 gallon (an aqueon model 2 sump) began to leak in the back where the back wall acrylic met the floor acrylic. The leak was about an inch of where to two pieces of acrylic met in the middle chamber (took me about two hours to even find the leak). This was a very awkward place to get to in my sump. I attempted to drain all the water from my sump and as much as i tried I couldn't get the last inch of water out, and as this leak was at the very bottom of the sump water kept leaking. As time and an angry wife (due to the extremely wet carpet) were a factor, I couldn't remove the sump. I had to seal the sump while it was still leaking. I tried many products: super glue, reef glue, various reef safe puttys and silicone. No matter what I tried, water continued to leak out of the glue, putty, or silicone. After consulting with a reefer friend, I went to Walmart to get some type of pool leak fixer glue/silicone made to fix leaks with out draining water. After about 5 coats of that, which I applied to the side of my sump near the bottom which is now Bonded with the floor of my cabinet, the dam leak was sealed. I couldn't believe how hard it was to seal this leak with the low pressure of water coming out of the leak with the sump nearly drained and with how tiny the leak was. With this experience I have sympathy for your bulkhead leak and admiration for how you fixed it! This was about a year ago and I've been lucky that the leak has stayed sealed. In about a month I am going to remove my sump (will be a challenge with it now glued to my cabinet floor), deep clean it, remove the stupid "miracle mud", rearrange all equipment, and replace all plumbing. I guess then I will have to reassess the leak, and probably reseal it after I tear it off of the cabinet floor. Any suggestion as what to use to seal it after the sump will actually be emptied and dry this time? Also as my cabinet it wood, I would like to put something on my cabinet floor when im rennovating that will hold water if any leaks occur, and maybe coat the cabinet with something (like a protective coating to protect the wood). Any suggestions on some type of floor mat and a coatino for the wood cabinet? During the renovation I plan to place a 20 gal temporary sump on the side of my tank so I can take time to get everything right. I plan to blog this experience. Anyways good luck on your progress with this massive project, and I look forward to reading about it! - Dustin

Ok so I know I was vague in the post..............so here is the explanation.............to answer your questions...................The pipe was held upright by a member of my team, he was to apply a lot of pressure while remaining as still as possible. An initial siphon was created with the 1 1/2 inch tubing and when the siphon broke the process began. I would have liked to keep a constant siphon but given it was only a 4" pipe, having the tube, or even maxi jet with a smaller tube would have made the removal and installation of bulkheads impossible. The old bulkhead was then unscrewed and the water began to pour. The seal was definitely not water tight. The old bulk head and attached fittings were fed up through the pipe via some complicated work with a pair of aqua tongs. The fitting was then removed and only pressure fitted ( I may regret this later, but given the needed speed of the process................) into the new bulkhead. It was then fed back in to through the 4" PVC with the aqua tongs. The seal was cleaned of as much sand and debris before the process began but the movement of water pushed some back. I wrapped a finger with a rag and wiped the bottom of the tank as quickly and as clean as possible. From under the tank, I proceeded to seat the new bulkhead (based on your recommendation, should have gone 80 but I stock 40) Tightened her up and no leaks....................But I wasn't satisfied..........so I made a few risky decisions, there was a lot of residual silicone from the massive bead I placed on the underside of the "dam", while it was gummy I was able to spread it around the flange and get a secondary seal from that, I then immediately placed sand over the silicone to create at sturdier bond. On the underside I placed an excessive amount of silicone, in multiple coats to build a strong layer of protection. Overdone, maybe, was the silicone bead inside the tank, my best bet, probably not but I don't see any future issues with that (I could be wrong) but it seemed like a good idea at the time and I was not confident in the long term seal of the bulkhead as water was coming out and I'm sure sand as well. I didn't go into to much detail given my stress level and the length of previous posts. I hope this answers some of your questions and if anyone has anything else to chime in please do so.

I have a spot under my tank that has held water ever since. Granted, it was a drain line and not a pressure line like a closed loop.

So what held your upright pipe in place during the vacuum session? How did you extract the old bulkhead and insert the new one? I'm really glad it worked out.

The low voltage idea, I had never previously heard of. I did read that blog and it sounds interesting and might I say fun. I'm do agree that it is long but its been a long battle with this aiptasia issue. I also agree with you disservice thoughts. The sad part about reefing is the only guarantee we can have is that at some point, we are going to have a problem. But I think that it is the challenge and the puzzle that makes it fun. I will continue to document this system and the good things will show up one day

Thanks for the tips Melev. The putty was a thought but I wasn't sure how well, or how long it will hold up.

Thanks for your big write up, Justin. This is the kind of stuff I think people need to read. Yes, it's long and there is much to consider, but if you are trying to mimic another person's setup then you need to know the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Some of the more pristine systems I've seen still went through turmoil to get to that point, and people don't always realize this. They think they aren't as 'lucky' as that person, that they are suffering a bunch of times while their hero did not. It's not true. Some choose to only share the good details, which while that's nice, it's actually a disservice to the general public. And sharing only bad news isn't any better. We do want to see the issue, find out the cause, but also see how it was resolved. It takes time, and it may be a work in progress. Sometimes we need to stop and ask questions (I just did that myself with a recent blog because I can be too close to the situation and miss some glaring clue). But always follow up with how it turned out, what ended up working and what didn't. That's how everyone learns.

I noticed in this blog, you never mentioned trying to kill them with low voltage, like the Majano Wand / the Aiptaser / etc. The first one I ever saw was by a guy in Seattle, Washington. He showed me his rig, and did a nice blog showing how he built it. http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...Aptasia-Burner

Since then, I've used at least three different kinds that have become commercially available. It's another good choice.

Very good write up about the contents of the tank. Did you guess or did you actually count those bristeworms?

I agree less than 30 fish in a 1000g tank seems like it is lightly stocked. Adding 100 blue/green chromis would definitely add some activity and probably annoy that Naso initially. Unfortunately, Chromis don't have a good success rate and dwindle away over time in most systems.

Talk about a challenging situation. I would have been just as concerned as you, and this is one of the main reasons I've never run a closed loop through the base of the tank. It's just a problem begging to happen, some day.

A friend of mine went through a situation where his closed loop was in the way of a new skimmer. He knew he'd have to cut off the plumbing and glue a new fitting up higher to provide the necessary clearance. His solution was to get naked, put on some goggles and cut it fast. This was under a 400g system. He didn't expect as much water pressure to blast out, and he was completely alone when it got going. He tried to stop the water and it deflected into the nearby outlets, shooting sparks everywhere. He did get the new pipe affixed, but was always thereafter referred to as Naked Travis. lol I'm so glad back then we didn't have smartphones or we'd still have to see that video to this day.

The best choice for any bottom pane closed loop bulkhead is to use Schedule 80 fittings. They are about as bulletproof as you can get. Schedule 40 are lesser quality and prone to failure in this application unfortunately. They will get brittle with age. There are some other products on the market that you can use to glue and stop a drip. DD's Aquascape two-part putty is one: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...quaScape-Putty The other is Epo Putty, which I would only use for plumbing: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...view-EPO-Putty

Glad you got it resolved.

Hahahaha. Thank you melev!

But first, let me take a selfie.

Thanks for sharing this system with us, Justin. You definitely have your work cut out for you with a 1000g restoration project. My little 400g keeps me busy, and it doesn't have major issues to contend with. Looking forward to your future blogs.