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briight

Very productive weekend

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briight
, 02-02-2011 at 12:25 PM (22007 Views)
Saturday morning, we started out bright and early. We went to the box store and came home with cinder blocks and a whole bag of pvc fittings to finish the plumbing of the sump to the tank. This is Brian's department, I'm the go-fer. He drew out the plan on paper so we could get the right fittings for the job.
Once we got the sump positioned, cutting and gluing the pipes didn't take long at all. Of course there was a leak, where the sump drain hole was. We ended up replacing the fitting with which the 100 gallon trough was originally equipped. He bored out the original threaded hole, and installed a bulkhead. There was some silicone involved, so it had to sit awhile.
Sunday morning, we decided over coffee that it was time to go to Midwest Coral Farms, near Chicago. It's a great store, awesome people and a beautiful and ever-changing selection of both fish and coral.
On this trip, I didn't intend to purchase coral, and I had a hard time restraining myself, as they had some beautiful plates and LPS coral frags. I was looking for live rock, and I found it. They had three tanks of rock, graded into sizes. They helped me sort through and find some really interesting branch rock, which wasn't really rock at all, but SPS remains, and coated in coralline algae. I will have a very lacy and open rock display, once I get it all arranged.
By the time we got home, Brian felt it would be safe to start the pump again and check for leaks. We haven't found any yet this time. He set up the Red Sea Berlin skimmer, which we bought used and refurbished with a couple of pump parts. It's making skimmate now, kinda wet yet, but productive. It will need some adjustment. We couldn't fit Durso fittings into our overflow box, but it has foam tubes that fit around the drains, and it isn't too loud. I rather like the sound it makes--trickling water from the return, with the occasional swirl down the drain.
Wednesday, snow day, and I'm sick...
The tank has cleared up for the most part, and I can see the rocks clearly, which have a fair amount of sediment on them. I'm thinking a filter sock on the drains in the sump probably wouldn't hurt. I'm going to do some chemistries later, but right now I'm laying in my chair and sneezing. I'm not much use to anyone right now. Brian is shoveling and snowblowing (did I say again how awesome he is?), and he timed the flow at about 7 gallons per minute out of the drains. I'll help him time it again later, as he said he didn't really have enough hands.

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Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    It's nice to read about all the things you did, but...

  2. DJ in WV's Avatar
    wow some people around here are hard core, glad things are coming along
  3. briight's Avatar
    Geez Marc, I'm sick as a dog. I'll get pics on here when I can move about the cabin without blowing snot everywhere. I prefer a blog with pics too, I get your point.
  4. melev's Avatar
    Get well soon.
  5. briight's Avatar
    Thank you Marc, I feel much better today. Here's some pics:
    First full tank shot

    After a couple of days, the tank is clearing,

    The bubble trap,

    The rock from Midwest Coral,
    Updated 02-03-2011 at 12:44 PM by briight
  6. briight's Avatar
    More pics:
    The plumbing below deck,

    In my photo albums at my profile, I've given more in-depth descriptions of the photos, and there are a few more photos there as well. Thanks for looking!
  7. melev's Avatar
    Nice to see you using your Photo Gallery section. Here's a link to it for others: http://www.reefaddicts.com/album.php?albumid=119
  8. Alaska_Phil's Avatar
    Nice! I looked at the first couple photo's and wondered "where the heck is his sump?" Very nice clean looking install. Have you found a good way to add baffles to the stock tanks? I'm planning to use a shallow 50 gal stock tank for my 150's sump. If not I may have my return pump sitting in a bucket with slots in it to set the water level for the rest of the sump.
  9. briight's Avatar
    Thank you! Haven't figured out baffles yet, but I'm wondering if something could be done with expanding foam. Not sure how to overcome the floatation issue with that, so that's still just a thought process. We're both a little claustrophobic, so the idea of having to poke around under the tank in cramped space just didn't appeal, plus we have all this room in the basement that doesn't get used for anything else.
    The other reason we put the sump in the basement: 4 very curious cats, and 3 uncoordinated Labrador Retrievers. No point in giving them a swimming pool under the tank...
  10. melev's Avatar
    I have a couple of pictures in my sump presentation that addresses baffles in a trough like this one. I'll have to try to extract a couple for you. One way is to make an eggcrate container to put macro algae in, floating it in the big sump yet keeping the plants where they belong. Another way was to create an acrylic system that spans the vat, housing the skimmer and other gear, and draining into the main sump.

    Another person I know put a baffle using cutting board material (HDPE) and silicone, but that stuff also tries to float. You'd almost need a cross brace of something to keep it down and locked in. Or screwed/bolted through the sides using plastic nuts and bolts.
  11. Midnight's Avatar
    I would say use more than one tank, set the height of the skimmer one using a standpipe at the desired water height that drains to the return/ refugium trough.
  12. Alaska_Phil's Avatar
    I'm wondering how well epoxy sticks to the stock tanks? I was thinking I could coat plywood baffles with fiberglass cloth and epoxy, then epoxy them in place. But acrylic baffles with flanges glued or bent into the edges, then bolted with nylon bolts should work too.