New to BRS; Tank Builds

[AquaDon]

Plumbing Question revisited with more info

I asked a question about gate valves and I wanted to make sure I am asking my questions correctly. My tank, which is new, already has holes drilled in the corners with overflows built in. I am nervous about starting the plumbing connections without fully understanding what my needs might be in the future and what is involved. Some ve..ry basic questions, might sound too basic, but here goes. Can someone describe for me, how a basic setup would be configured, describing what goes to what, etc? If anyone knows of an on-line site with drawings, instructions, etc.. it would help me. I tend to be meticulous and want to take this plumbing seriously because once I put the 125 gallons of water, rock, fish, etc. into the tank.. I would like it to be connected correctly. Thank you for the info about the herbie and bean animal drain set-ups although I don't understand quite how they work,.. I will have to do more research. Before I bought my tank I read a lot from people wishing that they had pre-drilled tanks because of drain and siphon issues, so I purchased a "reef-ready" tank with corner overflows and the holes pre-drilled in the bottom. I am trying to understand why it is less likely to break the siphon with a power outage with this setup. Then, I am curious about what I need to do up front to allow me the flexibility of repairs and to prevent my tank from draining,(Don't laugh, I'm new at this with a large tank) Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[STiTCH87]

When there are in-tank overflows, there technically isn't a siphon to break. When the power goes out, there is no pump adding water to the display tank from the sump, and thus the water level doesn't rise to overflow into the overflow. So everything sits still.

When the power comes back on, the pump comes back on, pumping water into the DT tank, starting the hole overflow process into the sump again.

On other overflows that can break siphon, especially a HOB one, when the power goes out, air can get trapped in the U tube, and then when the power goes back on and the pump starts going, if that air pocket doesn't move out, you can potentially overflow your DT tank. Or atleast that's my understanding. IDK i've never messed with a HOB overflow before. In fact, i'm just setting up my first ever sump and overflow now and have a glass-holes kit.

Edit: And never be afraid to ask any and all questions you have. Even if you think they are "dumb" questions. There are no such thing as dumb questions. Just dumb answers.
BRS is an extremely friendly and informative place and you should feel very comfortable and at home here. Nobody will judge you here. =] We all started out somewhere.

 

[AquaDon]

Thank you very much Stitch87

 

[AquaDon]

Thank you John K for your posts and suggestions

 

[jjhall5150]

Your 125 is really nice looking!!!!!

 

[AquaDon]

Plumbing Done

Okay, so I actually ended up finding a person who has been in business for many years doing aquarium setups and hired him to setup my plumbing. He had all the extra stuff with him and did a great job setting up the tank. He installed a megaflow package into each corner over flow, put the heaters into the corner overflows, connected the skimmer and pump setup, found that the skimmer would not fit in the refugium corrrectly so he did some custom plumbing and made it work well, used real nice eheim hosing for the return lines, connected the 1800 pump that I had to the tee which went to the returns and attached the hoses supplied by eshopps to the drains and skimmer area. Filled the tank with water, and no leaks. I was one happy person. Checked the setup later last night after he left and noticed alot of air in one of the overflows, I thought .... very strange and the level of water was going up and down a few inches. Well, I discovered a very small leak. I put in a call to the installer, put a couple of small catch basins under the tank and checked this morning and it had leaked about a half pint over night. Well, it turns out that one of the factory supplied hoses had a small split and it was the culprit. He re-did some plumbing to take pressure off of the hoses and replaced the hose and everything is good now. I drained the tap water we used, out of the tank this afternoon and I am now filling it with RO water that my unit is producing. (Maybe an overkill) I have some sand that I will put in after mixing my salt over the weekend and will wait patiently for various orders of dry rock and live rock that is arriving next week. Stay tuned for more info.

Question.... Why does one corner overflow seem stable, no bubbles, no water level change, and one corner over flow has some bubble and movement of water level? Any ideas? I know that on the stable side, the hose is laying sort of on the refugium so it is somewhat level with the drains in the skimmer compartment and the other side, the hose sags. I was thinking of trying to straighten the hose that's sagging and see if that helps. Just seems odd. Please feel free to post comments or suggestions.

 

[STiTCH87]

Only thing I can think of is that the overflow with a changing level and bubbles is the one that the powerhead is pushing water into? Or vice versa.

 

[AquaDon]

Update to New Tank Build

Well, I found the answer to my last question regarding the fluctuating water level in a corner overflow. Apparently air can get into the plumbing which will cause what was happening with my tank. After getting the air out of the drain line, things are quieter and stable. The plumbing was actually pretty simple and if done right, should work well. Both flexible hoses that I had coming from the corner overflow drains developed splits in the ends that connected to the bulkhead drain fittings so new hoses were gotten and different bulkhead fittings put in so hopefully, no more splits. I have now been running the tank and refugium/sump for a week with no more leaks and things seem stable. I ordered some dry pukani rock and some live Fiji rock which is now in the tank, along with some live sand. I have not put all of the Pukani rock into te tank, but have all of the live rock in and am just running the tank to start cycling it. I will be starting to "aquascape" this week. My next post will be pictures of the tank with rock just "placed" for now to cycle as well as pictures of the plumbing.

 

[AquaDon]

Plumbing pictures

This is one picture after the plumbing was finished.

 

[AquaDon]

Next picture of plumbing

This is a second picture showing the plumbing

 

[AquaDon]

Aquarium with some sand, dry rock and live rock

This is a picture of the tank with some live sand, dry sand, dry rock and live rock. Will be adding more rock and placing this week.

 

[JohnK]

Well, I found the answer to my last question regarding the fluctuating water level in a corner overflow. Apparently air can get into the plumbing which will cause what was happening with my tank. After getting the air out of the drain line, things are quieter and stable. The plumbing was actually pretty simple and if done right, should work well. Both flexible hoses that I had coming from the corner overflow drains developed splits in the ends that connected to the bulkhead drain fittings so new hoses were gotten and different bulkhead fittings put in so hopefully, no more splits. I have now been running the tank and refugium/sump for a week with no more leaks and things seem stable. I ordered some dry pukani rock and some live Fiji rock which is now in the tank, along with some live sand. I have not put all of the Pukani rock into te tank, but have all of the live rock in and am just running the tank to start cycling it. I will be starting to "aquascape" this week. My next post will be pictures of the tank with rock just "placed" for now to cycle as well as pictures of the plumbing.

Try searching for "reverse duroso". Basically an upsidown, oversized duroso that sits on the bottom of the drain and right at the water level in the sump. They allow the drain to purge air naturally, contain salt spray, and minimize noise.

 

[AquaDon]

Thank you

Try searching for "reverse duroso". Basically an upsidown, oversized duroso that sits on the bottom of the drain and right at the water level in the sump. They allow the drain to purge air naturally, contain salt spray, and minimize noise.

Thank you John, I will do some research on the reverse Duroso drains. At least now, I should understand what I'm reading.

 

[AquaDon]

Question about Goby

I think something is wrong with my firefish goby. He hasn't been eating for about 3 days and this morning he just laid on the bottom, opening and closing his mouth sort of like he's gulping and just watched the food go by. I need to see if there is anything on line about this behavior. This is in my smaller 37 gallon tank. Does anyone have any ideas? My ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0 and nitrates are close to 0. Salinity is 1.025

 

[beckbrass]

What's your temp? How long has it been set up and how long have you had the fish? Any white spots on fish like ich?

 

[AquaDon]

What's your temp? How long has it been set up and how long have you had the fish? Any white spots on fish like ich?

Temp is around 76.1, no spots and I have had the fish for about 5 months with no issues

 

[beckbrass]

What other fish are in the tank is he being bullied?

 

[STiTCH87]

Temp for me is a bit low. I usually run 78 but that's a matter of preference really long as it's 76-80.

Firefish aren't the hardiest from from what i've experienced and can get very easily stressed. Tank bullies? Move rockwork around? New tank mates? Temp swings, salinity swings, changes in any levels?
Changes in salt brand? Do you use any tap or distilled water ever? There's a few possibilities. But the possibility of an unknown freak thing is possible as well.

Hope the lil guy pulls through! Always did like those fish.

 

[Cherokee_Dude]

If you've only had your tank up for 4 weeks, its probably too soon for a firefish. You're just beginning to cycle your tank, esp... If you are starting with dry rock and sand.

edit: I do realize that you used 'some' live rock and sand, but you will still see a cycle as most of the rock from your pics looks to be unseeded.

 

[AquaDon]

Gobe

Thank you all for your replies. Just to recap, The large aquarium in my pictures is not the tank in question. At the beginning of my posts I showed my original small aquarium with an HOB refugium. My numbers are all good, I don't believe that there have been any real temperature or salinity swings. The Gobe died the night after I posted the info about him. I looked at him carefully and there were no physical signs of anything on him. I checked my levels and numbers againa nd everything was as perfect as could be. I decided to get another of the same fish and after putting him in the tank, I believe that the original one was bullied and harassed by my Dwarf Pygmy Angel fish. This Gobe, however does not seem any where as timid as the last one and is doing well. I will be watching more carefully to see how he is doing and will post something later. As far as my newer tank, I have now setup the refugium underneath with live sand and a live rock and will be putting some chaeto in it. Tomorrow I should be finally aquascaping the rock which has been cycling for weeks. I will post pictures when I'm through.