Some Plumbing for Nikki

[Hooked]

Reefin' hurts!!! At least the DIY part. You're good to go now--order that rock!!!!!!

 

[NaH2O]

FINALLY!!

Well, after a long time of plumbing repairs.....my tank is officially LEAK FREE!!! Yahoo! Now to order some rock and get the mini she-beast cycling. I've been making water since yesterday, so I'll be all set in a short bit.

 

[Hooked]

Woohoo!!!!:lol: :lol: :lol:

Congrats. Now the real fun begins!!

Any more pics?? Like the whole thing up on the stand with the canopy on?

 

[Scooterman]

AHH, What a relief! Can't wait to see if full of water. What are you using for a substrate?

 

[NaH2O]

I'm going Bare Bottomed - so hopefully in time my substrate will be coralline

No full tank pics yet....

 

[Scooterman]

Have you considered starboard, or at least to rest your LR on?
Is there flaws to starboard?

 

[CurvBall]

Good luck Nikki,

Can't wait to see it go up My tank should be here on the weekend, I'm itching to plumb my closed loop too.

 

[NaH2O]

Scott - I don't care for the look of starboard.

CurvBall - thanks! I'm excited to see your new tank come together, too!

 

[Maxx]

Scott,
The starboard's only purpose is to distrubute the weight of the liverock evenly across the glass, this alleviates pressure points.
Its not really necessary for acrylic since its stronger and more flexible than glass.
Nick

 

[Scooterman]

good to know, I have all of my LR directly on the glass.

 

[Maxx]

Hey Scott,
hope that didnt come off as obnoxious.....some people are paranoid, (like me) and worry about the tank cracking, (especially after I had it drilled) so they go to ridiculous lengths. This isnt to imply that your tank is any danger...I've just been hosed by that Murphy guy one too many times...
Nick

 

[CurvBall]

Excuse my lack of knowledge... what is starboard? What is it made from?

 

[Scooterman]

NP Maxx, I will use it next time around, regardless of glass or acrylic, it will all look the same later when it turns purple

Starboard is used in several applications, like on boats or cutting boards.

 

[big t]

Hey Nikki, did you have to completly re do your plumbing? That must have been a real pain in the a$$. So when are we gonna see some pix of the tank w/ rocks?

 

[NaH2O]

The plumbing was completely redone. The MBV was reinforced with more weldon 16, too. I'm currently leak free - Woohoo!!

Hopefully the pictures of the tank with live rock will come very soon. The big aquascape is taking place tomorrow

 

[big t]

Ok I will be waiting Have fun!!!

 

[NaH2O]

I've had water in the tank with live rock now for 24 hours. I have to say the closed loop is phenomenal. I can look under the rock with a flashlight....there are only 3 areas that detritus is collecting - everywhere else the circulation is keeping it in suspension - and there is a lot of junk coming off of that rock right now. I'm going to play with the bottom outputs on the right half of the tank and see if I can't get those areas to free up. Otherwise, I'll either siphon them out or blow them occasionally with a powerhead. The motorized ball valve is working well. Awesome design....I'm really psyched at how much the detritus is in suspension - it is cool! Here is a pic with the rock in the tank. (Thank you Curt and Katrina for helping me out). I decided not to put all 170 pounds in the tank - I felt that it would look like a wall of rock and I'd start to lose out on the circulation. Anyway, here it is:

 

[CarlaW]

HOOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice lookin' rock too.
So ends the soap opera " As the glue Dries". We'll be looking forward to some more pics of the tank with fish and corals pretty soon huh?

 

[Scooterman]

Looking good Nikki, so about how much LR you ended up using, I know circulation is key, this is why I built a rack, I will have to post Pics of before and after, you see my rack allows for higher flow in the back and also allows me to use all of my LR without cluttering or blocking flow. I have some before & will take after picks tonight hopefully after my water change I want it to look good for the shot

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks, Scott & Charlie!

I ended up using ~140 pounds of live rock. Anymore than what is there would have lessened my circulation. I have great flow & circulation around the rock work - there are only a few places that I will need to maintain on the bottom, and from what I noticed when I took a powerhead to the rocks today, there are only a few places on the rock that had detritus build-up. I played around with the outputs a little, but junk seemed to collect in more areas, so I put them back. It is really cool to watch the actuator switch sides and see all the stuff come off the rocks and off the bottom into the water column. The design is working great. I'll try and get a shot from the side of the tank - there is a ton of room in the back, so I'm not hindering flow from that direction at all.

For any that are interested, here is a link to the tank construction: A Saga: Nikki's 120