A.J.'s 125 gallon rebuild

[Arati]

It looks great.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

Thanks. yea i try to make lake lagoons on the side with like half circles and a roof and a big arch in the middle and the whatever caves i can fit in between. i left it low because all of this rock is dead now except for the nitrifying bacteria so i want to get like 20 pounds of figi rock from live aquaria where it gets flown here directly from figi when you order it because once i get my salt level back up ill just get the rock while i have to recycle the tank so i dont have to cure the rock later on.

It looks great.

 

[125reefer]

everything looks great.some things though i think that 18 mag will be way to strong.i would cut it in half and use a 9 maybe even a 7.the pipe work with have some weight to it so i would try and support them cut some 2x2 to height and notch them wood to fit the pipe.secure the wood to the floor for pipes closest to the floor and notch 2 sides of the other wood to go around pipe on bottom and pipe on top.piggy back the 2 pieces to support one another.it will help for years of pressure.may not do damage today or tomorrow but in time all that weight will wear on the glass and bulk heads.also i see no shut off valve close to your pump where u can have easy access to lower and higher pressure.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

yea maybe i will get a smaller bump then but the one i have now is already 730 gph so the minimum i would want to go is a mag 12 because remember im going to add a sehorse tank in the future thats why i have the open pipe with a vlave. and there is a shutoff valve right under the stand when the pipe goes out of the back but i guess i dont have any clear pictures of that. as for pressure on the pipes ill see what i can do but did you look at the pics. i have some steel and wooden support on it. towards the bottom. but ill see if i can cut something like extra pvc to hold it up.

everything looks great.some things though i think that 18 mag will be way to strong.i would cut it in half and use a 9 maybe even a 7.the pipe work with have some weight to it so i would try and support them cut some 2x2 to height and notch them wood to fit the pipe.secure the wood to the floor for pipes closest to the floor and notch 2 sides of the other wood to go around pipe on bottom and pipe on top.piggy back the 2 pieces to support one another.it will help for years of pressure.may not do damage today or tomorrow but in time all that weight will wear on the glass and bulk heads.also i see no shut off valve close to your pump where u can have easy access to lower and higher pressure.

 

[125reefer]

yes i see the brackets but they are right near the stand.your pipes look like they stick out like 6 inches.you need to support them somehow.remember there will be alot of weight in them from the amount of water that will constantly be flowing through.also i really dont think you need that overflow box.it takes up so much room.all you need is a small piece of pipe an elbow facing up and another piece of pipe if needed to adjust height of water.that last comment is JMO and in a couple of weeks it will be covered in coraline and you wont even see it anymore

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

haha but isnt coraline algae good? and i couldve left it with just a pipe but i like the look of the overflow. maybe for my seahorse tank i wont put a box and ill just drill it and see how it goes but i really love the box.

yes i see the brackets but they are right near the stand.your pipes look like they stick out like 6 inches.you need to support them somehow.remember there will be alot of weight in them from the amount of water that will constantly be flowing through.also i really dont think you need that overflow box.it takes up so much room.all you need is a small piece of pipe an elbow facing up and another piece of pipe if needed to adjust height of water.that last comment is JMO and in a couple of weeks it will be covered in coraline and you wont even see it anymore

 

[duke62]

looks good

 

[125reefer]

yes i know coraline is good for your system what i meant was it will cover the pipe i suggested and you wont even see it there anymore.the pipe will be camoflouged.the overflow box really isnt doing anything but taking up space IMO.but if you like the look of a reef ready then hey its your tank whatever makes ya happy.just trying to give you some suggestions before its to late.your going to make a fine reefer.just take every suggestion and advise you receive and think about it before you complete your project

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

well yea i guess your right about it just taking up space but Fortunato was telling me that i can grow xienia on it and ive seen people grow mangroves in them before and idk i just like being able to put stuff in them lol its like my little compartment when i can store stuff idk i just like doing that. when i build my seahorse tank i had a few extra peices of acrylic so was going to try to make a small overflow now that Fortunato taught me about everything i think im good with drilling it and building an overflow myself now but maybe ill take you advise and just put a bulkhead with a 90 and a little screen or something.

yes i know coraline is good for your system what i meant was it will cover the pipe i suggested and you wont even see it there anymore.the pipe will be camoflouged.the overflow box really isnt doing anything but taking up space IMO.but if you like the look of a reef ready then hey its your tank whatever makes ya happy.just trying to give you some suggestions before its to late.your going to make a fine reefer.just take every suggestion and advise you receive and think about it before you complete your project

 

[125reefer]

if you do take my suggestion dont put a screen.what you want is the oiece that comes with a durso kit.i forgot what its called someone will know the name.it has wide openings so snails cant crawl through and it fits right over the elbow.its not a tight fit so it can be removed with ease if your elbow is facing upward.you dont want one with small openings because debris get caughr and could clog and they also restrict water flow.if if your pipe is facing downward you may have to glue it in place which would make it horrible if you need to remove it for some reason.or you can try to rig it by drilling a small hole through the piece and the pipe and using some type of plastic pin to keep it secure.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

yea i think i know about the thing ur talking about. thats what i ment by screen. its like a plastic thng with just lines going up and down not like a net type of screen.

if you do take my suggestion dont put a screen.what you want is the oiece that comes with a durso kit.i forgot what its called someone will know the name.it has wide openings so snails cant crawl through and it fits right over the elbow.its not a tight fit so it can be removed with ease if your elbow is facing upward.you dont want one with small openings because debris get caughr and could clog and they also restrict water flow.if if your pipe is facing downward you may have to glue it in place which would make it horrible if you need to remove it for some reason.or you can try to rig it by drilling a small hole through the piece and the pipe and using some type of plastic pin to keep it secure.

 

[Raul]

Are those base rocks sitting on the sand? If they are they will cause problems later on.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

yes they are but if the problems are from collapsing then i dont think it will really be a problem because the sand bed is ledd then an ich high and i have 100 pounds more of sand coming it to support them more. if its something else them please tall me.

Are those base rocks sitting on the sand? If they are they will cause problems later on.

 

[125reefer]

yea i think i know about the thing ur talking about. thats what i ment by screen. its like a plastic thng with just lines going up and down not like a net type of screen.

yes.just make sure its the one that comes with the durso kit.the other ones that are similar to that just with smaller openings you dont want.trust me i found out the hard way.they clog very quick.they also dont let water pass through easily.

 

[Raul]

yes they are but if the problems are from collapsing then i dont think it will really be a problem because the sand bed is ledd then an ich high and i have 100 pounds more of sand coming it to support them more. if its something else them please tall me.

Trust me when I tell you that sand will move and shift. It might not be enough to cause a collapse but I personally would not risk it. You never want your base to sit on anything but the bottom of the tank.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

when i put the rock down i twisted it and stuff to make sure it touched the bottom of the glass so i hope it will be ok. also its not really a tall structure so i hope it will be fine

Trust me when I tell you that sand will move and shift. It might not be enough to cause a collapse but I personally would not risk it. You never want your base to sit on anything but the bottom of the tank.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

can anyone estimate the amount in pounds of rock i have in the tank right now? i bought 160 pounds and i think there scale was wrong or something because when i was carrying the buckets to the car it was really heavy so packed 20 pound buckets and brought them home and tested them on 3 scales and they all came out to about 40-50 pounds so there scale was definitely wrong lol but i have a 20 gallon bin just full of rocks took out from my old aquascape so can anyone estimate the amount of pounds in the tank otherwise ill just weigh the bin and then do some math or something like subtract the amount thats in the bin from 220 pounds which i think is a reasonable average from all the rock i have together that i bought and averaging out what i weighed them at when i got home.

 

[NYreefNoob]

you cant tell from looking at rock the weight, marco rock is huge in size compared to other rock and weighs less

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

well from looking at it can you tell if its enough to support all the bacteria because i took out alot of it when i redid the structure.

you cant tell from looking at rock the weight, marco rock is huge in size compared to other rock and weighs less

 

[NYreefNoob]

id would open the teeth some on the overflow box, those wont handle much flow