BornToHula Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Thanks! I agree,detritus is a bit of an issue with caves. The cave on my 75g collects detritus as well, but the fish love swimming in it so much I think its worth it. I do need to make sure the sand vacuum will reach in there to keep it somewhat tidy. I think it's totally worth it for the fish and for me at least, detritus isn't really the enemy in any tank that has a good oversized skimmer and methods in place to remove nitrates and phosphates. I haven't removed detritus manually (besides what gets sucked up in my skimmer) for 3 years in my old 125-gallon. There was literally 1/2" to 1" of detritus in my sump! In my new 215-gallon, the same thing, about 3 years now, no detritus removal ever manually, and things aren't blowing up for me. Just adding my experience with it. I've never been too worried on detritus in the sump, I don't like looking at it in the display though. Maybe one day I can get my tank running well enough without water changes, but I plan on needing to for for the foreseeable future. I may as well be able to vacuum the sand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Question on the plumbing in the overflow. Do y'all usually glue the drain & return pipes to the bulkheads or just push fit them in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Got a picture to describe what you're talking about? All my bulkheads have been threaded so I'm not sure what you're talking about. Seeing a picture would help me... Well... Picture it. [emoji16] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Got a picture to describe what you're talking about? All my bulkheads have been threaded so I'm not sure what you're talking about. Seeing a picture would help me... Well... Picture it. [emoji16] What, you can't read my mind to know what I am talking about?! I was talking about where the red arrows are in the picture below. I can't think of a reason why those connections would need to be 100% water tight, but then again, I can't really think of a reason to not glue them in. They are slip bulkheads by the way. I'm probably over thinking things . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Gotcha now! Yeah, I don't glue that just in case a fish gets in there, I can remove them to catch the fish or if I ever need to adjust the height, I can just pull them and replace as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 The tank officially has water in it! ...Tap water counts, right...? The only issues so far has been a bad O-ring on a union and the bean animal drain doesn't work yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Leak test has been successful! No leaks except for a bad O-Ring that was an easy fix. Turns out on the bean animal drain, the main siphon drain pipe can only be under the waterline in the sump by half an inch or the siphon will not start. Works like a charm now. The next issue I need to fix is the water noise coming from the filter sock area. The filter sock holder I made from acrylic doesn't quite fit right so a lot of the water goes down the sides instead of through the socks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 Aquascape is progressing slowly, but I expect to have water in and start the cycling process this weekend I also have my quarantine set up so new fish can start coming in. These guys will be coming in Thursday! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 You and I have similar taste in swimmers B2H! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 In the past I have only done a 21 day quarantine to visually inspect the fish before transferring into the display tank. I never found any signs of anything so no medication was ever used. This time around I want to be a little more proactive and pre-treat for Ich and other parasites. What I have planned: Prazi Pro treatment first (5-7 days) Large water change/ Run carbon for 2 days New Life Spectrum Ich Shield Powder treatment (21 days) Visual inspection for a day or two and if it looks good into the tank they go. Any comments or suggestions on this procedure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 Well unfortunately the McCullochi Dottyback perished at the Diver's Den . Hopefully the get another specimen soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 In the past I have only done a 21 day quarantine to visually inspect the fish before transferring into the display tank. I never found any signs of anything so no medication was ever used. This time around I want to be a little more proactive and pre-treat for Ich and other parasites. What I have planned: Prazi Pro treatment first (5-7 days) Large water change/ Run carbon for 2 days New Life Spectrum Ich Shield Powder treatment (21 days) Visual inspection for a day or two and if it looks good into the tank they go. Any comments or suggestions on this procedure? There seems nothing wrong with that method. Personally, I like doing the tank transfer method (TTM) for ich, while dosing prazipro on the 2nd and 4th transfers. The hidden benefit of TTM is not really having to worry about ammonia, probably the number one killer of fish in QT. You change the water every 72 hrs hrs so it doesn't have enough time to get toxic in the QT unless you have a substantial amount of livestock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 One thing I thought of is possibly extending the visual inspection to a week or two. If your CP levels dropped at all while running the ich powder, you could have allowed ich to survive the treatment. Once removed from the CP, if any survive, giving the fish 1-2 weeks without medication allows you to see if it was masked by the medication and perhaps reappear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Well I have decided that I don't like ordering fish online and this will likely be the last time I do so. It's too stressful waiting for UPS when they miss their morning delivery time and you have to be in the office during the afternoon. One thing I thought of is possibly extending the visual inspection to a week or two. If your CP levels dropped at all while running the ich powder, you could have allowed ich to survive the treatment. Once removed from the CP, if any survive, giving the fish 1-2 weeks without medication allows you to see if it was masked by the medication and perhaps reappear. Good idea on extending the visual inspection period. While I have the equipment, I don't think I am going to do the tank transfer method unless I see ich is present. My Quarantine tanks are 40g and 36g so that will be a lot of saltwater being used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 First round of fish are in from the Diver's Den and in quarantine! The Blenny is hiding behind the marinepure blocks but you can see his head poking out. I have been trying to get the fish eating and have fed very small quantities of NLS pellets, mysis, brine shrimp, spirulina flakes and nori sheets. The Blenny has eating everything I've fed except the nori. The Anthias have eaten mysis and brine shrimp. The Lemonpeel hasn't eaten anything yet I have some mussels I will try next for the Lemonpeel. He's an active bugger so he is bound to be hungry. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Finally got everyone eating! I guess ARC doesn't allow gifv format, but the first link shows the Blenny and Anthias Blenny and Anthias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I love lemonpeels! Such a bright little spark in the tank. Glad to hear it's eating now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Worst part of this hobby: Wire Management! Also got the fancy bit of aquascape in the tank today 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 When I did the leak test with tap water everything was working perfectly. Now that I filled the tank up with saltwater..... a return line bulkhead has a major leak! Going to have to find a 1 inch bulkhead and do some emergency plumping fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Better now than with livestock in it! RCA has some bulkheads on hand usually, maybe try Aquatek as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Better now than with livestock in it! True! I had to order the bulkheads online, it appears I am the odd man out in needing slip bulkheads which no one carries. My return lines don't have room to turn for threaded. Also, for some reason my 1" check valve uses a non-standard union size . Have to order that too. Hopefully as long as the water is kept circulating it will be fine until the replacement parts come in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 I'd make a terrible plumber. I don't think I actually need a check valve, I have a ball valve right next to it. If I need to stop all the water flow I can just turn the valve. I think I can make a threaded bulkhead work now, just have to change my plumbing around a little bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 I'd say most don't use check valves at the end of the day in a saltwater setup. They are deemed unreliable and will fail eventually. I think your new plan sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BornToHula Posted April 5, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 5, 2016 We are up and running! Bulkhead and the left return line has been re-plumbed. No leaks so far *knock on wood*. Also got the skimmer running as well as the WAV powerheads running. Really like the setup and controllability of the WAVs. Tomorrow hopefully I can get the gyres up and running and get the canopy/lights on. Also the daunting task of cable management Once everything is cycled I'll be moving rock from my 75 over, so the right side of the tank will eventually have some rock there. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Panduit is your friend. Go take a trip to Altex and see what catches your fancy. Lots of management stuff to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.