My "Tanked" Tank

5 40lb boxes of sand only gave me about 1/2" sand bed...

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The sand is way too chunky and hard for my planned stingrays so I've been taking a net and straining out the big chunks and leaving the small sand particles in the tank....

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This is what is coming out and I will throw this in the sump...

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You should look into growing the grass that grows in the flats, i forgot what it was called but it will offer shelter and protection from the rocks. Ill look into the name
 
I didn't know there was such a thing in saltwater and I would love that. Also, what is the name of the absolutely fantastic fish you have for your picture?
 
Smith11 said:
You should look into growing the grass that grows in the flats, i forgot what it was called but it will offer shelter and protection from the rocks. Ill look into the name
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Sargasso or something?

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Finally got the pump hooked up. It makes an unbelievable amount of noise and that will be a problem. Well, problem #1 anyway. We ran the pump for 15 mins and shut it down to fix a couple minor leaks. 15 mins later the pump wouldn't run. It would just whine and that was only after I kicked it. We shut it off for couple hours and it's running again. Had to shut it down for the night because the minor leak turned major.

The leak is from the bulkhead on the side I cannot reach of course. I used pvc glue, silicon and even tried that liquid rubber stuff (that worked on the rest of the leaks). This one is squirting out like a busted water pipe. I shut pump down and coated more pvc glue on it and will let it sit over night.

Anyone have any other ideas for plugging this leak? Redoing pipe is a no-go.
 
Turtle grass, sorry it escaped me before. Its fairly inexspensive and if you have high up lights you could do some mangroves. Just make sure everything is rooted in a fairly deep sandbed so they wont get uprooted. With rays it should be deep anyway but instead of 2 inches deep go like 4. With the turtle grass you will be able to put snails, hemits, nudis, crabs and other smaller animals as snacks waiting to happen so it would be a very natural environment. Some might find their spot and stay for a long time exspecially if you get mangroves as they are "natures protection"
 
I'm afraid if I can't sell this tank soon, I'll have to forget about the predator tank and put everything in the for sale tank in here...


Anyway, by buddy used to own a furniture store. When he went out of business, he had a 12 foot long acrylic sign. The signage on this acrylic is only a thin plastic coating that peels off. Oh, yes! It is 1/4" thick. Although it is not clear through, it is a cloudy color, we so far cut two pieces of it that fit perfectly on top of my monster tank. Many people told me that a cover isn't mandatory but I haven't decided. I have the difficult and weird shape in the middle to cut so far but at least I have a very odd shaped cover system for this odd shaped tank!

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Nice! A good find but The cover isnt neccesary and rays like to make contact with the air so that might not be such a good idea
 
anicemess said:
Finally got the pump hooked up. It makes an unbelievable amount of noise and that will be a problem. Well, problem #1 anyway. We ran the pump for 15 mins and shut it down to fix a couple minor leaks. 15 mins later the pump wouldn't run. It would just whine and that was only after I kicked it. We shut it off for couple hours and it's running again. Had to shut it down for the night because the minor leak turned major.

The leak is from the bulkhead on the side I cannot reach of course. I used pvc glue, silicon and even tried that liquid rubber stuff (that worked on the rest of the leaks). This one is squirting out like a busted water pipe. I shut pump down and coated more pvc glue on it and will let it sit over night.

Anyone have any other ideas for plugging this leak? Redoing pipe is a no-go.
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I recommend getting the plumbing right the first time. I can't put all my trust on trying to seal the leaks. Might leak again in the future.
 
That's not very helpful or nice. You may be a plumbing expert now but I'm sure your first tank was a disaster. Just because you don't have faith in your leak fixing abilities doesn't mean I don't have faith in mine. Maybe for my next build I'll have you come over and build it so it will be "done right the first time." It's comments like that that turn people away from forums.
 
I didn't mean anything bad by that advice, don't take it personally. I'm saying that if you can drain the tank and redo the plumbing, you should do that, instead of trying to seal them. You just don't want to go home one day and find a big flood because the quick fixes failed.
Sorry if my other post sounded offensive. I didn't mean it to be so.
 
Okay, cut and redid the return pipes but of course, everything else is breaking down. I guess I really got took on this deal. The skimmer wasn't foaming because one of the two pumps is not working. The one that had open wires seems to have passed away. There is not one mark on this skimmer that tells me make and model so I have to research to find it and see if I can replace the pump.

I want to cut open the wire and rewire it. Bf says to ask the forum if that would work. I can't afford a new skimmer and there isn't many chances to buy a used one for 400 gallons.

Also, the external return pump bit the dust but I believe it just needs a new bearing. It was rusted out so I will hit the auto parts stores to see if I can replace that.

Made a huge mess trying to get pump off. Had to cut the pipes. Does anyone have a quick disconnect system to their external return pump?
 
I have PVC Unions on my drain and return lines. It makes taking things out/apart really easy.


What do you still need to do to get this tank up and running? I'm sure CR can help. :D
 
Not to poke at a reefer in need of help but, you should have a mentor or some one that has a little more knowledge to help you on your build. Is there anyone in the area close to you!

I made MANY, MANY, MANY mistakes in my years of reef keeping, but I googled everything and learned a lot by visiting local shops and fellow reefers. Your build has a TONS of potetial and I only want to see it succeed! You deserve it after all that time in the sandbox!
 
I live fairly close and wouldn't mind looking at the system and throwing my 2 cents in ...Let me know if your interested
 
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