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BlindSwordsman's 3 Tank System (1 Viewer)

MistakesWereMade said:
Which did you order, the ABS bulkhead gasket or the schedule 80 bulkhead? They sell both and are different sizes. You would be looking at 'C' in the following diagram.
View attachment 65834
Schedule 80
View attachment 65832
ABS
View attachment 65833
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Thanks for pointing that out. Looking at that, I see that I bought the gaskets that are for something and wanted to use those on something else, thinking '1" gasket' is '1" gasket' and it would have 1" opening and it would fit. But, their '1" gasket' might have 1.65" opening or 1.88" opening 😵‍💫. I've learned something new! 😁

Mathew0 said:
The gasket is going to be bigger than 1".
1" is the inside diameter of the PVC. The outside is clearly going to be larger than that. and the hole you drill will be larger as well. How does the gasket look when you slip onto a piece of 1" PVC.
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Since their '1" gasket' either has 1.65" or 1.88" opening, they are of course larger than the 1" PVC pipe. I didn't pay attention to the description I guess. I assumed the 1" gasket must have a 1" opening and should fit well with the 1" PVC pipe and such but in actuality, their gaskets do not 🙂.
 
Not sure why they don't list sizes on the gaskets. I just went through this ordering bulkheads myself. Look up bulkheads on BRS website. Down the page it lists all the dimensions for all the sizes available. Then you can find the gasket size you need based on that. All the images I posted before came from their website.
 
MistakesWereMade said:
Not sure why they don't list sizes on the gaskets. I just went through this ordering bulkheads myself. Look up bulkheads on BRS website. Down the page it lists all the dimensions for all the sizes available. Then you can find the gasket size you need based on that. All the images I posted before came from their website.
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They do recommend something that sounds like: 'When you are not sure, instead of getting the wrong parts and can not proceed with your project, you should order a lot more, a bunch of stuff, just in case, because you can always return them!!!' .... ... But they also charge you 10% for restocking fee and you pay for the shipping cost 🤣🤣🤣. And I don't have issue with them really, but so far, I find some of the items are a bit more expensive than elsewhere. Being lazy and thinking I might just get stuff from one place while I was ordering something, I tried to find everything I'd need and added them to the cart to check out, but their 1" bulkhead was $7.5 each, with 1 gasket. So, that is about $30 for 4? I found 4 on Ebay for $12 with $4 shipping, and each comes with 2 gaskets. So, after I calmed down a bit after rushing through my first order, I bought them from Ebay instead. I should have taken the time to shop around earlier 😁.
 
They do drastically overcharge for some of their stuff. It's gonna cost me $107.77 for a gate valve for my 2nd overflow 😥
 
Mathew0 said:
They do drastically overcharge for some of their stuff. It's gonna cost me $107.77 for a gate valve for my 2nd overflow 😥
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It's the cost of 'convenience' :D. Some stores do that. They have some stuff, that either are not carried somewhere else, or the price is much lower, or because the seller is well known so people just automatically think of them when they need something. But they also have stuff with higher price compared to others'. When you buy their cheap stuff, you would conveniently want to buy the other ones, more expensive ones, but you might have to buy those because those are the only things that you need, you don't need anything else, and/or because you need to add more into the order to get free shipping, so, then you eventually pay more for the items with more expensive price that they have. It's a trap!!!! 😂😂😂
 
postie1686 said:

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I know you’ve started but… 😅
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Oh, thanks! That's nice. The 40 gallon tanks and stands I have might not be fancy, but they look like a complete 'set'. I think after I add some panels and some decor to the stands, they will look nice. So, I'll stick to my current plan for now. I think I will only reconsider it if I screw up with my drilling. I'm still waiting for everything in the mail so I can start on that 😁.
 
I kept finding out that I kept getting the wrong stuff. I couldn't find some of them at the stores so I had to order online. The last drill bit I ordered online for 2 day shipping from Amazon didn't arrive until yesterday evening. But, I just got the drilling done. I'm not much of a handyman, so the holes are not perfect but at least there is no big crack and none of the tanks shattered into pieces 🤣. The drilling is not scary like I thought. I know I have the habit of applying too much pressure and pushing it through, so beside the taping underneath the glass, I also clammed a piece of board below it. That helped a bit. With this done, the next thing I do will be painting the back and bottom sides of the tanks. And in between different coat of paint jobs, I will work on the front panels for the stands. And of course, I found out I bought the wrong stain for them! 🙄😁 .. Already! I need more coffee and I have more stuff to do 😆.

IMG_20240206_070850454.jpg
 
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Chris Goetz said:
Ah man… sorry to tell you this Ken but I think you drilled the front of the tank instead of the back. ;)
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Oh yeah?!! 😂😂😂 ... But if that was the case, then the holes are probably reversed and I just have to reverse the order of the return hose and the overflow box? ... Something similar to that happened to me before though. I had my brother install a door for me because I didn't know how. The thing with my brother is he's very good doing stuff for himself, but not always for others. When he finished, my new 6 panel, solid wood door was literally upside down! 🤣🤣🤣

... I already put 3 coats of paint on the tanks, and did a bit of touching up a while ago. I need to wait for that to dry before moving on. I also got the front panels/doors for the stands kind of done. The plan I had previously was to have the tanks set up and the water running this week. But with things going a bit slower and more steps to take than I expected (e.g. It took the paint and stain longer to dry inside the house, I have to wait for the silicone to set at some parts before installing something else, etc.), that plan is scratched. The most I can do today is to install the panels for the stands, and maybe some plumbing if the paint is dry by then. Instead of cementing the whole thing, I'll use silicone at some joints, in order to be able to disassemble them and move the tanks later if I need to. It will take the silicone about a week to cure, so there will be no water running until next week at least. But, I'll probably take a picture of the dry setup if I get it somewhere 😄.
 
Mmmm .. Should I put silicone around the bulkhead just in case or that's kind of an overkill as it already has the gaskets inside and outside??? .. I have doubt in my skills so I was thinking about slapping something on 😆.

IMG_20240209_084515447.jpg
 
I prefer to use silicone only when necessary as it is a bit of bear to cleanup later.
Gasket should work fine hand tightened.
I do use a little silicone on the threads of bulkheads that I may want to remove later.
 
Chris Goetz said:
I prefer to use silicone only when necessary as it is a bit of bear to cleanup later.
Gasket should work fine hand tightened.
I do use a little silicone on the threads of bulkheads that I may want to remove later.
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I also thought it would be a bit messy so I just left it as is, without applying any silicone there.

Let's see what I got done today? Beside running back and forth to the stores, I got the bulkheads and the plumbing almost done. I need more elbows to finish up some ends. That'll be quick. The last task to be done is to install the overflow boxes. And, I'm not feeling too energetic at the moment so I think I'll do it tomorrow. My tank is due for a water change and I should do that instead before I get lazier and skip it again 😁.
 
I’m really impressed with the speed of your progress. I’ve had the 220 for nearly 10 months and I haven’t even started buying the pluming parts yet.
 
Mathew0 said:
I’m really impressed with the speed of your progress. I’ve had the 220 for nearly 10 months and I haven’t even started buying the pluming parts yet.
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Honestly, I've been moving much slower than I used to be 10-15 years ago. It's probably the effect of the gravity pull 😆, but I also just don't feel like I need to keep up the speed anymore. In the past, I would feel I could accomplish something with my right hand and something else with my left in some measurable speed. Lately, I feel that's not necessary. I now go: 'What is the hurry??' 😁

The plumbing for these tanks are not that complicated though. It's nothing fancy. I basically used some PVC instead of some flexible tubing. I usually try to make sure the sump can handle the extra load of water when the flow is cut off but I don't install any valve.

Just when I thought I got it done, I need to do something else. The plan was to install the lights today. But, I found out with the light mounted on the tank, the weight of the light put a lot of strain on the tank and the glass and I didn't feel it was very safe. So, now I have to build some frame on the wall behind the tanks to mount the lights on instead. Other than that, everything else is basically done. I actually put the overflow boxes on yesterday evening already. I will wait for a few days for the silicone and things to dry, then after I get the lights installed, I will put it through the real test: I'll get the water running then and with any luck, there will be no leaking. Here is how it looks.

IMG_20240210_073503391~2.jpg

I'm kind of wrapping this up at the beginning of the Lunar New Year, too. Today is the 1st of the new Dragon Lunar year. Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! 😁

thiep-chuc-xuan-2024~2.jpg
 
Again, things are slow, and nothing's too exciting. The piping is done. Well, I actually still wait for the return nozzles. I think I got tricked by the seller on Ebay. The location said the items were in US. I paid for them. They appeared to be shipped out right away using some 'shipping partner', originated supposedly from NY, but it's been 2 weeks and USPS is still not having it 😠. ... The lights are installed. And I don't know if my eye vision is just getting worse with time or something, but I feel a bit blinded with these light reflection 😬. Maybe I'm just not used to the blue light without the canopy to contain it. The current plan is: Starting to fill up the tanks with water and get it going this weekend, then, more waiting around for things to settle down.

.. And here is something very blue!!! 😄

IMG_20240214_144657991~2.jpg
 
Another update:

Consider the small tank size and stuff, this project is probably not very exciting to people. But I'm going to update this anyway. It's a way for me to keep track of the progress 😄.

So! The water is in and running finally. This is the one and only leak test!!! 😆

I initially wanted to wait for about 24 - 48 hours for the silicone that I applied at some parts to dry then starting to run the water past weekend. But, somewhere on the silicone tube says 'fully cure in 7 days'. So I thought I should hold off on that, and then I applied a bit more silicone, then wanted to delay it again until this weekend. But, with the 90 gallon tank seems to be in a crappy mood, I'm thinking a major water change might be good so I just did a large water change for the 90 gallon tank, used the old water from there to fill up one of the 40 gallon tanks. So, it is now officially running. I'm out of fresh water so I will gradually fill up the other 40 gallon tanks and the rest later.

Currently, the 40 gallon tank is started with about 30 lbs of live sand I bought from Petco (which looks very clean and doesn't really look like there is anything live in it), with the old filter floss I took out from the 90 gallon tank. The skimmer hasn't been added on. I'll add that once the water is cleared out. I'll just keep the lights going like how I would want them to be from now on. The next thing to do will be to get the chaeto compartment filled up with water when I get more water, then get some chaeto and throw that in. I had thought of having 1 separate compartment for live rock and 1 compartment for chaeto. But with too many things, I will just throw both into 1 right now and change that later if I want to.

And here is the cloudy mess!

40 gallon 02222023.jpg
 
The water cleared out on the second day. It is now pretty and pristine white. There is no leaking so far. The caulking/silicone holds but it's turned white under water, so hopefully that's not a sign of problem. I made more fresh water yesterday and filled up the live rock/chaeto compartment and got that running. I'll be getting some chaeto from @MistakesWereMade later today and will throw that in. I haven't looked into how the used skimmer I bought earlier works yet but I'm not planning to add it in until much later. I don't think there's a need for it now.

The title of this build thread says 'Blindswordsman's 120 gallon system' ... But with the (3) 40 gallon tanks, and the amount of water for the chaeto compartment and the sump end up around 30 gallons, they add up to be around 150+ gallons total. So, I'm wondering if I should change it to '150 gallon system' to make it more important and impressive?? 🤣🤣🤣

So, here's a 'pretty in white and blue' shot. ... I'll continue filling it up with more water and wait for some uglies to show up. With my usual thinking, it's kind of void of life right now, so I'll be vacuuming the other tanks today and dump whatever that is into this system to add some 'life' into it 😁.

40 gallon 02242023.jpg
 
Looking very nice I really like the rock work. Is this one system or will each tank have its own sump?
 
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