Riley's 1000 gallon fish room build (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Riley
- Start date
Brilliant deduction, Poindexter.
They finished filling Friday night / Saturday morning. Initial startup test went alright - no leaks. With the freshwater test I was running bare bottom; for startup with DI water I have sand, and I noticed a little issue which is the reason I haven't dumped salt in yet. With the self-cleaning action of a round tank with a center drain, I am getting a bit of turbulence that is spinning the sand and sending it right into the drain. This would be ideal for suspended solids removal if I was farming tilapia, not so much with this application.
Solution: I made a test piece last night with some scrap pvc sheet. It uses a set of fins to stop the turbulence from vortexing around the center pipe. It worked great. I could see some of that "lighter than sand" bits get drawn to the middle, but the sand quit spinning and drawing into the drain. I am going to make the real version with four much narrower fins tonight or tomorrow.
Running at 32 GMP:
Depending on how the new version goes, I will be ready for salt. If not, my plan b is to change the return to a tee and have the water go in both directions. I ran the tank this way last night and it worked great. It looked really gentle, though there was a lot of flow in the tank. I still could go this route as I get closer to adding livestock.
Kepler
Former: Koletang
That's an awesome solution. Nice work.
What are the metal pieces attached to the wall sold as?
What are the metal pieces attached to the wall sold as?
Here's something that came in the mail today: I am going to make a couple "shark houses" (or caves if you will), out of smooth-on. Basically, I just want something inert that they can't knock down that I can take out and clean if need be. I've seen their presentations at MACNA and have always been impressed at what Smooth-On can all do. For those that are unfamiliar, Smooth-On in comes in various densities and in different types, and has many applications in different industries, one of which is artificial habitats in zoos and aquariums. We'll see how I get it to turn out.
Unistrut (u-channel). The stuff I got from Menards came enameled in green and I think I can get plastic end caps from mcmaster if I remember right. A better thing to use is Aickinstrut, which is what I wish I had. When I originally bought the unistut, I couldn't remember what that stuff was called, so all I could find was crazy expensive fiberglass u-channel when I searched around for something non-metallic. Since the stuff I got is enameled, I'm hoping it holds up okay over time. We'll see.
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I use some of that for hanging my lights at my store. I spray painted mine and no sign of rusting or corrosion that I have noticed.
Had a couple delays, some tank, some life, but I am moving forward again. A couple small updates:
I was still getting hum upstairs that was much louder than I wanted. Since the sump tank is tapered, one thing I did was extend the pump intake 6 - 8" (I forget which) and put some flexible pvc to take the force off of the pump volute from the taper of the sump pushing downward. What I should have done was bought one of those reinforced straight side tanks they use in plating instead and this wouldn't have been an issue. Live and learn. I really don't like flexible pvc at all, but I feel better that it's on the suction side of the pump. Doing that killed almost all the noise upstairs!
I still had some noise from the pump that powers the bead filter loop out to the tanks. While the bead filter loses very little head, I thought I might be getting enough back pressure to cause the noise so I contacted Reeflo about their pressure pumps. They agreed with my thoughts and Chris sent me a YellowTail pressure rated pump through their loyalty program. That solved the problem That pump is the quietest piece of equipment on my system now!
Marty! I added salt finally! Because of the expense of adding almost three full boxes of Instant Ocean, I wanted to make sure everything was problem free before doing so, just in case I needed to drain a bunch of water. I dumped in 10 out of 12 bags and measured 1.020 before work today. I'll add a little more after work and then I will be ready to start the cycle. I will be using ammonium chloride for that.
I was still getting hum upstairs that was much louder than I wanted. Since the sump tank is tapered, one thing I did was extend the pump intake 6 - 8" (I forget which) and put some flexible pvc to take the force off of the pump volute from the taper of the sump pushing downward. What I should have done was bought one of those reinforced straight side tanks they use in plating instead and this wouldn't have been an issue. Live and learn. I really don't like flexible pvc at all, but I feel better that it's on the suction side of the pump. Doing that killed almost all the noise upstairs!
I still had some noise from the pump that powers the bead filter loop out to the tanks. While the bead filter loses very little head, I thought I might be getting enough back pressure to cause the noise so I contacted Reeflo about their pressure pumps. They agreed with my thoughts and Chris sent me a YellowTail pressure rated pump through their loyalty program. That solved the problem That pump is the quietest piece of equipment on my system now!
Marty! I added salt finally! Because of the expense of adding almost three full boxes of Instant Ocean, I wanted to make sure everything was problem free before doing so, just in case I needed to drain a bunch of water. I dumped in 10 out of 12 bags and measured 1.020 before work today. I'll add a little more after work and then I will be ready to start the cycle. I will be using ammonium chloride for that.
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Ahh man, there goes all my material to give you a hard time about on Saturday. I had many a great line worked up about adding *salt* to a *salt* water tank.
Not sure what I'm going to do from here. It's almost like your still missing something from a salt water FISH tank. I think I might be getting close, I certain there still something missing from this FISH tank and it will come to me.
Congrats, exciting progress!
Not sure what I'm going to do from here. It's almost like your still missing something from a salt water FISH tank. I think I might be getting close, I certain there still something missing from this FISH tank and it will come to me.
Congrats, exciting progress!
It is still very much a thing. I know am way overdue for an update, but things are moving well and I was planning on posting something in the next couple days. To sum it up, cycle finished nicely, but I had some delays in moving things over with an out of state vacation and having weekend company. With the high cost in fish, I didn't want to move them until I had a couple of free days to monitor the transition, just in case something went wrong. Fish were moved late this morning and so far so good.
Here's something that came in the mail today: I am going to make a couple "shark houses" (or caves if you will), out of smooth-on. Basically, I just want something inert that they can't knock down that I can take out and clean if need be. I've seen their presentations at MACNA and have always been impressed at what Smooth-On can all do. For those that are unfamiliar, Smooth-On in comes in various densities and in different types, and has many applications in different industries, one of which is artificial habitats in zoos and aquariums. We'll see how I get it to turn out.
Here is the finished cave, and I used all of the above to make it. The folding powder is key to making it like clay, otherwise it is really sticky like melted taffy and very hard to work with. Before it cured I used a small piece of reef rock to stamp a little texture on it. I wasn't going for realism or anything, I've just always wanted to play with Smooth-on.
It's been a long time since an update.
I started the cycle at the very beginning of May using 4mg/l ammonium chloride. I also added a bacteria culture, but not the recommended amount since that was very expensive to do. I used the amount for a 150 gallons, just enough to "seed" the filter. Ammonia was 0 in five days, nitrite was 0 on day 11. Some people might consider this cycled and add fish, but I don't. I added another 3mg/l of ammonia and let it process again. I continued to do this until every time the values hit 0, until it could fully process the ammonia in 24 hours, which happened on May 23. Now it is cycled.
I didn't move the fish just yet. We were going on a 10 day vacation two weeks after and it seems like everyone that moves fish to a newer tank and then goes on vacation right after always posts about the tank crash and fish they lost. I decided to wait until I got back to be safe, but continued to dose ammonia every few days to keep the filter alive. Once we had a free weekend, they were moved.
So far so good. They really look small in the larger tank which is a good thing. The ray is all over the place which I'm sure he likes.
Here's another shot. They found the cave.
I started the cycle at the very beginning of May using 4mg/l ammonium chloride. I also added a bacteria culture, but not the recommended amount since that was very expensive to do. I used the amount for a 150 gallons, just enough to "seed" the filter. Ammonia was 0 in five days, nitrite was 0 on day 11. Some people might consider this cycled and add fish, but I don't. I added another 3mg/l of ammonia and let it process again. I continued to do this until every time the values hit 0, until it could fully process the ammonia in 24 hours, which happened on May 23. Now it is cycled.
I didn't move the fish just yet. We were going on a 10 day vacation two weeks after and it seems like everyone that moves fish to a newer tank and then goes on vacation right after always posts about the tank crash and fish they lost. I decided to wait until I got back to be safe, but continued to dose ammonia every few days to keep the filter alive. Once we had a free weekend, they were moved.
So far so good. They really look small in the larger tank which is a good thing. The ray is all over the place which I'm sure he likes.
Here's another shot. They found the cave.
Very nice
jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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Perfect timing for your post as our house has had Shark Week on all week.
Great to hear that the cycling and move went well.
And I like the cave. Playing with Smooth On looks like fun!
PS: Don't have Marty over for swimming.
He'll just add more ammonia to your system. (He pees in pools!)
Great to hear that the cycling and move went well.
And I like the cave. Playing with Smooth On looks like fun!
PS: Don't have Marty over for swimming.
He'll just add more ammonia to your system. (He pees in pools!)
Was wondering if you have a master plan on the number and kinds of fish and sharks you are going to get? Or will you be more opportunistic and go with the flow.
i thought there was a shark, bonehead or something like that, that was like a small hammer head. Don't know how big they get or much about them, but very cool looking.
i thought there was a shark, bonehead or something like that, that was like a small hammer head. Don't know how big they get or much about them, but very cool looking.
jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
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The bonnethead sharks?
They are smaller than hammerheads, but I think they would still be too big for any tub-based system.
But they would be extremely cool to see in a home tank!!!
My son votes for adding Port Jackson Horn Sharks!!!
Those are his favorite.
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Yeah, that is the one. Ones I have seen at aquariums have been relatively small. According to the inter web they average 2-3 ft, but can get larger
Bonnetheads are cool and do average around 3' or so, but they need to swim to breath and are a very active shark. This setup is way too small. A 25' diameter pool would be a better choice. Port Jackson's are cool, but also do better with cooler temps than I will be keeping. After the newer biofilter recovers from the latest addition, my next species will be epaulettes, if/when I find them. I also won't be keeping any bony fish in this setup, just elasmobranchs.
Before I moved the sharks, I backwashed the filter for the first time. It has been a few weeks since it was cycled, so it was definitely due. This is just from the air blower. It does a spurt of water which eventually turns into just air. The blower gives it a more efficient backwash and only runs for a few minutes.
This is a 44 gallon brute and this filter really did take about 30 gallons to backwash for the water to be clear, just as claimed. Some bead filters take more, and sand filters use much more.
I know those photos are nasty, but they do show just how much crap they do collect. I know no one on here as a need for them, but they are great mechanical filtration.
This is a 44 gallon brute and this filter really did take about 30 gallons to backwash for the water to be clear, just as claimed. Some bead filters take more, and sand filters use much more.
I know those photos are nasty, but they do show just how much crap they do collect. I know no one on here as a need for them, but they are great mechanical filtration.