210 SPS build

[kkiel02]

wow, those Vortech pumps look pretty awesome. I hadn't come across them before. I will probably add 2 or 3 of the 40's. Dang 3/4 inch glass limits my choices.

You would be suprised. Im still using koralia 4s that work well with my glass. You will need to get a Tiger Shark or comparable cleaning magnet though. The MagFloats wont cut it.

[Kristy]

Hi Jamie,
Really liking your stand and also your strategy for keeping the wife happy.... sound philosophy! We also have a 210g reef (Oceanic, 7' x 2' x 2'), although only a few SPS in it, but you are welcome to come by and look at it and discuss equipment choices, etc. if that appeals to you. We are using Vortech MP40s on it and the 3/4" glass has not been an issue. Just send Mike (my husband) a PM if you would like to arrange a time to come by.

[Scream311]

Hey Jamie. Glad to see that stand getting some work ! I'm glad you took my advice and began a build thread ! I knew the wife wouldn't like the idea of tires sitting in her din lol the things we do for this hobby ;-) as for the 3/4" glass I as well as Kevin have used Koralias just be sure not to nuge the magnet in anyway as they will surely fall with the slightest bump BUT I've seen Vortecs in Action and Boyy are they Nice. If your Budget can accommodate them then I say. DO IT !

[JamieP]

Kristy - I will take you up on that offer! I just wish I had days off in my near future. I will pm you as soon as I life slows down a little.
It looks like I will be taking the LED plunge rather than go with the metal halides. The wife was not thrilled about our future electric bills from the mh and constantly running a chiller. I am thinking about going with : http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-...ium-LED/Detail getting two kits to start with and possibly tweaking it from there.... That mix should produce 14k color. It will be mounted around 10 - 14" from the water. Either going with 40 or 60 degree lenses.

[JamieP]

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Took way longer than expected to get the plumbing done. The main thing that got in my way was my own incompetence. I also work a lot so that didn't help either. Seven Home Depot trips spread over a couple of weeks and I am close to done. Every time I thought I had it figured out, a few days would pass and I would forget what my bright idea was. I would also return things to Home Depot and then discover that I purchased the exact same thing again because I figured out a "new" way to do it. Its all dry fitted right now. I will be placing the tank in the next couple days and making sure it all lines up before I cement it.
Basic layout is 3 1.5" drains and two 1.5" returns. One drain splits between the skimmer and the refugium. Skimmer feeds into refugium. Refugium drains into main sump. One drain goes directly to main sump. Mag 14 pushes water from sump to tank. Last drain and return are on a closed loop fed by mag 24. Mag 5 feeds skimmer.
At first I thought I was good, but the more I look at it, I think I may have to down size the pumps.
Once it's all cemented I will run tap water for a couple of days to see how it does. Hopefully there aren't any leaks and hopefully the drains keep up with the mags.

[ErikH]

The drains will keep up with a 24, I ran one for a bit on my 200. If you get a snail in the drain, you're toast. I run a MP60 and 40 on my 200. I have a mag 9.5 for sump recirc. I would rather have the powerheads create my in tank flow, and let the water move slowly through my sump.

[JamieP]

It took way longer than I thought to get me and three friends over to move this beast. It is finally on its stand! I'm painting the canopy right now. The LED's are all soldered and glue to the heat sink. I have water in the tank. The plumbing is all glued. So here are my problems, maybe someone has an idea
I have two small leaks in the plumbing. One from under the bulkhead from one return. I thinks its in a joint not the bulkhead (I tied a paper towel around the threads, and its still dry.) This leak is over the sump so a couple drops a minute isn't a big deal, I don't think. The other leak is under the other return. There is an elbow that screws into the bulkhead and it keeps having water swell over the top of it. I have retaped and reseated it a few times and nothing is working. I bought some flexible gutter to catch the drops and drain them to the sump.
I over tightened the male connection into my mag 24 and cracked it. I super glued it back together, but I am afraid to try it. Lots of water spraying all over the walls. Anyone ever fix this situation?
Now the big problem, I have a SRO-XP3000e protein skimmer, aka super reef octopus xp3000 external. The instructions are junk, but the skimmer looks pretty cool and from what I hear its awesome. I can't get the return line to return anything. The only drainage right now is from the overflow cup!
I will break down the plumbing for it the best I can. The drain is 1.25 spa flex pvc. There is a T by sump. One end goes to the sump with a ball valve at the end. I ran this in case the drain fed the skimmer too much water. The other end of the T goes to a Mag 5 (and is reduced to 3/4" pvc). The mag 5 feeds the skimmer, a bunch of other plumbing happens inside the skimmer and there is a bubble master pump at the other end. Coming out of the skimmer is an outlet pipe. It goes horizontal for about one foot. It goes up about 8" then makes a U to drain into the sump, or should I say supposed to drain into the sump. There is also a gate valve on the outlet line. I have tried the gate valve in numerous positions, I have tried the ball valve at the sump end of the drain line in multiple positions and I have tried the ball valve by the mag 5 in multiple positions. There are only two out comes, the mag 5 doesn't get water so the skimmer stays at the same level and makes a few bubbles, or the skimmer over flows and I have to drain buckets quickly or end up with water on the floor. The collection cup fills with water and the drain on its bottom is fed into a few containers I have handy. The water fills very quickly so I don't have a lot of time to think while its operating. Most of my attention is focused on getting the containers dumped before they over flow. I have to have a set plan for valves then spring into operation and action. I have left it running for around 10 minutes once. I have to give up because my back hurt from hunching over the containers to grab and dump them.

[JamieP]

I finally got a hold of Coralvue for the reef octopus. I messed up the plumbing. I didn't realize the return line had to run parallel or downward, I had it going up. I wish I had known that before I got everything crammed into the stand. I just ordered a bulkhead so I can drill into the side of the sump for the return. I hope I can get everything out and back in without too many problems, but that will be a job for another day, I have to go fishing for the weekend! I hope some redfish keep my mind off all my mistakes!

[FireWater]

I am sure any type of fishing will keep your mind off of it for a while.

I kept reading your post about the issues and could not wrap my mind around the exact problems. Did you find anything out about your drip issues?

[Gseclipse02]

most drips i see from people installing bulk heads is over tightening them, not lining them up correctly or where the gasket is theres a piece of sand or something there