Todd's ~ 320 Gallon System- A New Biginning?

A really well done job, rockwork looks great and everything seems unphased by the ordeal

I have to ask though why didnt you paint the back pane, any specific reason?

Well done on the transfer anyway

I have found it works best if you do not take the wife or kids to the lfs and educate them that everything in the hobby is $20

 

Thanks- the help that showed up was amazing, I am truely so grateful- All but one (a non-drinker) did also have some of my Homebrew Beer, and snacks and pizza for lunch, coffee too

This is a VERY LOW BUDGET system.- the tank- like new was $200; I used mostly all reused wood- the stand was less than $50
I did have to get the past/OK'd by my wife- who blew a gasket when I bought the 180 and already had a nice 125

The only real loss- was my huge, nice Maroon clown went tail first into a powerful pump I had flowing in the stock tank during the transfer.
I traded off 5 big colonies the day before also to thin the forest some.

I'm planning on using a vinyl sheet for the back- already have it- it's white and I might paint it purple, black, blue, or leave it white.

 

Yes, I've basicaly grown everything for over two years from a very small frag. You have to be patient, but it's much cheaper that way.I have 3 nems. A Watermelon BTA, A RBTA, and a Maxi-MIni Carpet Nem.
I also have 2 Gorogneans softies. A Braching Gorg, and an encrusting Gorg

Thanks! Seems like you can never plan enough. I figured if I was going to have people show up and help- I'd better have a plan, and things basically stayed as planned and went well.

 

I'm really loving the my new system!

First of all- this is the first glass sump I've used- I always used plastic. I didn't wait and put baffles in though- for partitions I'm still using my tried and true plastic container in the sump thing to get things done.

And, although I was a champion of a large diameter, high flow DIY HOB siphon style drain to the sump, which always worked well and never flooded my Family Room- NO more siphon style which can lose siphon.
I"m loving my Coast to Coast overflow!

So was going to a nice 125g to this 180 worth it so far- a defintie YES, after about 36hrs- already way worth it!

 

Looks fantastic Todd!

 

Good work! Pizza & Sierra Nevada is a good base for any tank move!

 

looks great todd, I really like the aquascape on this.

 

Todd I'm impressed my friend. Looks fantastic.

 

I bet that overflow is nice. Great upgrades all around. You need to post a video of a tank walk-around.

 

Thanks for all the kind wordseveryone!

Here's a quick summary of Day 2:

Day 2,

More stuff done.
I moved my return line over near the end, less light shielding that way.
NOw my return dumps right next one of my WP40's- Where it gets dispersed.
To keep the siphon break and the return near the top, I didn't want it near the front of the DT.
When it was in the back, who knows what percentage falls right back into the C2C overflow?
NOw I'm pretty sure it nearly all gets dispersed to the DT aiming at my WP40.


I added a small container of my old CC sand bed- more worried about the Conch then I was about the Wrasse.


I immediatley re-used my 125g for my sump- no time to silicone in baffles-
And would I Todd Bouton do that anways, ooh no- just 'cause I now have a glass sump doesn't mean I have to do as the Romans do-
nope- I'm still using my container in a container method to perform the duty of a baffled wall.


Raised my RP about 8 inches, and inside the Green basket is my Float valve for my
No elctricity, no pumps, no sensors DIY ATO.
The clear tubs on the bottom have large holes drilled in the sides and act to rasie things up while not losing volume in the sump.


I also re-did the angles and bottom of my drains, and now
We are skimming once again!


Here's a FSS of the sump so far. It's working well and doing what a sump is supposed to do-
It's Sumping!


By using fiter bags on the drains, and one with the opening over the RP area- particulate matter get cleared up real quick.
Checked my Alk today- 10, with all the new SW, not worried about anything else atm.

I haven't had to clean the insde glass of algae since it's been running- yep, all 2 days.

Later this week I'll siphon detritus from the sump and add another 30g of SW I have ready from the transfer.
I'll also cut and cover the back with my vinyl piece.

The pros and cons of starting over/new vs. transferring-
Transferring- you get to see how dirty the CC bed was in your fairly clean donor tank.
I now realize I really can't use and of the original CC bed w/o washing it thoroughly- maybe later this week.