Carey's 40b Reef Build

[carey]

yeah, lol, my husband saw it and was like wth?
I played with the colors and all for a little bit and I gotta say this light literally has no limitations. Now, just have to see what it can grow and how it performs.

I siliconed in the overflow box in the 40b and water tested it. has a slight dribble of water from the lower corner of the box but since that will be under bulkhead it will be just fine. Waiting for the thunderstorm to pass by and we are going to move the stand and tank into the house! Hoping the weather breaks tonight, very inpatient to get it filled up and the plumbing done.

[Sniperhank]

FYI, there is a graph out there Jonathan made...called Jonathan's graph believe it or not. Smart cookie, great light scheme.

[carey]

my lfs said to download a special program too. Where do you go to download these?
Thanks!

[carey]

Tank in place. I have ALL the plumbing stuff but one piece. lol So I have to wait for lowes to open in a few hours. It looks like I am going to hard plumb the overflow piping and stick to a hose for the return. Mostly cause thats what the current adaptors and such dictate and I am waaay over budget this month on fish stuff. The radion pushed me beyond the "over" point. LOL

According to amazon I am supposed to receive 40lbs of base rock on friday and as of tonight have not shipped out the dr tims cycling stuff. I am getting annoyed. I know its free shipping but I ordered last friday and it hasnt moved one step. Not even preparing stage. I only went with the free shipping cause of the rock, to go any faster and shipping was $60. The 40lbs of rock were only $60 so it came out to less than $2 a lb which is uber cheap. If i paid $60 more to ship it became not a good deal. lol

[carey]

Went to lowes at 7 this morning and got everything, I hope, I need for the 40b.

Spent like $50 on every possible combination of 1 inch and 3/4 inch fittings. I will have to decide between hard plumbing with pvc or using tubing, I got everything I will need for both scenarios.
I've never gone with hard plumbing on any tank, kinda interested to try it and see if its a good alternative to tubing, but I have heard it can be loud using pvc. :-(

Anyone have any pro's or con's for either pvc or tubing? I like to get different opinions, never know when someone will have a better idea than you do, LOL

[huma-huma]

I use nothing but pvc and love it. pros: more reliable, not as easily damaged, cleaner looking. cons: you have to make exact cuts, need to preplan your routing if doing multiple lines. (i have 4 total lines for my 125) if not properly deadened, can amplify vibration throughout the plumbing.

as a side note, ive noticed that hardline is NOT very user friendly when it comes to filter socks, im planning on actually cutting a 6-8" piece of tubing that will run off my hardline down into the socks, that way itll be easier to remove the socks for cleaning. when i bought my setup it was strictly flex tubing, i HATED it. was always worried about a line blowing off, which it did once. and made a royal mess.
and 1 last side note, im going to be looking for downloadable progys for your Radion in about an hour or so. unusually busy at work

[Sniperhank]

Maybe I'll see if I can show my alterations from Jonathan's graph if time allows.

[carey]

Just got holes drilled into the stand for the plumbing to go through. Now mounting the power strips and then onto the actual plumbing. Tonight will be the night I think, it may be late when I get water into it but it should be tonight. I have raid at 8pm and go til 10:30 so I will be back at it when I finish.

[TheTodd]

I'm sure you will be up all night! . Can't wait to see the progress tomorrow.

[carey]

Water, sand and rock are in the tank. Plumbing is a little iffy though. We are chasing a leak in the overflow section, from where the bulkhead hooks into a 90degree that goes down into the sump. And holy heck, if this thing isnt loud! I mean really really loud gurgling as the water fills up the overflow box and theres not enough water to fill the entire 1.5 inch hole.

How do I fix this? And in simple idiot english please, I dont get all these tricks and diy stuff so go slow with me. lol
Here are some shots of the work in progress.

[mr_X]

Did you try choking back the return pump?

[carey]

Yep i did. That helped a little bit but still alot of gurgling.

[carey]

Anyone else? I still have the gurgling and am dying to start the cycle on this tank. :-(

[carey]

Well got all the leaks fixed and the plumbing is flowing.

Picked up another bag of sand too, I want some sifters so I needed more. lol

I still have the loudest gurgling you can imagine though. I added a flat strainer to the overflow intake and it didnt do anything. have tried choking back the return pump, no effect. The mag 9.5 sems to be matched up perfectly with the overflow though, levels of the water in both tank and sump are where they should be.

[huma-huma]

did you try adding a ball valve on the drain side? if you throttle back the drain just enough, it should reduce the gurgling sound.

[carey]

I always thought a valve on the return was a big no no....

[manbeast]

Can we get a pic of the overflow?
Is it just a bulkhead fitting with a strainer?

[carey]

Here's what I have: inside overflow box, 1.5 inch bulkhead with a 1.5 inch flat strainer. This feeds out to the 1.5 90 degree pipe and then goes into a 1 inch converter connects it to the rest of the plumbing that goes down to the sump.

Here are the pictures:

[Lloydxmas]

Is the gurgling sound in the tank or in the sump?

[mr_X]

I wonder if drilling a hole in the top of this elbow and adding a piece of airline tubing would solve the problem. Glass holes overflows come with a 90 that is drilled in such a manner-


can you see the holes in the top of the elbows on the back of my tank?