600 Gallon Fly River Turtle Build
- Thread starter Def Leppard Hysteria
- Start date
The tank was finally delivered today. It took 4 of us to get it downstairs and onto the stand. It was a tight fit going down the stairs and turning on the landing, so the tank has quite a few scuff marks from moving it. I think we'll completely repaint the outside using an epoxy paint. We're thinking a dark color, maybe black to really set off the blue color inside the tank.
Later on, we drilled the holes for the bulkheads and then test fit each one. Because of the support braces on the outsides of the tank, we were somewhat limited on where we could put the bulkheads. I didn't want to go too low with the intake bulkheads because I didn't want any of the substrate getting sucked up into the external pump. We did stagger the return bulkheads a little more, with the hopes of creating some surface agitation and some mid-water movement. Next up, lay out the plumbing....
Later on, we drilled the holes for the bulkheads and then test fit each one. Because of the support braces on the outsides of the tank, we were somewhat limited on where we could put the bulkheads. I didn't want to go too low with the intake bulkheads because I didn't want any of the substrate getting sucked up into the external pump. We did stagger the return bulkheads a little more, with the hopes of creating some surface agitation and some mid-water movement. Next up, lay out the plumbing....
Not much progress the last couple of days on the new tank. Tomorrow should be a different story. My brother-in-law and I are going to put some time on the build in the afternoon/evening. We've been coming up with different ideas on how to run the plumbing and, more importantly, support the pvc pipe and fittings. Ultimately, we've decided that we're going to use Unistrut and clamps, which will be anchored to the wood stand. The only pieces I'm still waiting on is 4 anti vibration pads to set the Reeflo Barracuda/Hammerhead Gold pump onto.
Update for today....tank is finally finished! Well, except for a couple of equipment issues that need to be rectified later this week. The first issue is my Ultima II filter has a slow leak from both the intake and outflow unions. It's not a heavy leak....more like a drip every 5 seconds or so. So, I'm just going to use a towel around the filter to soak up the drips until I have time to fix the leak permanently. I'm guessing I didn't use enough teflon tape on the threads, so it should be an easy fix once I get the fittings apart and water stopped. The next issue involves having an electrician stop by and run another circuit to the breaker box, so I can use all the equipment in the room at the same time without tripping any breakers. I'm running a Reeflo Barracuda/Hammerhead Gold pump and 2 - JBJ True Temp 1000 watt heaters with controllers.
Here's a photo of how we did the piping for the tank. We used Unistrut and clamps to attach the pvc to the stand and give it the support it needed. I could have used sweep elbows and other less flow restrictive fittings, but the pump I've chosen has plenty of rated flow and the space that was saved was extremely critical.
A photo from the back of the tank, showing the piping intersecting each other and being supported by more Unistrut on the wall in the basement.
Next, a pic of the substrate placed in the new aquarium and filling the tank with water. We reused the old substrate (CaribSea Ivory Coast Sand) from the 300 gallon tank. As of now, we're using a makeshift pvc/net top on the tank. Eventually we'll use either glass or acrylic to help keep the heat/humidity in the tank.
All finished....Ra enjoying his new home. We'll be adding rainbows and some synodontis once the tank has cycled.
Here's a photo of how we did the piping for the tank. We used Unistrut and clamps to attach the pvc to the stand and give it the support it needed. I could have used sweep elbows and other less flow restrictive fittings, but the pump I've chosen has plenty of rated flow and the space that was saved was extremely critical.
A photo from the back of the tank, showing the piping intersecting each other and being supported by more Unistrut on the wall in the basement.
Next, a pic of the substrate placed in the new aquarium and filling the tank with water. We reused the old substrate (CaribSea Ivory Coast Sand) from the 300 gallon tank. As of now, we're using a makeshift pvc/net top on the tank. Eventually we'll use either glass or acrylic to help keep the heat/humidity in the tank.
All finished....Ra enjoying his new home. We'll be adding rainbows and some synodontis once the tank has cycled.
I know this thread is a few months old, but there was a bit of misinformation here.
Def Lep, you were on the right track and Rodger Podacter totally derailed you.
The Ultima II 1000 calls for a pump that pushes between 500 and 1,000GPH @ 10' head, with 1,000GPH being ideal
Waveline DC 10000 II does ~1,000GPH @ 10' head @ 85 watts
Reeflo Barracuda does 3,225GPH @ 10' head @ 253 watts
Not sure how anyone could say that a pump that pushes over 3x the recommended flow rate is a better pump for the job.
The Waveline DC 10000II was a better fit for this filter than the Barracuda and it would have saved you about 115KWHrs of electricity every month. If you wanted to stick with a Reeflo, the ReeFlo Sword Tail Pressure Pump or the Reeflo Dart would have been a better fit, while consuming ~100 watts less.
Like it reads in Rodger's signature, people do sometimes use the search feature as he suggests, so I just wanted to clarify the misinformation.
The Barracuda would be a solid pump for the Ultima II 4000, but it's overkill for the Ultima II 1000.
Def Lep, you were on the right track and Rodger Podacter totally derailed you.
The Ultima II 1000 calls for a pump that pushes between 500 and 1,000GPH @ 10' head, with 1,000GPH being ideal
Waveline DC 10000 II does ~1,000GPH @ 10' head @ 85 watts
Reeflo Barracuda does 3,225GPH @ 10' head @ 253 watts
Not sure how anyone could say that a pump that pushes over 3x the recommended flow rate is a better pump for the job.
The Waveline DC 10000II was a better fit for this filter than the Barracuda and it would have saved you about 115KWHrs of electricity every month. If you wanted to stick with a Reeflo, the ReeFlo Sword Tail Pressure Pump or the Reeflo Dart would have been a better fit, while consuming ~100 watts less.
Like it reads in Rodger's signature, people do sometimes use the search feature as he suggests, so I just wanted to clarify the misinformation.
The Barracuda would be a solid pump for the Ultima II 4000, but it's overkill for the Ultima II 1000.
aldiaz33,
Thanks for replying to my post. Unfortunately, I have already purchased and plumbed the Reeflo Hammerhead/Barracuda into my system. Yes. I realize now that it is WAY overkill for the system. I was in an emergency situation (our 300 gallon tank leaked and our FRT was living in a 60 gallon cube) and had never tackled a plumbing/set up project like this in the past. The positive aspect is that I have a double union ball valve plumbed into the piping system just before the pump, so I have the Reeflo gated down to about 1/2 open (to achieve the maximum allowable flow rate through the Ultima 1000 filter. I will say my Ultima 1000 filter is not keeping up with the demands of the mechanical filtration for our 600 gallon tank. In hindsight, I should have spent the $150 more at the time and gone with the Ultima 2000. The tank gets cloudy within about 4-5 days of backflushing the filter and doing a 40% water change.
As aldiaz33 suggested, too much flow through the 1000 is not good. Not due to biological reason but due to mechanical as you are experiencing. The media is designed to do both. High flow will only push the particulates back into the tank. A 2000 will allow you to trap more but it will only buy you a few days before it does the same. Trud-tles will require more mechanical than fish tanks in my opinion. Since you already have a big pump, have you considered a separate mechanical filter? In your case, I believe high flow is required to keep the tank free of excessive debris.
