180 g Acrylic set up

clm08k

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 31, 2016
3,373
4,945
164
It is common for that stuff to grow on wood in a new tank, not harmful, can either wait it out or siphon it off the wood.
Thank you. I tried scrubbing it off, but it has come back within a few days to a week. Perhaps I need to take the wood out and scrub it again?
 

deeda

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2008
4,026
2,938
1,279
Medina, Ohio
You can if you want but it may come back. I think it is caused by organisms feeding on the sugars in the wood so it will continue until they are done consuming them or you get a fish or invertebrate that will eat the stuff.
 

clm08k

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 31, 2016
3,373
4,945
164
So the project has been on hiatus for a while. There are only a few aquarium shops in my area and most do not do custom builds. People from out of town will not travel to work on the tank. It's been sitting in my house with sand in it for probably a year now. It's been two years since I have purchased it and fish have yet to be put in. The business who I found to work on the tank- I've been corresponding with for months- has yet to come to look at it. I'm trying to be patient, but it's hard. It's just been excuse after excuse, however, this business seems to know how to fix it. Idk. I just want to pay someone to get it set up and working.

Trying to decide if I should just buy a couple of FX6s and call it a day? At least I could figure out how to use those probably.

The other issue I'm running into is the tank creaks sometimes. The top of it is open, but it still has the sand in it(the sand was previously wet). Is this normal?
 

twentyleagues

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2017
6,674
9,876
463
Flint town!
So the project has been on hiatus for a while. There are only a few aquarium shops in my area and most do not do custom builds. People from out of town will not travel to work on the tank. It's been sitting in my house with sand in it for probably a year now. It's been two years since I have purchased it and fish have yet to be put in. The business who I found to work on the tank- I've been corresponding with for months- has yet to come to look at it. I'm trying to be patient, but it's hard. It's just been excuse after excuse, however, this business seems to know how to fix it. Idk. I just want to pay someone to get it set up and working.

Trying to decide if I should just buy a couple of FX6s and call it a day? At least I could figure out how to use those probably.

The other issue I'm running into is the tank creaks sometimes. The top of it is open, but it still has the sand in it(the sand was previously wet). Is this normal?
So I haven't gotten any updates on this since December. At that time I thought you had this? What's going on? I'll try to help you shouldn't have to pay someone to fix it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: clm08k

clm08k

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 31, 2016
3,373
4,945
164
So I haven't gotten any updates on this since December. At that time I thought you had this? What's going on? I'll try to help you shouldn't have to pay someone to fix it.
Back in Feb, the pump started making noises and didn't seem like it was filtering the tank. I decided to unplug it, to take it apart and clean it....but then both o-ring and the rest of the pump would not fit back together. Because of this, I had to drain the tank. The pump did have sand in it and I am wondering if my sand grit is too fine. Whenever I would siphon the tank or change the water, it looked like a sandstorm. Also I had some difficulty siphoning things off the bottom. Tank has been sitting since then. The good news is the pump company replaced my pump for free, but I am apprehensive about the same problem happening again. Additionally, I purchased the valves and PVC glue stuff, but do not want to do it wrong. The issues are still the same as before with the noise level, drain issues, filtration, and potentially the water level being too high. Obviously, I want to set the tank up for my bichirs. Sorry for the long post.

Since then, I have tried calling some aquarium stores in and around my area. Only two of them were willing to look at it. The first one didn't seem to know about gate valves or Herbie filtration....so I tried calling the second on. I've been speaking with him since July and nothing has happened yet....He says he is going to get the bulkheads this week, but idk.........
 

FishNCash

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Aug 1, 2009
4,776
1,299
179
Earth
Wow you are still working on this. Let me read through your thread and I’ll chime in to get you going. You can also PM me if needed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: clm08k

FishNCash

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Aug 1, 2009
4,776
1,299
179
Earth
—Back in Feb, the pump started making noises and didn't seem like it was filtering the tank. I decided to unplug it, to take it apart and clean it....but then both o-ring and the rest of the pump would not fit back together. Because of this, I had to drain the tank. The pump did have sand in it and I am wondering if my sand grit is too fine. Whenever I would siphon the tank or change the water, it looked like a sandstorm.

—The issues are still the same as before with the noise level, drain issues, filtration, and potentially the water level being too high. Obviously, I want to set the tank up for my bichirs. Sorry for the long post.
what kind of sand did the tank come with? If the tank was previously a salt water tank then the sand is probably too fine for your application. Most of the people that keep bichirs use a bigger grain size sand. It’s small enough to be sand but not big enough to be called gravel. I don’t know the exact grain size but ask in the bichir section. If I were you, I would switch out the sand.

water level too high
How high your water level is depend on how much your pump is pushing back into the tank. You might also want to measure the overflow box drain groves from the top down. It should be a little over 1” from the top of the tank. See the attached picture. This should be standard but I’ve seen some stupid tank makers has it less than 1” making the water line way high up. This is great for reefer but terrible for fresh water.

41744DBB-002F-49A3-8996-5FBD316E16FD.jpeg
 

FishNCash

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Aug 1, 2009
4,776
1,299
179
Earth
The issues are still the same as before with the noise level, drain issues, filtration, and potentially the water level being too high. Obviously, I want to set the tank up for my bichirs. Sorry for the long post.
noise level really depend what you want to achieve with flowrate . You will never get it silent like an Eheim but you can get it silent like HOB filter splashing water. When you push a lot of water your drains will need to move more water thus causing splashing noise or toilet bowl effect. Many people have different ideas and approaches on how to minimize the noise. I have tried some of the ideas suggested here but they didn’t work out for me so I went with my own DIY idea.

As for filtration, I see you are using W/D sump. I am also using the same and had to do some modification to increase the drain flow rate thru my drip plate. You might also want to look into a more coarse drip plate pads. This can cause flooding if the pad get clog and you are pushing a high return rate. I am only pushing about 8x turn over since these W/D sumps weren’t design for super high return rate. Most salt water guys don’t push the same turnover ratio like we do. Those flex pool hose will work fine. Just make sure it’s straight and no U shape dip in the slack. It will still work with U shape but does slow your flow a bit. Kind of like the U joint on a sink drain. I am also using the pool hose for my sump.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: clm08k

clm08k

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 31, 2016
3,373
4,945
164
FishNCash FishNCash ,

thank you so much!

with the sand: I got rid of the sand that came with the tank and purchased $200-300 worth of Supernaturals Sunset Gold sand because the red sand is not available in my area. https://www.amazon.com/Caribsea-Nat...s=sunset+gold+sand&qid=1634405780&sr=8-2&th=1

I'd prefer to keep the sand cause I spent so much money "on sand." :p But obviously, if it makes everything else harder I will need to re-evaluate.

for the filtration: if silence isn't an option, that is okay too. I'm much more concerned about the flow rate being high enough and pushing water around the tank. I just don't want it to sound like river rapids or a toilet flushing. When I had the pump going previously, it did not seem like the flow rate was high enough. When I turned it up, it moved the water level higher to the point where there was almost no gap at the top for air. Obviously, I need an inch or so gap at the top so the polys can breathe. So I couldn't quite figure a happy medium.

with the hoses and drip pad: Do you have any recommendations for how to get the U-shape out? replacement hoses recommendations or drip pad recommendations?
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store