My 90 gallon Octo Tank (Work in progress)

[octomatic]

im guessing that all the water in your sump is going to be at the same level. you need some sort of baffle set up to divide it into different sections

 

[Cody]

I'm assuming baffles are some sort of walls?

 

[octomatic]

yes, also most skimmers including the coralife need a stable water level or they wig out and dont work correctly

 

[Cody]

Okay, so I have a bit of a problem... I purchased a 5' 1/2" ID hose, 1/2"-3/4" clamps, and 9/16"-1" clamps... the 1/2" ID hose does not fit on my return pump, even though my pump says that it has a 1/2" outlet... and my 1" clamps also do not work for my 1" bulkhead drain.. I am very frustrated to say the least, haha.

On a side note, I had to do a project in my marine biology class on an invertebrate and I chose the Octopus vulgaris.

I also still have no idea how I'm going to get so much live rock without paying like $200+ for it.. I was figuring maybe I could get "base rock" and then get like....aquacultured live rock with coraline algae or something on it.. Even though I'd assume the base rock should be aquacultured as well xD I think of aquacultured rock as rock with algae on it and very "pretty", if you could say that... Oh I'm confusing cured with aquacultured..maybe I'm correct.. (Sorry, having conflicts xD)

So I've looked at "Real Reef" live rock and it seems like it's a pretty good..innovation.. I'd guess you'd say.. I don't know that I could pay 7.99/lb for it though to fill a 90gal aquarium...

 

[Cody]

Alright.... so I did a full leak check, meaning that I filled the aquarium up to where the pump would function, which would require the overflow to be in use as well. So I realized that both of my gaskets/bulkheads were leaking water and tried for a while to fix them.. and also ended up with a fair amount of water everywhere.. (freshwater that is) So tomorrow, hopefully, I'll "fix" my bulkheads and pour water down my overflow to make sure they're okay.. considering I tested everything else already.

In my last post I mentioned that I probably couldn't afford the "Real Reef" rock at the price it's offered to me.. it's not so much that I don't believe I can't "afford", but more so that I don't know that I wanna pay that much. I guess it's a good price for what you get though. Myself as a high school student am not directly paying for all my stock/equipment, but i'll eventually try to pitch in some money here and there for stuff, you know?

I'm also looking at purchasing Marineland "reef capable" I think it is.. LEDs for my tank.

 

[Cody]

So I came to the conclusion that they give you two bulkheads in the Deep Blue Professional Plumbing Kit (Mine came with the 24" one as they call it) and that you're supposed to use both or else your bulkheads leak.. I would've never suspected it until I decided to try it instead of just trying to use the other bulkhead in place of the ones I had been using... (which were causing the leaks) So I will possibly post pictures of my plumbing sometime soon, even though I have to try and find an aquarium that's around 9" or less wide to use as a sump in place of what I was using as one because my mom "doesn't trust" the fact that it'll hold the water well (Or something along those lines..even though she's the one that suggested it in the first place...) So I have to try and find something that I can use as a sump it seems..

 

[DWhatley]

Trust your mom's judgement. I have been concerned that the bin you planned to use might not handle the water pressure and might crack. Something sturdier is a good idea, preferably glass or molded (if I saw it right the plastic was made in pieces where a molded plastic will not have seams that can split).

 

[Cody]

Alright, so I just poured a bit more water in my overflow to check my bulkheads (being the second time I did it after re-tightening the first time) and one of them is still leaking. I will probably just seal the gasket to the aquarium with the silicone aquarium sealant that I bought today (which my mom also forced me to buy so that in case I still couldn't get the plumbing to work properly to where it doesn't leak, that we would have it as an alternative) and just be done with it. (In hopes that it'll work properly)

I also don't know what aquarium size I could even possibly find that I could use as my sump because my cabinet has a door at the end, but the opening where what I would refer to as the "door frame" is, measures only about 9" wide. Now there's a possibility that I could squeeze an aquarium from the front but it wouldn't be able to be too long.

 

[DWhatley]

You have a brilliant mother

 

[Cody]

Haha, sometimes she can be. I ask for her help sometimes because she normally can come up with ways to make things work even if it's not going as planned, or find practical ways to fix and manipulate stuff to make it work. I had issues with trying to get my 3/4" hose to fit on the bulkhead return and I asked the workers at the LFS and they told me to heat it up with a lighter and we tried that along with my mom sticking her thumb in it, and got it to fit.

Also, don't give my mom too much credit with the sealant. She told me she wondered if we could just caulk it and I can't remember if it was before or after googling the leaky bulkhead situation that I told her we could get aquarium sealant ( I think I told her they sold it before, but not sure )

 

[Cody]

I'm gonna try re-plumbing my tank, I guess you'd say. I'm hoping that reinstalling the bulkheads will stop the leaks (I'm gonna dry and clean the surfaces) I feel kinda (or kind of as I originally typed) silly/stupid considering that I could of used my Mag-Drive pump to pump out the water in my tank; even though I saw this on a forum, I'm kinda mad I didn't think of it myself, haha. And I dislike the word silly in a way, but used it anyways. It makes me sound childish but that's kind of the best way to describe it.

Sorry, I'm ADHD and like picky about stuff. xD

 

[CaptFish]

On the bulkheads are you sure you had the rubber washer on the right side of the bulkhead? that is often the problem.

 

[Cody]

Yeah, it was on the side with the flange.. against the glass on the inside.
(Also known as the "flange side" xD)

 

[CaptFish]

Just making sure, a lot of people try to put it on the side of the nut, then when they tighten the nut the rubber gasket pinches and stretches and leaks and tightening it only makes it worse.

 

[Cody]

Nope, I haven't done that, haha. Although sometimes they do seem to leak in the same spots..

I just don't think it's a cracked bulkhead though, because it seems as if both bulkheads leak.