Peterpiper

Ok, some of you may know that things didn't go to well with my ex partner and I.
Cut a long story short, our tank was sold as I could not have it at the place I was staying.
Now I am at my new place, I can do what I want! AND I HAVE BEEN WITHOUT A TANK FOR LONG ENOUGH!!!
Tanks, sump, stands and plumbing are all DIY.
The plan is to have a main tank for the Seahorses, Tank will be 1000mm x 450mm x 600mm high.
On each side of the main tank we will have 2 nano tanks for corals and shrimps. Each nano tank will be 600mm x 250mm x 300 high.
Sump will be 900mm x 400mm x 400mm.
Total volume of the tanks and sump = 594lt, less sand, rock equipment etc, I should end up with around 400-450lt water volume.
The tanks will all be drilled for the over flow to sump.
Everything that goes into the tanks will be cultured.
The rock will start as dead rock, or dead bleached coral.
While the tanks are being built, I am looking at cycling the rock in a large tub and feeding ammonia to 4-5 PPM. this rock is what will be in the sump ( once it has cycled ) for the bio filtration.
Rock work for the display tanks will be dead rock, what I plane to do is place the dead rock in a large tub and add coraline algae to the rock. This will need lighting and heating.. Not sure on feeding the coraline at this stage... May look at purple up. Anyway, I will be posting pic's on the progress.

isis

Can't wait to see the pics!

Peterpiper

Change of plan..
Got the price on the glass for the main tank and sump and it is cheaper to have the tank and sump built. Tank will now be 1200mm x 450mm x 600mm high 10mm glass and sump 1000mm x 450mm x 450mm 6mm glass.
I will still need to install the baffles to the sump

Peterpiper

Ok got the new camera working
First is the tank, then the start of the stand fabrication
then cycling dead coral pieces for bio filtration using the ammonia method
And last is the sump.. just finished putting the glass in.

Attached Images

	tank 001.jpg (133.0 KB, 49 views)
	tank 011.jpg (107.3 KB, 36 views)
	tank 012.jpg (111.1 KB, 50 views)
	tank 022.jpg (93.2 KB, 47 views)

Darlene

I can't wait to see what it looks like all set up.

soldieroffortune1974

It looks like the project is off to a fine start. I haven't seen anyone else,except me,cycling coral or live rock,before the aquarium was finished. I love the pics,in a bucket. You can never start too soon.

Peterpiper

Time for a update.. cycling in the sump now
Finished the overflow boxes and pipes on the DT
Heres some pic's

Attached Images

	sump 001.jpg (86.5 KB, 37 views)
	sump 002.jpg (70.6 KB, 27 views)
	sump 007.jpg (105.6 KB, 37 views)

soldieroffortune1974

Thta's coming along nicely.I love DIY set-ups.You're only limited by your imagination,that's only 1 reason this is a remarkable hobby.

I hope you don't mind if I ask a question.

That's a lot of plumbing for the overflow to the sump,can you tell us what is what and what it's function will be.

I love the shot from the top,that's a good picture of how to properly do a bulk-head,very nice. I'm really not critiquing your work,I love getting into DIY projects (since I am not there next to you...........consider this my hands in your way.........)

Tavel

how much does it cost to build the aquarium vs. purchase one?

Peterpiper

Hi soldieroffortune,
Yer, went oversize on the plumbing.
2 x 1" bulk heads, high in the skimmer box, the reaon for them being high is that the water will not have as far to fall.. less sound from the overflow.
Used 2 bulk heads because 2 heads are better than 1?? if something blocks 1 then the other will cope with the flow, and my feet stay dry.
The stand pipe is oversized 1 1/4" with 2 inlets 1", once again we have gone with 2.. if something blocks 1, then the other will cope.
The reason for the 1 1/4 pipe from the tank to the sump. The tank is located inside the house, and the sump is outside, there is a section of the pipe that will be running on a low angle, about 15-20 deg, so the larger the pipe the less restrictions to the flow.
The tee on the stand pipe will have a hole drilled in the top, a 1/4" tube is fitted into the hole, snug fit, the tube is used to "tune" the over flow.. by pushing the tube down into the stand pipe you are supplying a vent point, once the end of the tube reaches a point then the sound from the water running to the sump will drop. The tube is then fixed into position.

Peterpiper

Hi Tavel,
We had the tanks made and installed the overflows and the baffles to te tank and sump ourselves.
Got a price to buy the glass, cut and cleaned and it was cheaper to have the tanks built.
The Display tank was $500au, drilled. the sump tank was $150au, glass for the overflow boxes and baffles $91au and plumbing as per the pic's about $50au.

Matt

Hey Peter. I am really interested in what this tank will look like

Where do you plan on getting the seahorses coz i no a really great shop if you wana check it out

Are you having a tank just for corals alone and shrimps and then in the middle the main seahorse tank?

I really wanna c pics when this is done. GUESS WHAT? I might be getting a hex-tank for christmas and i am going to make it into a seahorse tank

Peterpiper

Hey matt,
When you get SH its best to get captive breed not ones collected from the wild. A few LFS around Perth sell the Yellow Seahorse (elongatus) one of our local SH. The thing is that this SH requires cooler temps than what the CB SH do. So people buy them, take them home and stick them in a tank that is to hot, the other thing is you will need to train them onto frozen food, add to this the risk of pathogens due to the different locations where they were collected... Guess I am saying find out where the SH came from before you buy them.
The 2 breeders that I know and trust are Tracy Warland from South Australian Seahorse Farm... link:
http://www.saseahorse.com/seahorse.htm
Mike Payne from Seahorse Santuary, link:
http://seahorsesanctuary.com.au/
Our SH will be from Mike via Oceanarium, link:
http://www.oceanarium.com.au/
The plan is to have the SH tank as the main focus point with 4 smaller tanks around it, the nano's will have some corals and maybe a shrimp.. depends on the tank size.. havent got that far yet..
Matt, keeping SH can be easy and a lot of fun, or it can be hard work and tears.
If you dont set up the system right at the beginning then you will wish you never got them.
You need to do a lot of reseach before you start. Dont rush into it.
You must maintain your water quality ( Good flitration and house keeping )
Good food ( Mysis Shrimp x 5 days a week and enriched/gut loaded brine shrimp once a week ).

Annadvn

I noticed you were cycling dead rock, i thinks its great. Much better than depleting the natural wonders of the world.

I found this website a couple of months ago, i know you are in Australia and the site is in USA but i though it might be interesting for you.

http://garf.org/

they are keen on using dead rock and have very good idea on turning it into live rock etc..

Keep us posted on the build.

Anna

Peterpiper

Thanks for the link Anna,
Going to look at making the rock for the DT

Peterpiper

Up date on the cycle.
Ammonia dropping from 5ppm to 0.5 in under 24hrs ( dosing to 5ppm every 24hr )
nitrite has started falling 20ppm.
Will change the ammonia dosing to 3ppm every 12hrs next week, then up it to 5ppm in January