My "Tanked" Tank

Started the plumbing couple weeks back...

I had no idea drilling one floor would be so hard, let alone 3...

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Then I finally put the drain and return hoses together...

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Got the hose through the floor straight through to the basement...

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and into the glass sump....

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There are two foam bio filters, what will be live rock and the skimmer. I never had a skimmer this large with the three hoses so it took a while to figure out how to put it back together....

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Two days after I finally got it all together and hooked up and was ready for the hoses and water test, I smelled something burning and found the cord to the skimmer (which had red tape around it) was burning and smoking. I can believe the luck I had as I was getting ready to leave the house for doctor appointments and would have been gone for hours.

She left three bare wires touching each other.

We took silicone and coated the bare wire, let it dry and covered the whole thing with fish tank hose....

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The simmer doesn't foam up.

The return hoses completely leak at every junction and flooded basement when all the water flowed through the living room floor. Used a pump that was way too powerful.

I have to change the returns to pvc pipe like I knew I should have used in the first place. My arms are in really bad shape this week and I don't know if I can do it.

Now I'm been told I should have resevoirs for r/o water but I don't understand why I can't just directly have go into sump. Not enough to keep main tank full?
 
Here's the latest. The skimmer still won't foam up.

Next, I change the return hoses to pvc pipe. After test four, I think I have all the leaks secure. I turned the pump on (it works) but the water is not coming out of the return pipes. I unplugged it and plugged it back in a dozen times, I ran water from the tank end of the return pipes downward to the pump but nothing works. I disconnected the pipes and checked that the pump works but still no water coming out. It only has to pump maybe 5 feet across and maybe another 5 feet up.

What's wrong? Too weak a pump? It was pumping all the way up when hoses were leaking.....
 
Considering my user name, that is not a silly question. It is up and down; that's open, right?

I need input on this fast, I am getting very, very tired of the fight. I go back to work next month and I won't have much time to fight this project any longer...
 
anicemess said:
The simmer doesn't foam up.
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Maybe another silly question, but are you testing the skimmer in fresh water? I recently cleaned a skimmer in vinegar for a few days and then wanted to "test" it before I put back in my sump. I tested it in my kitchen sink and couldn't figure out why there was no foam. Crooks reminded me that skimmers don't work in fresh water, only salt.....a total "DOH" moment, :lol:
 
It's sitting in the sump water, but I don't think I put salt in the water yet....thank you, I would NEVER thought of that.
 
The one that came with the tank. She had the sump sitting under the tank while mine is in the basement. I think I will drain the sump and gravity feed the water to the external pump.
 
I am an absolute FOOL!! (court jester icon needs to be inserted here)

Even though the pump is finished, there is about 300 gallons of water sitting in the tank gathering dust for 2 months!! I could have been cycling the water and it would have been done by now! What a dope. I need to finish some important stuff (taxes) and next week I will have pump hooked up.

I finally realized I could have been working on this water so I dumped the salt in and will hook up heater and in tank water pumps to stir water.

Do I need to have a lighting system set up to cycle the tank? Is some indirect sunlight through glass block windows enough light?

I could have traded a member a lionfish (!) if I had the water ready.... (crying icon here please).
 
Great! The idiot handyman I hired to move the tank claimed he had a volume calculator and estimated my tank to be 380 gallons. I just went to reef central and discovered their calculator that estimates the tank at 497 gallons! That's a huge difference but sounds more accurate.
 
anicemess said:
Great! The idiot handyman I hired to move the tank claimed he had a volume calculator and estimated my tank to be 380 gallons. I just went to reef central and discovered their calculator that estimates the tank at 497 gallons! That's a huge difference but sounds more accurate.
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Is that measured to the inside or outside of the tank dimensions? You'd be surprised how much a difference the wall thicknesses of the tank make on the true volume of the tank.
 
Oh, that's outside, very general measurements. I personally don't think it matters that much. It just means I have to buy more sand to get the depth I'm looking for.
 
anicemess said:
Oh, that's outside, very general measurements. I personally don't think it matters that much. It just means I have to buy more sand to get the depth I'm looking for.
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That's the best way to go, eyeball the sand depth. I was setting up the new tank and had 1" of sand like I planned, and it just didn't look right, so in went more sand til it looked right, ended varying between 1 1/2" to 2" around the tank. You are still going with the sugar size stuff for the rays and sharks? How much depth are you looking for from your sandbed?
 
Global Aquatics gave me a sweet deal on 200 pounds of live Indo-Pacific sand. They've held it for a few months and I'm picking it up today. I don't think it will be enough sand to keep rays happy though.
 
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