Chuck's 150 Gallon Reef Project

[ChuckG]

Doesn't look like I'm going to get to the aquascaping this weekend as planned with one Dart pooping out on me and the plumbing not finished.

Paul will look into another pump on Monday. Either they will ship straight from the company or he will ship me another one out. Either way, it will be replaced.

I decided to leak test my overflow box tonight. And of course, it leaks.
Look up a couple of posts to # 459, it is leaking from the lower right hand edge of the box.

I'm obviously not taking the entire thing off and redoing it.

Do I remove the bead of silicone on the inside and redo it as well as running some silicone on the outside or should I not even try to remove the bead that is already there?

I also just came to the conclusion that I WILL make and leave a permanant support under the box. The box itself holds 4 gal of water. I figure with the glass and water I have at least 35 lbs trying to hang off the backside of this tank. I think a support would be called for.

[phlounder]

Aw man, like you needed that to leak. Can you get your hand inside of the overflow? I think I would try to "patch" it first with a layer of silicone. You could cut it all back off again, but it may just be a small spot that could be easily filled in. Sure would hate to see you cut that thing off now. I think the permanent support is a good idea. You are right about the weight.

[ChuckG]

I've already got a fairly large bead of silicone on the inside edge. I think I'll remove it and try for a fresh seal from the inside and the outside. I think that's the best I can do at this point. Obviously water is getting through where it is glass to glass but to fix that I would have to remove the entire side of the box.

Hmmm - that wouldn't be that difficult. Actually, I think I will do it that way.

[ChuckG]

The problem with patching (from my understanding) is that silicone doesn't really like to stick to silicone all that much. That's why I'm figuring my best bet would be to simply splice out that one side and reseal it again.

I can definately get my hands in there. The box is 6" wide.

[papajin]

Originally Posted by ChuckG

Those still aren't the true unions you are using. Looks like you are going to have problems if you ever have to remove the pump or the 4-way.

Best of luck. I switched early.

I know they're not. They're the same ones you were using. I just added regular unions after them rather than replacing the whole thing like you did. They work fine in this configuration. I ran a water test for several weeks and was able to service both the OM and pump as needed. With the new unions in there, I don't take the union valves apart at all, so the ball in the junky union valves we were both using stays seated properly and doesn't leak. The valves themselves seem to be fairly decent quality IMHO, they were just never meant to be taken apart with water pressure against the valve.

[ChuckG]

Ah yes - I see. I'm sure they will work like that but for the cost of both you probably darn near paid the price of what a good one would have cost.

[RonnieM]

I think a support or stand for your overflow box sounds like a nice piece of insurance to me. It would make me sleep better for sure.
Good to hear you are getting a replacement pump with no hassles. Bummer the dart crapped out on you though.

[ChuckG]

Even just a piece of PVC cut to length will be good enough support I think for the overflow box.

HAPPY EASTER. Home Depot IS open. Publix is not.

I took a chance and dropped by my LFS because I needed more silicone to try and fix the overflow box. I saw someone inside so I parked. They were closed but the owner had some of the workers in there doing "whatever". I'm in pretty tight with them and so the owner let me in. She couldn't get into the register but let me get my silicone and just took some of my store credits away. She saved my day.

[motor38]

Chuck I know that nobody wants to have problems but at least you cought them early before any salt and live stock were added . A support for the overflow box would be a good saftey net.

[ChuckG]

Todays Progress Report:

I got some things accomplished on the plumbing but still not complete.

The overflow.



The outlet that is visible is the "inlet" for the skimmer. I had to cut down the fittings because it is going to be a very tight squeeze between that fitting and the support leg for the frag tank. With about 21" of water sitting in 1.5" pipe before it is redirected directly to the sump I think I will have no problems at all getting a constant 210 gph going into the skimmer.

Started plumbing from the other side of things using the "dead" Dart.



And gave the corner of the room a nice soothing paint job of Seafoam Green. This is where the QT will sit.