Castle Rock -- Tank tear down (8month old tank)

fireheadman

fireheadman

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#1
#1
Hey guys....

This is my 1st year in our house to have an aquarium we unfortunately quickly learned we can't compete with summer and the heat. The tank is a 150gal (sump in basement) and its starting to slowly heat up the water. We don't want to lose anything and would rather get them to a suitable person/tank. The tank was setup last September.

Current water temp is 82-82.5 degrees.
My culprits are the dual 1" pvc pipes, which I feel are getting some buildup inside them (creating friction)... and the head pressure from the 18' incline (plus a few 90's to the tank) causing additional friction. I could redo this part, I would go with x3 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" pipes and an Abyzz pump, but I can't afford the pump nor tear up the flooring.

Wanting to sell fish, inverts (invertebrates), and corals.
Fish will be the last to go as they will be hard to catch until all corals are sold, then rocks are removed.
Unsure if all coral can be detached easily, so if you have an idea, I'm open.
If you are interested in a fish, I will do a $5 deposit (refundable) on them as a placeholder.
Hoping this process will not take long.

Here is a list of the items we have. I will mark them as sold along the way.
I will upload pictures for the tank in the next couple threads. If you want multiple items, I may be able to work with you on pricing.


Fish/Price (sale)
Picasso Clowns (bonded pair) 100.00
Scopas Tang 75.00
Tomini Tang 60.00
Lawnmower Blennie 20.00
Purple Dottyback 15.00
Flame Firefish (pair) 65.00
Diamond Watchman Goby 28.00
Yelllow Watchman Goby (Bonded) 30.00
Tiger Pistol Shrimp (bonded) 20.00
Blue Chromis (x4 school) 60.00
Yellow Coris Wrasse 30.00
Lyretail Anthias (male) 32.00
Coral Beauty Angelfish 32.00
Six Line Wrasse 20.00
Red Scooter Dragonet 30.00


Inverts / Price (sale)
Porcelain Anemone Crab 8.00
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp 24.00
Peppermint Shrimp (x2) 14.00
Snails (Bumblebee, Nassarius, Trochus, Turbo, Cerith, Margarita) $2 EACH
Fighting Conch 9.00
Tuxedo Urchin (deep blue) 20.00
Serpent Sea Star, Tiger striped 24.00
Brittle Sea Star, Knobby Fancy 20.00
Chocolate Starfish 9.00
Sand-sifting Starfish 20.00


Corals / Price (sale)
Hammer (3 head) 90.00
Hammer (single) 30.00
Frogspawn (single) 30.00
Pagoda Cup 60.00
Duncan (+6 heads) 60.00
Devils Hand Leather 85.00
Ricordea 60.00
Green Bounce Mushroom (single) 60.00
Green Bounce Mushroom (double) 85.00
Blue Mushroom 19.00
Purple/Orange Mushroom (x5) 40.00
Long Polyp Toadstool 60.00
Neon Green Cabbage Leather 20.00
Indo Dragon Soul Torch 85.00
Green Hairy Mushroom (x2) 70.00
Purple Hairy Mushroom 35.00
Elegance Coral 100.00
Orange Mushroom (x4) 75.00
Pipe Organ (long tentacle) 75.00
Spaghetti Finger Leather (extra large) 100.00
Finger Leather (x3) 80.00
Ultra Zoanthus 40.00
Brain coral 30.00
Pink/Green Bubble Anemone 80.00
Neon Green Candycane 30.00
Gorgonian Sea Fan 25.00


Hardware / Price (sale)
Blueline 100HD pump 250.00
Trigger Sapphire 39 Sump 250.00
Voss Dual bottle holders (x2) 20.00
Milwaukee Refractometer 75.00
Hanna Calcium checker 35.00
Hanna Alkalinity checker 35.00
BRS 2-part additive w/magnesium 45.00
BRS Dual Carbon/GFO reactor w/pump 45.00
Apex VDM 60.00
Apex Temperature Probe 15.00
Apex Calibration kit (ph/salinity) 4.00
CaribSea (Pink Fiji) - 60lbs - CYCLED 40.00
Bubble Magus Curve 5 Elite Skimmer 150.00
Tunze 6105 pumps w/Apex adaptors 155.00
 
SynDen

SynDen

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#5
#5
Pretty normal for tanks to heat up during the summer. Best way to control that is keep room temp at, or below 78 degrees, but also lots of clip fans help a lot. Evaporation = cooling, so by adding more clip fans to blow across the surfaces of the water, you can increase evap and there by increase cooling. On my old 75g I kept at least 3 clip fans on it all summer. One across the top of the tank and the other 2 blowing across the sump and it never got above 80
 
fireheadman

fireheadman

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#6
#6
SynDen said:
Pretty normal for tanks to heat up during the summer. Best way to control that is keep room temp at, or below 78 degrees, but also lots of clip fans help a lot. Evaporation = cooling, so by adding more clip fans to blow across the surfaces of the water, you can increase evap and there by increase cooling. On my old 75g I kept at least 3 clip fans on it all summer. One across the top of the tank and the other 2 blowing across the sump and it never got above 80
Click to expand...
Interesting idea.
we keep the house at 74 degrees.
I put a laser temp gun on the blueline, it was 104 degrees, which seem normal, but that heat is transferring into the tank (even being external)
 
fireheadman

fireheadman

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#11
#11
My contact info is:
Ben 720-989-1977
Would prefer local pickups

And if there is a way to edit posts, that would be nice to know.
 
fireheadman

fireheadman

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#12
#12
I hate to derail my own thread.... but chatting with a couple of people on here about how to salvage my tank, I found this.
https://www.amazon.com/OPOLAR-Upgraded-Airflow-Whisper-Adjustable-dp-B08J839PCR

For the price, going to see if this will resolve the temp issues...
Other issue I will have is the excessive algae growth in the pipes that I need to figure out how to clean out.
I have 18' of 1" PVC with 3 - 90's to somehow get a cleaning (flexible) brush through without hanging it up...

If I can manage to get through this mess, I would love to keep the tank going, even frag out to this forum.
If anyone that stumbles on this thread and reads this... let me know your thoughts.

Thanks
Ben
 
SynDen

SynDen

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#13
#13
Not sure on that link, goes to 404, but looks like its a fan of some sort? A fan on the pump as well as across the water likely will help a lot. I love Voranado fan myself because they are powerful and they last forever. I have 6 of them on my big tank including one that is blowing on my Reeflo pumps for my closed loops
Long term though you may consider a different pump. Bluelines are great, but many pumps are well known for heat creep, although there are a few higher end ones out there that don't give off as much heat, like Japanese made iwakis. Even internal pumps give off a certain amount of heat but generally mitigated a bit since they are in the water. External pumps certainly can benefit from having a decent fan blowing on them to help keep them a bit cooler.

As for algae in the line, not sure how that would occur unless you have clear tubing. Can you post a pic of the plumbing by chance?
Algae needs light so if there is algae in the line, eliminating the light will solve that problem. However it is normal for tube worms and other critters to grow inside the pvc line, but generally they are a good thing as they are mostly filter feeders that can help clean the water.
The only thing to look out for in pvc lines really is snails, as they can sometimes get stuck in there and block flow. Easiest way to keep pvc lines clear is to have many unions, or even true unions, in the pvc, so that you can take apart sections easily and remove any snails blocking things up.
 
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fireheadman

fireheadman

Goby
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#14
#14
Here is a better link.
Install 2 of them last night, it cooled the tank down to 77 degrees, actually had to turn the heaters back on and turn off a fan.
Ordered a dual usb power supply and usb extenders. Once those arrive I will connect them into the apex (programming also) so they are automated.

Big thanks to those that recommended this option! Also which I could edit my posts to let everyone know I will be holding on to the tank since I can manage it now.
$30 in parts and hardly any power consumption to cool the tank off 5-6 degrees. Much better than a $500-$700 chiller that sucks the power out of the wall. And near silent operation!
 
SynDen

SynDen

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#17
#17
Nice. Ya, those should help quite a bit
 
fireheadman

fireheadman

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#18
#18
Still haven't hit a hot day since I installed these, but I have noticed a consistent temp now at 77 degrees.
I'm unable to edit my posts, so for now I am putting the sale of everything on hold.
 
SynDen

SynDen

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#19
#19
Glad to hear it ;) Don't be afraid to post up any other questions or issues you have along the way. We are here to help
As for editing posts, you need to be a Club member, as that is one of many benefits that comes with it.
 
fireheadman

fireheadman

Goby
M.A.S.C Club Member
#20
#20
thanks for the info on being a club member, will look into that.
Looks like we finally got some hot days and the fans are working well.

For those interested in using this... I modified the 6" USB fan since they did not have a memory setting. Once the power is turned off/removed and re-applied they will not turn back on unless you manually press the mode/power button.
I only need 1 speed so I removed the logic board on the fan and replaced it with a step-up converter 5v to 24v... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T7ZCTNK
View attachment 19188
....this board is the same size as the original logic board, so just snip and re-solder the wires onto this. Then use a voltmeter to tune the pot (screw) to the desired speed/voltage.
Originally, low speed was about 7.2v and I believe high was around 12.5v. I opted for 9.6v for my speed, so it isn't noisy and has enough power to evap water and isn't going to overheat the fan motor.
It cools the tank down over a 5-6hr time frame using the APEX energy bar with a dual 2.4a wall wort https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QTE09SY
View attachment 19189

Then programmed the port on the APEX as a Chiller to turn it on/off when needed.
Back in business!
View attachment 19190
 
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