Jeffrey's "Big Boy"---120g Planted

Little update:


I'm glad I made it so the two circulation loops could be isolated. I started to fill it all up and found a pretty bad leak coming from around my MD7. The housing has a big crack in it. I'll have to fix that later, but...

Since I urgently need to get it cycling, I just closed the valve on that side of the filtration loop, and filled up the other side. Everything is holding pretty well at this point.

I'm filling it up about 25% a day, to let the stand, tank, and everything get used to the weight. Afterward, I'll drain it all out and put substrate in.
 
Another update. I had a minor setback yesterday. I redid my plumbing around the the MD7 and came out with some pluses and minuses.

Instead of hard plumbing the MD7 in, I used about 2" of flexible tubing to connect it to some nipples. This will reduce flow slightly, but it SIGNIFICANTLY reduces the noise this thing puts out. It also fixed the leaking.

Also, originally I had it screwed to the stand. That was really noisy too, so now it's kind of suspended in air/supported by rubber, also reducing the noise.

Then I water tested. No problem, holds water.

But, I discovered that I overlooked something very important: My irrigation solenoids require 15 psig of differential pressure to open properly.......and I don't and won't have that. Point is, they don't work, so I have to scrap them. I've purcahsed a 1/2" ASCO Red Hat valve that should be here early next week. It'll control my draining from now on.
 
Here's some shots of my in tank plumbing. Since I didn't have the light on the tank yet, the shots aren't great. Hopefully you can get an idea of what the in tank stuff looks like:

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And then I put in substrate. Substrate is 3 9L bags of AS Amanzonia II, then with about as much used Eco-Complete on top. It'll all mix eventually, and I'm fine with that. I like the look of the two mixed and I think they'll be a great substrate. As the AS breaks down, it'll give the entire substrate an smaller average grain size. I think that will ultimately be beneficial.

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Looking good. Subscribed.
 
daddy likey... very envious. :D
 
Now I get some action.

I went to the Stone Center of Georgia, picked up about 100 lbs of river rock for $20(can't beat that) and brought it home:

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Couple of hits with the sledge hammer and I get some good stuff to work with:

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Before I block it from view, here is a shot of the completed spray bar and intakes, covered by substrate. I've got some black intake sponges coming that will cover the unpainted portion of the intakes.

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And now, it begins. Here is where I ended up after scaping. I welcome all suggestions.

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I feel like the driftwood positioning needs tweaking.

Let me know what you think.
 
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Wow, awesome work, and I agree with Ozy the driftwood looks perfect but we cant stop ya from finding a spot your comfortable with :thumbsup:
 
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