Built like a tank: my Innovative Marine Nuvo EXT 100 build
- Thread starter GunnarH
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OP
OP
Thanks, I’ll look into that. It’s the rock itself that keeps breaking though, not the joints.
OP
OP
Yeah, I got the gel superglue and the watery superglue. And the Marco rocks mortar.
I’m starting to think that applying the mortar temporarily weakens the rock, since everything was fine until I started applying it.
Good luck with your scape!
I have a question about the noise. What did you do to make the sump quieter? On the right-hand side next to the return pump is a return from the display. It just dumps into the tank. Noisy as heck.
Shelley
Shelley
nickng
Active Member
Hi, the pipe that's feeding into the right hand side is the emergency overflow pipe. Under normal operation, no water flows thru this pipe.
Also check the overflow box the tallest pipe should be attached to the bulkhead feeding into the emergency overflow pipe.
If the setup is correct, slowly open the gate valve by a tiny fraction and allow to settle. Eventually no water will flow thru the emergency pipe and everything will be silent.
The overflow/sump should be completely silent(absolutely no water sound at all). I have the EXT100 as well.
OP
OP
I would say the same as @nickng above. My tank is the least noisy when the water just barely trickles into the secondary (middle) drain, but not into the emergency drain. That way, there's no noise from water falling through the emergency drain, but also no noise from the water falling from the tank into the overflow box.
It takes a bit of fine tuning with the gate valve, but it's doable. See the attached image, which is the view from the back. In this image, the emergency drain is on the left. As you can see, the emergency drain has the tallest pipe inside the overflow box. Water should only flow into this pipe in case of emergencies.
(Image borrowed from IM's website, with annotations by me.)
OP
OP
I am finally done aquascaping and let me tell you; it was a lot of work. First smashing apart, then super-gluing the Marco rocks together into more-or-less graceful HNSA creations, only to have two of them fall apart.
After a pause for a family vacation, I went back and started almost from scratch. I had to break apart some of the stuff I’d made before, and glue everything back together, only better. Next, I applied Marco rock mortar to all the joints. That process alone took me a couple of days. Finally, today, I went over everything again with watery glue and Marco rock powder to make the joints look even prettier.
The result? I think it looks good, if not quite as thin and ethereal as my first attempt. On the other hand, I think I created a lot of nice habitats for both fish and inverts, which is of course more important than aesthetics. And, even though the finished result looks like one very large creation (with two smaller “islands”), it’s actually three medium/large creations that can each be (re)moved separately from the others. Just in case.
One thing I learned from this process is that if I ever do this again, I’ll start buying rocks and doing the aquascaping as soon as I decide on which tank I’m going to buy. That way, there’s no rush and I can enjoy the entire process more while I wait for the tank to arrive.
Obviously, this is one of the small islands. Next; cleaning the aquascaping of dust and debris and adding it to the already water-filled tank.
After a pause for a family vacation, I went back and started almost from scratch. I had to break apart some of the stuff I’d made before, and glue everything back together, only better. Next, I applied Marco rock mortar to all the joints. That process alone took me a couple of days. Finally, today, I went over everything again with watery glue and Marco rock powder to make the joints look even prettier.
The result? I think it looks good, if not quite as thin and ethereal as my first attempt. On the other hand, I think I created a lot of nice habitats for both fish and inverts, which is of course more important than aesthetics. And, even though the finished result looks like one very large creation (with two smaller “islands”), it’s actually three medium/large creations that can each be (re)moved separately from the others. Just in case.
One thing I learned from this process is that if I ever do this again, I’ll start buying rocks and doing the aquascaping as soon as I decide on which tank I’m going to buy. That way, there’s no rush and I can enjoy the entire process more while I wait for the tank to arrive.
Obviously, this is one of the small islands. Next; cleaning the aquascaping of dust and debris and adding it to the already water-filled tank.
OP
OP
Two more lessons learned in the past day.
One, water really does make Marco rock more prone to break. After hosing down my creations, I accidentally bumped one into another. They barely touched, but it was enough for one of my Marco shelf rock pieces to break off about an inch in from where it was glued to its neighbor. The glue held, the rock didn't. Luckily, it was a clean break and I was able to glue it back together without a visible seam.
Two, I made the center "tower" too tall, despite watching a warning about just this issue in one of the BRStv videos on YouTube. It's not so tall it sticks up out of the water, but there's not much space for anything to grow on the very top of it. Also, the PAR from my dual Kessil AP9x lamps is going to be insane there. Is there a coral that doesn't grow more than an inch tall and which will take all the photons you can throw at it without complaint?
The rocks and substrate are now in, pictures to follow. Next is cycling the tank again because I just added ~100 lbs of rock and 60 lbs of substrate.
One, water really does make Marco rock more prone to break. After hosing down my creations, I accidentally bumped one into another. They barely touched, but it was enough for one of my Marco shelf rock pieces to break off about an inch in from where it was glued to its neighbor. The glue held, the rock didn't. Luckily, it was a clean break and I was able to glue it back together without a visible seam.
Two, I made the center "tower" too tall, despite watching a warning about just this issue in one of the BRStv videos on YouTube. It's not so tall it sticks up out of the water, but there's not much space for anything to grow on the very top of it. Also, the PAR from my dual Kessil AP9x lamps is going to be insane there. Is there a coral that doesn't grow more than an inch tall and which will take all the photons you can throw at it without complaint?
The rocks and substrate are now in, pictures to follow. Next is cycling the tank again because I just added ~100 lbs of rock and 60 lbs of substrate.
OP
OP
Here's what the finished aquascaping looks like. Please ignore the two small Sicce powerheads, they're temporary.
I fed the tank another small bottle of Mictobacter Start XLM, and some NitroCycle inorganic nitrogen. The tank is now going through a mini-cycle, due to adding all the rockwork and substrate.
My next steps are going to be making a DUI lid while I decide on a custom job (I'm leaning towards a ClearView lid, simply because of the price), and adding lights, gyre pumps, and a Hydros controller setup.
I fed the tank another small bottle of Mictobacter Start XLM, and some NitroCycle inorganic nitrogen. The tank is now going through a mini-cycle, due to adding all the rockwork and substrate.
My next steps are going to be making a DUI lid while I decide on a custom job (I'm leaning towards a ClearView lid, simply because of the price), and adding lights, gyre pumps, and a Hydros controller setup.
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It came out very nice!
OP
OP
Thanks, both!
nickng
Active Member
Hi I saw you were going to buy the clearview. I see quite a few complaints about the clearview covers warping. Find out if it is 1/4" polycarbonate or acrylic. Acylic will warp badly if wetted or exposed to moisture on one side.
A piece of 1/4 inch polycarbonate of 48"x24" on tap plastics costs $200 to $230 not including cutting out holes
OP
OP
No worries. My tank is actually very quiet now, even running without filter socks (it's still cycling).
I uploaded the same video to YouTube. Hopefully you'll be able to view it there:
OP
OP
Interesting! Here's what their website says (on the FAQ page):
I don't know anything about plastics, is this good or bad?
nickng
Active Member
There's some reported problems about sagging with the clearview see
Kraken Lids
Looking into one of the custom lids offered by Kraken - anyone know what is the thickness of the plastic that is used? Worried about it bowing... Cheers
www.reef2reef.com
Where to get economical polycarbonate?
I’m trying to make a lid for my aquarium to discourage carper surfing and was planning of using polycarbonate for a little easier drilling/cutting. Currently have glass, with a gap at the back for the HOB and return pipe, but want to close this off. Plan is to have a pegboard-style panel with...
www.reef2reef.com
looks like best material is the twin-wall polycarbonate
I plan to scout out the prices for the polycarbonate sheet and see how much a premium the lid makers are charging on top of the material prices
OP
OP
Makes sense. I see they have tabs on all sides, so the lid rests on the glass at intervals. I wonder if they always had that, or if they changed their designs?
OTOH, Kraken has a lip that goes all the way around, which seems a much better design. Tabs can break, lips won't.
I have Kraken lids on my other tanks and I'm happy with them. But, the price difference for these bigger lids is quite substantial...
Love your rock work. It really was worth the wait. Still not sure what I want to do with mine.
New issue. I am determined to keep my glass really clean. I have been concerned how to clean the section of the tank center back. The pipe work in the back stops me from cleaning with a magnet. And rock work will keep me from reaching over to it.
Have you considered this and come up with a plan. I have thought of attaching a piece of rigid pipe to a cleaner so I can extend it out aways. That way it could reach pass the pipes. Thoughts?
Nice information on the lids.
Shelley
New issue. I am determined to keep my glass really clean. I have been concerned how to clean the section of the tank center back. The pipe work in the back stops me from cleaning with a magnet. And rock work will keep me from reaching over to it.
Have you considered this and come up with a plan. I have thought of attaching a piece of rigid pipe to a cleaner so I can extend it out aways. That way it could reach pass the pipes. Thoughts?
Nice information on the lids.
Shelley
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