High Tide Aquatics

Flow decisions for a 120G - Guess I'll turn this into a build thread!

BTW: If you and/or electrician does not fully understand either bridge or split concept,
I really suggest you NOT do it that way.
I am sure it would be safe if done right, since that is essentially what your breaker box does.
But it is easy to get wrong
 
Electricity is in.

Reverse stand is made for the frag compartment out of scrap wood. Function over form.

Plumbing is done.

Water is in.

Leaks fixed, only one, had a bit of sand stuck in the gasket for a bulkhead. How did that get there? Oh yeah, used tank.

Water is back in, and salted to taste.

Sand is in, and it came up short. I need 3" more, PM'ing you Mike.

Also, I'm tired. That was a lot of work! My yard looks like a tornado touched down.

I need to hang the light fixture, order skimmer parts, and finish adding sand. Then the waiting begins...
 
Taking a break from rinsing some sand I got from Mike, looks like I have enough. Thanks for the offer though.

Wish I could have bought new sand but I am flat broke now. DPT illegally towed my car Saturday and I didn't find out until today so it cost over $700 to get it out. I'm pretty pissed because I'm 100% sure I was legally parked, have no outstanding tickets, and feel it was completely unjust. Isn't a damn thing I can do though, guilty until proven innocent and I'm not in the habit of taking pics of my parking job every time I park.

Anyway, hope this sand works. If all goes well I'll be moving in a year or so anyway so it should be fine.
 
Hmm I'm starting to feel buyer's remorse on this MP40. I'm certainly glad it's not a permanent resident of my bedroom, but it sounds like it's grinding rocks half the time. I can wiggle it around and it will get quieter, but a day or two later it moves itself back to where it vibrates like crazy.

Not impressed with durability, it's been less than a month at about 30% speed on the smaller tank and it's having issues already? Hmmm...
 
Are you using the right spacer distance? Also are you using the black rubber circle on the outside between the tank and the spacer?
 
iani said:
Are you using the right spacer distance? Also are you using the black rubber circle on the outside between the tank and the spacer?
Yeah not that you're not careful but you do have to have everything just perfect. If that little rubber pad isn't seated just so... I think down the road you'll like having it.
 
anathema said:
Hmm I'm starting to feel buyer's remorse on this MP40. I'm certainly glad it's not a permanent resident of my bedroom, but it sounds like it's grinding rocks half the time. I can wiggle it around and it will get quieter, but a day or two later it moves itself back to where it vibrates like crazy.

Not impressed with durability, it's been less than a month at about 30% speed on the smaller tank and it's having issues already? Hmmm...

I had that sort of issue with a smaller one. What really helped was to anchor the power cord directly above the head, and keep
the cord a bit tight. Basically, the cord helps support the weight, so as it vibrates, gravity does not
slowly pull it down out of alignment.
 
Yes to all of the above. I purchased a new mp40, measured the tank glass to be sure, rotated the little cup the motor sits in, placed the black disc on the glass and carefully aligned the two halves with a steady current setting on. It was quiet then a couple days later vibrating. Messed with it and it smoothed out, few days later repeat for three weeks etc. I read up on several threads and spent quite a lot of time messing with it before posting anything about it.

I originally had the cord tight and directly above it, but when I had it apart last night I also noticed I had managed to strip some flesh off an acro with the flow so I moved it to the side. Sounds like it will get even worse now.

It is surprising to me that I'm having issues at such a low setting. I had planned to run this fairly high on my 120 and I'm worried it will rattle itself to death in short order.
 
Also as an additional thought, I would find it difficult to think that changing the cord position would help. I set it up vertical and with the cord tight on the dry side. Each time I adjusted it I moved only the wet side. While there may be an initial settling on the dry side, it's hard for me to see how it would take three weeks for the dry side to settle into place.
 
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