Well, isnt it hard to buy some Loc-Line in our great land of Oz . One place i found that sells to the public (AusFrags) didnt have 3/4" in stock. In the end i thought id stop wasting my time searching around for other places and order it in from overseas. The downside - its costly.
I wanted loc line for the outflow into the tank. I didnt want to use 90degree elbows as i didnt want the flow of water running along the bottom. I wanted the flow mid way going up to the top. I didnt want my risers going up to far also so to use loc line would enable me to have the plumbing finish low to the substrate and also have the water flow directed across the tank and up. I will be using Y spliters in the Loc line to help me achieve a nice slow current to eliminate any dead spots in the tank.
I have also painted the inside of the cabinet white. I havent used marine varnish as i belive this is mainly for reef tanks that have sumps etc. Im painting the inside white purely to make it easier to see the equipment etc in there. It was way too dark otherwise. It helps a lot.
I also have not yet fixed teh bulkheads. The right side bulkheads are ready for their quarter turn tightening. The left hand side bulkhead nuts were butchered by me trying to cut them down . They may work still but im not going to trust it. I will be buying 3 more bulkheads with a small flange.
So i received the loc-line yesterday. Its going to work a treat. Im happy with the products and recommend them.
I also ordered and received some reducers etc for the 15mm tails i got for the 2080 hoses. When i received them, the tail thread part was 15mm but the barb was 12mm . The website just listed it has a 15mm tail so i assumed it was a 15mm tail.
I rang wetearth and the guy was really helpful. He said people in the industry understand why but thats about it . He didnt really have anything else but then found another product that may work and is express posting it up for me to check it out. Im starting to think finding 15mm tail barbs are going to be difficult. Im about to ring and see what size the 20mm tail barbs are.
...... so the 20mm tail barb is 20.5 while the thread is 20mm. They size them by the thread. All other products are fine so i suggest when ordering tails from any irrigation places to check the barb sizes.
I ended up replacing 5 of the bulkheads with some from aquamail (i believe they are the Rainbow Lifegaurd brand). These are much better as the flange and nuts fit perfectly. I have plumbed them in using 20mm pipe, PVC ball valve's and then tails for canister hose connection. I wanted the ball valves so i can cut the water when i need to clean the canister hoses and perform any needed maintenence. All's im waiting on now are the 2080's from xtreme so i can pick them up along with the Uv.
Once connected i will start the aquascaping. I want to hurry up and get to this stage already!
So im still waiting for the eheim 2080's to come in. I was talking to a mate on the weekend who told me NOT to get the 2080's. He said he was at his LFS and saw 1 of 5 returned (out of 8 sold) because of issues with the Tap Valve and priming function. Has anyone had any issues with the 2080's? He said he saw one that had a clip break in the tap valve. he also said the LFS had problems with the priming function on others leaking. The units head was full of water etc. I would be interested to hear some of your feedback on this. Both users and sponsors. Thank you.
I have started on the aquascape layout. I got the idea of using lawn edging to divide substrates from another site. I called the manufacture to check the plastic is safe, to which it is. Basically i taped the dimesnions of the tank to the carpet and used that to mold the lawn edging. Then i bent it using plyers and cut it down to size using aviation snips.
Im not 100% on the layout but its a start. My intial plan has changed (not making a fake rock cave anymore - maybe down the track) and im thinking of using driftwood and plants to give the same effect. Im looking for rocks and driftwood etc so am waiting to get inspiriation of them before confirming.
2080= Bullet proof, despite my complete neglect(over 9 mths no clean blocked strainer baskets etc) kicking the damn thing several times whilst falling over in my flooded fishroom, droping the connecting head from bout 2.2m as i try and wriggle fittings over my terrible layout, the thing has never missed a beat and still flows well over the 1200l/h its suppose to flow at, 1 in 5 return i find VERY hard to believe. PRO3e'S maybe but not 2080's