150 + 80 sump build

[tralynne]

Figured i would make a build thread to chonical and show off a new 150 that i have coming this week. I recently had lost a battle with GHA, Red Cyano, and Blue-green Cyano in my 80 Gal tank. I fought the GHA for about 14 months. I finaly gave. How did i give? by buying a bigger tank. (still trying to figure out that one myself)

took down the old 80g tank today and have it in my garage with all parts cycling freshwater with a side of bleach to kill any bad critters before i set up the new 150 in a week or so. Lots of lace rock gonna be available that is for sure.

Building the Stand and Canopy hopefully next weekend. Pics of that to follow.

Here is the spot the 80gal was set up and will be the home to the new 230 gal total system.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2170.jpg

Here is where the 80 now resides in my garage with a bleach solution for cleansing.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2173.jpg


just set up an 8g BC nano on my daughters room as well. I hope a bunch of you will follow me on this exciting quest and make comments as i go.

[inktomi]

Where are you going to put the sump? Are you trying to fit it all under the stand?

My 150 would barely fit a 75g under it - so I went with a 40g breeder. There just wasn't enough floorspace.

(I wish I had a fish room!).

[mrsmithers]

What are the dims of the 80gallon? is it going in the stand or remote?
What equipment are you going to be running?

[tralynne]

Plan is to put the 80 under in the cabinet. the 80 is 48x18 footprint. the new 150 is 60x25.

[tralynne]

Here is the over all plan:

150 RR main tank. (60x24x25)
80g sump (48x18x22. divided to include a place for my corallife Needle Wheel Skimmer and refugium. I will post an "artists rendition a little later when the artist renders it)
Phosban reactor (running whatever media is needed based on testing)
Rena xP3 - running different micron pads, ceramic rings and then another "absorbing media" to be determined during cycling and testing of the tank. Most likely a carbon/phosban/purigen setup. not combined of course.
T5 lighting - still working on figuring out all the types and number of bulbs. first thought is 4 whites of different wavelengths and 2 actinic.
Vortechs are nowhere in my price range so i will be using hydor koralia.


I am also still debating to make the entire sump a large ref or make part of it a wet/dry trickle with bio balls.

[tralynne]

anyone wanna chime in on making a bio-ball chamber and ref in the sump or full ref with no bio-ball area?

comments are much appreciated.

[am3gross]

i would ditch the canister filter.. if that was set up when you had your HA problem that may have been the source...

if you are going to have liverock in your sump and some sort of macro algae in there other then the skimmer that should be all the filtration you need... i would still use your phosban reactor of course but that would be it... just my opinion here of course!

[tralynne]

exactly what i am looking for here is opinions on the best configuration for the filtering.

still ditch the canister when i clean it out monthly along with 15% water changes? i was planning on 2 of the 3 chambers to put media in it...purigen, carbon, etc.

when i had the GHA my PO4, NO2, NO3 all tested zero. i hear that GHA can suck all that stuff up and use it to grow....however...i took out all the rocks twice and scrubbed them free of the GHA. about 2 months later the GHA would be back full force....during the time that you could not see any GHA all the above stuff still read 0. i would think that PO4 and NO3 would rise/spike when the GHA was not present then slowly decline as GHA grew and used it up. the GHA was the reason i got the phosban reactor.

[gtaylor67]

I'm not sure but I would not put any BIO BALLS anywhere near a your tank.. Maybe in a little bag or bowl next to the tank for some type of memory of your past problems.. I've never herd anything goods about them.. If you have room in your sump use some small pieces of rock and a sand bed.. Not needed in a Fuge..

[tralynne]

continuing to cycle freshwater through the old tank and old live rock. After the 3 day bleach soak i have used freshwater. drain, fill repeat 3-4 times.

empty, rinse repeat:
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2175.jpg

All the old live rock is now (hopefully GHA, Red Cyano, and blue-green Cyano are dead as well) lace rock. Outside to dry up and evaporate the little remaining chlorine. I will also be pressure washing the rocks to knock off the dead Coraline that is now white.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2176.jpg

And since this thread is pretty sterile so far here is a picture of the new 8gal nano i have set up in my daughters bed room. only 3 weeks old. softies hopefully soon.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2167.jpg

Tomorrow is the big day for delivery. Not till 830pm though. I will take some pictures and load them in the next day or so.

[MrineLfRlz]

ive never dealt with bio balls i was going to do a bio ball setup in my sump when i 1st started out but alot of people told me no also BIG NITRATE FACTORY!
i think i will tag along to see the rest of the progress:bigeyes:

[tralynne]

I had a wet/dry/bio-ball/trickle filter on the last 80G set up and never had a nitrate issue. always undetectable using Tetra testing kit. On the other hand i have never seen a bio-ball setup in a large sump like the one i am gonna build...So...i dont know. still deciding...right now i am going with no bio-ball setup.

Was supposed to get the new tank today but the glasscages truck got a flat tire and now i cant pick up the tank till 0900 tomorrow morning. Oh well. I will still take pictures and upload when i have them.

[SaltyNovice]

I'm signing up for the ride. I really like the dims of your new tank. I have a 65 gall tank from Glassgages that I made a sump out of. I vote for no bio balls if there is any voting going on? I used to use the Rena canastier filter also. I got rid of mine and doing much better since. What exactly are "lace" rocks? Am I missing something here?:twitch:

[tralynne]

not sure what everyone else calls the additional rock they might use if it is not live rock. i have always heard it called "lace Rock". it is rock that was once upon a time live rock.

[tralynne]

GOT THE TANK!!!! Very cold day this morning in OKC...Drizzle rain mixed with a little flurries here and there made for a very cold offload from the truck. As promised here are the pics of the new tank!!

Pretty much maxed out the width of the truck bed...had about 1.5 inches of slop on each side. I have an RV and the hitch railings in my truck bed made it difficult to have the tank in the truck bed.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2179.jpg

Fixing the suction cup holders. (each one was rated for 125lbs. and they were only $4.99 each at Steve's Wholesale in OKC). What a deal and a life saver.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2182.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2183.jpg

I have to admit...i was stressed about dropping this thing using $5 suction cups...they held very well and did not slip one bit. impressed but still freaked me out.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2185.jpg

Fill-up with hose water to test the leakage. Good so far! Notice i put 2x8 scraps under the tank...i did this to help get my fingers under if i needed. Plus i am going to spray paint flat black on the back panel....i wont paint over the overflow area so that i can see into from the back if needed. i like spray paint b/c then you get 100% consistent background instead of the plastic sheeting that gets salt creep behind and you white streaks through the tank.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2187.jpg

Filled to the top of the overflow...but not into it...duh!! i would have water all over the floor.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2189.jpg

The big boy next to the little guy...80gal ain't so little but compared to the 150 it is. That 80g will be getting built into a sump....i am going to get the glass dividers cut tomorrow...i am gonna go bio-ball less and go for a huge refugium in the middle. One end will be coming from the tank with my protein skimmer and heater and the other end will be the return to the display.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2190.jpg

Sum it up: Glass dividers for the sump being ordered/cut tomorrow. Saturday i will be building the stand...pictures as fast as i can get them up

[MrineLfRlz]

i know i wouldve been worried about the suction cup handles to
im just glad everything went as i shouldve with the tank move
it looks like a very well put together tank

[lordofthereef]

Looking forward to seeing more :)

[tralynne]

I am extremely impressed with the tank construction. it has reinforcement glass along the inside bottome....and the bracing on the top is all glass as well. I will take some close up pictures of the construction and post them in a few days.

[SaltyNovice]

Looking good and I'm real glad your happy with the tank. It's kind of scary to be ordering those big tanks and not being able to see them until you take possession :eek1: I'm thinking about the 180 from glass cages and this makes me feel a little better about them.

The reason I asked about the lace rock. When I was first getting into SW. There was some guys down in south Texas selling "lace rock". And I was told it was for FW and cichlids and that it would cause some trouble in SW tanks. Since you were talking about your Phosphate and NItrate issues - I thought maybe that could have been an issue ?:????? :D The "nonliving" live rock I have looked at was just called base rock. Probably the same thing :wave:

Anyway, I'm looking forward to your build and hope to get some great ideas for my 180 down the road.

[tralynne]

Some detailed pictures of the tank construction itself.

The inch wide additional glass runs along the inside perimeter of the bottom. I guess this make the seems a little stronger?!?! i really dint know:
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2193.jpg

the bracing across the top from front to back is all glass pieces too. Also there is 3 openings that fit standard size hinged glass tops. I think most tanks have plastic supports where as this one is glass. I dont recall seeing many tanks that have the glass bracing on the top.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2194.jpg

Close up of the corner to see how the glass and plastic meet on the top:
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2195.jpg


I got my glass dividers for the sump ordered today and will pick them up tomorrow. I will hopefully be able to get them siliconed inside the sump tomorrow night and test with water on Sunday to make sure it all stays together. Tonight i plan on taking a dry erase marker on the outside of the sump tank and measure out where i am gonna put the glass dividers. that way when i get the glass tomorrow i can just drop them in the tank, line them up with the dry erase marker lines on the outside of the glass and silicone it in place.

I might be able to spray paint the back of the display tank as well tomorrow.

Still planning for a Saturday stand build and stain. then when it is dry on Sunday (along with the sump divider glass) i can put the stand, sump and display tank in the house and start the long process of filling with RO/DI water. I have about 50 gallons already stored but it is slow goings.

[MrineLfRlz]

are those bulkhead holes 1 1/2"?

[tralynne]

Actually there are two bulkheads in the bottom of the overflow. one is 3" the other is 2".

here are 2 pictures to show the dimensions of the overflow and a better shot of the bulkheads.


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2196.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2199.jpg

[MrineLfRlz]

man you can get some serious flow through them then GREAT!

[1 sick reef]

coming together nicley. its going to look good

[tralynne]

The holes for the bulkheads are what i said above...diameter of the hole of course...but the fitting that came with it has a much smaller hole for the pipe and they are 1.75 and 1.25 by the measuring tape. The bulkheads in the picture below are very solid, Thick PVC. especially since they are reducing the hole that they go in by almost half.



http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2200.jpg

[tralynne]

Got my glass pieces for the sump, black spray paint for the back of the tank, overflow plumbing kit, and the wood for the stand today. Obviously tomorrow is a big day....college football too though...it might take longer than expected for tomorrow build with conference championship day tomorrow.

i have decided i will make the 80g a large refugium and equipment area only...no bioballs.

As always i will add pictures when i can.

[tralynne]

Here is the artists rendition of the sump. i changed it a little from when i got the glass cut so that is why there is a short piece on the right side of the refugium area. it is 8" tall and i plan on have 3-4" of sand in that "chamber". So it will work out fine since that short piece is really only there to contain the sand from going into the right side bubble break. Water enters from the left side and will exit on the right side. in the first chamber on the left it will also house my Coralie protein skimmer....hence why that chamber is 9" wide. pretty much what i did was put the equipment in the tank and used a dry erase marker on the outside of the glass to mark where the glass will go on the inside. after about 90 minutes of "massaging" the measurements and making sure it will have bubble breaks and that all my equipment will fit in each area.....it is done. Now the fun part of silicone the parts inside. The Styrofoam inside the tank is there just so you can see what it will look like with the dividers in the tank.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2201.jpg

[tralynne]

Long day today. Started out by designing the sump (see above). did not get a chance to silicone the glass in place before my buddy came over to start building the stand. Made all the cuts on the wood per our plans. We pretty much used this thread as a template to make the stand:http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169964
made some differnces...if anyone wants i can list them out later.

First we built the top and bottom:
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2204.jpg

Built the legs and connected them to the bottom:
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2207.jpg

We amended the plan and instead of putting bracing on the bottom we used 1/4 OSB. I got some sealer and will seal in the entire bottom...so if there is a leak it wont soak into the wood and ruin carpet/walls next to the tank.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2209.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2214.jpg

One thing we are also going to amend is that we will be adding an electrical compartment on the right side of the stand. Everything from the small 2x4 on the bottom will be framed in and will be an electrical area. I will also be putting the light ballasts in here as well.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2215.jpg

The legs were screwed into the top and bottom areas via a pocket Jig. By doing this i dont require a nailer board to affix the vertical pieces to the horizontal pieces.
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2212.jpg


On the down side of things, Besides the Gators loss to Alabama, is that in order to put the 80gal tank in the stand as the sump i would have to build the stand too high. The bottom of the display tank would be around 46"....top of the tank would be around 70" and the canopy height at 78". kinda too tall. So i will be taking the old 80g and putting it up on Craig's list along with the stand and canopy that i used for it. I will buy a 40g breeder tank or something of similiar dimensions to put in as the sump.

Tomorrow: Skin the stand with a thin Oak cabinet grade veneer. Add the trim we picked out and stain. I figured that since i am obviously spending alot of money on this...i am gonna slow down and trick it out and do it right.

[MrineLfRlz]

nice work i like the electrical compartment idea

[tralynne]

everything seems to take longer than expected. especially when you have to make a couple trips per day to Lowe's/home depot. Skin is about 90% complete. the finish nail holes have been filled with putty. Need to make another trip to the hardware store to get a couple more pieces of trim to finish it up. I will get those pieces of trim tomorrow. Hopefully get the trim all done tomorrow and start sanding to make it ready for staining.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2224.jpg



So i have decided to buy the Digital Aquatics Elite controller. I am still gonna make the electrical compartment on the side that will kinda look like the picture below. the picture below is from a fellow RC member. I wont make/frame the electrical compartment out till i have all the parts required so i know how big/small to make it.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSC09845.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSC09838.jpg

[tralynne]

Did some staining tonight. A little darker then i really wanted....too late now. Still looks really good for a homemade job!

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1018.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1017.jpg

[tralynne]

Long day of work today. Got the stand finished with the 3rd coat of polyurethane and built the canopy. did not get the top on the canopy yest b/c me and my buddy are tired...plus he has a headache from knocking himself in the head with 3/4 plywood. He actually cut open his eye brow and was bleeding...he was hurting and i was laughing. I think i even saw a tear.

Got 3/4 inch Styrofoam to put between the tank and the stand..actauly bought 2 pieces...the first piece is in about a billion pieces after it flew out of the truck bed and was getting run over on the highway.

instead of painting the back of the fish tank i got some thin black plastic and used black duct tape on the back. In the picture you can see through the overflow but i have a black acrylic sleeve that goes on it so that you wont see through to the pipes and the wall.

got the electrical area all framed out just need to add trim to the inside of it to cover up a little gap (you can see in the picture).

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1020.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1022.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1021.jpg

[MrineLfRlz]

great job on your stand and canopy
the electrical compartment is going to be a great feature

[Eel-byte]

Nice start!

[tralynne]

Got some stuff done today. Got two coats of polyurethane on the canopy. One more to go on that. (besides having to order the doors for the canopy and the stand. The canopy will have two doors on the front as you can see in the picture. it will also have a lid that will have all the lights on it.

The electrical compartment is coming along as well. i got most of the DigitalAquatics modules installed. i also put a light in the top so that when i need to get into the compartment i can see stuff without a flash light. I am zip tying all the wires and screwing them to the inside walls to keep it all nice and in order. the bottom will have a "false floor" to hide all the wires as well. The ballasts will be installed on the back row above the modules. I have wire casing that will wrap around all the smaller wires and it will also be zip tied and screwed to the wall.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1023.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1025.jpg

[inktomi]

I really like your electrical box - in fact, had I built my stand, I'd have done the same. Wire routing under my tank isn't nearly as nice as I'd like to have it.

Maybe you could even use some of the plastic conduit to keep wires tidy as they enter and exit the box.

I wouldn't worry about cord length - the only thing that I had even a bit of problems with is the distance between the Vortech dry side and the Vortech controller, but with some creative positioning that wasn't an issue. Everything else was long enough to route around as I wanted (most of the time with length to spare).

[tralynne]

I already bought the corrugated wires covering stuff to hide all the ballasts wires when i install them on the back panel. I will also have a false floor in there to hide wires going from one side to the other.

[inktomi]

Sounds good. I wish I had a nice place to store all my electronics like that. It would have saved me a $400 vortech that I ruined by drowning the controller in water.... =\

(make sure the electronics part is waterproofed and that it can't get sprayed, etc)

[marcpuffer]

nice sturdy stand

[tralynne]

That sucks about the vortech...certainly not a cheap power head!

I used Spar Varnish in the bottom of the stand and the part that separates the electrical area. i trimmed it out and painted it as well. Also all the electrical connections (plugs, etc) are at least 3 inches off the bottom and mounted on the side. If i have water issues in the electrical compartment my worries are larger than water getting in there.

marcpuffer: very sturdy. i know way overkill and i could have used 3/4 ply with no issues but i wanted it our of lumber anyway. i am sure i could park my 10k lb RV on top with no problem.

[tralynne]

Finally got the sump in order tonight...mostly. as stated above...after building the stand it became obvious that the 80g tank would not make it as the sump. After building the electrical compartment my inside dimension was too small for a standard 55 as well. the final length inside came to 47.5 inches and a 55 is 48 inches wide. So the 40 gallon breeder below will be my sump. I just siliconed the pieces of glass in place. So technically i could have water circulating from the display tank down to the sump and back. I am also picking up my lights on Saturday but i still have not finished the canopy lid where i am gonna mount the lights. I am hoping to cut the wood, route the edges and stain it tomorrow. Then Friday morning will be the first coat of polyurethane followed by the second coat Friday night. Saturday morning will be the 3rd and final coat before i go pick up the lights. So hopefully have the lights mounted by Saturday night.

Getting excited b/c i am not far from getting live rock. i could possibly order the live rock on Monday and have live rock in the tank in a week from now.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1027.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1028.jpg

[maddog2002]

What are you planning to keep?
corallife Needle Wheel Skimmer is too small for this new system.

[tralynne]

keeping my hydor 4 power heads...i have 2 from the last system. Will add more if needed once it gets set up with rock and such.

I am gonna use the Rena 3 phase canister filter during live rock curing phase then it will be sold.

The coralife needle wheel skimmer is the version for up to 220 gal tank ( http://www.marinedepot.com/Coralife_Super_Skimmer_Needle_Wheel_up_to_220_Gallon_In_Sump_Venturi_Needle_Wheel_Protein_Skimmers-Coralife-ES33000-FIPSISNW-ES33004-vi.html )...so it should do the job. i had the 125 version with my 80gal and upgraded to the larger one for this system. 150g main tank plus 40g breeder tank sump...190g...that does not include the water volume i lose with sand, rock and other equipment.

[tralynne]

As expected my power cables for the equipment on the left side of the tank dont reach to the right side into the electrical compartment. Having an extension cord in the open near the sump kinda defeats the purpose of building a "water resistant" electrical cabinet. I came up with two option to "extend" my power cables. I could cut them, add the footage needed, solder the connections and then use heat shrink to seal them. I went with getting an extension cord and used the heat shrink around the actual plug connection between the two. This way i can always make a cut in the heat shrink and separate the two wires if needed. This is obviously not a water tight connection but it is much more water resistant with the heat shrink then not.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1029.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1030.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1031.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1032.jpg

[PaPa_Johnny]

That heatshrink looks like it has the sealant inside of it. You will be suprised at the "moisture resistance" of that product if it shrank down small enough on the wire. It will probably not be water proof if submerged, but should do a wonderful job for you :).

Great build and wonderful attention to detail so far!

[tralynne]

Yes it does have the sealant inside. You are right...it might not be able to be submerged (which i did not intend that) but it will hold up very well to splashing/spraying if/when it occurs.

[tralynne]

Plumbing done under the tank. Should have enough RO/DI tomorrow to start cycling the water through the system. Also getting my lights and sand tomorrow. Some work still needs to be done on the canopy lid to install the lights.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1046.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1047.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1048.jpg

[chriscobb]

Tank looks good!!!! What was the build date of the tank? I'm curious cause usually GlassCages sends along a sheet advicing to wait a period before filling to allow the silicone to completely dry.

[JAustin]

Nice build. I would ditch the skimmer IMO. I know what it says it's rated for but it's really not, more like for a 55g system. Don't get me wrong, it will skim, but it will not skim like a 200G rated non coralife skimmer. Also think again about having the skimmer outside the sump. it will just take one skimmer overflow and you've got water all over the floor.

[tralynne]

chriscobb: i got delivery of the tank 3 weeks after order. i was told on the phone that they dont ship out till it is ready for water. i filled it with water in my garage the night i got it. drained it a few days later and it sat in the garage for another 2 weeks. I did not get any instructions on "cure time". I for sure wont be happy if it does separate

JAustin: i had the 125 coralife for my 80 and i thought it did well. since i already have this one purchased i will give it a try and see how it does. My experience from the other skimmer is that it is indeed very touchy with wet/dry skimming. I originally had planned on the skimmer in the sump...but when i realized the old 80 was not going to fit under i wanted to maximize my space in the new 40g breeder for center refugium. I also used a few coats of Spar Varnish in the bottom of the stand to hold water in the event of a leak/overflow. i did not test it but i have my fingers crossed it will hold.

[SaltyNovice]

Looking very nice - all seems to be going as planned. That's hard to do just by itself - planning and then working the plan. I can't wait to see the livestock to start to make a home.

[tralynne]

Had a little issue last night hooking up the T5 lights. I built the canopy skeleton out of 1x1 instead of 3/4 ply. so the opening is too short to mount the big lights on the hood lid. back to the drawing board to get it working right. just another short delay and change in plans for getting this thing done.

I did however get my sand all washed off and in the tank. Pretty cloudy water right now but it will clear in a few days.

[tralynne]

on day 35 of the build Robbie said......let there be light. And there was light and it was good! (A little cloudy because i add the refugium mud to the sump.)

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1079.jpg


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1080.jpg


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1082.jpg


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1083.jpg


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1081.jpg


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1086.jpg


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1085.jpg


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1084.jpg

[tralynne]

So. Got the lights all put in and programmed the DigitalAquatics Elite for the timing of it. Also added the mud to the refugium.

Does anyone have the DigitalAquatics Elite and use it with iReef on their iPhone? if anyone can help me on how to get the RSS feeds working to push the data to my iPhone it would be much appreciated.

Now that the holidays are over i should be able to get more done on this build. I will most likely order up some live rock early this week and have it by the end of the week and start the cycling process. Hopefully also order the doors for the stand and canopy tomorrow.

[MrineLfRlz]

lights turned out really good!
the only thing that worries me is the electrical compartment having enough air circulation with all those power supplies in there have you thought about a few small fans installed in the compartment walls maybe?

[tralynne]

I did plan for one of the icecap fans used to cool the lights in the canopy. i have an extra one that i will most likely mount in the electrical compartment. Once the door is on there is only a space about 2 inches tall on the inside that lets air circulate in/out. that is also where all the wires come into the electrical compartment

[tralynne]

Did some aquascaping with my lace rock. I ordered up some live rock from a place in the Florida keys. After much research i have found that standard Fiji, Marshall island and Vanuatu rock has to be scrubbed before it can be imported into the states...so lots of the little beneficial critters will never even make it.

i ordered the live rock from here: http://www.justliverock.com/catalog/item/6833052/7221610.htm

75lbs @ $300. free shipping. looking at the pictures i should be getting some amazing live rock. hopefully it is not like a McDonald's commercial where you see this great looking hamburger then get a smashed piece of beef and a bun in a cardboard box. i will take pictures of the rock when it comes.

in the mean time i have the first layer of lace rock placed and waiting to put the new live rock on it. made lots of alleys, nooks and crannies for all the live stock to hide in.

If i was able to figure out how to program my router i can post the DigitalAqautics controller reading in my signature block here on RC...but i can figure that out yet for some reason. i am not very computer savvy.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1091.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1093.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1094.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1095.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1096.jpg

[tralynne]

Got my ATO float switches today and got them installed. having issues programing my DigitalAquatics controller for a 2 float switch set up. Anyone know how? I can get the low float switch to turn on but as soon as that floats it shuts off. i want the higher float switch to turn it off.

I Also got all the plumbing and tubing to route my RO/DI from the kitchen to the tank to complete the ATO. I do have to get the solenoid though. More $$$...it never ends. i think i am getting close to 3k so far for this project.

[inktomi]

I also have two float switches in mine, but I use the upper one as a failsafe. The lower one usually turns it on and off. Then if the lower one fails then I have the top one to turn it off again.

[tralynne]

I calculated the space in my top off area in the sump. Where i have the low float switch is low enough that if my entire RO/DI tank drained into that chamber it would not overflow. would still get a trickle of water till i was able to get home and fix the issue.

They way i want to do it is have the low float switch to turn (open the solenoid) it on and the high float switch turn (close the solenoid) it off. I was thinking of also adding a timer failsafe to turn off if the high float switch malfunctions. So lets say that the water gets low and opens the solenoid to fill with RO water...if the high float switch fails...the entire RO tank will be dumped into the sump...but not overflow. After the switch timer has expired it would cut power to the solenoid and close it as well. This way i have 2 "fail Safes" for the ATO. i will also set it up to e-mail me an alert if it fails to close.

below is how i have the ATO switches in my test mode before i actually hook it all and put it in its permanent location. as stated above i have my skimmer attached to it right now just to test the on/off setting i have. You can see in the picture i have the two float switch's in the sump.

I have posted questions on here and on the DigitalAquatics website asking for assistance in setting it up the way i just explained but i have not gotten any answers.

In case anyone reads this an knows how to program the RKE to do what i want this is what i want: SWA to turn on when the float is low....remain on till SWB float is high. I will have the solenoid on PC plug 4. Right now i can get it to turn SWA on when the float is low....but as soon as the float on SWA is high it shuts off. this only adds like 1/2" of water.


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1101.jpg

[tralynne]

Waiting on my live rock to arrive....once it comes in i will post pictures of the goods.

In the mean time i had to take a devils hand and a richordia out of my 14g BC. i now have them in the big tank while i am correcting a small issue with the nano-tank. I bet both of those pieces are loving the pristine water in the big tank for sure.

[funkmaster]

who made the tank????

[SaltyNovice]

who made the tank????

Not to answer for him, but I think it was Glass Cages?

I'm still following your build thread - Keep up the good work. It's looking good and you have me thinking and wanting to restart my tank :crazy1:

[tralynne]

yup....Glass cages. very impressed with construction. if you want more pictures i can see if i have any before it was set up and post them.

[tralynne]

Hopefully...(starting to sound repetitive now) my live rock will be here this week. that is all i am waiting for. I have all the parts for the ATO...i just gotta start running the water line up my way and through the attic and down to the sump.

[Ev's Reef]

Hopefully...(starting to sound repetitive now) my live rock will be here this week. that is all i am waiting for. I have all the parts for the ATO...i just gotta start running the water line up my way and through the attic and down to the sump.

Where did you get the parts for your ATO?

[spleify]

This is looking really great, looks like it is gonna be a killer setup.

Keep up the great work

[tralynne]

Ev's Reef: the float switches are digitalAquatics brand float switches designed for the Reef keeper elite that i have. I got them off of Marine depot and i think it was 44 plus shipping for the pair of them. The solenoid i bought from http://www.autotopoff.com/solenoid/ All the other tubing and connectors were bought at home depot/Lowe's.

[tralynne]

I ordered my live rock from justliverock.com i am tired of waiting and getting nothing from them. They have ignored my phone calls and my e-mails. i ordered the rock on 4 Jan. the last correspondence i had was Friday when they said they would ship on Monday and give a tracking number...nope nothing. So i called my bank and they refunded my money and turned it over to the mastercard dispute center and they will inquire to the company. After more research today the better business bureau has this company ranked at a D+. so my fault for not doing proper research. At least i got my $312 refunded to me today so that i can by some rock from somewhere else.

i really wanted the cultured live rock because of the diversity you get. rock from Fiji, Marshall island, Vanuatu and all those places get scrubbed b/c alot of stuff is not allowed for import.

Can anyone recommend a cultured live rock company they have personally delt with and had good results?

[ToddG.]

http://www.tbsaltwater.com/ heres one thats been around ahwile cant say i have any experience wth it though

[mitsurs01]

www.premiumaquatics.com
I have ordered about 75lbs total. Great quality rock.

[JustLiveRock]

[violation]

[PaPa_Johnny]

Hmm, "created a thread just to destroy us".

Nah, not gonna justify that with a reply. I hope the rest of your posts are more productive to the hobby than these 4 :)..


Tralynne, I'm subscribed and have been following your progress. TBS has awesome rock if you haven't figured out from the other replies yet :). Great customer service also. Looking forward to the rest of your build.

[tralynne]

This is my last post on justliverock.com

This thread was created for me to make the best 150g setup. I have been asking people for comments on the best and most efficient way to build a new setup. I am also hoping that some of the things I added myself will help bring better ideas to this hobby and make it better for everyone.

Nothing I said in post #69 is false. What is not said in post #72 are the multiple unanswered phone calls. The order for this rock was placed on 4 Jan. I have had to send e-mails and make phone calls just to get information. My credit card was charged on 11 Jan. I called multiple times to get a status with no answer. I finally called my bank and they refunded the $312 dollars that was charged to me and handed the issue over to the MasterCard “disputed claim” department. Only after I made the complaint to my bank did I finally start getting e-mails again. I am a diver myself too and I understand water clarity and weather. My issue has been the fact that I have been charged 10 days ago for a product that is still in the water. With this amount of money being spent on a product I would expect a company, especially one that already charged my credit card, to give daily updates.

The dates and content in the e-mails show in post #72…that many people have to inquire where their stuff is. I did not give the better business bureau rating of D+ to this company. This is from multiple people who have also had less than satisfactory service.. I also find it interesting that this company just got a reef central account and only has 4 posts to “defend” themselves.


In addition post #72 states

[B][SIZE="7"]
and let everyone judge for themsleves so i dont have to do this every 6 months with some customer who can't wait two more days for saftey sake. he could just have asked for a refund but did not and strarted this nasty damaging thread. please leave this whole thread up so i dont have to do ths again in aonther six months. please.
>
Well….maybe if the service was better this would not happen every 6 months. If this occuring every 6 months then i am obviously not alone with my complaints. These few posts would have been avoided if the seller was proactive with the information. Anyone can Google “justliverock.com review”. You can read the comments from others and like the seller says “judge for yourself”.

Everything I have seen was negative except for the “justification posts” from the company themselves. I find it hard to believe that the site was not able to be dived on since my order was placed. I had to call a week after the order was placed to inquire what the status was.

If a moderator is reading this I only hope they will not lock this thread so that we can continue to learn from each other in this hobby and make it better. I also request from the moderator to delete posts 69, 72 and this one. I request this so that none of this negativity is available to be read by anyone. I will take up my issues with this company and solve it with them.

If I receive live rock that looks like what they tout on their website pictures and then an extra 25lbs of free decorator rock promised in an e-mail because of the issues (100lbs total premium decorator aquacultured rock). I will have no problem making a post saying that the situation is resolved and even post pictures of the live rock received.

From here forward all posts will be for the benefit and education of this hobby, which is after all, the intent of the website. I apologize to all those who subscribe to this thread looking for knowledge and also to those who have helped with questions I had. Experience from those that have helped is much appreciated and I hope you will continue to follow this post until it's completion. Again I request the moderators delete this post, #69 and #72.

[JustLiveRock]

fine i had written another explation but the moderators are just deleting them. really that sucks. fairness only dictates that two people can tell their sides of the story.

[tralynne]

Justliverock: i just sent you an e-mail pertaining to our situation. we can/will solve it through e-mail. not here.

[dc]

fine i had written another explation but the moderators are just deleting them. really that sucks. fairness only dictates that two people can tell their sides of the story.


No, commercial businesses are not allowed any kind of advertising, including replying. If you do good business, it will get around and one bad transaction will be behind you.

[Adam76]

Tank looks awesome

[tralynne]

Was planning on running the water line for the ATO today....but not feeling that well and add in the fact there is 2 football games on...I probably wont be making it far from the couch.

[tralynne]

Got the ATO put in. Ran the line up the wall in my kitchen...into the attic. across the attic...down the wall and into the solenoid. The RO/DI had no issue at all pushing up the wall. in the attic i used round pipe insulator to make sure it does not freeze in the winter or boil in the summer. i buried it under all the attic blown in insulation for that extra bit of care so it does not freeze. I mounted the solenoid on the backside of the electrical compartment to keep it away from the water. i mounted it with zip ties to a zip tie base. only problem i have now is that the solenoid wont close. Guess i need to see if it is clogged or something. the float switch worked as designed it turned it on and then when the float floated it turned off...however the valve did not close. in fact water still comes out even though it is unplugged. Glad i put a on/off valve for the line running from the RO/DI for problems just like this.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1107.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1110.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1111.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1112.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1113.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1116.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1118.jpg

[tralynne]

After taking apart the solenoid there was a small piece of plastic debris on the inside. I blew it out and now everything for the ATO works perfect!!! i think the small piece of plastic might have come from the tubing when i cut it. it was clear plastic and the solenoid itself is black plastic.

Overall great addition for the tank!

[tralynne]

As the float switch slowly dropped the ATO was on/off/on/off every time the float switch was being moved by the current in the sump. I solved it by setting a 90 second timer on the float switch...so when it triggers...it will open the water flow for 90 seconds then shut off regardless of when the float...floats.

[Gold Stripe]

Did you ever get the switches to work as stated in post #60? I tried to do this without an RKE by just using two switches, a solenoid and a relay with a latch wire but could never get it to work correctly. I'm considering an RKE setup and making the ATO work as designed would be a BIG plus.

My reason for using 2 smitches was that I didnt want my filter running for just an inch of water or so. I wanted the holding tank to drain down to a couple inches and then fill all the way back up before cutting off.

[tralynne]

i have not re-attacked using both float switches as a high and low on/off. I found i can just use the one float switch to turn it on and set a timer to it to shut off. right now it is set to 90 seconds. When i let it use the one float switch it would turn on/off alot when it was at the level of the float. the waves/current in the sump make it really annoying. So the timer works good. another reason i changed my mind for the large amount of water added was mostly because if i fill up the sump with 5 gallons of RO/DI i am changing the water chemistry more than if i only top off with a gallon or so at a time. So adding a gallon every day versus 5 gallons every 3 days it keeps the water chemistry more consistent.

The second float switch is used for an additional fail safe. however, the timer feature is great b/c no matter if the float gets stuck it will still turn off after the time you set.

I like the RKE but it takes some getting used to. i have no issues with it except a large learning curve. apparently it is designed by genius with the intent of pee brains like me operating it. All in all i think the RKE is a good buy.

[tralynne]

For my followers that like numbers. i figured out my evaporation rate of water. Using the ATO it goes on for 90 seconds every 7.5 hours. in 90 seconds it dumps about 70 OZ of water into the sump. push that out over a 24 hour period and i am evaporating about 1.75 gallons of water over a 24 hour period.

70oz / 7.5 hours = 9.33 oz per hour
9.33 x 24 = 224 oz per day.
224 / 128oz = 1.75 gallons

[tralynne]

LIVE ROCK TOMORROW!!! finally gonna get my live rock. I have 100lbs coming from TB saltwater. Should be getting it tomorrow afternoon sometime. I also have some base rock coming for justliverock. I will post pictures of the samples when the come in and after i do the aquascaping.

[inktomi]

Congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing what you get!

[SaltyNovice]

That sounds great - I've thought about doing just that thing. TB rock is so expensive to us regular guys. I thought about mixing it with some base rock and seeing what I'd get. Be sure and post some pics and watch out for those hitch-hickers. But that's one of the good parts of the TB Rock. Right?

[tralynne]

I only got 100lbs to keep the cost down. as you can see in above pictures I put a base layer of "once-upon-a-time-and-now-not-so-live-rock" on the bottom. once I get the real live rock aquascaped in the middle I will add more of the dead rock on top. this way when the "live stuff" grows it will turn the not-live rock into live rock as well.

For sure helps keep the cost down. i would probably need 300lbs of live rock if I did it that way versus getting only 100lbs. for the price difference I can wait the 406 months for the dead rock to become live rock.

[tralynne]

Just got all the rock unpacked and ready to aquascape. here are some pics of all the life that is on it. amazing amounts and diversity of life that is for sure:

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1124.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1125.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1126.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1127.jpg

[tralynne]

aquascaping. Obviously the lighter (white) rock are smaller pieces i had and used to to wedge in between to make it more stable. The way i aquascape i like to have alot of corridors and passage ways for the fish. The left side has smaller passage than the right side for the obvious reason of big fish chasing small fish.

i am curious to peoples thoughts...i have no problem with honesty if you think it sux...say so. I will most likely sit and look at the tank over the next few weeks while it cycles and make minor adjustments. the only thing i hate is that it is so hard to plan for the placement of corals when i get to that point. You never know what sizes and shapes will be the ones you are gonna buy.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1128.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1129.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1130.jpg

[inktomi]

That looks like good rock to me! I'm sure you'll have all sorts of fun little things coming out of it. Good luck!

[JustLiveRock]

your tank looks awsome and its not even close to being done. I must say good job. And the rock you got looks great. all of it. you lucked out. i might even become a fan.

[tralynne]

yes the live rock is full of amazing and different life. some of the hitch hikers are: porcelain crab, Astrea snail, nasarius snail, chicken liver, spongers, about a zillion barnacles that are filtering the water like mad! ( i need to get some artemia before they all starve and die). numerous other small filter feeders.

i will post some pictures of the base rock you sent me probably this weekend. Since the base rock got here the day after the live rock i Had to get the live rock in the tank and use the existing base rock supply i had. However, the base rock you sent me is nice and porous and will be used in the sump area. the other base rock i have is not as porous.

[tralynne]

HUGE ALGAE EXPLOSION!!!! woohoo! at least the tank is cycling and i have my clean up crew coming tomorrow. (120 Blue leg hermit, 30 Red leg hermit, 8 emerald crabs, 4 serpent stars, 300 nasarius and 1000k Amphipods/copepods). Compare the pictures below to the ones above. rock has been in the tank for just over a week. getting very little Ammonia right now. Kind expected since the rock was out of the water for about 24 hours from the Gulf of Mexico to my tank.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1133.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1134.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1135.jpg

[SaltyNovice]

Did you get that Clean-up crew? Any pictures? Update? :eek1:

[tralynne]

I did get the cleanup crew. They have done a very good job so far. Sorry i have neglected posting some pics. I will try and get some pics up tonight. I am close to ordering the first round of fish.

here is the stock i am thinking of so far:
Coral Beauty, Flame Angel, Copperband Butterfly, Blackback Butterfly, Black saddle clown pair, Dragon Goby (x2), Ranfordi goby (x4), Achilles tang, Tail Ring Tang, Chevron tang, Blonde Naso.

Still deciding though. With the LFS i buy from the will quarintine a week in house before they sell them...so it would be at least 2 weeks fromwhen i order till when i get them in the tank.

[scott26]

Just caught up on your progess of this build very nice so far.. I am going to be getting a 120 soon enough hopfully this weekend I have plans to use the Corallife Skimmer as well and hope you have good things to say about it I had used it before on my 60 gallon the smaller one of course and it did a great job a little loud for HOB set up but did a good job nun the less... Also with the resarch you have put into the controller what made you choose the reef keeper elite? and how much would I be looking to spend on something like that I would like for the controller to be computer controlled and able to send emails but phone app would be unnessacary would this controller be overkilll for what I am looking for?

Thanks for any info you can shed.

Scott

[tralynne]

I have been using the larger coralife protein skimmer and it is skimming good. There is minimal bio-load right now and it will skim a full cup in about 5-7 days. I am sure once fish are introduced it will kick up a bit more b/c of the bio-load. As you probably know it is very touchy to set it for wet vs dry skimming. But once set it works great. I also had the smaller one for my 80g and it worked well enough for me to get the bigger version. When I empty the cup I unplug it don’t touch the red dial. It is HOB on my big tank right now (see pictures). My is pretty quiet. Although it is probably getting drowned out from a canister return flow that I have in the center of my refugium.

I got the DigitalAquatics version b/c of the internet (RSS feed) that I can view from anywhere on my iPhone. Right now you can’t control the device from the computer…you have to do it from the controller unit itself. The internet stuff is limited to changing names of the devices and viewing graphs of your temp, ph, orp, etc. DA was supposed to released a full computer program to do everything in December but it has been bumped back till the end of April. A little disappointing but it should be here soon. You can set e-mail alerts for pretty much whatever you want. Let’s say you want an e-mail if your temp goes over 81.5 it will do that. Right now I have 2 of the power strips with my 4 lights on the timer and also my refugium light, submersible heater, canopy fan, and ATO solenoid. I plan on putting 4 total fans in the canopy. I will have 2 of them go on/off when the lights do. The remaining two will be set to go on when the temperature gets too hot and I need the additional air flow. There is an iPhone app called iReef that you can get that will show all your readings from the controller. It is speculated that when DA releases the computer software that iReef will also be updated (not a DA product…done by a individual programmer) will incorporate stuff for the iReef that will allow you to make changes from your phone. I got the complete reef keeper elite system with net off of marinedepot.com for $499. My only complaint is that the module comes with temp, pH and ORP. They sell another module that has temp, pH and salinity. So if I want to get salinity I need to spend $89 on that module then I think another 70 on the salt probe. I wish they had an option that I can get that module instead of ORP which I do not monitor at this time. The interface to set up the controller takes some getting used and it could be more intuitive if you ask me. On DA’s site they have a forum (and also on RC) that you can ask questions to owners and actual DA people on how to set stuff up if you can’t figure it out. So for the things you are looking for in a controller this will do it. the good thing about this controller is that you will be able to expand to almost ungodly amounts of stuff. There are already things that I never thought I would need or do but decided to do. Like above I am gonna need 4 of the power strips (4 plugs each strip) 4 lights, 4 fans, 4 powerheads (for wave machine), 1 heater, 1 refugium light and 1 ATO solenoid. As you can see…they add up fast. I figured since I bought the controller I can use it to the max extent for my “operation”.

If you need any other information let me know and I can ramble on more to help out. I am at work right now…I will try and take some pictures of the controller set up and then of course the main tank with my cleaning crew.

[Antonais1391]

looks awsome just spent about 30 min reading. post new pics plz want to see the new crew in action !!

[scott26]

I just would like the lite beacause it is cheaper and they is my main goal a budgeted aquaium contrller

[tralynne]

Per everyones request. The most current pictures of the tank. Still a bunch of algae that the cleaning crew needs to get working on. The tough part is to gauge if i have enough cleaning crew. I hate to buy too much then when all the algae is gone snails/crabs start to die. Yet if i don't have enough they eat slower than the algae grows.

Tank parameters if anyone cares:
Temp: 80.1
NO2: 0.1
NO3: 12.5
NH3: undetectable
pH 8.24
KH: 4.0 (low b/c of the "purple up" i have been adding to jump start Coraline. don't waste your money on it.)
Cu: 0.0
PO4: undetectable
Mg: 1050 (low b/c of purple up)
Ca: 520 (high b/c of purple up)
Salt: 1.024

I have finished the bottle of purple up over the course of the last 3 weeks...have not seen and significant change in the Coraline algae growth. I don't recommend anyone wasting the $20/bottle on it. Just my opinion.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1142.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1143.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1144.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1146.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1147.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1150.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1155.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1152.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1153.jpg


My Daughters 14g Biocube.


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1137.jpg


I know the electrical compartment looks like crap...but i don't want to zip tie everything yet when i don't have it all completed. Once i am sure that i have everything i will be bundling the wires and zip tie them to the walls so it looks all nice and neat.

I am gonna get another white sand sifting star this weekend if my LFS has one. I also plan to order 2 Dragon Gobies and 4 Rainfordi Gobies. they will also eat the sand bed and clean that up nice...when done with that they will graze on the rocks and keep the algea trimmed. And they will also eat the frozen foods.

[tralynne]

I ordered 2 Dragon Gobies and 4 rainford Gobies today. A week till the LFS gets them in and then another week in quarantine. So 2 weeks before i they will be in the main tank.

I put a treatment of chemi-clean in tonight to help beat down the cyano that is growing. i might also add some algefix just to cut back the algae to a point where my cleaning crew can keep up. Like i said before i don't like to get more cleaning crew just for them to die off when there is not enough algae. So hopefully i can slowly cut back the growth of the micro-algae and cyano enough to a point where the existing cleaning crew can take care of it.

[tralynne]

So after 4 weeks of the live rock being in the tank i finally got a "glimpse" of the pistol or mantis shrimp hitchhiker. I know where the little bugger lives now too. I wish i could get a good visual on him to see if he is a mantis or pistol that way i can catch the mantis and keep the pistol. driving me nuts that i can never get a good look at him. i think i might have more than one too.

On a sad note...2 of my 4 serpent stars have already died. Kinda strange actaully...they started to just melt away...legs fell off and their middle section started disintegrating. strange...have always had serpent stars and have had very good luck with them but these 2 did not last long.

[tralynne]

Did a 30 gallon water change today to flush the Chemi-clean out of the tank and get the O2 levels back up from that stuff. It took care of the slime pretty good.

Started to dose Algefix as well to help kick back the micro-algae a little too. hopefully in a week or so i should be getting the first set of inhabitants. 2 Dragon Gobies and 4 Rainford Gobies.

[tralynne]

Good News!!! my water proofing of the lower part of the tank stand was a good idea!. Bad news...not all the water leaked into the lower part. Apparently at a time i do not know...the filter sock "adjusted" itself. It was leaning up against the side of the sump. So the water was flowing down the side of the sump. The sump touches the edge of the stand and the waterfall, or at least 75%, was flowing right out onto my carpet. Guess what? my electrical compartment is dry as a bone though! I will take wet carpet over a water induced fire to my electrical stuff any day.

I also was able to get some bad hitchhikers off of my rock the other day. 4 gorilla crabs and a pistol shrimp.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1158.jpg

[reefermad619]

Tank looks great. What exactly did you use to skin it. In your post it said you were going to use thin oak veneer, but from the angles in the pictures, it looks like the skin is pretty thick. Did you go with the thin veneer, or end up using 1" oak boards instead?

[tralynne]

The skin is 1/4 oak veneer. it looks thick b/c of how close the picture is taken. It was pretty simple...i placed the entire sheet over the sides. Used a finish nail gun to fix it to the wood skeleton. Took a router and cut the edges and routered out the holes for where, someday, doors will go.

I bought a sheet of it from homedepot. easy product to use and it looks pretty good. once it was on the skelton i added all the molding then stained it. This was my first ever wood project so it is not perfect. I would for sure stain the pieces before i put them on the tank next time. Cut them to fit...stain...then nail to the skelton.

[tralynne]

Woke up this morning to find out that, i think, the pistol shrimp is bigger than i thought. even though i got a small one out i can still hear the clicking in the tank. i have yet to put eyes on him and see just how big he is. But this morning there was a rather large hole dug in the sand bed in the front of the tank. i can only imagine it was him trying to burrow. this thing has become like a unicorn, Sasquatch and loch ness monster all in one. I guess it is time to get a goby that he can pair up with eh?


http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1159.jpg

[tralynne]

Just waiting on fish from the LFS. Picking up 4 rainford Gobies on Thursday.

Pulled another large gorilla cab out of the tank last night and sacrificed him to the reef gods in hopes of a prosperous reef tank for me.

[tralynne]

New Rainford Gobies. Got 3 of the 4. One did not make it through quarantine at the LFS. I Will be picking up a Coral Beauty this weekend as well. Then next week i should be getting a matched pair of Black Clown fish.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1166.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1165.jpg

[tralynne]

6 line wrasse and coral beauty added today. when they are not so skiddish i will take some pics and upload them.