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DarkSky's 220g Build (1 Viewer)

It's up and running!

I need to tweak a few things, mainly one of the skimmer pumps is damn noisy so I need to take it apart and see what's going with that. I finally got control on the last of the leaks - again, all coming from the skimmer. Mollykote is a good thing to have...

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Trim work and bar top are turning out great. 100% my wife on this one. She's great!

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Water is finally starting to clear up.

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I think this nano koralia will be adequate enough flow for this end of the tank, right?

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I need to paint the walls too... and mud.

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Smells like oil in here. All that pipe cement and stuff on the rocks is aerosolizing nicely in this room.

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Still need to hook up stuff to the manifold. Ehhhh later. :)
 
Going to be sand. Just haven't gotten to buying it yet. I want to use Tropic Eden's Reef flakes, but only one place online seems to carry it. Figure I might was well let the rock cycle for a bit and suck out all of the crud that comes off of them before I add the sand.
 
When you add it I found an oversized tube that reaches to the bottom works well to limit dust. I actually just rolled up a cheap sled.
 
RSnodgrass said:
When you add it I found an oversized tube that reaches to the bottom works well to limit dust. I actually just rolled up a cheap sled.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I was planning to rinse whatever I end up getting. Still looking for the "perfect sand", something that can take higher flow, remain white (if I keep up on maintenance) and still allow wrasses to bury themselves.
 
RSnodgrass said:
When you add it I found an oversized tube that reaches to the bottom works well to limit dust. I actually just rolled up a cheap sled.
Click to expand...

I used a similar approach that Ryan recommended. When I transferred tanks, I used PVC with a funnel to add back in very coarse sand. It allowed me to control where the sand went as well as avoided dust clouds.
 
Well after two days of having the heaters running, my efforts now must turn towards ventilation.

I've been blessed with a house that has a false ceiling, so I can easily get up in the ceiling and mess with duct work. I'm planning to tee off the hvac duct already in the basement and direct it into the fish room - additionally I'm considering a either an air exchanger or a remote ventilation fan.

My house's exhaust is routed through my downstairs living room, so I could route the ventilation fan exhaust into that, but I'm worry about backdrafting from my furnace or water heater. The house was built in the 80s, so it probably leaks well enough that it won't be an issue.

If I went the air exchanger route, I could route it right outside, but most of the exchanger units won't work when the intake air falls below 32F. That might not be an issue since winter will have much drier air, but I'd still like air movement out of the fish room.

Maybe I should just hire an HVAC expert. :)
 
Get a good one, lots of people are installers but not educated on how it actually works.
 
ikserk said:
maybe sometime tonight, the lightbulb in your head will go off and you'll come up with a guess
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I don't know, it's pretty dark in there some days... I may need to borrow his light and shine it in my ears to brighten things up.
 
Speaking of light... what's growing in this back room with all the high humidity?!

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Oh.

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To do: cable management...
 
Another day, another update.

All the fish have made the jump to the new tank.

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The rosy scale wrasse hid for a bit after being introduced, but was out shortly thereafter begging for food as usual. The cleaner was following the rose scale around, and with the introduction of the other two fish the clown started swimming about too.

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QT tank is just about up. Broke something putting it together (and in the process sliced my hand open pretty good, thank god for frag glue liquid bandages.

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Hard to see, but the chaeto has probably quadrupled in size since I stuck it in last Thursday. I've been running the fuge light 24/7 in hopes of getting a kick start on nutrient control. UV comes soon, so I'll have that plumbed in.

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Meanwhile, I've been burning in the bulbs on the fixture. I've got it propped up on the ground with some of the shipping padding. It's been about 50 hours now, so I've got them unplugged and waiting.

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Not pictured: Cleaned the skimmer cup today for the first time.
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For bulb selection, I went with:

B+
Actinic
B+
C+
--- LED Banks ---
Actinic
B+
Actinic
B+

I saw a few tanks with a similar combination and liked the look, in person it isn't so blue. However with the LEDs I can balance the colors to my liking.


Oh, and the sand went in. Ended up buying Caribsea aragonite Special Grade, two 40lbs bags. Made about 1" of depth, I'll be putting in another 2 bags soon I think.
 
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