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Glenn's First 90g Reef Build (1 Viewer)

acharpenter said:
Amen dude!

Curious, cant find it listed anywhere - have you looked into an aqua controller? With all your doing to get this right the first time I would think that may be on your list. Not a complete necessity but definetly worth the money
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I've been kicking it around; I believe at some point I will. I think I'll silicone in a holder for the probes in the return section of the sump for now - it'll just make it easier in the long run.

Any recommendations? I haven't really thought that far ahead yet.

-Glenn
 
Glass-holes.com 1500gph overflow - check!

Well, I worked on the overflow while everyone slept (everyone, besides myself, is sick - and it's pretty hard to work wearing a biohazard suit).

It went pretty smoothly, maybe 8-10 minutes per holes. I did just a dry fit to see how things get together. The bulkhead nuts in the overflow are going to be tough to get tightened - ah, perhaps a trip to the hardware store is needed!

Not sure what color the rest of the plumbing should be, there has to be some WAF, so I may go gray, or black to blend into the black background I'll be spraypainting.

-Glenn
 
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I have an AC JR and love it, but there are pro's and cons to it

Like just about anything in this hobby there really is no canned answer here.

How much do you want to spend?
What all do you want to control?
Do you want the option to have it call/email you with alarms?

Plenty of opinions on this....here is a quick thread with the basics...

http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=19674&highlight=controller
 
Well not much to report since both kids have been pretty sick for the past several days.

I did get to pick up a 2'x4' acrylic sheet, silicone plumber's grease, and some bits for the RO/DI unit install.

For the sump, I found an interesting article on installing the baffles HERE

Not sure if I'll try it but I'm going to dig around more regarding potential mold inhibitors in the weatherstripping.

Next few steps:
1) apply Krylon black spray paint to back of tank.
2) tighten down plumbing of overflow
3) assess weight distrubution of tank stand

Regarding #3, the stand has 5 points of contact with the floor (4 corners and 1 middle "peg"). Given my floor type - floating interlocked wood planks, I'm debating about adding some wood "stretchers" (?) to the underside of the stand to evenly spread the tank weight across a larger contact "footprint", instead of the corners (using 1"x 4" oak to form a rectangle base for the underside of the stand).

This should evenly spread the tank weight evenly across the entire section of flooring. Reason being due the floor connection method, I'm afraid the total tank weight will compromise where the floor planks connect.

I'll also be staining the "internal base frame" so it blends in more with the stand.

Unfortunately/fortunately, still no water in the tank... :coolmad:

At least it's giving me more time for research and planning, er, right?
 
acharpenter said:
I have an AC JR and love it, but there are pro's and cons to it

Like just about anything in this hobby there really is no canned answer here.

How much do you want to spend?
What all do you want to control?
Do you want the option to have it call/email you with alarms?

Plenty of opinions on this....here is a quick thread with the basics...

http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=19674&highlight=controller
Click to expand...

Thanks for that thread link!!! After more research, I'm leaning towards a Neptune controller; just not sure which one. I guess I still need to figure out what I really want to do now and what I want to do in the future. I do like the built in ethernet - def. a plus.
 
RO/DI unit hooked up and tank painted

Evening all, hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!!!

Made some progress this weekend:

- Finished painting the back of the tank, used 2 cans of Kylon flat black and I didn't get too high from the fumes.

- BRS RO/Di unit installed and flushed out; it was really easy to install. I had picked up a Y-split from Menards to feed off from the washing machine cold water feed. Running at 60psi (even with washing machine filling), TDS In = 9ppm, TDS Out = 0 after flushing the system.

Now just waiting on 2 55g plastic barrels from my wife's work.

Next up this week:
1) add "weight-dispersing" boards to base of stand
2) final install of overflow
3) calculate plumbing needed and decide on a return pump
4) install sump baffles

Night all, just finished watching most of the V series replay on SciFi channel while installing the RO/DI unit; ah, not bad for cheesy 80's America aliens story. The remake should be interesting to watch!
 
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Here's the painted tank and the new bulbs swapped out.

Hopefully after this weekend (see you all at the Swap), I'll be able to finally bring in the tank and put it on the stand!:biggthumpup:

Getting closer to first water...!!!!
 
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irish02bk said:
Did you make that canopy? I like it!
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Thanks, but sorry no I didn't build it.

The stand and canopy are AGA's Mission Select series in oak. Time did not allow for a build and it needed a high WAF factor; plus we got a great deal from SWE!

This way I may have actually have fish before 2010.... :biggthumpup:
...well at least very early in 2010.
 
Its ok it, i know how that goes took me about 7 months to actually get my 75 setup and its still not done completely.
 
Well, it's a sad day today. We just had a mass layoff at work, myself included. Just a skeleton crew left to maintain equipment/systems until the place is sold or liquidated.

This will probably affect my tank build progress. I think with where I'm at; I can get as far as filling the tank with water but I'm going to have to get LR and sand small portions at a time. If anything, I have the time now to work on the tank plumbing since I have the PVC already and finish up the sump...

Oh well, must move on...
 
First, I am sorry about you lossing your job. I have some dried out rock and sand if you like it. I live in Farmington. Just PM me.
 
Sorry to hear about your job.
I have been without full time work for 7 months now.
Keep your head up!!!
 
Thanks everyone for wishing me luck! It's hard to go and do other stuff and not worry about job hunting for several weeks (decent compensation package); but there's that "what if" it takes longer than expected to find a job. A bit nerve racking but I'm working out a schedule to where I have a set time every day strictly for job hunting/networking/etc. I'll increase the time as the weeks go by.

As for the build, I plan to keep moving forward as money allows; wife would like me to keep going also to keep me busy aside from other "honey-dos" that have shown up. Hopefully this week/weekend I can get my tank on the stand and start working on the plumbing.

-Glenn
 
More progress finally!!!

Well, the tank is on the stand, thanks to truvkngfan; thanks again!

Also wanted to thank Bob1 for some dry rock/sand; so I now have about ~40lbs of dry rock and about 10lbs of dry sand.

Here's a full shot of tank and stand/canopy:
IMG_7524.JPG


Full shot with open doors:
IMG_7517.JPG


Close up of the 30g sump with Octopus Extreme 200 and Eheim 1262 return pump (thanks hypertech!):
IMG_7518.JPG


That Ext-200 takes up quite a bit of room, not sure what the final position of the skimmer will be. I just need to make sure there's room for the two drain lines. Any suggestions as to how the skimmer should be positioned?

The baffles are installed via this method - Pressure locking baffles

Baffle height from left to right is: 8.75in/9.75in/8.75in/5.5in. The last baffle creating the return section will have another 3in of egg crate added on top of it so it will be close to 8.5in; this is to prevent the potential creature from getting sucked up if I put one in the middle section. The middle section will also have live rock.

Any constructive criticism on the sump layout? I'm going to water test the sump either this weekend.

Thanks again everyone!!!
 
Looks really good!
I am looking forward to seeing water in it.

I like the idea of the 3" of eggcrate
 
You are probably going to want that 3rd baffle taller. That pump may suck a vortex down at that height and it isn't going to give you much room for evaporation. Id also slide it over further and put the pump perpendicular to the way it is now with the intake pointed towards the glass. This should keep it from sucking up any bubbles that might form from the water going over the baffle. Bubbles into the pump make microbubbles in the display.
 
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