It works!

[schneijt]

Having seen Todd's amazing setup, I was inspired to work on my tank before work yesterday. So, I left the meeting a bit early. My last bucket of RO/DI wasn't quite enough to do the job, so I had to wait until after work last night. The last bucket filled the tank the rest of the way, and I opened up the ball valve into the sump. I already had my water level I wanted to maintain in the sump, and the water from the tank was still far from a flood, so that was a relief. I turned on the Mag 9.5 return pump, and everything started going.

No leaks, but a slight noise issue. The drain line was carrying some air with the water, making the water in the sump "boil." I turned the ball valve closed a little bit, and this solved the problem. I then tweaked the ball valves on the drain and return lines to generate the best flow I could. I figure I'll still adjust things a bit more over the next few days. Next I didn't like the vibrations the Mag pump was giving to my sump. So, I took the foam intake cover it came with that I wasn't using. I sliced a thin layer off it and put it under the pump in the sump as a bit of a vibration dampener. Finally, I turned the heater on and went to bed.

This morning, I'm nearing my 80 degree mark I'm hoping for. (I finally bought a heater that magically maintains a temperature instead of just heating at a constant level!) I started adding salt, and I'm working up to 1.025 by slowly adding salt and testing a few minutes later.

Next up, buying and curing live rock, adding my sand, moving my anemones and clowns over, buying a bigger skimmer (Aqua C EV-120) and buying my new MH (Sunpod 36" 2x 150w HQI) to complete my system. 'Tis just the beginning. Oh what an expensive, draining, and thoroughly enjoying hobby!

I was hoping to take pictures of all of this, but my mom left for medical work in Ecuador yesterday and took the nice digital camera with her. So, pictures will come as soon as I get the camera back.

Thanks for the great meeting Todd, and it was nice getting to finally meet some of you!

-Joe Schneider

[chazz-66]

Sounds like your'e on your way!

[lfish]

Keep us posted Joe & it was great meeting you too

[schneijt]

Thanks to my inability to ever leave eBay, I am now the proud owner of a brand new AquaC EV-120 skimmer with Mag 5 for a pretty reasonable price! Should hopefully ship out in the morning! Woohoo!

[Loverotties]

Sounds like your on your way! Good Luck!

[kappaknight]

If you're thinking about the Sunpod, may I recommend you check out the Outer Orbit series from the same manufacturer? These come with moonlights on top of all the other goodies.

[schneijt]

I've spent a lot of time considering lights for the tank, and I like the Sunpod. I'll be keeping SPS, so I want lots of light. I already have a 175w pendant on my 20gal that will be moved over to the new tank. The 36" sunpod will leave enough room to put the 175w on the tank as well. The Sunpod has moon lights, so all I'd be missing would be actinic bulbs, and I can live without those, especially considering the 14k bulbs in the Sunpod. All around, the Sunpod really fits what I'm looking for with lighting for this system.

[schneijt]

Well, the EV-120 skimmer arrived today. UPS broke it in-transit.... :-( Not cool at all. So, I'm filing a complaint with them and they'll either pay me what it's worth or buy me a new one or else ... Well, not much I can really do if they say "no," but they left it in the garage and I didn't sign for it, so they're liable for the damage. It'll work out in the end ... On a side note, the live rock Greg got in is AMAZING, so everyone should check it out if they haven't already!

**** UPS...
Joe

[royaldana]

That really sucks. They should actually cover the damage, though. I believe they have a responsibility up to a certain amount. good luck!

[Afish4u]

It all depends on how much insurance was taken out when the item was shipped. And how long they like to drag things out.