jph's first reef tank (90g)

[jph]

test fitting the new canopy... with lights only a slight modification will be needed to properly clear the power chords and switches on the light fixture.

the bulbs are ~ 24" above the sand.
there is roughly a 5" deep sandbed (once i smooth it out)
and they sit 5" above the top of the tank.

the picture turned out much more blue than what i'm seeing though. not sure if it's the white balance on the camera, or my eyes adjusting to the light.




J.

[jph]

well, the canopy is almost done now. (can't really see it in the picture though)
only needs stain and varnish on the outside, white paint on the inside.
and the 6 fans installed.

didn't fill it all the way up yet, as my overflows aren't plumbed yet.
and i need to keep a bit of wiggle room for when i add the live and base rock to it.

in the meantime, i added a bit of liverock rubble that i put in a "box" made out of eggcrate

and CLS #1 is back up and running the OM squirt is operational again.

the water cleared up a little more too. still alot of very fine dust floating around in it.






J.

[JY13131]

Looks good! Whoo hoo

[jph]

turned on the lights when before i went to work this morning.
tank was sitting at ~82F
when i got home, tank was sitting at ~88.5F

house temperature is ~74F right now.


J.

[jph]

Originally Posted by jph

one of the bags of aragamax must have had a TINY hole in it. not big enough to let sand out, but big enough to absorb moisture from the air. and having it sit in my garage for a few months (where i'm curing rocks) didn't seem to have don this any good.
that bag is now all wet, and there is some yellow'ish-green discoloration visible in the sand. i'm going to toss this away, and order some new oolitic sand to top off my sandbed, and another 15lbs of special grade to make a DSB in my sump fuge.

waiting and waiting for the sand to arrive, i realized... that i never finished my order. they were still sitting in my shopping cart !

ordered a bag of special grade, and a bag of sugar sized aragamax.


J.

[crvz]

Hehe, thats kind of funny!

[jph]

how about another update ?

the canopy : two layers of white paint on the inside. stained on the outside, topped off with a layer of varnish. 6 fans mounted and wired. they move a nice amount of air without noise.

picked up four sheets of acrylic today. three 12"x12" this will be the over/under/over bubble trap. and one 12"x14" for the "refugium" compartment. lucky me... my ebay sump's dimensions seem a "little" bit off. the 12" sheet didn't fit, so i had to saw about 3mm off once side (which is not simple with the tools that i have, meleted my saw in the acrylic quite a few times but in the end, i guess i got te job done.

the first over and under are glued in place on one side and are curing now. tomorrow i'll finish them. i will most likely have to use a bit of silicone to fill in the gaps of my not so smooth saw job



J.

[jph]

all four baffles are in place now. it took quite a bit on my convincing powers to get them there though

started filling in the gaps with silicone. with any luck, i should be able to test the three compartments for leaks tomorrow.


J.

[hng]

looks awesome! very nice woodwork and cls!

[Loverotties]

Looking good!Very Nice!

[jph]

thanks for the compliments!

did a leak test on the skimmer and refugium compartment tonight. found a leak in one. added some more silicone to that corner. hopefully tomorrow it will pass the test


J.

[jph]

i know that i probably have the slowest moving build ever... but i'm trying to juggle a couple different projects at once. a) our 9 month old daughter. b) my very first reef tank. c) quite a build project with my car. d) keeping the wife from clubbing me to death over all the mess i'm making

anyway, what i accomplished today;

added some more substrate to the DSB in a few places where it looked a bit shallow. had to stop after the water turned to milk again and i couldn't see what i was doing anymore.

drilled another hole for a 1" bulkhead in the sump where the skimmer return will come through (yes, i will have the skimmer outside of the sump.)

i feel that i'll be placing an order for a clean up crew shortly. with any luck, the rock will be in the tank within a week or so. i have my drip acclimator ready


J.

[crvz]

Originally Posted by jph

i know that i probably have the slowest moving build ever...

Hey, you've got water in the tank, you can't be moving that slowly... good luck with the clean up crew, and make sure to snap some pictures!

[jph]

let's see... what did i get done today ?

started plumbing the overflow boxes to the sump. almost done, just need to glue the right one to the ball valve.

each overflow box exits through a 1" bulkhead, to a true union ball valve, then into a 1" Tee. goin to the sump as one single 1" hose. (all flex pvx.

the center section of the sump is currently being used to "clean up" the chiller. it's been used on the rock curing tank, and it must have gotten some nasty build-up (at least, if it's the same as all the other tubes/pipes that i can see, the inside of this chiller element must look nasty.

so i filled up the center compartment with a 50/50 mix of tap water and vinegar, dropped in a mag7 and i'm circulating that through the chiller for a few days. that should clean it out, i hope.

i need to pick up a new 1" union, because the one i've got to finish everything up doesn't have an O-ring... don't remember where i got it, so i'll just need to get a new one. need to pick up a 1" MPT/FPT 90deg elbow, and then i should be all set to fire everything up.


J.

[jph]

it was toasty hot yesterday... the water temp in the live (and base) rock curing bins got up to high 80's, low 90's in anoter one. hope everything survived that.



J.