[VWD]

I may go pick up the tee tomorrow, but like you say, I think it should work

 

[hackshobby]

I don't care if'n this is all Greek to me.....it's a 'build thread', and I'm loving it!
Hack

 

[VWD]

Well, nothing new today, maybe bringing the tank, stand and sump in. Will finish the stand indoors in the ac, hook up plumbing and everything between the sump and tank.

I’m waiting on some one inch bulkheads. Also need to decide on what type of rock, live or dry. I leaning away from man made rock like Walt Smith reef rock. I think Marco rock would be better then man made rock if I went dry.

Who here has used man made rock?

 

[Wiskey]

Dang, I forgot the tee for the secondary drain. I'm not going back today. I thinking I could put a air fitting in as elbow for the secondary, what you think?

I did this! It wasn't perfect but it did work. It would get you by until you happen to be at the store for something else.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Well, nothing new today, maybe bringing the tank, stand and sump in. Will finish the stand indoors in the ac, hook up plumbing and everything between the sump and tank.

I'm waiting on some one inch bulkheads. Also need to decide on what type of rock, live or dry. I leaning away from man made rock like Walt Smith reef rock. I think Marco rock would be better then man made rock if I went dry.

Who here has used man made rock?

My 10G and work 3G both have man made rock. It's branch rock that was supposed to be mined, but once you break it open you can tell that there is very little of the white mined part in there, and lots of a darker concrete like material.

I don't love it. I do love that I could make an amazing dry rock structure and glue it all up, but I feel like the tanks took a year to really settle in and start working well. I'm not sure if regular dry rock would be better or not, but there was no comparison to real live rock.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Here you can see the Rock I was talking about:
Thumbnail-4 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

 

[VWD]

Yeah, it looks nice , just not as porous and mined or good live rock. I appreciate your input it helps.

 

[VWD]

Moved everything into the house, tank , stand and sump, I can work in ac now .

IQ and RC are not my salt of choice, but chewy.com has them at such a good price with Free shipping if you spend over 49.99. I ordered 3 160 gallon buckets at 39.99 plus tax. Can’t beat the price. It will be fine for starting my tank and run for first who know how many months.

And they shipped the same day which is even better. Be here by fedx by Friday if all goes well.

 

[jerryclunsford]

I have always used Instant Ocean. No problems yet.

 

[VWD]

Instant ocean is a great salt, I used for years.all the way back in early 70’s. I just like fritz . Who knows at this price I may just use IQ . IQ is probably the biggest selling salt.

 

[jerryclunsford]

If you go heavy on hard corals the reef crystals might be better, but you have a calcium reactor.

 

[VWD]

I just put a bunch of rock that’s been outside since 2016, put it in a Rubbermaid and soaking with bleach. Then I will rinse it tomorrow and place back in with more bleach and to again Friday, this will be my base rock.
I also talk to Dan again at gulf coast live rock, he said he can ship me an order next week. Trying to decide on amount. It’s the over night shipping that kills the price. Can do the 1-3 days shipping and save. Just not sure the amount of life I will lose.

I just did 75 lbs of the premium rock. Overnight shipping.Between my base rock and live I souls have plenty

 

[jerryclunsford]

I live in North Texas.
It took three days to get here I think. It was over 5 years ago.
still lots of life, corals and sponges that survived as well as macro, clams, bristle worms and pods.

 

[VWD]

Last rock I ordered was from rock-n-reef, he includes shipping over night in his prices and it comes out to be even more expensive. But it’s nice Rock with lots of life.

 

[jerryclunsford]

I imagine most of the mari-cultured rock from the gulf will be good.
How good depends on how long it has been in the ocean.

 

[VWD]

The stuff from rich n reef is really nice, I imagine Dan’s is also, it’s where I think you got your rock. You just can’t find imported live rock

 

[jerryclunsford]

If you think about it Fiji live rock will have less life on it after sitting in a shipping container all the way to the US. They wouldn’t ship it in water, too expensive.

 

[VWD]

The Fiji rock was nice rock and pretty much the standard years ago. I would love to get that rock today. It had life on it and was actual coral base rock. The thing with gulf rock it can be pretty dense and is mined rock placed in the ocean.

 

[Wiskey]

I just put a bunch of rock that's been outside since 2016, put it in a Rubbermaid and soaking with bleach. Then I will rinse it tomorrow and place back in with more bleach and to again Friday, this will be my base rock.
I also talk to Dan again at gulf coast live rock, he said he can ship me an order next week. Trying to decide on amount. It's the over night shipping that kills the price. Can do the 1-3 days shipping and save. Just not sure the amount of life I will lose.

I just did 75 lbs of the premium rock. Overnight shipping.Between my base rock and live I souls have plenty

I think getting the 75lbs of premium rock was a great choice. You will be much happier than the man made rock in the long run I think. I'm curious to see what you get!

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Instant ocean is a great salt, I used for years.all the way back in early 70's. I just like fritz . Who knows at this price I may just use IQ . IQ is probably the biggest selling salt.

I would still be using Reef Crystals if it didn't mix up to an Alk of like 12. IO is great for an FO tank, and the reason it's the biggest seller is that it's consistent, and all the public aquariums that have huge tanks for fish, penguins, and wales use it. It's a perfect choice for getting the tank going and cycling, then you can transition to something else when you get your perams dialed in and have a bunch of coral.

I keep my levels closer to NSW, Alk of 7.5, CA around 420, Mag around 1300 and Tropic Marine (for double the price) mixes up to almost exactly that, so when I do a water change I don't have to adjust my dosing to get my levels back in line.

Whiskey