So, I finished the demolition and structural support yesterday! Good start to an odd day.... went to petsmart and then the hardware store before going to the grocery. Getting out of the car, i must have ****ed off a bee because it aggressively stung me. I have been stung by bee's hundreds of times, certainly many times in a single day on multiple occasions in the past (used to be a bee keeper) and never had a bad reaction. About 20minutes later i started getting intensely ichy all over my body and then my chest started to tighten. Went to the ER after quickly popping some Diphenhydramine. Ended up being okay. Sounds like the diphenhydramine really helped keeping it from getting bad! Got a script for an epi-pen incase this episode is an indication of a more severe reaction next time
Before encountering grumpy bee, I stopped at my local petsmart.... First of all, no one sells the standard 50gallon size (37x19x20) anymore......which is what my sump CAD is of..... PetCO has dollar a gallon sale right now (ends today) but only for 20, 40B, and 55. 55 is too long for my application and very tall and skinny. I then went to my local petSMART to see what they had. They had a 50 gallon, but it was longer/taller/thiner than what the standard size is.
After spending some time looking at the options, i concluded that the 50 gallon petSMART tank wouldn't fit under my tank, too long and the height would make it impossible to get my hand in there for the skimmer. Looking at the dimensions, a 40Breeder was roughly the size of a 50 except shorter (36.1875 X 18.25 X 16.9375) I checked my CAD and looks like it will work for me. The water level in the sump will be higher relative to the top of the sump tank in a 40breeder, but because of the under-tank size restrictions, and the dimensions of the skimmer and required operation water level, i won't loose much water volume by going with a 40breeder for the sump and i gain some space under the tank.
heres a quick update of the CAD with a 40Breeder sump (highlighted in orange) overlayed on the original 50gal sump (grey):
As you can see, the waterline will still remain at the same location but i lose about 1" on the length and 1" on the width. Not bad. So i asked PetSMART if they'd be willing to match PetCo's 1$/gallon and my store said sure!
So i saved a trip to PetCo and got the deal right down the street from me. Never hurts to ask!
Now on to the fun stuff! Here is the wall at this time, Almost ready to accept a fish tank:
Next up is moving the gas line and leveling the floor! I have a neighbor who is a plumber. He is supposed to come by sometime this morning to let me know what it will cost me for him to do the gas pipe.
Also hoping to make rocks out of the white portland i got a week ago. Then i need to figure out the effects of using a buffer like superbuffer on the water while aqua "Kuring" the rocks to leech out the high pH.....thoughts?
erlite:sand the big one is 4:7:6.
