I have a thread on my local reef club's website, but my wife has been bugging me to start one on RC, so here it is.
We had a 150g tank before we relocated. It was our first foray into reefkeeping, and we made a lot of rookie mistakes, but it was fun and addictive. We sold the tank to a local buyer and hope that he is still having success with it. Anyways, after buying a house here, I found a smokin' deal on craigslist for a 210g and all the fixin's. That was a year and a half ago... (whoops!)
I hired a local stand builder to pick it up for me and build a custom stand. We had some display cabinets that we wanted it to be similar to, and the builder did a fantastic job in our opinion.
I began researching setups and making plans. I pored over the many LED threads here on RC, and made the decision that I wanted to try LED lighting. I found a new product early in 2010 from a Polish company called PacificSun. I had a bonus check from work burning a hole in my bank account, so I ordered up the 60" Deimos fixture. It's a veritable work of art, with the unfortunate price tag to go along with it.
Due to new product delays, it didn't arrive until after the tank drilling which came next...
As part of my research I decided that I liked the Calfo style overflow instead of the plastic towers that my tank came with. So I carefully removed them. They came out fairly easily.
And then I contacted a local reef business to modify my tank. He drilled the holes that I requested in a couple of hours.
He then started work on a custom acrylic refugium and sump. A few weeks later I had the results sitting in the living room.
A vinyl under-shower liner was procured and installed in the stand base.
And then the tangled web that is my plumbing was begun. I am going with a closed loop recirculation system. I found a Hammerhead on Craigslist. Glad that I rebuilt it, as the seal basically disintegrated when I took it apart. That's topped by an Oceans Motions 4-way. 2 outlets are to manifolds at the bottom of the tank and 2 are at the top. The return pump is a Dart. The overflow is split between the refugium and sump, and is controllable with valving. I had a weir made from custom glass and installed it with what is quite possible the world's worst silicone job.
A word to the wise... if you are going to do this, allow a little extra room in your measurements, and definitely get a second pair of hands to help installing it, as glass binding against glass WILL chip.
Then I started the water testing. There were unfortunately several leaks. My can of PVC cement was running low and got a little thick, but I plodded on instead of getting some new glue, and paid the price. 3 more water tests later to fix additional leaks and poorly-tightened joints, and everything was finally good.
Unfortunately, I got some water under the stand during my several leak tests. Mold was discovered when we moved the stand back to its final resting place. Luckily, it came right out of the carpet, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it for any recurrences.
To be continued...
We had a 150g tank before we relocated. It was our first foray into reefkeeping, and we made a lot of rookie mistakes, but it was fun and addictive. We sold the tank to a local buyer and hope that he is still having success with it. Anyways, after buying a house here, I found a smokin' deal on craigslist for a 210g and all the fixin's. That was a year and a half ago... (whoops!)
I hired a local stand builder to pick it up for me and build a custom stand. We had some display cabinets that we wanted it to be similar to, and the builder did a fantastic job in our opinion.
I began researching setups and making plans. I pored over the many LED threads here on RC, and made the decision that I wanted to try LED lighting. I found a new product early in 2010 from a Polish company called PacificSun. I had a bonus check from work burning a hole in my bank account, so I ordered up the 60" Deimos fixture. It's a veritable work of art, with the unfortunate price tag to go along with it.
Due to new product delays, it didn't arrive until after the tank drilling which came next...
As part of my research I decided that I liked the Calfo style overflow instead of the plastic towers that my tank came with. So I carefully removed them. They came out fairly easily.
And then I contacted a local reef business to modify my tank. He drilled the holes that I requested in a couple of hours.
He then started work on a custom acrylic refugium and sump. A few weeks later I had the results sitting in the living room.
A vinyl under-shower liner was procured and installed in the stand base.
And then the tangled web that is my plumbing was begun. I am going with a closed loop recirculation system. I found a Hammerhead on Craigslist. Glad that I rebuilt it, as the seal basically disintegrated when I took it apart. That's topped by an Oceans Motions 4-way. 2 outlets are to manifolds at the bottom of the tank and 2 are at the top. The return pump is a Dart. The overflow is split between the refugium and sump, and is controllable with valving. I had a weir made from custom glass and installed it with what is quite possible the world's worst silicone job.
A word to the wise... if you are going to do this, allow a little extra room in your measurements, and definitely get a second pair of hands to help installing it, as glass binding against glass WILL chip.
Then I started the water testing. There were unfortunately several leaks. My can of PVC cement was running low and got a little thick, but I plodded on instead of getting some new glue, and paid the price. 3 more water tests later to fix additional leaks and poorly-tightened joints, and everything was finally good.
Unfortunately, I got some water under the stand during my several leak tests. Mold was discovered when we moved the stand back to its final resting place. Luckily, it came right out of the carpet, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it for any recurrences.
To be continued...
