Addiction wins, 450 gallon system begins

[Hop]

I'll be staying right here and yup... It's more money

 

[jnarowe]

congrats then! glad you didn't sell it all off?

 

[Morgandy]

Hop, I just pm'd you before seeing your post. As I indicated, PLEASE let your wife know I am hear for any support at all, it can be 'daunting'!

Such HUGE congratulations to you! Lovely to see when people drive their jobs, and jobs don't drive them.

 

[melev]

She can call me as well.

 

[Hop]

Thanks guys... As time goes by and my leave date gets closer, I'll probably hit you up via PM. She's pretty bright and I'm sure she'll do well. I'm just worried if something goes really wrong and she can't get a hold of me

With my luck you'll have her all tuned up and when I get home I won't be able to touch the tank because I'll mess it up

 

[melev]

Does she listen to reefing podcasts yet?

 

[Hop]

Well I'm finally getting off my lazy butt today

I tore down my Gen-X pump and got it working... So I'm swapping skimmer pumps, moving the Blueline to the return and I think I'm going to sell the Barracuda. This should drop 300 watts off the tank

Maybe after that I'll work on cleaning the tank some more! I did about 1/3 of the tank last week, so maybe another 1/3 today... Or maybe not

 

[jnarowe]

You lazy reefer! LOL...Maybe you should get one of those scraperalious tankerundums from the Galapagos Islands! They do a fabulous job of keeping tanks clean.

 

[Hop]

LOL. Yeah I know. I've just been so busy that the tank has not been getting much more than fed and watered. Still have about three more months of things being crazy, but it should let up after that! After dinner, I'm going to work on the tank for a few hours. It really needs it. I'm thinking that after I get the pumps switched out I should have a few problems fixed... Like 4000gph going through a sump thats too small Should limit it to about 2000gph!

 

[melev]

I'm sure that will help immensely.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Great thread, very nice setup.
I'm 2 years away from a big tank setup. Building an addition, great room + garage. I'll be looking very closely at electric costs for equipment I buy.
I went with Tunze for movement on my current 125g. Nice flow, low energy cost. Your tank is about the size I am looking for.
I may go 8-10' 36" front to back & 28-30" high

Good to see you are still working on the tank

Take some time to enjoy it when you can

 

[Hop]

Thanks Scuba_Dave,

I guess it's like buying a new car. I had buyers regret for a while, but am happy I've stuck with it. Still have some fine tuning to do and I also need to get some more projects done on this thing


Otherwise today went well. After switching out pumps something really neat happened... No more micro bubbles, no more filter socks, no more water running warp speed through the sump

It took longer than planned, so I still have to work on the tank itself later today.

 

[melev]

Imagine that. Lower flow <i>does</i> equal no microbubbles.

I'm glad you kept the tank as well. Although I know you were only wanting to sell it to raise some capital to open up a new casino.

 

[Hop]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

And who'd-a-thunk that the bubbles would go away... Must have had a hole in the big pump letting air in

 

[Hop]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help over the past months, especially during the build..

I am going away until April 17th and leaving my wife in charge of the tank:worried:

So I hope everyone has a safe few months and I will try to post some pics of the aftermath... Ooops I mean progress when I return!

 

[jnarowe]

Good Luck!

 

[jamesBS]

bump

 

[NCreefwannabe]

ooooo god not again lol.... Last time I spent 3 hours reading an entire thread it ended with the person just going MIA...

PLEASE PLEASE dont tell me this has happened again lol????

 

[melev]

No, Hop is still around. Currently he is out of town for training, and will be gone for a few weeks or months, but his wife is caring for the tank.

 

[Hop]

LOL. Yeah I wish I could delete some of the last few pages of this thread

Seriously I'm really excited about the tank and I can not wait to get back home and start working on it again! Thanks for the interest.

I still have about another month before I get home, maybe sooner if things go well. Rumor is that Mrs. hop is doing a fine job, but had to call Melev once because she cranked the wrong knob on the skimmer and had some trouble getting the air/water balance and foam going.

I actually have a day off here and was thinking about looking around for a good LFS... Maybe some ideas and a little window shopping for later... Anyone know of some good stores in the Kansas City areas?

So hopefully in a month of so, I'll begin some more work on the tank and will be documenting the addition of some goodies on the tank!