Birth of a 20 tall (Lots of pics!!)

[CPT. MURPHY]

Very cool!

CPT.

 

[oddiseus]

I am just tearing out the refugium at the moment. Ill update pics in a bit. I only have one camera and it is barely 1 megapixel.. In other words a POS. lol. So I am going to borrow my friends again.

-Odd

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

ahh that really sucks...i will soon be starting my journal...hopefully a successful one...

plumbing is done for me now...

i just added a single CL, just using a MJ400. i may upgrade it to a 600 when i see the flow though..seems to be ok for now though..

yours was starting to look real nice though..

yeah graduating is the best feeling...i think..i vaguely remember mine as i was pretty drunk for the last two weeks of my thesis preparation and during the presentation...but i have the paper saying i did it..

as for the plumbing...yeah i wont need that diagram after all...i sat down for two minutes and figured it out..just took me some time after tinkering with my own to realize how it all works..

 

[oddiseus]

ok guys I finally have some more update pics.
I put some hermit crabs in the tank yesterday and was suprised to see that they started right off the back cleaning detritus and green algea.

Also I took some more hardware off an old tank I had.
My ice cap thermo controlled fans: They were very dirty from the years of use but I cleaned it up and it looked great:

I have two real nice moonlights that are going to add a nice touch to the tank for night viewing.

Here is a shot of the location that used to house the refugium. Since my incident I have redesigned it so I am glad it happened.
The redesign allows for a lot better servicing of the pump and the sump than previously.

 

[oddiseus]

Here is another tank shot.

-Odd

 

[AngeloM3]

Just a FYI....... on two things

I made the baffles in my sump/fuge out of the same acrylic.... and i LOADED the edges up with silicone.... my sump/fuge has been in operation about 4 months...... and 2 out of 4 baffles have partial giving way... so just a heads up on that... might wanna go glass or thicker arcylic

And the chamber with the return pump..... that is extremely small! Dont be surprised if you have to add top-off water each day.... or better yet... make an auto top-off so you dont have to worry about filling it up

Other than that.......... looks great!

 

[oddiseus]

Wow. Its funny you say that (As I add Top off water) I have to add water each day and it is quite a substantial amount. An ATO is definitely in my near future. Any good sites you know of that can help me DIY?

As far as the baffles go. I can already see that one of the baffles, the one closest to the return chamber is bowing pretty fiercely. We will see what happens maybe I will make an egg crate crutch for it. lol

Thanks for the input though.

Odd

 

[moze229]

I would say that this setup has been great so far. As far as adding water, I was adding almost 2 gals a day at one point when I had a 55 with a 20gal sump. I started to get concerned about where in the hell the water was going. I went and purchased a dehumidifier, and pulled out about that equivilant of water per day from the air for almost a week, and then it dropped off.

Dehimidifiers are awesome, and perhaps a needed item for anything above 90 gal with an open top tank and sump.

Matt

 

[oddiseus]

This is an update, I finally got the hood done and I retrofit the lights in. I also put the moon lights in. The tank looks great. Here is a shot of the tank with the hood on and the lights installed. I will get some night shots if my camera can do it.

Also I have a detritus bloom now so I guess the cycle is moving right along.

Do you guys think I should turn the skimmer on or wait?

Hope you like?

-Odd

 

[oddiseus]

I was thinking if a skimmer was a good idea at this point. This is only the second tank I have ever cycled so I am unshure of how long I should wait. What do you guys think?

 

[GSMguy]

turn the skimmer on

 

[oddiseus]

well I turned the skimmer on. It is definitely pulling some crap out of the water. I have some corals ready to go as soon as the cycle completes. I cant wait finally something but rock to look at.

-Odd

 

[herostar]

I hear ya on that one. It's crazy how you can still sit and stare at just the rocks all day (or at least what seems like it).

 

[oddiseus]

My tank has been setup since oct 29th, I have tested my parameters and they are high ammonia, and absolutely 0 nitrates/nitrates. Do you think my test kit is expired?
I would think I should be reading some nitrates at least by now.
Let me know what you guys think.

-Odd

 

[seacowboy]

Are you running a SCWD on it?

if so how's it holding up? i've heard some mixed reviews about how long they will last

 

[oddiseus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8712376#post8712376 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seacowboy
Are you running a SCWD on it?

if so how's it holding up? i've heard some mixed reviews about how long they will last

Yes I have a SCWD running on a closed loop with a mag 2 running externally. I havent had any problems with the SCWD. At first it was a lil squeeky but after its break in its runs quiet. Also I have not experienced any of the leaking problems with the mag that other users described. I have only had this tank running since oct 29th so im not sure how accurate an account I can give of the SCWD's reliability. I hope this helps.

-Odd

 

[oddiseus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8705030#post8705030 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by herostar
I hear ya on that one. It's crazy how you can still sit and stare at just the rocks all day (or at least what seems like it).

LOL, I have stared blankly at this rock for too many hours so far. I NEED some action in this glass box. I have some really nice zoo's that my friends have been holding from my last tank as well as some green star polyps. I am hoping to go with a yellow clown goby and some scarlet cleaner shrimp for the break in. Hows that sound?

-Odd

 

[Chihuahua6]

Definitely try another test kit. I had an ammonia reading once after I transferred from one tank to another. It was a steady low reading and nothing changed for about a week. I got a new test kit and there was no ammonia, nitrites and super low nitrates.

I also wanted to make a suggestion to you. Your rock is very packed together. I had mine the same way in my 30 cube until I transferred to a 47 tall. I built a pvc pillar with holes drilled in it. I attached the rock with zip ties to cover the pillar. When you need to stack rock onto other rock to keep it from tumbling it's hard to keep it open for circulation. If you use some type of hidden structure to hold the rock you can keep it open and use zip ties instead of other rock to hold it together. Anyway the circulation improved dramatically and it looks a lot better now. I had to split some rocks too because they were too big. My DH used a hammer and a chisel to split them for me. Note: You must use safety glasses when doing this. Since you are a good DIYer I think it would be easy for you to build a structure and it's actually fun too. I will post pictures on a seperate thread as soon as my DH can upload the pics since I have no clue how to do it.

 

[ZDC]

Nice tank! I am thinking of drilling a 29g with 5 holes as well and was wondering if you did it yourself. If so where did you get the bit?
Thanks,
Z

 

[oddiseus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8720726#post8720726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZDC
Nice tank! I am thinking of drilling a 29g with 5 holes as well and was wondering if you did it yourself. If so where did you get the bit?
Thanks,
Z

Hey a fellow Arizonan!! I did drill the tank myself. I got the bit off of ebay. I will get the name of the seller and post it here for you. Have you ever drilled glass before? Its very easy as long as your patient. If you need help with that too let me know.

-Odd