Chad's Simultaneous 225 SPS & 180 FOWLR Office Build

[Mr. Brooks]

I could.. but it wouldn't be pretty lol. If heat and humidity turn out to be too much of a problem, then I'll look into installing one of these:

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I'd install it above the tank in the drop ceiling. I had some electrical lines run up when they were doing the tenant improvement phase of construction. They were orginally intended to be used for accent lights along the wall. The lines go down to a covered electrical box next to the light switches by the door. I'm sure I could hook it up to all kinds of humidity/temperature sensors, timers, or just run it manually.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

I had a thought today, I have 150 lbs. of live rock cooking in my warehouse. It's been cooking for about a month. I got it used from another tank. Do you guys think I should leave it out in the sun for a couple days just in case there's any pests hiding in there? I found one of those snails that spit out a stream of mucus to catch food in the water colum. It had died and smelled pretty bad. Makes me wonder how many are still alive in there.

 

[Bax]

I am not a fan of drying it out unless you are targetting a specific evil. So much "good" stuff will die off that you'll be leaching nutrients for a years to come.

I picked up some Marco rock , about 50 pounds to build an arch for the 220. I've been running it in an open tank of SW with a skimmer and a Tunze 6025 for months now. You would not belive the scrunge I pull out in the skimmer each week! And it's probably been dry for years!

I'd just pull up another tub/trash can whayever, and change it to new SW once every 4-6 weeks to keep it viable. You can do a visual inspection each time you move it.

Keep it dark, with good water flow and start a skimmer about a month begore you want to use it

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Thanks Bax, will do.

I started adding salt to my RO/DI storage and mixing container. I suddenly became concerned while pouring the salt.. How likely is it that the float valve will get salt creep on it and fail over time? I've seen people run fresh water only containers above thier mixing containers and gravity feed to a seperate container when making salt water. I was hoping to save space and money by having only one container.

I'd love any input you guys may have on this and or any other aspect of my build so far..

I found a REALLY good deal on a brand new Vortech second generation powerhead. I won't need it for months, should I buy it anyway? This is the best deal I've found so far. I'll eventually hide it in the back, between the rocks and to the left of the overflow. It's main purpose will be life support if and when the power goes out (battery backup). I think I'll have plenty of flow in the begining. but a little extra never hurt.

 

[Bax]

Buy the VorTech! I really like mine!

I now use two Brute barrels side by side one for RODI and one to mix and hold SW. I am planning to change it to either a 35g or 65 poly tank for RODI that sits over a barrel for SW mix and transfer. The second barrel will stay around in case I need extra of either RODI or SW, or I may just link them together for a larger SW mix/hold system.

Again, buy the VorTech once you try it, you'll like it especially with the WW controller. I really like the way the Tunzes interact with the WW controlled VorTech.

 

[Bax]

Buy the VorTech! I really like mine!

I now use two Brute barrels side by side one for RODI and one to mix and hold SW. I am planning to change it to either a 35g or 65 poly tank for RODI that sits over a barrel for SW mix and transfer. The second barrel will stay around in case I need extra of either RODI or SW, or I may just link them together for a larger SW mix/hold system.

Again, buy the VorTech once you try it, you'll like it especially with the WW controller. I really like the way the Tunzes interact with the WW controlled VorTech.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Ok guys, not too exciting but I though I'd go over what I did today. I finally attacked one of the two Brute trash cans full of live rock that I bought from a guy getting out of the hobby. I got a great deal but as alwys in life, you get what you pay for. I'd noticed a couple snails on some of the rock. They're the kind of snails that grow on the rock and spit out a mucus net to catch food in the water colum. I think they're called Vermetid snails. I'd considered drying out the rock to be sure I got rid of all of them. I decided instead to check over each picece of rock and manually remove them with a flathead screwdriver and a hammer. I also hadn't done any water changes or rinsed the rock off since buying it almost two months ago. I waned to get my mixing container up and running before I started so I'd have plenty of new saltwater to work with. It would've been such a PITA to buy saltwater from the LFS.

So it turns out the rock was INFESTED! I literally chiseled off over 100 of the little bastards. If you read my thread about cooking live rock than you know that I'd been misinformed and had run the heater on the rock up to probably 100 degrees. Well it's safe to say I killed just about everything in the water. The rock didn't smell on first inspection. However, every snail I chiseled off reeked of marine snail death, a horrible, HORRIBLE smell. They probably died almost two months ago and had been rotting, enclosed in their shells, the entire time. I'm really glad I got them off the rock. I'm sure they would've leached nutrients for months and months. It took me about 3 hours just to handle one trash can full of rock, only about 80 lbs. I still have another one to inspect, chisel and rinse. I'll probably attack that one tomorrow night. Here's what was left in the bins after I was finished:

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This is about half the snails I chiseled off:

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My little work station. I really can't stress enough how bad the smell was..

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Clean rock:

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Overall shot:

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I'm exhausted, off to bed.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Progress on the canopy!

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[Itaysworld]

Looking great Chad!

You'll appreciate the extra height you built into it. I know that's one thing I wish my canopy would have - more clearance between the lights and water and more room to maneuver in there.

What color do you plan on painting/staining the stand and canopy?


Oh man - good thing you took off those nasty rotten snails. I know how my rock smelled when I cured it in the tank in the living room... can't even imagine how this smelled after the heat and all that time to decompose trapped in the shells!

One down, one to go! (bucketwise ) - Good luck!

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Thanks Italy! I'm going to have Jeff match the stain as closely as he can to my office furniture. It will be dark with a tiny amount of reddish tint. Kinda like this:

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[Itaysworld]

Oh man - that's going to look awesome!


Did you end up going with the raised panel or flat panel for the doors?

I casted my vote for raised, but missed the outcome Either way it will look great!

 

[Reefer Brian]

Looks great so far Chad. I'm about to start that 280g soon.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

I went with raised. It was my first choice and I think it'll come out really classy.

Thanks Brian! Will you start a build thread? Can't wait to see what you do with that tank!

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Wrapped up the second trash can of rock. It was not near as bad as the first. But it was still quite a chore. I'll probably rinse and inspect the rock one more time before it goes in the tank.

 

[Bax]

You just have to love this hobby to spend 8 or 9 hours scraping dead snails off of your rock!

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Almost done!!!!

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The shelf in the back is for the closed loop pump.
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This is an aluminum brace added at the last minute. Jeff wanted to prevent against possible sagging. Can't tell you how impressed I am with Jeff's attention to detail and professionalism.
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Here's a random shot of some more stuff I've picked up. CJ 2" mega flow stand pipe, Tunze Osmolator, DJ power strip with switches, dual covers for the fans (I'll be flipping the cover over so that gray circular design won't show, it'll just be flat black), Sybon refractometer and some other random stuff.
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So what'dya think? I'm really happy with it. I'm a little nervous about picking out the stain though. I'm notoriously bad at making design decisions.

 

[Itaysworld]

Chad - wow! That is one beautiful piece of furniture!

Truly amazing workmanship - It will look amazing once stained and finished. Love the detail work, great move on the sliding light rack - can't wait to see it finished, stained and with a tank in the middle!

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Thanks Itay!

 

[nacho245]

awesome work, congratulation from mexico chad!!
I have a question for you, lets see if you understand me. I was thinking of installing also the dj power strip, for my aquarium. But the question is, does at the back of the console they come plugs-ins? to connect all the accesories???
Well, thats all, thanks and nice job

 

[Mr. Brooks]

What a trip! I've got someone from another country checking out my build! Well Nacho, that's exactly how the DJ console works. Each switch has a corresponding socket. So if you plug your return pump into ther first socket, you'd flip the first switch to turn it on and off. I'll post a picture of the back of side tomorrow.