shelleyBoston
Member
Tank looks really nice..!
Downsizing??? Really???
- Thread starter Ron Reefman
- Start date
Ron Reefman
Active member
Thanks Shelley. I hope over the next month it continues to improve. I have corals to move into the DT. For the display refugium I'm getting some decorative macro algae from Gulf Coast Ecosystems when they come to our local club's Reef Conference in 8 days. I may even visit TBS and get some very live rock.
But for now, getting the system to run right and look good outside in the issue. I had bulkhead leakage issues with the DR (Display Refugium) which was a pain to fix. Then I found the cabinet/stand wasn't strong enough so I massively upgraded that. Then I bumped the pipe glued into a bulkhead when I was setting the tank back on the stand and created a new leak at the bulkhead to pvc pipe. So I coated the joint with JB Weld and it stopped the leak. So I coated it again. Then I took self amalgamating silicon tape and wrapped the join and finally added a hose clamp on top of the silicone tape. That's one joint I'll never get apart again!
So the leak and stand fixed, I water tested and everything seems OK. First here is a shot inside the DR stand and you can see 2 beams, both are made with 2x6's that are glued and screwed together. I also doubled up the side thickness of the stand from 3/4" to 1 1/2". Here is a view into the stand.
Here you can see the 2 beams that run from side to side under the new 3/4" plywood top.
Just for fun I put a couple of leather corals, a few mangrove propagules and 2 clumps of red Gracilaria. Nothing is permanent at this point. I also added 2 Jebao wavemaker powerheads that I've had for years to add more water movement. I also raised the skimmer up 4" in the sump.
There is still a lot to do. The DT stand will get the hinges replaced with slow close hinges and small round white door handles (like on the DR stand) will get added. A white pvc board will get added as a toe kick under the DR stand. The old EverGrow led fixture will be gone tomorrow and a new Reef Breeders Photon V2 16" fixture will get added.
Slowly but surely this project is moving forward. Water parameters are still good. The diatom bloom is still an issue but I'm going to try and let it run it's course. The new macro algae in the DR should help reduce issues in the DT. It just really feels good to have it looking halfway decent and running with no serious issues.
But for now, getting the system to run right and look good outside in the issue. I had bulkhead leakage issues with the DR (Display Refugium) which was a pain to fix. Then I found the cabinet/stand wasn't strong enough so I massively upgraded that. Then I bumped the pipe glued into a bulkhead when I was setting the tank back on the stand and created a new leak at the bulkhead to pvc pipe. So I coated the joint with JB Weld and it stopped the leak. So I coated it again. Then I took self amalgamating silicon tape and wrapped the join and finally added a hose clamp on top of the silicone tape. That's one joint I'll never get apart again!
So the leak and stand fixed, I water tested and everything seems OK. First here is a shot inside the DR stand and you can see 2 beams, both are made with 2x6's that are glued and screwed together. I also doubled up the side thickness of the stand from 3/4" to 1 1/2". Here is a view into the stand.
Here you can see the 2 beams that run from side to side under the new 3/4" plywood top.
Just for fun I put a couple of leather corals, a few mangrove propagules and 2 clumps of red Gracilaria. Nothing is permanent at this point. I also added 2 Jebao wavemaker powerheads that I've had for years to add more water movement. I also raised the skimmer up 4" in the sump.
There is still a lot to do. The DT stand will get the hinges replaced with slow close hinges and small round white door handles (like on the DR stand) will get added. A white pvc board will get added as a toe kick under the DR stand. The old EverGrow led fixture will be gone tomorrow and a new Reef Breeders Photon V2 16" fixture will get added.
Slowly but surely this project is moving forward. Water parameters are still good. The diatom bloom is still an issue but I'm going to try and let it run it's course. The new macro algae in the DR should help reduce issues in the DT. It just really feels good to have it looking halfway decent and running with no serious issues.
JonezNReef
Member
Nice Ron! Glad to see things are going good for you and getting things running. The new setup looks super clean!
Ron Reefman
Active member
Thanks for the kind words guys. I'm really happy with the way things are progressing.
Corey, we had our kitchen cabinets and counter tops replaced back in February. We got the white cabinets through a local installer, but the cabinets (like everything these days) come from China. So most anybody can buy them. Well, when we decided to go with the CadLight with the white stand, I wanted a spare white kitchen cabinet for the refugium. And just to make matters even more complicated, we got new cabinets to match for both bathrooms as well. But unlike the kitchen which we had done by professionals, I'm doing the bathrooms! I'll be working on home improvement projects until New Years!
BTW, my wife is on vacation this week, we were going to go to the Keys to do some snorkeling. But Mathew and his 150mph winds put a big crimp in that plan. So today, before our winds here on the west side of the state get bumped up, we decided to go to the beach. It was an absolutely beautiful day with flat, clear water. I managed to pick up a handful of BIG mangrove propagules, a clump of very cool looking red macro algae, a small clump of turtle grass and 2 cute little porcelain crabs that are all in the refugium already. It was a great day... but I didn't get snot done on the tank or the home improvements!
Corey, we had our kitchen cabinets and counter tops replaced back in February. We got the white cabinets through a local installer, but the cabinets (like everything these days) come from China. So most anybody can buy them. Well, when we decided to go with the CadLight with the white stand, I wanted a spare white kitchen cabinet for the refugium. And just to make matters even more complicated, we got new cabinets to match for both bathrooms as well. But unlike the kitchen which we had done by professionals, I'm doing the bathrooms! I'll be working on home improvement projects until New Years!
BTW, my wife is on vacation this week, we were going to go to the Keys to do some snorkeling. But Mathew and his 150mph winds put a big crimp in that plan. So today, before our winds here on the west side of the state get bumped up, we decided to go to the beach. It was an absolutely beautiful day with flat, clear water. I managed to pick up a handful of BIG mangrove propagules, a clump of very cool looking red macro algae, a small clump of turtle grass and 2 cute little porcelain crabs that are all in the refugium already. It was a great day... but I didn't get snot done on the tank or the home improvements!
Jah2707
Member
This is the type of builds I enjoy seeing/reading. Something I could see myself doing. Lots of little touches and diy aspects. I just wish I had about 20 pages to read and see the end result right now
Great job Ron and thanks for sharing. I goal is to be where you are in about 35 years.
Great job Ron and thanks for sharing. I goal is to be where you are in about 35 years.
Ron Reefman
Active member
In 35 years you can have mine because I'll be 102 years old! :xlbirthday:
Seriously, thanks for the kind words. I'm having fun building. Right now I'm kind of splitting my days as 66% on the bathroom rebuild and 33% on the new aquarium set up and 1% on RC!
I did a lot of diy on the old system and even more on the 65g shallow reef work tank. So this time I figured I'd start with nice stuff and try to make it different, better and more fun. I'm looking forward to stocking the refugium with colorful macro algae.
My wife and I were just talking about doing a beach walk Fri or Sat; or my preference, both days! As hurricane Matthew passes by us to the east. I have to admit, I'm still a bit nervous as it's projected path keeps slipping west. We are currently forecast to get 30mph west winds and that brings lots of 'stuff' from the shallows up onto the beaches on Sanibel Island. So I'm hoping to pick up some porcelain crabs, pistol shrimp, maybe a few small serpent stars and who knows what else. In the past we've collected some unusual anemones and now we think we've identified a sponge or two that can survive prolonged exposure to the air as well as surviving in our tanks. Heck, last January I picked up a small shark and walked it back into the water (see photo below)! It feels kind of weird looking forward to a close encounter with a major hurricane. I'll post pictures of any beach walk we do.
Seriously, thanks for the kind words. I'm having fun building. Right now I'm kind of splitting my days as 66% on the bathroom rebuild and 33% on the new aquarium set up and 1% on RC!
I did a lot of diy on the old system and even more on the 65g shallow reef work tank. So this time I figured I'd start with nice stuff and try to make it different, better and more fun. I'm looking forward to stocking the refugium with colorful macro algae.
My wife and I were just talking about doing a beach walk Fri or Sat; or my preference, both days! As hurricane Matthew passes by us to the east. I have to admit, I'm still a bit nervous as it's projected path keeps slipping west. We are currently forecast to get 30mph west winds and that brings lots of 'stuff' from the shallows up onto the beaches on Sanibel Island. So I'm hoping to pick up some porcelain crabs, pistol shrimp, maybe a few small serpent stars and who knows what else. In the past we've collected some unusual anemones and now we think we've identified a sponge or two that can survive prolonged exposure to the air as well as surviving in our tanks. Heck, last January I picked up a small shark and walked it back into the water (see photo below)! It feels kind of weird looking forward to a close encounter with a major hurricane. I'll post pictures of any beach walk we do.
Ron Reefman
Active member
Thanks worldbook. If you have any questions, feel free to jump in or PM me. I just got my Reef Breeders Photon V2 16" for the display refugium today. I've been working bathroom rebuild all day today. Tomorrow I hope to get some more work done like the toe kick under the refugium stand and get the new slow close hinges installed in the DT stand.
dickwhitehead
New member
Hope you stay safe and don't get too much bad stuff your way. Walking the beach and finding cool stuff sounds awesome! I'd love to be able to go from the ocean to the tank!
Ron Reefman
Active member
Yeah, and just as I'm starting to feel pretty good about Matthew being far enough away that we will be OK, the spaghetti models are starting to show it looping out into the Atlantic and then back at Florida and crossing the state into the Gulf of Mexico. Now only a handful of models show that, and it a forecast that's 5 or 6 days away... and that's a lifetime in hurricane time! I'm not worried... yet, just keeping my eyes open.
Whenever I get out to do the beach walk, I'll post pics here.
Whenever I get out to do the beach walk, I'll post pics here.
Bluefish9
New member
In 35 years you can have mine because I'll be 102 years old! :xlbirthday:
Seriously, thanks for the kind words. I'm having fun building. Right now I'm kind of splitting my days as 66% on the bathroom rebuild and 33% on the new aquarium set up and 1% on RC!
I did a lot of diy on the old system and even more on the 65g shallow reef work tank. So this time I figured I'd start with nice stuff and try to make it different, better and more fun. I'm looking forward to stocking the refugium with colorful macro algae.
My wife and I were just talking about doing a beach walk Fri or Sat; or my preference, both days! As hurricane Matthew passes by us to the east. I have to admit, I'm still a bit nervous as it's projected path keeps slipping west. We are currently forecast to get 30mph west winds and that brings lots of 'stuff' from the shallows up onto the beaches on Sanibel Island. So I'm hoping to pick up some porcelain crabs, pistol shrimp, maybe a few small serpent stars and who knows what else. In the past we've collected some unusual anemones and now we think we've identified a sponge or two that can survive prolonged exposure to the air as well as surviving in our tanks. Heck, last January I picked up a small shark and walked it back into the water (see photo below)! It feels kind of weird looking forward to a close encounter with a major hurricane. I'll post pictures of any beach walk we do.
Picked up a little shark myself lol [emoji6]
Stay safe down there. I know its east but it looks like a nasty one.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ron Reefman
Active member
OK, first things first. Hurricane Matthew passed by far enough to the east that SW Florida had little more than a steady 25mph wind for 24 hours. We dodged a bullet! The bad news was that the west wind wasn't strong enough to blow any good 'stuff' up on the beach at Sanibel Island... well nothing other than a lot of dead fish that were killed by a Red Tide event and were rotting out in the Gulf of Mexico and are now on our beaches up and down the SW coast of Florida. So we did no collecting of anything off the beach.
Saturday was our local club's (SWFMAS.com) annual Reef Conference. The first thing I wanted to do was visit Russ at Gulf Coast Ecosystems and buy some macro algae. I bought 2 kinds of red algae and a small clump of algae that is kind of blue! I also got a Gorgonian that has a thick creamy white stalk and brown polyps. From a couple of other vendors I bought several Acros to start replacing what I lost in the holding tanks after the breach of my old 180g tank. I also won 4 nice sps coral frags with just 10 raffle tickets that cost $2 each. I thought for sure that was going to be just a $20 donation to the club as I wouldn't win anything. What a happy surprise! In the non-livestock raffle, our club does a GREAT raffle; I bought $100 worth of tickets and won over $250 worth of small stuff I wanted. I got 4 bottles of Reef Nutrition, a pair of stainless steel clippers and shears, a couple bottles of pods, a bottle of Aquavitro Fuel, a couple bottles of Vita-Chem and a box of Prodibio BioKit Reef. So I had a wonderful Saturday!
Sunday I did a lot of cleaning in the tanks and set up a frag rack (temporary) in the refugium for the frags that will be going into the DT. Oh, and my 2nd new Reef Breeders Photon V2 arrived and is now lighting the refugium.
Here are a couple current photos.
Saturday was our local club's (SWFMAS.com) annual Reef Conference. The first thing I wanted to do was visit Russ at Gulf Coast Ecosystems and buy some macro algae. I bought 2 kinds of red algae and a small clump of algae that is kind of blue! I also got a Gorgonian that has a thick creamy white stalk and brown polyps. From a couple of other vendors I bought several Acros to start replacing what I lost in the holding tanks after the breach of my old 180g tank. I also won 4 nice sps coral frags with just 10 raffle tickets that cost $2 each. I thought for sure that was going to be just a $20 donation to the club as I wouldn't win anything. What a happy surprise! In the non-livestock raffle, our club does a GREAT raffle; I bought $100 worth of tickets and won over $250 worth of small stuff I wanted. I got 4 bottles of Reef Nutrition, a pair of stainless steel clippers and shears, a couple bottles of pods, a bottle of Aquavitro Fuel, a couple bottles of Vita-Chem and a box of Prodibio BioKit Reef. So I had a wonderful Saturday!
Sunday I did a lot of cleaning in the tanks and set up a frag rack (temporary) in the refugium for the frags that will be going into the DT. Oh, and my 2nd new Reef Breeders Photon V2 arrived and is now lighting the refugium.
Here are a couple current photos.
Ron Reefman
Active member
Thanks dabob79. I'm looking forward to doing the aquascaping in the refugium.
I've wanted to wait until I had the doors installed on the stand, but life has gotten in the way and it may be a day or two more. So instead, here's a pic of what the system looks like now the the refugium running and fairly well stocked as well as the 2nd Photon V2 led up and running and the toe kick added under the refugium stand.
I've wanted to wait until I had the doors installed on the stand, but life has gotten in the way and it may be a day or two more. So instead, here's a pic of what the system looks like now the the refugium running and fairly well stocked as well as the 2nd Photon V2 led up and running and the toe kick added under the refugium stand.
Ron Reefman
Active member
OK, so I finally got the doors installed. It took a bit of work with a chisel to set 2 of the hinges about 1/10th of an inch into the vertical bar. It's my fault for going beyond the designers basic design. I added metal threaded anchors in the stand so I could remove and reinstall the vertical braces if I needed to and not worry about wooden threads getting stripped or worn out. Anyway, it's done now.
Now I'll start work on getting the Apex set up, getting longer cords to run from 2 or 3 of the controllers to the pumps at the left end of the tank, add a small white bookshelf between the refugium stand and the wall, get dosing pumps and ATO set up... does it ever end?
Between our local club's Reef Conference vendors (Ed Williams & yandy corals), the live raffle, and 2 local club members, I have a lot of coral frags to add. And I'm getting a mated pair of clownfish for the tank.
Now I'll start work on getting the Apex set up, getting longer cords to run from 2 or 3 of the controllers to the pumps at the left end of the tank, add a small white bookshelf between the refugium stand and the wall, get dosing pumps and ATO set up... does it ever end?
Between our local club's Reef Conference vendors (Ed Williams & yandy corals), the live raffle, and 2 local club members, I have a lot of coral frags to add. And I'm getting a mated pair of clownfish for the tank.
Ron Reefman
Active member
I've decided to not put some of my bigger fish from the old 180g tank back into the new 125g set up. And I haven't had clownfish for several years, so I decided to get a mated pair. Since my stands are bright white, and our new kitchen cabinets are white, and my Siamese cat who likes to watch the tank is white and orange... here she is looking at the old tank.
So I decided to get a pair of mostly white and orange clowns. They seem quite happy and feeding with the other 2 fish.
So I decided to get a pair of mostly white and orange clowns. They seem quite happy and feeding with the other 2 fish.
