In-Wall 180 Project
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Well, it was well over three months ago so my rights to complain are pretty much over. That'll teach me to inspect the contents FULLY next time I get an order from anyone.
Truthfully, it's not even the size of the rock that will prevent me from ordering from there. It's just that NONE Of the rock, including the large base rock I did manage to get from him, are solid, non-porous boulders. I'm looking for porous volume not weight. Reeferrocks is the best rock I've ever seen and will probably get more of that soon.
Truthfully, it's not even the size of the rock that will prevent me from ordering from there. It's just that NONE Of the rock, including the large base rock I did manage to get from him, are solid, non-porous boulders. I'm looking for porous volume not weight. Reeferrocks is the best rock I've ever seen and will probably get more of that soon.
Ok,
Got the livestock and coral moved over. Water parameters are stable. No nitrates detectable (new water, I wonder why).
Everything seems fine but the RBTA baby (which is a TRUE BUBBLE tipped, unlike his mom, who I couldnt find) was attached to the bottom of a rock. I set the rock at the same angle as it was in the 40gal, so I'll wait til he "sees the light" and comes out of hiding. I'm a little worried. Most corals look ok, but the Pink Pompom Xenias took the move pretty hard.
The sponge broke in two places but I have the pieces sitting on a rock. Hopefully, they'll attach and keep growing. I sliced up the GSP down to a manageable size and the rock is standing upright on top so I can pull it out and trim it every now and again.
As you can see, I still need more rock. Waiting to see the quality that Coral Oasis gets, and I'm considering another order from Reeferrocks. Everything is still cloudy but the skimmer is pulling anything available, as is my too-small bag of carbon. It should be clear by tomorrow I think.
Whole tank:
Reeferrocks order. Isnt that the nicest rock??!!
The right side with my rock from the 40gal and the Ebay order on the bottom. Very solid stuff, very few holes. The small stuff I got ("our best") is in the fuge. Not worth putting in display because it's too small:
Thats it for now! I need more fish and coral! Feel free to donate interesting and colorful fish!
Guess it's time to replace Nemo. I'm going to wait til I'm sure the water is perfect though. I have my bucket of sand from the 40. I'm going to clean it with fresh salt water and dry it thoroughly in the sun. Then it will go through my screen to pick out the heavy stuff.
Got the livestock and coral moved over. Water parameters are stable. No nitrates detectable (new water, I wonder why).
Everything seems fine but the RBTA baby (which is a TRUE BUBBLE tipped, unlike his mom, who I couldnt find) was attached to the bottom of a rock. I set the rock at the same angle as it was in the 40gal, so I'll wait til he "sees the light" and comes out of hiding. I'm a little worried. Most corals look ok, but the Pink Pompom Xenias took the move pretty hard.
The sponge broke in two places but I have the pieces sitting on a rock. Hopefully, they'll attach and keep growing. I sliced up the GSP down to a manageable size and the rock is standing upright on top so I can pull it out and trim it every now and again.
As you can see, I still need more rock. Waiting to see the quality that Coral Oasis gets, and I'm considering another order from Reeferrocks. Everything is still cloudy but the skimmer is pulling anything available, as is my too-small bag of carbon. It should be clear by tomorrow I think.
Whole tank:
Reeferrocks order. Isnt that the nicest rock??!!
The right side with my rock from the 40gal and the Ebay order on the bottom. Very solid stuff, very few holes. The small stuff I got ("our best") is in the fuge. Not worth putting in display because it's too small:
Thats it for now! I need more fish and coral! Feel free to donate interesting and colorful fish!
Guess it's time to replace Nemo. I'm going to wait til I'm sure the water is perfect though. I have my bucket of sand from the 40. I'm going to clean it with fresh salt water and dry it thoroughly in the sun. Then it will go through my screen to pick out the heavy stuff.
Looking good. Your CL plumbing is so damn pretty and I know I'll never be able to do a job like that. I'm just going to go the other way a Tunze setup. It's going to be a battle without having to worry about CL plumbing.
How do you plan on cleaning the front glass? As it's glass you can hack at it a bit but still doesn't look like an easy operation.
How do you plan on cleaning the front glass? As it's glass you can hack at it a bit but still doesn't look like an easy operation.
Actually NexDog, the CL is very very easy to plumb. You cut the Spa Flex with a utility knife and put the PVC fittings on there. Trust me, I think it's easier than using inside the tank pumps. There is always that time that the Tunze may fall or be misdirected, then you have an instant sandstorm. Not to mention, no more reaching inside of the water to pull a pump for cleaning. Overall, I would say that the CL is going to SAVE me time and energy. The plumbing took me about two hours.
Front glass will be cleaned with a long handled scraper and sponge. About 3.5' long. No, it wont be easy, but what is? It's the appearance that I'm looking for and in-wall was the neatest look that I've ever seen. Worth a minute or two standing on the back ledge over the tank and scraping every now and again, IMO. Honestly I dont think it would be any harder than being able to reach it from the front, other than I wont be able to see the coraline clearly (until I get an acrylic box to look through).
Front glass will be cleaned with a long handled scraper and sponge. About 3.5' long. No, it wont be easy, but what is? It's the appearance that I'm looking for and in-wall was the neatest look that I've ever seen. Worth a minute or two standing on the back ledge over the tank and scraping every now and again, IMO. Honestly I dont think it would be any harder than being able to reach it from the front, other than I wont be able to see the coraline clearly (until I get an acrylic box to look through).
Reef Addict II
Member
Looking Good :thumbsup:
Nice to see your in the home stretch
Steve
Nice to see your in the home stretch
Steve
Ehydo,
Yep, I hosed down all of the rock for about 20 minutes in an 18gal rubbermaid in my back yard last weekend, then hosed them off again on the patio. As much rinsing as I've ever done on any base rock, I've never seen base rock not crumble and dust some. No prob. The tank was clear this morning with minimal cloudiness. It should be no more than a couple days before the bacteria start grabbing hold of the sand. I've never really washed sand and I added it regularly to my 40gal because I vacuumed it well every month. I never had a huge problem with cloudiness afterwords either. I guess I just had plenty of bacteria.
Thanks Reef Addict! Just have to clean up the wiring in the closet, hook up the Calcium Reactor (get the bottle filled first), and get some trim and paint on the front.
I think it's going well. As a matter of fact, during the entire build I havent had very many problems at all. Only problems were the ones caused by people (read: AC CONTRACTORS).
Once the rest of the rock is in, I can then go sell my body for chump change to buy livestock. :lol:
Yep, I hosed down all of the rock for about 20 minutes in an 18gal rubbermaid in my back yard last weekend, then hosed them off again on the patio. As much rinsing as I've ever done on any base rock, I've never seen base rock not crumble and dust some. No prob. The tank was clear this morning with minimal cloudiness. It should be no more than a couple days before the bacteria start grabbing hold of the sand. I've never really washed sand and I added it regularly to my 40gal because I vacuumed it well every month. I never had a huge problem with cloudiness afterwords either. I guess I just had plenty of bacteria.
Thanks Reef Addict! Just have to clean up the wiring in the closet, hook up the Calcium Reactor (get the bottle filled first), and get some trim and paint on the front.
I think it's going well. As a matter of fact, during the entire build I havent had very many problems at all. Only problems were the ones caused by people (read: AC CONTRACTORS).
Once the rest of the rock is in, I can then go sell my body for chump change to buy livestock. :lol:
Ok
Havent done much updating lately, but I'm adding the Korallin reactor tonight. Need more rock and sand, going to re-use my sand from the 40gallon. Have it all cleaned up and it's drying in the sun now. Got an Angel fish with a messed up right eye. Seems to have injured himself two days after I put him in the tank. I had him in a 10gal QT for a week. I made the LFS feed him and he fed well, acted well. I think he ran into a rock or something. Has been hiding for two days now. He's a BiColor Angel. Beautiful yellow and navy blue.
My Goby decided to hop out of the tank, not sure why.
Everything seems ok so far. Just gotta get more rock in and start picking up coral once I get the reactor working stable. Also, my skimmer is starting to produce less bubbles. Thinking it's time to clean out the injector, as well as the cup and reaction chamber.
Pics tomorrow
Havent done much updating lately, but I'm adding the Korallin reactor tonight. Need more rock and sand, going to re-use my sand from the 40gallon. Have it all cleaned up and it's drying in the sun now. Got an Angel fish with a messed up right eye. Seems to have injured himself two days after I put him in the tank. I had him in a 10gal QT for a week. I made the LFS feed him and he fed well, acted well. I think he ran into a rock or something. Has been hiding for two days now. He's a BiColor Angel. Beautiful yellow and navy blue.
My Goby decided to hop out of the tank, not sure why.
Everything seems ok so far. Just gotta get more rock in and start picking up coral once I get the reactor working stable. Also, my skimmer is starting to produce less bubbles. Thinking it's time to clean out the injector, as well as the cup and reaction chamber.
Pics tomorrow
Pics:
Full body shot:
Right side:
Left side:
Side shot:
Reactor running still into effluent cup. Trying to dial in the C02 properly. The flow from the regulator decides to change on it's own. Slows down quite a bit and takes forever for me to increase it to 10 bubbles per minute without going too fast. Very strange.
Room is still a mess. Skimmer is down for cleaning right now. I havent gotten wiring cleaned up yet. Also, I've been trying to find some sort of rack that would fit in the back, but all in the stores are way too wide. I dont want it coming out from the back wall more than 24". I may end up just hanging a shelf up near the ceiling for the ballasts, then putting a topoff tub drilled with the Kent valve on the current platform, and a thin trashcan underneath the wooden stand:
New evap fan blowing into the sump water. $9.00 at Kmart:
Shrooms, RBTA and very active Chromis:
Thats it for now! More later as I get more rock and get more organized!
Full body shot:
Right side:
Left side:
Side shot:
Reactor running still into effluent cup. Trying to dial in the C02 properly. The flow from the regulator decides to change on it's own. Slows down quite a bit and takes forever for me to increase it to 10 bubbles per minute without going too fast. Very strange.
Room is still a mess. Skimmer is down for cleaning right now. I havent gotten wiring cleaned up yet. Also, I've been trying to find some sort of rack that would fit in the back, but all in the stores are way too wide. I dont want it coming out from the back wall more than 24". I may end up just hanging a shelf up near the ceiling for the ballasts, then putting a topoff tub drilled with the Kent valve on the current platform, and a thin trashcan underneath the wooden stand:
New evap fan blowing into the sump water. $9.00 at Kmart:
Shrooms, RBTA and very active Chromis:
Thats it for now! More later as I get more rock and get more organized!
NexDog said:The tank is so clean!
Well, yeah but it's only a week old! :lol: Give it time, it'll be mess soon! Just noticed the start of some algae growth on the sides and back today, as well as the new white rock. Give it a week and it'll be as nasty as everyone elses!
Guess I should find another Goby to help me keep the sand clean.
Thanks guys!! Actually, my reward was NOT doing heavy construction for the first weekend in about two months!
Felt good to finally relax one weekend. Course, I couldnt keep my nose out of the tank room. :lol:
As far as the aquascaping, I have plenty of big cavities in the rock for the fish to hide and whatever other shallow water reef activities may want to go on. The trench isnt very deep, but it will be a trench nonetheless. Already plenty of snail/hermit/fish activity in the canyon. I think I'm going to bring it closer together though. Still wide enough that I can vacuum it and keep the sand as pristine as possible, but closer.
Yeah, the open sand look is important for the image I'm trying to portray. The corner end has a LOT of sand showing and of course, that is by design. I'll put a few zoos or a clam or such in that area to catch folks' eyes as they walk by.
Felt good to finally relax one weekend. Course, I couldnt keep my nose out of the tank room. :lol:
As far as the aquascaping, I have plenty of big cavities in the rock for the fish to hide and whatever other shallow water reef activities may want to go on. The trench isnt very deep, but it will be a trench nonetheless. Already plenty of snail/hermit/fish activity in the canyon. I think I'm going to bring it closer together though. Still wide enough that I can vacuum it and keep the sand as pristine as possible, but closer.
Yeah, the open sand look is important for the image I'm trying to portray. The corner end has a LOT of sand showing and of course, that is by design. I'll put a few zoos or a clam or such in that area to catch folks' eyes as they walk by.
By the way,
Just wanted to share this: After putting the clip on clip evaporation fan onto the sump and blowing directly into the water, the temp averages about 76-77 or so with the door to the room open during the day, 79 at night when the lights are on and the door is open, and about 80-81 with the lights on, room door closed, and air conditioning keeping the house at 77.
Use an evap fan. Trust me. Even if you use a chiller also, it just might keep your chiller from coming on as much, saving you BEAUCOUP bucks when you pay your electric bill.
Just wanted to share this: After putting the clip on clip evaporation fan onto the sump and blowing directly into the water, the temp averages about 76-77 or so with the door to the room open during the day, 79 at night when the lights are on and the door is open, and about 80-81 with the lights on, room door closed, and air conditioning keeping the house at 77.
Use an evap fan. Trust me. Even if you use a chiller also, it just might keep your chiller from coming on as much, saving you BEAUCOUP bucks when you pay your electric bill.
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