My 10 Gallon Reef Project??

Still no internet at home......5 days. They still say it's an outage............

Anyway, I'm wrapping part of the stand in wainscoting tonight. I had some left over from a bathroom remodel, and I think it'll work nicely as a stand cover. I may need to add a brace or two to support it though.

I think I may have found a solution for my lights also. I may be able to trade one of my halide setups for a couple of t5 fixtures. That would solve my heat worries.

I've had water in the tank for 3 days with the filter running. So far, no problems. Filter seems to run fine and no signs of leaks or issues with the tank. I'll probably drain it down tonight before working on the stand cover.

I need to bite the bullet and get my RO/DI parts ordered as well as the sand, heater, and controller. Friday is payday, so maybe then......

I hope to get some pictures of the stand posted as I finish it up.
 
Finished the wainscoting about an hour ago. Need some pieces of corner trim and some wide trim to finish it up. Going to Lowes tomorrow night, so I may finish over the weekend.

I'd put up a picture of it as is, but it's not much to look at.
 
OK. Went ahead and snapped a couple shots on the phone.

I'm still not sure my vision is going to work.

From here, I plan on cutting trim for the top and bottom frames and using pieces of corner trim where the wainscoting meets. I'll then paint it all one color.

Thoughts?

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I was hoping to be able to fit a 10 gallon tank underneath. It fit, but I couldn't get it in and out with the sides on, so I took it out. Not sure what I'm going to do really.

I may pop the paneling off before I'm done. Not sure.
 
So..........I'm thinking, I'm going to go ahead and put the paneling on all the surfaces and just use corner trim to bring it together. I think it'll look better that way. So, tomorrow, I'll cut pieces of wainscoting to cover the rest. Then, I'll cut a piece of plywood for the front door, and call it done for now.

I was thinking of putting the halide ballast under the stand, but that may increase my heat issues. (I haven't heard back on the T5 trade, and I'm not going to buy any at the moment, so I'll have to just deal with the halides for the moment.) Need some 1x6 or 1x8 to build the box for the pendant.

It's a busy time of year to be setting up a tank. Too much stuff to do around the house. Before I work on the stand tomorrow, I've got to put some porch rails on the front porch, rip off some old storm windows, do a bunch of mulching in the back yard, etc. etc. etc.

So, maybe I won't get to it this weekend.
 
Just ordered the parts for my RO/DI. Was getting ready to click the go button on the controller, heater, sand, etc. and a $200 charge came through on my wife's debit card. The joys of working at a bank.

Friggin women. I swear, if I'd never gotten married, I'd be a rich man. Instead, I get to live paycheck to paycheck.:blown:
 
Just an update. No progress today. All house stuff. I may get motivated again this evening, but it's doubtful. Maybe tomorrow.
 
So, here's an update on my plan for this little project.

I think I'm going to run poly pads and carbon at all times in this tank. I plan to stay religious about cleaning the poly pads every day to 2 days. I'm trying to think of a good way to keep a bacteria base maintained for times that I need quarantine tanks as well. I guess I could run a biowheel in my filter for a week or so prior to getting a new tank member, but I'm not sure if I want to do that. I don't want a sponge filter hanging in the display tank, so I'm not sure what I'll do.

Water filter parts shipped today, so hopefully I can start making water by the end of the week. (I didn't order any new prefilters, resin, or a membrane, so hopefully they are all still good enough to polish the water)

I'm still trying to get around to the stand, but it should be pretty easy to finish up.

Give me some thoughts on the bio-wheel idea if you would
 
Busy weekend ahead. I'm hoping to get the motivation this evening to finish up the paneling on the stand.

I keep telling myself that I'm not going to order the rest of the stuff for the tank until the stand's done. The RO/DI parts will be here tomorrow, so I can start making water. I need to run to Wal-Mart to buy a cutting board. I plan to put it in the bottom of the tank to place the rock on. Once I get the stand done and buy the cutting board, I plan to build the aquascape. I'm planning to use plastic hangers to hold the structure together.

Like I said, busy weekend, and I don't have the trim yet, so the goal is to have the stand done, the aquascaping built, and the pendant finished by the end of next week.

Then we'll be ready for sand and water.....:)

Slow process, but it gives me something to come on here and rattle on about.
 
Ahhh....Progress.

The paneling is finished on the stand. Just need to get the door and the corner pieces on and I'm done. Also got my RO/DI bracket mounted tonight. New canisters will be here tomorrow, and I can start making some water.
 
Also found some scrap 1x6 in the basement last night. Should be enough there to build a box for my light.

Hoping to get my trim tonight.
 
Well, RO/DI, all systems go,and no leaks.

TDS

Tap 290
RO 3
DI 0

Even after freezing all my prefilters, my RO membrane and DI resin, everything seems to be working like a charm.
 
Sure is fun talkin to myself.

I keep posting hoping to say something that someone may be interested in enough to respond. It was nice having some chatter here for a few weeks. Hoping it can keep going!!

:)
 
No worries :)

I can definitely understand that. Just read through your skimmer thread. Nice job start to finish. May have to try my hand at acrylic work in the future. :)
 
Well, no regrets.

Just put orders in at Premium Aquatics and Fosters and Smith

Got a heater, sponge filter for QT, replacement cartriges for power filter, an API test kit, bag of sand, poly filter (just in case), and a Reef Keeer Lite!!!

Still got a few things to order, but shouldn't need them until the tank's cycled and ready to go. Now I'm broke, but excited.
 
Got some trim, plywood, and door hardware tonight. Should be able to finish the stand tomorrow. Also got some parts to "Tee" off a drinking water spout on the RO/DI unit.

Planning on picking up a cutting board and a couple hangers tomorrow. Once the stand's done, I'll be able to get my rockwork built and in the tank. Then I'll just be waiting on sand. Also have to built the pendant as well, but I found some scrap wood for that. Probably get that done tomorrow as well.

Getting closer.
 
Hey all, spent last week in Kansas City, so no progress on the tank.

I'm kind of at a stalemate at the moment. Not really wanting to spend the money to finish the stand. I can't find cheap trim, and I need a good bit more to finish.

Feeling kind of lazy, so....

My reefkeeper is still on back order, so when that stuff comes, I'll kick back into gear soon. Probably won't post anymore until I get moving.
 
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