New 90 Gal Tank

Well I'm up and running w/my saltwater mixing container/live rock holding bin.

I went w/a 44 Gallon Brut, Maxi-Jet 1200 and a 250 watt submersable heater.
 
We picked up the tank today! Good thing we decided to bring two vehciles because both of them were packed. Major props to all the guys at Salty Critter for putting together one heck of a package and walking me through everything.

Today we were able to get everything set up and RO water into the tank. I'm bringing the temp up now. I'm really glad I decided to make that saltwater mixing container. All my live rock is in there now just waiting on the tank. Now I don't have to rush things.

Here are some pictures of the progress so far.

My office looks like a fish store exploded in there
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The sump set up. Pretty simple...Dan even marked a "G" on the PVC pipes I needed to glue :)

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Full tank shot. All the shrink wrap and such is still on in this picture.

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That's pretty much it for now.
 
Major mistake...

The tank is up and running. Full of water, live rock, sand etc.

I didn't account for, nor consider the noise factor and the light factor in my office. We had it up and running since Saturday and I wanted to give it a couple days to figure out if I could tolerate it or if it was going to be an issue.

Well....it's going to be an issue. The noise and light are just to much for me in this room. I'm pretty disappointed in myself actually. I thought I had done all my research, read everything I could, asked all the right questions etc.

Anyhow, we're going to be moving it to the basement over the next few days. Good thing I have a very patient wife.
 
The noise factor can be solved easily. There are several methods of silencing drains. What is the issue with the lighting? you can change the lighting schedule to accommodate YOUR needs and the fish/corals won't know that it isn't normal. I have my lighting start coming on around 2:30pm and then off around 1:00 am. I did this to give myself more viewing time and allow me to feed them late at night when I finally have time to myself.

If you need any help with anything let us know here. There are always people willing to pitch in.

Here are a couple of links to get you started on the silent drains. If you don't understand any of it just ask here and I will try to explain it.

I use the "herbie method" on 3 tanks here and you can't hear anything except maybe the powerheads if you listen carefully.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=344892

The same method with an added drain for even more safety can be found here in a thread by BeanAnimal.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1310585

I would investigate them before moving the entire setup to a place where you won't enjoy it nearly as much. I started with an in-wall basement setup and I now have a 92g corner tank upstairs. The one upstairs gets MUCH more attention from me since I see it all the time.

-- Kevin
 
The noise issue is two-fold really. 1st is the overflow sound and secondly is the skimmer sound (although it does seem a bit quieter now than when initially installed).

The light however....wow is it bright. I think my wife and I both got a sun tan from it. The light just overwhelms the room and creates a wicked glare on my computer screen.

Putting it downstairs isn't such a bad thing. Although it's not finished we do have sort of a family room area set up with some carpeting down and such.
 
Trincate,

I second itzme. Prior to moving this we can definately silence it. Follow the lincs about. The lighting can be put on timers to reduce the glare. Perhap only have half of them come on during work hours. Also, once you get live rock etc in the tank you'll get less reflection. I'd just hate to see you move the tank and get less enjoyment because it is not where you want it.

Good luck.
 
Another question... Is the noise coming from the venturi tubes or the pumps themselves? You can build some easy silencers for the air tubes if that's all it is. You just need a couple of PVC endcaps, a short 2" piece of PVC and some filter floss.

There is also an option of adding an anti-glare shield on your screen to help reduce it more. I know some of these are more of a Band-Aid to fix the problems but I would honestly consider trying a couple of the improvements before moving it. Even if you do move the tank you may want to go with the silencers and the drains. When you have this type of drain setup it will stop all of those bubbles from entering your drains and then popping at the sump surface thereby stopping almost all salt creep. If you haven't read about salt creep it is from any splashing that will cause the salt to build up into a thick crust on any surfaces that are constantly bombarded with the spray.
 
Most of the noise is created from the flow of water from the tank into the sump. I read a threads about how to reduce that noise. The secondary noise is from the skimmer, but like I said I think either I'm getting used to it or it's getting quieter as I run it.

There is also a secondary noise that I haven't pin pointed as it only happens periodically. I think it may be coming from the return pump but can't be sure. It sort of sounds like a high pitch "squeal" sort of like the sound you hear if you pinch the top of a balloon and slowly let the air out.

It's loud enough that I leave the room to take phone calls, which is sort of counter productive.

I'm going to make a final decision on whether or not to move it this evening when I get home from work.

The idea of moving it to the basement is attractive as I won't have the constant noise/light issue in my office, it will be in an area we use quite a bit in the basement, and it will be close to my "fish area" where I mix saltwater, store equipment etc.
 
I think you should give it some time, after a while the noise will not be an issue as you get used to it. And it will eventually get a bit quiter once everything slime up. As far as the lighting, I think that once you have stuff in there, you won't think that it is bright at all. It is probably brighter than you think because there isn't anything in the tank as of yet. I won't question about the lighting part, but definitely the noise factor will blend itself in with the room once you get use to it.
 
oh man ,,don't do that work with it , filter socks , give it time to get settled and figure out each thing one at a time , the light is something you will have to get used to , they are bright for sure. as far as the noise thing goes ,,it can run just about dead silent !!!!! you just need to tweak a bit ,,, someone down by him go hook him up .......... take a look at whats going on with his noise thing , standpipes can be shut up with minimal work , the water into your sump can be shut up too by lowering you drain tube from your overflows below the water line in your sump ,, instead of letting it cascade down into your sump ( if that's the problem).just work with it a bit ,, give it a chance to work all out

Murph
 
thanks for all the encouragement guys, much appreciated.

I did decide to go ahead and pull the trigger and move it to the basement, and we in fact just wrapped up moving it down.

I just made a very, very bad choice on initial location. Although i do believe there are some things that I can do to quiet it down a bit, and in fact will endeavor to do so even after the move.

Certainly if someone is local and doesn't mind stopping by, give me a shout. I have lots of beer in the fridge

All my live rock is back into my 44 Gal brut perculating in saltwater. I'll work on getting it all back up and running tomorrow night.

BTW my wife is a saint...she helped me move the tank, stand, hood and all the water...twice over the course of 3 days.
 
Be glad that you have a wife that enjoys it as much as you do. Mine like it so long as its clean, otherwise she nags all day long. And also get back to us after she sees all the money you throw into this tank :). I am no expert by any means, but you are more than welcome to come see my setup to see if you can get some ideas out of it. Also Barry (Akronviper) is a few minutes from my house who is setting his tank up right now. If he has time we can always ask him to see his setup.
 
3 cheers to the little woman. Behind every great tank, is a saint of a woman.
Good luck with the move.
It's great to have you part of the community.

Now for that second tank...................................
 
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