Oh YEAH! Let the fun begin....

[jtarmitage]

:fun2:

The PBT looks nice!

Thanks, he's a fatty and very healthy looking. Wasn't gonna get one quite so big, but he's the healthiest looking one I've seen in a long time...

 

[Curtis72]

Looks really Good! Lots of open space.

 

[jtarmitage]

Looks really Good! Lots of open space.

Thanks Curtis, that was the plan



As for updates, well, I do have to work sometime....LOL

But I did pick up a few softies to add to the tank, courtesy of a couple of generous local reefers. As I've blown the tank budget (and then some) I've got a lot of real estate to fill on less than a shoestring budget:uhoh2:
I miss the days of a true mixed reef, and want some of the movement back in the tank that you can really only get with a few good softies. i picked up 2 different cuttings of green sinularia, a small colt coral, a devils hand leather, and a pair of corals that will make most SPS'ers cringe. Green star polyps and pulsing Xenia. Oh yes, I did Add those to the anemone's and I could be setting myself up for troubles. The plan is to isolate them all on the center island where I can have some control over just where these critters end up. If all else fails, and they decide to wander, I plan to force them back, or remove them. The other 2 islands are strictly off limits.

Next up: My MP20 will soon become an MP40w ES:bounce1:

I also picked up the soon to be siding for the stand and canopy. It'll be awhile before the trim goes on, but I can at least start on the skinning itself.

 

[jtarmitage]

A few non-cloudy shots of the tank and rockwork:

And an attempt at a video, if I can get it to load:

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1uBQHz2Z6u4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[tfp]

awesome aquascaping that bad boy! everything looks fantastic.

 

[mpoletti]

Nice video Jeremy! Once the corals are mounted, I'll have to come check it out

 

[jtarmitage]

awesome aquascaping that bad boy! everything looks fantastic.

Thanks Tim, I'm rather pleased with the scaping myself. It's always a challenge trying to fit rocks together just right...

Nice video Jeremy! Once the corals are mounted, I'll have to come check it out

Thanks MrP I'm surprised the video turned out as well as it did just using my iPhone. And of course you are always welcome to come by and check it out.


As for updates today.....Well, none really. That work thing keeps getting in the way. I did manage to get my MP20 upgraded, and the tank walls are getting a daily light green coating that I keep wiping down:uzi:

 

[jtarmitage]

Been a bit tough to find time to work on the tank, but I have a few updates.
1) Got the Water Blaster HY7000 in and got it plumbed into the system to replace the Quiet One 3000 I had holding it's place Huge difference. More flow to the fuge and display.
Went ahead and split the returns to 2 return lines and drilled the top of the tank:

Was going to use flexPVC, but with the limited space, it was just easier to run with tubing. I may switch it out in the future, but it'll do just fine for now.

I also started putting together the skinning for the canopy. As the tank is right next to my desk, I needed to get the light out of my eyes and get rid of the towel hanging over the canopy LOL.

The first panel is up, still need to put the others together and mount the piano hinges on the other 2 sides.

I also decided that I'm getting plenty of light with just 2 MH's, so I took the center one down. I never liked the idea of mounting it right over the center brace anyhow, and I'm looking into a DIY LED stip to add a little more actinic POP to the tank. More on that down the road when I have updates.

Unfortunately I also hit my first bump in the road. I woke up the other day to slightly cloudy water from a bacterial bloom, and noticed the fish all starting to show signs of ich The water also felt a bit cold, so checked the temp and it was down to 70 degrees. Checked the Apex, heater is on, checked the heater.....nada. I guess it didn't want to work for a living and kicked the bucket. Swapped it out with another and we're rolling again, though I do need a bit higher wattage to keep up with heating needs. I think it would be sufficient if I had the stand and canopy enclosed, but everything is still wide open and heat loss is a bit high right now. I'm crossing my fingers that the fish all pull through, but I've been down the "pull them and put them in QT" road before, and I don't believe that'll help with ich, as it tends to stress them out even more. Lots of food laced with garlic, and a few prayers to the almighty are on the menu at the moment.

 

[jtarmitage]

Got another package today :bounce1:

Nice little pair of Sicce Voyager HP4000's and a Hydor Smartwave controller for them. Here's a video with them running:

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0mW9EeNtaUY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Some crazy flow in there right now. Not sure if I even need the MP40. And here's a nog shot from the skimmer. Don't mind the lid, the real one has been shipped to Avast Marine to have a Swabbie retrofitted

It's amazing that I only paid $269 for this skimmer!!!

 

[brianbigoats]

great to see you back with a big tank

 

[jtarmitage]

great to see you back with a big tank

Hey Brian, it's been too long. Hope all is well with you...

 

[jtarmitage]

Glue....I need glue.....

Finally getting around to placing some of the corals, but didn't realize that I'd already tapped my supply of IC gel Guess It'll have to wait another day.

I also took the MP40 off of the tank. I really don't think I need it, and that's a lot of $ tied up in an unnecessary pump. I'll give it a few days before making any decisions, but if I really would have preferred to have it placed in the top middle of the black end panel to add variable flow directly over the rockscape. Only problem is that is where the external overflow box is. If I was going to use it, it'd have to be on one of the sides, and there is way more than enough flow there already. Heck, if I need more flow, I may just get another Voyager...

 

[slojmn]

Hi Jeremy, How is the sand holding up to all of that flow?

I have my two MP 40's aimed at each other and I get the whole center of my tank devoid of sand. I'm kind of sick of it and I may change the flow and position them one on the back half and one in the middle half opposite each other and see if a more circular flow occurs in the cube and what that does for things.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

D@^^n Jeremy you're fast. Looking good.

Why did you go with the Voyagers over the Korallias?

 

[jtarmitage]

Hi Jeremy, How is the sand holding up to all of that flow?

I have my two MP 40's aimed at each other and I get the whole center of my tank devoid of sand. I'm kind of sick of it and I may change the flow and position them one on the back half and one in the middle half opposite each other and see if a more circular flow occurs in the cube and what that does for things.

So far so good Alicia. It helps that the far wall is 5' away, any closer and the sand would get pushed out of those corners. If I point them down too much I think I'd have a problem keeping it in place as well. It also helps that I used a combination of #1 and #3(crushed coral) aragonite, as the CC helps lock the finer grains in place, while giving me the look of the #1 aragonite.

D@^^n Jeremy you're fast. Looking good.

Why did you go with the Voyagers over the Korallias?

Brian, thus far my experiences with the Koralias have not been great. 1) I've had 2 of them just up and die on me with no known issues and 2) I intended from the get go to cycle them on and off with the Smartwave or by using my Apex. A Tunze or Vortech setup was just too expensive, so that left me (for the most part) with Koralia or Sicce. The Sicce's have a locking mechanism on the impellar assembly that prevents the "clicking" upon start-up that plagues the Koralias. 3) The Sicce's have a small clip on part to diffuse the flow from a more directional flow to a wider more diffused flow pattern, more similar to the Vortechs. So, the Voyagers are more of a true intermediate pump between the Tunze's and Vortechs.

As far as the Voyager's themselves, they are noisier than Tunzes, as they do have a little more vibration noise(which may subside a bit over time), but they are also far quieter than Vortechs. Flow-wise, well, there a good combination of Tunze and VT, allowing you to choose the pattern. The mounting clip is nice, as it allows full rotation of the pump, though if I mount it on the back wall, it will stick out a little far in order to allow for the full rotation. The magnets are nice and strong, more than strong enough to deal with the 3/4" acrylic. I am very pleased with the purchase...

 

[jtarmitage]

Well, didn't get as much accomplished this weekend as I would have liked, but that's not really a surprise
Got the 2nd canopy panel up:

Added a filter sock holder to the sump and cleaned up most of the cord clutter:

Used a little of this rubber backed carpet to dampen any noise generated by the BRS 50mL doser I'm using as an ATO pump:

Cut to fit the mount:

And it's up. As you can see, I also got the 20g tank I'm using as an ATO resevoir. I sure am glad I kept so many odds and ends from my years in this hobby:

I also wanted to use my magnet mount to secure the bottom of the tubing in the top off tank, but the smallest clip I had was too big to hold the tubing. Time to bring on a little fire to soften it up and make it smaller

I also ran into road bump #2 today 1 of my Sicce Voyagers was noisier than the other one. As I was troubleshooting, it appeared that one of the impellars may have been the cause. So, I swapped the impellar assemblies between the 2 pumps. Sure enough, the vibration I was hearing transferred to the other pump. I pulled it out again to have a closer look at the 2 impellars and apparently let them get a little too close together in the process. The magnets snapped together, causing another snap:mad2:

Sooooo, I put the Vortech back online until I get another impellar. Very not happy with myself for that little lapse in judgement.

I did manage to get about 1/2 of the corals placed, but my heart wasn't in it. I'll have another go another time.

 

[mpoletti]

What's the size comparison between those and the 6105's?

 

[jtarmitage]

What's the size comparison between those and the 6105's?

Mark, they're fairly comparable size wise. Obviously these just don't narrow down at the output like the Tunzes. If I recall the size of the 6100(6101) series, I think they're slightly smaller than those. If on your tank you were to mount them on one of the sides pointing down the length of the tank, they'd seem a little bigger because of the mount, but if you put them on the back panel aimed down the length, they'd have about the same footprint as the 05's.

 

[jtarmitage]

Got the wireless game adapter hooked up for my Apex Lite and managed to get it networked wirelessly on the first go round. It's soooo cool being able to access it via my laptop or iPhone.

I'm running 2-part on this system and decided to automate it for the first time. I picked up a couple of slim containers and built a box to hold them:

As most of us have experienced, tubing had a predilection to curl on us when we want it to be straight, causing problems getting to the bottom of containers. So, I notched a couple of pipes to insert the tubing into, keeping it nice and straight. A little bit of hard tubing airline would've worked just as well, but I didn't have any of that on hand

And the pair of BRS dosers:

The finished product:

 

[windowlicker916]

If you don't mind answering:

What was the total cost for the stand materials?
Better yet, what was the total out of pocket to get this going minus sand, livestock, rock?

Awesome build