Part 1 coming tomorrow!

[snodine]

I am remembering how I used to feel on Christmas Eve!

Got the Rubbermaid containers rinsed out and ready to hold the goodies. Got ~100 gallons of water ready for water changes and making more RO/DI water just in case it is needed.

I expect to be pretty much useless at work tomorrow waiting for word on the arrival of the plane and I'm taking Friday off to work on the tank.

Step by step pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

 

[OgreMkV]

AWesome, can't wait for the pics... you may want to make more water too.

 

[divemonster]

Steve, good luck You and your tank should do just fine!

 

[liverock]

Re: Part 1 coming tomorrow!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13285366#post13285366 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snodine
I am remembering how I used to feel on Christmas Eve!

Got the Rubbermaid containers rinsed out and ready to hold the goodies. Got ~100 gallons of water ready for water changes and making more RO/DI water just in case it is needed.

I expect to be pretty much useless at work tomorrow waiting for word on the arrival of the plane and I'm taking Friday off to work on the tank.

Step by step pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

I got you on a direct flight....I packed the rock at 9am..this morning......is in the air now....and will be there at 12:50 pm today.....sooo...have fun this afternoon!

sea ya
Richard TBS
:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[snodine]

Re: Re: Part 1 coming tomorrow!

Re: Re: Part 1 coming tomorrow!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13288624#post13288624 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by liverock
I got you on a direct flight....I packed the rock at 9am..this morning......is in the air now....and will be there at 12:50 pm today.....sooo...have fun this afternoon!

sea ya
Richard TBS
:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

WOO HOO!! I should be able to pick it up about 3:30 my time.

So now I have to pretend I am actually doing something at work now. Actually not a lot different then any other day.

Thank you again Richard!

 

[snodine]

And we have Rock!

And we have Rock!

So I get an e-mail from Richard at 9:19AM CDT saying the rock is on the way! We exchange a couple more e-mails and we both post to this thread. So far so good. I look out the window of my office and it is raining like heck! I mean cats and dogs, build an ark kind of rain. This is the first substantial rain we have had here in 2 months and it has to be today!

OK, off to Midway Airport about 35 miles from the office. Did I mention that it was raining? Did I mention I drive a truck with an open bed?

Find the place without any problems, pay the COD charge, and the forklift heads for the truck. Thankfully I thought to bring a roll of plastic wrap because the forecast called for a bit of rain.

Richard sent me 8 boxes on a pallet! I wrapped it in plastic and the forklift put it in the bed of the truck and off I went into the rain on my 24 mile trip home.

The trip home reminded me that when it rains everyone in front of me forgets how to drive! That 24 mile drive took 1.5 hours and it seems my "pallet wrapping in plastic wrap" skill could use a little work.

Here is a picture of the boxes sitting in the truck before I started unloading them:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2147.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2147.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

So I carried 8 wet, cardboard boxes down into the basement (dripping rainwater the whole way - who knew my wife could turn so red so fast!) and set them on the worktables.

Following the instructions I opened the three boxes of sand and the box marked "sump rubble". Want to see what Richard considers "sump rubble"?

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2156.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2156.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Four of the pieces in that picture are actually live rock I bought last week to put in the sump. The lady at the LFS said it was really good rock and "only $9.99 per pound." I got about 10 pounds for about $3.40 per pound after a substantial discount. Seeing the box marked "sump rubble" I was expecting a box of basically gravel and was thinking I would put the LFS live rock in the display tank. HA, I say. The LFS rock stays in the sump!

So after putting the sand and the four boxes of rock into the display tank and turning everything back on, this is what we have (when I took these pictures, everything was still pretty cloudy):

Front:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2149.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2149.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Back:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2159.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2159.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Full system:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2158.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2158.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Here are some pictures of individual rocks:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2153.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2153.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2154.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2154.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2155.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2155.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2161.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2161.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Just checked the tank and the water is a lot less cloudy now. I hear some clicking but I cannot tell if it is coming from the sump, display tank or one of the holding containers with the water the rocks were in. I will be going through that tomorrow and see what is there. Found a few crabs that I tossed into the refugium while going through the rocks. The rocks from TBS seems to be full of life. There are ferns waving in the currents, worms, crabs, something clicking somewhere, snails (those little black marks on the front of the tank), and lots of other stuff I have not seen yet.

If anyone is wavering about getting TBS rock - what are you waiting for? These pictures are of part one. Imagine what part 2 will be.

More over the weekend.

 

[divemonster]

holy crap!

holy crap!

Hey Steve, that's alot of sand and rock! Have you been spending your free time in front of the tank trying to see what you can find? After you mopped up all that rainwater, of course

Can't wait to see the pics and hear about what you are finding on all of that TBS rock.

 

[figuerres]

very cool story about the pickup and trip home... looks like you are gonna have a killer tank. keep posting pics and info...

 

[snodine]

More pictures

More pictures

So things have cleared up a lot in the display tank. I also went out and got a bunch of chaeto to put in the refugium part of the sump.

Here are the tank parameters as of about 30 minutes ago;

ammonia - undetectable
nitrite - 0.1 PPM
nitrate - 25 PPM
specific gravity - 1.025
PH - 7.85
Temp - 79F

Have not seen a lot of critters crawling around but I do hear the occasional click from somewhere. Lot of filter feeders on the rock. I can see the filaments flick in and out.

Here are some more pictures:

Front of the tank:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2163.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2163.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2175.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2175.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Some individual rock:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2164.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2164.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2165.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2165.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2167.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2167.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2171.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2171.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2173.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2173.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2176.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2176.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

OK, now off to Menards to get some small PVC or acrylic rods. Going to work on constructing a tower using some base rock. The tower will sit right in the middle of the tank with the TBS rock arrayed in curves on either side. Pictures when it is all together.

Thanks.

 

[liverock]

Do you see the ity bitty black spiney urchin at the base of the blue sponge ?

And BTW...the blue sponge does real well!

sea ya
Richard TBS

:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[divemonster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13301886#post13301886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by liverock
Do you see the ity bitty black spiney urchin at the base of the blue sponge ?

And BTW...the blue sponge does real well!

sea ya
Richard TBS

:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

There is one in our tank which started out that size. Its body (not including the spines) is now the size of a silver dollar. The spines are purplish in color.

 

[snodine]

Did some Aquascaping

Did some Aquascaping

I spent some time last night and early this morning putting together a pillar for the very center of the tank. This is NOT TBS rock but rather Marco rock that I got many months ago. This rock has been soaked in a tub of vinegar then been scrubbed then sat in the sun then been scrubbed and cleaned again. It has bleached white but is as clean as I could make it.

This will be a good place to attach coral frags once the tank progresses that far.

Pillar before going into the tank:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2178.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2178.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

In the tank:

<a href="http://s257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/?action=view&current=DSCF2181.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh216/snodine/DSCF2181.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

You can probably see another piece of this rock in the left rear corner. This is right under the return pipe. The force of the return had dug a crater in the sand so I put this rock there to keep the sand more stable and break up the force of the return flow.

Using the Salfert test kit there was no detectable ammonia again today. No sign of anything dead or dieing either. We will see what the API test kits has to say about that.

Thanks for reading along.

 

[divemonster]

the frag pillar is an ingenious idea! you are going to have a mixed region biotope then?

 

[snodine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13309311#post13309311 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by divemonster
the frag pillar is an ingenious idea! you are going to have a mixed region biotope then?

The opportunities for coral color and movement are greater in a mixed region setup. I may build a couple more smaller pillars and place them on either end. This will allow for a greater amount of surface area to attach frags. This will also give any fish that end up in the tank room to swim.

On another topic. The API tests show:

Ammonia - 0.50
Nitrate - 20PPM
Nitrite - 0.25

So I'm doing a water change. The great thing about a large system is water quality takes longer to deteriorate. The bad thing is doing a water changes uses a LOT of water.

 

[divemonster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13309777#post13309777 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snodine
On another topic. The API tests show:

Ammonia - 0.50
Nitrate - 20PPM
Nitrite - 0.25

So I'm doing a water change. The great thing about a large system is water quality takes longer to deteriorate. The bad thing is doing a water changes uses a LOT of water.

Shouldn't you wait until the ammonia is over 1.0 ppm? I did a water change too soon when the ammonia was .50 and my cycle went longer. It's understandable that you want to do something with the tank, but patience is key. And I think that is a quote from Denny.

 

[g8gxp]

I think divemonster is correct on this one. Yesterday I was getting over 0.50 but less than 1. I let it be. Just checked this morning (about 8 hours since the last test) and it is still hovering at about the same spot, maybe slightly higher but it's tough to be exact.

richard's instructions say to only change if over 1.0, so hopefully it will stay under 1 until after work tonight.

 

[snodine]

Teri and g8gxp, you are both right. I jumped the gun a little.

Checked everything this evening and the numbers are exactly the same.

My new mantra - ohm....patience....ohm....patience....ohm....patience

(Resisting patience - get it? Sorry.......)

 

[divemonster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13315468#post13315468 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snodine
Teri and g8gxp, you are both right. I jumped the gun a little.

Checked everything this evening and the numbers are exactly the same.

My new mantra - ohm....patience....ohm....patience....ohm....patience

(Resisting patience - get it? Sorry.......)

ok that was . . . funny in a sick way! :lol:

 

[figuerres]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13315468#post13315468 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snodine
Teri and g8gxp, you are both right. I jumped the gun a little.

Checked everything this evening and the numbers are exactly the same.

My new mantra - ohm....patience....ohm....patience....ohm....patience

(Resisting patience - get it? Sorry.......)

carefull or soon you will be singing the Hare-Hare :rollface:

do you know the words??

 

[divemonster]

Hey Steve-O!

What's the latest news on your tank?