Pete's 210 build

[P.Kelly]

Let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Pete, I live in the greater Sacramento, CA area and I'm actively involved with the Marine Aquarist Roundtable of Sacramento (MARS). My wife and I setup "our" first reef tank together in either April or May of 2007. It was a Red Sea max, and while the concept was, and is, very cool, there were so many issues with the system that we ended up buying a complete 50 gallon reef from a local reefer who was leaving the area within a month or two and taking the RSM back. It was about June that I went to my first MARS meeting. In December of 2007 I was elected to the board of directors, had 4 reefs in my house and consequently a large electricity bill and no money in my wallet. There is so much more history to tell, but I'll weave it into the story as the build progresses as downtime permits.

Marine Aquarist Roundtable of Sacramento

I firmly believe that anything worth doing is worth overdoing, and I take that philosophy to all my hobbies. Reefing is not a passing fad for me, and so my wife and I are embarking into the next phase of the reef lifestyle, the big tank. Most of my friends who have tanks are awe struck that my wife loves the tank(s) and is 100% supportive of the hobby. I guess I'm lucky. She convinced me to buy a 65" tv when I was looking at a 55" and this time she suggested the 210 when I was looking at a 120. I love you Darcy, you're the best!

While there will be lots coming during the setup, I'll commit to nothing less than bi-weekly updates once the system is established. I'll shoot for more often (which shouldn't be an issue with 4.7 posts a day), but I'll set the bar low.

Thanks for reading and tagging along. I'm planning on having a lot of fun.

Me and my number one fan enjoying our other favorite hobby!

 

[mpoletti]

Welcome to the LTF Pete

 

[kdblove_99]

You have graduated to the big leagues Pete Congrats

 

[P.Kelly]

May 31, 2008

May 31, 2008

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12722939#post12722939 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Marko9
Welcome to the LTF Pete

Thanks for the welcome!




I've got some past days to update, so it may take me a bit to bring this thread current.

May 31, 2008

Today it started. We went to look at a 300 gallon starfire tank in Ione, CA. On the drive there, my wife, Darcy, and I discussed finally getting a big tank. We looked at the tank:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1382461

And while it was a gorgeous tank, and a sweet deal, we couldn't make up our minds. I did, however, buy a vortech MP40 while I was there for a nice price, and ordered the wireless upgrade from Drs. Foster & Smith later that night. The MP40 made its way onto my 45 gallon tech tank for "testing."

 

[P.Kelly]

June 1, 2008

June 1, 2008

June 1, 2008

Well, it wasn't meant to be. When I called John back today, he had already sold the tank to another local reefer. The hunt continues, and for real now. My wife is on board and ready to get a big tank. More as it develops.

 

[Jim_S]

Another Sactown/MARS guy in the LTF???

Alright

I look forward to seeing all of your progress Pete

 

[P.Kelly]

June 3-7, 2008

June 3-7, 2008

June 3, 2008


Craigslist is my friend. I found a 210 for a very fair price in great shape in Tracy, CA. Called the owner and scheduled pickup for Sunday.

The price for the system worked for me. Tank, stand and canopy were really the only things of interest. The rest will end up in my garage, "just in case."



June 7, 2008


I can't wait. I'll leave it there. I started a thread today about skimmer selection:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1407341


I also read pages and pages of this thread on MSX skimmers:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1398879

This is a really pretty skimmer. I'm thinking really hard about buying one.


Tomorrow will come soon. But not soon enough...

 

[kdblove_99]

I really like my MSX skimmer. For the price point it is the best IMO.

YOu getting the 300?

 

[Jflip2002]

Looks like the octopus pro. IF you havent bought it yet, the octopus pro 300 should be awesome... my 250 pro is.

 

[P.Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12723021#post12723021 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kdblove_99
I really like my MSX skimmer. For the price point it is the best IMO.

YOu getting the 300?

I am heavily leaning towards the 300. Still on the fence between SWC/MSX and CoralVue/Reef Specialty. Pros and cons both ways for essentially (exactly) the same skimmer. More to come on this topic in the next few days, as I'll be placing an order shortly.

 

[kdblove_99]

Yeah, Identical. I have SWC. But from all i have seen on this board Mike at RS has some top notch customer service.

 

[P.Kelly]

June 8, 2008

June 8, 2008

June 8, 2008

The alarm went off at 6am, and I was out of bed in a split second. My wife was groaning about my alarm ring tone, the Scottish National Anthem on bagpipes. I don't understand why it bugs her? I was super excited! The day was finally here that I was going to get a big aquarium. I had longed for the day that I could start a tank thread in the Big Tank area of reef central. My wife and I had decided about 2 weeks prior to take the plunge on something in the 180-215 range (standard 6'x2') and had priced out the various options. Luck just happened to bring a gently used All Glass Aquariums (AGA) 210 onto my craigslist radar a few days after we made the decision.

My friends and fellow reefers started arriving at my house at 6:30, and by 7:15 we were out front of the house making finally preparations to the trailer. I think we were finally on the road about 7:45 towing the trailer behind my wife's Tahoe, containing John, David, Taylor, Rafael and myself, and my friend Paul and Matt in my father's truck bringing up the rear.

The voyage

An hour and fifteen minutes later, a stop in the crack rock capitol of northern California (Charter Way, Stockton, CA) for energy drinks, cookies and who knows what else, and a broken rear air unit the Tahoe and we arrived at the current owner's house. He was in the middle of packing his house, and had already started to disassemble the tank (canopy and lights were in the garage).

All the guys that came to help me stepped right in and took various tasks. I worked through some logistics with the owner. The tank was inspected and an envelope of money was exchanged. At this point, a broken tank was going to cost me. There was quite a bit of livestock in the tank (fish only) that I had arranged with the owner to buy at a reduced price and help him sell. Any proceeds above what I paid would go to him after the sale. There were some very beautiful fish in the tank, but not safe for my upcoming reef. Aside from a few fish with head rot, most were in great shape, fat and happy.

The fish were caught and placed into two Brute trashcans with powerheads out of the way until the rest was loaded. The doors came off the stand and we got to work draining, disassembling and cleaning equipment. I was super lucky to have enough crew that someone was cleaning the skimmer, powerheads, etc as they came out of the tank.

This ended up being the fastest tank move I've ever done. No live rock and coral made this a breeze.

I had arranged for homes for most of the fish in advance. While I would have loved to keep them all, I didn't have a place to put them and some would have been nibblers. On the way back to Sacramento I called all the people who were going to be picking up fish from me. I must say that it really couldn't have gone any smoother. Within about 45 minutes of getting home 80% of the fish were gone and the rest with 2 hours. This left plenty of time for beer and BBQ. Oh, no cheap beer at my house. The garage fridge is stocker with Widmeir (sp?) Hef, Gorden Beirsch Marzen, a few micro brews and Guiness at all times. I keep a single can of bud light in the door in case my brother comes over to help out. Open in case of emergency!

After BBQing, distributing all the fish and cleaning the tank, those that were still left (thanks David, Matt and Taylor) helped me move the tank into the garage.

Things ended up about like this...

Canopy (and toys)

Stand (in the way)

Tank (buried under stuff and behind my BMW R1200C)

 

[P.Kelly]

June 9, 2008

June 9, 2008

June 9, 2008

Back to work this morning. My back and neck are really sore from lifting the tank. I wish I had a three day weekend, and more time to work on the new tank, but work and school will keep me busy all week. I thought I was all set on an SWC skimmer, the MSX250. The reviews have been pretty good and the price is very fair. Someone threw a monkey wrench in my plans and pointed out that the new Octopus Extreme's are the same skimmer, for a little less money and no shipping cost on pre-orders. I really wanted the MSX300 ($50 more) but there is no set arrival date on the next batch, where as Reef Specialty is listing July 15 for the preorder arrival.

Decisions, decisions.

I ended up calling and speaking with both Joe at Marine Solutions and Mike at Reef Specialties about the SWC skimmers, respectively the MSX and Octopus Extreme lines. Mike confirmed that they are identical, but he believes that the CoralVue imported version will have all of the updates that the MSX users found and complained about in the first release. The CV unites will be arriving state side mid July, which most likely corresponds with the arrival of the next batch of MSX units. Both gentlemen were very helpful. Joe told me that warranty was through him, while the CV units will be warrantied through CV, not Reef Specialties. +1 for MSX. However, the CV units will have both a pinwheel and meshmod. +1 for CoralVue. The problem is that the footprint of the 300 unit is so close to the 250 and the prices are so close that it seems silly not to buy the 300, which is where the rub come in. Neither have the 300 in stock, and only the MSX250 is currently in stock.

First up on my list are prepping the tank for install and running new electrical. Since I do this for a living, here is a little project schedule for the next week.

So, as mentioned early, a full-time job and going back to school for a master's degree, plus a 2.5 year old at home doesn't leave much time during the week for working on the tank, but we'll find a little here and there. Hopefully I can do what I want on father's day and get the electrical done this weekend.

Tank Preparation

First on my list of preparation is to clean the tank. David, Matt and I scraped and cleaned the tank while it was still in the back of the truck yesterday, but I want to get it "clean" before I put it back in service. I also want to look into issues with copper in an older tank. While I have no reason the believe it was used, I was curious.

Thread on cleaning tank with bleach:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=11549273#post11549273

My favorite post on the topic, by WaterKeeper:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=11176244#post11176244

Using muriatic acid:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1249207

Overall, I saw a number of suggestions for cleaning, including bleach, peroxide, and muriatic acid, but most people suggested vinegar.

As for unknown history of copper use, I'm going to fill the tank, run a powerhead and test for copper after a few days. I'm reading that unless anything registers, I'm probably fine, and running carbon will remove any leaching copper. Again, I'm not really worried, but would rather be overly cautious.


VorTechs

Yeah, I came home to an upgraded and fixed vortech and a wireless upgrade kit for my MP40.

Presents for me!

Oooh, my wireless upgrade for the MP40.

My MP40W back from IceCap service with a new magnet, new firmware, new motor and hopefully working...

The new nut should be able to be seen, but my photography skills are a bit lacking

The new magnet wetside extension

The new magnet


Corals

On a totally unrelated note, I've been trying to track down the captive propagation lineage of as much of my corals as possible. Kind of a coral-genealogy exercise, because I have nothing better to do with all my spare time. Confirmed today that my Paletta Baby Blue and Idaho Grape came to me <- Elim <- tfp

I also picked up a frag of Bali Tricolor from Cathoai <- Unarce

 

[P.Kelly]

June 10, 2008

June 10, 2008

June 10, 2008

Real life (work) has a way of getting in the middle of everything and slowing down progress on my new tank. I was up until 2 am last night preparring for a large presentation to a potential client today. up again at 5:20am and by the time I got home from work and played with my daughter for a while, there was no energy left to work on the tank. I just now finished my homwork for my Operations Management class, so I figured I'd type up a little and get the past few days ready to post.

On the plus side, my wife picked up two cans of Krylon Fusion mat black paint today for the back of the tank. Our current tank has a bright blue backing, which she wanted. In hindsight, she agrees that black would have probably been a better choice. We shall see.

I spent the night doing waiting line problems for my class and writing up my new tank thread, so I'm already behind on my schedule.

Also, I'm hoping that the people who picked up fish from me during the tank take down will post up some pictures of the gorgeous fish that came out of this tank in their new homes. And David is going to send me a picture from mid-take down that snapped on his camera phone.

Part 1 of my garage mess

Part 2 of my garage mess

Hey, Rafael, you left your sump at my house...

 

[kdblove_99]

That garage is packed. Love the RO/DI system i own the same one, Great stuff!

I would not get set on that Octo to be in on the 15th. When i set up my mantis tank i was going to get a octo HOB skimmer for it. Well i emailed a few vendors they gave a date, never came in. Then i started Emailing David at Coralvue he said will be here this date, didnt happen. This went on for over 2 months

So all i am saying is don't get all set for it to be here then cause that might not happen

 

[little_d]

Congrat Pete, now there will be a lot more room for future additions.

 

[jtarmitage]

Very nice Pete. Congratulations on the new tank. Here I am at 2 am just getting ready to call it a night after working on my tank.

 

[Tofumushrooman]

Very nice pete ill be following along. I have the MSX 160 and honestly i think that any of the newest ones that will arrive in the future should be even better then the 2nd gen. Mine was plug and play and pulls nasty gunk. Easy as pie to dial in too IMO.

 

[Mikey Donuts]

Pete, congrats on the new tank! You should talk to Joe (Joes210gal). He has the exact same stand and had an issue with the bottom section sagging under the weight of his sump. He had to shore it up after his tank was established (not fun). I would get with him and discuss the issues he had so your build will be as trouble free as possible.
Take care!

 

[Joes210gal]

As you know Pete, I have the same tank and stand. I had some serious trouble with the stand. The bottom shelf needs to be reinforced. The strength of the whole stand depends on this because the front and back posts are sitting on the bottom shelf.

Fortunately the fix is easy with the tank empty. With the tank already setup it's a nightmare.