tas5tas' 237g Total System Build

[GlassReef]

Looks like your off to a great start! You've picked some really nice equipment. You did a great job on the stand! One thing, if the stand is not going to be skinned, you might want to consider some kind of lateral stiffening. 1/2" ply across 2 of the back sections would suffice. I may be wrong, maybe someone else could give an opinion.

 

[tas5tas]

It's going to be skinned...just been delayed a few days thanks to an abscess tooth. The stand/canopy will also double as bookshelves/dvd/xbox360 games holder.



BTW......It's actually snowing here.....beware the end of the world when SE Texas receives snow. I actually made a fire in the fireplace for my wife tonight.

 

[sasharotty]

Very nice start:thumbsup: How much flow do the modded k3 and k4 put out?

 

[GlassReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13917855#post13917855 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tas5tas
It's actually snowing here.....beware the end of the world when SE Texas receives snow.

Well, its obviously because of global warming ....

 

[tas5tas]

The modded k3 puts out a ton of flow....I don't have an accurate way to measure it, but it is about 3-4 times a regular #4. I haven't tested the #4 out yet, but I'm going to try and use the white props in my #4's.

 

[tas5tas]

I was able to get a little help today so I decided to skin the bottom of the stand. I will prime/seal either tonight or tomorrow....my tooth is still killing me. Luckily I go to the dentist monday. Here are the pics....

 

[~sp0ok~]

pic 3,4,5 looks like a nice gogo box :lol: j/k

good job on the stand

 

[tas5tas]

I finally got around to leak testing the sump and the baffles I put in. I figured it would also be a good time to fire up the new skimmer and give it a nice freshwater and vinegar bath to help start the break in period. I'll let it run like this until I'm ready to leak test the entire setup.

Here's the pics.....

 

[tas5tas]

I also ordered my 3/8" acrylic rod from Tap Plastics today so I can get started on my aquascaped ASAP. All rockwork will be elevated off the floor of the tank since it will be barebottom. I got the idea from RC tank of the month a couple of months ago.

 

[~sp0ok~]

looking good...

Q: how come u have the refugium to flow bk where the skimmer is?

 

[tas5tas]

I wanted to be able to have all water pass through the skimmer section without having 80x an hour turnover through the fuge. The way it is setup allows me to have 2 drains go into the skimmer section and 1 drain into the refugium which then empties into the skimmer section. I'm thinking about just using the refugium for liverock and macro algae and running an old salt bucket as my remote deep sand bed....I may not even run sand at all......I'm still debating.

 

[tas5tas]

Here is a few pictures of what I've been working on the past few days....

I still need to prime the bottom part, but I figured I would wait to do that until I finished the top/canopy part so i could just prime everything at the same time.

 

[Bruder]

Looking great. How do you like the Octo?

 

[tas5tas]

So far I think it's going to be a great skimmer. It's just breaking in right now with freshwater and vinegar. I did pour 2 quarts of skimmate in there the other day from my 55g and the octo pulled everything out within 30 min. It's very quiet also.

 

[tas5tas]

The weather has been horrible here the last few weeks so I'm still waiting to finish priming the stand and canopy before cutting the doors and moving everything inside for setup. I was able to get my lights measured up, hung and tested though over the last few days. I still haven't fired the VHO actinics yet though. Here are a couple of pics of the lighting test....the first three are with a custom white balance that I set....and the last three are with the camera set to auto. The true color is really somewhere in between the two white balance settings.

 

[tas5tas]

I've gotten alot of work done recently. I've almost completed the aquascape. I've started gluing plumbing fittings and bulkheads. I was able to cut the doors from the bottom of the stand. I brought the entire assembly inside to it's final resting place just to see how big this thing is. WOW it's HUGE!!! I mounted all my equiptment in the stand including the sump and 20g topoff tank. I ran electrical up above all equiptment inside the stand. I was able to pick up a DC4HD for my controller to seperate my lights from the other electrical also. I still need to prime where I cut the doors, cut the doors out of the canopy, finish priming the bookcases, buy the trim for the doors and facing of the display, and paint the final color......still undecided. Here are some pics.........

 

[tas5tas]

 

[tas5tas]

 

[sasharotty]

Its shaping up great!Tagging along to see the finished product.:thumbsup:

 

[tas5tas]

Was able to get all the bulkheads installed and leak test the display the other day out in the garage. No leaks were found and hopefully I'll be able to get it setup next week and start cycling. I'm waiting on some new filters and DI resing for my RO/DI unit.