Tank Journal Archive

[ReeferRob]

I figured I'd start this one as we'll be shutting down one of the 130D tanks in the next week or so and starting this one up. A 2' cube with a 75 litre sump. Tunze 9016 skimmer I picked up for $100 and a DSB, mud and chaeto. It's going to have 1 large bommie in the middle and the contents from her 130D will go into it.

So a little background. We picked up the tank with the bottom busted out for $30. I have glass here, so cut I it and we drilled it today. I'm going to bring it inside to silicone tomorrow when I get in from work.

 

[daveH]

:poidh

 

[ReeferRob]

:poidh

Not a whole hell of a lot to see, but I'll shoot a few tomorrow of the stand and tank with the bottom out, lol.

 

[slin1977]

Sounds like the reef bug has bit you !

 

[ReeferRob]

Here's the sand, made from 100% recycled wood. The plywood is from shipping crates and the lumber is from pallets from a machine installation.

Here's the tank. Pro tip here, if you have a large eel in the tank, it's a good idea to NOT let the powerhead blow all the sand away and allow falling rocks to blow out the bottom of your tank. That was a quick $400 lesson the previous owner learned, lol.

New cut and drilled bottom for her tank. Glad the love of my life loves reef tanks. I kinda oopsed the drilling, but it'll be on the outside so all should be good.

Then disaster struck, get used to this because this shit happens to us all the time, lol. I decided that I had a tad too much blood on the inside and let a little out. Stabbed my left index finger trying to shave the overflow down a little bit. A nice 1cmx1cm deep slice, lol.

 

[ReeferRob]

OK, we're inching closer. I got the second coat of urethane on the stand tonight, I hope to hell the temps don't drop till later tonight to give it a chance to skin over. Tomorrow will be acetone the edges and silicone. I want the tank to sit a week before I put water in it. The thoughts of 220+ litres of water pissing all over the floor doesn't seem to appealing to me. :D Not to mention the loss of all our critters. :(

 

[Boxermom]

Sounds like the reef bug has bit you !

That bug bit him a LONG time ago...now it's had it's way with me, lol. I'm getting pretty excited to get this thing up and running, and really looking forward to getting my hands in there to start scaping it!

 

[slin1977]

That bug bit him a LONG time ago...now it's had it's way with me, lol. I'm getting pretty excited to get this thing up and running, and really looking forward to getting my hands in there to start scaping it!

Hahaha, I kind of figured that after reading his nem article.
Can't tell newbie from expert these days either. Look forward to seeing you around @Boxermom :-)

 

[ReeferRob]

The tank is siliconed, WOOHOO!!!

 

[ReeferRob]

Dear US customs,
RELEASE MY GODDAMN LIGHT SYSTEM!!!!

Here's the light system we're using on the cube and also over my 57 rimless.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/60cm...-tank-simulate-sunrise-sunset/1922508581.html

 

[Boxermom]

Hahaha, I kind of figured that after reading his nem article.
Can't tell newbie from expert these days either. Look forward to seeing you around @Boxermom :)

I'm lucky; I'm definitely a newbie, but with my own in-house expert, lol! You won't hear too many newbie "duh's" from me, as I tend to read a lot more than post when I don't know much...plus, Rob keeps me from asking too many DQF's in public, lol. I'm pretty sure he gets a little tired of having me ask them all to him, though. :)

 

[bimbo]

You won't hear too many newbie "duh's" from me, as I tend to read a lot more than post when I don't know much...plus,

That is a great way to be IMO.
Looking forward to more updates and plenty of progress pics

 

[ReeferRob]

I think we're gonna do the change out on Saturday and shut down her 130D. I'm in the process of making 100 gallons of RO/DI water. Tomorrow I'll make up 50 gallons of fresh ASW and let it settle in, do massive water changes on my tanks to feed hers since it's going to be enough of a shock with the extra 40 gallons of water.

 

[ReeferRob]

I just ordered the filtre sock holder and extra socks for the set up and some goodies to send down under.

 

[Boxermom]

Well, Joey (the boxer brat) decided he hadn't helped enough, so he snagged a piece of the plumbing kit and started chewing it up.

Hopefully he didn't mangle it too bad and we'll still be able to use it. The little turd! While he was doing that, Rob got the opening in the stand taken care of (to run the plumbing through), and fitted the skimmer into the sump. It's looking like we are going to plumb it up, then water test it tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

 

[ReeferRob]

We have water running through the system, w00t!!

I need to shorten the drain hose some, it sounds like someone is puking in the kitchen, lol.

I think we're gonna do the swap tomorrow instead of Saturday.

 

[ReeferRob]

The deed is done, I'll shoot some pictures tonight after I install the lights and it clears. 2 hours from start to finish, need to rethink the refugium for it. I might even try to build a custom sump with the glass I have and god knows I have enough to do it, lol.

 

[Boxermom]

The cube looks amazing! It's a little odd, seeing my crew in all that space....they look smaller, lol! Looking forward to putting the corals back in, but I don't want to rush anything. Rob will say when the time is right; in the meantime, I'm just enjoying watching everybody get used to their new home.

 

[ReeferRob]

Here ya go, still have some clearing to do, but all in all a pretty uneventful swap.

 

[ReeferRob]

Added the corals back in tonight, gonna let them settle in a day and shoot some pics tomorrow. All I can say is WOW!!