just an update of my reeftank!

[reefer]

yes, its still a work in progress, and no, there aint no water in it yet :? (maybe tomarrow), but..... i finally got my light fixture from PSL! i ordered a dual 250w mh with dual 55w pc combo! they did an great job putting it together. i had them drill 2 holes to mount a pair of guisemann height adjustment gizmos that i had ordered from roger at aquatek.
who would have thought moving a fish tank could be soo much fun, matter of fact, it was soo much fun the following week i moved it again, and each time i moved it, my 20gl. nano reef was in the way. but, finally, i got the 75gl placed just where i want it.
yesterday, i took time to painted the bottom of the tank a nice metalic blue. i messed up the first time when i painted it, by not scoring the edge of the glass along the tape after the paint dried. when i removed the tape, all the blue paint peeled up with it. it was a nice blue to black fade paint scheme that went belly up. so i just went with the solid color on the bottom.
i also painted the light brackets to match the bottom of the tank today, using rustoleom metalic blue. .
just a few more side project to complete!
8)

[Tim Marvin]

Looking good!

[MikeP]

Mike - that tank looks awesome - I can only imagine what it will look like when you get some water in there !

[Yano]

Now thats some thing I could only dream of. :D

[reefer]

thanks all! much appreciated! :shocked:
well, i couldn't wait, after much anticpation, i filled up my tank! and the sump.... then when i noticed some leaks at the fittings.i think i will redo it and just stick with barb fitting and poly tubing... anyhow, shopvac in hand, i removed 15gls to empty the sump and stop the leak, (those ball valve are handy!). fix the problem in the a.m.:)
but on the up side, i got it running for a few minutes to scope out the action underneath the tank! the sump and protien skimmer are most trick! i think a switch to ehiem pumps would be a better setup to run with.
system werks great! no gurgling noise was heard after the first minute of running, just the intial "flush" and off it went!
it sure would have been nice to complete the project and get it cycling with salt, but i am out of time tonight, thankfully there is more time tomarrow!

[Yano]

OoooOooo :confused:

[reefer]

good thing i got lots of paper towels! yano is making a bigger mess than my leaky fittings! hehehe!
i just have 2 small leaks that i will try to fix next time i get a chance.
it won't be long till its fully functional! i was able to score some black eggcrate from regal plastics, i plan on creating a simple support structure out of it. no dsb. just lots of water flow and a wholotta skimmin! my turn over rate is about 9x for my tank, and 65~80x for my sump! i may need to reduce both alittle....

peace....
mike

[Yano]

good thing i got lots of paper towels! yano is making a bigger mess than my leaky fittings! hehehe!

lol :lol: Well I'm 15 and my parents only spend money on my education and they could care less about pets so I only have 3 ten gallons :cry:
The will spend $170 on a TI-89 calulator and USB link for me but won't pay $50 for a PC lighting system for my SW tank :?

[fishtankrob]

how did you get the hose attached? I have tried the barb fittings with no luck.....

[reefer]

i dunno, ftrob, they be the standard 3/4" barb'd fitting you'd get from any lumbing section at home depot or lowes.

my new 75gl. nano-reef... 1 lb of liverock with assorted critters :skeezy:
i like the mylar backdrop, it makes the tank look larger from every angle :)

[reefer]

another buzzy day doing reef tank projects. but now i can take a break and clean the mess i made. today, i built a durso pipe, and i must say, the tank is running in stealth mode now! can barely hear anything except for the slight sound of the skimmer. i also completed my support structure for my reef with spraybar. i have a rio 2100 running on it, and looks like i could use a larger pump, but it seems to be doing what i intended it to do, which is to keep the the fish food in the water column, and not on the bottom. i finished up the day by adding 4 green chromis to the tank, and transfering most of the liverock from my nano into my new reef tank. only item left on the to-do list is fill the co2, connect ph controller, plumb the refugium, and plumb in the ca reactor. then another break, then comes the auto top-off with neilson reactor. but that will be later, much later.
almost done!
:-o

[reefer]

hey joshua!
the durso is made from 1" pvc, i didn't know anything about making it larger, the original downtube was 1", so i used that size to built it from. the black eggcrate i got from regal plastics, it about $30 a sheet, last time i checked they had 3 sheets remaining in stock, i was able to make mine from 1 sheet. the pvc that runs underneath and around the bottm is made from 5/8" pvc.
thanks for the comments, it makes it all worth while!
peace!
mike

[bozack]

Wow, that is some impressive planning and skills. Looks good.
I lreally ike the thought of that spraybar, I wonder if that is something I can alter on my returns for my RR Oceanic 150....hmmmm.
Not sure if I cange the returns if that will affect my return pressure and flow.