Almost Done!

[Reef69]

Well, here is my 125 gal. so far. Today all the plumbing was done,from 8 am to 6:00pm and 4 Home Depot trips later. Tomorrow im gonna fill it up with tap water to check for leaks..hopefully everything bonded correctly. Also non of this would have been possible without the brains and help of my good friend Brian (Greenmako), he was the mastermind behind the project, (I owe you big time buddy)..and his fiance Christina (C.Mydas) for letting me borrow him for a couple of days (thanks!! ;) )..But most important my beautiful girlfriend Krystynn (reefgrl69) for putting up with me and my atittude these hectic past couple of days..Anyways, i really hope its up and running by the weekend...let me know what yall think. :)

[gjuarez]

looking nice, I like the calfo

[::pete::]

Do you have the RO/DI running yet? Almost there ..

[Reef69]

Hey Pete..no, dont own one yet...but will very soon.. :shades ..until then, its going to be Fintique trips..lol

[markgsa]

Looks spiffy. Good luck! Fintique trips all the way!!

[brewercm]

Looking good. How are you doing the lights, running a canopy or haning them etc.? I'm guessing you are going to use the two actinics from me and are you also going to run halides?

Keep posting pics on the construction. Wish I had taken more pics as I was putting mine together.

[Reef69]

Hey Cliff..Yeah, I have 2x250 watt MH retros that are going in the canopy as well as the VHOs im getting from you..What i dont know is, should i add one more 250 watt MH retro??..or will it be fine??..Its a long tank so..make me wonder.. :blink

[brewercm]

I was trying to make the same decsion when I was going with the 180 originally. I was going to place the two 250s on the ends and leave room in the center if I needed to add. After looking at two of them on my 5 foot tank I think I probably would have stuck another over the center brace and tried to get as much light in there as possible.

[::pete::]

I would do 3 on a 72" assuming it will be sps.

[Reef69]

Yall are right, Im gonna have to go with another 250..Hey Pete, how much does the center brace block the light?..or does it at all?

[JeffCo]

Looks good, I know how frustrating it can be doing all that plumbing work. It would be best to add the 3rd halide in the middle, but that can always come later after you start filling up the two ends with corals.

[Reef69]

Thanks jeffco. Brian was the one doing most of the plumbing..although i felt pretty useless (very useless) i did glue and cut some PVC..lol. But the whole process of measuring and cutting pvc and the trips to Home Depot is very frustrating..but everything came out nicely. Now im just going to be looking for a 3rd MH retro..gonna lurk on the "For Sale" forum :skeezy

[dwdenny]

Looking good. I am going to go a mini calfo in my 45g with 1" bulkhead should give me plenty of flow.

[Reef69]

It defenately should..Cant wait to see how mine works..

[::pete::]

It just needs to be kept clean. I have some sps under it that are doing just fine.

[Reef69]

Sounds good, thanks alot..and Ill PM you during the week so we can get started on that Ca. reactor :shades

[Reef69]

Alright, I did the freshwater leak test, NO LEAKS!!!!! :w00t ..Skimmer is installed an everything is ready to go. Now, I just need to find about 40 lbs. of sand and 1x250 watt MH retro..lol..

[::pete::]

Thats great ... everything flowing nicely?

[jaded]

congratz on the test results... sorry for not helping more with sump design but I had other things going on that took up all my time.

Cant wait to see it loaded

[bigdscobra]

Looks good!! How is your angler doing?

[Reef69]

Yeah Pete, everything PERFECT!..I can regulate the flow in the fuge..man, everything works really good!!

Thanks Jade, not a problem, i understand :) ..Ill fill it up with corals ASAP!!

Thanks Dan..The angler is doing awesome..

[bigdscobra]

Are you doing anything else for flow in the tank or just using the return pump?

[Reef69]

Well, that Sequence Dart pump pushes ALOT of water..The cool thing about the returns is that the nozzles are "posable", so i can point them any direction I want, its like having 2 very strong powerheads. I may add a tunze or two..

[::pete::]

Yes they do ... how do you like the noise they make? :P

[Reef69]

Uh...Im afraid i dont know what you are talking about Pete.. :skeezy ..LOL..Seriously, these things are QUIET!..Probably my mag 7 made more noise than the sequence..I love it!

[brewercm]

I wish sequence would make a smaller version of their pumps, like in the 1200 - 1600 range.

[Flobex]

looks nice! have you gotten anything else done yet? LR and such wise.. (does that make sense...) lol.

[Reef69]

Well, one step closer. One little 40 gallon spill didnt stop me..lol.. The aquascaping is done, i decided to go for the 2 island look with a gap in between, since its a long tank, the tangs are gonna love swimming between them... All im gonna do now is water changes. I havent checked the parameters, i will tomorrow afternoon after school. If everything is perfect by thursday, the fish are going back in. The lightning is done, all im focusing on is the fuge, and the water parameters. Hopefully i can have Pete build me my Ca. reactor sometime next week, if anybody knows where i can buy some gauges and whatever else is needed for the reactor, please LMK, i already have the Co2 tank..Any suggestions??! Thanks!

[gjuarez]

Diego, glad to see that all those incidents didnt stop you from setting up your reef tank. Have to say that I love the concept, specially because you have tangs. I have always liked the bluish hue look, whats your lighting configuration. Looking great. Do you plan on having anything between the two islands?

[Henry]

How high is your water level? It looks pretty high. I set my calfo so that the water wouldnt touch the center brace. Its a pia to clean and keep salt creep off. Looks good and keep up the work and the updates.

[Reef69]

Thatnks g..My lighint is 2x 72in. super actinic VHO's , 2x250 watt MH's with 14K's and 1x250 watt MH with a 10K..im wanting to go 10K on all of them. No, i think the gap looks cool, separating the two "islands"..kind of original..The water barely touches the center brace, its cool becuase i dont have a water mark on the tank, it looks like if it was full all the way..

[Henry]

I don't have a water mark on the tank. The water goes all the way to the trim and still doesn't touch the brace.

[Henry]

I don't have a water mark on the tank. The water goes all the way to the trim and still doesn't touch the brace.

[CD]

Looking great, Diego!! I like the "gap" look also for your rock structure, and I'll bet the fish are going to love it! ;) :D

W. :)

[Reef69]

Thanks Wendy, I cant wait to see how my tangs react, hopefully they will like the extra room..

[bigdscobra]

The rock setup is difently cool makes me wish I had the size tank to do that.

[Am]

Diego your tank looks awesome!

[gjuarez]

I have the boring wall look structure. I want some cool aquascaping ideas. Who knows, I may just copy you. LOL j/k but I do need to redo my aquascaping.

[Reef69]

I believe that its the rockwork that makes the tank..the more realistic, the better IMO..Some tanks can only have the "rock wall"..with other tanks you can do more, depends on the space available..

[Reef69]

Ok, today was a very exciting day because we have a new kid..lol..his name is Louie (..my "mother-in-law chose the name... <_< ). He's about an inch long, maybe a bit longer. Its amazing the way a small school of tangs look..hope yall like the pictures, its one step closer to finishing this awesome project.. :)

[::pete::]

Wow ... looks good !!!

[LoneStar]

that 'gap' looks like a nice clam parking lot to me :shades

[Reef69]

LOL lonestar, my thoughts exactly..Thanks for the nice comments..

[C.Mydas]

OMG- Those tangs are so cute... all happy like!

[gjuarez]

THose are very nice. DO they school all the time?

[Reef69]

Well, tangs school by nature, so these guys are doin' it :skeezy

[gjuarez]

Cool, the only tang I have ever had is a yellow tang so I didnt know that. I learn something new everyday.

[Reef69]

..Well, its been a couple of weeks, so i thought i would share a few pictures of how the tank is coming along. No corals in yet, im waiting on some stuff, but everything else is doing great, fish are fat and happy, parameters perfect, temp. fluctuates on the hottest days, but everything is good..i recently bought a few fish, i know about the moorish and tangs rule, but they will go to a bigger home when the time comes, in the mean time, im gonna enjoy having them..well, enjoy the pictures. ;)

[Reef69]

A few more pictures..

[::pete::]

Wow ... Diego it look awsome.

[Reef69]

Thanks Pete!!, means alot..specially coming from you since your tank looks like a million bucks..

Thanks Brian, couldnt have done it without you man..its gonna look so much better when its stuffed with corals..

[Reef69]

..Cant wait till my tenneti looks like this one.. :wacko