My 52x28x28 reef tank in progress

[Len]

Here comes the rain again .... falling on my head like a tradegy
That's Lewis of Catalina Water Company in the picture. Great company and great folks.

 

[Len]

I'll snap more photos soon. The bulk of today was spent patching up minor leaks and one major one. Suffice it to say, I recommend you tighten down bulkheads with a wrench or socket.

 

[Anonymous]

Oooh. Watching this with interest. Never before have I been as tempted to write the dread words "just tagging along"

 

[LA-Lawman]

i am jealous... do you get all of your water trucked in... looks like a snake oil truck to me how do you like the stuff....

 

[MartinE]

looks great len!

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, Len...wonderful!!

 

[Anonymous]

Len wrote:

I recommend you tighten down bulkheads with a wrench or socket.

I thought you were supposed to make sure that you DON'T over tighten them. Something about deforming the gasket.

Tank is looking good!

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Cool len

what ever happened to just dumping a bucket of salt in there and sticking a garden hose in there?

How much does it cost for a service like that?

Oh, and I think I have a leak in my tank. Yesterday when I came home there was water along the back from the one bulkhead fitting. Its been running for 2 years :Shock:

 

[melas]

**warning east coast mentality**

what they heck do they have a nsw (i'm guessing natural sea water) truck for? is there really that big of a demand for seawater for tanks out there? if so i GOT to get me out of PA! haha. . . looking great Len! So what are the ramifications of having smoked glass? is that like puttnig a neutral density filter on a camera lens??

 

[Anonymous]

I think that's an illusion

If I remember right its Starphire glass

Right len?

 

[melas]

dolt!

Here's a close up of the top of my Durso standpipe. Because my overflow is made mostly of dark smoked glass (which is somewhat transparent), I couldn't go with white PVC pipe which would stick out as an eye sore.

i read that too quick and thought that was referring to the whole tank. . .


**sits in corner, adjusts dunce cap**

 

[Len]

[/quote]

I thought you were supposed to make sure that you DON'T over tighten them. Something about deforming the gasket.

Tank is looking good!

Louey[/quote]

Hehe. Yup, I did that too. I over tightened one of the bulk heads and the front lip got bent out of shape. I've since found a nice socket and short wrench that provides the perfect amount of torque.

I'm probably just a weakling. I can't ever seem to manually tighten down bulkheads with enough force. The nut doesn't provide much surface area to grip.

 

[Len]

Ben and melas,

I've used Catalina seawater for over a decade with great success. Ben, it's probably what you've seen sold as "live water." I use it for simplicity and because it tests perfect for every parameter I've checked it for.

Catalina Water Co. supplies a lot of LFS and wholesalers in So Cal. There's plenty of demand of NSW here

 

[Len]

How much does it cost for a service like that?

I'm not sure if they regularly fill people's tanks up directly, but they had a scheduled LFS delivery in my area so they agreed to drop by. I doubt they'd fill a tank that's under a 100 gallons though (not worth their effort).

I may have gotten a super deal on this fill, so I don't feel comfortable in stating what I paid. Let's just say it wasn't much more then salt mix and less then drinking water you buy by the gallon at your supermarket.

 

[melas]

man that blows my mind. . . to your door nsw. . . nsw isn't even an option here let alone via home delivery. in a 150 mile radius of my house there are probably only a dozen places that sell saltwater animals, of that only 2-3 know anything about what they are doing. you don't know how good you west coasters have it!

 

[LA-Lawman]

Len,

petco carries the water but it is expensive... $26 for 5 gallons...

 

[LA-Lawman]

Len, are there any updates?

 

[Len]

Nope. I'm the epitome of patience

I get my sand tomorrow, but I likely won't add it until next week. A contractor is going to come over and reinforce my floor (sistering the joists, adding cross beams and pillars, etc.). I probably won't have any livestock in the tank until 2007.

 

[MartinE]

I wish we had a way to get good quality sea water here in the middle usa.

 

[LA-Lawman]

did you say 2007... patience... that's not patience.. that's insanity.. obviously you monitor your threads.. and your email.... so go monitor your tank and "get crackin' Mister!"

i could not sit that long with an empty box of glass in my living room. arrrggghghhhh ...


well, anyway...keep us posted. I am gonna go sit and look at my filled TANK!!!