58 Gal Log

[Rborgia]

Update:
Completed the plumbing (as indicated by the pretty blue cemment on everything:

Side shot of the sump:

Ok this next one really upsets me. I added a black background, and I had a nice large piece of Acrylic laying around and decided to make a "salt Creep rim" (whatever you call it). Anyway, I cut it out, routed out the center... walked up stairs and realized.. AGAIN! I measure wrong... 2" too long. So I had to cut it anddo some glueing. It looked really good prior:

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Dude It looks great!!!! Don't kick yourself for measuring wrong, I only wish I could do half as good as you. You have a work of art there and it doesn't even have any fish!!!

 

[Rborgia]

Dude It looks great!!!! Don't kick yourself for measuring wrong, I only wish I could do half as good as you. You have a work of art there and it doesn't even have any fish!!!

Thank you...

One more piece to get (the cutting board) and then I can add water.

I am soooo anxious, but want to be sure I do this right.

 

[Rborgia]

Minor Update:

The cutting board was sitting at the front door when I arrived home this evening. I immediately took it to the basement and cut out the area for the overflow box.

I siliconed it into the tank and hopefully by Sunday morning I can have the tank back on the stand and filled with water.

 

[Rborgia]

About 95% of the water is in the tank, tomorrow will add the rest and fire up the main pump (Mag 9.5). If all goes well, I will add Salt tomorrow and then I just hang and wait for the LR.

In the mean time I built another Refug, a smaller one for this tank 12w x 12h x 5d. I needed something to fit under the stand (its getting tight in there). I need to add another bulkhead higher up as a back overflow incase the primary gets clogged. Once that is compete I need to cement the supply pipe and this part is complete.

 

[joe]

this is kick A$$

 

[Rborgia]

thanks Joe...

yeah my wife wants to kick my a$$...

It's all good though. She just wants to add fish and coral. The hard part is getting her to understand why we need to wait for the LR to cycle. And the first hint of a stinky cycle that comes from the tank... then I really get my a$$ kicked.

 

[drunktank]

great looking set up- plumbing looks so confusing lol - dont get urself lost

just think it would have been cool if u didnt tint the back and left the mirror reflect

 

[Rborgia]

great looking set up- plumbing looks so confusing lol - dont get urself lost

just think it would have been cool if u didnt tint the back and left the mirror reflect

I decided to just go with a black background instead of tinting the glass. I figured I could take it off later if I so choose. PLus I believe with the background the light will stay concentrated inside the tank.

The plumbing is rather simple...

Feed from tank
Mag 9.5 feeding Lifereef SVS24 Skimmer
MJ1200 feeding Refug and Phosban reactor with carbon
Another Mag 9.5 as a return which splits off and feeds a UV.

The UV sitting in front makes it look a bit confusing. I just wanted to keep everything inside the cabinet. It is really neatly done, just a bit tight.

Rich

 

[gegema]

Rborgia,

Great setup you got there!! I don't see a wye check valve, on your return. Any reason you decided against it?

 

[Rborgia]

Rborgia,

Great setup you got there!! I don't see a wye check valve, on your return. Any reason you decided against it?

Completely slipped my mind... Thank you. I need to figure out how I can get one on there... maybe I can place a check valve inside the over flow on the return pipe.

 

[gegema]

Sometimes the wye check valve need to be cleaned, so the ideal place would between the gate valve and the bulkhead of the return.

http://savko.com/partlist.asp?pgid=1&ptid=3&pid=2&part=304007

 

[Rborgia]

Tank, Stand, and hood are complete with a few minor exceptions. I need to install some fans, and fix some of the escaping light issues.

The door is finally complete and on. I have found I need to find something small like a window sealer that I can stick to the door to keep the ligh inside when the door is closed.

This is my other "issue"... the ligh escaping from the back. I would like to leave this area open to feed lines in and for easier access... Any suggestions as to hose I can prevent the light from escaping there? tack some black material to the back and let it hang down maybe?

One last isse, maybe... My MH bulb is about 16" from the top of the water... is this too far? should I lower it some?

Thanks!

Rich

 

[joe]

dont know much about halides, but i think thats a bit to far up there (;

 

[Rborgia]

Just an update:

Lighting:

Lowered the Halide. It is now about 9 inches from the water surface. I also went out and picked up 2 PC fans and an AC adapter for hood cooling.

Water:

Well after some issues with the water turning cloudy I spent all day yesterday filling buckets of RO/DI and filling up the tank (An I didn't flood the basement this time). As it stands (no circulation) the water is still clear one day later. Tonight I will go home and continue filling, I still have about 15 gallons to go, plus the sump.

Pumps:

Working on arranging a pick up of the 2 Seio 800 series pumps I got from the GB.

Overflow:

I opened up the top hole of the drain pipe to allow more air to flow with the water. This helped elimate the slight "toilet bowl" effect I was getting. Water would rise and fall every few seconds. It also help quiet down the water a bit.

Rich

 

[aaron]

This is all very cool to go through this thread. I am about two weeks behind you with my new tank. Hopefully i will be filling it up with water next weekend.
Love your plumbing job, and i cant wait to see some pics with the LR in there.
Goood luck with it
A

 

[Rborgia]

Thanks Aaron, and good luck with your venture as well.

Plumbing:

Something I forgot to add to my last update.

I have made a couple minor plumbing changes. Specifically to the Skimmer feed lines. I was going through about 1.5 feet of PVC with three 90 degree bends and 2 unions before hitting the Venturi device. I have removed all that and went with a straigh line from the pump to one 90 directly into the skimmer (using 3/4" tubing, as Lifereef sends it).

I did this to elimate some of the pipes and give me a little more room to move in the sump and to hopefully help the Venturi work more efficiently.

Rich

 

[Rborgia]

Updated Plumbing Pics.

I changed the plumbing around a bit as previously mentioned... the tank is so much more quieter now! I guess the plumbing from the Skimmer was causing a vibration in the pump... but now, its almost all water sounds... nice! (and the wife is happy too! ).

Head-on:

To right:

To left:

 

[Rborgia]

Update to tank:

Rock formation is complete

This is an over all shot, I just need to hide the wiring up top for the ballasts:

 

[nanoreefer22]

Rich,
The rockwork looks really nice! Soon enough you'll be stocking the tank .
-Kris