My 120 Build

[jsuter]

I figure it's time to start a thread documenting the progress on this build. I am pretty far along as it is so it shouldn't be long before I fill this sucker up.

Basic equipment:
120 Oceanic, corner overflows
MSX-200 skimmer
2x250 PFO HQI ballast and pendants
Eheim 1262 return pump
Koralia 1400 power heads (maybe a little underpowered, but they will get me started)
2x150w Eheim Jager heaters
Built stand and canopy myself (working on doors)

New bulbs came in this week, here they are fired up. No water in the tank yet obviously.

14k Hamilton's

[jsuter]

Here's a couple of pics of the door building process for the stand and canopy. It was cold out today but the sun made it rather nice really.

I ended up only getting 5 doors cut and 3 primered today, I'll be working on them next weekend provided it isn't raining or snowing.

I may run into an issue with the paint and the temperature. I really don't want to paint them in my house, but it's well below the recommended temp for painting. So can I go ahead and paint them and just allow extra time for drying? The primer didn't have any issues.

[chromiumlux]

Very nice!! I like the way you hung your lights. Simple and accessible. Coming along nicely>

[marinelife]

nothing like working in the snow :)

[ghurlag]

all I have to say is "'bout damn time"

[ghurlag]

Jason, what salt are you planning on using?

[jsuter]

It's been awhile since I have looked into salt, so long term I am not sure. I have an unopened bucket of Oceanic that I will do the initial mix with and use until it is gone. After that I am open to suggestion.

[ghurlag]

I have two recommendations, and others will chime in with extreme prejudice :)

Seachem Reef Salt has been a good mix for me. I have used Instant Ocean Reef Crystals, and Red Sea Coral Pro in the past. RSCP seems to have a lot of crud in it, and a few people have found metal shavings. Since switching from RSCP to Seachem, my corals have had even better polyp extension than before, and been really happy about it. Seachem also mixes really well, leaving crystal clear water

The second recommendation comes from others' experiences, not my own. ESV is a newer multi-part salt mix that marinelife and chromiumlux have both switched to. They can tell you a lot more about it than I can (and Eric/marinelife surely will). Here's a link to a thread Eric started on it: http://www.saltgeeks.com/forums/showthread.php/1327-ESV-Salt-Mix?highlight=Salt

[marinelife]

O yeah, love ESV salt, best I have ever used.
Its easy to mix and is always clear. Sadly you have to go Coral Squad up North or Reef Systems out in Columbus to get it.

It does cost more than others (about $65 a 200 gallon mix) but has been well worth it. My corals love it.
I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

[jsuter]

Weather be damned, it's never cold enough outside to prohibit painting inside. Painted the interior side of the 3 doors I got primed yesterday. Tomorrow they shall be black and have door hardware attached!

[marinelife]

nice!!

[jsuter]

I can't believe this thing has 9 doors lol, I guess access to stuff trumped the pain in the rear of making doors.

[ghurlag]

I can't wait to see this thing come together. It's been a long road, man...

[Hamilton]

looking good buddy. I got some spare bulbs for u since I am going to try the LED route, someday. but since i just have little t5 i dont need 250w bulbs for anything.

[jsuter]

Awesome Bobby, if they are DE bulbs I can certainly put them to use.

[jsuter]

Just finished putting a second coat of matte black on the three doors that I have made. Hopefully I can mount them either late tonight or tomorrow and get the hardware put on. Also received my moonlights today, they are the TrueLumen linkable LEDs. I bought two banks but think I may need a third. Should get those mounted in the canopy this weekend. BTW, why the heck to they build stuff meant to be mounted in a canopy and put a <6' cord on it? Going to be tight getting that thing plugged in. :mad:

[marinelife]

nice, we will be waiting on pictures. I look forward to seeing the Moonlights!

[ghurlag]

I look forward to seeing water!

[jsuter]

No moonlight pics yet, but I have a few doors installed now. Here is a couple pics of the "dry" portion of my stand, this is where I plan to have all my electronics. Keep in mind, I'm no carpenter. :cool:

[marinelife]

looking very good!!

[Sunshine]

Looks good. We didn't put a door on the side of ours for the 90. When Bill builds one for the 220, he is putting a door on the side. Will make things so much easier. You did a really good job !!

[Hamilton]

looking good buddy. well n/m on the bulbs they are single end.

[Neogenesis]

No moonlight pics yet, but I have a few doors installed now. Here is a couple pics of the "dry" portion of my stand, this is where I plan to have all my electronics. Keep in mind, I'm no carpenter. :cool:

For not being a "carpenter" you did a damn fine job. I like it!!! Keep up the good work.

Scott

[ghurlag]

For not being a "carpenter" you did a damn fine job. I like it!!! Keep up the good work.

Scott

I'll second that. Your patience is really going to pay off with an awesome tank from the very beginning, Jason!

[chromiumlux]

I agree 100%. Very nice!

[ghurlag]

Come on, Jason - you wet yet??? Don't leave us in suspense!

[jsuter]

Lol, no...no water yet. I did get the doors finished though and just need to put them in place. I'll post pictures of that, probably tomorrow.

[jsuter]

Nothing has really progressed, my water heater crapped out on me last weekend and ate up the reef fund.

[ghurlag]

Water Heater - HA! I'm replacing an engine! :)

[jsuter]

Power center installed today, this is for the return pump, skimmer, PH's, other misc. stuff. Light and heaters will be on a controller if anyone ever buys my dang HQI Pendant and Ballast! Hint hint....

[ghurlag]

And when you're feeling saucy, you can bust out the jams with that DJ power center :)

[chromiumlux]

Very nice! I need to look into one or two of those. By the way, was good to meet you yesterday and hope we did not run you off with all the club talk.

[jsuter]

Yeah, I enjoyed putting some faces with names. I just felt bad because I underestimated the length of the meeting and ended up having to bolt out of there so I could watch my daughter so my wife could go out. Oh well, next time I'll set aside a larger block of time and socialize a bit more.

[chromiumlux]

Usually our meetings do not run so long. No need to feel bad for having to leave. I am looking forward to seeing your tank up and running. Following along!

[jsuter]

Doors are installed, still have some adjustments to make and address the certainty that I will have some light bleeding out through the cracks. Thinking weather stripping on the inside...

On the plus side, I should have plenty of access to the guts.

[chromiumlux]

See, now I am jealous....lol. This looking awesome Jason. I love the setup and functionality of the stand and hood.

[marinelife]

Yes looking very good!!

[ghurlag]

I expected a little more for taking almost 2 years to get to this point... :P Just kidding, Jason - your patience and planning is really paying off. This looks great!

[jsuter]

2/3rds of of my moonlights are mounted, I still need to order another bank. I didn't really have a great solution to mounting them in the canopy without them being blocked by the pendants. That's the price I pay by incorporating so much space and allowing the pendants to hang down so low. I ended up attaching the moons to the upper back joint/corner where the back frame meets the top, angling them forward will hopefully give me a pleasing amount of coverage.

[jsuter]

Oh, and thanks for all the positive comments, I'm very flattered.

[aquatic mouse]

This tank is going to be so cool! You've really planned everything out so well. Taking your time is the best way to do it. Great job!!!

[nate21887]

WOW! That's impressive, I really like the good look but still keep access optimal. Well done!

[Hamilton]

wow, you building stands i want one, looks great love the look. what kind of moonlights did you go with, they home made??

[jsuter]

Yeah well, I see all the little details so I make no guarantee about my stand other than it will never fall down. The moonlights are the TrueLumen linkable sets by Current. Pretty cheap really, $8 per link, $11 for the power supply. You can link up to 12 strips off one power supply.

[jsuter]

Stayed home with the daughter today and decided to get my RODI up and running, how much from the initial setup should I waste? I was thinking 5 gallons. Pics of the tap tds ppm and RODI tds.

[ghurlag]

5 gallons is probably good

[chromiumlux]

Nice Jason! Welcome to the Airwaterice club. A great choice!

[jsuter]

My return/refugium shared sump space. Idea came from Melev's site. I wanted the biggest return section possible and still maintain a good size refugium.

Yes, I know my ball valve is not the optimal type of valve to use here, it will be wide open anyway...more than likely. :cool:

[ghurlag]

haha! Jason has a tiny ball valve...

As long as the chaeto doesn't break off and get pumped into the tank, I think this is a great idea. I have been looking at glass prices and such, and will be building my new sump by this summer. Keep us all posted how this works over time.

What's the timeline for getting wet, Jason?

[chromiumlux]

What size is that valve? Just curious, I may have a larger one...same type.

[jsuter]

It is a 3/4" valve, same as the rest of the return plumbing.

OK, now that I am getting closer to putting water in the tank I am thinking/questioning my plans when it comes to power requirements. This is something that has been on my mind but I have not done the math or investigated the power situation in depth until now. It looks like I have a single 20amp circuit that feeds my basement (disappointing, I was hoping there was at least two circuits down here) which is where my tank is. I don't have the option with the current configuration to split tank devices among multiple circuits.

On this circuit I have lights, 2 TVs, 3 computers, and the garage door opener.

Now I am not an electrician but I can do simple math so here we go...

Wattage:
Lights/Lamps = 820w approx.
TV = 200w
Computer Monitors = 300
Computers (guessing 250-300w each) = 900
Garage door opener = 600

Some of this is probably start up voltage so not reflective of constant draw? Nevertheless that equals 2820 watts or 23.5amps! Granted all of this stuff is not running at the same time usually, it does cause some concern though. I may do some additional looking around because I did not even count the surround sound or PS3 on the downstairs TV, maybe I am missing something. I have not popped a breaker and have not seen any power related problems when it seems that I should have by now.

Add into that my tank which is going to have a peak load of around 941 watts or 7.8 amps (pumps, heaters, lights, etc.)

Now I don't like fires and I think I may already be pushing the envelope of what this circuit can handle so I may need to call an electrician and see about getting another circuit run for my tank. No clue what that would cost me, I could probably do the run myself, but I don't like playing around in the breaker box personally.

Anyone here an electrician? LOL

[ghurlag]

I played in my breaker box and added 3 15 amp breakers to it, and mounted the boxes, ran the wiring, etc. Honestly, if you run the electrical wires, and wire up the boxes, adding the breakers to the panel isn't too difficult. I'd say you have no choice but to look into adding capacity, with what you have running down there.

[jsuter]

My only problem is that I am going to have to run my additional outlet outside around the foundation of the house since everything is finished inside and I have no access to the inside of the walls. I did my calculations using max wattage on everything, which probably explains why I don't actually have issues since I am really only running 1-2 lights at a time, and everything is not starting up at once, etc etc. I even ran my lights for the aquarium while the TV, PS3, several lights, garage door, computers, etc were running and saw no issues. But I'm just not going to be comfortable running this beast without have the electrical system re-evaluated. Sucks because it is going to push me back in getting it up and running, but I'm not putting anything to chance.

Aside from all that, my dang garage outlets are even on the same circuit, which is where I use my circular saw, miter saw, etc. So add that crap into the mix and....well you know. I am just ticked off at the moment about how this house is wired.

[Sunshine]

We put our whole tank on a separate breaker. When we bought our house, it had a little breaker box. It cost us $500 to put in a big breaker box so we would have extra spaces in it in case we needed it. Which was good cause when we set up the tank, Bill just put an outlet in the wall behind the tank and ran the wire to it's own breaker. We still have the old cloth wiring in certain parts of this house ... scary

[jsuter]

My master and guest bedrooms share their own 20amp circuit for Christ's sake. Maybe I should just move the tank up there, jeesh.

[jsuter]

Without taking the panel off it looks like I have 4 open spots for breakers. I also have a 30amp breaker feeding one outlet in the garage and a 240 that consumes, that's an additional 3 spots (which I do not use). Wait....if I move the tank to the other side of the basement on the wall common to the garage...I could run all my power through the wall to the 30amp outlet by the breaker box? I would have to re-arrange the whole basement....but it might be worth it...

I wonder what the heck they had plugged into a 30 amp outlet/breaker in the garage on a single outlet? Hmm...

[chromiumlux]

I agree Jason. You will need a higher amp circuit for the tank. Plus this leaves room to expand if necessary. Good luck with rearrangement.

[jsuter]

Now I am seriously considering moving my tank, if I do I would have to run maybe a 10ft extension from my tank to reach the outlet. I don't like using extension cords but I don't see an issue being that the tank will never exceed the capability of a decent heavy duty cord or two. Any thoughts on this?

I want to run my 8 port power center on one receptacle that will power all of my pumps and moon lights ~150w and the lights ~500w to the other.

[Sunshine]

I wonder what the heck they had plugged into a 30 amp outlet/breaker in the garage on a single outlet? Hmm...

Maybe he was like Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation and had his house lit up for the whole world to see ...

[chromiumlux]

I was thinking an air compressor for the man cave.

[Sunshine]

You men and your man caves ..... geeeeeeeeeeeez what do we women get ?????

[ghurlag]

Jason, I ain't skeered of electrical work. Get an idea of where you really want the tank, and I'll come over and we can discuss some options. If you do move the tank, I would still wire an outlet where you need it and skip the extension cord. It's better in the log run.

I, too, have my tank on its own circuit, albeit, only a 15 amp, presently, but I could change that anytime...

[marinelife]

I have 4 20 amp dedicated circuits for my tank. It is always best to have there own circuits

[jsuter]

Well come on over Brian, I am moving the tank regardless now as I don't really want to run additional circuits to the other side of the house. Especially not since I have a free one available on the opposite wall. Give me a call, I'm home today and tomorrow.

[ghurlag]

I'm stuck at home today, and going to the in-laws tomorrow. Start moving the tank. We'll get it wired up soon enough :)

[jsuter]

I find it humorous that my coffee pot peaks at more wattage (1500) than my aquarium.

[jsuter]

You know Brian, the way it is now I can run a couple additional outlets on that 30amp circuit in the garage down the wall branched off the one outlet already there to where my tank will be sitting. That eliminates any need for getting into the breaker box for anything. That's something I can take care of next weekend easy enough, it also makes it easy to incorporate a GFCI in the first leg of the run and protect all the outlets the tank is running off of.

[ghurlag]

Solid plan. Be warned, though, if you are thinking of installing GFCI outlets. I have seen more that a few people with complaints about those, specific to the reef hobby. ONe alternative is a GFCI breaker (I know...); the other is an in-line GFCI (basically a super beefy extension cord with mad skills), such as this: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/POWER-FIRST-Inline-GFCI-Cord-Set-5YL47

My GFCI outlet kept giving me fits, so I replaced it with a standard outlet. If my heater breaks, or my lights fall in my tank, I'm toast...

[marinelife]

GFCI usually has issue with MH lights

[jsuter]

I have used in-line GFCI's in the past with my last reef tank and never had any issues. I see people gripe about their GFCI breakers popping also, so I don't see a difference between using and in-line, breaker, or built into the outlet, the tech remains the same either way. I might make one outlet GFCI and the other non for the halides, since most of the time it seems people have issues with the GFCI tripping when the ballast fires.

BTW, you are nuts if you don't have a GFCI at least on the electronics in contact with your water. Your heater does not have to break, it just needs to leak a little bit, and it will eventually. Same with any pumps, all you needs is a leak in the insulation and you end up a shadow on the wall. Lights are another story, in a perfect world they would be protected also.

[jsuter]

GFCI usually has issue with MH lights

That's what I have always heard Eric, never had issues on the last tank but with this one I might just leave that 1 outlet un-protected.

[ghurlag]

I don't disagree with you. In fact, it just hasn't been brought to mind until this conversation... Looks like I have some shopping to do

[jsuter]

I have a couple in-line GFCIs if you need one or two. I don't think I will need either with this setup.

[ghurlag]

sure, we can work something out. A pack of Guinness and some help with moving the tank, perhaps?

[chromiumlux]

Barter services have been rendered

[ghurlag]

Yeah, Andy, you and I need to barter for the 40 breeder setup :)

Jason, I think I'm free next Sunday

[jsuter]

Hah! I might run the outlets tomorrow...but I will wait till next weekend to re-arrange probably. You can have the GFCI's for free, you were going to give me a starter frag or two anyway right?

[ghurlag]

Yup, gonna frag the monti soon. Still trying to figure out what I want to break off

[jsuter]

Basement re-arranged and the tank is in its new home. Brian, if you want to come over Sunday still, I want to swap the 30A breaker for a 20A.

[Sunshine]

That really looks nice.

[Telekinesis]

That setup makes me jealous. Excellent job!

[aquatic mouse]

I don't know about it being to the left of the desk. How are you going to get any work done with it in view? lol.

[jsuter]

A welcome distraction, good thing I don't work from home that often. =)

[ghurlag]

Basement re-arranged and the tank is in its new home. Brian, if you want to come over Sunday still, I want to swap the 30A breaker for a 20A.

I should be able to swing that.

[jsuter]

Outlets for the tank are installed. I went ahead and ran the GFCI first in line so that both outlets are protected. I tested my halides to see if they will trip the ground fault and it seemed to work fine. After doing some reading it seems the brand GFCI I bought tends to work well with halides. We'll see, I can always switch them later even though it would be more of a hassle. Never mind the joint compound, my stud finder seems to be useless.

And in my typical overkill fashion I installed a waterproof outlet box to protect against spills.

[marinelife]

looks good, the waterproof box is not over doing it, that is some good protection!!

[chromiumlux]

Looks great! Good safety practices going on here, Everyone needs to pay attention to this.

[jsuter]

Getting ready to order a ReefKeeper Lite with a single PC4, I was thinking about running my halides (250w x2) and my heaters (150w x2) off this one PC4. Is there any issue with that when it comes to drawing that much power from a single plug? I don't think it will be exceeding the capability of the cord, typically they are rated for 15 amps... Another PC4 would be another $90. I can always run my heaters on another power strip but would like to utilize the temp controller built into the RKL.

Thoughts? Opinions?

[jsuter]

Or should I just ditch the RKL idea for now and buy some heavy duty mechanical timers from Lowes? That would definitely be cheaper...

[ghurlag]

Where are you looking at the RKL? I haven't really looked into this level of automation, but with anew build coming up, I've changed my tune a bit. I'll have a look and give you my opinion

[jsuter]

Marine Depot and Premium Aquatics both carry them.

[ghurlag]

I was just looking over the RKL, and it's package contents: http://www.digitalaquatics.com/saltwater/RKL

It really depends on how much you will use the functionality... When I get the MP10, it will control it's own wavemaking...

[jsuter]

Well, crap. Now my wife says I should just get LEDs...that changes things a bit.

Now I need to sell 3 sets of halides, 2 with brand new bulbs.

$400 for the set (3) anyone? LOL.

[marinelife]

I hate when that happens but your wife is right :)

[ghurlag]

:scream:We need to get this tank wet... For the love of god!!!!!!!!!:scream:

On a brighter note, the electrical work seemed to go well last night...:fried:

[chromiumlux]

lol...G is funny

[jsuter]

Final leak check appears to be good, thank god. And let me just be clear on one thing, "I am never buying T/T bulkheads again"! Never, I have made so many glued connections with no issues that I will just use glued slip fittings in the future.

[jsuter]

Currently my in-sump return pump is plumbed using rigid PVC, but I have been thinking about swapping the rigid pipe with some flexible tubing. It's not that it is loud as it is, I was just hoping to prevent problems down the road with possible vibration, etc. Any thought on this? Am I just being paranoid about putting stress on my bulkheads?

If you use flex, what type of clamps? Stainless?

[Neogenesis]

That all depends on what type of flex your planning on using. If you talking about spa-flex, it's great stuff, fairly rigid, which makes it hard to slip over a barbed fitting. On a good note, there is a special glue which you can use to attach it regular PVC. It works great although I haven't leak tested all my joints yet. I'm very happy how it all come together in my setup.

Scott

[jsuter]

This is for the 5-6 inch section between my return pump and the first valve. I was thinking about using some nylon tubing, as I have seen others do, connected with some barb fittings. The sole reason would be to reduce humm and vibration from the pump.

[Neogenesis]

My only hangup with nylon tubing is that it always seems to collapse over time. I'm sure that it's more than adequate to do the job you have described here. As far as clamps, I found pet solutions has some nice ones that are a nylon injected plastic, and seem to be built fairly heavily. I would opt for those rather than stainless. I'm using them for the barbed fittings on my skimmer and like them.

Scott

[marinelife]

I usually use the clear tubing between the pump and the hard PVC to cut down on noise. This has worked for me for years. My return on my current tank is 100% tubing but I have a small section of it on the other side of my pump.

[chromiumlux]

Get the braided tubing. It is a little more expensive but is more rigid and wont collapse.

[jsuter]

Installed the nylon with the braided mesh inside, seems to work fine but I don't know that it is any quieter than it was before.

On that note the tank is finally filled with saltwater and starting to clear up from the sand storm.

Durso drains are a little noisy up top, no flushing and the water in the overflows is steady...but they constantly gurgle. Not sure if I just need to muffle the air intake hole or what. They seem to pull a LOT of air down with them as there are tons of bubbles exiting in the sump. Thankfully my baffles seem to be doing their job though as none of the bubbles are making it back up the return.

[aquatic mouse]

Yay for water! As for the noise, I have no advice. You should hear mine! I got flushing AND gurgling!

[marinelife]

The air hole is the wrong size.

http://dursostandpipes.com/faq/45-flushing-effect-why-does-the-water-level-go-up-and-down

http://dursostandpipes.com/make-your-own-diy?start=2

[Sunshine]

We have flexible pipe in ours, there are no loops or bends and it is a couple inches below the water, we still get flushing ... it's annoying

[marinelife]

With the durso standpipes you should only hear little to no water movement.
My return pump make more noise than my overflow!

[Sunshine]

We have the Durso. It's always done this. It's worse now that we took the skimmer out. We have it drain in the side of the sump that had the skimmer in.

[marinelife]

Check the links I posted about, they talk about how to setup the pipes, the air hole is key.

[Sunshine]

I did, that why I said the things they said to look for, we've already done. The tube use to be at the bottom, we cut it off a couple of inches below the water. It still did it. For some reason, it starts doing it after the lights come on ... it will do it for awhile than quit, than start doing it after the lights go out for awhile. Very weird ...

[jsuter]

I'll go check out those links Eric. I made my air holes adjustable so I can tweak how much they take in. If I open them up at all the gurgle just gets louder, if I close them off any I get flushing (up and down in the overflow). The exits are just about an inch under the water in the sump.

[jsuter]

Here are some pics from today, I am playing with the rock so the water is muddied up a bit at the moment.

Sump is a 50 breeder I believe.

[jsuter]

Some more.

[ghurlag]

Your water is dirty.

Nice Gold's Gym t-shirt ;)

[chromiumlux]

I was looking at your drain pipe configuration. Can you get some better pics of that? I had the same problem with the flush also and had to make adjustments and tweaks to my drain pipe and the Durso. The key is making sure the air is purging from the drain pipe. If air hole is not large enough, or air is backing up at the drain/Water surface this will cause a flush and fill effect which will drive ya nuts.

[jsuter]

Mine doesn't flush, it just has a gurgle sound constantly. It's not bad...but not silent. I have reverse durso's in the sump with vent holes and I can even remove the caps down there so any air can vent out. It doesn't seem to matter though, same story up top, I can remove the caps and the gurgle just gets louder.

1 1/4" standpipes, 1" bulkhead, 1 1/4" below the bulkhead and the reverse durso's are 1 1/2" I believe. The right side (side without the flex pvc) seems to gurgle a little louder than the other side.

As you can see from one of the pics I have been experimenting with air holes up top.

[jsuter]

More shots:

[chromiumlux]

Very nice plumbing! I use the age old trick of running a neoprene airline down one of my airholes to find the airlock. Seems to work well. Once you find the sweet spot this will help with the gurgle. Adjust hose as needed.

[jsuter]

Your water is dirty.

Nice Gold's Gym t-shirt ;)

I wore it just for you sugar.

[jsuter]

I have some airline, I will try that now and see what I can work out.

[ghurlag]

I wore it just for you sugar.

"Get Active. Go Urban." :p

I'm not sure what will work to quiet these down. I'm hoping the approach I'm taking with mine will be silent, and yet failsafe... we'll see.

[Sunshine]

I was looking at your drain pipe configuration. Can you get some better pics of that? I had the same problem with the flush also and had to make adjustments and tweaks to my drain pipe and the Durso. The key is making sure the air is purging from the drain pipe. If air hole is not large enough, or air is backing up at the drain/Water surface this will cause a flush and fill effect which will drive ya nuts.

That's what mine does. The overflow fills up than flushes. The water level in the overflow just keeps going up and down.

[jsuter]

Maybe this can be a topic of discussion at the meeting when everyone is here. =)

I tried some neoprene tube with no luck. I could make the gurgle louder, but I couldn't make it diminish a all. I only have about 18" so maybe I am not getting far enough down in the standpipe. I drilled another hole in the top of the stand pipe and closed off the other two, effectively directing the sound up instead of out towards the canopy doors, this actually makes it seem a little quieter. I'll tinker with it some more later.

[marinelife]

We can answer any questions you have about your tank :)

[jsuter]

Tank has cleared up a bit, here are some pics of the rocks I currently have. Will be picking up some more before long. I am still tinkering with the structure a bit and will probably play with is some more after my lights come in.

[jsuter]

Some more pics of rocks.

[aquatic mouse]

I really like your rock! Nice set up!

[marinelife]

Rock is looking good!!

[chromiumlux]

Coming together nicely! I am trying to swing a deal at Premium so hopefully they will consider us.

[Sunshine]

I like the rock work also. Lots of sand space. Looks good.

[jsuter]

New magnet arrived, pretty strong.

[ghurlag]

wipes algae from glass , and data from hard drives :)

[aquatic mouse]

wipes algae from glass , and data from hard drives :)

:Funny:

[ghurlag]

any word on the AI Sol units? Will they be in time for the meeting?

[jsuter]

Have not heard anything yet. They were supposed to get them in the first week or so of March at PA, then ship them to me. I am hoping to get them this week, but that might be optimistic and it might end up being next week. If I have to wait longer than that I will be bouncing off the walls.

[jsuter]

Yeah, so as I stated in the March meeting thread, still waiting for lights. Looks like it will be the end of this month at least before I see them.

Also my stainless hose clamps for my return pump seem to be corroding faster than I had hoped so I need to find some nylon hose clamps. I presume I should be able to find some at one one of the local hardware stores?

[chromiumlux]

Jason, any New rock and sand yet? Yeah, you should be able to find the nylon clamps at Lowes or Home Depot. This is gonna be one awesome tank!

[jsuter]

It should be here this afternoon, I'll post pics when it comes in.

[jsuter]

UPS guy showed up 4 hours early (of course), so my rock and sand sat on the porch for 2 hours. It was packaged in an insulated box within a box. Like a Styrofoam cooler inside of a box. Hopefully it didn't get too cool. It smells fresh, no death smell that you get with a lot of die off...

Here are some pics, only thing to measure scale is the flashlight in one of the pics, it's a 6 D Cell. I was in a rush to get them in the tank.

[marinelife]

Very nice looking rock, looks like some larger pieces.

[chromiumlux]

looks good. Cant wait to see it in the tank.

[nate21887]

Rock looks great, real colorful!

[jsuter]

It always takes me a few days to get my rock the way I want it. I have been playing this evening and am not sure if I like how it is now or not. Maybe not evident in the pictures but both sides have nice big caves running throughout.

The tank is cloudy cause I also added 15lbs of live sand from PA. The light is just a shop light as my LEDs have STILL not shipped....grrrr.

[nate21887]

I like the island look, looks sweet man!

[jsuter]

What do you suppose these are, found them on the rock after I arranged it. I thought the top one was a sponge at first...now I am not so sure.

Two pics, slightly different settings.

[jsuter]

Thanks Nate!

[aquatic mouse]

Rocks are awesome! I love the caves and I'm sure the fish will too!

[chromiumlux]

That rock looks great! I see all kinds of life on it just in the pics. Not sure if that is a sponge. Could be some type of encrusting coral. Does it have a hard surface?

[jsuter]

Yes it has a hard surface. The brown disk below it also does, looks like some kind of plating coral...we'll see. I need my dang lights.

[jsuter]

The sand I got from PA was super nice, clean, barely clouded my tank at all when I added 15lbs.

[chromiumlux]

Looks like cycling and curing time.

[nate21887]

+1 on the lights, see what it grows into...

[jsuter]

Being anxious like I am I tested for Ammonia....0 ppm on my test kit. Dang! I was hoping for something to kick off.

Anyway, I decided to take some more pics since the water has cleared up a bit. No one gets tired of pics right?

[jsuter]

More!

[jsuter]

And....

[marinelife]

The rock work look nice. Are they stable? you do not want them falling over. :)

[jsuter]

Yep, they are pretty solid, there is one piece that I may glue down. Other than that, I think they'll stay put.

[aquatic mouse]

Lookin' good!

[jsuter]

No ammonia yet...Dang you cycle! Lets get started already!

[jsuter]

Found a bristle worm last night. First real sign of life I have seen. Thinking it may have come in someones sand yesterday, which is awesome.

[marinelife]

very cool, they are a good little critter to have!

[jsuter]

Lights shipped today, should be here tomorrow! Woo, lots of pictures tomorrow!

[marinelife]

nice!!! can not wait!!!

[chromiumlux]

yeah! look forward to the pics

[chromiumlux]

By the way, you get a cycle yet?

[jsuter]

No ammonia, nothing. If I don't see anything pop up this week I may consider throwing in a few chromis next weekend. While not on my ultimate stocking list, they won't hurt anything and should be fine given the amount of biological filtration that seems to already exist.

[chromiumlux]

You gonna fish those out when they are done doing their job?

[nate21887]

Can't wait to see them lights!

[jsuter]

I'll probably leave them in there. Since they are harmless anyway.

[aquatic mouse]

Not entirely. Chromis are damselfish. They can be very aggressive to new fish.

[marinelife]

males more than females even more so if he has some ladies to protect.

[jsuter]

Wow, I did not know that. I've had them in the past and always thought they were passive. Thanks for the info.

[jsuter]

Lights are here, time to work on hanging them.

[nate21887]

Great, can't wait to see those bad boys in action.

[marinelife]

yeah when are they getting installed????

[chromiumlux]

These are gonna be awesome!

[jsuter]

Since they are going in my canopy I am modifying the hanging system a bit. I will post pics later once they are hung.

[jsuter]

Here are some pics. Most shots look bluer that what it looks like in person. I need to fool with the settings and play around a bit.

Yes those are zip ties in my canopy, no they are not supporting the lights. LOL. They are just acting as a fail safe since I don't want to accidentally dunk $1k in saltwater.

[jsuter]

And a few more...

[marinelife]

:exclaim::exclaim::exclaim::exclaim::exclaim::excl aim:

That is alot of light, very nice!!!

[Neogenesis]

very very nice!!!!! I'm just getting ready to order all the parts to do my LED's over my 180g. You gave me the push I needed to get them ordered!!

[chromiumlux]

Awesome! I like those. cant wait to see how well they grow corals.

[aquatic mouse]

Those look great! Can't wait to see how corals look under them!

[binyang]

nice light,the are ai sol is that right?
how much did u have to spend,was think about get those for my future tank built

[jsuter]

Yes, they are the AI Sols. The prices are the same pretty much everywhere, I bought mine from Premium Aquatics.

[ghurlag]

That is some ***y lighting! Can't wait to see it in person, and with some coral underneath it

[jsuter]

So my original rock has been in the tank for almost a month, some of it was live. Added my live rock from PA and 15lbs of live sand 8 days ago, added sand from members tanks last weekend. I have been testing almost every day and have seen 0 ammonia yet...what's the deal? I have cycled tanks before and it has always been fairly predictable, this time...I am not sure what is going on. I have life in the tank, worms, etc...but no indication of the beginning of a cycle yet? Was my rock from PA too clean (it was very clean), did the 15lbs of live sand that I added prevent a noticeable cycle? How long should I continue looking for ammonia?

I have tested for nitrates and nitrites as well, just in case I have missed something. Everything reads zero.

[marinelife]

hmm that is odd, you need a test coral frag :)

[jsuter]

lol Eric.

BTW, when are you available to swing by with that PAR meter of yours?

[chromiumlux]

If no cycle by now, you aint gonna get one. I would add some life like a fish or couple of corals and see what happens.

[marinelife]

I have some pavona cactus coral frags and some blue ridge frags you can try. both not attached

[chromiumlux]

I have the chalice and montipora.

[jsuter]

Wow, haha. We need to set something up.

[jsuter]

I am home this evening if anyone wants to swing by with a test coral or you know a par meter....just sayin.

[marinelife]

I am heading to the movies tomorrow, then we are gonna stop at Carries, we can swing by after that if you think you will be home, I would guess 3-4PM

[jsuter]

That should work, we have something going on later in the evening but should be here around that time.

[marinelife]

Ok I have your number so I will call to verify once we have time to head that way. I will most likely bring Andy too if he wants to go :)

[chromiumlux]

Yeah, I am in.

[jsuter]

Some updated pics.

[jsuter]

Couple of additions

[jsuter]

Fireball cap started to bleach, I moved it down to the sand yesterday.

[marinelife]

nice additions, Maybe do a water change to help the coral and the water.

[jsuter]

Skimmer pulling a little something.

[jsuter]

Yeah, I did one small water change Friday. Will do another in the next couple days.

[chromiumlux]

Looks like you're getting the golden tide....diatoms. Nice hammer! If the cap dont make it let me know. Looks great so far!

[jsuter]

Picked up a couple frags today. Left is a pink birdsnest as far as I can tell, the one on the right I believe is a pink monitpora digi...not sure though, thoughts? Both corals were under poor lighting so they are on my sand for the next week or so. I think they will color up nicely.

The picture actually does not show the colors very well. I wish I could figure out how to take good tank pics with my camera, subject of another thread perhaps.

[ghurlag]

Very cool!

[marinelife]

Nice looking frags but I do not think that is a pink Digi.

[ghurlag]

And Eric ruins the party :)

What do you think, Eric? Pocilipora? The polyps look a little different from what I have, but close...

[marinelife]

That maybe. NOt 100% sure yet.

[jsuter]

It looks looks more like a Digi than a Pocilipora to me and the pics I have looked at. It is much pinker in person. Coral ID is not my strong suite mind you...

[chromiumlux]

Damicornis and Stylophora

[jsuter]

A recent pic of my two new corals that I added last week, mainly because I am playing with camera settings. Pics of a zebra dartfish that I added a couple weeks ago but never got around to taking pictures of.

[chromiumlux]

Nice fish Jason. Tank is looking great so far.

[jsuter]

If the cap dont make it let me know. Looks great so far!

After two weeks on the sand the cap is starting to color back up and it looks to be re-claiming the bleached sections. I think it's on the road to recovery.

[ghurlag]

Yay! That's always good news!

[chromiumlux]

After two weeks on the sand the cap is starting to color back up and it looks to be re-claiming the bleached sections. I think it's on the road to recovery.

Glad to hear it. Hope it does well for you.

[reefgrower]

I like this tank, the lights are really neat. I will follow along and watch this tank grow.

[jsuter]

Video of the tank as it sits, while it still doesn't show all of the colors accurately it is better than I have been able to achieve with my camera.

Ignore the poor cameraman-ship.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0nhtX2uwTw

[dogfytr]

looks very nice

[ghurlag]

This tank will do nothing but get better and better as time goes by! Awesome work, Jason! Your patience is starting to pay off

[chromiumlux]

Really looking good. You have done an exceptional job creating this masterpiece thus far. Look forward to seeing the reef grow.

[jsuter]

I found my green mithrax crab picking at my sps, he has been exiled to the sump. =(

Never had a problem with mithrax xrabs before but I have heard that they can be hit and miss.

[jsuter]

Thanks for the compliments, can't wait to get more pretty sticks in there.

[ghurlag]

Pretty sticks is gud

[jsuter]

Picked up a couple Acro's from Aquatic Specialists Saturday. They have some nice stuff, I was impressed with how many sps corals he has.

Here are pics of one, no pics of the other but I have a video that you can see both in that I will post later. This thing is intense in person, the pictures don't do it a lot of justice.

[jsuter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_EleCTV6FM

[marinelife]

Very nice looking acro!!

[chromiumlux]

Nice Acro! Looks very healthy.

[jsuter]

Been awhile for updates, I have been pre-occupied lately, and the tank is filling up with algae at the moment so I may have pics of a rabbit fish next weekend (never know).

Picked these up at AS last weekend.

[marinelife]

nice looking corals!!

Bad hair algae going on there. A rabbit or tang will help.

[jsuter]

Yep, the tank is maturing nicely. I need to get a growth shot of Andy's stunner, it is almost off the disk now in some spots.

[Neogenesis]

Looking very nice. Keep up the great work!!!

[jsuter]

Well my zebra dartfish decided to go carpet surfing today. I found him maybe 10-20 minutes after he was out of the tank, when I picked him up he was not breathing but I felt a little *click in my hand so I threw him in an acclimation container where he started some very labored breathing. I spent the next 10 minutes carefully sucking dog hair and stuff off of him, he was almost dry so the crap on the carpet was just stuck to him. He is beat up pretty bad and I think he may be done for, but for now he is back in his cave.

He can manage to swim, but very lazily so my hopes are not very high.

I wish I knew how he got out as I have gutter guard across the back of my tank. Unless he can jump 9" out of the water?

[marinelife]

I have heard of fish almost dried out being put in the tank and living.
Glad he is doing well

[jsuter]

I forgot to mention earlier that I saw a clear flatworm on my glass when the lights came on this afternoon. When I went to confront the chap he jumped off the glass, spread out and caught the current to another part of the tank. I got good enough of a look that I don't believe it was an AEFW, it looked like a red planaria...only clear. I have been dipping new frags, examining under a magnifying glass, and blowing them off with a turkey baster. Not sure where he came from, hopefully not something too invasive.

I had an outbreak of the red planaria's in my last tank and really don't want to deal with that again.

[marinelife]

I would guess it was clear because it was on the glass, 99% of the time AEFWs do not leave the corals

[chromiumlux]

I have read that dartfish have a knack for finding the smallest of openings to jump through. Good luck with nursing it back. Not sure on the planaria thing. Hopefully, they will die before finding a food source.

[jsuter]

The dart didn't make it, he lived for almost 24 hours after I found him on the floor. Sucks, he was a cool little guy.

[marinelife]

:Grrrr::a055:

[aquatic mouse]

Aw I'm sorry. Rest in peace, little guy.

[Trini 2D Bone]

sorry man

[dlcrawle]

Tank has came along way looks great!!! I am wondering what you are doing with your original light setup the 2x250 PFO HQI ballast and pendants PM me and let me know if you are trying to sell them or holding on to them thanks

[jsuter]

Thanks dlcrawle!

I sold my halides on ebay, I tried to sell them locally and on the board here with no luck a few months back.

[jsuter]

Moved my power heads around tonight to switch up the pattern a bit and get a bit more efficient. I have been seeing pods out the wazoo for the last week or so. They are everywhere, which is awesome of course.

Couple pics, new Tomini Tang and a little snail I found on the glass. The tang has been munching hair algae like a madman, although he is still a little shy.

[dogfytr]

that tang is super cool

[chromiumlux]

Very nice Tang! Soon you will have hundreds of those snails.

[jsuter]

Great news tonight!

Last time I saw the zebra dartfish he was drifting around inside a rock for hours Sunday, then gone, Monday and yesterday...no sign. Today I started to feed my cleaner shrimp, spot feed my hammer and throw a krill to the serpent and who comes out of nowhere? The dartfish! I had counted him as a carpet casualty 2 days ago but never saw the body. He is still all marked up from being on the floor for so long and most of his tail fin is missing, but he came out and tore up some mysis. With no fins he looks like a little finger darting through the water.

I was convinced he was a goner, shocked he is still alive.

[marinelife]

:yahoo: