D805’s Red Sea 260

[D805]

So l have been out of the hobby for over 10 years. The bug just recently hit me again. This is my third tank(5 and 12.5 gallon) I've bought in the past 2 months. No more tanks. I found this one on one of the FB sale sites. Think I got a good deal. Previous owners didn't have time for it anymore, so it need a little elbow grease to get it looking good again.
Red Sea Max E 260 by Juan, on Flickr Just ordered some dry rock, time to come up with some aquascaping ideas and than cure the rock. Hopeing to have some water in it towards the end of November or early December. Now to look at some power heads. Looking at getting the MP40 for the tank. Waiting on those Black Friday deals.

 

New rock came in today. Here is some rough aquascaping before I cure the rock. Any suggestions? Still have some more rock left to work with.

Rock Work by Juan, on Flickr

 

Rock Work in Tank by Juan, on Flickr


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Edited October 20, 2017 by D805

[Origami]

Welcome. And keep an eye out in our For Sale forum for good deals. Of late, a lot of people who have been searching for specific stuff have been posting WTB posts as well (with decent success, I presume), so don't hesitate to post your desire for an MP40 there. You may get lucky. 

[D805]

Welcome. And keep an eye out in our For Sale forum for good deals. Of late, a lot of people who have been searching for specific stuff have been posting WTB posts as well (with decent success, I presume), so don't hesitate to post your desire for an MP40 there. You may get lucky. 

Thanks. I will keep an eye out. 

[D805]

IMG_1833 by Juan, on Flickr

 

Let the wait begin for this curing rock.

[D805]

So, decided to add a sump to the Red Sea. Not a lot of space underneath but found the Trigger 30 sump to fit just right.

 

IMG_0017 by Juan, on Flickr

 

IMG_0018 by Juan, on Flickr

 

Now all I have left is to get a skimmer and a return pump. Looking at the Reef Octo Varios-4 DC return pump at the moment, but open for suggestions. 

Edited November 4, 2017 by D805

[D805]

New addition. Took advantage of the Black Friday deals and picked up a new skimmer.

 

Vertex 180i by Juan, on Flickr

 

It fits.

 

Vertex 180i by Juan, on Flickr

[D805]

Got my return pump in today and a couple of other goodies. Now just waiting for a couple of plumbing parts to get this tank plumbed and filled with water.

 

[YHSublime]

Nice! Everything is coming together. 

[madweazl]

Yea, those deals on the Vertex 180s was untouchable and so were the sales on the Varios pumps if you could find one in stock.

[D805]

Nice! Everything is coming together. 

Yup, slowly but surely. Anxious to get it filled. 

 

Yea, those deals on the Vertex 180s was untouchable and so were the sales on the Varios pumps if you could find one in stock.

Great deals. Yeah the Varios pump went fast.  Might of got a little carried away with the Black Friday shopping.  Should have a couple of more deliveries coming this week. 

[D805]

Well decided to finally test the water for the curing pukani. I put this rock in a Brute trashcan on October 20th. Started out with removing the majority of the visible dead organic matter (clams, crabs, and sponges). Soaked the rock in bleach for the first week. My garage smelled pretty good for that first week. After the bleach soak took the rock outside and hosed it all off. Filled up the Brute of with RO/DI water and let the rock soak again. I did 3 100% water changes with just RO/DI water. Last week decided to add salt to my water change as the water was pretty clear and had no smell. Here is where I sit with my parameters this morning. I think I'm good to start cycling the rock now. Since my tank is still not up and running, the rock will just stay in the Brute.

 

 

 

[D805]

A quick shot of my plumbing so far. Nothing glued up yet, just a dry fit. First time ever plumbing a tank. Learning as I go.  Still need to add a manifold for a reactor in the back and some more unions.

 

[zygote2k]

my advice on plumbing-

use a union check valve, then gate valve, then pipe to manifold and return.

sched 80 is a waste of money/overkill when using in protected spaces.

turn all piping so that the lettering isn't visible from normal sight lines.

do not use purple primer- only use clear medium base glue. (red can) if your pipes/fittings are dirty, soap and water works best.

valve on the drain does nothing- flow is controlled by the pump valve.

in the picture, the easiest way to route the return is to go around the top of the sump. this allows for support of the pipe and keeps torque of the valves to a minimum.

 

also- since you've sterilized the rock, the only diversity that you'll get is what you introduce. this often has the effect of having a non-complete cycle and you might find that dealing with normal issues like diatoms, cyano, and algal problems take far longer to  correct.

in my opinion and from my experience, using the best quality LIVE rock is the backbone of a successful reef tank. If harvested and shipped correctly, the live rock can contain millions of microorganisms and be loaded with much macro-life including coral, sponge, plant, inverts, and sometimes fish. I've gotten 2 tiger gobies from a single batch of rock from Florida.

[D805]

my advice on plumbing-

use a union check valve, then gate valve, then pipe to manifold and return.

sched 80 is a waste of money/overkill when using in protected spaces.

turn all piping so that the lettering isn't visible from normal sight lines.

do not use purple primer- only use clear medium base glue. (red can) if your pipes/fittings are dirty, soap and water works best.

valve on the drain does nothing- flow is controlled by the pump valve.

in the picture, the easiest way to route the return is to go around the top of the sump. this allows for support of the pipe and keeps torque of the valves to a minimum.

 

also- since you've sterilized the rock, the only diversity that you'll get is what you introduce. this often has the effect of having a non-complete cycle and you might find that dealing with normal issues like diatoms, cyano, and algal problems take far longer to  correct.

in my opinion and from my experience, using the best quality LIVE rock is the backbone of a successful reef tank. If harvested and shipped correctly, the live rock can contain millions of microorganisms and be loaded with much macro-life including coral, sponge, plant, inverts, and sometimes fish. I've gotten 2 tiger gobies from a single batch of rock from Florida.

Thanks for the advice zygote. There are two drains on this tank, the valve on the drain is to control the primary drain. I was wondering about the valve on the return is necessary as I'm running a dc pump with a controller.

Do you have a good source for live rock.? I think I would like to seed pukani with some good live rock to increase the diversity. 

[YHSublime]

Thanks for the advice zygote. There are two drains on this tank, the valve on the drain is to control the primary drain. I was wondering about the valve on the return is necessary as I'm running a dc pump with a controller.

Do you have a good source for live rock.? I think I would like to seed pukani with some good live rock to increase the diversity. 

 

If you have a controlable pump, then it's redundant to run the valve on the return line. 

 

I agree with Zygote about the rock, but that can get expensive. I've found by seeding my tank with pieces of live rock from other tanks or a cup of sand, you can add more variety as well. 

[D805]

If you have a controlable pump, then it's redundant to run the valve on the return line. 

 

I agree with Zygote about the rock, but that can get expensive. I've found by seeding my tank with pieces of live rock from other tanks or a cup of sand, you can add more variety as well. 

Thanks Issac. 

[D805]

 

Took advantage of the snow day and finished up plumbing the tank. Unfortunately, the glue I had on hand was no good. Need to get some more glue tomorrow and get this all glued up. Ready to get this tank leak tested and setup.

[YHSublime]

Get this running bud! 

[D805]

 

So decided to change the pipe color at the last minute. Finally,  plumbed and all glued up. Now to wait for the glue to dry.

[D805]

Tank finally filled up. Transferred all my rock into the tank. A mix of about 35 pounds of dry pukani (been cycling since November)and about 20 pounds of live rock tokani. Time to start Aqua scaping.

 

 

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[D805]

Well finally getting around to aqua scaping. Still not loving any of these. Lol

 

 

 

 

 

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[Nart]

Dude. Your setup looks sweet Juan!

 

 

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[D805]

Dude. Your setup looks sweet Juan!

 

 

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Thanks Ben. After many different variations of my scape. I’m think I’m going to stick with this one. I put the sand in last week. Now i just need to mount the lights.

 

 

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[John Ford]

That’s going to look real nice Juan!

[D805]

That’s going to look real nice Juan!

Thanks John its a work in progress. lol Finally have the lights mounted. Had a little diatom bloom but looks likes its just about over. Starting to see some green algae on the rocks. Added a cleanup crew and put a couple of test corals in the tank and they seem to be doing fine. I'm thinking of moving a couple more corals over this weekend. Slow and steady.