monkiboy

Group buy closes tomorrow. get in while you can!

IO instant ocean and reef crystals 200 gallon boxes up for sale. IO instant ocean boxes which are regularly $51, now available for only $40 each! IO reef crystals boxes which are regularly $63, now available for only $52 each! pick up available in silver spring at buyer's convenience this group buy closes on 11/22 @ noon estimated date of arrival of salt is 11/29 but may be sooner and will update accordingly PM me to secure your purchase/boxes - thanks folks!

Have not taken it out of the crate. Very eager to do so and get it all plumbed but really really strapped for time with the kids and several new hurdles we’ve hit as a family. Just letting the biome build in tank a few different ways and taking the opportunity to do things VERY slowly and exercise patience to do things right the first time hopefully.

thank you

sump arrived safely with a few surprises and toys inside I wasn't expecting! more to come...

water changes. large skimmer. should do it. we shall see. lots of options, as you know my friend. a fancy beta algae scrubber is supposed to arrive in a few weeks for testing but I don't think I'll need it.

Sand/no sand?

trying to think to things for max efficiency and ease.

sump is done and being prepped for shipment...

Sorry to hear about the challenges but glad you got some wonderful help.

thank you for this and I will reply as soon as I can digest and process.

sump is coming along...

unfortunately, yes. the moment it went in I was eyeing how much room was left on the wall. ultimately the wife reminded me of the balance in the space it occupies. next tank will be larger, for sure

kyle @ adaptive reef sourced them for me on this build. kyle is the sump builder. I already have a few other vortechs in boxes... somewhere. I think it will ultimately start out with x4 mp60s and x6 mp40s and the two sea swirls up top. once corals grow in and things change I am sure I will have to revise that and flow is a "fluid" thing. yeah, i hear the gyres are a nightmare for maintenance. something like every three months at least. my last experience a few years ago they seemed brittle and delicate to touch with so many small parts. I don't know. i will be going in heavy to apex/neptune world at an attempt at a LOT of automation. adaptive reef is basically tossing in one of everything they make with the equipment panel board and sump build. i am most excited for the jet flighter plane toggle switch box for most common automations. yes, a trident and probably one other testing machine like an alkatronic just for "trust but verify" sake or maybe a reefbot with more versatility. i really liked the alkatronic i had when they first came out years ago.

want to avoid nylon/abs screws wherever I can so all hardware on sump will be titanium screws. had them anodized with a few different volts between 70-100v for a fun touch.

sump update!! top/euro brace went on. they are sanding it all down one more time. i REALLY dislike sharp/hard edges. most quality builders will smooth out the obvious ones along the perimeter. but it's when you're changing out equipment, grabbing something between baffles, adjusting a temp probe that you cut/slice your hand and find the edges that a perfectionist did not work on. ALL of it will be smoothed/radius'd out, haha. looking SO good right now.

more pumps showing up. looking to run mp40s on the back glass and mp60s on the short side that is inwall and then haven't decided if I am keeping the gyres or not yet, then there are two sea swirls up top for returns from UV.

about 12 years into reefing and getting my first neptune apex... apex and two DOS arrived.

I would certainly think so! stick around and keep me accountable. at this rate, thing thing isn't going to have coral until next year, haha!

Glad to hear of action and time to make it happen!

bottom of sump getting trimmed up...then euro/top gets put on!

was worried about the ext8000 being too much skimmer with the rollermat and not having enough to run or keep a foam head. spoke to royal xclusive folks spoke to CV industries spoke to reef octopus spoke to MRC who makes the roller (infinity) all seemed to agree I needed to go about 1/2 the size I would typically even with the system size and the large fish load I plan for for the skimmer to work well due to the mrc infinity pulling waste at real time before it breaks down is not going to leave much for the skimmer SO... i hadn't opened the 8000 yet and exchanged it for the 6000. at a loss of a few shipping dollars to ship the 8000 back, I now hopefully have a much better solution

some plumbing making it's way in... beefy 2" is going to be fun plumbing...

titanium screws are on the way for the sump - they are working on the euro brace/top now to the sump.

I'm trying!