wangspeed

Slowly but surely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Water making station is finally up and running. The quarantine and frag area is to the right. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I also had to deal with dinos twice. I hated them so much that I got an oversized UV for my current build. Pentair 50W high output version. I’m hoping that I can remove after the first year or two, but it’s nice to have it around just in case. Likely will only run it at night unless there’s a problem. Blackouts and peroxide were only temp fixes my last go around. Dino X is what knocked it out permanently, but from reading around, it only works on certain species. I kept trying to fit this beast somewhere outside the sump, and finally realized there’s no reason the bottom few inches couldn’t just sit in the sump. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I thought my sump layout was going to be pretty simple, but it looks pretty busy. Almost all done at this point. Just need to get the small tubes for constant water change, ATO from basement and CaRx done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I always wondered how people could manage to drag out their builds for so long. Yeah, now I am one of them. Slowly but surely making progress. I definitely regret the outlet placement now, but it will do. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Had a scare that the sump wasn’t going to fit. Trent and I thought we could slide it in diagonally on the side and rotate it. Well, it’s too wide for that. The very last hope was cutting off the cabinet mounting tabs and sliding it in vertically. That started to work, but then we got hung up on the board I had just put in place on the underside of the stand for mounting stuff. A little Hackzall action and we were good to go! I was seriously thinking I needed to get a different sump for a while there. I siliconed and taped some areas to make sure the stand would hold water and allow it to go down the little drain, which is just barely uncovered still. I learned to tape the stand against the wall after my last tank, which was against the wall, but small splashes, fish, and other objects would inevitably sneak back into the little gap between the stand and wall. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

It was delivered to my home without any problems today, and Mighty Men Moving sent 4 guys to get it from my garage into the office. All done without a hitch! I will say that the most nerve wracking part was getting it off the truck. Even with the lift gate, it’s shocking to see some of it overhang the gate and have to press down the “safety flap” just to make room for it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I would be extraordinarily sad if saltwater creeped all the way back to my very nice regulator!

It's hard to see, but the check valve is attached to the CR, at the bottom of the bubble counter. Geos included it. I haven't been sure on which CO2 resistant tubing to use though, so maybe I'll pick some up from AP. Thanks for the suggestion!

2 Maxspect Gyre XF280 to start with. I saw them on the Maxspect 8' tank and I couldn't hear a thing. No vibration either. If that isn't enough I will mount 2 Neptune WAV pumps to the overflow. Neptune says the external magnet can be in water. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

MACNA was great! I had a blast, and it was nice running into other WAMAS members. I did screw up on my scheduled last day. I had a reminder that my flight was at 1:40p ET. Well, I kinda ignored the ET part, and as a result, I ended up getting there too late. I went back to MACNA, and was able to participate in the BRS raffle. I wound up winning a very nice, but unboxed Reef Brite hybrid MH/LED light, with a 250W bulb. Hmm, well, this was impossible to bring back without shipping, and there was no box, but fear not, another reefer to the rescue! I was offered cold hard cash, and I took it. More than made up for the extra hotel night, and I got to have dinner with Trent and Zoya of Crystal Dynamic, whom I had just purchased a new tank from. Pretty cool to hang out with your tank builder, and find out just how exacting their standards are. I can't wait to have it delivered! The following day, I ran into our very own Tom again, and we grabbed lunch and made it to the same flight without any extra drama. Definitely sad to hear from some folks that were from Houston though. Coverage of the show is tough. I know a whole bunch of people are doing it, but I feel like there's still a lot missing. Some of the more popular stuff is very well covered, and then others are just not at all. I was definitely a lot more thorough with questions this time around, since I was in the middle of my tank build out. Much different than going to my first MACNA where I wasn't terribly interested in new equipment.

I've used it with success, but if I ever have dinos again, I'll probably try UV first. Safer than a chemical approach.

I think I'm also going to cut a hole from the left side of the room into the mud room, and install an inline fan to pull air from the mud room to the cabinet area to help vent humid air out of the cabinet.

This is where the tank is going to go. The room is about 10' x 11'. I'll have to explain some of these pipes. Near the top: Tape over the hole leading to a radon fan to vent outside the house dedicated 20A circuit above tank, Neptune apex cable, and a second outlet on the same circuit Near the bottom: 3 sheets of 3/4" plywood as a base for the steel stand lots of shimming to do, as the floor is very uneven Emergency drain for sump area debatably useful. I may just seal it off if I can't find a good way to plumb this upwards to the sheet of ply in the stand From left to right in primed area empty 1" pipe to basement area rapid fill of RODI or NSW re-purpose as chiller loop if needed dedicated 20A outlet Neptune Apex cable leading to above aquarium gray electrical conduit box that will be used to run 1/4" tubing for peristaltic pumps and another very long Neptune Apex run to basement equipment repurposed vent stack that I can remove the vent cap (not in pic) off of and use as impromptu drain 1/2" cpvc leading to soffit for skimmer air intake another empty 1" pipe to basement area Warren

I've been tankless since we moved to our new home in Dec 2015. Tough being away from a hobby you love, though my wife doesn't mind We planned on putting the tank in our basement, which was unfinished when we moved in, so the basement had to get built out. After many designs, we ultimately decided the basement wasn't the right place for it, and that the small office near our kitchen would be better. I started contacting a few aquarium builders and ultimately settled on Crystal Dynamic. Some of them were from Lee Mar. Trent and Zoya run the show, and Trent seems detail and quality oriented, while Zoya was easy to work with, and helped answer my many questions. My tank and stand are built, but still need to be shipped out. In the meantime, I am amassing a huge amount of equipment that I don't really have space for since our basement is still not done, and my home office is a bit of a wreck, since I'm awaiting the tank to finish out cabinetry. My collection of equipment so far: Crystal Dynamic aquarium 84'l x 28'w x 22'h 3 sides Starphire Starphire euro brace Internal glass overflow (no room for external) 5 x 1" bulkheads in overflow, in Bean Animal config + 2 returns Precision Marine R48 Pro Plus sump GHL Mitras * 5 Bubble King Double Cone 200 GEO CR624 Calcium ReactorFed by Watson Marlow 520Du pump Reef Octopus Varios 8 return pump Neptune Apex and many modules Iwaki MD-40RTpump rapid amounts of water from basement And because this would be boring without pics: The aquarium to be delivered in a few weeks: Calcium reactor parts: GHL Mitras LX7, closest look to MH from an LED that I have personally seen: Big box o gear near one of my other hobbies:

I cut a 3/8" clear hollow plastic tube at an angle, and sharpened it even more. Then attached a clear hose to it, start a siphon straight into a drain, and use this to get rid of pests. At one point, I used it to stab, scrape, and siphon away some zoas/palys that I didn't want. I'm not saying it's the best thing to do, but it worked for me with all pumps off, and I was careful to suck away as much of the soft tissue and liquid around the area as possible. Move slowly so you don't stir it around.

If you are adventurous: http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/repairing-eb8-blown-triac.175639/ -- Warren

Depending on what your budget looks like, take a look into using an industrial grade peristaltic pump as a feed pump. It'll get rid of the need for the valve at the output so badly known to clog. I'm personally going to go with DaStaCo when I go big tank since it is a fully put together system with a peristaltic. -- Warren

I was on the fence til I heard the presentation and talked to them about it. Phenomenal, IMO. I put my kickstarter pledge in, but they didn't make it. They'll still get to market, but it may be delayed a bit. I am really and truly excited to see this go into production. -- Warren

Grow more coral to increase PH [emoji12] I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just dump the effluent into the fuge section and let the photosynthesis help get rid of the CO2. I used to run a CO2 scrubber when my tank was young. The PH would crash when the stove was on. Now it dips, but there is enough photosynthesis to combat it. -- Warren

Highly unlikely that a PH issue would affect the fish. Your hard corals would die first. If you have a skimmer, PH should be fine. Do you have an invert that can nuke the tank? Like a sea cucumber. Or did you do something right before bed? -- Warren

I would skim drier than that. I run a reef dynamics BP reactor with output going straight to my skimmer intake. That's just too much skimmate in one day, IMO. -- Warren

Does it power on at all? -- Warren

We are back in business. Capacitor on the condenser died. $414 to replace that and clean out the condenser, and refill the refrigerant a little. I'm considering to just eat the cost now and get a new HVAC unit. He was guessing 7000-7500 minus some of today's charges. I need to get a few other proposals as well though. I did float a few bags of frozen RODI when the temp was higher. These little window units don't drop the temp that much. -- Warren

Well this sucks. Our HVAC died last night. The fan on the condenser is seized up. Tank was 80 before I turned off the lights. I've got Air Stream coming out today, but I already know I want to replace this old unit, so I doubt anything will get fixed today. In the meantime I bought 2 5000 BTU window units for our townhouse and I'm turning off all but the LEDs. I may blast the T5s for a little bit late in the day, but that depends on the temp of the house. Of course all of this has to be during the hottest week of the year, so far. -- Warren