Omair November 22, 2011 Author Share November 22, 2011 I have been very busy over the past few days, and haven't had much time to work on the tank as I would have liked. Thankfully I was able to put in enough time to sand and re-paint the stand with Glossy White Oil Based paint, and then put another coat of Clear Polyacrylic finishing paint over it. I was able to clean the tank, set it up, and run some water through it to make sure there were no leaks. I started putting together some plumbing, but I'm definitely not too happy with the setup yet. I think I'm going to sell the big Euro-Reef skimmer and get a smaller in-sump recirculating skimmer to save room for reactors, ato, and dosing pumps. I would also like to have some sort of refugium for copepods and other zooplankton. It's a mess, and a bit embarrassing but I think this setup has a lot of potential. I still need to hang my MH pendant, so much to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alieu07 November 22, 2011 Share November 22, 2011 Looking good man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair November 23, 2011 Author Share November 23, 2011 Working on designing a new sump/refugium. Comments/thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech November 23, 2011 Share November 23, 2011 Will your heater fit in those tiny chambers? Also no where to add feed pumps for reactors, etc. A refugium that small is basically a gimmick. I'd get rid of it and add that area mostly to the skimmer area to accommodate other equipment. A bigger return area will also give you more time for evaporation before the pump runs dry. Even if you have an ATO, you want it to be able to run a day or two in case you are out of town for the weekend and it fails and no one is around to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak November 23, 2011 Share November 23, 2011 Buy the cs-1 skimmer with the resirc mod tomorrow, follow my thread in the avast area on this board, I'm 90% it can be made to run external, with a very small foot print Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair November 23, 2011 Author Share November 23, 2011 Buy the cs-1 skimmer with the resirc mod tomorrow, follow my thread in the avast area on this board, I'm 90% it can be made to run external, with a very small foot print Will do Jason, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair November 26, 2011 Author Share November 26, 2011 (edited) Placed an order for the Avast Marine CS1 with Recirc Kit and a MR5 reactor for biopellets. Now I have to anxiously wait! I hope it isn't too hard to put together. Edited November 26, 2011 by Omair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k November 26, 2011 Share November 26, 2011 (edited) Working on designing a new sump/refugium. Comments/thoughts? ditch the filter sock and make a drain box instead. It makes for zero noise and zero salt splash. How does the fuge get water? I see a fuge drain but no supply. I disagree with hypertech about it being a gimmick. Some fuge is better than no fuge. This area is also good to use for a DSB. Edited November 26, 2011 by zygote2k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair December 2, 2011 Author Share December 2, 2011 Hello folks, sorry for taking so long to update. Over the holiday weekend I decided to do this right and took advantage of the Black Friday sales. Most of these items are from Champion Lighting and Supply (20% Off), Bulk Reef Supply (15% Off) and Ready Aquatics (50% Off!) I'm still waiting on my sump/refugium from Ready Aquatics and Skimmer from Avast Marine. Below are some of the items I just received shipment on: Ushio 400W 14K MH Bulb AlgaeFree Tiger Shark Float Instant Ocean Bio-Spira Bacteria EcoTech Marine MP40W ES (Purchased from Champion Lighting & Supply for 408$!) 60LBS of Dry Rock from BRS. Pukani. I received a HUGE piece, nearly 1' long and wide! I hope to make that my show piece, with a big ledge/pillar similar to what Andy has done with his 150G MarineLand Cube. The rock is sitting in a rubber tub with a saltwater, heater and powerhead for now. Pink Fiji Dry Sand. I have two bags of Live Sand coming as my top layer. Must have. Where all of this is going. I have cleaned and removed all previous detrius that I could. Will do one more rinse with tap water before I plumb and get it ready to cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf December 2, 2011 Share December 2, 2011 Looks great, can't wait to see it wet!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 December 2, 2011 Share December 2, 2011 (edited) One of the lucky few that got ecotech at a discount from champion... READ THIS ->http://www.reefcentr...ghting+discount Build and equipment look great! Edited December 2, 2011 by BowieReefer84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alieu07 December 2, 2011 Share December 2, 2011 Looks like you are ready to go man good luck. Can't wait untill it's get wet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair December 3, 2011 Author Share December 3, 2011 I have a slight problem. I ordered 60LBS of Pukani Dry Rock from BRS and overestimated how much rock I would receive. They sent me another package yesterday with a box full of large pieces of Pukani dry rock. I don't want to fill up my DT with just rock so I imagine I'll have some left over. Will see if I can sell remaining rock to a WAMAS member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheTerps December 4, 2011 Share December 4, 2011 They sent you another 60 pounds by mistake? You shouldn't have any trouble selling whatever you don't use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair December 4, 2011 Author Share December 4, 2011 (edited) I actually didn't realize that Pukani was such a light, porous rock when I ordered 60LBS. I received two shipments of rock, which I'm sure equal 60LBS. Trying to keep my plumbing simple, but I know I need to do better. I'm going to stop by Lowes today to pickup Ball Valve/Unions. I'm expecting to receive my shipment from Avast tomorrow. Putting together the skimmer will keep me busy for awhile. I'm debating to mod the skimmer for external like Jason. I'm pretty happy with the Sump/Fuge though, it's perfectly sized and gives me plenty of room in the back for electronics and reactors. I have a Mag 9.5 for the return, but I think it might be too much flow and might downgrade to 7.5. I'd like to avoid putting a ball valve on it because past experience has shown me that it causes vibrations and turbulent flow. Edited December 4, 2011 by Omair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair December 11, 2011 Author Share December 11, 2011 Updated videos of the tank. Cleaned up my plumbing - added schedule 40 check valve for the return and a ball valve for the drain. Changed flex tubing to flex pvc and cemented everything together. Laid out some of my Pukani Dry Rock from BRS and started thinking of ways to aquascape. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb-jXThAOtw&feature=g-upl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwh-DCTXgEQ&feature=g-upl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair December 17, 2011 Author Share December 17, 2011 A few updates. Tank is up and cycling now. Sand is pink samoa live sand. I stressed over the aquascaping for awhile, not sure If I'm happy with it yet. Here's a few pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef December 17, 2011 Share December 17, 2011 Lookin good! I like the rock scape kinda like that with the seperate little island as long as its stable.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf December 17, 2011 Share December 17, 2011 Looks good, I like the scape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair February 3, 2012 Author Share February 3, 2012 Fazio92 stopped over last night and were able to get the plumbing redone in my tank to accomodate the new MRC Skimmer, Waste Canister, and Sump. Tank is still a bit cloudy from all the work but I hope that clears up soon. The sump is a 29 Gallon Tank, I will be using live rock and chaeto to act as a natural barrier reef / filter in the sump. Some pictures: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S February 3, 2012 Share February 3, 2012 Why did you decide to go with the MRC skimmer over the Avast CS1? And what are you doing for ATO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair February 3, 2012 Author Share February 3, 2012 I ended up with the MRC MR-2 Skimmer in a trade to be honest, and I'm very happy with it. It's a beast of a work horse - as long as the water level is maintained in the sump. Which it will be once I have the ATO setup properly. I like the quality of the workmanship of the unit as well as the auto-shuttoff waste container. Great all around skimmer that you can set and forget barring monthly clean up. I expect to have a very heavy bio load in my tank and wanted to play it safe. I might go for a Avast CS2 skimmer down the road, but that will be awhile from now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni February 3, 2012 Share February 3, 2012 Man, looks very neat. Those MRC skimmers are beastly but a little difficult to tune as you know. Are those a couple orange sponges in the sump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair February 9, 2012 Author Share February 9, 2012 Yup. Here's a FTS at day 48: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair February 9, 2012 Author Share February 9, 2012 (edited) Morning shot, lights just came on. My new colonies of Frogspawn haven't opened up fully yet. The Elegance at the bottom left is chomping down on a silverside like a boss. Almost a little sad to break it down and start over. :P Edited February 9, 2012 by Omair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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