[SKAustin]

Ok, folks. Things are beginning to move forward with the reef tank. The first signs of progress, Ive completed my Sump/Refugium.

Salty water is expected to hit the tank in about 2 weeks. WOO HOO!

 

[SKAustin]

wow that is a nasty sump. Your an exelent handy man. actualy i have been having bubbles problems in my new tank so i thinki will turn my sump into somethink like that. How did you attach the glass to the tank? I heard silicon doesent stick?
Ps
did you get my pm?

I used Aquarium silicone and, for the time being, it seems to be holding just fine. I will be testing the contraption a little later and will post on how well the silicone holds up. And No, i did not recieve a PM from you, could you try to resend it?

Big Steve I like your crafty sump. Only 1 quick question before disaster. Your water line will be about 2" from the top. Have you thought about insurance area if the power ever fails? I'm betting $1 tonight that in the event of a power failure your sump will quickly overflow. I don't mean to play devil's advocate but I would really hate to see the post about flooding your carpet and know I never said anything.

Actually Mike, there is 4 inches the between the top of the baffles and the top of the aquarium (20 gallon aquarium). Based on the footprints of both aquariums, that should allow 1 1/2" of aquarium drainage plus the contents of both the inlet and oulet pipes. As long as the overflow box and an "anti syphon" hole in the oulet pipe are above that 1 1/2" line, there should be no issue with sump overflow. But yes, as Mikey has indicated. There will be a battery backup dedicated to the return pump and overflow pump (if i have one). So you can send your $1 to S.K.Austin c/o Glenville Police Dept, 18 Glenridge Road, Glenville NY 12302

But seriously, Thanks for the heads up.

 

[SKAustin]

here's a look at the plans with measurements.

One note, the measurement for the inlet is actually 5 1/2", the bubble trap is an additional 1 7/8", so the First section should read a width of 7 3/8".

 

[SKAustin]

Yes, Skimmer will be installed in the inlet area of the sump.

 

[SKAustin]

Lets see some water!!!!!!!!!!!

Um, OK.

You asked for it!

 

[SKAustin]

ok, well, the last few weeks have been hectic as all get out. The last baffle in the sump needed to be moved to accomodate the bigger return pump. A seperate stand was constructed for the sump. my existing 55 gallon tank and corresponding FW equipment was sold to a co-worker, and a new Reef Ready tank was ordered. Lots of last minute researching and the I ordered the lights and other equipment.

I picked up the Reef ready tank yesterday. Picked up all of the plumbing supplies as well. Most of the equipment arrived today. The lights are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I spent several hours last night, and this morning getting the stand finished and the plumbing complete. Iand here we have the current state of things.

Here is a view of the back side of the setup once the plumbing was completed

 

[SKAustin]

best of luck to you, im sure it wont be a failer like mine.

What happened with yours?

And trust me, Ive had my share of bumps in the road. I currently have 2 leaks in my return pipe that i need to fix.

 

[SKAustin]

 

[SKAustin]

 

[SKAustin]

 

[SKAustin]

Whelp, much to my dismay, the canopy will not fit the new tank with the mounting brackets for the lighting in place. I'm planning on picking up a different set of brackets for the lighting, and either maing a new canopy, or modifying the existing one.

Yes, the baffels helped with the micro-bubbles, there's still a bit of air working it's way out of the powerheads, but other than that, it seems OK.

wow your setup is so sweet. May i ask why you dont have the awsome canopy you built on the tank in that picture? So Did all thos baffles take care of the bubbles?

 

[SKAustin]

03/06/07 update

Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 7.5, phosphates .25-0, ph 8.2, temp 79.5 with a .4 +/- variance. Xenia are still doing good. Macro algae Growing like weeds. The "alledgedly dead" caribbean cup coral is still alive and seems to be happy. Have a few yellow, a few white, two orange, and a black sponge all starting to grow. Fellow CDMAS member donated a frag with a few nice metallic green mushrooms, which I might add look SWEET under the actinics. Picked up a few small frags as well. 2 small zoo frags with 20-30 polyps per frag (few different colors on each frag), 3 green ricordea mushrooms, and a tiny finger leather. Also had another ricordea mushroom (pink I think) donated.

And some bad news. My Nikon crapped out on me. Seems there's a service advisory on a defective part, and It'll be repaired at no cost, but it means I'll be taking photos on my junky old Olympus Camedia for the next few weeks. That said, please excuse the photo quality for a while.

 

[SKAustin]

Oh wow are you getting your corals at eddies? Or country living? What is country living?lol i always hear you guys talking about it. Sweet ricordas* or however its spelt.

Country Living is a hardware store over in Mechanicville. They have a large pet section, and even sell aquariums, fish, and supplies. It's a family owned business, and one of the owners, Ryan, is a reefer and a member of CDMAS (Saltcreep). He has a few tanks of corals and live rock at the store, and his prices are way below the other LFS in the area. I picked up that finger leather for $5. If you ever need to look for somewhere to go for a nice little trip, take a ride out there.

 

[SKAustin]

A few shots of some new corals excuse the photos my good camera is being fixed.

 

[SKAustin]

Coming along nicely. Now is the time though to decide what you expect from the reef itself. I wouldn't recommend any more SPS for the tank due to the large quantities of leathers and soft corals. They exude a chemical that drifts through the water and will kill SPS.

The Favia Brain, Purple Rimmed Plate, and Candy Coral are the only LPS I have. I have no SPS other than the Lesser Starlet Coral which came as a hitchiker on a piece of rock, and the 6 heads of Carribean Cup Coral, which also came as a hitchhiker.

As far as additions, I'm getting a piece or two of Sinularia Leather and a few mushrooms donated to me at the upcomming club meeting. Other than that, I'm not looking to add anything else anytime in the near future.

 

[SKAustin]

OK, I'm sure people are getting sick of the crappy pics from the old camera. So, My father has the same camera as I have and I decided to borrow his to give everyone some better pics. Most of these were taken this afternoon, after a bit of rockwork redecoration.

 

[SKAustin]

wow, are those corals from the live rock?? If they are you got a pretty good deal

I wish Mush, No the only thing I got on the Live rock were the Lesser Starlet Colony and the Carribean Cup Coral

 

[SKAustin]

Hey steve how do you think those corals are gunna do in the long run? Do you think they willl have contunued good health under that pc lighting? beacause if you can keep something than i can, becuase i have the exact same lighting as you(the 24 inch model) Rite now you have all the coral i will want(brain,polyp)

Sorry Trev, You must have posted last night while I was posting. I never even saw your post. You should have no problem with any softies, most LPS, and even a few SPS, in your 20 gallon tank (though I wouldnt go messing with SPS as a newbie). The 24" coralife deluxe aqualight ( $124.00 at www.hellolights.com ) will actually provide a higher wpg than the 48" model does in my tank.

 

[SKAustin]

A few more under the Actinic lights this morning.

 

[SKAustin]

A few more.