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Unread 10/24/2015, 06:49 PM   #26
Bogue Chitto
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That's a lot of rock...


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Unread 10/25/2015, 04:46 PM   #27
MrsReefK
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Progress - Let the sump room construction begin! The DT will be going in the wall where the 'outline' of boards are on the floor. The area where the dogs are laying will be the sump room. This used to be a bar with a peninsula. The house hasn't been touched with any updates since the 80's, we just purchased it, so might as well make it custom to what we need for a tank now!

Sump plans - Check
Apex controller ordered - Check
Radion xr30w Pro (X3) ordered - Check
424 lbs of Live rock (free) - Check (Drying this out, covered with algae and unknowns)
Tank delivery scheduled for Nov. 7 - Check
Picking up 300 lbs of (good) live rock this Sunday - Check
Bought mixing tank, ATO tank, 2 QT's today - Check


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Unread 10/25/2015, 04:48 PM   #28
MrsReefK
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Here's the 424 lbs of LR from the other night.


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Unread 10/25/2015, 10:55 PM   #29
SaltBeast
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How did you get so much rock for free? That's the deal of a lifetime!


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Unread 10/26/2015, 06:30 AM   #30
MrsReefK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltBeast View Post
How did you get so much rock for free? That's the deal of a lifetime!
Treasure of a find on Craigslist!


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Unread 10/26/2015, 06:07 PM   #31
MrsReefK
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The sump room materials were purchased today. Got a wash tub sink and all of the lumber. All of the lumber under and around the tank will be green treat. So, we went all out and purchased a custom sump rather than the 125g sump. This will not be housing the fuge, the fuge will be in a separate tank that overflows to the return column in the sump.

Pictures - lumber, and lots of it!
Dogs - They are being very helpful chopping up the wood for us. They are all 3 acting like wood chucks on our scrap wood.
Daisy - She fits nicely inside the tank layout.

We realized something tonight, our Tunze PH's may not be the most ideal. The 'lid' of our tank is not removable, there's 3 access points (see pic in first post of this thread for visual). Our PH's have the cords inside the tank, so the cord is going to be away from the sides because it's not an open top. Does this make sense? How do we make this work? Do we drill small holes in the lid? Do we find PH's like the Ecotech's that the cord is on the outside?


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Unread 10/27/2015, 02:15 PM   #32
mkindsfather
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Can't wait to see the pics!


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Unread 10/27/2015, 02:28 PM   #33
Joke
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Cant wait for it to have animals in it keep posting pics


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Unread 10/27/2015, 02:40 PM   #34
tripdad
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Make sure to thoroughly seal all sides of that lumber, it is not meant for living spaces. The threat is probably minimal at most but be safe and seal it up.


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Unread 10/28/2015, 08:37 AM   #35
MrsReefK
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Hey guys! Thanks for the support. We are getting anxious as well, it's all coming together. We still have a lot to do before the tank arrives, like build the entire sump room, but we're making headway. Once the tank arrives we have to buff the acrylic, remember this is used, and pretty scratched up. Our solutions came today for fixing the acrylic.

Being we decided to dry this 424 lbs of LR, we laid it out, wow! It's so much more when it's laid out. Those pieces in the top of the close up picture are HUGE!

I told you we decided to go with a custom sump that was designed for an external skimmer... well here she is. Got a heck of a deal on this puppy, can't wait to get it pushing some water through. We are debating on fuge size now. I want the DT to be 'less' full of rock for a cleaner look, so I want a fuge that can handle a large amount of rock. Size TBD.


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File Type: jpg close.jpg (63.5 KB, 505 views)
File Type: jpg Sump1.jpg (97.4 KB, 542 views)
File Type: jpg Cleaner.jpg (81.6 KB, 438 views)
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Unread 10/28/2015, 09:28 AM   #36
dave.m
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Congrats on moving the refugium out of the sump. A refugium big enough to have any significant effect on water quality will seldom fit into a sump, anyway.

You may also want to consider having more than one refugium, since you have mentioned lowering the amount of rock in the display tank. You can have one lit refugium for growing algae and pods, and another dark refugium to store more rock. This second one is called a cryptic refugium, and all manner of worms and sponges will eventually populate the rocks in this darkened tank. A cryptic refugium can have huge benefits as regards filtering water if you maintain good water circulation through it.

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Unread 10/28/2015, 09:50 AM   #37
MrsReefK
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Dave, thank you! It was a tough decision on my part for some reason (I had not valid reason), but my husband was all over separating the sump/fuge. Previously my fuge area was about 55 gallons, we were using a 125g tank for the combo. Now I am thinking 55 gallon tank, 1 section with DSB and macro algae, next section rock sharing a light with the macro. I haven't heard of cryptic fuge yet. This is intriguing to me, I'm off to look it up.


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Unread 11/03/2015, 08:41 PM   #38
MrsReefK
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Fuge debate has been solved - 125 g fuge that will overflow into the 30g sump. I'm very excited, but can't decide exactly what to do with the 125, I keep bouncing back and forth with all of the options and benefits/downside to each.

Fish room construction starts tomorrow. I'll have lots of pictures to share.

The tank, lights, and apex controller are all getting delivered SATURDAY. Just a few more days. We don't have to be ready for the tank in terms of the fish room. We have a lot of buffing to do first, the tank needs a bit of TLC. We will be posting during that process to hopefully help others.

We picked up the other 300 lbs of LR. While pulling it from the tank, Jeremy flipped the rock over and next to his thumb was a fire worm.... As big around as his thumb, 5-6 inches long!!! We left that piece with the seller in a bucket in the sump. She said she saw the worm 2-3 years ago and hasn't seen it since. You never know the life you have in the tank.


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Unread 11/04/2015, 01:49 AM   #39
dave.m
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Why does everything have to be so final? Allow yourself the leeway to try more than one thing over time. In this way you will gain experience and discover what works best for you.

Dave.M


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Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.
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Unread 11/04/2015, 11:03 AM   #40
MrsReefK
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Dave, I'm a planner by nature. We will gain experience and what works best for us, we are planning a system that can be changed in the future. We want to learn from all of you as well though, what worked and what didn't, what do you suggest, etc. We can't plan for everything, but we can plan to avoid costly mistakes from learning from all of you guys out there.


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Unread 11/06/2015, 08:34 AM   #41
MrsReefK
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One more day! Tank arrives TOMORROW!!!




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Unread 11/07/2015, 10:34 AM   #42
MrsReefK
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image.jpg

It's Christmas in our house today!!


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Unread 11/07/2015, 10:37 PM   #43
MrsReefK
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See that beautiful picture? Oh yeah. Amazing.


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Unread 11/07/2015, 10:40 PM   #44
MrsReefK
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Sump room progress, flooring all pulled up, bat fully removed, new basement drywall all installed, outlets placed where needed for the fish room, door way created from fish room to laundry room (left of pic), tomorrow, more wiring.

Getting closer folks.

After adding this pic I realized I didn't take the latest pic... This is without drywall clearly. I'll take a new one tomorrow.


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Unread 11/08/2015, 09:00 AM   #45
SaltBeast
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Are you adding any tile or other flooring or leaving the cement?


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Unread 11/08/2015, 05:28 PM   #46
MrsReefK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltBeast View Post
Are you adding any tile or other flooring or leaving the cement?
We couldn't decide between painted (flakes finish, often used in garages) or something like linoleum. I'm not a fan of linoleum and don't have any in our house, we will now. Bought the linoleum today. Deciding factor was ease of installation and ease of install.


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Unread 11/08/2015, 06:59 PM   #47
MrsReefK
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Some reason I can't edit my last post. Reason we chose linoleum was ease of install and ease of cleaning.


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Unread 11/08/2015, 11:27 PM   #48
dave.m
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There's a limited period of time that you can re-edit your post. This is artificially imposed by the board owners. I don't know their reasoning for this but there it is.

Dave.M


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My Gawd! It's full of corals!

Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.
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Unread 11/09/2015, 07:04 PM   #49
MrsReefK
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Dave, that makes sense now, thanks for the info.

I am traveling for work this week, Jeremy is home buffing the tank, and building the wall the tank will be in. I am a control freak and always worried about doing something 'wrong'. So Jeremy is making sure to get the buffing done before I get home for my and HIS sanity! I told him to take pics along the way so we can keep you all updated. The tank is a lot cloudier than I remembered, lots of minor scratches, did not see any large ones.


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Unread 11/13/2015, 10:22 AM   #50
MrsReefK
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Jeremy picked up two MP40 and MP10 quiet drives this week. Guess what... can't use MP10's on our tank because it's too thick, lovely.


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