The other taps are used for draining the system or taking out a little SW or RO for my nano.

Draining tank water into sink using pump (it was regular tap-water that we'd used to leak test)

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/drain2.jpg[/IMG]

Draining last drops of water out of pipes (no pump used.) There was a tiny bit of water left in the bottom of the tanks which was impossible to get out, but hopefully that shouldn't matter in...

Grim took out the weird wooden step I had at the bottom of the cupboard and made a stand for the water drums:

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/WC-stand.jpg[/IMG]

Then he did all sorts of clever plumbing!

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cupboard-fin.jpg[/IMG]

The RO/DI unit is plumbed in under the sink on the other side of the wall. Water travels through the black line to the RO unit. (Waste...

Ok time for the watercharger update I've been teasing you all with! This is going to be a biggie so hang in there. I wanted to get as much information up as possible so it might help others set up something similar.

Let me start at the beginning...

My previous water-change routine went something like this...
Put 5g jug in sink and fill up with RO. Remember (= forget!) to set stopwatch for 2hrs so I don't waste a ton of water. Fill Rubbermaid trashcan with 20g...

There are still no fish in the tank... just a few more snails and some scarlet hermits. I'm still holding off adding Marley & Guybrush until the nitrate comes down. It's still hovering around 30... which tbh the clowns would probably be fine with, but they're my little preciouses so I'm being overly cautious. I figure the delay is probably helpful for the IPSFs critters to get established anyway.

Around Christmas I got a population explosion of tiny hydroids on the glass. They...

[SIZE="4"]A Merry Christmas FTS![/SIZE]

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/12-31-2011.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/xmas-tank.jpg[/IMG]

My husband surprised me with the Christmas Tree aquarium ornament. He put it in the tank when I wasn't looking, knowing it wouldn't be too long before I spotted it!
(You can't tell from the photo, but it's actually glittery!)

[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/xmas-tree2.jpg[/IMG]...