What do you mean I'll want to upgrade right away?

[Imbarrie]

Nothing, i think that is exactly how we all feel.
I made sure my stand was solid and glued together before I tried installing my sump. I ended up making the center brace removable also.
This is a great place to connect with other reefers. I'm amazed at how much more connected I am with this hobby because of this site and the Internet in general.
I first had salt water back in 95 and there was little to no information that was reliable and only word of mouth. You had to buy books. That was it.
I like your idea of a fuge higher up so it can gravity feed into your DT.



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[JimmyR1rider]

Best of luck with the setup laurie lookin great

 

[masterswimmer]

Laurie, I'm stunned. Based on the plans you sent me the first time we talked and the final design, it was like going from building a tree house to building the Empire State Building. Fantastic workmanship. I'm duly impressed.

I love display fuge's and yours is going to be spot on mate. Keep up the superb work, and I look forward to talking more.

Kudos,
Russ

 

[InfernoST]

The week of Oct. 18 Russ and Jim called--everything was in and they'd deliver on Sat. In the meantime, I replaced the outlets around the tank area with GFCI outlets. Thank you NYCJoe for the tip! I got the outlets from Home Depot, turned off the power to the appropiate walls at the fuse box and held my breath when I pulled out the first wire!

Great thread and awesome job. I have a question regarding your electrical, are those outlets on the same circuit or are they three separate circuits? If they are on the same circuit you only need 1 GFCI (If you have multiple GFCI outlets on the same circuit they may not work as designed), you would wire the power feed to the line side of the GFCI and the other outlets the load side of the GFCI. Another thing, that stranded wire is a big NO-NO but since it is there I wouldn't try to wrap it around the screws on the outlet it would be best to come off of the outlet with solid wire (Tail) then splice the stranded to the solid wire with a wire nut then tape up the splice, this is much safer than trying to wrap the stranded around the screw. When all done I always put a wrap or two of tape around the body/screws of the outlet before reinstalling it into the wall.

Looking forward to the finish. BTW, I have the same skimmer, it does a great job, and works best in 6 to 6.5 inches of water.

Just my .02 cents.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

wow....nice build....am impressed. definitely taggin along.
btw i was at mk4fan's the night before and was going to take all the dragon's breath macro but he wanted to save one for you :wink1:. give it high light and the edges turn orange/yellow like a flame...really cool.....and they love flow!!!

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

The tank looks great

 

[jaa1456]

looking good so far, but you bought a purple tang to put in there?

 

[LaurieC]

Thank you and Updates

Thanks for the cheers!! It's very good to get the encouragement in the midst of what turned into a home renovation/tank build.

InfernoST: THANK YOU!! I had not posted about this yet, but my GFCI outlets are not working and I've been clueless as to why. I thought maybe I mixed something up in the wiring and have just put it on the back burner. Great advice and I think you may have solved my problem. I'm going to try what you rec. also, thanks for the advice on skimmer. I read 8" of water, so you have saved me the time of trial and error! I'll start with the 6-6.5" in the skimmer section first.

tomtoothdoc: Lol! That is very funny about the Dragon's Breath. I actually have two pieces I love it. It is waving around in the tank--very pretty stuff and the fish leave it alone. Although my mystery wrasse was very curious about it and would hang out in it at first--not so much now. It is just red right now, but I hope with the new lights, the flame aspect will develope. Stay tunned bc when this grows out, free Dragon's Breath will be offered.

ja1456: Ah, you get ahead of my story. Yes, I have purchased a purple tang for the tank. Owner has been away, so pick up is next week. Stay tuned for that--it's a really good story.

In the meantime, I'll mention I added a Kole Tang the middle of the week. Love the fish--he's still a bit shy and loves to hide in the rock work. Very graceful the way he glides through the rocks I have piled up waiting to be moved. He comes out, but will dash back to the rocks when I get near the tank, unless it is feeding time. Thank you Vince and Manhattan Aquariums for a georgous Kole Tang and also several great Super Tongan Nassarius snails.

A shout out to Triggerman too for supplying me with extra hermits and snails. They are keeping the tank top notch clean--very active little scavangers with beautiful shells.

Finally, I realized I thanked PolandSpring for my additional live rock, but it was actually ReefBum. Sorry ReefBum! And btw, I saw the tank he's selling in the marketplace and it is really, really nice.

Poland Spring sold me a good looking 1/4 HP Pacific Coast CL600 chiller with Quiet One pump. Post to come on that later. He also gave me some great tips for rock work. Thank you.

 

[LaurieC]

Soda Bottles

Russ at Saltwater Critters gave me a really great tip for feeding my feather dusters which, even with a feeding stick/pipe would shrink back--take a soda bottle, clean it and cut off the bottom. Place in sand over the feather dusters, insert feeding pipe through mouth of soda bottle and voila! This way, you don't even have to turn the pumps, etc. off. Thanks Masterswimmer!

I've discovered another great use for the soda bottle, I use it as a funnel to funnel RODI into empty water jugs to have RODI water on-hand. I also filled a couple jugs and put them in the freezer for temperature emergencies or back up.

 

[Imbarrie]

When that dragons breath grows out I would love a piece for my display tank.


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[LaurieC]

You got it! Btw, Imbarrie, been meaning to ask--you must be a diver? I'm a PADI Rescue Diver. I could live in the water if I didn't have to work! My last dives were in Feb. on a live aboard on the Great Barrier Reef and then at the Poor Knights in New Zealand. Talk about spectacular things to see! I couldn't get over those massive clams--I can't wait to add a couple clams to my tank as a little reminder of those giants.

 

[BYU]

this thread is great!!!
I think sooner or later we all go through this, start with a small project that turns into a huge project. every time you think you figured everything out you need to add something else.
In the end it will be all worth it.
good luck with the tank

 

[STHILL]

this is a great thread my wife loves it ,i started with 1 tank 90gal mixed, then my wife tracy wanted another so we did 55 gal FOWLR in the bedroom and now we are in the midst of collecting equipment for a 30gal cube that she wants to set up in the baby room for seahorses we have to get it done before march when the baby is due...

 

[Josh]

What liveaboard did you go with in Australia?

 

[masterswimmer]

Laurie, outstanding and getting better with each post. Don't stop now, and definitely add more pictures.

Russ

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Those tangs will be too big for that tank. They need a much larger area to live in.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

Those tangs will be too big for that tank. They need a much larger area to live in.

uh oh....her we go with the tang thing again.....lol.
the bigger the tank and the smaller the tang, the better it is for everyone....fish, reefer, bystander, tang police, etc.
be ready to upgrade or move them when they get big....don't ask how long and how big, that will open another can of worm.....lol.

 

[Imbarrie]

Cool, I always wanted to dive the Barrier Reef. But I would rather live there and explore it at my leisure. Always thought being a dive instructor I would eventually end up moving there.
I used to crew liveaboards with Blackbeards Cruises in the out islands of the Bahamas and most of my time spent underwater has been there. Would spend 3 or 4 hours a day under water in the summers.
I highly recommend liveaboard diving. That sharpens your skills so much more when you are doing repetitive dives. All your focus is on SCUBA and not on the minutiae of a vacation.

 

[DHaut]

When my tangs get too big i usually make sushi.

Also, lay off the purple up if you're still dosing it. It's a gimmick. Use a good 2-part dosing system to keep calc/alk/mg in check and your corralline will grow just fine.

 

[LaurieC]

Dive Time!

What liveaboard did you go with in Australia?

Josh, I went with Spirit of Freedom and can't recommend them high enough. Boat was fanstastic, but it was the crew that made the trip. Outstanding group--knowledgeble, friendly, fun, laid-back. The food was unbelieveable. I smile when I think back on the trip. I wish I had a recording of the dive master yelling, "Dive Time" We were awoken by Dive Time at 6 am for the first dive followed by breakfast and another dive. Then lunch, another dive, snack, dive, dinner. Hot coffee, soup, tea or chocolate was ready for us after each dive, the dive briefings were detailed and safety was a real priority. I don't have a undewater camera, but here's a link to the trip.

http://www.spiritoffreedom.com.au/liveaboard/four_day_coral_sea.html#overview

Here's a video of the famous Potato Cod fed dive. If you want to see some monster big fish, this is the dive. The feed starts about 3 1/2 min. into the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC9meThr4n4

And here's the shark feed on Ospray Reef--what you hear in the background are the sharks munching through the bone of the tuna head. This was an amazing dive. You sit in a natural coral ampitheater and they feed the sharks. It's a frenzy of 30-40 sharks all about 5 feet from you. Exhilerating. I kept my hands tucked in close!