Let’s start with the sump. It’s my first one so I have nothing to compare it too but I am very pleased with it. I even like to sit in front of it and look at the water flowing, lol !
They recommended I use a long filter floss for the first day, to catch as much detritus as possible, so that’s what I’m doing, After that I’ll just out some filter floss in the cups (3).
I want to run carbon as well so I’ll be doing that in a few days.
Left side of the sump.
You can see the removable tablet that I had them build. Very practical as there is 0 room available near the sump.
One of the pipes was not glued, so I’m going to have them do it when I do my first maintenance, probably in 12 months. Until then it’s barely visible and most importantly, it’s going right in the sump.
Simplicity skimmer is actually skimming ! I’m glad I ran it in a bucket filled with tank water and skimmate for 2 weeks. I could never get it to skim in the bucket, but it did right away in the tank. The skimmate is more a yellowish brown than the regular color, but it’s probably because the tank was filled 65% with new water and new sand.
Right side of the sump. The baffle is keeping every microbubble from entering the pump area.
I still have to test the battery back-up. Waiting for it to be fully charged (I don’t know how to tell yet). For now when I turn off the return pump, it doesn’t kick in. I don’t even know if it should. I have some research to do about that.
Vectra M2 is behaving oddly, but it might be something I’m doing. Twice, it reverted to it’s previous setting without me touching anything, thus completely destroying the stability I had to work so hard to get.
So I’m still fine tuning and trying to get the exact water level needed for my ATO to work. This is the level I need to keep room for all overflow, including full ATO malfunctioning. It might take a few more days but I’ll get there eventually.
Ceiling view of the stand. I still have 3 or 4 outlets available for reactors, a gyre or whatever.
Left side of the ceiling. You can see the cable tie that failed miserably to stick. They are sending me a long bracket that I will have to install on the left wall.
I am very scared to screw anything on this stand, as I might just destroy it. Yeah, I know. That’s bad. Maybe I’ll find someone to help.
Right side of the ceiling.
All the stuff that you almost never need to unplug went behind the tank. I still have room to go behind to do maintenance or adjust the lights.
You can see two different water sensors. The bigger one is a cheap one that makes a lot of noise. The smaller one works with an app that sends notifications (perfect when you’re away), but doesn’t make any noise at all. I have to buy a separate device that will sound the alarm. Which I will when my poor wallet stops crying…
They recommended I use a long filter floss for the first day, to catch as much detritus as possible, so that’s what I’m doing, After that I’ll just out some filter floss in the cups (3).
I want to run carbon as well so I’ll be doing that in a few days.
Left side of the sump.
You can see the removable tablet that I had them build. Very practical as there is 0 room available near the sump.
One of the pipes was not glued, so I’m going to have them do it when I do my first maintenance, probably in 12 months. Until then it’s barely visible and most importantly, it’s going right in the sump.
Simplicity skimmer is actually skimming ! I’m glad I ran it in a bucket filled with tank water and skimmate for 2 weeks. I could never get it to skim in the bucket, but it did right away in the tank. The skimmate is more a yellowish brown than the regular color, but it’s probably because the tank was filled 65% with new water and new sand.
Right side of the sump. The baffle is keeping every microbubble from entering the pump area.
I still have to test the battery back-up. Waiting for it to be fully charged (I don’t know how to tell yet). For now when I turn off the return pump, it doesn’t kick in. I don’t even know if it should. I have some research to do about that.
Vectra M2 is behaving oddly, but it might be something I’m doing. Twice, it reverted to it’s previous setting without me touching anything, thus completely destroying the stability I had to work so hard to get.
So I’m still fine tuning and trying to get the exact water level needed for my ATO to work. This is the level I need to keep room for all overflow, including full ATO malfunctioning. It might take a few more days but I’ll get there eventually.
Ceiling view of the stand. I still have 3 or 4 outlets available for reactors, a gyre or whatever.
Left side of the ceiling. You can see the cable tie that failed miserably to stick. They are sending me a long bracket that I will have to install on the left wall.
I am very scared to screw anything on this stand, as I might just destroy it. Yeah, I know. That’s bad. Maybe I’ll find someone to help.
Right side of the ceiling.
All the stuff that you almost never need to unplug went behind the tank. I still have room to go behind to do maintenance or adjust the lights.
You can see two different water sensors. The bigger one is a cheap one that makes a lot of noise. The smaller one works with an app that sends notifications (perfect when you’re away), but doesn’t make any noise at all. I have to buy a separate device that will sound the alarm. Which I will when my poor wallet stops crying…
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