300 Mixed Reef Build

[orthokardia]

very sweet. the angle iron looks great. do you worry about rust around all the salt??

 

[islander84]

why not just get some 60s ......are those braces powder coated...? pretty sweet idea!

 

[Dowtish]

+1 to powder coating

 

[New Wave]

I was going to get 60's but I read about them being fish killers... I've run into cases where 40's are omost too much and thought better of it...

The angle Iron is just primed right now... Im not finished with them yet... Bill says I should powder coat them too :)

 

[ToXIc]

Power coat defiantly.



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[New Wave]

pretty sweet idea!

This is Bart's brainchild :)

 

[New Wave]

very sweet. the angle iron looks great. do you worry about rust around all the salt??

Yea... I talked to the fabricator about that... So they professionally primed them... And said once I paint them they will be fine... But I have my reservations about that seeing first hand how this salt gets to virtually all steel... Well see I guess

 

[Zef004]

Love the rock work Mel. The tank coming along.

 

[New Wave]

thank you for your compliments :) but my work is not done until you are ALL JEALOUS!!! :D

ok... so today we got a few things going... i finished putting the tint on the sides of the aquarium

i finished the braces for the top... sorry.. i didnt get them powder coated... i thought it was a great idea.. but the time frame involved didnt allow that... i used conduit to protect the threaded rod... painted the angle iron black... i was going to paint the conduit... except when i bought the rubber tips to protect the end of the threaded rod... it so happened to match the grey conduit... and when i put the angle iron pieces on... i really likeed the two-tone look... overall.. im really happy with them... its a MUCH better solution than the original glass cross braces... thanks Bart!

and now... fill-er-up!!! i used a couple of bottles of "smart start"... live sand... and microbacter 7.. so hopefully that will give me a good jump on the cycle...

 

[NeedBiggerTank]

Have you still got your old lighting in place?

 

[New Wave]

Have you still got your old lighting in place?

sorta... not really... all thats left is 2-250W MH 14K's... i sold the reefbrites... and trying to sell the other MH's... sell... ha.. more like give them away... no takers yet... im in the process of putting together LED's... so the 2-250's will hold me till those are finished... (cough..Bill.. cough) ;) just kiddin... we're waiting for the parts to come in stock for the LED's... hopefully soon

 

[jiffy]

love the aquascape bro, tagging along.

 

[commonstranger]

Lookin nice Mel

 

[ToXIc]

Mel they have some DIY powder coating kits you can use at home.


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[New Wave]

:-) thank you! I'm really Diggin this thing... Wooohoooo!!!

 

[New Wave]

So.. Alot of people have been curious to know how effective or necessary the cross braces are... Well... I don't know... I thought that maybe they were just "back-up" and that if they are not actually doing anything...then they should... In theory... Be able to lift off the tank after it is filled... So... I tried to remove them... But surprisingly they were impossible to remove... So... The tank has definitely flexed under the weight of the water and transferred a considerable load to the braces... (in case you were wondering) :)

 

[pickupman66]

OH yes. they are there for a reason to keep it from flexing. the only way you can remove them safely now is to drain the water.

 

[New Wave]

ok... update... last night i began working on the sump... im using a 100g rubermaid.. the best sumps in the hobby.. i like the open sump... so first i made the trey for the filter socks... which you saw earlier... these pieces im using are just regular stackable shelving for the hardware store... i had to modify the ont to fit in the sump... but the top shelf fits just perfect... i did have to cut a piece of PVC as a leg in the middle so that the shelf would not bow under the weight... i drilled several holes in the bottom of the PVC leg... to keep the water inside from becoming stagnated...

next is the skimmer... i changed skimmers for the last build... the last one i had was rated equally...
just had the chance to move to the bubble king... and plus... hey.. its red! :)

coincidentally... the heaters fit perfectly inside the shelving... im using eheimjagger... im using 2-250w... and its easy to see in this configuration if they are on... controlled by the RKE... which ill get into later... right now... its just temporarily in place running the few things i have going...

i mounted the float switch here in the sump... controlled but the controller

and of course my home made dip-stick... drilled at 5 gal per hole... this makes the top off level and water changes easy to monitir...

and this is where it is so far... :)

 

[pickupman66]

Mel, do you ahve the sump baffeled out at all? how do you deal with microbubbles in it? I seem to notice a good deal of particulate thru mine. then again, I may be running alot more water thru it.

 

[New Wave]

No... I don't have the sump baffled... I return thru filter socks... And return pump intake is at the very bottom of the sump... It's rare that I have microbubbles... Less my sump is low... But I keep the sump filled... True 100g and a solid 24" above the return intake