Allons-y!!

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Let's get the party started! Some of you will remember my previous, short-lived, build thread from last summer/fall, and for those that don't, here's the link. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-procrastination-is-over.920159/

I don't want to rehash the original drama; suffice to say that things got a *bit* delayed, lol! Plus, there's new drama to regale you with, so let's go!! It's going to be

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I'll post more later about what I've done on the build over the past few months, but here's what I did this week:

Tuesday, I did about a 20 gallon water change on my 90, and saved the water so I could rinse the new sand in it without having to worry about the chlorine in my tap water... plus, there's an interesting experiment @Dan_P talks about here that I wanted to try out (not sure if it worked, but anyway...)
The plan was to rinse the new bags of Caribsea Fiji Pink sand on Wednesday while mixing saltwater for the new tank.

So, not too long ago I bought an AquaticLife Smart Buddie Booster Pump. This thing is great! It's totally turnkey - even has its own flow restrictor and safety shut off so the pump doesn't run dry.

Wednesday while I was working (from home), I filtered water into a couple 32 gallon Brute cans. I used to fill a 5 gallon water container in a little under 2 hours.
With the pump, I'm able to make over 32 gallons in under 4 hours!

Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the alarm on my phone while filling the second can... Spend that evening and half the night with a shop vac and a few fans trying to dry out my carpet in my bathroom

(Yes, I know I can use a float valve; that's not the point. Right now my RODI does not have a permanent home so I have it in my master bathroom and wheel the trash cans in and out.)

So no real work on the tank Wednesday.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thursday, I started rinsing sand...

The tank is christened, lol!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

More sand, the first 60# is in

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

And the last 60#... I think I should have stopped at 100!

And then, the water!!

 

[Petcrazyson]

Planning on a Foxface?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

More water Thursday night and things ended up pretty cloudy...

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Added a micron power filter

and by Friday morning, all clear!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Today was more RODI-making, salt mixing, and tank filling. Made it just to the overflow before having to stop for the night. Cleared up in about an hour with the micron filter.

I do think I'll have to remove some of the sand but it's pretty for now

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

A few more selfie attempts, lol! Finally figured it out

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

@Miami Reef
@Sean Clark
@Mschmidt
@Gtinnel
@blaxsun
@Lost in the Sauce
@tbrown3589
@Rmckoy
@ISpeakForTheSeas
@Tired
@rmorris_14

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Planning on a Foxface?

I'll be moving all my existing livestock into this tank, including my one spot.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The plan for today was to finish filling the tank and sump, get the skimmer and other equipment going, add some established media, and test general parameters (heaters are in the display for now).

But I'm so exhausted from yesterday that I'm still in my PJs. I've also got some joint pain thing that my docs have been trying to figure out and my hands are not good this morning. I may need to hit pause today and get back to the real work on the tank tomorrow.

 

[Miami Reef]

edit

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

You are so pretty!!

The build is so exciting! That micron filter is a beast. I had like 4 of them and I charged them with diatom powder. It was something else!

I am following this build thread!

Aww, thanks

Yeah, "exciting" is one word for it, lol!

Lots of frustration along the way which I may or may not bother to post, but I'm SOOO looking forward to getting everything moved in!!

(And I have some DE to charge the filter if needed but it wasn't necessary for this.)

 

[Miami Reef]

edit

 

[Petcrazyson]

What type of tank are you planning? I’m getting an LPS vibe from you.

Oooo maybe a Trachy garden? Like one that @Lost in the Sauce has but more tightly together to make it look like one large piece?

 

[907_Reefer]

I like build threads, room for one more in here?!

Looking good! What's the volume of the new system? Love the stand too btw, looks fantastic!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Cleaning off a rock from my display to put in the new tank... Can you say brittle stars?? There were so many more still in the rock!
(I tried removing them before spraying the algae on the other side of the rock with H2O2)

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I like build threads, room for one more in here?!

Looking good! What's the volume of the new system? Love the stand too btw, looks fantastic!

Sorry about that, guess I'm not following build thread protocol very well.

Tank info in next post.