Custom Build - Rethinking everything I think I know....

[Weasel1960]

@CMMorgan sounds like thing are swinging back in your favor, hope to see the new set up soon. Read about your “RO accident” . New tank new floor yadda yadda...LOL just kidding.

 

[CMMorgan]

I recall your post about the tank arriving basically completely wrong... Did you get that issue resolved already?

Done with clowns??? Is that even legal in a reef tank? lol

Yep. Arrived last week ...the wrong one just left. New DT is finally in the living room. Were it not for my RO accident, it would be getting plumbed this weekend
Far from done with clowns... There will be 4 of them.

 

[Jedi1199]

Far from done with clowns... There will be 4 of them.

Glad to hear.. a tank without clowns is kinda like "vegan bacon" it can be done... but why? lol

 

[Jedi1199]

Glad to her you got the correct tank as well.. and in FAR less time than it took to get the original wrong one... Did they cross-ship you someone elses, or did they just make it wrong?

 

[CMMorgan]

Glad to hear.. a tank without clowns is kinda like "vegan bacon" it can be done... but why? lol

So excited for the long finned Davinci coming Tuesday. My Ora Snowstorm far exceeded my expectations. Mr. Wiggles is just an amazingly entertaining and healthy fish.
Incidentally, my husband made some of that communion wafer bacon last week... So wrong.

 

[CMMorgan]

Glad to her you got the correct tank as well.. and in FAR less time than it took to get the original wrong one... Did they cross-ship you someone elses, or did they just make it wrong?

It took two months to get the replacement. I don't know if we'll ever know the true story ... Although I suspect the original was just made at 5:00 somewhere on a Friday. The new one was still off by 1/4 in each direction.... So QC is not his strong suit. The crazy thing is that he utilizes a CNC machine so how???!!!
Maybe he was looking for his lost shaker of salt.

 

[CMMorgan]

Still fighting our way back from the flood but I had a visit from my daughter today, so we took advantage of the extra set of hands.
First thing I noticed was that the Innovative Marine Leveling Mat had the same density as those "rubber" tiles that you put under gym equipment or on your kids playroom floor. The IM mat is nice but it was pretty thin. I went to harbor freight and bought a pack of 4 squares for $9.00 and some hi strength spray adhesive by Gorilla Glue.
I glued 3 of the mats to the top of the stand. I then glued the IM mat on top of those. I figure that should protect me from any imperfections to the wood on the stand.
Once set, we slid that beast on to the stand. It took three of us, along with some mechanical advantage. WOW - that sucker is heavy - and BIG. For the life of me, I do not know what I will do if a fish gets into the coast to coast. I won't be able to reach it, let alone save a fish.
On a positive note - those Footmaster leveling casters are the bomb diggity! I can roll that entire stand around with the tank on it with no problems. It rolls like butter. I suppose this will come in handy down the road when we move ... or a fish gets stuck in the overflow.
I still need to do a proper level - then reassess my plumbing plan. Either way... it's progress!!

 

[PokeFish]

hih

 

[CMMorgan]

So I have a dilemma.... in the last year ... I bought all new pumps, wavemakers... everything for this build. I even replaced the pump on the Reef Octopus skimmer. EVERYTHING is Sicce. I am using one of the Xsteam XDC wavemakers on the 90 right now and I love it.
Spidey sense told me to try to unused one on the new DT today. Boom - crash. The magnets are too weak to hold it. I tried my magnet from OctoAquatics - it came with my SHU. That sort of holds it. It will hold it in one position and if it moves even a little - crash - boom.
Sicce is no longer on this forum. I tried to email them - no response. I just sent them a DM on Insta.
I'm open to suggestions. This is slated to be a 100% Sicce build. I really do not want to jump manufacturers now ... nor do I want to spend another bucket of money on new wavemakers. Anyone know where I can get magnets strong enough to hold two wavemakers?

 

[CMMorgan]

Started making water today - _ have Qty8 x5 gallon jugs.... my husband asked how far that would get us ...
I said it will fill the sump.
Patching and painting the wall behind the new DT and off we go.

 

[CMMorgan]

So, corals are coming tomorrow from TSA and WWC. I just moved the QT to the other room. Leo - the Davinci is not a happy camper at the moment. 50% WC though and lots of yuck cleaned out of the sponge filter. Salinity is spot on, zoas and nems look happy....fingers crossed most of the corals make it. This is my first deep dive into SPS and I killed my last birds nest, so encouragement is welcome.

Unfortunately, we found out that we need to remove about 500 sq ft of luxury plank vinyl flooring. We laid it over the old glue down hardwoods and that proved catastrophic. The engineered wood swelled up and lifted the flooring. Now we need to have a guy come in and use a machine to tear up all of the original floor and then we need to relay the LPV again. Of course, all of this is happening while I am waiting to see a neurosurgeon about my neck. Even my home office needs to be emptied - hence why I had to move the QT. Poor Leo.

I'm hoping the corals do OK in the QT for a week or two. I anticipate getting to the plumbing of the new DT this weekend and then get it's feet wet. There is still a lot of water to mix but things are moving ..... slowly.

 

[Weasel1960]

So, corals are coming tomorrow from TSA and WWC. I just moved the QT to the other room. Leo - the Davinci is not a happy camper at the moment. 50% WC though and lots of yuck cleaned out of the sponge filter. Salinity is spot on, zoas and nems look happy....fingers crossed most of the corals make it. This is my first deep dive into SPS and I killed my last birds nest, so encouragement is welcome.

Unfortunately, we found out that we need to remove about 500 sq ft of luxury plank vinyl flooring. We laid it over the old glue down hardwoods and that proved catastrophic. The engineered wood swelled up and lifted the flooring. Now we need to have a guy come in and use a machine to tear up all of the original floor and then we need to relay the LPV again. Of course, all of this is happening while I am waiting to see a neurosurgeon about my neck. Even my home office needs to be emptied - hence why I had to move the QT. Poor Leo.

I'm hoping the corals do OK in the QT for a week or two. I anticipate getting to the plumbing of the new DT this weekend and then get it's feet wet. There is still a lot of water to mix but things are moving ..... slowly.

Good luck with your deliveries, getting them in the tank, and the doctor

 

[CMMorgan]

I received two deliveries today - one from TSA live sale and one from the WWC live sale. TSA for the win!

So different in the packaging. Not one drop leaked in the TSA box. The WWC had those little bitty bags. TSA had big bags and every single frag had a cup on it. I LOVED the instructions on the TSA bags. I was able to sort them by flow and light as I opened them.... then of course I realized my frag rack is well only going in QT for now. LOL They did include the instructions with my paperwork too. AWESOME service. WWC provided no instruction, so now I am looking up each frag to figure out flow and light placement - fun.

Overall, the peach frag from WWC is a good size... it was expensive, so it better be, right? The mushrooms have no color on them yet - just blah. The $30 zoas from WWC are beefier than the $10 mystery zoas from TSA - that's fair. Otherwise, all of the TSA frags were bigger, brighter and healthier. (no pests - woo!) My husband is totally digging "The Thing". I know which sale I'll do again.

I can't say enough about how CLEAN the TSA shipment was. No hitchhikers - none. The WWC order had a BUNCH of hitchhikers. The water was ick. So glad to have dipped.

@TopShelfAquatics for the win! Great value, fun sale - great frags. Crushed it.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Right on..get that tank built.
D

 

[Bo.]

I received two deliveries today - one from TSA live sale and one from the WWC live sale. TSA for the win!

So different in the packaging. Not one drop leaked in the TSA box. The WWC had those little bitty bags. TSA had big bags and every single frag had a cup on it. I LOVED the instructions on the TSA bags. I was able to sort them by flow and light as I opened them.... then of course I realized my frag rack is well only going in QT for now. LOL They did include the instructions with my paperwork too. AWESOME service. WWC provided no instruction, so now I am looking up each frag to figure out flow and light placement - fun.

Overall, the peach frag from WWC is a good size... it was expensive, so it better be, right? The mushrooms have no color on them yet - just blah. The $30 zoas from WWC are beefier than the $10 mystery zoas from TSA - that's fair. Otherwise, all of the TSA frags were bigger, brighter and healthier. (no pests - woo!) My husband is totally digging "The Thing". I know which sale I'll do again.

I can't say enough about how CLEAN the TSA shipment was. No hitchhikers - none. The WWC order had a BUNCH of hitchhikers. The water was ick. So glad to have dipped.

@TopShelfAquatics for the win! Great value, fun sale - great frags. Crushed it.

Thanks for the comparison! Just from my experience, WWC was leagues ahead on shipping and cleanliness from ASD. Just for reference

 

[CMMorgan]

Right on..get that tank built.
D

Working on it! LOL Started installing the bulkheads last night. Boo... one of the 5 came cross threaded. Marine Depot is sending a replacement. We'll call that the emergency drain for now and keep moving on the rest of the plumbing.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Kk. I didnt.know.if.u were.waiting.for ur floor or... lol.
Good.luck at.the dr. Hope.it.goes well!
D

 

[CMMorgan]

Did somebody say pipes?! Not complete but I sniffed a lot of glue today. Fell short of my goal to mount the UV and be done today but the neck just ain't having it. Tomorrow is another day.

 

[Bo.]

Did somebody say pipes?! Not complete but I sniffed a lot of glue today. Fell short of my goal to mount the UV and be done today but the neck just ain't having it. Tomorrow is another day.

That's some clean plumbing!

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I like how u just painted on ur floor. Lol.
Gonna replace it anyways i guess. Lol
D