Remix - added a couple new pieces from Cultivated Reef

[WirelessMike]

Finally. After a day and night of tapping out the ol’ 75 GPD RO we got water! Pretty excited and everything seems to be good to go. I had to throw my old Jebao in there to keep the water moving. Not thrilled with how loud that thing is but honestly it’s not bad. Pretty excited to get one step closer livestock

 

[WirelessMike]

Finally. After a day and night of tapping out the ol’ 75 GPD RO we got water! Pretty excited and everything seems to be good to go. I had to throw my old Jebao in there to keep the water moving. Not thrilled with how loud that thing is but honestly it’s not bad. Pretty excited to get one step closer livestock

The heater will go in the overflow. I just stuck it in the DT to heat the largest portion of water possible first as the rest filled.

 

[WirelessMike]

Hey reefers. Hopefully everything has been good since my last post. Got the water cycling real nice. Been using Sea Chem Stability to start getting everything proper. Also got off my lazy bum and started building the floating shelf that will house my ocean revive! I’m pretty disappointed that my triple stack led death trap is disappearing.

only thing keeping that mount from being NASA certified is duct tape! Ran out the day I rigged it up and used zip ties instead. I’ll post pics of the shelf in a bit.

 

[WirelessMike]

Alright so let’s talk floating shelf that houses a light. I searched the interwebs high and low for mounting ideas for the ocean revive light. Ceiling, drill and tap with a radion mount, build your own and make the scientists at NASA question all of their life choices (we already did that and probably violated 86 fire codes in the process but I digress) or be an absolute Pinterest sleuth and find the one dude who was having the same issue you are having and made a blog! That dude rocks. He’s probably on here and if I go back in the wormhole that is Pinterest I’ll give him a shout out. Any way. Floating shelf that houses the light was the answer for my problems. So grab your power tools. Let out a Tim the Tool Man grunt and let’s build something dang it!
I opted for a simple design with a 2x4 as the backer and 2x3’s for the box. (No pics as I did it on my lunch break between meetings). Here is an example for reference

Ok so ours is not holding a whole pantry and the weight of 7 elephants. Simple design. Holds a light and maybe a couple cheap knick knacks to double as a “shelf”

then dig in the leftover wood pile and find some 3/4” skin left from the stand and some trim to match. FREE NINETY NINE so far! Boom!

And don’t forget that scrap dowel rod that you were gonna throw away but knew you would use in the future.

 

[WirelessMike]

The idea behind the dowel rod is to use the ceiling hanging mounts and be able to move the light as needed toward and way from the wall. I will have more pics as I mess with it once my lights go out in a while.

i ran out of the leftover trim I liked so I had to go to the lowes and snag two more 4 ft sticks. $14 into this shelf and I feel good about it. Would love some input from anyone on here. Heck I would even take an emotional outburst. Shout out to @sp1187 who urged me to take my time on this one at every step!

 

[WirelessMike]

For reference here is the mount I was talking about for the revive.

dowel rod slides through the middle - movable

 

[WirelessMike]

The tally continues.


Stand materials: $150 (skin/trim/filler/lights)
Foam Overflow cover: $40 (3 cans of foam, 1 sheet egg crate, and leftover dry rock.)
Schedule 40/80 Plumbing: $75
Rocks and Supplies: $160
Hygger Controllable Return Pump: $90
Adapter collars for my media baskets: $5 a pop (coming soon - they are here. Post with my thoughts to come)
Sea Chem Matrix: $25
Sea Chem Stability: $30
Floating Shelf: $14

so about $569 it so far.

 

[WirelessMike]

Ok I took the revive off the 40 and got it mocked up. Of course the stain I used for the base is toast. But I can grab a small can tomorrow and knock it out. Also gives me

time to prep the wall and mark the studs. See below on the dowel rod idea. Let me know your thoughts. So far it seems like it will work.

 

[sp1187]

sp1187 has left the building, for the most part.
i come back occasionally to check messages.
looking great. good luck.

 

[WirelessMike]

sp1187 has left the building, for the most part.
i come back occasionally to check messages.
looking great. good luck.

I’m right there with you buddy. Used to spend a lot of time on here, but that is slowly fading. Hope all is well partner

 

[WirelessMike]

Alright alright alright. Got the shelf up. Looking like it’s almost time to move the light.

I’m pretty sure all the livestock in the 40 can see the new world that awaits. They have all been gathering on the side closest and they typically could care less.

 

[WirelessMike]

With light. I am digging the blends I get with the background.

 

[WirelessMike]

Alright it’s been a while since I posted for those who are following my build thread. Everything is coming along well. Livestock was transferred over and I also had to make a last minute change and add some existing live rock in my sump to accelerate the bacteria. Long story short my neighbors tank crashed and he asked if there was any way I could try and rescue some of his livestock that was hanging by a thread. I had just moved my stock over and dismantled my 40 when his tank crashed. So here we are with the pics below. Everything seems happy and healthy. Minus my Biota Coral Beauty who passed unexpectedly. I found him trapped in a tight Crevace in the rock work. That was definitely a hard loss. Such a beautiful fish and my only Biota piece that I absolutely adored.

 

[WirelessMike]

 

[WirelessMike]

Reef Cam shot.

also cleaned up all the electrical and got the ATO hidden in the ottoman.

 

[WirelessMike]

Reef Cam shot.

also cleaned up all the electrical and got the ATO hidden in the ottoman.

Don’t mind the Sea Turkey! That’s Fred. He keeps those clowns on their toes.

 

[WirelessMike]

Time to update with some tank shots. All is well so far. Removed the artificial rock wall on the overflow. Although it looked cool, i kept finding fish trying to explore the inner workings of it and eventually getting trapped. Also, lost my @Biota_Marine Coral Beauty. Still not really sure what happened but found him wedged in one of the islands. It was a sad day as that fish was the star of the tank for the past 2 years almost.

first shipment of softies and zoas from @worldwidecoral

 

[WirelessMike]

FTS Friday. Been makin moves here and there. Upgraded the lighting. Love Kessil and T5. Added a control cabinet.

Let me know what you think.

 

[WirelessMike]

Cool nem and crab shot

 

[WirelessMike]

Well that nem decided to walk to the back of the tank yesterday. Probably one of the coolest creatures in the tank. Luckily he tread lightly and didn’t take any frags with him. Got some curtains on Amazon to block out the light spill on video calls. Still have a rack full of frags from @WWC and the list goes on. BTW I added a full Hydros system and I am impressed so far. Not dosing or anything crazy but monitoring and having control of my skimmer/T5’s/etc in one pane of glass is nice! And finally is an anglerfish jack o lantern pic for fun. Had to do something while the kids did theirs and you see what came to mind.