So I jumped in headfirst.....125 build

[dugthefish]

Got the drain line leak fixed, filled her up, and fired up the pump. Two 1" emergencies handled my Waveline 6000 pump with ease, took about 20 minutes to get the 3/4" siphons dialed in. Which time would have been better spent checking for leaks lolol [emoji852][emoji12]

At least 1 in the return, which leaked all over everything below, making it a tad difficult to identify anything else leaking. Everything on the left side is leak free, so tomorrow will get some fresh fittings and try again. Which reminds me, I also need to lengthen my siphon returns so they are fully submerged. Apparently the guy I got the sump from ran it way fuller, and I used his lines as a baseline. Fairly successful test, can't wait to get back to it tomorrow. Unless I can convince someone to run to the hardware store for me......[emoji57]

 

[dugthefish]

Also tomorrow, I need to relevel the tank. Floor has about 1/4" pitch left to right, and more worrisome about 5/8" back to front. All properly shimmed, of course, but still worth checking full.

Next steps after plumbing final (hopefully tomorrow):

Electrical cord housekeeping
Set up mixing station

 

[dugthefish]

Plumbing appears to be leak free. Had to rework the return (twice), and that stubborn threaded drain about five times lol.

Dual 3/4" Herbies are mostly dialed in, and easily handle the flow. The 1" emergencies appear to be be able to handle full return feed. I'm running them dry and above the waterline for noise alert

Skimmer seems to work well, I think I need to lower the output a couple inches to lessen noise; the guy I got the skimmer and sump from ran his setup 2" higher, so the output isn't fully submerged.

Heaters and powerheads appear functional. Using two Ehiem Jager 250w heaters, located in the corner overflows. Two dual head 1600gph magnetic powerheads handle in tank circulation.

Wiring is as cleaned up as I'm gonna make it, at least until lights are installed. Not quite sure what to do with the controller at the moment, it would be nice to mount it in a convenient spot somehow. Got a couple cheap battery powered, push on/off LED lights for under the tank lighting, as well.

Also picked up a 20L at Petcos Dollar per Gallon sale, for use as a QT

Things to do:

Basement water station
Order glass for tops (1 came with tank, missing the other 2)

 

[Flippers4pups]

Looks good

 

[dugthefish]

Look what just showed up....

The price was right, figured I'd take a shot. Not really impressed, stuff is super dense.

Here's the stuff I got for $50 from the guy I bought the sump and skimmer from...

 

[dugthefish]

Hard not to play with it lol

 

[dugthefish]

Update for the day....

Long, crappy day at work. Didn't really even feel like doing anything on the tank until my lady friend came by. We started messing around with the RO unit, figuring out how the auto shut off and float kit worked. In short order, we got the whole thing hooked up except for actually installing the float. Will have to remember to bring home the right sized drill bit tomorrow.

Will start brewing up RODI tomorrow night. Have two 32 gal garbage cans to store it in, so Saturday I plan to drain the tap water out of the DT and start filling her up with the good stuff. Found a 1/4 hp sump pump at Menards for $40 which should suffice for moving water from basement to DT.

Noted about 1.25 gal evaporation today. It's been rainy and humid, and the glass place was closed so I still have 2/3 of tank missing tops. Also noted that both thermometers (one in DT and one in sump) both reading about 80.9*F. Which is odd since I have both heaters set at 77, and the house thermostat set at 66. Turned then both down a degree, but I have a hard time believing that 2 smallish pumps and 2 powerheads are adding 4* to the tank.

 

[Raege]

Looking good

 

[dugthefish]

Didn't get much done the last couple days, work been pretty busy. Did get the RO/mixing station finished and working. Nothing pretty, just a couple garbage cans and a cheap sump pump to move water.

Yesterday, I got all the tap water drained, the plumbing disassembled, and the sump removed for installation of a better leak barrier. Tyvek roof underlayment now sitting between the plumbing and the floor, should help with all the random drips and drops.

Today was pretty much a full tank day. All plumbing reinstalled, ATO set up and tested, first ~75 gallons RO pumped in, a few bags of sand washed and placed, and dry rock rinsed, stacked, and mortared.

Went with a Hydor ATO controller, despite some negative reviews. The Tom's Aqua Lifter pump did not move water fast enough to work properly with the Hydor system. However, a 200gph powerhead earmarked for my QT and fitted with extra hose from the RO unit seems to work perfectly.

I don't like the idea of rock directly on the bottom glass, so I put in 60# (currently 1/2"-3/4" deep). When I drop in the rock structures, I will work them down into the bed, so the sand will fill the voids to provide some cushion for the rocks, but hopefully still be tight enough to prevent livestock from undermining. The remaining 100# of sand will be placed around the rocks as seems to be standard.

Purchases a container of NYOS reef cement, seems to perform as advertised. Got my rock mortared together in 5 or 6 independent structures, will let the cement cure for a day before attempting to move and place. Currently looking for another 20-30# of good live rock to seed the rest with all the goodies. If I can't find any locally, I'll order some from one of the premium online.

 

[dugthefish]

Rock in place. NYOS Reef Cement worked decent, one piece broke off when I stupidly tried to lift the entire stack with it. Another really cool piece that I managed to suspend by mortaring to another literally broke in half; some more Reef Cement repaired it for now. Tank is currently running with RODI fresh water until I bleed the phosphates out of the rock.

Gear for my 20L QT showed up today, not that I'm close to needing it but its here anyway lol.

Planning on ordering 25# uncured rock from KPAquatics next week. Will cure in a tub for a few weeks until cured.

 

[dugthefish]

Ugh. Found a crack in the bottom frame of my tank last night. Not leaking enough to form a drip, or even wet the wood frame. But enough that when I wipe my finger across it I feel water. Not happy.

 

[Raege]

That stinks but better now early in the process with just rocks and water. Crossing fingers that you can stop the leak easily

 

[dugthefish]

That stinks but better now early in the process with just rocks and water. Crossing fingers that you can stop the leak easily

Agreed. Not sure I even want to mess with trying to fix it, if it has one bad spot there may be others as well. I'd pretty much have to reseal the entire front edge, cuz the leak could be anywhere. I'd certainly never trust it again.

 

[count krunk]

That's really unfortunate the crack frame is also wet. I have a 55g tank i use for freshwater that I got from the curb. Frame is a bit rough but no problems with leaking. It's been running for around 6 months now.

So what is your plan? Are you positive the frame is wet?

Also, may be cheaper to make a DIY mesh top rather than glass. I like the additional gas exchange. Glass will lower the evap rate though. Not sure what is more important to you. I would cure all the rock you have currently in tubs as it is all dead dry rock correct?

Tossing the rock in tubs to cure would give you plenty of time to fix that leak as well.

 

[dugthefish]

That's really unfortunate the crack frame is also wet. I have a 55g tank i use for freshwater that I got from the curb. Frame is a bit rough but no problems with leaking. It's been running for around 6 months now.

So what is your plan? Are you positive the frame is wet?

Also, may be cheaper to make a DIY mesh top rather than glass. I like the additional gas exchange. Glass will lower the evap rate though. Not sure what is more important to you. I would cure all the rock you have currently in tubs as it is all dead dry rock correct?

Tossing the rock in tubs to cure would give you plenty of time to fix that leak as well.

Frame is not wet, only time there is moisture is when I wipe my finger over it, like I'm pressing the water out. I even punched a small hole through the insulation i placed between tank and stand, no liquid came out. It's possible that some water dripped down the front while I was aquascaping, and is trapped or slowing leaking out. But no real way to be sure other than to wait and see. Not throwing in the towel on this tank yet, but if push comes to shove, I'm just gonna buy a new one.

 

[Pntbll687]

Frame is not wet, only time there is moisture is when I wipe my finger over it, like I'm pressing the water out. I even punched a small hole through the insulation i placed between tank and stand, no liquid came out. It's possible that some water dripped down the front while I was aquascaping, and is trapped or slowing leaking out. But no real way to be sure other than to wait and see. Not throwing in the towel on this tank yet, but if push comes to shove, I'm just gonna buy a new one.

I actually have something similar on my tank. I saw some salt creep on the bottom frame and thought "oh,no" and it was wet to the touch. Turns out the powerhead was splashing water up on the top frame in a corner, and it would go down the glass all the way to the bottom.
Hoping it's just a drip from your scape being set up!!

 

[dugthefish]

Funny part is, I'm still running fresh water. Yet somehow I have salt creep in that crack. The previous owner used it for freshwater; as far as I know, there has never been salt in the tank.

My lady friend brought up a good point today: after I win the $20k dream reef setup from BRS in a couple weeks, none of this will matter, anyway

 

[Flippers4pups]

Place a fan in front of the crack for a hour or so, then check again.

 

[Raege]

Funny part is, I'm still running fresh water. Yet somehow I have salt creep in that crack. The previous owner used it for freshwater; as far as I know, there has never been salt in the tank.

My lady friend brought up a good point today: after I win the $20k dream reef setup from BRS in a couple weeks, none of this will matter, anyway

After you win? Are they giving away two systems cause i thought i had it locked down lol

 

[Reef Dude]

I’m enjoying the build, Dug. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it turns out that some water ran down into the frame rather than a leaky seam. Unless you’re hoping for a good excuse to buy a new tank, in which case, I hope it’s the seam lol!