My first tank ever!

[ManOfSalt]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to the hobby and I had my LFS build a setup for me. They built me a 130 60x17x30 display with a 28x17x28 sump tank. They're making a cabinet for the sump and the display will sit on top of an old sturdy wine cabinet I bought with my new place. I managed to snap some pics at the shop. Just waiting on the painters to stain the cabinet and it should hopefully be delivered early next week! Doing lots of research and forking through this amazing forum in the meantime along with sketching some aquascape ideas. I can barely sit still :bounce:

Display

Sump

 

[bbtm64]

Nice set up! Can't wait to see it running.

 

[Flameback Pair]

Subscribed.

 

[ManOfSalt]

Well It's been an eventful weekend! Most of my setup arrived Saturday morning. Still waiting on sand, live rock and they're bringing by a tanker full of ocean water

I spent most of the day staining the cabinet and the remaining time plumbing it up. My very first DIY stain and plumb job! Here's how it went.

Cabinet before staining

After staining... The idea was to exactly match the color but that didn't work out lol. It blends in well with the rest of the place so not too awful.

My plumbing job. Semi happy with how it turned out. Will probably need to attach something to the skimmer pipe if it moves around.

My light! Still need to work out how I'm going to attach this. Not sure the feet that come with it work for my tank. May need to invest in a hood.

A close up on the filter media that went in. Will be adding a sand bed to the sump as well.

The display!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Also will be doing a bit of tailoring with black fabric of some sort to cover up the foam. It's annoying that he put it there but he said it was to add a bit of flex to the tank in the event that it doesn't sit perfectly flat. Then he told me this horror story of how a business they setup denied the foam and one night someone bumped up against the tank and the entire thing cracked o.o he said piranas went everywhere biting people lol

Oh here's the plumbing from the other side. They're making me a wooden box to cover the pipe.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Love your stand and cabinet for the sump!
Great Job!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Thanks a lot! I'm hoping all goes well tomorrow when the pipes get wet. Fingers crossed lol.

 

[vlangel]

Ah yes, the ol' I hope salt water doesn't spray everywhere when I turn it on! I've learned that it is wise to leak test it with fresh water first by reading these forums. Of course I set my tank up before I knew about that so I learned the hard way!!!!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Haha! Yes that is something I would like to avoid. I have to wait for the pipe cement to cure first however before testing (at least thats what the instructions say). So tomorrow I plan to run some tap water through the system before the ocean water arrives. Hopefully I can get it tested in time. This type of thing totally warrants time off work

 

[vlangel]

Haha! Yes that is something I would like to avoid. I have to wait for the pipe cement to cure first however before testing (at least thats what the instructions say). So tomorrow I plan to run some tap water through the system before the ocean water arrives. Hopefully I can get it tested in time. This type of thing totally warrants time off work

You should be fine with the plumbing cement. I used to maintenance tanks for a LFS and sometimes when a pump needed replaced we'd have to redo the plumbing. We would do it, eat some lunch and then come back and turn the system back on and it was fine. That stuff sets pretty fast.

 

[ManOfSalt]

You should be fine with the plumbing cement. I used to maintenance tanks for a LFS and sometimes when a pump needed replaced we'd have to redo the plumbing. We would do it, eat some lunch and then come back and turn the system back on and it was fine. That stuff sets pretty fast.

Stupid instructions! They must've written them with the most humid place in the world in mind or something. It said to wait 24 hours lol. Very excited for the testing today though. I think I'll just shove a hose down the top of the pipes that stem out from the bulkhead to test skim and overflow pipes. Then if enough is in the return section ill fire up the return pump or if not then I might just put some water in the return section to test the pump. The LFS knows what they are doing so I'm not worried about leaks in the display. Trying to minimize the amount of water I use so I can just use a siphon hose to drain the residual water out from the test. Don't really have much access to anything else at the moment! That should hopefully suffice for testing.

I feel like I'm playing the whammy game (no leaks no leaks no leaks!)

 

[vlangel]

lol!!!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Well yesterday went absolutely awful. So awful that I was thinking about putting a thread up in the vendor issue area but it wouldn't matter for this forum since I'm in Australia. Plus it discourages rants D:

Anyway one of the guys got really drunk on the job before mine which was a double water change for a massive shark tank at a bar in the city. That tank is attached to a tap that goes straight into the sewer. He was on his 4th beer and a couple shots when he did the water change, forgot to close the tap whilst filling up the tank via a hose attached to his truck, and went off to waste over a thousand gallons of water. He had to go back to the ocean to refill as a result. He didn't get to my place until 11 at night. I would've told him to just come tomorrow, but I'm going out of town tomorrow for possibly a while.

This is a the final straw with this LFS. They were supposed to bring my sand and they forgot it, I was supposed to have my water last weekend and I was supposed to have my live rock today. They are out of stock until Friday. If I would've known getting water was going to be this big of a hassle, I would've made my own! I'm cancelling the sand and I'm cancelling the live rock and getting it from somewhere else. I can't deal. They at least gave me some snails they found in their drums and put them in my sump. I'll try and get them ID'd tomorrow. It's 6 in the morning and my frustration has kept me up this late. Time to go to bed and wake up in 2 hours for work D:

@!%&*!! Excuse my french.

 

[ManOfSalt]

Oh ya and the leak test for the plumbing went well save for a bulkhead that needed tightening. Yay a bright side.

 

[vlangel]

Sorry it was such a rough day. I hope it is much better from now on! Sending you a smile and saying a prayer for a better day!

 

[vlangel]

Glad the leak test went pretty well anyhow.

 

[ManOfSalt]

Sorry it was such a rough day. I hope it is much better from now on! Sending you a smile and saying a prayer for a better day!

That made me smile! Thanks

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Sorry for the troubles. Hope everything goes better today.

 

[ManOfSalt]

Sorry for the troubles. Hope everything goes better today.

Cheers buddy

 

[ManOfSalt]

A snap of the tank with some ocean water in it. Hopefully the LR and sand come soon. The LFS says tomorrow or Friday but I trust them as far as I can throw them.