Fishroom Reality Check

[User]

Reactor manifold plumbed in, but not anchored. Was a bit tighter than I expected but seems to be in a good location. Feed is a 400gph pump in the skimmer compartment. Also drains skimmer compartment into water change/settling tank, for some extra change capacity if needed.

It’s a BRS dual reactor, but I bought extra fittings and separated them. Saved $12 over buying two singles. Flipped them 90 degrees so input is in the back, output In front- the holes in the mount at too close to keep them going the regular way with the extra fittings.

One of them had the mount holes threaded all the way through the lid, so it leaked out one of the mount screws. @BRS sent a replacement lid like 4 months ago, but I only now discovered that lid wasn’t even threaded for the mounting bolts, so I’m back to filling the mounting bolt hole with silicone before mounting it and hoping it stops the leak.

Unthreaded bolt holes...

 

[User]

Ok, so got to doing the final part of the aquascaping. Mix of brs reefsaver rock and pukani.

This pic from May 10th, after weeks of grinding, cutting and glueing

Table is the exact dimensions of the tank, so made it easy.

I had planned on doing some eggcrate risers, and covering them in hydraulic cement to provide a super stable, large surface area (compared to the many ‘point’ contacts that the jagged rocks have) base to put the main rocks on. But my big box stores were out of eggcrate. So I made little hydraulic cement pedestals using screw containers as molds

They are 1.75” high, which is where I wanted my sand level (to come up to the trim on the tank). That stuff sets fast, couple minutes, so I was going in batches. Made 8 total.

Next step is to finalize the base rocks that the main archway will sit on, cement them to the pedestals, place in tank, and put main scape on top.

Main scape will be 14” high for the reefsaver arch, 12” fir the pukani column and 9” for the pukani shelf rock.

I have a bunch of cement fragments going in rodi right now for a pH test in a couple days. This particular cement seems safe though, according to a number of sites.

Sand gets delivered tomorrow (sorry UPS guy)- 3 bags of CaribSea special grade and 2 bags Fiji pink. Hoping to get rocks and sand in the tank on Friday.

 

[bobyboy]

Awesome build!

 

[Dubs83]

Looking great. Sand in yet?!

 

[User]

Looking great. Sand in yet?!

It arrived 20 mins ago- UPS guy was giving me grief.

UPS: Uuggh, dude, what did you order?
Me: sand. For my reef.
UPS: I don’t work Tuesday’s or fridays. Remember that next time. And there’s a Lowe’s 3 miles away.

Lol.

I did underestimate my needs though. Seems I only ordered 2 special and 1 pink. Need to order 2 more bags.

Plan is to wash the sand and clean out the tank tomorrow, then finish cementing the pedestal rocks for my scape and get them in on Monday. Family and kiddy play dates over the weekend, so won’t get time.

Aiming for rodi in the tank on Tuesday. [emoji3]

 

[Dubs83]

Haha! I actually apologize to the UPS guy ahead of time.

 

[User]

I would have but we get different guys.

And I got a free BRS t-shirt. Added a Hanna checker (ULR phosphorus) to get my over the limit for the T. That’s still free, right?

 

[Dubs83]

How do I get a shirt?! I just ordered a Swabbie thing for my skimmer!

 

[User]

How do I get a shirt?! I just ordered a Swabbie thing for my skimmer!

Spend >$199. Don’t tell my wife.

There’s a banner on the front page. However, I didn’t see it before I ordered so I had a live chat with Chad and he hooked me up.

 

[Dubs83]

Hmmm. What if I used my rewards and got it under 100?! From 200+. Lol. Who do I need to talk to about this

 

[User]

So- I spent probably a solid 6 months trying to figure out my rock scape, then had to pack it all up and move from Nashville to Atlanta. A couple months ago, I pulled them out and found a bunch of broken off bits and my labels all over the place. So I rebuilt from memory and ended up with this-

However, that table they are on is where my fishroom now stands, so I had to disassemble before I could glue.

Third time the charm. I just spent the past week making some hydraulic concrete risers (to lift everything above the sand and to give level feet to rest on the glass - I hate pressure points like the little nubs on rocks), flying and cementing this together and getting it in the tank. Its a mix of brs reef saver and pukani, including a 2’x13” shelf piece.

The second batch of sand just arrived, so I’ll be rinsing and adding that all tomorrow. 120lbs seaflor special and 80 lbs Fiji pink

And I have 100g rodi in the barrels.

[emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]

 

[User]

Just saw that I duplicated some of this from an earlier post. Sorry guys!

 

[najer]

Excited much?!

 

[User]

Lol, yeah, psyched!!

 

[User]

Full tank shot without the reflections.

 

[Dubs83]

Looks great man. Do you plan on covering up the plumbing on the left side?

 

[LowLi]

Looks great man. Do you plan on covering up the plumbing on the left side?

i think when the water is filled you wont see it i cant see through the sides on my tank

 

[Dubs83]

i think when the water is filled you wont see it i cant see through the sides on my tank

Ah! I see

 

[User]

I had planned to put some black card stock in there, but when I did my fill test- I couldn’t see the pipes, like lowLi mentioned

 

[User]

So I just dropped my apex ph probe into the little container of cement chips and rodi that I’ve had since Monday- and it’s showing 11.3!

I’m hoping that the amount used and the 210 lbs of CaribSea sand will cancel each other out.

Or I can maybe do a partial fill to cover the pedestals and let the rodi pull out as much as possible and add sand later?

Was hoping to do sand today, but will wait if people think it prudent to deal with the alkali release from the cement first.

Thoughts?