Redoubt Reef: 80 Gallon Rebirth Build

[Mhamilton0911]

I really, really really love your stand. It turned out nice!!!!!

 

[RedoubtReef]

I really, really really love your stand. It turned out nice!!!!!

Well, thanks! Trust me though, I know where all the goofs are.

 

[RedoubtReef]

I really, really really love your stand. It turned out nice!!!!!

where in Idaho are you located?

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I'm near the Dworshak dam

 

[RedoubtReef]

I'm near the Dworshak dam

Cool, I'm up near Coeurdalene.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Cool, I'm up near Coeurdalene.

WOW! Almost neighbors, lol! I lived in CDA about 20 years ago. We go through there often, selling or buying stuff.

You didn't happen to have a CL post for a bta recently, did you?

I'm in the market for an anemone, and I saw one for sale in CDA,I almost drove up there just for that, about 3.5 hours one way.

Is there any other stores up there that I'm missing? I did go to the Petco last time I was up there and it was better than my local one, but are there any true LFS there? I tried googling the last time we were there.

 

[RedoubtReef]

WOW! Almost neighbors, lol! I lived in CDA about 20 years ago. We go through there often, selling or buying stuff.

You didn't happen to have a CL post for a bta recently, did you?

I'm in the market for an anemone, and I saw one for sale in CDA,I almost drove up there just for that, about 3.5 hours one way.

Is there any other stores up there that I'm missing? I did go to the Petco last time I was up there and it was better than my local one, but are there any true LFS there? I tried googling the last time we were there.

No BTA on CL. I do have a Reef Octopus skimmer on there though if you are interested .
That Petco is better than any I've ever been in. There is a couple guys there that seem to really know and care about saltwater. They get great fish in all the time. Other than that, there's Inland Corals in Spokane. I think there is a new place that opened recently but the other 2-3 stores I've been to, all in Spokane, have been pretty bad.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

No BTA on CL. I do have a Reef Octopus skimmer on there though if you are interested .
That Petco is better than any I've ever been in. There is a couple guys there that seem to really know and care about saltwater. They get great fish in all the time. Other than that, there's Inland Corals in Spokane. I think there is a new place that opened recently but the other 2-3 stores I've been to, all in Spokane, have been pretty bad.

Yeah I was shocked at that Petco, corals we're sad and mostly bleached, but the livestock selection was great considering only a few tanks. I picked up a tiny urchin when I was there because my lfs hasn't been getting them.

I have not been to the inland corals yet, the hours were wonky and I've just missed them everytime I've been up there. Are they good? Worth catching while they're open? I stopped by NW seed and pet and have never seen it so bad, back in the day they were great but scary now.

I grew up in Spokane, born and raised. I left for quiet Idaho mountains instead. But now I find myself having to go back for everything. These towns down here rely on Spokane for everything.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Yeah I was shocked at that Petco, corals we're sad and mostly bleached, but the livestock selection was great considering only a few tanks. I picked up a tiny urchin when I was there because my lfs hasn't been getting them.

I have not been to the inland corals yet, the hours were wonky and I've just missed them everytime I've been up there. Are they good? Worth catching while they're open? I stopped by NW seed and pet and have never seen it so bad, back in the day they were great but scary now.

I grew up in Spokane, born and raised. I left for quiet Idaho mountains instead. But now I find myself having to go back for everything. These towns down here rely on Spokane for everything.

Inland has a new shop that I've not been to yet but, will as I get things running again. The frag tanks at Petco looked pretty good last time I was in there. They has rebuilt it and were stocking ORA corals I believe.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Feel like I'm making some progress. Got the plumbing installed today. New bulkheads and a Spears gate valve. Still waiting on a wye fitting that will attach to the return pump to feed the silicone tubing to the returns. First time I've used silicone tubing. So much nicer than hard plumbing things. Can't wait to get water in this thing!
The next steps are getting new filters for the RODI, a bucket of salt, and the final placement of the power modules for the controller and probe module. I'm thinking of mounting the board for that equipment to the right side of the cabinet or the back right side. Not 100% sure yet.

 

[Dreamscapesaquatics]

Fantastic. I'm really enjoying watching the development. We'll done. Following

 

[Dreamscapesaquatics]

Fantastic. I'm really enjoying watching the development. We'll done. Following

 

[RedoubtReef]

Finally getting wet! Got new water filters and the pump to return plumbing done. I filled the overflow box first and found one leaking bulkhead for one of the returns. Fixed that and I'm ready to move on.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Finally getting salty! After getting water in, I discovered a broken bulkhead on the left return so, had to order a new one as well as one extra in case it broke again. I've been doing leak testing/repair since yesterday and for now, things look good.
Took a short video. I'm dumping salt into the sock and flushing it with a small pump to get it mixed up. I was surprised at how loud things sounded in the video. It's really quiet with the doors closed and only a slight hum from the return pump. I'll add a silicone pad for that soon. The next steps are getting some cable management in place and re-mounting the power bar to the back of the cabinet. I'll also add one of my MP40s for flow while mixing up the salt. Still need to order one more new wetside for the other MP40.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Yesterday I broke down down the Biocube I was using as my 'seed' tank for getting the new one going. Lots of pods and bristle worms finally got moved to the refugium. Very happy to not have 2 tanks going at the same time. Wife is even more happy than I am.
Refugium has 20lbs of Ecosystem mud and some of the sand from the seed tank. The rest of the sand I'm keeping in a container to mix into the sand in the display. I wanted the light up higher so I made the mount for the light using 2 pieces of acrylic I had laying around that I painted black on one side and then screwed them together into the stand
A local reefer from Spokanistan hooked me up with some feather Caulerpa and I made a stop by Inland Corals to pick up some Trochus snails. The guy who owns the place is Ben and he's a nice guy. Stop by and visit if you are in the area.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Purchased some Australian live rock today from @Eric Cohen from Tankstop today! Eric was super helpful and even setup a zoom meeting so I could see and pick out my live rock. Should be here Thursday.
Now I got to get my light up! Parts from 80-20 showed up today so I'm putting together the mount for the light now.
Pic of the rock before it shipped out:

 

[Eric Cohen]

Purchased some Australian live rock today from @Eric Cohen from Tankstop today! Eric was super helpful and even setup a zoom meeting so I could see and pick out my live rock. Should be here Thursday.
Now I got to get my light up! Parts from 80-20 showed up today so I'm putting together the mount for the light together now.
Pic of the rock before it shipped out:

Chris….thanks for the post! I’m so glad you had a good experience…..I sure did! Can’t wait to see what you do with it! Keep me posted! Eric

 

[RedoubtReef]

Australian live rock just came in! So, I had to bring the light in after getting it in the tank. Will probably start on the aquascape next week. I'm also waiting on one part from 8020 so I can get the light rig mounted. I'm loving the halide/T5 shimmer and not seeing any of that 'disco ball'.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Finally got my light mount installed and hung the light. Still need to do some cable management and get it on the controller. Some shots with just the T5s on this AM. Light schedule will be
T5s set 1on at 9
T5s set 2 on at 10
Halide 1 on at 11
Halide 2 at 12:00
Halide 1 off at 16:00
Halide 2 off at 17:00
T5s set 1 off at 20:00
T5s set 2 off at 21:00

Picture of the light mount

 

[RedoubtReef]

Now I gotta get started on the aquascape and get the sand in. Hope to get that done this weekend.