Reef Savvy Retirement Build

[Clarkjw2002]

Last info I got on the main tank was a few weeks ago when the holes were drilled in the bottom so I know I'm finally getting close.

As mentioned earlier, the bottomed out nitrates led to a small Dino bloom so I had to hook up my small UV, remove the chemipure elite and begin dosing nitrates. Everything looks good now but I have to dose 0.5ppm nitrates daily to keep the tank at 5ppm.

I'm also feeding the tank LRS reef frenzy and a tsp of phytofeast daily, along with reef raids every three days.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Refugium is coming along. Moved the corals I'm keeping into it and everything LOVES direct sunlight in the morning.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Lastly, saw this hermit crab out of it's shell with eggs a week or so ago.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Don't want to jinx it but my tank may be shipping tomorrow! Finally got a few pics so I know it's done. Been busy getting stuff done to settle in a few dairy sheep lambs and am finally at the point where I'm ready to work on this again, so it's good timing.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

I really do need to get this up and running because all my frags have overgrown onto the frag rack in the refugium. Not to mention that my fish have been in a stock tank for over a year now. Think I really only have the yellow tang, two clowns, and two green chromis left. That's all I see feeding anyway. They've been ignored since being moved in there. Just feeding and auto-top off.

Oh yeah, and with no fish pressure my trochus and astrea snails are reproducing like crazy and have even moved into the sump.

 

[inetjnky]

Beautiful tank! I will say I wish I had glass overflow like that. Wouldn’t fit in my doorway though.

 

[SPSReeferMI]

Congrats - very exciting.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Well, was looking at the fish yesterday and saw the yellow hogfish briefly dart out from under a rock so I know he's still alive. Hadn't seen in 6 months or more.

Also, thought I lost a blue cleaner wrasse that disappeared in the frag tank. Tank has had everything off except pumps and ATO for the last 3-4 months. I added some new rock, turned on the lights ,and cleaned some equipment and there he was in the side Fiji sump section. No idea what he lived on for the last few months. I looked all through there before I shut down and couldn't find him but he obviously was there.

Thinking of getting a QT'ed regal angel to house there for a few weeks until I get the tank up. That way he is the first addition and can get settled in before the other fish are added.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Well, was looking at the fish yesterday and saw the yellow hogfish briefly dart out from under a rock so I know he's still alive. Hadn't seen in 6 months or more.

Also, thought I lost a blue cleaner wrasse that disappeared in the frag tank. Tank has had everything off except pumps and ATO for the last 3-4 months. I added some new rock, turned on the lights ,and cleaned some equipment and there he was in the side Fiji sump section. No idea what he lived on for the last few months. I looked all through there before I shut down and couldn't find him but he obviously was there.

Thinking of getting a QT'ed regal angel to house there for a few weeks until I get the tank up. That way he is the first addition and can get settled in before the other fish are added.

Isn’t it funny how a fish can disappear for months at a time and we think “oh it’s probably dead.” Only to find out that it’s been alive this whole time

 

[Clarkjw2002]

It Finally happened! Tank Day. It arrived last Wed. Pallet forks on the tractor were 6" too small to go all the way under so I had the forks lined up on the 2x6 cross bracing on the bottom. Moving it around the barn, down a bumpy hill to the 10ft gate, and back up a large bumpy hill to the porch was the scariest thing I've done with the tractor so far. Went about 0.1 mph the whole way so took a while. I also put a ratchet strap around the crate to hold it to the pallet forks so the braces would not slip off the tines (if that happened the end of the forks would have went through the bottom of the crate--it was 1000lbs).

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Luckily the guy who did the concrete footings for my fabric building knew a guy who does moving for industrial clients. They came out yesterday and we got the tank into place. They used an old industrial lift, raised it to position on the crate bottom, and slid it right into the wall onto the stand. Don't think I mentioned this but I glued down half inch foam board on the stand.

The biggest thing I discovered yesterday was I think I'm losing some hair on the back of my head!

Now the fun begins.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Rocks are in. Filling her up now while I work on the overflow plumbing.

 

[drtechno]

Nice! That’s pretty much how I ended up doing mine, with sliding into the wall and all. How are you going to trim the tank edges? Or are you?
Here’s mine with aluminum L brackets

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Rocks are in. Filling her up now while I work on the overflow plumbing.

Exciting to see the rocks in there!

 

[Clarkjw2002]

There's an idea. Not really sure on the trim yet but I do like the black border Felix put on. He said I should cover with trim as it will get scratched up over time.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Return plumbing done.

 

[MD51]

Amazing Build !!! Enjoy the rest of the process

 

[Clarkjw2002]

I turned the main return pipe over the closed loop instead of the other way because it was bumping the glass and pushing on the bulkhead a little. Can rebuild later if needed.

The only thing hard glued into the overflow box is the closed loop and that was a big PIA. Also, I like the Dreambox sump but those four pipe connectors all bunched up together is also a PIA in terms of tightening and untightening the unions after pipes are on.

150 gal in the tank so far and will leak test the bulkheads today. Yesterday the water filled the closed loop so I know that plumbing is good. There is one small leak where the closed loop is glued into the bulkhead in the overflow box. Like a drop or two a second. Not a big deal as it drains to the sump and I suspect, once the pump is on, it will suck water in instead of leak out. My only concern would be if the power were out for 5 or more days as I might exceed the holding capacity of the sump.

There was also a small leak in the closed loop bulkhead going into the overflow that a crank of the wrench fixed. It's gasket sits on textured ABS so I hope that was the reason. Really hope the main bulkheads don't leak because getting something in there to tighten a little more will be near impossible. Seemed good until I glued the unions in. Everything is hand tight right now. Water did fill to over the bulkheads last night in the overflow box and they are not leaking yet. Fingers crossed.

 

[ShoreReefer]

Love the build and congratulations on your retirement. Thank you for your service. I can't wait to see it lit up with coral and fish.

 

[Clarkjw2002]

Glad to say the bulkheads are good. After 3 hrs with the overflow box filled I did notice a near imperceptible weep on the emergency pipe bulkhead. Only found it because the paper towel wicked a small amount of water. Was able to get both hands in there on the bulkhead nut and, with grip gloves on, got another 1/8 or so of a turn on the nut. Everything is still dry now.

Also, the overflow box only leaked down about 3 inches overnight with the dry fit plumbing, which is much slower than I expected. It would take a few days of no power for that to leak down all the way and I suspect, once detritus is going through the overflow, that it will slow down more.

I estimate that I have about 30 gal of excess capacity with main pump off (so the refugium drained down into it already) and the overflow box filled to the main drain has about 13 gal. I may lower the weir in the sump to drop running level another inch or two. This should give me another 5 gal/inch of capacity. Need to see how this affects skimmer production but, with the fleece roller, the skimmer might just be an aeration tool anyway.