Tom Takes on a Tank Build Thread

TDDredge · May 30, 2020

Okay, after a bit of a delay in a RO/DI system arriving, we are back at it! I've shown in some pictures (apologies some of them are a bit blurry) of how exactly I did this. Basically, I spent $5 at Lowe's. I got a diverter valve, put the shower head back on one side (which is funny because no one will be able to shower with all the filters in there but hey, it's a .75 bathroom and my wife and I don't use it so...), and adapted the other side to garden hose. That 15' garden hose section goes down to the floor of the shower, and then has the adapter to connect to the RO/DI system. Don't forget to use my old nemesis (from when I worked in a research lab) PTFE tape to ensure that you don't get leaks, you want to put as much pressure through it as possible. Whole process took maybe 15-20 minutes, and there's water coming out of the system! At this point I'm waiting an hour and a half, then I'll start collecting the product water in 5 gallon jugs. Initially, I'll use it to rinse out plumbing, storage containers, and the tanks and ATO reservoir. Once that is complete, I'll start leak testing! Other stuff came in with the RO/DI system, I've got 2 heater elements (one will be set 2 degrees lower than the other) that will be controlled with inkbird controllers. A coworker gave me a phenomenal deal on a used Vortech MP10, and I'll be putting a tunze powerhead across from it. Return pump is a Sicce Syncra Silent 660 GPH, can't remember exactly which number that is, I think 3.5. My skimmer also arrived, I ended up getting a space saver, but eventually I think I might be able to upgrade to a standard reef octopus 110int.

TDDredge · Jun 2, 2020

ATO and Sump have passed leak tests, I plumbed the sump to the tank, have some water in the overflow to ensure the plumbing doesn't leak, and 15 gallons in the main tank! I SORT OF MADE IT! THERE'S ACTUALLY WATER IN THIS S***! Yeah it's still got a ways to go, but we're well on the way now! Another 15 gallons tomorrow if there's no leakage, and then 15 the next and so on until it's full. I'll put the powerheads on soon, and once I'm sure there's no leak risk, I'll mix salt into the main tank. There's still some water in the sump, so I'll have to figure out how to get the salinity up in that water, if I aim for 1.025 in the rest of the tank, whatever is left will probably be okay. Once the main tank has salt, I'll add rocks and sand and let that settle while whatever overflows overflows, then once the sand has settled I'll get the return pump, skimmer and heaters into position. I'll cycle the tank for a couple days to make sure everything is going okay while checking salinity, then I'll get it to temperature. After that it's ghost feeding time for a couple weeks and after that in go some CUC! WOOHOO! There are little critters in sight!