Upgrading my tank by 1200%

[Dom]

Mkay, got the stand assembled and some of the skin cut. Also got the rerun pump and skimmer ordered and they should be here mid week some time

Productive weekend

Setting up in front of the window?

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

Setting up in front of the window?

Yeah, its the only place i had room and semi decent electrical access

 

[Dom]

So finally got water up to the overflow

View attachment 728473

I was all like :) but then the elbow on the overflow piping started to leak

So now I'm all like :mad:;Blackeye;Drowning and have to figure out a way to fix the leak

Hate it when everything is going perfectly, and then...

 

[Dom]

So here it is the max level my sump will get to in the event of a power outage

No check valve in your plumbing? Didn't notice any...

 

[Dom]

Yeah, its the only place i had room and semi decent electrical access

I always understood that set up in front of a window wasn't ideal. Do you plan on blacking out the window in some way?

 

[Dom]

I'm loving this build.

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

I always understood that set up in front of a window wasn't ideal. Do you plan on blacking out the window in some way?

My current nano is in front of a window with sun light all day in addition to the light on the tank, no issues with it

And no, no check valve. Sump has more than enough room for the extra water, also one less thing that can fail

 

[markstubb]

Make sure to put some vents in your canopy.

The sunlight thing on the tank is no big deal in my opinion. Lots of folks think it's a terrible idea, yet we spend thousands of dollars to put artificial light into our tanks to mimic the sun. As long as you cover up that clear return line with something to limit algae growth, you'll be fine.

 

[Dom]

The sunlight thing on the tank is no big deal in my opinion. Lots of folks think it's a terrible idea, yet we spend thousands of dollars to put artificial light into our tanks to mimic the sun.

Fair point.

 

[markstubb]

I know there's an argument about the spectrum of the sunlight verses tank lights that can be fine tuned, but if your tank consumes algae food sources the way it should, i think it's fine. My tank is between two big windows and haven't noticed a thing. Maybe I have to scrape the glass on one side more than the other but big deal

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

Make sure to put some vents in your canopy.

The sunlight thing on the tank is no big deal in my opinion. Lots of folks think it's a terrible idea, yet we spend thousands of dollars to put artificial light into our tanks to mimic the sun. As long as you cover up that clear return line with something to limit algae growth, you'll be fine.

The back is open half way down due to my sea swirl and I'm gonna put 2 inch vents above my lights when I install them. Haven't decided if i will put actively vented chimneys for those vents yet.

The return tubing that is currently clear will be blacked out

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

It's done, its finally done, the canopy is finally done. What should have taken like 2 weeks took 5 weeks. So here it is

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

So here's the canopy mounted on the tank after I threw a stupid motion sensor across the room so it would go on properly

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

So I ordered my ATO and ammonia test kit today. It should all be here next Friday, so once that's here it will be add salt and order live rock time :):D

 

[markstubb]

TBS?

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

TBS?

You know it

 

[markstubb]

Instant cycle! Good luck with it. The extra critters should be neat to see what shows up

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

Not quite instant, my nano took 3 days, but close enough

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

Goodies came early

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

And if you get the smart ato, save your self some money and get the nano version. Wish I had known this before but the only difference between the two models is the size of the sensor. Same pump, same power supply. So unless the firmware let's the bigger one pump longer before it gives an error, yeah save yourself like $60 and get the nano version