Very First Reef and Tank Build

Chris Wells · Aug 13, 2017

Sump completion. Mistakes were made, only had one redo tho. lol

Chris Wells · Aug 19, 2017

Ready for lead test. Wish me luck tomorrow, tired...

Chris Wells · Sep 11, 2017

Lights!

Leak Tested....fixed leak.o_O

Chris Wells · Sep 11, 2017

Aquascaped!

Chris Wells · Sep 11, 2017

Sump Final! Wish I would have doubled-up on the .220 acrylic... I didn't like the flexing on the leak test. Reinforced and pinned in all baffles with 1/2" square acrylic rod. Also, used rod for media trays.

Chris Wells · Sep 11, 2017

I think I am ready to get some sand. Planning on dry aragonite special grade.
Still To Do List:
- Clean up cable management
- Fine-tune ATS install
- Setup Auto Topoff strategy with ATK
- Emergency drain plumbing
- Buy DOS for auto-water change
- Refugium Lighting and Chaeto when cycled
- QT methodology

Chris Wells · Sep 18, 2017

Sand! Do I have enough...2 inches dry and fluffy. I wonder how much it will settle with water.

I am getting nervous to add water. lol

n2585722 · Sep 18, 2017

Chris Wells said:
Sand! Do I have enough...2 inches dry and fluffy. I wonder how much it will settle with water.

I am getting nervous to add water. lol

That is more than I have. You may want to place something like a plate on the sand where you plan to pour in the water.

Chris Wells · Sep 19, 2017

n2585722 said:
That is more than I have. You may want to place something like a plate on the sand where you plan to pour in the water.

Thanks for input. Since this is a first fill, I was planning on filling with RODI system, which would be 1/4" tubing inserted into rock and slow anyway.
Maybe this is a big no,no. I realize it would be if you had any life in the system.

1. Get system up and running with heat.
2. Add salt a cup or two at a time in the sump to minimize settling.
3. Get to 1.020 and let it run for a day.
4. Tweak slowly to 1.025 while cycling.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thx Again

n2585722 · Sep 19, 2017

I did it that way on the first fill, but it was a empty tank. No rock or sand. I wouldn't think it would matter. I added the salt a lot faster than a cup or two at a time though, but directly to the tank. You just have to keep an eye on the tank level and make sure it doesn't overfill before you can turn it off.

Chris Wells · Sep 19, 2017

n2585722 said:
I did it that way on the first fill, but it was a empty tank. No rock or sand. I wouldn't think it would matter. I added the salt a lot faster than a cup or two at a time though, but directly to the tank. You just have to keep an eye on the tank level and make sure it doesn't overfill before you can turn it off.

Cool, thx