Buffy's 1st Ever SW Build - Reef Tank

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Buffy said:
Thank you, yes it helped alot, cause it got my brain focused a little that going in as mush. Gosh now I have to bring all the junk inside.

Any body got idea's what to use to cut pvc with (blades) and what drill bit's to use for holes?
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I use a reciprocating saw with a metal blade...but that is only recommended if you are comfortable with power saws. Otherwise use a plain old hack saw. Use regular steel drill. It's for PVC...easy peasie. Hole saw for plastic bulkheads...but drilling in glass is a tricky proposition.
 
Buffy said:
Thank you, yes it helped alot, cause it got my brain focused a little that going in as mush. Gosh now I have to bring all the junk inside.

Any body got idea's what to use to cut pvc with (blades) and what drill bit's to use for holes?
Click to expand...

yep i meant for the return pumps.

i used a hack saw to cut with and if your drilling holes in the PVC with a metal drill bit, feather the trigger. on my diy spraybar on one of the holes i pulled it in all the way and drilled at the drills full speed. the result was a cracked pipe.

if you drilling a hole for a siphon break i used a 1/4" drill bit. and again i went slow at maybe half the drill's speed.
 
coffeetwitch said:
yep i meant for the return pumps.

i used a hack saw to cut with and if your drilling holes in the PVC with a metal drill bit, feather the trigger. on my diy spraybar on one of the holes i pulled it in all the way and drilled at the drills full speed. the result was a cracked pipe.

if you drilling a hole for a siphon break i used a 1/4" drill bit. and again i went slow at maybe half the drill's speed.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I did with mine and it worked perfectly. You can also drill holes in acrylic for baffles and overflow holes if you want with a drill going about half speed. The pvc can be cut with a hacksaw, which is how I did it, or there is a tool that is made for cutting the pipe in straight lines that can be found at home depot.
 
Thanks everyone, too much info right now for overflows and that kind of stuff. I'm not doing a sump or overflow right now, too much for me to process. Just needed to know what cuts the pvc LOL. I'll be able to go back and look at this when the time comes, so the info is not lost on me.

I have about 40-50 more pounds of sand to sift through cause when I was still trying to get the aquascaping done I kinda came across a piece of glass. Didn't cut my self but...........

And since I've been sifting I've come across 3 more pieces and 2 of them were a good size. I'm hoping when I'm done sifting I will have got all the pieces that could possibly hurt anything.

Psssst, I think is taking the rock out and putting in back in may be helping my granny arms to dwindle, by the time I'm done I may not have that double wave going on....LMAO
 
Update

My 75 is gonna take longer that I wanted/want. I am setting up a 20G and gonna put everyone in there.

So much to do and so little time. I've been measuring, sawing, cutting, moving, wash rinse and repeat for the last 4 hours (I actually woke up early).

Now to add some water 20G for leak test. Off and running......:fish2:
 
needmorecowbell said:
Well good luck with whatever you do, you have a lot on your plate.
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Yaaaa well whacha gonna do. lol. I don't think it I would know how to handle life if it wasn't one thing after another. Sometimes I vent and then I'm all good again and back to the grindstone.

I have my salinity and temps good to transfer, but not my pH. pH and I just don't seem to get along together. pH in the 20G is ok. It's 8.1, but the pH where my fish are is 7.8. I don't want to transfer them with such a difference but it looks like I don't have a choice. I can't seem to keep the pH up in whatever tank my fish are in. They are in a 10G container and I have an Evolution 750 in there, you would think that would be overkill for that size container but it's not. Grr. Oh well. Hope they live, they are going to be in the 20G in about an hour. The other 3 tanks are 8.1 and 8.2. Jeezzzzzzzzz. LOL
 
Buffy said:
Yaaaa well whacha gonna do. lol. I don't think it I would know how to handle life if it wasn't one thing after another. Sometimes I vent and then I'm all good again and back to the grindstone.

I have my salinity and temps good to transfer, but not my pH. pH and I just don't seem to get along together. pH in the 20G is ok. It's 8.1, but the pH where my fish are is 7.8. I don't want to transfer them with such a difference but it looks like I don't have a choice. I can't seem to keep the pH up in whatever tank my fish are in. They are in a 10G container and I have an Evolution 750 in there, you would think that would be overkill for that size container but it's not. Grr. Oh well. Hope they live, they are going to be in the 20G in about an hour. The other 3 tanks are 8.1 and 8.2. Jeezzzzzzzzz. LOL
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You might put a bubble stone in and try to get the PH up.
It's those things we build or repair ourselves that tend to have the most worth to us. Keep up the fight.
 
Update - everyone made it to 20G

Everybody is out of the 10g bucket and into the 20G tank. Basically I did a BIG pwc. One turbo snail didn't want to go, ugg those things are icky to pull off, and ya gotta do it slow so ya don't suck the mouth right out of them LOL.

The peppermint and fire fish both decided to hitch a ride :fish2:. Only took about 15 min for the fire fish to come out.

I couldn't see in the 10G very well and it looks like my coco worm got bunked in the head/s with the pump:eek:. He wasn't where I put him and he has 2 tentacles on 1 head and 1 tentacle on the other but......He is still out:ROFLMAO: and looking about (if that's what they do). He'd be spread nicely if he had something to spread. Part of his shell on top was chipped also. So I'm thinking the bucket maybe got banged:banghead: accidentally by a dog or a grandkid. House has been full past week or so. Even so looking at his color and what he IS showing, he still looks good - albeit minus a few (ok almost all) tentacles. I think he'll be ok. I read they rejuevenate. I about freaked when I saw him but after reading, I'm not too worried....okay well maybe just a little.:ermm:
 
Buffy said:
I think he'll be ok. I read they rejuevenate. I about freaked when I saw him but after reading, I'm not too worried....okay well maybe just a little.:ermm:
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Mine had lost his whole crown and 2 weeks later a larger one popped right out!
 
how to test for chlorine

your lps should have a test kit for it however personally I don't feel it is necessary next 10% water change (once a week) add your dechlorinator with it(found at lps). If you just dechlorinate I haven't heard of anything bad happening weather you have chlorine or not. By doing this you can just skip the step of weather or not you have it and just buy the 3 dollar bottle( I think that's what I paid for dechlorinator anyways).
 
page two

I think this question was already answered I forgot to check for additional pages for this thread. Sorry am new to the forums!!!
 
on YouTube, I was watching an episode of mrsaltwatertank. It was about Tds and what Effects it. It was said that water conditioner should NOT be used because of the high Tds reading. Obviously rodi is the best way to go but is it really just plain tap or rodi/distiller water?
 
needmorecowbell said:
on YouTube, I was watching an episode of mrsaltwatertank. It was about Tds and what Effects it. It was said that water conditioner should NOT be used because of the high Tds reading. Obviously rodi is the best way to go but is it really just plain tap or rodi/distiller water?
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Depending on where your city gets its water, tap can be okay or suicide. Short term, you can get away with anything. Fish only is also less critical, but if you are doing a reef, I think using RO/DI water is a basic requirement and should be part of the plan from the start. Why have all this equipment to reduce organics and start off with tap water loaded with it?
 
Wow that topic was risen from the dead LOL, but still good auxillaryspade, jump in with whatever questions you have no matter what they are :) AND

Welcome to the forum.

Am not sure you want to follow this thread because of it's "many" set backs....they might confuse you if you are new to sw, cause hey I'm still confused. However....you are more than welcome to tag along, just be sure to laugh along too (bring lotsa butter for the popcorn lol)

I am using ro/di water. I started with tap, used the conditioner. Carey said it was ok to start cause I wanted to dump it and start over, and she's right you can use tap and the conditioners to START with but you really really need an ro/di water filter. So when you get one you can then replace your tap water in your tank with pwc's of like 10% weekly. I still dumped it all out and started again though lol.

That was in June.July..IDK, but as of right now my 75Gallon is EMPTY AGAIN. Starting over again. I got a new stand, transferred things out to a temp home but looks like they are not getting back in anytime soon. Was filling and then broke a thermometer.

By the way everyone I am kinda glad I did empty, as I found 3 more good sized pieces of glass and 1 small one. Back breaking to sift all of that, but I have piece of mind that I got out as much as I could. If I did nothing I would have kept right on worrying.
 
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