It's about time - 72g Reef build

[neilanh]

Stand and doors are done. Canopy is all cut and ready for sand/stain.

Started on the stand tonight. Another first for me, so we'll see how it turns out.

[marchmaxima]

I would never trust myself to build something so important... something that holds up so much water..... I would be paranoid it would collapse.

Well done. I can't wait to see it looking all painted!

[roka64]

I like those doors. Are you going to put a sump under there?

[Ziggy953]

Nicely done!

[neilanh]

Thanks everyone.

I'm just now really looking at the pics. Funny, they make it appear that the stain is extremely uneven, although it doesn't look like that in person - perhaps the flash was just picking up wet spots or something, I dunno.

Underneath will go a 29g sump and probably a 10g fuge. I'll put a sheet of ply across the bottom inside as a floor, and will need to build a mini-stand for the 10g to sit on to elevate it above the 29. plan is to use 1 of the 2 outlets in the overflow Ziggy gave me to go to the fuge, gate it to control the flow, drill the 10g for a bulkhead and just let gravity return out of the 10g into the skimmer section of the 29g sump.

I have some concerns with that method that I'm working through (like what if the bulkhead gets clogged) but I'll figure something out.

[Ziggy953]

So far I have not had the bulkhead clog. I have a screen to keep things from going down the drain. I'm sure that you will be looking at things pretty much everyday like I do so you would see if there is a problem.

[Ziggy953]

So..I was wondering if you had anything new to report? How is the stand coming along?

I have some rock you can have that will help seed your tank.

[neilanh]

It's been another rough week. Stand is still basically where it was in the past pictures, except that the first coat of stain has dried and I sanded it to get ready for coat number 2.

I picked up 2 Coralvue 4" smart fans on Ebay for around $20. I think they retail for $45 each, so that's pretty nice. They're brand new, still in the box. Comes already wired with a thermistor on an 18" wire, that speeds up the fan as the temperature increases. Pretty good airflow, and super quiet, especially for 4" fans.

Anyone know if I can wire these together into 1 power supply? Each came with it's own, and the PS is rated for 500mA, but there's no power draw listed on the fans themselves.

[SpeedEuphoria]

I looked at some fans and some around that size are from .3-.6a, so with 2 you would be over .5a that the power supply says.

Those have to be 12v fans, sounds like a good price

[neilanh]

65-70 hour work weeks have left me a little unmotivated lately. Yesterday was my first day off in the past few weeks, so I actually was able to get some stuff done.

Second coat of stain on the stand and doors went on last night. I looked this morning and haven't decided yet if it needs a third or not, we'll see. I assembled the canopy and coated the inside of it with Kilz sealer. Today (maybe) I'll get the cutouts done for the fans. I think I'm just going to get a 4" hole saw and do it that way, seems that would be the simplest and there's room to accomodate the fan inside the canopy rather than flush mounted. They'll be installed on the back of the canopy, so even though it won't look great it won't be seen.

I'm working with AA's newest sponsor, Underwater Outlet, to order 100 pounds of pohnpei live rock. I think he's invoicing it for me now, so that should be ordered by the end of the day.

here's a pic of what I'm ordering:


Looks like great stuff. I've been going back and forth on this LR purchase for too long, decided to just take the plunge. I have SW mixed and container ready for curing it once it arrives.

Larry over at Underwater Outlet has been great to work with - he's quickly responded to my tons of PMs and got me to the point I'm ready to order. If the transaction goes as well as their customer service has been, I'll be thoroughly impressed. And with the 15% discount they're giving to AA members right now, the prices are very good as well.