It's so on now - 72g Reef build

[neilanh]

Alright, I went. Have everything I need to finish the stand and canopy. See how far I get tonight. Storms rolling through tomorrow, probably be a good day to drill the tank. Doubt I'll be staining with the winds they anticipate it bringing.

 

[austinsdad]

And when all this is ret ta go,you're coming to MD to get some of my coral frags???

 

[neilanh]

Heck yeah! Thanks for the offer!

I've heard one should wait a month or two after completion of the cycle before adding corals - is that true? Kinda a bummer if it is. lol

I thought I had found some local LR for a great price, but I went and looked at it and passed on it, so I'm back to looking again. Still looking for sand too. No LFS around me carries dry sand that I've found, and shipping rates are ridiculous - except for F&S, which doesn't seem to have what I think I want.

The doors for the cabinet are cut and ready, so the stand is ready for stain. Depending on the weather, I may try the first coat tomorrow. I'll also finish the canopy tomorrow. 1 more piece to cut, then just assemble the dual-hinged top, and it's done too.

Once the stain is done, I'll install the retro kits for lighting, and set it all up in the garage. Drill the tank and rough in my plumbing, then let it run for a week or so to make sure I got it all right, then it'll be ready to move in to the house and get it setup for real.

 

[roka64]

Neilan, I need to order some stuff from the drs, since you work down the street from me we could meet up. We can split shipping.

 

[austinsdad]

Yeah, I'dwait for that long before adding coral just to ensure things are stable. Especially after the new tank diatoms pass when everything is brown.

 

[neilanh]

I figured you'd guys would say that. haha

Scott, I order from F&S like constantly. Probably 3 shipments in the last month. lol. They're shipping rates are great, IMO, so I don't even consider them when I need stuff. Just got a box from them yesterday, as a matter of fact.

They only carry the sugar-sized aragamax oolite, I was hoping for the select. Probably doesn't matter though? you guys tell me. I've been unable to find select at anywhere that didn't want a million dollars for shipping. The last time I was at BRK they only had 1 30lb bag, I'm figuring I'll need 100 pounds. Guess I could ask John to order it, though. Don't recall his prices now, however.

I was actually considering this stuff too, just cuz it seemed like a pretty good deal, but realize I'd probably be better of with dry - if only I could find it.

 

[Ziggy953]

Neilan, check Petco and Petsmart for the sand. They carry it and is where I got mine from. I think it was $19 for a 30# bag.

You should wait at least a couple of months before adding corals. You want to make sure that your PH has leveled out. You also want to allow for your diatoms (like Ray said) to burn out. Don't worry those two months will pass quicker then you think. Especially with your work schedule.

 

[cmor1701d]

Neilan, also check out ThatPetPlace.com for product. They price match (if needed) and shipping from them to you should only be a day or two vs. f&s taking a week on most stuff. I buy from both constantly and find customer service to be top notch at both. I also find that each carries some products that the other doesn't.

Yes, wait at least 2 months before adding corals to make sure your tank stabilizes.

 

[neilanh]

I've checked the petco and the petsmart that's near me and neither one of them carry it. They have a few small bags of arag-alive or one of the other live sands, but that's it. There's 1 more petco in Leesburg about 20 min from here, may drive out there today since it's raining and I cant do much anyway.

I'll check on ThatPetPlace.com. I do keep hearing good things about them, but haven't ever used them.

F&S is good for me, usually 2-3 days from order to delivery.


As long as the wind stays down, I may try to put the first coat of stain on today. Anyone know if high humidity from it pouring outside is a bad situation to do this in?

 

[Ziggy953]

Yes it is a bad idea. I expect you are using Minwax?? Most of your oil/acrylic based stains will not dry well in really wet/humid environments. Check the label on the can and see what it says.

 

[neilanh]

Yeah, it's minwax, and I figured that it wasn't a good idea. Just stinks because this is the first day I've got nothing going on, and it's raining so hard I can't do anything now.

 

[Ziggy953]

If you are using just a stain and not a stain w/sealer then you should be fine to stain it. I would not try and put any kind of sealer over the stain with the humidity like it is.

 

[neilanh]

I bought the poly-stain minwax stuff. Claims to seal and stain, so I'll wait. Supposed to be nice tomorrow, I'll get the first coat down afternoon, then do a coat in the evenings. I'm figuring 3 coats.

ALso gonna finish the canopy tomorrow.

 

[Ziggy953]

Be sure to lightly sand (220 or 320) between coats....you'll get a nice finish that way.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Neilan, also check out ThatPetPlace.com for product. They price match (if needed)

Hey what do they pricematch? Do they match other online vendors? When I called aquariumguys they told me on the phone to look at thatpetplace.coms's site for pics of their products as they have the same distributor(since the AG's site had wrong or missing pics).

I also have ordered from thatpetplace and it was a great experience and will buy from them again, prob more so if they will pricematch bigal's and other vendors.

From a painting perspective, humidity is not good and sanding between coats is a great idea for smoothest finish(even using higher grit paper but prob not needed)

 

[cmor1701d]

Yes, they price match other online vendors if you call them. They will check the url while on the phone with you and if they verify the price they will price match. F&S will not. I'm one day UPS shipping from TPP, but for some reason I got used to ordering from F&S first. I'm changing back now. It pays to price check each item against a couple of sites. e.g TPP has Pinpoint calibration fluid for $1.49 each while the manufacturer has it at $1.00 each and F&S has it at $0.99 each.
So now instead of ordering online I need to call TPP for a price match. Well actually they are a couple of bucks cheaper on the other items I'm buying and have free shipping on orders over $100 till Monday, so I'm ordering from them online anyway.

 

[neilanh]

Pricematching is good stuff, I love it when vendors do that.

Well, I found some sand. I found 15lb bags of live aragamax select, and 30lb bags of dry aragamax sugar sized oolite. I thought I wanted the select (albeit I was after the dry version) but after seeing it I went with the sugar sized. They only had 60 pounds in stock, so I went ahead and got that. And now I know where to look.

I'm figuring probably 90 pounds for the DT and another 30 or so for the fuge (DSB). Sound right?

 

[Ziggy953]

I have a fairly deep sand bed in my fuge and it is sugar fine sand. My display has about 3.5" in it. I went with the select just because I had the sugar fine before and didn't like it.

 

[neilanh]

Well, this is my practice tank, so we'll see how it goes.

BTW, while I was out I saw a gorgeous powder brown. Nice fish!

 

[Ziggy953]

Yeah...I lost mine in the first tank disaster. I haven't decided what I'm going to replace it with yet. I'm down to 2 tangs. Yellow belly Hippo and the Yellow tang..... The Clown Tang has been MIA for over a week....