It's so on now - 72g Reef build

[neilanh]

Yeah, I'm stoked. I have these visions of opening up the boxes of LR and it being all colorful, like in that pic. I know that's a BS hope, but I don't want to deal with the reality of it until I open the box. haha!

I'm happy with the stand now. Doors need to be installed, but otherwise it's pretty much ready. Canopy will undergo it's first coat of stain tonight or tomorrow.

Tonight I think I'm going to drill the tank. I've been scared of it for too long, it's just time to do it and get it over with, or order a new tank when i shatter this one. lol

I'm still debating a few things:

1) Placement of the returns for the CL reference to the overflow box. I realize it doesn't matter a whole lot, so I'm gonna put the overflow box in the tank and just figure out where to drill the 3 holes and do it before i overthink it.

2) Pumps - I got 2 pumps, a mag7 and a mag9.5. The original plan was to use the 9.5 for the sump return and the 7 for the CL, but I'm starting to rethink this. I realize the head height for the sump return will affect the flow rate, but I'm starting to think the 9.5 will give me too much flow through the sump, and the 7 may work better for it. i don't want to have to throttle it back, as that just seems like a waste to me. Since the fuge is going to be seperate from the sump and controlled independantly, it may not matter though.

3) Fan placement in the canopy. On the ends accross the bulbs, or in the back out of sight. it's a trade, I realize that, and the better flow accross the bulbs is probably more important.


I'm also going to get the skimmer out of the box and assembled tonight. I've been wanting to do it, to see it, but figured it was probably safer being stored in the box.

 

[neilanh]

So I set out tonight to drill the tanks. Started on the 10g tank - shattered it. Figured I was going too fast, so for fun I tried the other side - shattered it too.

Seen all the videos on youtube, I applied no pressure, even on the second one I held back the weight of the drill. I don't get it.

Standard 10g tank, not tempered glass, what gives?

Only thing I can figure is I'm drilling to close to the top of the tank.

Any thoughts?

I'm now scared to death to try drilling the 72.

 

[roka64]

I have a couple 10Gs you can practice on. I don't need them.

 

[neilanh]

So, at work this morning I decided to check the tracking numbers.

I saw this:

Sep 24, 2008 9:51 AM Delivered

And rushed home like a kid waking up for Christmas morning. Got here at 10:30, had it all underwater by 11ish.

First - my impressions as a first time Live Rock Buyer:
Cool Stuff
It actually has color to it (Yay!)
Good mix of sizes
lots of rubble in the box, I assume rough handling - no biggy, needed some rubble anyway.
It was a little dry, but was wrapped well in almost dripping wet paper, as you can see. I wasn't sure what to expect here.

Several people had asked me to take lots of pics, so I did. Maybe too many, but I was excited, what can I say. Besides, I've never heard anyone on AA complain about too many photos, so here you are.

 

[neilanh]

Here's some pics of some of the larger individual pieces. Thats the top of the stand they're on (not looking too shabby, eh?).

 

[neilanh]

I have 3 pumps in there with it, as well as a heater. 1 pump is on the bottom, blowing upwards through the middle. The other 2 maxi-jets you can see on the top. I have the lid set halfway on the can, just to try to keep the dust out, but leaving a good gap for gas exchange.

The rock is a little dirty/muddy, but I'll have to clean that up later, as I was expecting that.


Now, tell me what you think. Don't sugar coat it, I'm a big boy - I don't have anything to compare this to other shipments of live rock, so I'm shooting from the hip here.

Another kudos for Larry at Underwater Outlet - he was great to deal with and has awesome prices, and a 15% AA discount right now.

 

[Ziggy953]

Wow that is some awesome looking rock! Now I'm getting excited too!

You are doing just fine!

 

[roka64]

I agree, you have some nice looking rock.

 

[Chisel]

Like a kid in a candy store!! Looking forward to seeing the aquascaping and the critters that came with the rock.

 

[neilanh]

Here, since I'm skipping work right now anyway, figured I'd go get this thing plugged up.

 

[neilanh]

I see bubbles, I assume that means it's working?

Hope that's kosher, since I'm heading back to work.

 

[Hogie]

I have a Mag9.5 as my return with a single overflow. What I did was put a ball valve at the top of my "manifold" coming out of the return pump so I can turn up/down the flow to the tank. Everybody has said you can restrict the outbound flow of a pump, just not the inbound flow to it. That lets me set it to right around 600gph since my overflow is rated for that (single 1" pipe).

 

[pat8you]

Looks like you need to adjusts your bubble level up just a bit. You should see a few of the larger bubbles starting to work their way up the neck of the skimmer. May want to skim a bit wet for the first couple of days to get some of the nasty stuff out of the water.

 

[neilanh]

Thanks hogie. I guess I was more questioning if I wanted the larger pump on the sump, or on the CL.

Pat8you, I did raise it before I left the house once I figured it all out. I put it in there and snapped pics, then went back and played with it for a bit. I was getting large bubbles working their way up the neck when I left, though none had reached the collection cup, so it may need tweaking yet. And I'm sure the tweaks will continue as it goes through it's break-in phase.

Thanks for the tip on skimming wet.

 

[Hogie]

I also put my bigger one on the return in case I ever decide to add something else to it, such as a calcium reactor, etc without adding a new pump (I left a ball valve off a T connection unused just for these future plans). I figure its easier to ramp that up than not.

Also, on the closed loop, are you going to output it to a swcd or just a T, etc... My swcd doesnt output as much as I want from my mag7, but then again, I also put a couple right angles in the plumbing (which lower the output).

 

[neilanh]

Yes, I'm planning to run a 3/4" SCWD on the CL.

 

[Ziggy953]

Sorry for not answering you quicker. I was asleep on the couch with my son.

I agree with Pat, but it sounds like you have done some adjusting. Don't raise the level too high, your skimmer will need to break in and when it does it will skim better. For now I would have the bubbles at the bottom of the neck and leave it at that.

 

[ccCapt]

That rock looks really nice.
Skimmer looks good too. Body is nice and milky looking from the good bubble production.

 

[Ziggy953]

BTW, drilling a 10g tank is a lot different then drilling a larger tank. The glass is very thin on the 10 so you have a better chance of cracking it. I've never tried to drill a tank that small.

I have a 20g tall that I use as my fuge and it is much thicker then a 10g. When drilling the 72 you should not have any problems.

I would suggest a multi-speed drill and going very slow until you have a good ring cut into the glass. Even when you get it going you don't want to go very fast and you want to keep it wet at all times.

 

[Fluff]

That is some great looking rock. Can't wait to see it all come together. (as are you I'm sure. lol)