My 55g Reef Buildout

[Hogie]

Thanks. I plan on getting the stand finished Saturday morning (Friday night is Game night at a friend's house), then I'll probably pickup some RO water to get things running. I really dont want to waste this weekend (My first real 3day weekend in about 2 years, since I was considered essential operations at work).

The heaters should be in today (on truck to be delivered according to tracking), and the Skimmer / Mag 9.5 will be here tomorrow.

 

[ccCapt]

Just to clarify....since you are using marcorock, you will go thru a full cycle. Marcorock is dried out live rock. It has all kinds of dried up dead stuff in and on it. You should scrub as much of the stuff off of it as you can, but it's all you need to kick start the cycle. The marcorock mixed with live rock works real nice.

 

[Hogie]

Oh yeah, I didn't think about that. Thanks for the heads up.

Another question. When I rinse my substrate, it should be done with RO water right (compared to tap)?

 

[ccCapt]

I just put some of the sand in an empty 5 gal bucket and put the garden hose to it...lol. At first the water is real milky. When it overflows clear, it's good to go.

 

[Hogie]

Well, that saves me some trips to the LFS for RO this weekend RO for cleaning base rock though, right?

 

[roka64]

Clean it the same way as the sand, with a plastic brush. You don't really need to worry about the RO since you will doing a couple of large PWCs after your cycle.

 

[Hogie]

Just got back from Home Depot and the closest LFS. I now have everything (except a paint) to finish the stand. The paint is coming later when my mother comes back to the house. I have 2x 36gallon Brutes for water storage/mixing. 60lbs of Aragonite sand, 50lbs of Salt, 25gallons of RO, some acrylic to make baffles (.220 inch clear).

Last night, my Mag 950, test kits and Octopus Skimmer came via UPS. Now to finish the stand to get rolling this weekend.

 

[Hogie]

Okay, so I got the stand's front setting up right now.

Since the canopy is already painted black, we are going to do the stand the same way. Our workshop doesn't have AC, and its currently 94F outside, so I work a little, then come back inside and re-hydrate.

Next time I go out, I'll cut the sides for the tank area, then the sump area. Hopefully, I'll be able to sand and paint this afternoon.

 

[Hogie]

Well, its all built, and on the floor (omg, it is HEAVY). I sanded it down, and put primer on it (since im painting it and not staining it). It's in the shop right now setting up in primer for me to paint it tomorrow.

I went ahead and put one of the trash cans up and put a powerhead in it with a heater and created my first batch of SW.

Tomorrow should be a fun day for me.

 

[Hogie]

And today's progress is pretty much done. I have the doors (for the back side) made, but not hung yet. Everything is painted. For my first stand, it looks better than it should. I have several things I'd do different next time, but they will not stop me from moving it into place tomorrow after this 2nd coat of paint dries.

Here is a picture after the first coat of paint (primer was put on yesterday). And yes, it is an optical illusion that the cabinet is leaning to 1 side. Its the angle of the camera

I also had a close call with my sump tonight. I accidentally dropped a hammer in it from the top of the stand (I was doing a "will it fit in there" test from the front before painting it black). It didn't crack, and seems to hold water just fine. I have it sitting on the back porch full of water tonight to make sure it holds water.

I also got the plumbing for the Mag9.5(sump return) and the overflow to feed to the sump. Just 2 more rocks to scrub tonight, and the sand needs to be washed, but everything is coming together well.

 

[ccCapt]

Looking good. Progressing very nicely.

 

[Hogie]

Just got the stand moved into the front living room. Now to start building out the sump and move the big tank on top...

 

[Hogie]

Well, today was a long day, and I didn't get as much done as I wanted (I had a small accident with my thumb, which stopped some of the work).

I got 55lbs of BR scrubbed and washed. I also got the sand washed and in the tank. The sump has its baffles in and silicone applied, and my skimmer is put together.

I also transfered the SW Mix to the tank, as I was planning on getting more RO today before the stores closed. As I was building the closed loop system, to make sure I had everything I needed before I went into town, I
I ended up cutting (scraping?) off the tip of my thumb while doing some PVC plumbing. I wasn't even cutting pipe, but was just pushing together a threaded x slip coupling when my hand slipped and ended up causing some pain. I decided that this was enough for me today since it took a while to stop the bleeding and saltwater wasn't helping the issue

Tomorrow, the other 30lbs of BR and my RO/DI filter should be here. My thumb should also be healed enough that it wont bother me to stick it in sand/water, etc.

And here is a pic after the tank was moved onto the stand this morning.

 

[Alaris]

I like where you put the tank. I don't know where you relocated Mom to...

I got injured too when I was scrubbing my rock. I reached into one of my craft bags for a used toothbrush and sliced my finger open on some cut glass. >.< It was difficult and painful to then have to wash the sand.

 

[Hogie]

The rest of my BR just arrived at the house. I just remembered I need to pickup a TDS meter too for the new filter (which is finally on a UPS truck for delivery, yay!). 1 part for plumbing and that should get me cycling the tank in the next few days (need to get LR).

 

[Hogie]

Ive been running the RO/DI filter since about 4pm today. The TDS started at 22 and has come down to 0. So now I am capturing the water to go into the tank. I am also working on the other part of the closed loop and getting the last of the BR scrubbed.

 

[Hogie]

I didn't get to the closed loop at all tonight besides buying the part I needed for it on the way home.

I haven't even washed the rocks yet. Ive just been sitting here drinking some beer, reading the threads... I should be able to get the loop finished tomorrow and running (if I have enough water made).

 

[Hogie]

Well, Im back to building. Just got the of the BR in there, and have my new batch of SW mixing. Just took measurements for the Closed loop (I must have this finished today!) and going outside to saw some pipes.

 

[Hogie]

Ive spent the last 4 hours mainly working on the closed loop. Everytime I fix 1 problem, another shows up, and it doesn't really give the flow I wanted, so I am thinking of scrapping it. Any opinions on this since I dont want to mess with it anymore tonight?

 

[Ziggy953]

Can you give us an idea of what your design is...maybe some pics?