Carey's Final Reef Upgrade- 180g

[Grizz]

My power strips are mounted in a plastic shoe box that is mounted to the back wall of my stand The cover snaps on and protects them from any splashes or dust

[Gregcoyote]

Originally Posted by carey

Yep, Greg, the strips I blew were in fact the reefkeeper strips at $90 each. :-( I got all my plumbing parts so I am gonna try to start that tonight. woohoo!

Yikes, that's a bummer. Those are packed with electronics. Saltwater probably did quite a number on them. I like the plastic shoe box idea. Might keep moisture down as well. You need to be careful if you use the shoe boxes to have a weep hole at the bottom to drain any moisture that might accumulate.

[carey]

I thought the shoe box idea was pretty good too. So the bottom of the box is mounted on the wall and the cover goes on over it? What about the cords, do you cut little holes for them to go through? I will need most likely 3 strips and figure I can get 2 in one box if I go that route.

Have another question now too! I do not have a sock holder in the intake compartment, is there an easy way to add or make one other than buying the kits? I was thinking of using the mount from the 125g BUT it will only go over a single pane and wont get over the lip of the 40b. i was thinking maybe I could make a frame out of egg crate and some how glue it to the tank? Or is that a silly idea? lol Not sure what I can use to glue it to glass or if it would even stay.....

[Fishman007]

Originally Posted by carey

I thought the shoe box idea was pretty good too. So the bottom of the box is mounted on the wall and the cover goes on over it? What about the cords, do you cut little holes for them to go through? I will need most likely 3 strips and figure I can get 2 in one box if I go that route.

Have another question now too! I do not have a sock holder in the intake compartment, is there an easy way to add or make one other than buying the kits? I was thinking of using the mount from the 125g BUT it will only go over a single pane and wont get over the lip of the 40b. i was thinking maybe I could make a frame out of egg crate and some how glue it to the tank? Or is that a silly idea? lol Not sure what I can use to glue it to glass or if it would even stay.....

Most shoe boxes have holes cut in the sides at the top, or i guess you could do that do right?

[Grizz]

Yes i used a dremmel and routed slots for the cords to feed through Two strips will fit in one of the plastic shoe box's I mounted mine horizontal the bottom is aganst the back wall with a slot in each end. I found the boxes at home depot for $1 ea. They were labeled storage boxes.

[carey]

Thanks for the clarification. I will see what kind of space I have to mount them, there isnt much in the way of a "back" on the stand though. maybe a cross beam support would work?

[Grizz]

That or you could add a couple strips of wood to mount them on. I used velcro tape to mount the strips to the bottom of the box this way they dont rest on the side It gives things a nice clean look

[huma-huma]

why not have a piece of glass cut to sit ontop of the sump, then simply have it hole drilled to size for the socks?

[carey]

Bah! Tried to water test the overflows and both sides leaked like everywhere. :-(
I'm trying to tighten the nuts underneath but am afraid I will break them if I go too tight.
Was really hoping to get water in the tank tomorrow but now this. I hate setbacks......
On top of that I came home from my first board of directors meeting for my reef club ( i was nominated secretary and treasurer woot) I found my chalk bass dried up on the floor. He was such a cool little guy too, I will miss him without a doubt. I'm guessing the hawkfish or royal gramma picked on him and out he went. This has made me want to sell the 29g biocube and the 60g rimless when I sell off the 125g. My combination of fish apparently was not good. I'm thinking of moving most of the fish out into the 180g that I'm working on and maybe getting a medium sized tank for the clown gobies and mandarin cause I dont want them in the huge new tank.
Just a bummer of a day fishwise I guess......I always get a little down when a fish doesnt make it, specially if its my own fault.

[skywhitney]

Originally Posted by carey

Have another question now too! I do not have a sock holder in the intake compartment, is there an easy way to add or make one other than buying the kits? I was thinking of using the mount from the 125g BUT it will only go over a single pane and wont get over the lip of the 40b. i was thinking maybe I could make a frame out of egg crate and some how glue it to the tank? Or is that a silly idea? lol Not sure what I can use to glue it to glass or if it would even stay.....

I made a sock holder out of acrylic pieces and glued it into my sump. I don't see why the same wouldn't work for you. I'm sure a nice thick coat of silicone should hold fine. You can also look at possibly making a couple leg braces to hold the front up if stability is a concern.

[carey]

That looks pretty nice! I have a mount like that but it wont fot over the lip of the tank unfortunately. I'll get a picture up tomorrow to show you guys exactly what I've got. The first glass dividing wall is much lower than the rim of the tank, I was hoping I could just make something that would be sturdy enough to hold a full sock of water and not have it rest on 3 sides, but 2 sides, the back and the left tank rims.

[TheTodd]

Seems like leaky plumbing was the theme yesterday. I had the same happen testing my 240g, but they were super tint leaks. Took minutes to make a drip, but I can't have that, so lost a day regluing.

Skywhitney...that is a really nice sock holder for homemade!

[Hobgob]

Like eheim jagers heaters nice find

[carey]

So I got past the leaking by re-doing all the pipes in the overflow. They are now water tight.

Also did all the plumbing, used clear tubing for now, its simple but functional. I hope to clean it up a bit but for starters its gonna be fine. I also am using the crappy BRS sock holder I had for now, it was the best I can do. lol Ran a bunch of water into the overflows and filled the sump and then tested the return plumbing and pump, all went well. Still no leaks. woohoo! Also went out in search of pool filter sand and it ook 4 different stores but home depot finally had it so I got 200lbs of that.
The tank is moved into place now and I will begin filling it with ro.di water directly from the unit since its only about 3 feet away from the tank.
While the tank fills I am going to install 4 power strips, I figure that should be enough, thats a total of 28 outlets! If I go with the led's though it will take up two separate strips with a total of 6 cords. That will leave me 2 strips of 7 plugs to work with.
Also had an issue with the koralias- the magnets wont hold them through the glass, its too thick! Any idea guys on what I can do other than getting new powerheads? I was going to run the wp40, 2 1400's and a 750 until I can get a second wp40. Would hydor magnums hold through thick glass does anyone know?
ANd finally I have to yank the skimmer out of the 125g and the 10g reservoir and put them in their places.
Yes, another long post by me, sorry

here are the pictures I love to share lol

[Fishman007]

Originally Posted by carey

So I got past the leaking by re-doing all the pipes in the overflow. They are now water tight.

Also did all the plumbing, used clear tubing for now, its simple but functional. I hope to clean it up a bit but for starters its gonna be fine. I also am using the crappy BRS sock holder I had for now, it was the best I can do. lol Ran a bunch of water into the overflows and filled the sump and then tested the return plumbing and pump, all went well. Still no leaks. woohoo! Also went out in search of pool filter sand and it ook 4 different stores but home depot finally had it so I got 200lbs of that.
The tank is moved into place now and I will begin filling it with ro.di water directly from the unit since its only about 3 feet away from the tank.
While the tank fills I am going to install 4 power strips, I figure that should be enough, thats a total of 28 outlets! If I go with the led's though it will take up two separate strips with a total of 6 cords. That will leave me 2 strips of 7 plugs to work with.
Also had an issue with the koralias- the magnets wont hold them through the glass, its too thick! Any idea guys on what I can do other than getting new powerheads? I was going to run the wp40, 2 1400's and a 750 until I can get a second wp40. Would hydor magnums hold through thick glass does anyone know?
ANd finally I have to yank the skimmer out of the 125g and the 10g reservoir and put them in their places.
Yes, another long post by me, sorry

here are the pictures I love to share lol

Man thats a monster! Have never seen a whole tank shot of one

[Gregcoyote]

Love the movie posters.

[Scooterdragon]

I wish I had two tanks that size in my living room

[carey]

LOL, you wont want them when its water change time! lol

I got the sand in and filled the tank and rinsed the sand and then drained it. Its actually not very dirty, the sand that is. I now have my ro/di hooked up to the tank and am filling it for real now.

If I can get enough water in tonight I want to move the rock from the garbage cans over, I figure since they have some die off that will be a good cycle starter, if I get any cycle at all. I need to test the garbage cans water later and see if the miniscule amount of ammonia I got the other day has increased or dropped back down. With the amount of rock I tend to think it will have cycled itself out already.

I have movie posters, all signed by the cast all around my living room. lol I had to take down the pulp fiction one that was over the 125g, it was getting salt creep on it, surprise surprise lol. Still have to take down the naruto poster, I got 2 of the others moved already.

I'll let you guys know how the tests turn out, and update the fill process.

Thanks gang!

[Gregcoyote]

I've got some signed posters too. Tank is looking good.

[carey]

Thanks Greg

It actually filling up quicker than I had hoped! woot! Its; still only like 6g an hour but boy am I glad I have the double membrane on the ro/di unit. As is it should take about 2 days to fill lol.
I put in only 200lbs of sand so I have about a 2 inch sandbed which is exactly what I wanted this time around.
Anyone have any input about the powerheads not staying up even with the magnets?