renaissance glorieuse; A reef chronicle

[PEMfish]

Originally Posted by Frankie

I am a big fan of the 75 gallon's foot print. I am sure what ever you go with Paul it's going to rock!

Thanks. I am having a hard time with this. Really am. Wish I knew what to do.
But I will...

[PEMfish]

This pics tells me yes;

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/...34df0f.jpg?v=0

I think I would except I always wanted my planted on real wood and the reef on black. That is my big hangup right now.
I could do an open top, that might make it work. But then the living room would be too bright...
unless I put 65g reef in the living room.

I feel like not matter what I do I won't like it. Like I have made such a mistake.

[PEMfish]

Ya know, I took another look at my 65 and the I have might be just perfect.

[PEMfish]

I am thinking of using the dual fuge as a sump and just doing the 31g DT. But I do like the idea of a higher water volume. ( even just 20g )
In a minute ( I like this song ) IO will head to the basemen and check out the ducts. I might be able to run plumbing down the register and out the duct and do the sump in the basement. I would be easily discouraged by cost.

Edit;
I could do it would be limited to 1.5" pipes. Doesn't sound like a bad idea right now. I would have about 10 pipes running to and from with the with current plumbing pattern so that would have to be rethought. It would be an extra $160 to do it in the basement.

[PEMfish]

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guys looket looket looket!

I moved all the LR and animals into the 29g.
I have a ~120GPH power head, 150w heater, AC50 without media, 20" dual PC, and small air pump running on it. Lets hope it all survives ( I tested the water before adding anything it it was good;
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
PH: 8.4
Ca, GH, KH were not tested as all the water is NSW )
Some LR was added slowly over the last few weeks.

[PEMfish]

I got to work taking down the reef. I have not done anything with it scene I transferred the animals out other than unplug it. Its real work I tells ya.

I drained it and found the worst smell, tops skimmer cup and any animal **** my job can through at me, I found this smell in the sand. Oh God is it a smell.

Taking the bulkheads off was a real task. The ones connecting the fuge were caked with crap so the whole way down the BH the nut was getting stuck, and the ones connected to plumbing had to be cut off.

With an aquarium water will eventually be everywhere. including under the tank. The paint dissolved and anchored the DT to the stand. I had to pound 6 shims under the tank with a 7lb hammer to break it lose. The cracking nose was really unsettling, but it was just the ply wood as some of it came with the paint that stuck to the tank.

[morbius18]

Have you decided on tank size yet? I like 36 inch better. You can still get the volume, the tank just gets deeper/taller. I'm a big fan of tanks that have a larger front to back size as it makes it easier to aquascape. The lighting is generally cheaper, at least compared to 48" fixtures.

[PEMfish]

Originally Posted by morbius18

Have you decided on tank size yet? I like 36 inch better. You can still get the volume, the tank just gets deeper/taller. I'm a big fan of tanks that have a larger front to back size as it makes it easier to aquascape. The lighting is generally cheaper, at least compared to 48" fixtures.

What? I already have the tank, have had it for about a year. Its 48x 11x 13.5"t and I love the 4ft. Would never go smaller. It looks good as it takes more of your field of vision and its nice swimming room. I built the lighting months ago, for the reef before I had plans to tear it down. Its 6x 54w T5 HO with tek 2 reflectors.
This build thread is about the rebuild of my system as there are alot of problems with it. I am glad you are here in this rebuild. Welcome aboard

You are very right in saying that that the wider the tank the better. Height is over rated.

[yungreefer2410]

are all those tanks in that pic yours? the fw ones look very nice

[morbius18]

Sorry, thought that you were just building the tank, I read rebuild, but my brain didn't add 2+2.

[PEMfish]

Originally Posted by morbius18

Sorry, thought that you were just building the tank, I read rebuild, but my brain didn't add 2+2.

No need to apologize.

Originally Posted by yungreefer2410

are all those tanks in that pic yours? the fw ones look very nice

Nope, thats an image from Google.

[PEMfish]

I am thinking of not using the dual fuge at all and just having the DT on display. I would have to turn the sump which would take up half the stand. The rest would be filled with the skimmer, ATO, and electrical panel. Storage ( rags, test kits, gloves, etc.... ) would have to be housed in another cabinet. I could build one to match the stand.
Doing this would keep the system -about 14"- flatter to the wall which is a huge plus. Plumbing would also be made alot easier.
There are 5 holes in the back of the DT. One in each upper corner and one in the upper back by each brace ( 3rds mark ). Actually, theres two on the left 3rds mark. The ones off to the sides would be made into a CL. I would build an overflow for the center most 3, would measure about 16" long, 3.5" high and 2 inches wide. Return would come up and over.
This doesn't sound too bad to me right now, what do y'all think?

[PEMfish]

Or I could run everything to the basement and have the hole stand for storage.

[PEMfish]

I am figuring the overhaul at around $750 now;
200 stand
140 little giant pump
50 CL pump
50 Lighting upgrades
100 stock tank
200 misc ( plumbing, errors, tax, etc.... )

[morbius18]

If I could do my plumbing in the basement I would. I live in an APT now, so that is out. You could have your own fish room, add extra volume to the system, deep sand beds in trash cans, frag tanks, experiment with algae scrubbers... You can tell what I'd like to do.