Only thing left to do is cap the drain, and fix the water level in the tank, however, the mini cycle has begun, I will be adding about 5g from our existing tank every other day for the week, and hope everythings ready for the weekend! I had a minor drip from the one bulkhead, but thats fixed now and I have to say the shimmer from this light is nuts on our ceiling. As you can see after some consideration we decided to go with black tahitan moon sand and it looks beautiful! the skimmer has been running 2 days and is already producing skimmate so everything is on track! I just have to make a small plexy glass lid to go over the sump where the overflow drains to keep the salt spray to a minimum, but a temporary rubbermaid lid cut to fit will work. water it a bit cloudy cause I just put the sand in a few hours ago, but you get the idea so far so good!

edit, also excuse the quality, cameras dead so the cell phone fit the bill
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/...a/DSCN2591.jpg

also still have to pull the AI wire through the arm. just got lazy today.

Once you put the cap on the Durso and drill a small breather hole your water level will raise.

right on. :biggrin:
Im glad this things finally wet, and not dripping lol

Can't wait to see it once it's cleared

Congrats, looks great!

Thnks guys hopefully this weekend I can get it a little more set up and photo ready lol.

its the non photo ready pictures that reminds some of us what we have to look forward to and the work ahead .. its all good dude.. looking good take your time enjoy the rewards in the end

Params are stable,
nitrates and trites both 0
ammonia 0
phos 0
ca 400
alk 9dkh
Salinity 1.0245
temp 77 currently trying to get it up to 78-79
not much has changed at this point, I cleaned my skimmer cup today and am amazed at what I pulled out of the water thus far. can't believe I didnt have one before. I am still waiting for the water to get a bit more polished, but I may have to add a sock for that. all my LR is in the sump, and I have made a cage for Chaeto to sit in once I get some. not seeing any pod growth yet, but it will happen lol. here is a pic of the tank today. and the water is a bit more clear. apparently there was a cleaner shrimp in the LR I bought cause this morning there was a rotted carcass in the tank lol. did a quick water change to get the ammonia back to 0
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/...a/DSCN2595.jpg

So...when are you transferring everything over??

Well hopefully this weekend I can make time for it! I have to add to my CUC for sure. I'm itching to do it though lol

That does look clearer
Are you still working on adjusting the overflow height?
I ask because I haven't decided how I'll build my Herbie

Not the overflow height no. The drain pipe is a durso standpipe it just needs a cap to slow the drain. I will do that this weekend too if I can find a cap. Greg(grizz) turned me to the durso, its really quiet. I would look into one if its an option for you. Really easy to build even I pulled it off :lol:

Hebries are a lot simpler then a Durso, main drain is 1/3 of the height of the later level with a gate valve & emergency drain is usually just above the water level.

Got a couple new ric's from Steve this weekend I'll try to post some eye candy pics tomorrow before the move.

Thanks Greg. That's about what I figured too but until I get some water in it keeps eating at me how it'll end up :smile:

Ummmm.... New ric's!! Nice.

If you use slip bulk heads glue the pieces coming out the bottom but not the top one, this way you can play with the length of them until you get it just right.

Thanks. I actually bought double threaded for full removeability/adjustability

Heres a Ricordea Shot, before the move, the rest of the pics will come tomorrow or sunday
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/...marina/ric.jpg

Holee macro, good job
They look nice

and lets not forget flood proof:wink:




saweeeeeeet rics mang......me love rics:biggrin:

Thanks guys. thats about as good as my macros get so far. LOL

yes they are but never had my Durso's plug up on my 165 gal.

NICE RIC'S Ken, I'm jealous :mrgreen:

Don't worry I'll hook you up once they split bud.

So today there was a trace of ammonia in the tank, so I am seeing a slight
cycle. damn. well in the mean time, I am working on my photography skills, I
finally am figuring out a setting for actinic shots! its about time. usually I would just end up with a blue picture, but I am starting to understand the relationship
between Iso and white balance for certain type of shots. not the clearest shots but the color is great IMO
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/...a/DSCN2643.jpghttp://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/...a/DSCN2644.jpg

Awesome pics. I hope to do some macros after my tank is up and running.
As far as you parameters are concerned ...
Kenny, you have put a lot into this, and the previous tank ... don't be surprised when you see 'any' readings.
Nevermind what they are, you are going to see readings. Your tank is new. You're gonna get spikes.
Please, PLEASE, do not put any more critters into your tank right now.
I know it's exciting to add new dudes, but you must have seen at least one crash scenario on this site to know you have to take it slow :mrgreen:

Yea I'm gonna hold off on the cuc for now and do it right LOL

Lol and btw I didn't put anything in yet those pics are of my nano. I don't want to lose anything at this point if feel like I'm finally starting to get on track and want to keep it as suhc. Patience is going to havr to be my virtue for a bit

levels are still stable, everything is 0
ph 8.2 stable, salinity still 1.0245
Today I put in 2 hermits, 2 snails. we'll see what happens, On monday I put in 15 gallons of matured tank water from my nano that I had collected, hermits are busy cleaning atm, as well as snails, there isnt really anything to clean though so I may have to feed them a piece of mysis. should I put snails in my sump too? or will it be ok to not have any in there?

DUDE!! Those pics look great, need to figure out how my camera works better to take pics with just my blues on.

You don't need snails in your sump, if you get your refuge going with some cheto you should have pods & bristle stars in no time.

k cool thanks, I am going to use my aquaclear 70 as a chaeto fuge and hang it where the drain comes in with some rubble in it as well

Sounds like a perfect little refuge set up for your tank.

cool! will a 13w CFL be enough for the chaeto? I have a small light that I used on an old planted nano I figured it might do the trick

Ya I can't wait to see how u place the rest of ur corals... I know it may be a bit but still excited to see... Ur pics look awesome and those rics look killer

Thanks bud, I'm going to be in the market for some Montipora and some other sps and the zoo's and rics will sit in the sand or on a small rock in the front corner

I think so, not a cheto expert though.

I'm thinking it'll be ok, like I said it grew plants no problem. I have a friend in town who has some small chromis for me too, so I will have my tank stocked with my clowns blenny, cardinal and some chromis, its going to be pretty full! lucky I left the tank so open.

That's sweet they look tempting but I'm going to try and just do Lps myself cause I'm still kinda learning but eventually

I'm still learning too, but I really love the look of orange montipora creating like and umbrella in the tank, I cant wait! if all goes well, I will move in a few fish this weekend, and maybe some coral, and then next weekend, the rest

I think you'll be OK with it - Just make sure you get a high Kelvin rating.
I got these pics from Melev's reef.
These are 16w/75watt replacement before and after 2 weeks
http://melevsreef.com/pics/1104/test.jpg
http://melevsreef.com/pics/1104/test_done.jpg

I decided to use these 26 watters http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
http://www.imshopping.com/showImageB...l&key=1FennVNR
With one of these http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
http://mcfineartphoto.com/art3D.22.jpg

But as you can see from Melev's pic, you don't need the reflector if you get the Flood flourescent. I prefer it as it has the clamp.