i get my salt IO 160 bucket from petsmart for 49.00 and when on sale i buy two 39.00 a pail. just have towatch for the sale they really dont advertise it.

JHC I love Jersey! trading two hours tattoo time for a MRC3 skimmer with pump...assuming I can fit it under the stand.....*fingers crossed*

Where do you keep finding all of these people to trade with?!?? Is this whole entire forum tattooed like crazy also?

ha ha there's quite a few of them! Alot of them remember Ernie's old shop that burned down last year....lots of them have been clients of his for 20+years....so they're eager to help....dear god I hope there's enough clearance under the stand....mind you...I could always plumb it externally and have it sitting beside the tank...and build a fancy little fake wall thing around it.....oh sweet jesus.

so no go on the skimmer, which kinda sucks but is alright...the one I've got on there for now will suffice until I can bring the Vertex Skimmer down with me the next time I come back (how sad is that...)

Yesterday was a busy day for tattooing, so not much got done on the tank but I did cut the egg crate for the top as well as a fishguard for the overflow...threw some extra silicone on all the bulkheads because now I'm paranoid...ordered the remaining 60 gallons of RO water from Home Depot and should have it in the tank tomorrow or the next day....Order from Marco rocks should get here Tuesday or Wednesday...now just have to order the lights (do that online later tonight)...I think for now I'll just go 4 bulbs...eff it. If I decide in the long run to upgrade I'll just put pennies away for a tek or something. I like how this has become MY tank even though it's in the shop...

Today I fill the heffer with water. My back and shoulders hate me already.

Wow this has been the quickest "slow" build ever! Coming along nicely I might add :-)

ha ha thanks BUUUUUT
I've never had so many freaking problems with plumbing in the early stages of a tank as I have with this one. Got the tank filled to the bulkheads for the closed loop (approx 30 gallons)...no leaks in the bulkeads, but leaks in some plumbing going down towards the return pump...great...so now I have to let them drip out (closed off the ball valves, so no extra water will get into the lines...but have to wait) I could have SWORN I glued everything. But I really can't risk this thing springing a leak when nobody is at the shop...solution? Silicone ever g'darned piece of plumbing...I hope I can get it all done and set before rockwork gets here. FML

Seriously Randi ... have you even READ through my 280g journal? Everything being relative your tank is going up like a dream. Change the title to this already would you! SOME of us with less fortune are starting to feel bad about their own bad luck, problem riddled builds. I'm not naming names to protect their identities and I'm telling you I'm not crying IT'S JUST SOMETHING IN MY EYE!!!! :cry:


(:p)

there. Changed just for you. I HATE PLUMBING

might have a deal on 2 Vortech MP20s instead of the 3 Koralia 3s....hmmmmm. Side not...aparently my siliconing skills leave much to be desired...I missed a spot..one stupid little spot...and THAT'S where the one drip left in this system is. JHC.

Sometimes you can fix a drip by putting PVC primer and cement over the spot. Of course you'll probably want the line to be dry though and then wait a day for it to gas off before water again.. can you put PVC plugs into the bulkheads so that you can drain the lines without draining the tank? That's probably what I'd do.

Good luck!

Nice deal on the Vortechs. Maybe I need to learn tattooing so I can have something I can barter with. When I encounter someone who has something I'd like and willing to trade I'll offer up stuff like "Well, I can surely program your Modbus protocol driver six ways from Sunday!" and then they all look at me funny and the conversation usually ends.

the lines are closed with the ball valves, so not too worried about it...just waiting for it to stop dripping and dry out then another glorious glob of silicone should do it. Thank GOD no body looks at the back of a tank.

:lol: "Glorious gob of silicone." There's a phrase I bet peeps not in the hobby would truly understand.

While the answer is still 'no' I've been impressed (and half flattered) with your bartering skillaz in the past Tony.

Forgive me if I missed you mentioning it earlier, but what became of that initial MP10? :)

that will go in a nano tank that will eventually be in our bedroom....multiple tank syndrome...

got an email yesterday saying Rock should be here tomorrow *fingers crossed* Put a couple more gallons in the tank and now I'll just wait till the rocks and sand are in before I fill it the rest of the way. Ordered lights too! The guy I was going to get two vortech MP20s off of ran out (anniversary sale at an LFS here) so he gave me a screaming deal on a MP40....wooooopah!

one drip ends, another friggen begins. Figures the one spot I didn't hit with the silicone from the return in the overflow down into the sump would be it....damnit. Soooooo let the overflow drip out into the sump, silicone that before close tonight and let that dry...Saturday should be able to run everything.

But on a positive note, the rocks and sand showed up today and the tank is currently all cloudy and disgusting! Ended up going with probably 60lbs in the display tank and about 5 and change in the sump. Beautiful dry rock...full of lots of nooks and crannies and ledges etc....got a nice open scape going on too, complete with mini valley and overhang ha ha....

dear lord I hope things start going together easier.

Hang in there, champ. :p At least there rocks in the tank, that's not a bad place to be. :) Can't wait to see pics.

Words, words, words................ We need PICS!

it's hard to really get a sense of the little cove and all the crevaces etc...but this is where we're at:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2433.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2434.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2435.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2436.jpg

Lots-o-potential. :) So Saturday is the big day then. Well, at least there will be some settling time in the meanwhile. I can see why you're frustrated. I can't imagine a build where things have gone so horribly wrong. Oh wait, wait, are we talking about THIS build? In that case .. um, yeah, never mind.

Anyhow, yeah, in all seriousness ... looks good from here!

Where are the rocks sitting, off to one side? Any plans for the other side?

MOAR OICS!! :lol:

took the scape that you see there and elongated it a bit...so theres a nice little valley and two islands....there is no piece of rock within 2 inches of the glass though so it'll be easy to clean with a magnet.

Everyone here is so anxious to get fish in there...I have to keep telling them "dont touch the effing tank unless I okay it" ha ha

Lookin nice. That appears to be the mined-from-the-ground rock that's being sold all over now? Or is it actually dry rock as in fiji or whatever?

I like it! Lots of little hidey holes for critters.

thanks Lance...I was actually really surprised how porous it is...TONS of small holes and swim throughs etc...and for 65lbs there was a crap load of nice sized rocks next to no rubble.

Brett it's all Key Largo dried rock...going to grab a cup or so of live sand from a LFS in the area and away we go!

so yeah, no big deal...the pumps are running. A customer here who is a plumber said if more gph were going through the pipe than dripping the leak would get "sucked in" enough to stop the drip and I could glue it while the tank was running. Totally worked.

Lights should be here in a couple days!

Interesting. I would have thought that because the water was being lifted that it wouldn't so much suck in, as push out. Unless it was on the suction side of the pump?

Well whatever the explanation that's awesome that it did the trick.

Huh! Learn something new everyday. Have to remember that.

I was a little nervous about it too...but the guy swore by it...so we tried it and it did! gotta be on an OUTGOING pump though...not a drain pump. Don't ask me why, cause I don't have the slightest clue...

having said that. The tank is still cloudy as all hell and I have to wait to get some filter socks....so got a couple of those nylon bags and filled em full of polyfiber. Slowly getting there. Got the tank up to a nice 80* and sg is 1.025 on the button....so got the current skimmer running which should help as well...

still a little cloudy...but you get the idea:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2440.jpg

Top down of the right hand side of the tank, trying to show the little cove:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2441.jpg

Top down of the left hand side of the tank
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...3/IMG_2442.jpg

fired up the closed loop, works like a dream. With the two pumps and the small heater I'm maintaining a steady 80* reading. SG is 1.025...forgot to bring in some raw scallop yesterday and today is a day off, so tomorrow we'll start the cycle. Scallop and a cup or so of sand from an established tank should do the trick.

Also ordered two TLF reactors, going to run one with carbon and one with Rowa-phos or something similar. Question...should a maxijet 1200 be enough flow to daisy chain the two reactors together??? Rowaphos in the first one, carbon in the other? or should I look at two separate pumps....

This low budget tank is officially breaking me.

I used to daisy chain the two together with a MJ1200 and it worked just fine.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1250486267

sweet....carbon in the second chamber then? Assuming it would need less flow and more contact time to really polish the water?

I don't remember why but I had GFO I'm the second chamber actually. I think someone recommended that to me back then. I don't run GFO anymore but I thought they both more or less needed equally slowish flow?

well I guess I can try em one way...if I don't like the results I can switch em ha ha...Thanks!

ha ha water WAS crystal clear until I decided to take out some polyfibre....now cloudy again...for a little bit anyways.

Tank was up near 82 degrees this morning when I got into the shop, so lowerd the heater (it's only a 50 watt for crying out loud)...and threw in a hunk of fresh scallop. It was hella hard remembering to save one last night and not cook it....we got fresh scallops and I wanted em all!