less talk and more pictures Dez you know the drill you have been on here long enough let get at her.:lol::lol::lol:

Mike, too busy with work, the tank is getting neglected. But so far 4 days full of water with no leaks :). Once my wavy sea attachment comes I will finalize the plumbing then drain the tank and someday hook up my RO unit and get sand etc..... I'll post more pics when there's more progess. You could always come down and help!!!!

oh Dez I would love to come help ,sxince the last time that i saw you was 03 pretty bad.... eh from the reef party

Okay, more pictures and progress (Pictures are for you Mike). I got the missing parts from my Wavy Sea from J&L today. So I installed it right away. Here's a picture -
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246682865

And one of the controller
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246682912

Mike said that when the power goes off, it resets to spin at 360 degrees. They have fixed the bug. I pulled the plug on the unit to simulate a power outage, and when power comes back on, it just stops where it left off. If you have it set to sweep in between 2 different points, it will never spin beyond that in a power failure and when power comes back on. I'm quite impressed with the unit - it is dead silent. I also tested it at 360 degrees just in case and I don't have water shooting out of the tank because the nozzle is low enough in the water. In a power failer, my sump level will only rise 2" as I have a 100 gallon sump so I'm safe there.

Full tank shot
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246683222

Tonight I also found some time to put my fish guard in on my overflow. I also took the time to raise my overflow level. Since I have the IKEA frame, I had no control over the frame size, so I actually see about 1/8 - 1/4" water line at the top depending how much I'm cranking my return pump. I have a pet peeve of seeing a water line, so the solution is to raise my water level (I have 1 1/2" to play with so I raised the overflow by 1/4") I cut a 1/2" strip of glass and siliconed it to the overflow. I also siliconed my eggcrate in while I was at it. Here's a picture.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246683415

And one from the other side.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246683450

I also hooked up my RO/DI unit yesterday. I've had this unit for almost 5 years sealed in package. I ordered it before I moved thinking I was going to set up my tank right away, but 5 years later I open it ;).

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246683549

It's on the floor for now because I'm not sure I'm going to keep it there and I still have to paint the other half of the sump room. It drains into my house sump pump reservoir for now. I think I'll put the unit in my furnace room long term because there is a floor drain there so that the sump pump on the house isn't constantly going. I already have a line going from the furnace room to the fish room anyway (I put it in while developing the basement a few years ago. Thanks for reading.

New RO/DI?
 

Dez,
Remember if that RO/DI has never been used before to flush it a good while before using the water.
Bob

Thanks Bob, I almost forgot, I read that while trying to figure out the schematics of it last night....I was just testing for leaks while hooking it up.. How long should I run it before using it for the aquarium? Appreciate the help! (Thanks for the sump BTW, as you can see, it fits perfectly hey?)

I would flush at least a gallon or two, it should say in your manual(if of course you still have it). I should thank you, I just revamped my sump and its real good now, took me most of a weekend, if i would have gone to the smaller one I don't think i would have had enough room for what i wanted. I will send you a couple of pics in a bit.
Bob

Believe it or not Bob, once I opened my RO/DI unit, (it has been sealed for 5 years) I was looking for the manual in the box, but instead there is a slip of paper that says "your instruction manual has been e-mailed to you..." Argh, the problem is, I went in on a bulk group order of these units with Canreef folks 5 years ago. So I had to search online for a while just to find the plumbing schematics. At least I figured it out.

So is Wavysea still in business? I was reading on the other forum maybe a year ago that the maker was basically MIA and wasn't answering the phone anymore etc.

I was dead-set on using a pair of them until I read this. Please keep us posted on your experience with it. My eurobrace holes were driled with these units in min and if what you say is true about improvements being made then perhaps Wavysea is alive and well now.

Still can't get over your dremelled glass bracing. You're a DAREDEVIL.

I have no idea if they are still in business. The website doesn't work, but a couple of months ago it worked. J&L has it on a good sale so I though I'd try it. Mike said that it worked well except the bug of it going 360 if the power went out, but I was willing to fiddle with it. But when power goes out it just stops, and when it kicks back on it stays stopped, so that's fine by me.

It was tough finding reviews online because there weren't that many out there. The few reviews I found were mostly positive and people that were amazed. I am super happy with it. Very easy to set. I love the controllable speed etc. It is DEAD silent! I was going to go with a Sea swirl but the guy I was going to buy one from used decided not to sell. As you can see, I'm trying to get as much random flow in this tank as possible. So I'm happy for now and I couldn't resist when I saw the sale J&L had.

The OM 4way, combined with the external Wavebox and the WavySea is awesome.

Regarding the glass bracing - I'll have to correct you. It was a GRINDER that I used :). I think that deserves more of a daredevil title. Overall, cutting that glass brace out after the 4 holes were drilled took only about 10 minutes. It was fast.

So I hope this helps with your wavysea decision.

did you do like I did after you cut the bracing out.. slowly fill the tank and check the long sides with a strat edge to see how much it bowed.. :mrgreen:

I was pretty nervous at first but I figured I could live with a 1/64th of an in overall deflection in the tank.

Steve

Actually Steve, the funny thing is I cut out the glass brace so long ago that I didn't even think about it when I was filling the tank. I was quite confident that the glass brace would be fine though. I will however be careful of heat from lights. I don't think that there is any deflection at all, so I'm good to go for now.

so you are saying that the wavy sea doesn't spin around after the power went out or they got unplugged , may be mine was a defective one maybe... well that is great for you

Thanks to this thread, I had the guts to take the grinder to my sump to mod it a bit. You're right, it did go really fast and I couldn't believe how easy it was. Thanks again for the idea.:biggrin:

Yup, once unplugged, it just stops where it is. When plugged back in, it doesn't move at all. Just stays where it is.

I'm glad, the first time I tried I was a little nervous. I was grinding out my external overflow slot and that piece of glass is pretty important I'd say. With the brace, if it broke, then I would just have to eurobrace. But I got the best of both worlds I'd say.

hey Dez, what kinda grinder did you use?

Steve

Hey Steve,

I believe it was a 4" Dewalt Grinder, might have been 4 1/2". I used the thinnest diamond blade that I could find at Home Depot, the blade itself was about $10 I think. Well worth it.

I found a solution to hang my light today. I used a chest lid hinge. So I can move the light forward and back and side to side a few inches. Fairly simple and only $4 each. It's a PFO pendant for 250 watt DE bulb. I've had this light for 5 years in storage.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246943132

A view of the light from farther back:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246943294

And a bad cell phone picture of one light in the middle lit up. The middle light is only $150 watt. Really it's only to take care of the lower intensity light in the middle from the light spread.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1246943336

I almost bought that mirror a few years ago. I recall it being at least $200. I know exactly how good that frame must look. I dig!

Got it for $107 :). I dig too! I don't think I could have done a better job it I did the woodwork myself.

This isn't really a tank update, but near the beginning of this tank build I mentioned that my wife said that I have to pick between the tank and another mini (car), so I picked the tank. A few months later and voila - I have both. I love my wife :)

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247077211

And my 2 cars together -

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247077349

Enjoy.

I see that the new mini has coloured up nicely. What sort of lighting are you using for it? Any additives?

K.

Ha ha, actually I'm still acclimating the new mini. We'll have to see how she turns out after the mechanical inspection for insurance.

Well, a little bit more progress today. I went to a friend's place and picked up some sand that was in his tank for over 10 years. He had about a 5" sand bed and he was redoing his tank because all of his sps corals had grown to the surface so he had to harvest out the skeleton base of the rock and lower all the sps to halfway down his tank again. He decided to cut the sand bed in half to about 2-3" because deep sand beds are sort of a thing of the past. So I got all his old sand. It's been sitting spread out a bit in his back yard for a couple of weeks already. I took it home and my whole family helped me wash it out. I quad rinsed it a bit at a time with the water that was in my tank. I am done my water testing so I watered my lawn/garden/filled my rainbarrel, watered house plants and rinsed the sand with my leak/system tank water (I drained it because I am using RO/DI water).

Here are a couple of pics of the washing. You can see in the pictures how dirty the water is.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247119232

While we were doing this, my son out of the blue says "Man, this is dirty business". We thought it was hilarious.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247119258

I also got the hardware and mounted my other 2 lights.

View from cabinet side:
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247119287

View from picture frame side:
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247119355

With only the middle 150watt on (I still have to wire the 250 watt pendants to the ballast):
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247119397

And finally a view from OUTSIDE my house. I have a 5' x 6' window at my front porch of my house. So it'll be quite a view from the street.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247119511

Thanks for looking.

Looks great Dez I'm going to have to come visit you. When I pop up there

Looking good...did you have all three lights on in the picture from outside?

No, I only have the 150Watt on. I still have to wire the 250's to the ballasts sometime. Pretty bright hey? I'm quite excited as I live on a corner lot so I'll be able to see the tank everyday as I drive in from the street.

"Dirty business" that is truly the best way to describe salt tanks.........kids really figure it
out before we do, hehe! My daughter prefers to leave when I tear tanks apart, huh !!!!
Your kids are adorable. Can't wait for water though

Thanks Leah,

Water is filling as we speak. It'll probably take 4 - 5 days (using RO/DI) to fill. Then I have to salt it and heat it. It's coming along quicker than I expected though. I might wire the other 2 lights to the ballast today and maybe put the pond liner under the tank....ahhhhhhh, so much to do.

Today I got some more done on the tank. I lined the bottom of the tank with pond liner. This way I'll be able to hold about 16 gallons of water under my stand in case of spills. I went to a local pond place and asked for a 7' x 3' chunk of pond liner and he just gave me a scrap piece he had. I though nothing was free anymore.

Here is the chunk before I cut it up
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247203060

Here is the final product
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247203283

I also put my washed sand in the tank
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247203327

I plugged the holes of my closed loop so that I don't get sand in the OM 4 way. Right before I turn it on then I'll remove the plugs.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247203359

I also wired my other lights tonight and boy is it bright with all 3 lights on. I picked up another PFO pendant with ice cap ballast from Saltynuts tonight which worked out perfect because I only had one ice cap ballast. So now I have a matching pair. I'm debating whether to switch the middle pendant to 250w. I'll wait and see for now. I mounted the ballast up in case of spills.

Right side
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247203424

Left side with the 150 watt ballast as well.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247203572

I actually didn't have quite enough sand, so when Saltynuts came, he brought me some sand. I used a quarter pail more to top it off to the level I was satisfied with. Funny thing is the sand that Ed brought over was from my 180 gallon tank that I had running 5-6 years ago. I had sold the setup to a fellow canreefer, and it then went to someone in Spruce Grove, and then went to someone else and Saltynuts ended up with the sand from it recently, and now I have it again. I guess the saying "What goes around comes around" is really true.

I also started filling my sump this morning at 7am. Now it's 11:30 pm and the tank is only 1/4 full - this is only the sump. It's going to be a long wait to fill the tank. Thanks for following.

Clean work with that scrap. A few questions for ya:

1) what's with the flexible white ducting near your return pump
2) where on earth did you get that strip of plugs? Looks like the power poles you sometimes see in office spaces.
3) are you worried about moisture with the plugs on the floor and facing up?

Must feel nice to post updates so darn often. Onward! Oh and those sink plugs were totally the dezTouch©

Ya,. I'm wondering about the plugs too. Water will get in them. Not good.

Also, GREAT idea on the stoppers for the OM-4 returns. I was extremely carefull not to get sand in my loop. Then, when tank was full, and I went to fire the loop up, Soon as I opened the shutoff's. Each outlet gulped its air out and took in a big breath of water and SAND. Had to take it apart and clean. I suggest fill the inlet first, turn OM-4 on, and start pump. then open the outlet shutoff's and use the pump to purge the sand out. The pump should push the plug out too :D

Hey Brett,
1) That flexible white ducting goes from my basement. It will be run all the way to my canopy to pull/push air through the canopy. The idea behind this is to keep the fan noise in the basement. I copied this idea from mark. It works great for him.
2) That strip of plugs is from Princess auto. Bought it for $3. It's great. I'm going to use my wife's label maker to label everything when all said and done.
3) I was toying with the plug facing up thing for a while. It is sitting 3 1/2" up. There is 3/4" plywood/foam right above it. It I have a leak, it's going to trip the GFCI anyway. If I have spills, it's going to be down the face of the tank and no where near the plugs. I am actually not going to be under the tank all that much, but in the basement sump room where all the equipment is going to be. Thinking about all of my old tanks, I had several power bars hooked up together sitting behind the tank facing up without being plugged into a GFCI outlet.... Never got wet ever. So after going through all of these options in my head, I settled on that location. I tried it upside down on the underside of the stand, didn't work well, in the front upside down, it impeded access to my flow valve. I thought this way everything is labelled in case my wife kids have to unplug something in an emergency where I'm not home, it'll be right there and labelled.

PS. My wife thought my sink stoppers were dumb. I told here they were $1 each, and she said that's a waste of $4. You should have just used seran wrap and a rubberband. I'm glad that you like the stoppers. I was pretty proud of myself when I thought it up.

Thanks for the comments.

Hey Dan,

The whole loop is full of water now from my full water test run, so I think it should be pretty good. I plan on loosening the stoppers, then turning the pump on and letting the stoppers fly. It'll be like mini-fireworks to kick off the debut of the tank.

:)

If she was upset about the $ 4.00's for the plugs, I say you had better learn to hide receipts:lie:

Haha true dat.

My wife handles all the money. It's a wonder I'm even alive anymore!

Fan in the basement. Hmmm. You know there's just a LITTLE room left in my cold air return hole...Wonder if like a reverse spraybar along the back of my tank (which is open top) sucking humid air would be worth it. It's have to blend pretty darn well tho.

It's interesting the crazy ideas you get from canreef isn't it? I'm looking forward to the final product.

Leah, My wife wasn't "concerned" about the $4, just thought I could get the same results with seran wrap and rubber bands. If she was concerned about the $4, she wouldn't let my have my toy cars.

I have a good excuse with the fish tanks because my wife was the one originally who got us into the hobby.

Not too much to update except that I'm getting fairly impatient. I hooked up my ph controller that I had from 5 - 6 years ago and calibrated it tonight. What is the standard ph of RO/DI water? Is it under 7? I thought it'd be right around 7. I have been filling the tank for 2 and a half days now and the tank is about 2/3 full and there is about 4" of water in my 100 gallon sump.

Can't wait. I still have to figure out what I'm going to do for heaters after it's full.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...g?t=1247372919

there is no standare for RO water as thee is no buffer in it to maintain PH. usaly it is a little acitic. to calabrate you have to use a solution that is buffered to a specific PH RO water will just screw ya up.

Steve