Thank you very much - we are very pleased with how it is looking. Again - thanks to Subman for the inspiration - he has also done a great job.

Thanks George and Jason!!!!!....... thanks to you guys, I look at my electrical and I want to puke:puke:

Oh . . . well . . . uh . . . sorry about that!:lol:

Almost ready to go!!
 

:biggrin: We have been doing regular water changes and testing the water since we got the SW in the tank. We have been using Salifert test kits. As of last night the levels have been stable for three days at the following:
NH4 - <0.25
NO3 - between 2.5 and 1
PO4 - 0

The plan for today is to add the substate - we have 60 lbs of Nature's Ocean Substrate - argonite reef sand. We will rinse it well before adding it. We will then let everything settle, do another water change, further tests and then I think we will be ready to add a small cleanup crew.

While all this is happening we also will set up our quarantine tank.

:question: We are completly open to ideas / thought on what to add first for a cleanup crew.

Wow, nice set up! That electrical box is genius, I gotta say, I'm a weeeee bit jealous. :mrgreen: can't wait to see life in your tank!

Thank you very much. I'm really looking forward to finally seeing life in the tank as well - it seems to have been a long time since we started this journey.

We put in the sand today - pictures likely tomorrow - once the water has cleared we will do more testing and begin to add some life!

Mixing Station
 

One step at a time things are getting done! We have completed our mixing station.

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...y1/1208087.jpg

I built a stand for the 20g Brute Cans to sit on - there is room under the stand for two buckets of salt. The right Brute is insulated and is for the SW - I have added a spout to make it easier to fill buckets to take upstairs. In the SW can is a heater and used Hydor Koralia powerhead. The left can is for fresh RO/DI water. I do not yet have the spout added to that can - but it will come eventually. Each can has an auto shut off float valve. Our RO/DI unit is a Puratek. I have plumbed the lines so that I can fill both at the same time or switch between them. On the right of the panel I have a power bar that everything plugs into including an overhead floresent light. If you look carefully, you will see an electrical box just under the panel - that is for a light in the adjoining room. Though it can't be seen I added vapor barrior over the electrical box just to make sure water and electricity don't meet. (I figured that would be a good idea :idea:)

Thanks to Nate for the idea of insulating the SW can!

Our next step is to install the Radion lights over the tank - maybe there will be fishies by the weekend! :biggrin:

Are you sure this is your first set up??? LOL, again, nicely done.

Ya, first set up - maybe it is my perfectionism that has caused me to take 6 months from tank purchase to "ready for fish" . . . well, that and my failure at being a plumber! :redface:

"Let there be light . . . and snails!"
 

At the start of the week - after all the water parameters had been stable for about a week, we added the substrate and had the expected sandstorm - a little over a day later everything settled and was looking good.

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345247515

Once the sand settled we checked the water again and with everything good we installed the two radions and we now have light! :biggrin:

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345247499


This afternoon I hooked the lights up to my computer and programmed then - not exactly simple :sad: as the software really isn't very intuitive - but I got it figured out.

For better or worse we have started to add livestock! We put in 5 turbo snails this afternoon and have picked out a Royal Gramma and a Percula to be our first inhabitants. They are staying at the LFS to ensure they are healthy then sometime next week I imagine that we will bring them home!

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345247482