Jumping In

[Slick Fork]

Just another update,

Made another trip down to the city the other day and picked up a few more pieces of live rock. Also got my trashcan sump set up bringing my total capacity up to 15 gallons. Here are a couple of shots I snapped quickly on my way to work this morning

The new layout of the tank:


A side view of the Sump:


Now I just snapped these first thing this morning so all that's on are the actinics, but the lights haven't changed and you've already seen those!! I'm really pleased with some of the smaller chunks of rock I found, crawling with life, very lightweight and as you can see I could make some neat arch formations with them!

The trashcan sump is as easy as pie, I took all the pieces of LR I wasn't particlarly thrilled with out of the display and put them in the sump. In the top picture you can see I just mounted a PVC pipe in the side of it and siliconed it up real good, it just overflows back into the main tank as it fills up. I relocated the HOB filled with Live Rubble and the heater into the sump and the tube you see going from the sump to the main tank is actually connected to the HOB filter intake so it draws water from the display over the sump and into the HOB filter, which empties into the sump which empties back into the display!!

The water bottle you see sitting on the HOB will be reincarnated today as an auto topoff device, and the beer bottle in the background will soon be joined by several more as DIY projects are thirsty work.

My current conundrum is what to do as far as a more permanent mount for that light. I've considered hanging it, but I want to make sure that the tank is where I want it before I start putting holes in the ceiling. The other option would be to mount it to the stand (which is waiting on plywood skin before it's complete), the trouble I have with that though is it will be in the way if it's bolted on and I want to do something. Any ideas?

[TheReefGeek]

You should paint your background blue so you don't see the trashcan through the glass, will look cleaner.

[Midknight]

Hey Slick,

If you want to hang it try mounting it on the wall with the wall bracket setup. Then you can used the shelf to put your ATO on.

Dan

[Slick Fork]

Think I might be cycled already. Checked the parameters this morning and I got zero's across the board for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Is this possible with a tank that's only been up for a couple of weeks? I remember at this point in my freshwater cycle, ammonia and nitrites were through the roof and still going up so I'm quite surprised to see everything at zero right now.

Think I'll bring a water sample in somewhere before I buy anything though.

[Quagmire]

You seem pretty handy with DIY.For the light,maybe build a hood for it.The rock may have already been cycled when you got it,so only a small cycle in the tank from the bit of die off,from the trip home.Best to wait a while to make sure,and good idea getting you water tested at a store.Check out the Royal Grammas for a fish,colorfull (wifes like color )and easy to care for.

[Midknight]

Hi Slick,
Here is what I was talking about with the wall method.



Easily adjusted and built in shelves.

[Slick Fork]

I don't think a hood will work simply because of the size of the fixture, it is actually 4" wider then the tank so I think a hood would look silly. I like the wall mount idea Midnight, but with the backpack sump I've got going the back of the tank is about a foot from the wall already so I'd need one huge shelf!

I think what I'll do is just suspend if from the ceiling. Then I can push/tie it out of the way if I need to get into the tank.

With the parameter's I've got, I'm thinking about holding off on fish (just to be safe) but maybe adding a couple of inverts and maybe a coral (maybe a Riccordia or mushroom for starters) and see how things go for a little while. I want to add things slowly so that the smaller stuff gets a chance to establish before being actively hunted by anything bigger!