Myka's 90 gallon build & 3 province move (Pics Feb 6)

[Myka]

I had a friend stop by yesterday which promptly halted all progress, and then we went out and spoiled ourselves with lobster tail, King crab legs, garlic shrimp, asparagus, salad, and biscuits!!!! Yum!! Oh, and don't forget the Mai Tais!!! Hehehehe

Lastnight I picked up the 15 and 5.5 gallon tanks. The 15 gallon had blue silicone...and many of you know what that means! Either the tank was treated with methylene blue or COPPER!! So I talked him down in price, and today I ripped the tank apart, and resiliconed the entire tank, let it dry for a couple hours, and started installing the baffles. I ordered the baffles a bit taller than I should have so I tried cutting the glass myself. I have cut glass before with varying success, and today it didn't work so well for me. The edges are horridly jagged - nothing a good gob of silicone can't fix!!!

So I started filling the tank up this morning. My oh my it takes a long time to fill a 90 with a 75 gpd RO/DI! I had about 30 gallons kicking around already, so I mixed that with saltwater, and dumped it in the tank. Then I tested the water the live rock was in, and it all tests good, so I tossed the rock and the rock water in too. So it's just under 1/2 full now, and I am mixing another 35 ish gallons right now. That should be all I can fit in there for now until I get the hole in the top of the overflow blocked off. I'm going to put a bulkhead in it and a plug, but I have to figure out a way to cut the end off a bulkhead because it protrudes into the oveflow box too far and gets in the way of the stand pipes.

I just set the rock in there so that it's all covered with water for now, will do the scaping probably at a later date. I bought some acrylic rods to drill into the rock. Just need to find some epoxy, which I think I have to order. Also, couldn't find 3/4" bulkheads for the life of me yesterday for the refugium, so I will have to order those as well.

I have an idea... I'm tossing the idea of running my two reactors (carbon and GFO) inline with the refugium which is T'd off the main return, then have ball valves on the fuge, and the reactors. The reactors would be chained together running about 50 gph through them, then their output would go into the refugium. Thoughts?

Anyway, look WATER and ROCK!!! Believe it or not that is 99 lbs of live rock. I have another 50 sitting in another bucket waiting as well so I can cherry pick my pieces.

[Blom]

Looking good, I feel ya on the RO waiting game. Took me just over a day and half to fill my 90g with a 75g/day RO unit.

[fishytime]

I think the recommended gph for carbon is quite a bit higher than phosphate media...like 400-600gph....see if you could plan to swing through cowtown we would have you covered with both the epoxy and the b/hs....hey we are online now

[Myka]

Patience is not one of my virtues, and this filling the tank thing is really borrrrrrring!! I got the baffles in the sump though!

I bought a MJ1200 with the SureFlow upgrade kit, and it isn't working properly. I soaked it in vinegar and put it in the tank. There is a little tab on the inside end of the end basket thingy, and the propeller keeps ramming into it which stops it from turning briefly and makes quite the racket. Oi!

Ya, carbon should be around 600 gph for maximum efficiency. I was thinking of putting an eggcrate shelf between the last baffle, and put the carbon there. That would give it 600 gph +/-. That's probably a better idea. Easy to change out when it's there too. I will make myself a custom-sized carbon bag out of a bigger one.

[mseepman]

So glad that you decided to stick with SW Myka. You are made to have a great tank and I'm already enjoying the chaos of this one!

[mike31154]

Something I read on another site, the famed Melev I think, to speed up RO/DI production. As you probably know, production is dependent on source water pressure as well as temperature. My source in Vernon is Kalamalka Lake which can be quite cool during the winter and even now. Anyhow, if you have a length of extra tubing, as much as you can get hold of, splice it into your input line using the quick fittings and coil it in a bucket of warm water. Throw a spare heater or two in there to keep it warmed up. You now have a DIY heat exchanger which will warm up your input water on the way through the bucket. The more you can coil in there, the better. I've tried it a couple of times and cut production time down substantially. Not sure, but I think I may have even produced less waste water in the process.

Watching you set up your 90 is making me feel guilty I still have my new 90 sitting in the basement waiting to be put into use... but then again, I'm thinking I might want to go the next step to a 120 instead. After all, it seems like the tank itself ends up being the smallest expense. When I look at some of the other gear I've spent dough on, holy.

[Myka]

Haha! Thanks Mark! Ya, I was getting a bit bored with reefing for a bit there, but I'm back full force!! Ha, and you're right it is SO chaos!

Hey Mike! When I'm really impatient I will run the tap with warm water, but it must cost quite a bit more to heat it that way and all. It does go quite a bit faster, and I think you're right that there is a bit less waste water. I like the idea of the heat exchanger though, I will have to try it out sometime! Plus, if the water is already warmed that's a bonus for putting it into the tank, because it will just get heated by the heater in there anyway. Good call.

I almost bought a 120 or a 150. I was originally looking for a 4' 150. I am glad I went with the 90 though because it extra width of the 120 or 150 would have made the living room much more cramped. The 90 is a good fit, and the shape is fun to 'scape! I've spent more on livestock than equipment by far.

[mike31154]

Ya, my plan is to set up the new tank as a room divider between the kitchen & dining room (sump in the basement) and a 120 might end up being too wide for me as well. I'm going to tear out a piece of L-shaped kitchen counter and build the tank support there... so losing a bunch of counter space, which is really never a good thing in any kitchen, he he.