2015 Reef Savvy Dream Tank Giveaway

[FarmerTy]

Where's the full tank shot from the front? I bet him an Apex Dos that he wasn't going to be able to put it back together again. Okay, maybe not but he'll be on the receiving end of a bunch of snarky "I told you so's..."

[+olaggie01]

Where's the full tank shot from the front? I bet him an Apex Dos that he wasn't going to be able to put it back together again. Okay, maybe not but he'll be on the receiving end of a bunch of snarky "I told you so's..."

Wait a minute. When did I agree to that? Must have been while I was doing all the heavy lifting and you were giving your opinion.

I've got 75 seconds of video of you telling me I told you so. I don't think I need any further reminder.

[FarmerTy]

Where's the full tank shot from the front? I bet him an Apex Dos that he wasn't going to be able to put it back together again. Okay, maybe not but he'll be on the receiving end of a bunch of snarky "I told you so's..."

Wait a minute. When did I agree to that? Must have been while I was doing all the heavy lifting and you were giving your opinion.

I've got 75 seconds of video of you telling me I told you so. I don't think I need any further reminder.

It's called consulting! Stand back and advise. [emoji13]

[Reburn]

I would have bought you something nice to see you throw said consultant into the freezing cold pool.

[+olaggie01]

I would have bought you something nice to see you throw said consultant into the freezing cold pool.

A nice bottle of scotch and you've got a deal.

Ty, how about you come over today and help me aquascape the pool?

[FarmerTy]

I would have bought you something nice to see you throw said consultant into the freezing cold pool.

A nice bottle of scotch and you've got a deal.

Ty, how about you come over today and help me aquascape the pool?

For a bottle of Yamazaki, I'll LET him throw me in the pool. [emoji16]

[+olaggie01]

I would have bought you something nice to see you throw said consultant into the freezing cold pool.

A nice bottle of scotch and you've got a deal.

Ty, how about you come over today and help me aquascape the pool?

For a bottle of Yamazaki, I'll LET him throw me in the pool. [emoji16]

Now we are talking. Ok, next aquascape is after 5 pm with a glass of Yamazaki

[FarmerTy]

I would have bought you something nice to see you throw said consultant into the freezing cold pool.

A nice bottle of scotch and you've got a deal.

Ty, how about you come over today and help me aquascape the pool?

For a bottle of Yamazaki, I'll LET him throw me in the pool. [emoji16]

Now we are talking. Ok, next aquascape is after 5 pm with a glass of Yamazaki

I think I got scammed for the first one then!

[Reburn]

SOLD.

Airplane bottle. $5. Worth every penny.

Need video proof. Turn heater off 3 days prior

[Sascha D.]

Haha you guys are hilarious! I'll bring a bottle just to hang out and watch!

[+olaggie01]

Got the stand pics from Chris. Canopy and lift should be done early in Feb.

I'm hoping to have the tank early next month as well.

Everything is getting upset in the temp tanks. I need to get the build moving quickly.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[+olaggie01]

Got a question for everyone regarding RO/DI, water containers, etc.

Currently I have my RO/DI unit and a pair of 35 gallon containers in our pool house. I originally thought I would keep it out there because I couldn't find another spot for it in the house. I was planning on carrying 5 gallon water jugs back and forth including water for water changes.

We have a laundry room about 75' from the office were the new tank will go. There is a sink and a floor drain in the laundry room.

My thoughts are to install the RO/DI unit in the laundry room and use the water storage containers for RO/DI water and SW. The water lines will need to go through the attic. I'll insulate the water lines in order to prevent freezing.

A couple of questions though:

1. Should I use both water containers or just 1? Reason I ask is that if I use both, I'll have a SW container for Auto Water Changes (AWC using the DoS system) and drain to the A/C unit upstairs and the other container would be for RO/DI water. I will run the RO/DI water line directly into the sump and use a litermeter or tunze osmolator for the ATO (assuming they can both push 75').

2. If I use only 1 container, I'll use it for SW for the AWC. The issue with using only one is that I'll need to then have an ATO container in the office. May not be the worse issue in the world as it would only be a 5-10 gallon container and not the 35 gallon container.

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

I wouldn't worry about insulating the water lines in your attic from freezing. Central TX doesn't get cold enough for long enough for the attic space to drop below freezing for long enough to freeze the lines. I was climbing around my attic this winter during a cold day and I started sweating after a while. What I am more worried about is a mouse or squirrel eventually getting in there and chewing a hole in the line. I might wrap mine in metallic tape just to insure that never happens.

Where does your A/C drain go? Does it go outside into your yard or into a sewage line? I would be hesitant to drain all my SW through the AC condensate pipe to the outside, especially since it tends to dump out right near the foundation of your house. That's a lot of salt water at the foundation and I would be worried about the expanding/contracting soil there, especially if you have a high clay content in your area. Adding massive quantities of salt to that one area over time may be bad and I would worry about buildup in your AC condensate pipes. Hopefully I didn't misunderstand your plans there...

I say have both a FW and SW container, sure makes life easier in the long run IMO.

[Sascha D.]

I seriously thought about running water lines through the house for easy water changes and top off, but we came to same conclusion as Gig. We're afraid that something would find the line and chew through it. I don't see a problem running your RO DI drain line to the laundry drain.

Right now I have two barrels in the garage; one for salt and one for fresh.The RODI drains into the water softener drain and the filtered product empties into the barrels depending on which valve I press. I like to vacuum my sand so I do water changes with a Python hose that drains into the yard. I hook the same hose to the barrels and pump fresh salt water back into the tank. It's more work that some people but it's not as much work as carrying buckets.

[+olaggie01]

I wouldn't worry about insulating the water lines in your attic from freezing. Central TX doesn't get cold enough for long enough for the attic space to drop below freezing for long enough to freeze the lines. I was climbing around my attic this winter during a cold day and I started sweating after a while. What I am more worried about is a mouse or squirrel eventually getting in there and chewing a hole in the line. I might wrap mine in metallic tape just to insure that never happens.

Where does your A/C drain go? Does it go outside into your yard or into a sewage line? I would be hesitant to drain all my SW through the AC condensate pipe to the outside, especially since it tends to dump out right near the foundation of your house. That's a lot of salt water at the foundation and I would be worried about the expanding/contracting soil there, especially if you have a high clay content in your area. Adding massive quantities of salt to that one area over time may be bad and I would worry about buildup in your AC condensate pipes. Hopefully I didn't misunderstand your plans there...

I say have both a FW and SW container, sure makes life easier in the long run IMO.

I seriously thought about running water lines through the house for easy water changes and top off, but we came to same conclusion as Gig. We're afraid that something would find the line and chew through it. I don't see a problem running your RO DI drain line to the laundry drain.

Right now I have two barrels in the garage; one for salt and one for fresh.The RODI drains into the water softener drain and the filtered product empties into the barrels depending on which valve I press. I like to vacuum my sand so I do water changes with a Python hose that drains into the yard. I hook the same hose to the barrels and pump fresh salt water back into the tank. It's more work that some people but it's not as much work as carrying buckets.

Thanks guys. I ran tubing in my old house through the attic and never had any issues with rodents. I was planning on wrapping all the ro tube in the black insulation and trying to bury as much of it in the insulation to prevent it from getting cold. Maybe I'll put a live wire in the insulation just in case a mouse tries to chew through it. That will stop it from happening

The A/C drain goes out to the grass. I would have the Auto Water Change drain out a gallon per day. I don't think it would be too bad with the sprinklers in the grass. We are all limestone and rock out here. No clay so I'm not too worried about that.

I thought about having the water containers in the garage but then I'd have to figure out a way to get the RO/DI water into the house without making a mess, perhaps with a long hose?

[Dan H]

I've got about 30' of RODI line and a salt hose running outside of my house under my deck. It's bundled with a pipe heater and wrapped in duct tape. I'll let you know if the rats think it's tasty, but I suspect they won't like it. So far they don't seem to notice.

I'd suggest that having the line in the attic will more than justify the potential risk. Not having to worry about hauling buckets, and being able to do a simple water change in under 10 minutes really improves life. Plus when it's stupid simple to do a WC, you're more likely to do it and your tank will likely be healthier.

[+olaggie01]

I've got about 30' of RODI line and a salt hose running outside of my house under my deck. It's bundled with a pipe heater and wrapped in duct tape. I'll let you know if the rats think it's tasty, but I suspect they won't like it. So far they don't seem to notice.

I'd suggest that having the line in the attic will more than justify the potential risk. Not having to worry about hauling buckets, and being able to do a simple water change in under 10 minutes really improves life. Plus when it's stupid simple to do a WC, you're more likely to do it and your tank will likely be healthier.

I agree with all those points. What I'm hoping to set up an automatic water change system using the DoS from Apex. Peter (nuxx) has his set up a similar system where he is changing out 3 gallons per day. I hope to do about 1 gallon per day, which equates to 30 gallons per month or 20% water change.

[Reburn]

I have a couple hundred feet of John guest piping running through my attic. I can't comment on if the rats think it's tasty because to be honest I keep up with my rodent control religiously monthly. The benefits far out weigh the risks in my opinion. It's nice to not have to cart buckets. I Python outside because You can't run saltwater into a septic. I just did 25% water changes on my 2 40b quarantines in less then an hour.

Olaggie if you would like to come check out what I did your more then welcome to.

[Sascha D.]

Changing out 1 gallon per day would be ideal if you could automate it. It sounds complicated, but I'm sure you know how to do it. How will you perform sand bed maintenance? Since you're not going to vacuum, then I'm guessing you're going to stir and let the mechanical pick it up?

[+olaggie01]

Changing out 1 gallon per day would be ideal if you could automate it. It sounds complicated, but I'm sure you know how to do it. How will you perform sand bed maintenance? Since you're not going to vacuum, then I'm guessing you're going to stir and let the mechanical pick it up?

Well, that's the thing. As of right now, I'm not going to use sand. I can't say that I won't in the end but right now the tank will be BB. Ty is trying to convince me that I can run a successful tank and sand bed, but I've never had much success. I will have 2 filter socks in the sump, so perhaps weekly, I could stir the sand bed and let the filter socks pick up the detritus, etc.

The AWC will be mainly for replacing trace elements and keeping PO4/NO3 in check. I can always do a larger water change if I want to remove some sand or extra detritus.

[+olaggie01]

I have a couple hundred feet of John guest piping running through my attic. I can't comment on if the rats think it's tasty because to be honest I keep up with my rodent control religiously monthly. The benefits far out weigh the risks in my opinion. It's nice to not have to cart buckets. I Python outside because You can't run saltwater into a septic. I just did 25% water changes on my 2 40b quarantines in less then an hour.

Olaggie if you would like to come check out what I did your more then welcome to.

Thanks for the offer. I'm going to run by HD and pick up some water tubing and run it through the attic. I've spoken with a few people about it and nobody has much concern re: the DoS or the tubing. I'll see how it goes.

[FarmerTy]

Yes, run sand please! You'll be spending your days siphoning fish poop and live rock crumbles for the rest of your life otherwise! [emoji12]

I told him in 12 years of reefing, I've only siphoned my sand for 2 years and I felt like it caused me more instability than it fixed. So I stopped messing with my sand from that point on.

For full disclosure, none of my sandbeds have ever made it past 3 years as I've always upgraded tanks before that mark. There's still time for me to crash and burn in a couple of years and eat crow. [emoji41]

[Sascha D.]

The part that I don't like about bare bottom is that algae and coralline grows on it and there is no way to scrape it off. If you have snails then they will leave bad tracks all along the bottom of the tank. My opinion is bias because I love wrasses so much. There are very nice bare bottom tanks out there, but I believe they must be ULNS.

[+olaggie01]

The part that I don't like about bare bottom is that algae and coralline grows on it and there is no way to scrape it off. If you have snails then they will leave bad tracks all along the bottom of the tank. My opinion is bias because I love wrasses so much. There are very nice bare bottom tanks out there, but I believe they must be ULNS.

True about the wrasse, but not all wrasse need sand. Or so says Ty.

I'm still on the fence about it. I may order a bag of sand and see how things set up the first month or so. I do love the look of sand, white reflective clean sand. What I don't like is the algae that grows in it.

I went an purchased some 1/2" PEX line to run through the attic for my ATO/AWC. Now I need some time to shimmy around in the attic and get it installed.

[+olaggie01]

Yes, run sand please! You'll be spending your days siphoning fish poop and live rock crumbles for the rest of your life otherwise! [emoji12]

I told him in 12 years of reefing, I've only siphoned my sand for 2 years and I felt like it caused me more instability than it fixed. So I stopped messing with my sand from that point on.

For full disclosure, none of my sandbeds have ever made it past 3 years as I've always upgraded tanks before that mark. There's still time for me to crash and burn in a couple of years and eat crow. [emoji41]

I think SSBs are much better than a DSB. I've never heard of a SSB crash like I have a DSB.