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Sierra Bravo's 120 in-wall tank, a.k.a "Where I keep my paychecks"


Sierra Bravo

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1 hour ago, brian.srock said:

Great job so far. Are you keeping track of the actual parts cost for the build?

I did not.  However, I am the type that researches the heck out of whatever I'm buying to make sure I have the best cost/value ratio going on.  I bought fittings from several places, generally not from BRS or Marine Depot.  There was better pricing to be had from other vendors.  When I get home I'll look back and see if I can find where all I bought materials.

I can't bring myself to tally all those receipts up, though.  :huh:

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I did not.  However, I am the type that researches the heck out of whatever I'm buying to make sure I have the best cost/value ratio going on.  I bought fittings from several places, generally not from BRS or Marine Depot.  There was better pricing to be had from other vendors.  When I get home I'll look back and see if I can find where all I bought materials.
I can't bring myself to tally all those receipts up, though.  :huh:
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Don't do it. It'll probably cost more than the tank! [emoji37]
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On 1/31/2018 at 11:35 AM, brian.srock said:

Great job so far. Are you keeping track of the actual parts cost for the build? I'm going with a red and sch 80 grey look and just for pvc pipe and fittings i am at almost $200. 

Looking back I bought the majority of the union valves and couplings from aquariumspecialty.com.  I also used pvcfittngsonline.com and the best price I found for the colored pvc pipe itself was home depot.

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10 hours ago, Sierra Bravo said:

Looking back I bought the majority of the union valves and couplings from aquariumspecialty.com.  I also used pvcfittngsonline.com and the best price I found for the colored pvc pipe itself was home depot.

You found red PVC pipes at Home Depot? I didn't know they sold that there!

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22 minutes ago, Gig 'em @ NDstructible said:

You found red PVC pipes at Home Depot? I didn't know they sold that there!

 

Purchase online and free shipping to store.  $5.99 for a 3/4" x 5' piece vs. $10.99 at BRS.  Multiple colors and diameters. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Formufit-3-4-in-x-5-ft-Furniture-Grade-Sch-40-PVC-Pipe-in-Red-P034FGP-RD-5/205171556

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28 minutes ago, Gig 'em @ NDstructible said:

Nice, since I've never seen colored PVC at HD I never even considered looking online for it. I'll keep that in mind next time I do a build and want to keep the plumbing aesthetically pleasing. What other little secrets have you discovered?! :P

One of our sponsors, Flexpvc.com, also carries just about anything you can think of.

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Just to get caught up to the present here's where I am today: 

Everything is basically in a wait and grow out mode.  One valuable lesson I've learned since finishing the build is that all the planning and awesome equipment in the world doesn't mean you can grow corals.  I've lost more than I'd like to say and that's while purposefully trying to take it slow.

So, for now, I'm at the 10/11th-month mark and my Big 3 parameters have been reliably stable for three months.  I've learned starting with junk frags is harder than starting with bigger, healthier frags, and therefore I've moved away from the cheapies.  I've bought a small BattleBox from Battlecorals, some pieces from WWC and Pieces of the Ocean, and of course from Ty and Gig 'em. 

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14 hours ago, Sierra Bravo said:

I glued 27 frags to the rockwork today.  I'm pretty sure the dog ate the stem of a plug, there is super glue all over the kitchen table, saltwater is dripped all over the floor, and I ruined a steak knife cutting wads off of the stick of epoxy.  My wife just texted she's five min away with a load of groceries.

Five minutes is enough time to have a cocktail. . . 

Sounds like a normal day in the life of a reefer

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I glued 27 frags to the rockwork today.  I'm pretty sure the dog ate the stem of a plug, there is super glue all over the kitchen table, saltwater is dripped all over the floor, and I ruined a steak knife cutting wads off of the stick of epoxy.  My wife just texted she's five min away with a load of groceries.
Five minutes is enough time to have a cocktail. . . 
That's where you screwed up Scott. I start with the cocktail! [emoji16]
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One of my LFS had an acro in their frag tank off in a corner, half dead and full of algae.  It had a very nice deep bluish green color, so I cut a deal for $10, clipped about a 3/4" piece of what was still good, gave it a dip and mounted it.  We'll see what happens. 

I was told this was an A. speciosa; checking online it's hard for me to verify until it grows out some.

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One of my LFS had an acro in their frag tank off in a corner, half dead and full of algae.  It had a very nice deep bluish green color, so I cut a deal for $10, clipped about a 3/4" piece of what was still good, gave it a dip and mounted it.  We'll see what happens. 
I was told this was an A. speciosa; checking online it's hard for me to verify until it grows out some.
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I do love LFS gems!
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  • 4 weeks later...

I added two pieces of equipment to the tank:

The first was a CO2 scrubber.  My low pH is due to carbon dioxide in the house, and I have no way to pipe in fresh air.   I had been dipping down as low as 7.6 at night and swinging to 7.9 during the day.  That's with chaeto and a grow light opposite of my main lights.  I had received mixed opinions on whether or not adding a scrubber would do anything or if it was worth it, but it is a relatively cheap experiment to at least try.  Since installing I am consistently  8.0 - 8.2.  I hooked the air inlet to my skimmer for humid air and have been running the same media for 10 days with little color change.  Whether it does anything for the corals remains to be seen, but I have had an increase in alk consumption.

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I also added two powerheads to the tank.  I was looking for used MP40's, but people want nearly full retail for used ones.  I went with Current USA eflow 2100GPH because the set of two with the controller was only $200.  I use the same brand on my QT and they are "ok".  I have them on a short alternating pulse pattern and it has seemed to have made a difference with polyp extension on some of the corals, plus I can direct them as things grow out.  Between these and the Gyres and accounting for the pattern percentages I have them running at, I'm calculating tank turnover at around 70X.

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I also have been playing around with pictures.  I have never cared much for photography and I don't have a nice camera, so I've been using my cell phone - a Samsung Galaxy S8.  I've been playing around with the Pro settings and also trying to post process out the blues using the Photoshop clone Paint.net.  I like what I've been able to do with the post-processing as it does look much more true to life, but still not thrilled with taking pics with the phone.

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 Great looking tank and setup! First time I've seen it... and I'm already cherry picking some ideas off you. :eusathink:

I was curious where you got your ro/salt mixing tanks from. I'm going to do a similar setup in my closet next to the tank. 

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