Headless_donkey Posted September 16, 2007 Author Share Posted September 16, 2007 I redid the return/drain plumbing today. I am know feeding the skimmer the correctly. Thank you John. The feed for the skimmer now comes off the straight part of the PVC T and there is a ball valve to adjust the flow. I also put a T on the return line with ball valves for adjustment. Right know 1/2 the T goes to the tank and the other just goes to the sump. I will be adding a carbon reactor to it later, maybe tomorrow. I will also be hanging the light tomorrow. I think I am going to add salt tomorrow. I am SUPER excited. Man, tomorrow is going to be BUSY! Everything went really well today except, the return pump is obnoxiously loud now. It is making a grinding noise. I am not happy with it at all. Why can't sequence make a 500-700 GPH pump? I do have a couple of questions: Is there a good way to tell how many GPH are coming out of a tube? Is there a quieter/more efficient external pump then the Iwaki for 700GPH? At what point does a hobby become an obsession/addiction? (I am supposed to be watching a movie with my loving fiancee right now, but instead I am making a blog entry. GREAT!) Well, here are the pictures. They aren't every interesting. New Plumbing Shortened skimmer drain Power center. Which, BTW, fit perfectly between the upright 2x4s. Oh yeah, I planned that the whole time. Light hangers Thank you for reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 As always an enjoyable read. I need to get my plumbing taken care of too. I like the placement of your skimmer. I broke down and bought an RK2 for my command center. BTW, the polishing is coming along great. After 40+ hours of sanding I can finally start polishing the inside panels. Great Job on your set up! Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 16, 2007 Author Share Posted September 16, 2007 Thank you I am glad to hear your tank is coming along. 40+ hours is a bunch of work. I am NOT an expert plumber, but if you need any help I would be willing. RK2s are awesome. I plan to get a controller for this tank, but it just isn't in the budget right now. I decided to get light bulbs instead. LOL I have a Coralife timer for the lights. It hasn't caught on fire yet so I plan to use it. I don't have it mounted yet because it is running another tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 You've been busy . Can you give a review about the Octopus skimmer?.......Can't wait to see the whole enchilada up running. What are you planning to keep in this tank? Best wishes, -Cindy- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 16, 2007 Author Share Posted September 16, 2007 Thank you I am defiantly going to review the skimmer as soon as the tank is going. Stocking list: Fish Maroon and gold clown Engineer goby Scooter blenny Hifin goby Yellow watchman goby Corals RTBA for clown Crocea clam Zoos RPE PPE Red Orange Bright Green Bright yellow Blue Blue and yellow Green and red mix Dull green<--- of course these are my favs! LOL Some other random stuff Bright orange ricordia Various mushrooms Torch and frogspawn a feather duster(if it makes the move) Dendrophillia (Thanks John!) SPS Bird's nest Chip's acro<----only thing that isn't already in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeroaustin Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Me too, looking forward to see your review for octopus skimmer, I am planning to purchase one soon but wait and see what is your opinion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Yeah I know what you mean, it's a labor of love! I just completed sanding the inside(46 hrs). Now I need to polish the inside then I can concentrate on the outside. I am looking into skimmers. I am awaiting your review with anticipation. Keep up the good worK. . . Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Are you sure the pump doesn't have an air bubble in it? They make a terrible noise when they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 That is a good idea. I will check. Although I can't say I really no how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 I just hung the light fixture over the tank. I am pretty pleased with it. I kind of wish the power cords came out of the back rather then the side. I might modify later. I haven't decided. I got my bulbs from Kingfish Aquariums. I am digging on the color combination. Unfortunately, no fault of Kingfish, one of them bulbs got broken during shipping. It was a blue plus. So, in the first 3 pictures all four "daylight" bulbs are on and only one blue plus and one super actinic. I think the overall color temperature will be a more blue once I get a replacement bulb. I like the Sunlift system I ordered for the lights. It does EXACTLY what I wanted. I can easily move the fixture up and down without any adjustments. BTW so far with fresh salt water and a couple of LR pieces the Octopus skimmer ROCKS! FTS All the lights(minus the broken one of course) Just daylights Half of the blue/actinic light Lights up off the tank Light Combo Sand storm!!!! thanks for reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeroaustin Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 What is the color combination do you have right now? your color is look so good. I know how you feeling about bulbs broken during shipping, I has three bulbs broken during shipping and wait for other weeks... can you take a picture of octopus skimmer in action.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 This is going to be the final combo: Aqua blue by ATI 39 Watt x2 Super Actinic by Sfiligoi 39 Watt x2 Blue plus by Giesemann 39 Watt x2 3000k by GE 39 watt x1 6500K by GE 39 Watt x1 Right now in the pics only one Blue plus and super actinic are on. I will take a skimmer pic later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeroaustin Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 This is going to be the final combo:Aqua blue by ATI 39 Watt x2 Super Actinic by Sfiligoi 39 Watt x2 Blue plus by Giesemann 39 Watt x2 3000k by GE 39 watt x1 6500K by GE 39 Watt x1 Right now in the pics only one Blue plus and super actinic are on. I will take a skimmer pic later. What do you set the bulb in order? back to front. Mine the way I set. three ballasts to have sunrise, early noon, full daylight back Super Actinic Blue Plus Aquasun Super Actinic 14K aquablue UVL Blue plus Front I think about get ATI Sunpro to replace one of those to make coral grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Really cool setup. There's nothing like taking your time and doing it right! Color looks good even with the missing bulb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 This is the order: Super Actinic Blue plus Aqua blue 3000k Aqua blue 6500K Blue plus Super Actinic Kenny-Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Looking good. I like the color. I'm only guessing, with the replacement light the color will be a little bluer. BTW, who is the artistic one? Really like the seahorse on the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Thank you Jennifer is the one responcible for the art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Just knock on it a little or turn it sideways if possible while running. Something to move the air bubble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 24, 2007 Author Share Posted September 24, 2007 I will try that. I think the grinding noise has stopped/gotten better. It must have been an air bubble. I have been turning it on and off a lot while working on the tank. Maybe, that caused the problem to work itself out. I had never heard of that being a problem. Thanks for the info. I still might replace it with an ehiem some day. We shall see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 WOW!! Lighting looks great. By the way....thanks for the macro algea, it looks beautiful in seahorse tank. -Cindy- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 I have an extra Eheim 1262 that is basically brand new if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted September 26, 2007 Author Share Posted September 26, 2007 I got all the live stock and fish moved into the new tank. I took pretty lousy pictures. The acrylic is dirty. I will be giving it a good cleaning tomorrow. 1 tank in Everything in(picture sucks) Crazy Acrylic distortion Thanks for reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Howdy, It has been quite sometime since I have made a blog entry. Partially because I can't seem to take a decent picture of the new tank. Maybe because the pictures don't look like the pictures I have in my head or maybe because acrylic is IMPOSSIBLE to clean. I know I will NEVER buy another acrylic tank. We finally skinned the stand of the 67 gallon. We used a heavy black material. It came out just like I had imagined. We also sold the Fish only tank. It was proving too much for us to take care and the humidity in the house was amazing. I am glad all the fish and equipment went to good homes. Hopefully, we here at ARC will get to see some some cool tanks come out this breakdown. The seahorse got moved into the 12 Gallon Nano. We kept the 30 gallon up as a kind of Saltwater planted tank. We are pretty sure the tank has Vibrio. At least we figured it out before any more horses became infected. Here is the full tank shot of the 67 Gallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ACampbell Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I want to come take some pics and check out the 67. Is that a fireplace TV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomanero Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Looks beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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