I'm jumping into the hobby with both feet. It's always been a dream and I finally decided to make it a reality. This will be mainly a fish and LPS tank.
Anyways, I thought I would share my progress so far. I'm taking it slow and making sure things get done right.
Equipment (so far)
Build (so far)
The tank is setup in the living room next to the TV in an alcove. The left side is fully viewable from the sofa. There is a bit of space on the right side to view the tank from that direction.
I lined the bottom with a pond liner.
With the square stand, I didn't want to waste the space in the front of the stand with the sump pushed to the back. So I oriented the sump perpendicular to the front of the stand on the left side. This made plumbing a bit more complicated, but I think it worked out well. I used 1" for all of the piping and only reduced to 3/4" at the return bulkheads.
I'm hoping to do a leak test this weekend.
One question - should I add pipe clamps for the vertical runs? If so, what's the best approach with the APS stand? One option I've seen that does not involve drilling into the metal stand would be to use 80/20 t nuts.
The aquasacape is mostly done. I'll post pictures once I get it in the tank (after the leak test).
Mixing station / water changes
I'm building the mixing station in the basement. The plan is to pump the new salt water up to the main floor to make water changes easier (I don't want to haul buckets). I'm also planning to pump the waste salt water out to our side yard from the tank. We have a concrete septic and I don't want to take the risk of damaging either the septic tank or leaching field.
I started the platform for the brute trash cans. More to come.
I'll post updates as they happen.
Cheers!
Anyways, I thought I would share my progress so far. I'm taking it slow and making sure things get done right.
Equipment (so far)
- IM EXT 112
- Fiji-30 sump
- Filter floss/socks to start (I'll probably add a roller mat in the future)
- Maxspect Jump SK400 skimmer
- Jebao DCP-8000 return pump
- 2 x 300W BRS titanium heaters with IM Helio controller
- 3 x AI blades (2 grow & 1 glow) - hoping that 3 will be enough for now. I can always add more if needed.
Build (so far)
The tank is setup in the living room next to the TV in an alcove. The left side is fully viewable from the sofa. There is a bit of space on the right side to view the tank from that direction.
I lined the bottom with a pond liner.
With the square stand, I didn't want to waste the space in the front of the stand with the sump pushed to the back. So I oriented the sump perpendicular to the front of the stand on the left side. This made plumbing a bit more complicated, but I think it worked out well. I used 1" for all of the piping and only reduced to 3/4" at the return bulkheads.
I'm hoping to do a leak test this weekend.
One question - should I add pipe clamps for the vertical runs? If so, what's the best approach with the APS stand? One option I've seen that does not involve drilling into the metal stand would be to use 80/20 t nuts.
The aquasacape is mostly done. I'll post pictures once I get it in the tank (after the leak test).
Mixing station / water changes
I'm building the mixing station in the basement. The plan is to pump the new salt water up to the main floor to make water changes easier (I don't want to haul buckets). I'm also planning to pump the waste salt water out to our side yard from the tank. We have a concrete septic and I don't want to take the risk of damaging either the septic tank or leaching field.
I started the platform for the brute trash cans. More to come.
I'll post updates as they happen.
Cheers!