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Update: 08/28/19
Had a small list of things to do on the agenda. As previously discussed, PMUPs have been replaced so ATO and RO/DI making station is back in automatic mode. The Saltwater holding/mixing tank has been defunked with a pressure washer and I’ve switched salt mixes from Red Sea blue bucket to Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt. I’ve got a few bags of the Live Aquaria salt mix and I’ll mix the two of them until I run out and see from there.
There were a few more items that needed to be done so I’ll start with the next one on my list.
So, here’s the work in progress. Last Monday, I started working on the new lay out (see the quotes portion of this post) using 1/4” acrylic as glass was a little too expensive to justify. I used an acrylic bit and a router to cut the shapes I need and used weld on 16 to glue them together. Here’s what we came up with.
While it cured, I emptied the sump and dragged it out onto the driveway forgetting how heavy these 125g tanks were!
Busted out the old pressure washer, cleaned it and removed the old glass baffles along with the silicone. Also removed the plastic bracing to accommodate the placement of the skimmer.
Here it is with the new baffles mocked up and dry fitted. Masking tape for those pretty silicone lines and everything!
Once this was done I needed to modify my EMS overflow a bit. Sorry @TaylorPilot ! The water level was just slightly too high. Now, if you guys remember I had an issue where the tank builder screwed up the holes and paid for a custom box from Taylor, which I absolutely LOVE! Having said this, I have a unique box that was somewhat experimental on my end. The water level came up right to the bottom of the glass cross braces causing two issues. Algae to grow in the bottom of the braces blocking the light, surface movement was limited to the left and right sections of the tank.
I drained the tank and put my router to work after removing the inside box. Here’s what we did and it’s not flawless. Water level is still inside the black rim and I get water surface movement across the entire tank!
After the silicone set for 72 hours, I started to fill which also served as a massive 140 gallon water change.
And a video of the lay out
Drain section filled with main drain, flows into a 7” filter sock and into a reactor / back up heater section (still to go) which flows into a skimmer section and into the return section.
The secondary drain feeds the fuge on the back Side of the sump which spills directly into the skimmer section. The plan is to fill it with chaeto, which is currently in there, live rock and a sand bed of calcium reactor media. Anywhere, Here’s a video!
There’s more. Stay tuned!
LOL! Have to respect the level of DIY. The overflow looks pretty straight. How did you setup the router? Did you use a table? I have some experience doing that. I use a 2 flute straight cutter that is 3" long. Put a large fence and can shave the top of the boxes down an 1/8" at a time (not brave enough to cut more than that at once). It works really well and makes things perfectly straight.