Got back from a week in China and two days snowboarding at Kirkwood so today I finally had time to do some work on the aquarium. Before I left for snowboarding I put the bulkhead in the second 100-gallon water container. I made a slight error in trying to get the bulkhead as low as possible and almost completely screwed the pooch by getting it too low. Fortunately with a little modification to the bulkhead (trimming the curve a bit to make it fit to the bottom) I was able to get it on and sealed up. I put a ball valve and a 3/4" barb fitting on it and it was ready to go.
Just a couple of weeks ago 12 boxes of 200g Hot Salt arrived at my office. Onto the truck they went and my son hauled them down to the Fish Cave for me.
Also before I left I made up the saltwater. For the salt I wanted to measure to see exactly how many of my tupperware scoops it would take so that I could easily repeat it time and again. I started with a guess and scooped 15 into the vat, connected a powerhead, and returned in an hour to test it - NO WAY - 35 PPT on the money!!! That has NEVER happened before.
So, today I hooked up a siphon hose and sucked out 7-8" of water out of my sump while trying to pull out some of the detritus and other settled nasties that mostly came from the rock that was put in there a few months ago. I then put the hose on the saltwater vat and opened the valve. No need to heat the water because it was about 65 degrees and the 100g is about 17% of the total volume so it only dropped the overall temp about two or three degrees.
After that water change, it was time to tackle the UV. I went to the "Fish Boxes" to see what submersible pump I might have and found an Octopus 2000LPH one I used to use for my water changes on the 210. It had a 3/4" threaded output so it was perfect to hard-pipe to the UV and the flow would likely be perfect based on the manufacturers recommendations (~350-450gph for use against protozoa.) I mounted the unit on the end of the stand for the sump and used two wood blocks to secure it in place. This location makes it easy to access the bulb end for replacement or cleaning of the quartz tube. The installation was easy enough and in about an hour I had UV going.
Next projects
- Building the canopy frames
- Installing the lights - measure PAR in various areas
- Putting in a few corals
- Clean up wiring under tank
- Select, purchase, and have installed the granite countertop
- Wood cabinetry and trim out
We will see what happens next...
