Largest Attempt....New to Me 200g Build

[litebulb]

Awesome thanks! Yeah I'll be back in my office later this morning after I meet some inspectors on jobs. My 32" Mars lights are supposed to be delivered today actually. Very excited to be running. Just need to remember to get a rock at the lfs to get my dry rock going when I put it in. I'm going to finish the protein skimmer plumbing today as well. Just need to read a bit more and see if I need to run it now.

 

[Zack33]

AWESOME!!! I want to see the rock in it! lol Any thoughts on the type of aquascape you are going to go for?

 

[litebulb]

Well the buna branch I'm going to run up the over flows a bit, probably make 1 little shelf for now. Rock dude didn't want me putting a lot of Rock at first so I listened

 

[Zack33]

Well the buna branch I'm going to run up the over flows a bit, probably make 1 little shelf for now. Rock dude didn't want me putting a lot of Rock at first so I listened

WHY?! I'm confused by that lol....add it all at once, why wait??

 

[litebulb]

Who knows. I wanted more.

 

[litebulb]

Went and got another 100lbs and now I'm rinsing and such. Water is a slight bit clearer now but I'll start setting rocks up on the table and give you a better idea of the scape

 

[litebulb]

 

[litebulb]

In lol! Just gotta run to the lfs and get a live rock and it's set

 

[litebulb]

This is the insert I'll be putting in the middle of the tank!

 

[litebulb]

Nice change from yesterday evening. This is not the final placement of the rocks I just wanted to get them in and going.

 

[litebulb]

So last night I'm up till 1 watching tv and I have this lightbulb go off. I still have to plumb in the protein skimmer and get it going. Could I, and would it hurt if I took the return from the protein skimmer and had it come back and drain into a sock. I can get a sock bracket from marine depot or somewhere and add that to the last section of the sump. My two drains from the tank are passing through a filter pad/block so I have that going to the refugium section. I can probably add a second pad past the refugium section as well. Just looking to be effective for now till I pull the trigger on a new sump

 

[booth2010]

I can get a sock bracket from marine depot or somewhere and add that to the last section of the sump

Your sump is acrylic right? Why not make your own sock holder and weld it to the sump?

 

[litebulb]

Your sump is acrylic right? Why not make your own sock holder and weld it to the sump?

well where they drains are located in this old sump, the space is only 2.5 inches wide and i realize i can put a drawstring sock in there, I was just looking to make things easier. The drain/refugium section of the sump has a partial lid on it as well. ill snap a better picture in a minute. Staring at the now cloudy water again after i moved some rocks around lol.

 

[booth2010]

Did you rinse the sand any before you put it in?

 

[litebulb]

lol I shed a tear. I took the 3 bags of aragonite and air rinsed them as they fell in the tank. Learning experience for sure. I also have never used the clarifyer either so I'm not sure if that stuff works

 

[litebulb]

Well I got the (2) Mars 32" leds in and I'm super impressed with the quality and finish of them. Mounted very easy and the controls are simple. I also mounted a lexan (not sure what you call it) shaped car with my name and company logo on top of the canopy that I'll be mounting some some LEDs underneath it to make it look pretty.

 

[litebulb]

Pretty sure I'm done with the aquascaping.

 

[Zack33]

Looks cool with the company logo in there, plans to keep it clean? Coral cover it? Removable for algae cleaning??

 

[litebulb]

It comes out easy. I'm hoping it gets covered in coralline or something cool!

 

[Zack33]

It comes out easy. I'm hoping it gets covered in coralline or something cool!

Grow red zoas, or a red encrusting monti on it....that would be cool! (assuming red is in fact your company colour, and not just whatever material you could get ahold of) lol