My 150G - a build thread in pictures

TrishW · Sep 10, 2013

If you can siphon the water out and then just use the vacuum for removing the settled detritus you could easily get by with a smaller vacuum. It's just that the vacuum capacity wet is only about a third of the dry capacity so the smaller ones only hold about a gallon or two of water. I tend to get pretty creative so I am envisioning the smaller diameter vacuum hose with a pvc fitting that has a hose barb on the end and a piece of vinyl tubing attached to that. A small vacuum doesn't cost much more than a MJ1200.

I still have the smaller one I bought first if you wanted to try it. If it works for you we could then work out a trade.

revhtree · Sep 10, 2013

Looks very good!

markkazdad · Sep 10, 2013

TrishW said:
I think I am about tanked out. Hubby is pretty patient with me and my fish addiction but I think I am at critical mass before he blows a gasket. :bounce:

Keep some silicone handy.

TrishW · Sep 10, 2013

markkazdad said:
Keep some silicone handy.

:rofl:

We both got a good laugh from this!

Tomoko Schum · Sep 10, 2013

TrishW said:
I still have the smaller one I bought first if you wanted to try it. If it works for you we could then work out a trade.

I am interested in your smaller unit, but I am going to see if my turkey baster does a sufficient job to remove the crusty stuff first (I am not very hopeful about it, though, but I can try.) I need to move my big Octopus Extreme skimmer out of the way to get to the bottom of the sump

I am not looking forward to the sump cleaning job. Every time I try to do something new, it tends to turn into a real big job...

TrishW · Sep 10, 2013

Tomoko Schum said:
I am interested in your smaller unit, but I am going to see if my turkey baster does a sufficient job to remove the crusty stuff first (I am not very hopeful about it, though, but I can try.) I need to move my big Octopus Extreme skimmer out of the way to get to the bottom of the sump I am not looking forward to the sump cleaning job. Every time I try to do something new, it tends to turn into a real big job...

Good luck with your sump cleaning. That is always the part I dread so I tend to let it go longer than I really should. If you find that you want to try the shop vac just send me a message.

Tomoko Schum · Sep 11, 2013

Is this the small one you have?

Shop Shop-Vac 2.5-Gallon 2.5-HP Peak-HP Shop Vacuum at Lowes.com

Did it come with a crevice attachment?

Oops, I just checked your earlier posting. You must have the 6 gallon one, which does not seem to come with any attachments.

TrishW · Sep 11, 2013

It is the 6 gallon.

I am making a crevice tool from one of the pipe sections now. Do you have 1 3/8" between the top of your baffles? That is the measurement at the widest point (top) of the tube.

TrishW · Sep 11, 2013

I had a Homer Simpson moment.

So after spending about ten minutes heating up one of the sections of tube to make a crevice tool I finally got it down to where it was about a half inch thick for about the last 10 inches. While it was cooling I decided to go up and take a pic of the vac for you. It was still wrapped in plastic from where we moved last summer so I started pulling the plastic wrap off so I could get a decent pic of the info tag on the front of the vacuum. That's when I noticed the crevice tool on the back. <insert palm slap to forehead here> After seeing it I do remember buying it when I bought the vacuum.

So I heated the tube back up and repositioned it in the vice a couple more times to make it round again. There are two tubes that are 14 inches long and the crevice tool that is about 12 inches long, I didn't measure it because my tape was downstairs. It came with three tubes when it was purchased but I can only put my hands on two of them which means that the movers lost it and I never realized it because I don't use this vac. If you really needed a third one you can buy one at Lowes. Their website says they are $6.98.

I only used this vacuum a few times before deciding I needed the larger one so it is in great shape. It has just been sitting up in the attic over my husband's garage so if you could use it that would be cool.

The last time I used the vacuum was to vacuum up the shavings from where we cut down the edges on my starboard with a router so that it wouldn't damage the silicone at the edges of the tank - that is what you can see in the pic of the vacuum. I will of course be willing to empty the shavings out before you get it

Tomoko Schum · Sep 12, 2013

Hi Trish,

Do you mind leasing it to me for a weekend to try it out? I'd be glad to pay with an SPS frag:smile:.

TrishW · Sep 13, 2013

Not at all. I will be over at the University Dr / Parkway area at some point this weekend. I will message you my phone number.

TrishW · Sep 14, 2013

So, as I was walking through my garage to get to the hubby's to get some electrical tape for a light cord for a fixture that is located under my stand I heard a noise that sounded like a hummingbird. I found him trapped behind the blind that is in the window of my garage. Since I was looking for tape for something to do with the tank, he gets a place in the build thread.

I opened the blind so that he could fly away but he was too weak. When I touched him he flew up onto the power cord of the garage door opener\

I grabbed my phone and the hummingbird feeder. I duct taped the feeder to a piece of PVC, but he would not eat

He flew between a storage shelf and the wall. He was so exhausted that he let me pick him up

I placed him next to the feeder and put his beak into feeding position. I didn't know what the problem was but his feet didn't look right. I thought he was injured.

Soon he was able to eat on his own. His feet still weren't right. See that white place where his feet should be?

I brought him into the guest room, since he was a guest

In this light I could see that there was something on his feet and his wings. Spider webs! The wad on his feet was huge and actually had his feet stuck together. After I removed it he could stand on the perch so much better.

After about 30 minutes or so of feeding he was strong enough that he flew away when I touched him. He chose the motor cover of the ceiling fan as his new perch

Using a fish net and a box I was able to capture him for relocation to the outdoors. Here he is doing his best bat impression

His little toenails were caught in the net

I then coaxed him onto the perch on the feeder

I have checked on his several times and he is just hanging out on the feeder perch, re-energizing. I pray he is strong enough to fly off and live happily ever after.

markkazdad · Sep 15, 2013

Now that you've shot him up with sugar water, he'll probably see no need and will just sit around and get fat.

But you should probably be more worried about the garage spider that tried to take on a hummingbird.

TrishW · Sep 15, 2013

He is back in the downstairs guest room. My daughter checked on him and thought it was too cold outside so she brought him back into the guest room. We really don't need another pet

She has already named him Burrito. Our Meyer's parrot is named Taco.

markkazdad · Sep 15, 2013

TrishW said:
She has already named him Burrito. Our Meyer's parrot is named Taco.

:mod: DANGER! :mod:

TrishW · Sep 15, 2013

This morning at 6:17 Burrito was still hanging out lazily in the guest room on his feeder perch. When I went back in there at 9:00 he was on top of the ceiling fan. I tried to get him to perch on the broom with no luck. I couldn't find the fish net so finally I just picked up the feeder and held it up in the air. He flew right to it. I carried the feeder to the back porch and he stayed on the perch, drinking most of the way. When I got him outside he stayed on the perch for only ten of fifteen seconds before flying up and bumping the ceiling a few times. But he then flew off and straight up. He is probably up there now bumping his little head on the clouds.

I do wish I could've gotten a picture of his departure. But I realize this was probably a once in a lifetime experience and I will always remember it fondly.

Thanks to Burrito I am having my coffee on the porch for the first time in weeks. The weather is beautiful, cool with a breeze. This morning marked another first - I saw three females all feeding at the same time. Life is good!

H@rry · Sep 15, 2013

TrishW said:
I saw three females all feeding at the same time. Life is good!

I saw three females feeding at the same time for two straight weeks in June; my wife, daughter, and granddaughter. A few times my daughter-in-law joined in to make four! :snicker:

TrishW · Sep 15, 2013

H@rry said:
I saw three females feeding at the same time for two straight weeks in June; my wife, daughter, and granddaughter. A few times my daughter-in-law joined in to make four! :snicker:

LOL! You better hope they doesn't see that.

TrishW · Sep 25, 2013

An update

First let me say that I am LOVING the settling tank. Normally detritus collects at the baffles in my sump and it is hard to get to. Sunday evening when I did a WC I siphoned the settling tank down to about 1 inch of water and in less than five minutes with the shop vac I had removed the remaining water and all the detritus. We also took the sump offline and drained it to reposition it order to start building the wall and there was almost no detritus collected at the baffles. Settling tank is a definite SCORE!

So when we shopped for lumber we were also looking for a drill bit to use on the concrete to be able to attach the bottom plate of the walls. My favorite Lowe's employee recommended a nail gun instead. Not your average compressed air driven nail gun but a very inexpensive alternative that actually uses a .22 cartridge load. The tool cost $22 and we spent another $15 to $20 on the special nails and .22 loads, but it was worth every penny. It literally takes a few seconds to put a nail through the PT 2x4 and into the concrete. Way easier than drilling holes, which you have to keep cleaning the dust out or when you are done your anchor won't go all the way down into the hole.

Shop Duo-Fast Single Shot Powder Accutated Hammer Tool at Lowes.com