So today was a fun day, I ended up jumping the gun and doing everything since it was Easter and just about everything was closed or so I think. I was going to wait till mid week to do the plumbing and so on but... did today. What I assumed was going to take an hour or two turned into 8+. At the end it was well worth it, my display tank is almost empty of frags!
Here are some photos of the tear down and going through the stand and wall. There is enough space for me to hide under the stand now. LOL
Cut out and reused the old unions. I just hope I never have to do anything serious with this part of the plumbing. Normally I would use unions but as you can see, there wasn't enough space after using the coupling and on top of that the unions got in the way of other piping. Top pipe is 3/4" return, middle emergency drain and the bottom is the main drain. It's set up to run as a Herbie drain set up. Currently I am running socks for a few reasons. Mechanical filtration, micro bubbles, and last they are easier to change out now that my sump is in the open.
Some random PVC gluing, curing time was the main time delay. I ended up letting them dry for a little and then rinsing them with tap water to wash off any residue where I could. Thanks Chris for putting that thought into my mind! Had one bizarre incident with setting it up. The gate valve on he return to the main tank had a crack in it, I assume this is a manufacture defect or it could have been my fault. SCH40 is kind of a let down, the sides of the body had cracks. My reason for saying it could have been my fault was due to over tightening when closing the valve, I think it caused pressure on the valve and just split. Ace Hardware open on a Sunday, Easter Sunday? Nahhh, no time. I ended up sanding the sides with coarse sand paper and used PVC glue seal it up again. I'll have to pick up another gate valve later on to replace it when I need to service it.
Leftover, vinegar bath and then they will be going up for sale. Maybe I should keep the Eheim put as a back up to my mixing tank.
One of the best sumps I've had! Trigger System CRYS30E, this was one of the best production models before everyone started to do custom sumps. Some vinegar will make this bad boy look new, maybe I will use it for my QT set up... or not. LOL
Mid day mash up!
Cleaning was brutal, washed off as much as I could till tomorrow or later through the week when I'll be filling the sump with water and vinegar. Everything that needs to be cleaned will be dropped in so they can come out nice and fresh again.
Took some time to adjust everything so it would run smoothly and quietly. The DC12000 is on full blast, moves a ton of water but not enough. Good thing I switched for this, originally had the DC9000 and thought that was moving water. So far I have the DC12000 powering both tanks, Bio-pellet reactor, and the carbon reactor. I haven't messed with the calcium reactor yet, that will be for tomorrow or at lease to have water in it and circulating. pH probes also need to be added, speaking of which I need to order another one for the calcium reactor.
Skimmer, Bubble Magus Curve 5 had an initial problem. It would just continue to overflow at the minimum water level of 9.5" and on top of that the output/water level tube was removed completely. Had to think quick and ended up using one of my frag racks to put under and it was the perfect height. A few minor adjustments and the bubble level was easily adjusted up to the neck.
Refugium area is HUGE! Took all my chaeto and tossed it in, had to spread it out to "fill" it in. LOL, the light is currently rigged, might stay the same or I will make a bracket from aluminum to attach it.
Added one of the MP10s to the tank and so far its decent flow but could be better. I might have to install one of the WP25s and see what happens. The pro about MP10 is that I have a battery back up while the WPs I would need to buy a battery back up unit to ensure flow is still going if there is ever a black out. The second MP10 will be added later on in the week as well as the frags from that tank. Remaining LR and such will be transferred semi-slowly.
Tunze ATO is hooked up, new 300w Titanium heater was added as well. Still have wires to tidy up, aside from that mess things are looking good. Reef-A-Palooza here I come! Hoping to get a nice score of stuff, no more hardware! It's all coral, high end coral from here on out.
Next few days will be critical. Water testing and corrective actions will need to be taken to keep stability of the tank. I am hoping for no cycle, but doing the math, I added about 50% water volume. Same rocks and the tiles were added a few days before so it should suffice. New tank syndrome is not something I want as well, things are doing great in the tank.
That's it for tonight! Bed time, work at 6AM. :doh:
