Salty build in SA

[Hammerheadz]

 

[Hammerheadz]

New display tank on hold for now. Will be content with my frag and stock tanks till I've got the time and resources to do this the way I want to.

 

[Hammerheadz]

Ya... this build got put on hold a bit but it's not dead. I've done a lot of work on this build over the past couple months. Here's some updates. Time to paint this stand...

 

[Hammerheadz]

A few coats of primer with some touch ups to the finish along the way...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Now Brown...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Now Grey...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Now for my primary blue color...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Now for some light dry brushing with a lighter blue after some random sanding and repainting to antique the texture...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Time to sand through this guy and reveal some colors...

 

[Hammerheadz]

After some blending I did about 5 rounds of polycrylic...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Final piece to the finish is an antique glaze...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Starting the sump area customizations... Some multi-color LED lighting, 2 part dosers and some access holes to run electrical out nice and clean...

 

[Hammerheadz]

I am doing a bit of DIY through this build. I'm building my own tank which I'm excited about. I was planning on building my own custom sump however the new Sapphire Trigger sumps came out and I was in love.

They came in from MD packaged really nice. This is the Trigger Sapphire 34 along with a matching 5g ATO tank.

 

[Hammerheadz]

They are looking great in the stand... Still have to put some rubber mats down but I had to see them in there...

 

[Hammerheadz]

Got my glass panels in from a local supplier. Tank dimensions will be 36" wide x 26" deep x 24" tall. 1/2 glass and frameless. I ordered 3 Low-Iron panels for the front and two sides. Not my first time to put together a tank but my first time to do a frameless one at this size. It came together pretty nicely. I have a little bit of minor silicone cleanup to do here at some point but overall I think it came out pretty sharp. Here in a couple more weeks I'll do a water test.

 

[Hammerheadz]

I had the glass shop drill the two overflow holes for me before delivery of the panels so I didn't have to mess with it. I've got one of those new Shadow overflows on pre-order so looking forward to that coming in. However now that I've got it together I thinking about not bringing the returns over the top into Seaswirls as planned and just drilling for 3/4" bulkheads on each side with some Loc-Line nozzles... I'm not 100% on this yet but leaning that way. It will be at least another weak before I'm willing to flip the tank over to drill so we'll see.

 

[Hammerheadz]

I've got a few hundred pounds of good looking liverock to work with; also about a dozen bioceramic plates. All of it's been cooking in this 100g stock tank for the past 7-10 months. Plan on starting work on the aquascaping in the next couple weeks...

 

[Hammerheadz]

I've been trying to figure out a method to keep the wiring/cord control looking clean both inside and outside of the tank while making it easy to pull components for cleaning, servicing and replacement as needed along the way. I've done the black zip tie rout before and it worked okay but it's always been a pain to have to cut ties and figure out how to get the component out of the nest of cords.

While at the local HD these guys jumped out at me and an epiphany formed...

Left to right... As purchased > removed clamps to leave just the rubber 1 1/2" sleeve > Cut a slit on one side > add two velcro straps that fit nicely inside of the clamp groves.

Installed in corners of sump area... I know right now they look a little random but I think once they have a bundle of black wires running up them on both sides up into the top cable ports it will look pretty clean. Velcro straps will make them easy to open and close to pull components.

 

[Hammerheadz]

With this post my tank journal is up to date. A Couple of pictures of where things stand as of right now. I did get my 1/2" rubber mat cut and down in the sump area. Trimmed up some messy silicone in a couple of spots on the tank. Added a bamboo background for the tank set up. Still not sure if I like it but I didn't like the window blinds in the background. May or may not change that up in some way.

Next steps for me...
- Give tank one more week to cure, then leak test; playing it safe at 4 weeks
- About the same time as leak test I'll cut my two return holes for 3/4" bulkheads
- Will go ahead and hard plumb in from sump to back of tank; blue colored PVC is ordered; using lots of SCH80 unions to make it easy to take apart and do maintenance and or changes
- I'm working on finishing up my 4 doors
- Start working on my aquascape. Once I have the forms done I'll just put it back into my 100g stock tank till ready to move
- Look for a good two chambered dosing tank that can fit in the space next to my ATO and look cool; Any thoughts?
- Sicce Syncra Pro 1500 going in the return chamber
- Expanding my DA ReefKeeper Elite controller set up with a 4th power bar module and the salinity monitoring module; already have modules set for monitoring temp, PH, ATO control and NET module connection
- Main thing holding back getting water in this set up is waiting on the Shadow overflow that is shipping out sometime in November; lots to do between now and then though

Still figuring out
- Skimmer selection; I have an ASM G4 as well as a Bubble Magus Curve D9. Trying to decide on using one of those or going another route. Opinions/feedback?
- Lighting setup; I have 250W and 400W MH's I could set up as well as a 6 bulb 36" T5 fixture that I built. I kinda want to try a T5 / LED hybrid though. Opinions / feedback?
- Paint back of tank? Dark Blue? Black? Leaning black... Opinions / Feedback?

Designing towards a very colorful mixed reef with a handful of fish and critters. This will be a heavily stocked 90-95g display w/ 30-35 sump/fuge.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Hammerheadz]

Some odds and ends arrived today from BRS. One item was a new ATO float switch kit for my DA Reefkeeper Elite. Had a small issue though and thought I'd share.

Everything went together fine but one of the bolt threads on the securing arm was not threaded as it should be and as the other unit is...

Close up...

So busted the tap and die kit out...

Found the right thread size...

Ready... set...

Go...

Now as it should be...

Shiny...