Another update.
RODI Setup
I finally got around to making water. I bought this kit months ago and just got around to setting it up. I hooked it up to my washing machine water line.
I was definitely curious as to what pressure I was getting into my house. My last house was more in suburbia and the pressure was more what I would call normal. I moved somewhat out to the "country" so-to-speak and WOW... I saw pressures as high as 95psi from the wall!!! I'm a little concerned about my pipes but everything's jammin' so I'm not gonna sweat it for now.
Also found out that I have a leak in my unit. At first I thought it was coming from the carbon canister threads. I went to look for the included canister wrench only to realize my kit didn't seem to include one. I kept everything in its shipped packaging and didn't find it. Also I don't recall noticing one. No worries though as BRS is awesome, they sent me one, no questions ask. Even though its $4, its the customer support that's the point.
Fast forward, I come out later to see the adjacent canister wet as well. Further looking, turns out its dripping at the plastic fitting between the two filter housings. Once again, BRS sent out the $1 part asap. Luckily its leaking at like 1 drip per hour so its not bad at all. I probably won't bother putting it in until I have to replace my first carbon filter.
I did go ahead and install my float valve. I didn't know how high people tended to install them. I didn't want it too high as to make any moving difficult (although I don't know that I'll move this much) but not too low as to waste space. In the end I installed it within the handle area to add a "bumper" for protection. I'm happy with the fill level.
Fish Stand
Made some more progress on the fish stand. Well, at least on the house part of it. I figure I need to install the sump to run the plumbing. I need to install the fish stand bottom to install the sump. To ever push the stand back in place, I need to line the back wall and vapor barrier the wall and stand bottom (my intentions, not required). So I'm at the point of installing my "wall guard" or basically, the back wall of the stand.
I'm making it 1 inch off the wall as to clear some of my chair railing and trim. It's going to eventually be finished on the outside to look like my kitchen cabinets so I'm taking it to the same height. This will be my anchor of sorts for the canopy and stuff.
Boards ripped to 1in for standoffs.
1/4in plywood, Kiltz coated the back side so far to seal the wood up.
Then, as of today I've mounted some of that wood on the wall.
I also finished the top of the stand bottom shelf with the garage floor, polyurethane oil paint. Two quick thick coats left to cure in the sun. Could have been sanded between, coated thinner, etc. to look better but it will work.
Quarantine Tank
Well, I did a thing. Probably a bad thing but my desire for results as well as my intentions to time things to get fish in my DT as soon as reasonably possible, I went ahead and got a few small fish. ;Muted Specifically, the wife wanted two Benggai Cardinals we saw and I was set on a little Firefish/Fire Goby. To make myself look worse, I went to local stores as it seemed practical to see what's available locally before making an animal endure shipping in my locally 90*F+ weather. I wish I can say I got my fish from a reputable small LFS. Unfortunately they came from the big box corporate place "where the pets go." Now, I will say this particular Petco is definitely the best one in my city for saltwater. I've always known they had more of a selection than any other one around. They even sell corals and had a tank from the local reef club on display with their advertising. I bought them only because they actually looked good and healthy. I knew what I wanted but definitely told myself I wouldn't buy them if they didn't look well. That said, these fish all looked bright eyed and active in store. They will definitely be going through a long QT period.
I know I should have let the tank cycle for a few weeks but instead I went ahead and added IO Bio Spira. The bottle was well in date and I've had luck in the past using Bio Spira, although this was back when it was in a soft pack and was refrigerated. Nonetheless, the fish are doing good so far. I have my Red Sea test kit coming in the mail Thursday (another bad thing I did, no test kit before fish). I also have Amquel+ on-hand for any ammonia spike or surprises as indicated by my little badge until Thursday. 48hr in I've done a 25% WC for good measure. I have also dosed a bit of Bio Spira each day to support the bacteria situation.
As far as the fish go, they are eating pretty well. They are definitely getting better each day as they settle in. They take to frozen brine shrimp well. Following some of Austin Lefevre's guidance (but obviously not all
) I'm feeding small portions of what they'll eat more often. I only accidentally bought the frozen brine in the LFS on my way out. At home I realized I meant to get MYSIS shrimp, not BRINE shrimp. know brine shrimp is not nutritious but they are eating it well. I did get some frozen mysis the next day. They eay that somewhat but not as well as the brine. I alternate nontheless.
I also made a lid out of some lexan I had lying around. Used the router and learned some lessons on working with plastics for sure. Its far from pretty but it works to keep the splashing and humidity in. The tank gets a lot of air via the powerhead which has a venturi included.
I threw on a shop light for the time being.
However, despite making the lexan lid and having the LED shop light, I really just couldn't make myself happy with this haphazard look. So I've ordered the Aqueon LED hood for this tank with a second daylight bulb. It definitely seemed wasteful as the light is junk in terms of capability. But I figured it would help me inspect these little buggers more properly. With the dim lighting, they are pretty hard to see regarding any small, close up details.
Its this hood only the 30in size.
Also made a little useful tool with some child medicine syringe to kinda imitate a ghetto version of "Julian's Thing" to suck up detritus off the tank floor. Far from impressive but has a use.
The End (of this update).
Thanks for reading!
EDIT: Idk why but I cannot delete this image below from the reply....
