JCOLE's Big Box of Rocks

[Captain Quint]

Looking good!

 

[JCOLE]

Looking good!

Thank you! Feeling a little overwhelmed. There is still so much to do. Slow and steady though

 

[JCOLE]

I had a pretty busy weekend that kept me running around. I am glad I chose to wait another two weeks because I would never have been able to do all of this over the weekend. For starts, I put the 2nd coat on the back of the fish tank on Friday night. It is looking good but will need one more final coat. I switched the old sump over to the new sump and currently have the existing tank set up running through the new sump. This will make things a lot easier when switching over to the new tank.

Saturday I started the morning off cutting the hole into the garage to plumb in the (4) 1" PVC pipes. I had some help from my little man. He is always wanting to help me out especially when tools are involved. Lol

Holes are cut and ready for PVC this week. Once PVC is in then I am planning on framing around the pipes to help quiet them and help with aesthetics.

I then removed my old sump and installed my new 40 gallon sump. Excuse the wiring. I am going to tidy everything up once I am finished and in its permanent location.

Old Sump

New Sump - I still need to plumb (4) 1" pipes to the supply and return for the new tank. Wiring will need to be cleaned Overall all it is working great.

New sump

I moved the Mangroves over to my Refugium where my skimmer was currently located. I think this is a better spot for them anyway. Now it holds my Mangroves in one chamber and my Chaeto in another. I removed the mangroves out of the Solo cups they were in and put them into some light diffuser. I never have seen this before but thought it was a great idea to hold them in place for the rooting to take hold. I put them in the fuge and covered the diffuser with sand. Good news is they were in the Solo cups for about two weeks and they are already starting new roots!!!

Always a great time when I get to use my heat gun on some Acrylic. I had to make some new float switch holders. I also made a new holder for my ATO. Works very well.

I spent the majority of Yesterday pressure washing rocks to get ready for their curing process. The first batch were rocks I picked up from the guy I bought the tank from. The second batch were Dry Rocks I picked up off Amazon for around $50 for 40 pounds. These dry rocks off Amazon are what I currently have in my 55 gallon and I love them.

First batch

Amazon Dry Rock - Before pressure washing

Amazon Dry Rock - After Pressure Washing

Little man helping me fill up the bucket to wash the rocks off

Ended up taking them out of the Brute trash can and making a Curing station for the rocks. I am going to set up my 150 with my existing sand and rock and add these rocks in a month or two once cured.

I have a lot of work left to do but I am confident I can make it happen within two weeks. Fingers crossed!!

 

[palmer]

Hey if you need any help I am in Concord also- use to live in Miami myself-
Message me if you need any help I have a 150 Gal too

 

[JCOLE]

Hey if you need any help I am in Concord also- use to live in Miami myself-
Message me if you need any help I have a 150 Gal too

Thats Awesome!. I might just take you up on that. This thing is heavy. Lol. Small world. Sending you a PM now.

 

[JCOLE]

Spent the night yesterday changing out my skimmer. I upgraded from my Reef Octopus 150 to a Reef Octopus 200. This thing is HUGE!! The picture doesn't do it justice. See picture below. That is a large Red Bull in front of it for comparison.

It looks good in my sump and is creating a storm of skimmate!

 

[JCOLE]

When the time comes next weekend should I rinse out my sand bed to try and remove as much detritus and waste as possible or just leave alone?

 

[JCOLE]

A lot of running around trying to meet this weekends deadline isnt looking to promising. I could probably still make it work but I dont want to rush anything. However, If I dont get it done this weekend then it will be a minimum of 3 weeks before I can get it done. The heat is on!

Finished the canopy this weekend. Waiting for my Neptune VDM modules and lunar module with moon LEDs to come in. Should be here by Friday then I can hook up my lights in my canopy. Still need to drill the stand for plumbing and finishing plumbing into the garage. [emoji26][emoji50][emoji21]

I have (3) Mars Aqua 165w LED black boxes but I am wondering if I should get one more. What do you think?

 

[NY_Caveman]

If it is a standard 72” 150, 3 should be enough. That is 24” coverage each. I have a single SB Reef Lights 165W black box over a 26” tank and it is fine. PAR info here. I would definitely clean the sandbed too, but I am not a sand person to be honest.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Wait, if you mean when you move it I would use all new sand.

 

[JCOLE]

If it is a standard 72” 150, 3 should be enough. That is 24” coverage each. I have a single SB Reef Lights 165W black box over a 26” tank and it is fine. PAR info here. I would definitely clean the sandbed too, but I am not a sand person to be honest.

Yes it is a standard 72" 150. I really want to go dominate SPS once the tank gets up and running and established. I just picked up a second VDM module for dimming and I will have an extra two channels for another black box. I dont mind getting a 4th and turning the power down if it distributes evenly. I have ready that there could be some dead spots if not spaced properly. I seen a lot of 3 boxes on 125-150's so I dont think it would be an issue also.

Decisions decisions.

 

[JCOLE]

Wait, if you mean when you move it I would use all new sand.

Yes. I have enough sand in my 55 for a small ocean. Lol. I am going to clean it and get it sparkling white again and I am going to mix it with a couple bags of live sand.

What do you think?

 

[JCOLE]

I picked up a couple 1" check valves off of Amazon and I am concerned because they have metal springs to keep it shut. Do you think it will be an issue with Saltwater? I have seen a couple of reviews that said they installed the check valves on their tank without problems. Just curious.

 

[kamla]

i would stay away from that check value.

also you never know when it can fail.
i would set up the sump in such a way that if the system is turned down, it SHOULD not over flow.

that's it, no need for a check valve.

 

[JCOLE]

i would stay away from that check value.

also you never know when it can fail.
i would set up the sump in such a way that if the system is turned down, it SHOULD not over flow.

that's it, no need for a check valve.

Thanks. Yeah I currently dont have a check valve on my return pump and it is set up to not overflow. Everytime I turn off my pump it drains a lot into the sump and always messes with my ATO. I usually turn off the ATO through my Apex and let it stabilize before turning back on.

 

[JCOLE]

I am "Hopefully" done with my canopy now. I put three coats of black on the canopy and decided on Polyacrylic for added strength. I used a roller to apply the Polyacrylic and it didn't turn out as expected. It created a lot of little white air bubbles. My wife said it looks "Oceanic" and she actually likes it(I think she wants me to just stick with it..Lol). At first, I wasn't happy with it but after a day or so it doesn't seem that bad. What do you all think? Should I put a black coat over it to try and hide the bubbles or just leave it?

Started prepping the Mars Aqua lights last night for the arrival of the Apex VDM dimming module(arriving today). I ordered a fourth Mars Aqua light along with another VDM module. Also waiting on my Apex lunar module with moonlights. Hopefully, they are here by the weekend.

Little man helping me out with the lights.

 

[JCOLE]

Lights in and Canopy are almost done. I have an Apex EB832 controlling all the blues and whites of each light individually. I have (2) VDM modules controlling the dimmer of each blue/white light. Also added the LSM module with 4 moon lights. Whats cool is I linked it to my Alexa so now she can control the lights with my voice...lol. I know its a little much.

If everything goes as planned then I will be breaking down the tank this afternoon to try and move tomorrow if possible..

 

[JCOLE]

Little man helping me this morning fill up the first saltwater reservoir. 60 gallons made so far, 100 gallons to go.

Also, don't mind the wires. Lol. Have a lot of work in progress before the final prep.

 

[JCOLE]

Got it in and it looks great! Went a lot smoother than I was expecting. Now on to the plumbing and hopefully adding water tomorrow.

 

[JCOLE]

Added water and no leaks!! However, I am having a hard time getting the return to stabilize when the flow is turned up. I have to dial it down a lot to get it to quit. Any suggestions?