Blog Comments

One of the reasons for the vat being in the fishroom is so the water is close in temperature. Hopefully it'll never get too hot, but it may cool off too much and need some heaters. If it was in the garage, the vat would need a chiller to be usable.

To keep the water viable, it'll have to maintain circulation. I probably could definitely use a smaller pump, like the Sequence Snapper for example. Or drop in a Tunze or two, if the cord was long enough.

Score 1 for a nice bottle of Vodka. Have to keep it around for everyone when they get done moving your new monster tank in. . . they will probably need it and a keg of beer too, lol.

I would figure that an airstone shouldn't be necessary, You will probably run that pump for at least an hour just to mix well and you can run it again for 20 or 30 mins before doing a water change. Maybe even put a venturi of some sort into the recirculation line so add some fresh air into the tank so that when you mix/aerate the tank. Are you going to attempt to keep the tank warm so you can just do changes or do you plan to try and preheat the water in some way only before doing a change? I doubt that will be an issue durring the summer but when it is colder there will probably be a pretty good difference in water temp.

Yeah, it wasn't a purchased bottle. He let me have it to sample it, but I know I can purchase it at any local liquor store now, retailing at $20. I've got it in the freezer to get it nice and cold, and need to pick up some limes mañana. It was weird watching him fill it up from a tiny tap on the side of the giant upright poly container, then screw on the cap and hand it to me.

Yes, the tank will be recirculating to mix it up well. I don't know if I'll add an airstone or not, but could. I don't really want to skim it, after all. I may use my back up Dart pump as the salt mixing pump, which would double as a way to pump water back into the sump after a water change.

Hmmm. . . I don't see a tax sticker on that bottle, LOL. BTW did you get a good deal on vodka for dosing in your tank as well? Very cool though, that tank should do real nice for your water changes. But it's gonna take a while to get enough fresh water generated to even start making saltwater.

Have you thought about making a kind of closed loop for the tank to mix/aerate the water in the tank and then open a valve and be able to pump directly to your sump? I imagine that it would be much more effective than a powerhead in that size of a tank. Just drill a hole near the top and put a uniseal in. Maybe put a 90 inside with a 6" piece of pvc off from it to give the tank a "swirl" effect to help mix the water.

Originally Posted by Skamin

Have you fixed your rafter/ceiling issues? If not, let me know I can help.....

No not yet. What can you do? Get over here already.

I will. For now, it is on the side of the house out of the way until the construction is done.

sweet, got you a bottle straight out the distillery. be sure to post pics of the new storage tank as well

I'm still thinking about the layout for mine... nothing's in stone yet.

Holy Acrylic Batman, that is a beast of a sump! Nice job.. looks very professional.

looks great, going to build something simular for your new setup?

Have you fixed your rafter/ceiling issues? If not, let me know I can help.....

I was suggesting one of those for Jessy's new tank. I'd like to get one to put together just for the fun of it. Maybe I should build a big sump, drop in three of those and retire the Euro-reef. LOL

Nice, I was looking around at their cone skimmer kit. . . looks interesting and 325 with a pump and swabbie. Just have to build it yourself over a couple days but that looks like fun.

The new swabbie squeegee and rotating arm are on their way.

Word. Once you've had a stroke and survived, you see these things right away, and yet miss the obvious.

I like it. Seems peaceful. Just sit down there and drink a cold one in peace. :0) I also like the smell of new wood under construction.

I once shimmed up a corner of the cabin I was living in during collage using a 20 ton bottle jack. Nothing like hydrolics for brute force!

BTW interesting addition of some piratey lookin ships to the ReefAddicts Header

You will need a bottle jack to get that lifted up for sure. Worked in Lawton with a guy who does all kinds of construction stuff and figures it all out himself. We straightened a sagging house roof where all the rafter supports had let loose with a bottle jack and a 2x6. We were doing the same thing on a commercial building he bought that had a flat roof with no drainage but used 6x6's and a 2x8 with a 2x4 nailed to it to make a lop sided "T". The roof was raised about 12" on one side all by hand and a couple 2x4 blocks to keep anything from falling all the way back down. Will have to take some pics the next time I go back down there.

Too bad about the wiping system not fitting, they should be able to get you a different blade though.

So Marc, what I did with the ceiling over my tank was marine plywood, then sheetrock the rest of the room. This might help you in two ways. 1. Tying all the rafters together; 2. Giving you a good surface to attach to for things like rails, lamps, and other hanging stuff. I did it because I used rails and wanted to distribute the weight. I also hung a couple of my ballasts to cut down on vibration noise. It makes it very nice to be able to just screw in various components like power supplies, pump controllers, battery backups, etc. so I did some wall sections in ply as well.