It has begun!! After 17 days in transit, my tank just arrived at my door. It won’t actually be up and running for a couple of months (most likely), but I can at least get started now.
Congrats
The fun will beginThat pallet looks familiar! lOl
Gratz! I’ll be following along.
Thank you, thank you PBJ!
I was hoping to get the tank setup on the stand so I could take a picture, but that thing is way too damn heavy to lift solo. Gotta wait till reinforcements get home 
Congrat’s Adam, let the fun begin.
This may go down as the slowest build in history…
Just a quick update on my progress. I bought a booster pump on eBay for my RODI system and new media from BRS. On Friday I finally got around to hooking it up. I got lucky and there is already 1/4" line running to my whole house humidifier, which is also right next to my condensate pump. Source and drain all in one spot, WOO HOO! I cannibalized a three stage RO filter and now I’m running two RO membranes. I’m getting almost a 1:1 ratio on my water, thanks to the second membrane and the booster pump. I’m running right about 95 PSI.
I was in NJ to visit family over the weekend and decided to get in on the live rock deal over at Aquarium Center. $90 for 50lbs of fiji in a box. It’s not the best, but it is pretty nice and cheaper than dead base rock. I’ve got it cooking in the basement now.
Next step… paint the stand white and get the tank plumbed.
Turn your booster pump down a bit, 95 psi is too high as someone pointed out to me a few weeks ago. I contacted BRS and they recommend a max pressure of 75psi.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll do that. Do you know where they were taking the pressure reading?
After the sediment/carbon stage and before the membrane I believe.
OK, good. That’s where I’m measuring from.
My “honey-do” list finally got down to a reasonable level this weekend and I was able to do a little work on the tank. I only snapped one pic, but I’ll take some more once I get some more work done.
I leak tested the tank and the sump, no issues at all. No scratches on any panes of glass and all the seams are even. :
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The tank comes pre-drilled with two bulkheads, a 1" and a 20mm ( #@$^ ). Since no one in the US stocks metric PVC, this presents a problem. They provide plumbing for the 20mm to connect it to the two returns, but I want to use both for drains (a herbie setup). Luckily the locline for the returns are on standard 1/2" threads so I built new plumbing to get it up over the back of the tank and down to the sump. I’ll cut the 20mm stuff they gave me and use it as an emergency drain.
I started running some 1/4" tubing from behind the tank and into the basement where my RODI setup is. This will allow me to do top offs without carrying a bucket. My live rock has been cooking in the basement for a couple of months and should be ready to go into the tank after I do a big water change in the bin.
I have a few things left to purchase before I can actually fill the tank up and do my scape…
- Stand for my Kessil. I had someone who was going to machine a part for me, but wound up flaking out after 3 months. I might just buy the reeflightmounts.com one and be done with it. I hate the gooseneck with the exposed wires, but there seems to only be these two options.
- Live sand. Where’s a good place near Hockessin to pick this up? Or does everyone order online?
- 1/4" check valve (stupidly expensive at $10 and I’ve so far refused to buy one)
Not a whole lot of visible progress just yet, but I got the mount for my Kessil today. I broke down and ordered the mount from reeflightmounts.com. I’m really happy I did. Super nice construction and it is sleek and streamlined just like I want. It routes the wires neatly so you don’t see them (except from weird angles like this photo) and the height is adjustable. I snapped a quick picture. You can also see my “up and over” plumbing for the return lines.
I plumbed in the supply line from the basement too, so I’m ready to start filling the tank. BUT I have the finish the moulding around the wall this sits against before I’m unable to get back there. I’ve been putting that off for 4 months, so I guess I should get on it now.
Looks good, Adam.
any progress looking good
Wow, I’ve been very delinquent in updating this…The tank has been up and running now for 2 months. I actually picked up my first frags for it yesterday from ASR. I haven’t gotten any picks of them yet, but here’s a quick pic of the tank (don’t mind the dirty glass).
Quick question. Do you have your RODI running directly into your tank?
Short answer, nope. Long answer, my water comes from a well and has high CO2. I need to degas it before I can run it through my DI stage. So, the RO runs into the degasser, then through the DI resin into a 5g bucket. The bucket has a diaphragm pump with a pressure switch. The output of the pump runs up to a valve behind my tank. Opening the valve turns on the pump.
I use the pump mostly to fill my 1g ATO reservoir, but also to fill my brute can when I’m doing a water change.
Oh, and here’s a picture of the frags I got from ASR over the weekend.
WWC Sunny D, blue eyed-girls (I think), and fake utter chaos (finding the name).
Looks good, be careful not to burn those frags with your lights. Mike doesnt use those high power lights like you, i dont wanna see you burn your new additions.
Actually these were out of the tanks he runs Kessils over. That said, I’m not sure how hot he runs his, so I appreciate the advice. I’ve got them on the sandbed and can slide them into the shade if they get angry. With the exception of the Sunny D’s they opened up fully yesterday and didn’t seem stressed. I’ll keep a close eye on them.