The build has been stalled again.
I broke the 5.5g chaeto tank, minutes before I was to flow test the system.
I'll go shopping Sunday and hope someone has another tank. Good thing I bought more than one hole saw from Princess Auto.

I was going to remove the baffle from the broken 5.5g and post the tank FF.
I broke the back panel. Now there's nothing left worth using except the ends.
Thanks Murphy
It's forcefully going in the garbage tomorrow with much pleasure :twised:

Think I won't take a chance on another store bought 5.5g as they are just too thin
I'm going to attempt to use the broken one's frame and make my own out of (hopefully ) 6mm

I NEED more pitchurs!!!

I love the Sump!!! Very well planned out with LOTS of thought put into it!

Thank you :biggrin:
I'll get more pics up this week after I finish the chaeto tank install

You are wwwaaaaayyyy too patient !!! Don't know when I can see your tank is running.
I was looking to get the same baskets you have under your stand but I couldn't find it. Where did you get them ? I am trying to copy the way you organize your things, but I have to say I gave up ! Too much work ... and need patience .... I don't have patience like you :twised:

It may be OCD :wink: Everytime I think of a different or possibly better way to change something, I obsess about it until I can't help but do it.

I got the baskets a couple summers ago @ Home Depot. You may have to shop around though as I don't recall seeing them there lately.

Found 'em
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/2-ti...ll-rack/967730
They also come in a 3 tier unit
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/3-ti...ll-rack/966755

I put one recently on the inside of my left door for pellets, mag cleaners etc

You are SOOO sweet :razz: I am going to get a couple of them tomorrow.
Thanks Greg :mrgreen:

You're most welcome

Chaeto tank is built and curing.
With a whole lot of elbow grease, I managed to remove all the glass from the broken 5.5g to re-use the trim.
I was quite shocked to see how much silicone Aqueon used. The whole upper trim was sealed to the glass.
I couldn't fit 6mm in it, but 5mm fit perfectly. A FAR cry from the flimsly 2mm the original came with. It feels nice and solid now.
Pics to come in 2-3 days when it's tested and plumbed.

I'm gettin' a little impatient with the rock cooking. We'll see how long I can hold out.
Once all these fussy things are done, it may be time to fill the system, scape it and put some fish in the QT :razz:
After all, it's only been 3-1/2 months since I started this journal, and 6 since I decided to go SW :mrgreen:

You are a little "impatient" with the rock cooking ? .... hahaha ... nice try to say that, Greg :mrgreen: You have LOTS of patience and I think you are actually trying to torture everybody, especially ME, to have to wait to see your tank when it is running :becky:
By the way, I got 2 racks from Home Depot. LOVE IT !

your way too patient dude :lol:

well Im gonna give Greg props for taking the time to do it right and not settle for "good enough".....I think way to many people settle for the way things work out instead of taking the time and expense of re-doing something that isnt functioning or looking right.....

Great looking build Greg!....

Hehe, thanks everyone. I know you may think I'm too patient. As I told Casey, it may be a case of OCD :wink:
Ya, I do feel like I'm torturing many, myself included.
I'm also worried you're all going to be disappointed once you see it wet. I only bought 14# LR and am not going to stuff it with critters right off :mrgreen:
Thanks fishy for your thoughts. I'm hoping I'm not fussing with it once it's wet :rolleyes:

Chaeto ( maybe /frag tank later ) is up and running.
I'm quite happy with how it turned out. All I need is a swing check-valve for it's plumbing as the anti-siphon hole I drilled interferes with the secondary system's ease of re-start .... I get loads of air in the lines that cause the UV/Chiller line to spew loads of water that splashes everywhere.
Tonight I tested the new tank with full flow. Surprisingly, it will handle all the flow from it's Eheim 1262. Good to know in case I turn off the UV/Chiller and TLF reactors at the same time.

Besides the emerg overflow, I also built a flood perimeter as I like redundancy.

So, without further ado, here's the sump before
( I still need to build the new Chiller stand )

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC00898.jpg

And after
Notice the removal of the in-sump Chaeto tank ?
Now there's piles of room to remove the pumps

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC00944.jpg

The whole thing so far

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC00939.jpg

And the Chaeto tank running

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC00945.jpg

Next, I'm on to the list I started of 12 more things I found need doing, of which at least 8 have to be done before I go salty. I am going to fully test this system running before it gets salt, making sure the kill switches work correctly. Then it's getting another test salty to make sure the ATO is working right. I might as well be as anal-as-all-get-out at this point, otherwise, what's the point in taking so much time and effort ? Right ? Ya ? Would you rush it at this point ? :mrgreen:

Thanks to RDNanoguy and fishytime for their thoughts on my TLF reactors interfering with the socks. You'll see they have been moved.
And thanks to the rest of you for the support.
Keep the nice comments and suggestions coming :razz:

Looks like a professionals work to me! Nicely done Greg!!

That is OCD in it's truest form, well done Greg.
Looks awesome.
Is that a main drain and an emergency drain in your Cheato tank ?

Thanks so much Wayne. Is your build progressing well ?


Thank you, I think :smile:
If it's not officially OCD, then we'll call it boredom
Ya, there's both, plus the 'trough' in case it ever overflows the overflow

Whoops
I forgot to mount the light before I took the pics
Oh well

It's coming along! I'm leaving for a week long trip to Mexico on Monday so I am just trying to get things all tuned in and stable before I leave.

Finally I see some water is running, not really salted water yet but there is something to look at for now ... :razz:
I have the same Eheim pump just like you. I think if you use vinyl tubing instead off the pvc pipe and use a mouse pad to put underneath it, it will reduce the vibration humming sound from it. Maybe not a big deal for you, but my tank is in my bedroom so I am very fussy about noises. I try to reduce any unecessary noise as much as I can.

Sorry I missed some of your build Wayne. Guess I was sleeping :razz:
Your's looks amazing

Redundancy on these tanks is essential, as far as i'm concerned.
You can never be too safe. The trough is such an easy piece to add so why not.

Our DT is in our livingroom, and we sleep next to it, so quiet is of the utmost importance.
I have many pumps in my office to listen to. Besides the powerheads/filters in my QT and curing rock tub, I also have 2 x Eheim 1262s in the sump :razz:
If you look over my pics, you'll see there's one for the UV/Chiller/Chaeto/Reactor circuit and another for the DT return :wink:
I use this filter material for dampening and it works great. As it wears out I can replace it as I only use small squares.
I have used Spa-flex where needed instead of vinyl tubing.

Ya, exactly. Thanks for your support :razz:

Wow, wicked setup! Nicely done man!

Wow, thanks Tony.
Coming from you, I'll take that as a definate compliment :smile:
Guys and Gals like yourself inspire me to build The Reef
I hope, one day, to have a tank as nice as Reefers like you.

I mentioned earlier that I forgot to post a pic of the Chaeto light

Here's the light on the tank. Sorry about the bad lighting

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC00948.jpg

Alright, how many of you saw the verticle blind cables in the picture ?
Or even the rules ?

Is there even a tank in there?

Oh man you're too kind. Other than that it's inwall mine is pretty basic. I love builds like yours where you have clearly thought things through with a plan. You are well on your way to having an amazing reef in there before you know it.

Missed everything on left side of picture, was there even a tank in that pic?

Is it the air conditioner on the window ?

Hi Greg, this is amazing. I remember reading the first page and pointing out to my wife that he was able to steal the bathroom for his RODI station. She scolded me on that comment.

I don't know if you answered this or not already, but won't you have a detritius trap underneath that stand for your protein skimmer? It doesn't look like the water flows underneath that first baffle, but rather it goes over top.

WOW! Very cool build. So neat and tidy! Some day... Some day...

Looking very nice! I think we should compare notes sometime, spread the OCD around a bit!

Thanks everyone. The encouragement is helping my patience :razz:

Tony, you're too humble.

I'm glad you guys like the print. I have to keep it 'cause my dad printed it. He was even at the photo shoot - lucky bugger.

Yup, that's an A/C unit in the window. We have another in the Master. When it's too hot I leave the furnace fan running and they cool the whole house. I usually put them away for winter but got lazy this last fall.

Ya, I'll get some detritus under the skimmer stand, but I figured it's worth it. If I had the socks before the skimmer I'd lose too much return area which is why I decided to incorporate them with the bubble trap. The trade-off will allow me to do up to about a 20g running water change.

This is the skimmer stand

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...immerStand.jpg

I have about 4" of clearance between it and the drain lines so I'll be able to slide the skimmer back to clean out that chamber. I'm thinking I'll probably use a turkey baster and dump it into the socks before a sock swap.

Thanks, I'm quite pleased with it all so far.

I got lucky with the master bathroom as my wife only uses the main. Since it's always been 'the boy's' bathroom, why not take advantage of it :smile: