hobbby Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hi everyone, My name is Steve and first let me just say I’m already addicted to reefing, and I have yet to make one ounce of saltwater. It all started when I received a 10 gallon fresh water setup from a friend I thought my 11 year old son and 2 year old daughter would enjoy in January 2012. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, ok I admit I enjoyed it more than they did, but after getting the little tank all setup it left a little to be desired. At the LFS in Albany called All for Fish they have a 120 gallon reef tank that stole our attention each time we visited. So our journey began. I spent the better part of the last couple months reading message boards, two books and visiting the 3 LFS around town for options. I gathered a bunch of quotes and discovered it was going to cost an arm and a leg to get started with 100% new gear, anywhere between 2k - 5k depending on equipment variables. So I hit craigslist in search of a deal closer to my budget, to my surprise I found quite a few deals. These are the ones I settled on. 90 gallon salt water tank and Stand 30 gallon long sump Mag 7 Return pump $160 2 175 watt MH w/ballasts and used bulbs approx 3mths usage 2 VHO fixtures w/icecap ballast 5 extra VHO bulbs to play with color variations also 3mths usage $75 GSM G3 Skimmer I bought from Woody at the Seahorse a LFS near my work $60 Several trips to home depot, a few online and LFS purchases I’ve spent about $875 and I’m ready for water as soon as the rest of my rock arrives from reefrocks. Leaktest after I brought it home: http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/IMG-20120215-00035.jpg[/img]"] Lighting: I constructed a hood to mount the lighting system since the craigslist stand didn't come with one. Then gave the tank a new finish and painted the living room to match. http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/IMG-20120318-00227.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/IMG-20120403-00323.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120425-00459.jpg[/img]"] Tank circulation and filtration: Basic DURSO plumbing with a mag 7 return pump. You’ll notice no bubble trap or skimmer area in my sump. My plan is to use an ATO to keep the sump at the desired level for the skimmer, and keep the entire sump free flowing to encourage good flow for my chaeto. I hear for the GSM G3 likes to run at 8.5 inches depth. In the tank I have a JBJ circulation kit including 1 controller and 2 1600gph powerheads I bought an ATO kit from autotopoff.com and a 6 gallon ATO container from igloo. http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120428-00496.jpg[/img]"] RO/DI Water: I live out in the sticks and have filtered well water to start with. 20 TDS is my starting point so pretty good quality to start. I run it through a DI filter to clean up the 20 remaining TDS. This brings us to current: My sand and half my rock from reefrocks.net showed up last night so I figured I'd give my first aquascape a try, well half of one anyway. What do you guys think? I can’t wait to get water in this thing to start my cycle. The rest of the tank setup equipment and liverock and livestock I’ll be buying from The Premium Aquarium. Thank you Garrett for answering all my questions and loiter around your store all the time. http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120428-00498.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120427-00483.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120427-00487.jpg[/img]"] What do you guys think, anything stand out that I should do differently? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h2odvl Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Very clean looking! I really like it, the aquascape looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Great start to your first Reef tank. I've had about 10 tanks over the past 2 years or so already...(laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Very well done, and it's nice to have another reefer in the area. Garrett's great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Great start, all nicely done! you may have to play around with the sump once you get it up and running if you have air bubbles returning into the display but its easy to solve with some baffles. Very nice woodwork! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachS Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Welcome to the hobby and forum. Glad to see another salem area reefer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Thanks for all the kind words everyone, excited to be here. Are there monthly local meetings or anything like that, maybe? I'll be poking around some other threads here too see what I can find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 monthly meetings yes, usually in the portland area, though. Garret's super awesome, glad you found him! welcome to the addiction! I'm working on setting up my 90g right now! and transition from a 55. In addition to the bubbles issue you may have from the skimmer and no baffles, you may find that the salinity swings more than you want. as the water level drops (from evaporation), the salinity increases until the top-off switch catches it. with a smaller return pump area, it means the same volume of evaporation causes a greater vertical change, which makes the ato keep the salinity more stable. may not be an issue with your setup, especially with the more hardy corals, but worth considering. looking really good though! you had me confused with half a sandbed, but then I read that you're getting more. I like the looks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbird Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Nice tank build Just one concern. Your lights are attached to the lid of your hood. Every time you open hood your are going to get a full blast of those bulbs. They are brighter then you might think. Looking good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Looking great my friend! Super clean and I can already picture what the aquascape might look like Awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 Nice tank build Just one concern. Your lights are attached to the lid of your hood. Every time you open hood your are going to get a full blast of those bulbs. They are brighter then you might think. Looking good so far. Indeed, its one of the drawbacks of going with such a slim hood. At night when the lights are on and I open the hood its like daylight in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 Looking great my friend! Super clean and I can already picture what the aquascape might look like Awesome!! Thanks Garrett, I was really hoping to get the rest of my dry rock Friday but the second box isn't expected to arrive until Thursday now arg! When will you be officially closed for moving? I'll fill up a cooler with salt water and head in for some live rock on the last day your open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Relalized I wasn't clear about your meeting question. Next one is in Eugene/Springfield, non-members always welcome, though there are sometimes Raffles/etc that only members are eligible for. Membership basically works out to $2/month, everyoneexpires December 31st, so yours should cost $16, if you joined about now and I did my math right.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Monday will be the last day at the old shop for now. Then, aftera bout 1.5-2 weeks the new shop will be open! By the way the picture of your daughter looking at one of the tanks is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Monday will be the last day at the old shop for now. Then' date=' aftera bout 1.5-2 weeks the new shop will be open! By the way the picture of your daughter looking at one of the tanks is awesome.[/quote'] Thanks to Garrett for the great deal on this beautiful live rock and a Chromis for my quarantine tank. The large piece has a cool look feather duster thing on it. Tried to get a picture but its small and on the back side. The last of my dry rock should be here Thursday so the next update should have 90 gallons of salt water fun in it http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120429-00516.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120429-00514.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Salem-20120429-00510.jpg[/img]"] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 What are these cute little tube worm fan things? http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/100_2254.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/100_2240.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/100_2256.jpg[/img]"] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachS Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 They are feather dusters. They are good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 They are feather dusters. They are good +1 (10 characters) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Awesome I love em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 welcome from one new reefer to another, your tank is looking really good before it sees water =D and your aquascaping definately looks better then mine even if it is half way ps im like the only other garrett in oregon doing this ha not the one in salem =D though i wish i had the livestock he does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteRock Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 You found nice deals on that equipment! Glad you were able to get into the hobby. Cute kid! She looks so excited, I would be too if I had a tank three times the size of me Cool way to set up the tank along the hallway so you can see it as you come in. "and painted the living room to match" -LMFAO!!! Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Yeah you definitely have the right attitude... paint the living room to match the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 UPDATE: Scape is done and 1/3 full of water. I won't sleep tonight until I get the pumps on http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Woodburn-20120503-00530.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Woodburn-20120503-00532.jpg[/img]"] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Looks amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbby Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Looks amazing! Thanks Been up and running for three days now. Going really smooth the paramiters are all solid. I did crack a bulk head over tightening it friday night. I talked myself into thinking I didn't tighten it so I just had to torque it down another 1/8 turn... crack! Simple cheap fix though. I put some plastic plants in there to adjust the power head flow. The little chromis is adjusting and eating well still. http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/100_2271.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/100_2265.jpg[/img]"] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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