Ryan

Finished up the seaswirls today...hopefully will be putting water in the tank tomorrow. Heres a quick vid of the seaswirl:

A slight update...I have been working away after work and on my weekends. The finishing touches are going slow...My "plan" is to have water in the new tank by this time next week. I still have to build my lighting rack, return line from pump, manifold, carbon reactor, and few other things. Here are a few pics I snapped today: DIY Seaswirl progress: I ran the mock up I made for several days without any problems, so I think they are going to work really well. I like them a lot because they are MUCH more compact then the standard seaswirl. Start of Zeovit Reactor, still need to build the "plunger" and base: Zeovit Stones, Additives & Potassium test kit: My rock and sand have been curing for 5 weeks now. Once water is in the tank, I will run the 14-day Zeovit cycle and be able to put the first fish in in 10 days & coral in 14 days.

Plastic drum, right? I can probably pick it up from you on Sat or Sun and get it back to you the following week...

Thanks Bob! I'll keep it in mind! From the looks of your avatar, your lost a little weight! ;-)

Im getting ready to mix the water for my new tank. Does anyone have a 55g Brute can I can rent or barrow from you for a week or so? I live In Portland and am willing to pickup and return anywhere in the area. Let me know! Ryan

Mike, VERY nice build! I cant wait to see the finished tank! I, too, have been very impressed with James' willingness to share his knowledge. I had nothing but good experiences with him while he was building my tank.

I ran the last group buy. I will probably run another one at beginning of April. I like supporting our LFSs as well, but there are just some things they do not have in stock, like pharmaceutical grade bulk/dry chemicals. There is also nearly no way they can compete with the price...It cost me $2.80 per gallon for calcium and alkalinity. I use almost exactly 1 gallon per month. It would cost me a FORTUNE if I were to go with whats available locally (Kent, Brightwell, or B-Ionic). Then there is magnesium. It costs about $9 per gallon from BRS...try buying a gallon of magnesium from a LFS...

I love the Vortechs! I am running 1 MP20 on the side of my current 36g and it does great! I will be upgrading my MP20 to a MP40 and picking up a second MP40 for my new 90g. Im going to try running them on the back of my tank so I dont have to have them hanging off of the sides of my tank. Cioa, did you pick up the CO2 tank?

What are you going to be using the valve for? What type of return are you going to run? Do you plan on placing a ball valve on your return line?

Sorry, I like to be precise...lol

1" bulk heads require a 1.65" hole. 1 5/8" = 1.625", are you sure your measurements aren't slightly off?

I made my own food for a while...but as cheap (compared to the ingredients that are in it) as Rods food is, there is no way you can duplicate it for the same price. Also, store bought seafood is known to have a lot of phosphates on it (I think they use it to help preserve the fresh seafood), so you have to be careful of that.

Sweet! I have been watching the review on R2R of that skimmer. Looks great! What sized tank is it going on?

Buy an MSX200, sell the Sicce pump, then by a Askoll 1500. Should come in right over $400 after selling the Sicce pump... Or if you are set on a cone, the best bang for you buck is the Royal Reef CS200: http://royalreefaquariums.com/product_info.php?cPath=17&products_id=76&osCsid=4f37381bb9be292908273831197ba345 I currently have one. I bought it for my new 90g, but the skimmer went out on my 36g so I had to swap it in. Its doing okay, but its obvious its drastically oversized. I am expecting much better performance on my new tank with a heavier bio-load.

Weldon 16 is much thicker then the typical cement used for thicker acrylic. Typically the cement is nearly water thin. The pins are used to put a small gap between the 2 pieces of acrylic so the water thin cement can flow freely between them, creating a bubble free flawless seam. Hope that helps...

Wow! Looks like you have a ton in stock right now! I cant wait to come down to pick some corals out!

I haven't got much done since my last pics...I did finish the "prototype" SeaSwirl which turned out really nice. I need to complete the 2 finals for my tank, then I can set the tank up. Im still working on the "mystery" item...to my knowledge, NO ONE has ever made this DIY "mystery" item. I use the free version of Google SketchUp. I love it, cause I can literally build my DIY projects on sketch up and make sure everything's going to fit together right before I cut any spendy acrylic. It as pretty easy program, just play around and get comfortable with it. I'll send you a PM...its not cheap :-/

Congrats, Jordan!!!

Who made this tank?

Im going to need another MP40 soon...I would be very interested if it were $80 cheaper!

I finished the return plumbing today! I used 6 KBI 1.5" unions so everything will easily come apart. 1.5" Hayward Bulkheads: Where the return lines pass through the back of the stand: I shorten up some 90's to make them a bit tighter: I'll be spending the rest of the day finishing up my DIY SeaSwirls. Once those are done, I'll finish my return lines.

You should watch this BRS video, it will explain a lot. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/brs-tv/calcium-videos You do not need anything more then two 1-gallon jugs and a couple measuring cups that measure ml. I manually dosed 2-part for months before I got my peristaltic pumps. Once you get your parameters dialed, you should test at least once per week. You will probably need to test multiple times per week when you are setting your daily dosing schedule. I test every Sunday and adjust my Cal/Alk/Mag if needed.

I recommend Elos test kits. They cost slightly more then the low end (API) kits, but are much more accurate and easy to use. The color change on the test kits is also more dramatic so they are easier to read. What are you planning on keeping in your tank? If you are considering SPS/LPS you will need the following test kits: Calcium, Alkalinity, & Magnesium. I would shoot for close to natural seawater parameters. Calcium: 420 Alkalinity: 8 DKH Magnesium: 1300 As far as additives go, I would use nothing other then the 2-part kits from Bulk Reef Supply. They are inexpensive and medical grade. Eack kit for $11 contains enough cal, alk, & mag for probably 3 months worth of dosing for your 40g. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/calcium-alkalinity-magnesium/two-part-calcium-and-alkalinity-solution/two-part-calcium-and-alkalinity-kit-1.html At this point, I do not think you need a controller. If you do decide to get one in the future, look into Neptune Systems. I have the AquaContoller 3 and am very happy with it. As for salt, I really like the Tunze Reef Salt ($26 for 63 gallons), but no one sells it locally and most online dealers have it on back order. I am going to give Brightwell NeoMarine a try now. I would not worry about a designer salt though, just get whats easiest for you to get...like instant ocean. A lot of people have had really good success with it. The only other thing I can think of that is absolutely necessary is a RO/DI unit. I got mine from ebay (purewaterclub), and it has worked great! It was right around $100. Once I needed to replace the fillters, I went with the ones the Bulk Reef Supply sells. Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions!!!

I got a lot done on the stand today! I've had the metal frame (built by Scott aka Spectra) for about a month now. He did an amazing job on it! Here's how the top attaches to the metal frame: Here's some pics of the finished sump. Im very pleased how it turned out, considering its the first time I have worked with 1/2" acrylic! Im going to start on the plumbing tomorrow. If I have time to finish my DIY seaswirls up, it will be water ready by this time tomorrow! Im getting really excited!