hobbby

I'm also back from a couple year break and having a great time! :) First chamber I did 1 block of the foam that comes with tank. I threw out the sock I don't trust that there's no bypass if it gets plugged and I know I wouldnt change or clean it as much as it needs to be lol Second chamber is the bag of charcoal and the bio balls which I emptied half way out. The bags are huge. I might take out the bio balls at some point after the new rock is in there for a few months. Also in the second chamber is the skimmer and my heater, I also moved my GHL temp and PH probes in there. In preparation for an auto top off in the third chamber. Third chamber I cut the second block of foam and put it under the pump to remove the hum it was making. Keep us updated as you get stuff added in there cant wait to see the grow out

I love your scape. I just moved my 5 gallon inhabitants into a 20 gallon waterbox. Loving it so far! I've tried 2 pumps a Jebao SLW-10 and an AI Nero 3 which I had to send back to BRS to evaluate for noise and intermittent failed startups. The Jebao is currently running the show solo. I'm also really happy with the little skimmer I chose it fits great and runs in the media chamber. Its a Comline DOC Protein Skimmer 9001

I want in please. PM sent.

Thats fantastic thanks MVPaquatics! If I strike out locally how can i get in touch with you?

Thanks noob. TPA was going to be my first call in the morning If I run out of luck there I'm also headed South tomorrow maybe all for fish has one too. I was also thinking there might be a general lighting shop supply but havent found anything like that locally yet.

I've got an icecap 430 ballast the wires decided to fall out of the molex connector and won't stay put anymore. I see I can get a replacement harness online but would rather go buy one tomorow locally to get my VHO's back online. Anyone know where I can find a 430 wire harness?

Another beautiful bargin from TPA! http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0520.jpg[/img]"]

No AC in the house but the sun goes behind a tree at about 2pm only got up to 81 in the house Saturday. The tank is 77 in the early morning for my low and hit a high of 81.2 on Saturday evening. At 82 I have RO/DI ice in ziploc bags ready to toss in the sump. RO/DI just in case the bag leaks.

If you have some frag trading you would like to do between Salem and Portland I can be your delivery man. I drive to Portland daily for work. I just require a frag or two as payment If your interested just PM me to arrange a date and time that works for everyone.

Update time: Things have been going very well. I've added a few coral and some live stock over the last couple months. Livestock: Foxface one spot 3 chromis 2 clown fish 3 sexy shrimp 1 emerald crab 3 snail 3 hermit crab 1 electric blue hermit 1 sand sifting star 1 green bubble tip 1 Tiger conch Coral: Purple tip branching hammer Pulsing Xenia Orange monti cap Ricordea mushroom orange/blue Green zoanthid colony http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0217.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0406.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/Untitled.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0382.jpg[/img]"] I forget what this is. Anyone know? http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0386.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0389.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0205.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0203.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0292.jpg[/img]"] http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h212/hobbby3/PIC_0192.jpg[/img]"]

Great meeting today. It was a pleasure to get to know some of you. Thanks for hosting Douglas!

Looks great I wan't to put one like that on my desk at work, not sure how much work would get done after I did that though.

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]"]

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]"]

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]"]

Awesome I love em

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]"]

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.

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.

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.

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