Ok, after much thinking and planning, stalling and just being lazy, all major hurdles have finally now been cleared and I am back in bidness!
My old thread was unceremoniously wiped from the internet, so I will begin this new thread with just a short recap of what the thread was originally. For those new folks here, this was perhaps one of the longest build threads of LARC record - and never got to the adding water part.
So, let me begin again. Those that have read through this stuff many times before, please bare with me.
The tank is an Oceanic 140 RR and it was purchased in December 2005 (no, that's not a misprint) from Fintastic Aquarium. I brought what was left of my stinky 75 gallon Rita tank to Lonny for him to sell for me, which he did in fairly short order. I am going to use the money I got from that sale to stock the new tank with some nice rock.
I had a custom stand and canopy built by a cabinet shop, also through Fintastic. The sump and 20 gallon refugium were custom made to my specs by LifeReef. I had originally planned on building the sump and refugium myself, but thought it might be faster to order ready built. Ha! Guess I was wrong there. Because of space limitations, I went with the LifeReef skimmer. I am still not completely sold on this skimmer, but will at least give it a try. I had Jeff at LifeReef build the sump with this skimmer in mind. I have a LifeReef calcium reactor and a GEO kalk reactor. These probably won't be pressed into service for a while.
I will have a closed loop system, utilizing the OceansMotions 4Way and a Sequence Reeflo Dart pump. My return pump is a Mag 12 for now, but I may even step down to a Mag 9.5, or a smaller Eheim pump. Will give this a try first, but it is probably going to be more flow through the sump than I really want or need.
Lighting will be two 250 watt MH AB 12k bulbs, supplemented by 4 URI Super Actinic 03 bulbs. Also a dimmable Lebos moon light system. I am planning on using a Premium Aquatics Lighthouse controller (which has now been updated since I bought mine over a year ago :()
Anyway, that pretty much sums up the important stuff that was in the original long lived thread. Hopefully this one will move a little quicker! Here are some pics from the past - and present.
Here is the tank and stand sitting dry - as it has for the last 16 months. That plumbing sitting on the bottom of the tank is about to be reworked. You can also see the tile that was installed under the tank (and most of the rest of the house).
The custom made LifeReef sump and refugium.
The canopy just after finishing the wiring. The actinic tubes are not in place yet, but you can see the lamp holders. Moon lights are also not completely installed.
The OM 4Way is plumbed to the top of the back of the tank. Two returns go to the top of the front of the tank and two more will run along the bottom of the sandbed to the front of the tank, pointed upward at a 45 (or maybe a 22.5) degree angle.
The LifeReef skimmer. It's no DelTec, so I know I am not wowing anyone here.
My old thread was unceremoniously wiped from the internet, so I will begin this new thread with just a short recap of what the thread was originally. For those new folks here, this was perhaps one of the longest build threads of LARC record - and never got to the adding water part.
So, let me begin again. Those that have read through this stuff many times before, please bare with me. The tank is an Oceanic 140 RR and it was purchased in December 2005 (no, that's not a misprint) from Fintastic Aquarium. I brought what was left of my stinky 75 gallon Rita tank to Lonny for him to sell for me, which he did in fairly short order. I am going to use the money I got from that sale to stock the new tank with some nice rock.
I had a custom stand and canopy built by a cabinet shop, also through Fintastic. The sump and 20 gallon refugium were custom made to my specs by LifeReef. I had originally planned on building the sump and refugium myself, but thought it might be faster to order ready built. Ha! Guess I was wrong there. Because of space limitations, I went with the LifeReef skimmer. I am still not completely sold on this skimmer, but will at least give it a try. I had Jeff at LifeReef build the sump with this skimmer in mind. I have a LifeReef calcium reactor and a GEO kalk reactor. These probably won't be pressed into service for a while.
I will have a closed loop system, utilizing the OceansMotions 4Way and a Sequence Reeflo Dart pump. My return pump is a Mag 12 for now, but I may even step down to a Mag 9.5, or a smaller Eheim pump. Will give this a try first, but it is probably going to be more flow through the sump than I really want or need.
Lighting will be two 250 watt MH AB 12k bulbs, supplemented by 4 URI Super Actinic 03 bulbs. Also a dimmable Lebos moon light system. I am planning on using a Premium Aquatics Lighthouse controller (which has now been updated since I bought mine over a year ago :()
Anyway, that pretty much sums up the important stuff that was in the original long lived thread. Hopefully this one will move a little quicker!
Here are some pics from the past - and present.Here is the tank and stand sitting dry - as it has for the last 16 months. That plumbing sitting on the bottom of the tank is about to be reworked. You can also see the tile that was installed under the tank (and most of the rest of the house).
The custom made LifeReef sump and refugium.
The canopy just after finishing the wiring. The actinic tubes are not in place yet, but you can see the lamp holders. Moon lights are also not completely installed.
The OM 4Way is plumbed to the top of the back of the tank. Two returns go to the top of the front of the tank and two more will run along the bottom of the sandbed to the front of the tank, pointed upward at a 45 (or maybe a 22.5) degree angle.
The LifeReef skimmer. It's no DelTec, so I know I am not wowing anyone here.
