PharmrJohn's 90g Thread

Now that is becoming complete, how is the black background working for you? I have been thinking of painting mine for a while...

 

Thanks Jason. Let me tell ya, I really wanted that 110g that was right next to the 90, but that would have meant a significant increase in LR. My wife would have been......hmmmmm. Disappointed in me. We don't want that. Hehehehe.

The black background rocks. I highly suggest it. It adds depth to the tank. And it hides powerheads and overflows very nicely.

I am going to break down my holding tanks tonight. My wife is getting sick of them sitting on her kitchen counter. I am also going to do the plumbing and get the sump/fuge in working order. That will be the last of it. It will have taken me five days (I took yesterday off....I had work, then cubscouts. I was going to plumb it last night, but I figured they would last another 24 hours). Looking back on it, if I knew what I was doing from the start, it would have been a two to three day project.

Pics coming tonight.

 

Ain't you a little old to be a cub scout?

 

He's been on a 33-year-long quest for his Wolf Badge, and wont rest until its his!

 

Hey man......I'm a kid at heart!!!!

Actually, I never did earn my Wolf!!! I never did anything in Scouts. I got to Tenderfoot in Boyscouts and called it good. It actually required work to get higher than that. My best friend, on the other hand, got his Eagle.

My boy has gone up through the ranks of Bobcat, Tiger, Wolf and is now earning his Bear. Then two years of Webelos and when he hits 11yo, he wants to start earning merit badges toward his Eagle. He should be able to do it. Seven years is enough time to qualify for the twenty or so badges it takes (plus the project) as long as I become certified as a merit badge counseler.......which means I have to earn them too.:-X

Should have done it when I was a kid.

 

i never finished either, i got all the way to eagle but didn't finish. I ended up just helping 2 of my friends with their eagle projects and i regret not doing one myself now. Good luck earning all of the badges. I still remember all of the times that my dad helped me with scouts.

 

A few days work in one post

OK, so Tuesday I took off. Wednesday after work I was back at it. I went ahead and plumbed one of the two overflows and hooked it up to my Rio2100+.

Measuring up......



Stuff all over the place......



After I got everything glued in but before I primed the overflow. The water level in the sump section is only half way up the side normally. No I haven't built a good stand for my skimmer yet



Then I got my skimmer hooked back up to my Mag9 and started some much needed skimming. The tank breakdown coincided with a two week breaking in period with my new skimmer, so that tank had not seen good solid skimming in three weeks. It survived because of water changes. And big ones at that. I figure I replaced at least 60 percent of the total volume. The fish and corals seem very happy, so that was evidently a good number. The only apparent loss (and I still may be able to save it) was my pulsating xenia. I have not done my params yet, but I am sure my alk is waaaaay too low. So I will do my params tomorrow after work and post them. I am curious.

Distance shot after plumbing was done......right before going back online.



I was using a five gallon bucket with hose going in and out for the skimmer overflow. Here is one I built tonight for $10.

I purchased a plastic canister from the store. I snagged a little screw top snacky cup (as my little girl likes to call it). I procured some hose. I got some carbon.

I drilled two holes in the top of the canister and one hole in the side. The hole on the side is the output back into the sump in case the canister becomes full. One of the holes on top is the input from the skimmer.

The other hole has a small piece of tubing exiting the canister into the snacky cup. I drilled some small holes in the side of the hose (within the cup and siliconed the end so that air would exit the hose and go through the carbon I put into the cup. I then drilled some more small holes in the top of the cup lid. I siliconed the hose through the bottom of the cup and at the same time siliconed the snacky cup to the top of the canister. I then put a few beads of super glue gel around the bottom edge because it did not look rrreeeeaaaaaly bad yet. Theoretically, the canister is airtight (except for the top of the cup, where the air is supposed to exit), so the stinky air displaced by the liquid will move through the carbon on it's way out and not be sooooo oogy.

Let's see if it works. Don't know yet. Will find out.



In action.............



And so finally, the pics of the finished project (kind of).....close enough for now. All will live now and I can procede at my own pace instead of being in a constant state of worry.

Side shot............



Front shot.............



Livestock shots (sorry, did not take the time to photoshop)........







So there it is for now. I have worked my butt off on this one. More to come as the plumbing continues......but not tonight. ;D

Peace.......John

 

wow looks amazing man love the layout of the rocks and those stickly looking ones add so much to the mood..

o and btw the fishnet hanging overtop the canopy looks great

 

It's posts like this that makes me want to kick myself for not reading all of the threads.

 

Yeah, the thread did digress a little did it not???!!!