Project5k and the new 75Gal salt tank

Still waitin on the pics:D

they are posted in the identification area...

so, i aquired a major upgrade for my fish stuff, i got the closet now, so now i just gotta decide how to do it... i hung thoes wire shelves for now just as a place to put some of the stuff... i was thinking about RO/DI storage up in the top, just build in a good solid platform and put a tank up there.. just to give you an idea, you could put 12 5 gallon buckets on the top shelf in the closet as it is now... 2 front to back, 3 wide, and 2 tall...

oh, and i wanted to try the silencer on my overflow... i just used a plastic water bottle, cause it was handy...

its quieter, but not quiet enough...

also here is a better pic of the newest set of white trumpets...

Looks good Project.
I'm starting to think those trumpets are some type of sponge.

Project it's nice that you have a closet so close to your tank. Very handy! I have to go clean into another room and then into a closet there for my stuff. It looks good.

I think I agree with yote on the trumpets you talk about. Have you felt one of them?

thanks, yea i think that the closet is gonna really clean up the fish tank area, so i dont have stuff spread out everywhere...

I've been thinking about all the different things i can do in there... i was thinking about running a small water supply line in there, and then i would have the perfect RO/DI filter mounting location, and then a tank or something in the top for storage, with a hose and valve hanging down to fill the mixing can....

I havent touched the white trumpets with my hand or skin yet..but i did touch them with my long handled scraper, and they were soft and flexable, and didnt seem to react in any way to being disturbed...

so i spent part of the eveining last night in cadd drawing up my new canopy... i think i have it figured out.. now i just gotta actually get off my lazy keister and build it...

the top of the tank is 48.25 long and 19.625 front to back, and i'm just gonna use 1/4 ply with 1x2 poplar structure on the inside... 8 54w t5 bulbs on 3 ballasts...

i figure that if the "facing" hangs down 1 inch from the top of the tank then that should hold it inplace, and the plan for now is to have all 4 sides held on with magnetic clasps... that way, i can get to any side of the tank... not like working through the little 6 inch openings that my current tops have...

the inner frame, and thus the lights will be about 11 inches above the water, so that should allow for plenty of air space, and then i can allways add fans if heat becomes an issue...

I'm also not going to use the "store bought" reflectors, i just cant justify the price, considering that with 8 of these bulbs over my 75, i'm well above the old watts per gallon rule of thumb... so i think what i may try and do is to just make my own...

my thinking is that i could take some 2 inch pvc, split it long ways so that i have 2 half circles, line thoes on the inside with reflective foil, and then go from there.. i know its not a perfect parabola, but i'ts gotta be better than no reflector at all...

DAMN!! Thats super sweet to have a whole closet right next to the tank like that. Your wife must be the coolest woman in reefing!! :Cheers: Really man, thats NICE! I'm likin' the whole build.

well thanks for the kind words, but, well, yea, anyway... so... any suggestions on what to do with the closet?

how about the lights?

A bigger sump would fit in the closet.So would a calcium reactor :D

yes, a bigger sump WOULD fit in the closet.. but, then do tell, how do i plumb from one to the other?

oh, no, wait, i got it.. hehehe, the closet sump is a completely sealed system, so, once its fully primed, you could have the pipes going up and into the attic, and then back down into the tank, and just have one pump on one pipe... wow....

no but seriously.. whats a calcium reactor, and why would i want one?

A calcium reactor is a way of keeping your reef calc and alk levels more consistent. It's done by using CO2 to drop the pH of some tank water that's running over some aragonite, which causes some of the calcium carbonate from the aragonite to dissolve in the water... Then the water goes back to the tank. Here's more details: Melevsreef.com - Calcium Reactor

ahhhh very interesting... yet another co2 bottle to have around the house, cause i already have them for my welders... hehehe

hmmmm, home brew calcium reactor... hmmmm thoughts....

oh, and just as an update, i think i solved my bubble problems in my sump.. i raised the water level in the return section, by raising the ato set point and adding a little salt water i had mixed up so as to not dilute the tank with that much ro/di...

seems to be working just fine, there was about a 2 inch drop from the baffels to the water level in the return area, so i raised it so that there is only about a 1/4 inch drop, and now i'm getting far fewer bubbles, and i have all the filter material out of the system...

Got my digital TDS and PH meters last night in the mail...

the TDS meter read 356 in 342 control solution, and i didnt feel like messing with it, so i just took some random measurements to see what i got...

my RO/DI water in buckets and gallon jugs that i haven't used yet measured from 104 to 109(testing like 5 or 6 individual 1 gallon jugs)

my tap water read 150 give or take...

the ph meter read 8.0 in my salt tank, 8.2 in my fresh tank, and i didnt measure my tap or my RO/DI...

just thought ya'll might find that interesting...

wow that is way off compaired to the cal soultion. and that is a high tds for the ro/di water i would think about changing the filters. or maybe i am reading this wrong.

well, i dont think its THAT far off, i mean its only 8 parts per million off, so, eh... i can re cal it, i just didnt feel like it last night..

as for the RO/DI, well, i cant change them(the media) cause thier not mine, i get my water from the "Water Shed" in town.... but i have met the owner, and had a long conversation with him... and he said that he checks it once a week, and that he keeps it under 10, so now i'm wondering if
1) he was lieing to me
2) my meter is wrong
3) are my containers contaminating the water
4) does he just need to change his media

go buy a jug of distalled water and check that. i would think about getting your own ro/di that way you can controll it. i would think he is lieing to you about how he changes the filters or that it is not ro/di water and is just ran through carbon filters and not an actual ro or ro/di filter set up

+1 James
I don't think you can trust these water stations that much. Most people get ripped off. It's like bottled drinking water being no more pure that a lot of tap waters.

well, i've been inside the shed, and i've seen the 5 stages of mechanical filters, softners, then the RO, then the DI then a UV then the tank.... i followed the plumbing, i know its right...

i'm guessing its his media.. and that he lied about "keeping it under 10" but there is the chance of it being my containers contaminating it, so before i go find him and "explain it to him" i have to make sure of things on my end..

I would love to get a RO/DI unit, i even have the one i want picked out... but i'm on a very strict $50 per paycheck allowance, and right now better lights and better flow seem more important than getting a filter unit...

besides, i'm not really having that many algae problems, i've got a few brownish spots on my sand, but thoes are known low flow areas... so untill i correct that, i wouldnt say that the higher TDS counts seem to be making any difference that i can tell in my tank..

here are some cheap ones but they are a bit more than 50 bucks
i got the 100gpd multi use one with the pressure tank and it works great.
they do have a 100gpd one with out the pressure tank for 97

http://www.purewaterclub.com/