Hi all,
So I have finally decided to start up my new (to me) reef tank after procrastinating for the past few years.
I picked up a secondhand tank, sump and stand from @Nemo84 around January 2019. Dimensions of tank are 800*600*600. Corner overflow with 2x40mm holes drilled for plumbing. Sump is just under the length of the tank, never measured but I'm thinking 600mm. Sump height is at 400mm but the baffles that were in place was at 350mm high. About this later. He also through in a canister filter, which I'm not sure how to make use of in my setup, may just get rid of it soon. Around this time also came across a Reef octo INT200 skimmer at a good price, so I grabbed it.
So about a month ago, while looking for plumbing bits for another project (RDWC grow setup), I decided to get what I needed for the tank as well and finally get the ball rolling. Went with 32mm plumbing all round (overflow and return). Have a minor problem with this, will explain a bit further down.
Once I had the plumbing in hand, things started to move forward. Got some dry rock and aragonite from my LFS (Aquatics for Finatics in Durban North). Only took 18kg of dry rock, and a 25kg bag of Aquamedic aragonite. Also managed to get a Zetlight QT6600 (gen 1) from @Baberbek . Has a few bulbs burnt (UV), but I have already received the spares from Improved living, and will be replacing soon. Thanks must go to @Baberbek for the light as well as the Smart ATO, as well as @hotdog83 for bringing it down to durbs for me.
Managed to get the tank plumbed, both overflow and return (SOBO 5200 as a return pump for now). Initial leak tests went fine, but had to do a few tweaks. Did my scape, which I'm trying to keep minimal, and dumped in my rinsed out aragonite. Redid the return plumbing last week, then proceeded to fill the tank with RO. While tweaking, managed to break the silicone seal on the overflow pipes, now I have a tiny leak that drops into the sump. I'm not happy with this, and need to find a way to re-seal it without having to redo the plumbing completely.
With the sump baffles being 350mm high, the water level was way too high for my skimmer. Not to mention there was almost no place left for water to settle when the pumps switched off. Drained my sump last week, cut out the 2 baffles (3 compartment sump), sent the glass to be cut and then re-glued them into place. Unfortunately I don't have any before pics of the sump, but I will take some current pics and upload soon.
Heres a few pics of the scape to keep you guys going. All comments welcome.
So I have finally decided to start up my new (to me) reef tank after procrastinating for the past few years.
I picked up a secondhand tank, sump and stand from @Nemo84 around January 2019. Dimensions of tank are 800*600*600. Corner overflow with 2x40mm holes drilled for plumbing. Sump is just under the length of the tank, never measured but I'm thinking 600mm. Sump height is at 400mm but the baffles that were in place was at 350mm high. About this later. He also through in a canister filter, which I'm not sure how to make use of in my setup, may just get rid of it soon. Around this time also came across a Reef octo INT200 skimmer at a good price, so I grabbed it.
So about a month ago, while looking for plumbing bits for another project (RDWC grow setup), I decided to get what I needed for the tank as well and finally get the ball rolling. Went with 32mm plumbing all round (overflow and return). Have a minor problem with this, will explain a bit further down.
Once I had the plumbing in hand, things started to move forward. Got some dry rock and aragonite from my LFS (Aquatics for Finatics in Durban North). Only took 18kg of dry rock, and a 25kg bag of Aquamedic aragonite. Also managed to get a Zetlight QT6600 (gen 1) from @Baberbek . Has a few bulbs burnt (UV), but I have already received the spares from Improved living, and will be replacing soon. Thanks must go to @Baberbek for the light as well as the Smart ATO, as well as @hotdog83 for bringing it down to durbs for me.
Managed to get the tank plumbed, both overflow and return (SOBO 5200 as a return pump for now). Initial leak tests went fine, but had to do a few tweaks. Did my scape, which I'm trying to keep minimal, and dumped in my rinsed out aragonite. Redid the return plumbing last week, then proceeded to fill the tank with RO. While tweaking, managed to break the silicone seal on the overflow pipes, now I have a tiny leak that drops into the sump. I'm not happy with this, and need to find a way to re-seal it without having to redo the plumbing completely.
With the sump baffles being 350mm high, the water level was way too high for my skimmer. Not to mention there was almost no place left for water to settle when the pumps switched off. Drained my sump last week, cut out the 2 baffles (3 compartment sump), sent the glass to be cut and then re-glued them into place. Unfortunately I don't have any before pics of the sump, but I will take some current pics and upload soon.
Heres a few pics of the scape to keep you guys going. All comments welcome.