Drama's 125 build progress (build progress)

[Spiderguardnano]

I bet man my little tank gets super expensive fast

Thinking about picking up your micro reef tank

[Dramad1]

Skip my micro reef tank and take my cad34. I will be breaking it down some time even though I dont want to. But I have to make room for the new tank and get some money to go towards new equip.

The microreefs tank may become another project soon. Never got any hits in The feeler thread other than low ball action. So I guess ill be holding onto it for a while longer.

[Dramad1]

I sanded, primed and painted the doors for my stand today. Plan was to paint the stand as well but I am over it today. Maybe tomorrow after water changes.

Also found out the sump I plan to use may not work for the size skimmer I want to get. Looking to try and trade it for a used 55g long sump, hopefully this will allow me a bit more room.

Pics to add to the build progress:

 

outside is blk and inside will be white.

[markalot]

Looking very nice.

[Dramad1]

 

Looking very nice.

Thanks.

[Smithjm5]

Builds coming together nicely! Good luck finding that new sump too!

[Dramad1]

Builds coming together nicely! Good luck finding that new sump too!

Thanks. I'm trying to source the sump or make a trade on my local forum.

Plan today is to paint the outside of the stand and do water changes. If I have enough time in the day, maybe cut out the floor for the stand. And visit lfs

[Smithjm5]

Thanks. I'm trying to source the sump or make a trade on my local forum.

Plan today is to paint the outside of the stand and do water changes. If I have enough time in the day, maybe cut out the floor for the stand. And visit lfs

Sounds good! Are you just going to paint it black?

[Dramad1]

 

Sounds good! Are you just going to paint it black?

It will be black enamel on the outside and white enamel on the inside. Still up in the air about trimming it out with crown molding or putting a lip on the top front and sides.

[Smithjm5]

It will be black enamel on the outside and white enamel on the inside. Still up in the air about trimming it out with crown molding or putting a lip on the top front and sides.

That will be cool I always like the look of cabinets that are white on the inside with the sump, it just looks cleaner imo. I say go for the crown molding! Might as well trick it out and do it right if you're going to do it at all haha!

[Dramad1]

So I've been up in the air as to what equip I should get for return, skimmer, powerheads.

I have this on my list but would like to hears others thoughts/advice/reviews. I need a lil help chosing, id like to have this equip last a while and not want to have to upgrade down the road.

So how does this list look fellas?

 

Return:(in sump)considering one of the following on each type of equip

Ehiem1262

Sicce 5.0

Ehiem compact 5000

Mag 18

 

Skimmer:

Aquamaxx coneS co2

Skimz sm201

Vertex 150

Euro reef skimmer cs8-2

Some kinda reef oct

 

Powerheads:

 

2x mp40's or 1 mp40 and 1 mp60 ( pricey )

2x wp25

4x mp10's already own 2

2x rw15's

Or a combination of mp10, s that I have and that new Gyre pump.

So many options, im leaning towards the rw15's and or buying 1 mp40 and running that with the 2 mp10's I have. But I realky like the vids I have been seeing of the new gyre pump.

Im stuck and not sure what to go with. Several items have been in my check out box for weeks. I want lots and lots of flow for an sps dominate tank as well as a good skim and return.. so many optio n s and all this bigger equip is pricey.

I was also looking at a full zeo startup kit... not sure at this point, I've had good results dosing a few of the zeo products without running the zeolites. There line up is amazing but very expensive consider there are other methods of achievement a ulns.

Can anyone give me any suggestions?, help picking out my equip?

[Dramad1]

No one? Seems like a growing trend. Bump it up for some advice from those with a larger system please. Right on, thanks

[Dramad1]

Bump for suggestions and advice. Anyone have any reviews on the vertex 180?

[Dramad1]

New store in town had a soft open today, so iwent and checked it out. Came home with this.....

 

 

should help clear up all the 5 gal water jugs and buckets I have all over my house. This will be strictly used for fresh ro/di only. Need to figure out a spigot for it. Plan to get a brute can also to use as a mixing station for the new tank. Im going to build some kind of stand/shelf to hold the two.

 

Bored and browsing around. Wish I had lots of money.

[Dramad1]

Got my beast size skimmer today. Picked it up from a local reefer at a steal of a deal.

 

its an aqua euro cs8-2 with new sedra5000 powerhead.

 

Its HUGE!! Also picking up my new 55g sump sometime this week. Still a long way to go.

[Smithjm5]

It's coming along! That skimmer is huge lol

[Dramad1]

It is, 2ft tall. Makes my pls50 look like a lil pee shooter. So I traded the sca sump for a 55 gallon long and didnt inspect the tank until I returned home. It looked rather new and I was I n a hurry. Well long story short, it has chips on 3 corners. One really deep and the other 2 not really bad at all.

I messaged the dude and he said he didnt notice any when he loaded it up. I picked it up at his wifes work and she was in a hurry as well as me. He blames the chips in the tank on her.

Well they are about 13" up from the bottom so im going to seal them the best I can and do a water test for a few days to see if it leaks. Tank will be used as a sump so it will not be filled all the way, just nervous to even use it. Any one have any thoughts?

Here is some pics of the chips

Pic 1 the worst

[Dramad1]

So I did a second coat on the outside of the doors today as well as the first coat on the outside of the stand. Its going to take me a while to get this thing painted because I only get one day a week to work on it and I only do recoats after 24 hours. So 3 weeks, 3 coats. Then I get to mask the outside and start painting the inside of doors and stand white. Another 3 weeks minimum. Yay!

 

Also got in on a group buy and picked up 2 rw 15's. Should be in hand by the 2nd of next month. Still need a return pump, I think I have decided on an Ehiem1262. After that I need to start thinking about my lighting choices, led or t5's. Ive been thinking 3x vegas or maxspec razors or radions for leds. For the t5's maybe just a cheap 72" fixture with ati bulbs. Also have thought about mh's or kessels. Haven't spent alot of time deciding. Open to opinions.

Also thinking about smashing this 55g tank I picked up to use as a sump and either go buy a new one or just buy a premade sump from lfs or online. Im concerned about the chips on the 3 corners and dont know if I want to deal with it and have to worry its going to leak or break. I figure im spending all this time and money getting this tank set up, may as well get it somewhat right the first time.

 

In other events, anyone following the yellowstone volcano? Possible eruption in the coming months. Ive seen alot of vid about it but nothing in the news. You know how these end of the world vids go,lol but still interesting never the less.

 

Thanks everyone for looking and leaving comments.

[Dramad1]

Picked up my glass today. Putting the pieces together in a few moments. Also picked up new tank for my sump, scraping the 55g long due to chips in the corners

Pics:

[Dramad1]

Some prep work

 

Came out great, please excuse the mess

 

After I removed the tape I rebraced it on op side and couldnt resist throwing another small bead on the inside. The bond came out seamless but had half a tube of caulk left and want to be sure it does not leak. Since the glass is smoked, you can not even see it. Probibly didnt have to but I did. Plan to let it cure up for 72 hours before even thinking of putting/securing in the tank.

My powerheads will be here Wednesday so equip wise all I will need is my return pump and lighting. On the return, I have been debating internal or external pump for the last week or so. Im new to the sump thing so I dont know which would be best, other than the external one keeping heat out of the water. Not sure if the cost to run an external would be more than an internal as well. Anyone give me some pros and cons? Seems like I cant get any responses here. . Well after I decide I will need to get some sand and lr and we will begin cycling! getting there.

[hey]

Some prep work

 

Came out great, please excuse the mess

 

After I removed the tape I rebraced it on op side and couldnt resist throwing another small bead on the inside. The bond came out seamless but had half a tube of caulk left and want to be sure it does not leak. Since the glass is smoked, you can not even see it. Probibly didnt have to but I did. Plan to let it cure up for 72 hours before even thinking of putting/securing in the tank.

My powerheads will be here Wednesday so equip wise all I will need is my return pump and lighting. On the return, I have been debating internal or external pump for the last week or so. Im new to the sump thing so I dont know which would be best, other than the external one keeping heat out of the water. Not sure if the cost to run an external would be more than an internal as well. Anyone give me some pros and cons? Seems like I cant get any responses here. . Well after I decide I will need to get some sand and lr and we will begin cycling! getting there.

 

External pumps have the ability to be dead silent and also don't dump heat into the tank. The problem is the connection from sump to pump can leak.

 

Internal pumps, on a tank this size tend to be much louder and will also dump whatever heat is produced by the pump into the tank.

 

Either one can work well imo I would choose an internal DC pump to be able to dial in flow and maybe not have as much noise and have less leak risk. Overflow looks badass keep up the good work.

[Dramad1]

Thanks for commenting, the jabeo 12000 seems to be a craze right now on the local forum. Maybe I will wait to hear some reviews about it. Before I started hearing about this pump I was thinking a mag18, 1262 or sicce 5.0 for internal pump. Then I started reading about matching your sumo flow and skimmer flow with tank return..... kinda got lost in all of it. I talked with a few lfs and they recommended an external pump. I still need to research and learn more about the sump and pumps.

[Dramad1]

Inside is now white. 2 coats and may throw another nxt weekend. I feel like I got alot done this labor day weekend. Happy labor day folks

[Spiderguardnano]

Looking good man your build is going to be sick just like jada on sd reefs

 

 

Also noticed your have a pic now sick lol

[hey]

The idea behind matching your return pumps flow to the skimmer is that the skimmer will get all the water from the overflow before it is sucked out of the sump back to the tank without being processed. Its a pretty easy thing to do, just find out the flowrate on the skimmer and buy a return that matches it after headloss is factored in.