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Dr. Felicia's Predator Paradise - Retired


Felicia

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I'm working on writing a grant submission with my boss, so we keep going back and forth on revisions. Its due Monday, but I don't want to work at all this weekend because of Eddie visiting and the tank upgrade. So I'm trying to get it all done by Friday afternoon.

 

Well hurry up then!

 

And goodluck :)

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Yeah, so I was lame and fell asleep on my couch at like 8 pm yesterday. :lol: Its been a long couple of weeks. Maybe I'll get some tonight. If not, I think you can wait until this weekend when there will be TONS of photos of the crazy transfer/build.

Can't wait to see the results of your collaboration :happydance:.
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I'm working on writing a grant submission with my boss, so we keep going back and forth on revisions. Its due Monday, but I don't want to work at all this weekend because of Eddie visiting and the tank upgrade. So I'm trying to get it all done by Friday afternoon.

 

Ugh. Grant writing. You have my sympathies. Lots of them. :flower:

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Well hurry up then!

 

And goodluck :)

Thanks! My friend dropped off my water today during my lunch break. I just finished carrying 6, 5 gallon water jugs up a flight of stairs and into my apartment. I think I may die. I was doing them 2 at a time, so that's 80 lbs of water and three trips up the stairs. This hobby was so not made for small women with no upper body strength :lol: At least I got my workout in for the day.

 

Can't wait to see the results of your collaboration :happydance:.

I'm super excited. Should turn out pretty awesome. I'm so excited for decluttering and streamlining all the equipment!

 

 

Ugh. Grant writing. You have my sympathies. Lots of them. :flower:

Grant writing is the worst! I'm glad to hear someone understands my pain. Just have to finish it by Friday so I can have the weekend off!

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Thanks! My friend dropped off my water today during my lunch break. I just finished carrying 6, 5 gallon water jugs up a flight of stairs and into my apartment. I think I may die. I was doing them 2 at a time, so that's 80 lbs of water and three trips up the stairs. This hobby was so not made for small women with no upper body strength :lol: At least I got my workout in for the day.

 

80 lbs, I thought water weighed closer to 9 lbs/g... you may be stronger then you originally thought little lady :) I look forward to seeing the new tank wet soon!!!!!! :)

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80 lbs, I thought water weighed closer to 9 lbs/g... you may be stronger then you originally thought little lady :) I look forward to seeing the new tank wet soon!!!!!! :)

Water is 8 point something a gallon. I rounded down :lol:

 

I have to go pick up a few more things from Home Depot I realized I don't have and then we're all set over here! I spent the last couple evenings going through all my aquarium equipment and supplies and getting all organized and throwing out some old stuff. I also made a pile of stuff I need to list for sale. It was like crazy spring cleaning of aquarium junk!

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You got that tank plumbed and filled with water yet? lol Forget waiting for Eddie, just do it girl you can handle it!.... Then you have more time to hang with Eddie doing fun stuff...... like stocking the tank :lol:

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You got that tank plumbed and filled with water yet? lol Forget waiting for Eddie, just do it girl you can handle it!.... Then you have more time to hang with Eddie doing fun stuff...... like stocking the tank :lol:

She's certainly capable. She's already got the plumbing part's laid out on the floor in the proper configuration. But nah.. an extra set of hands is always nice. Plus plumbing's the most enjoyable part of a new build for me. But yea, the entire weekend from start to finish is jam packed with ton's of fun stuff as usual. Hurry up weekend!

I'm working on writing a grant submission with my boss

My SuppaGenius :wub:

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She's certainly capable. She's already got the plumbing part's laid out on the floor in the proper configuration. But nah.. an extra set of hands is always nice. Plus plumbing's the most enjoyable part of a new build for me. But yea, the entire weekend from start to finish is jam packed with ton's of fun stuff as usual. Hurry up weekend!

My SuppaGenius :wub:

 

Really you like plumbing.... I'll have to keep that in mind ;) I was just messin with yas tho, definitely helps to have an extra person there looking at it, I always seem to "think" I have it figured out and still end up needing to make 2-3 extra trips before its right... and I've plumbed complete houses :wacko: lol

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Ugh! That's too much water for one person to carry!!

Tell me about it! Luckily all the water is in the apartment and ready to go now!

 

You got that tank plumbed and filled with water yet? lol Forget waiting for Eddie, just do it girl you can handle it!.... Then you have more time to hang with Eddie doing fun stuff...... like stocking the tank :lol:

Ha! I know I can handle it. Doesn't hurt to have an extra set of hands and someone to help with the heavy lifting though :) Plus it'll be fun to have company. :D

 

She's certainly capable. She's already got the plumbing part's laid out on the floor in the proper configuration. But nah.. an extra set of hands is always nice. Plus plumbing's the most enjoyable part of a new build for me. But yea, the entire weekend from start to finish is jam packed with ton's of fun stuff as usual. Hurry up weekend!

My SuppaGenius :wub:

Awww! Thanks :)

 

 

Really you like plumbing.... I'll have to keep that in mind ;) I was just messin with yas tho, definitely helps to have an extra person there looking at it, I always seem to "think" I have it figured out and still end up needing to make 2-3 extra trips before its right... and I've plumbed complete houses :wacko: lol

Seriously! I've made like 4 hardware store runs now picking up additional plumbing parts I realized I didn't have. I think I have everything now. Fingers crossed! :lol:

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Status update:

Old tank is down and in my kitchen as a temporary holding tank. Removed the old stand. All the equipment is in vinegar baths. About to spray paint the back of the new tank and then start the plumbing.

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Where's the next update

 

YEAH!?!? I feel like I'm in Eddies thread.... but atleast he gives a teaser usually lol

Sorry guys! Saturday was HELL. Nothing was going as planned and we ended up stopping at like 11 pm and having to start again Sunday morning. It took a lot longer than planned because of some glitches, so I didn't have time to post. Luckily, things ran smoother on Sunday and the tank is wet! I still have a ton to do on it, so I'm working on it a bunch today as well. Luckily Eddie is amazing at plumbing, so he helped me get it all plumbed before he left this morning.

 

Anyways, here's where we're at:

Tank is on stand with sand and water!

 

All plumbing is running except a problem with my gate valve on the drain. I ordered a gate valve from BRS that we realized was defective when we went to do the install. So we made a run to ACE and got a new one and got it all installed. Then I went to adjust the flow and realized that if you start to close the valve, water starts leaking out around the stem of the knob you use to turn the valve. Another defective gate valve! Ugh! Luckily, we could only find a threaded one at ACE, so it will be easy for me to unscrew and replace without cutting any plumbing. I just have to go locate a new one that actually works!

 

Other than that one issue, the plumbing is working beautifully. We did our water test and other than the faulty gate valve, we didn't have a single leak to fix! The flow through the sump looks great and there is so much space now!

 

I still have a TON of work ahead of me. First I need to find a new gate valve and get that installed. I need to move the hanging hooks for my light because the light is no longer centered on this deeper tank. I need to finish hooking up equipment (MP10's, ATO, dosing pump) and organize the cords and other equipment inside the stand. I need to make a new lid for this tank. Tonight I need to transfer all the rock and inhabitants into the new tank. I also have lots of clean up to do since I still have the old tank in the house and then there's equipment I won't be using that needs to be cleaned up and sold. Goodness! So much work, but I am glad the plumbing is mostly done. Everything looks so clean and sleek! Excited for a much easier to maintain system. Anyways, I'll try to do a photo update later. Eddie took a ton of photos during the build process, so we'll get those up at some point.

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Ok, don't want to keep you all waiting too long! Here's a quick photo update for now :)

 

Its wet!

IMG_2904.jpg

 

IMG_2898.jpg

 

IMG_2900.jpg

 

IMG_2902.jpg

 

Drain plumbing

IMG_2906.jpg

 

Return plumbing

IMG_2907.jpg

 

Full view of the sump

IMG_2920.jpg

 

Skimmer chamber

IMG_2908.jpg

 

Refugium with rubble rock. Chaeto will be going in later today.

IMG_2910.jpg

 

Return pump chamber

IMG_2912.jpg

 

Return plumbing

IMG_2914.jpg

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The light is crooked! Going to have to start all over now. :D

 

Looking good, can't wait to see the tank with livestock.

Ha! Trust me, that crooked light is bugging me! Luckily, it just needs a quick adjustment of the hanging kit. Figured I should wait to level it perfectly until after I move it though. It has to come forward a few inches to be centered on the new tank since its so much deeper.

 

Thanks! I'm really happy with how its coming together! Assuming all goes well today, the inhabitants go back in this evening. I hope I don't have any issues or a weird mini cycle or anything. Fingers crossed!

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Looks good so far :)

 

Just wondering but why not just skip the valve on the drain especially since its leaking? The only time I can think of that you would want the drain to have a valve would be maybe for maintenance when you only have 1 drain..... tho you shouldn't lose much (into the sump) by not having it there anyway. I'm not a fan of dialing back the drain on a single drain set up for any reason when the return is running personally as it just becomes a flood risk.

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how exciting!!!! why do we get so thrilled over lights, rock & sand! it's too funny. But we always do.

Its a reefer thing :)

 

Looks good so far :)

 

Just wondering but why not just skip the valve on the drain especially since its leaking? The only time I can think of that you would want the drain to have a valve would be maybe for maintenance when you only have 1 drain..... tho you shouldn't lose much (into the sump) by not having it there anyway. I'm not a fan of dialing back the drain on a single drain set up for any reason when the return is running personally as it just becomes a flood risk.

Thanks! I would like to have the gate valve on there because I need to slow the drain down a bit in order to quiet the noise. It kind of sounds like a rushing river right now, haha. I have built in safety checks for if something happens to the drain so that the tank won't flood.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single other PVC 1.5" threaded gate valve in the bay area, so I have one being overnighted from Amazon. For now I'm just running the leaky one since it only leaks if I try to close it. I'll keep it open all the way for now and then replace it with the new one when it gets here.

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