I feel like I can almost hear the ocean in my tank. Oh wait, that's the real ocean! I did get a chance to go to the beach on Saturday, it was a nice break.
I also set up to paint the back of the tank. I've got all my supplies laid out, masking tape, paint, and most important, BUG SPRAY! The mosquitoes have risen to plague status in my backyard and seem to be getting worse despite my efforts to locate any stagnant water...
I also got my last baffle sealed in place. As requested, here's a closer picture of the baffles, it's kind of hard to see with all of my silicone mess!
This drawing is the layout I'm using for the sump. The only change from the plan I'll be running the skimmer off of it's own small pump...
Sunday I wasn't feeling too well (maybe it's all the silicone, paint, and polyurethane fumes!) so I didn't get too much done. I did get the tank back on the stand, the black back turned out pretty well
Today I got the plumbing work done. The original plan was to run the skimmer off of the overflow coming from the tank, but due to space constraints, I'm just going to get another pump for it. Plus, when I added up the cost of all the fittings and unions it was going to take, it costs just as much as a pump! The plumbing is pretty simple, the return from the pump and the overflows are both inside the box in the tank. The standpipes will be dursos, I'm waiting on a couple of fittings to come in the mail to finish those out. (I went to HD, Lowes, and 3 plumbing supply stores and none of them stock a 1" 90 MPTxFPT elbow!). The pump return lines come over the top of the overflow, I thought about using lockline, but man that stuff is pricy!! The way I've got it gives me freedom to move the returns wherever I want them around the overflow box...
And coming out the back of the tank into the stand...
The overflow pipes are both 1" (the Dursos will be 1 1/4 as recommended) and they join together into a 1 1/2 line running into the sump. The return from the pump splits into the refugium and up the display tank with ball valves on both to control flow. The line to the tank is flex tubing (just worked better with the space I had, I thought it might cut down on some vibration noise too). Of course, nothing is cemented or clamped in place yet because I've got to pull everthing out of the stand one more time to stain and seal it. I put unions in key spots so I could pull plumbing apart later if the need arises, or replace the pump quickly.
Finally, I refinished the coffee table today too. I did get before and after shots of this one...
Next up, hopefully tomorrow (that's when my lights are supposed to show up) I'll finish building the canopy and stain the stand. Then it will be almost ready to go!!
No comments:
Post a Comment