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Lawrence's first (90g) salt water tank

@denzil! Yay! So glad to hear from you. We just printed off manuals for everything, and the only piece that is still a little confusing is the protein skimmer - do you remember what brand it is? Or did you build that?

We are going to get this figured out. It's kind of fun putting together the puzzle, and learning as we go. Hope you and Brandie are still doing great!
 
Yeah you have a lot of resources here. Feel free to make a thread and ask.

And if you're looking for in-home consultation, the local fish stores/local tank maintenance guys all provide consultation services. They can swing by, assess your tank, and provide input on how your tank could be improved.
 
@Coral reefer and @Enderturtle - thanks for the guidance! We made friends with Hector at Albany Aquarium and will be hiring him if needed. Right now we are watching the BSR videos, and slowly identifying what we do & don't have.

We are located in Oakland/Glenview. And Betsy(me) is a darn good cook. I will be messaging @Coral reefer :).

Our goal is to get water in the tank in the next two weeks. Or week. We made some big decisions about quarantine tank (decided we are gamblers) and water changes (design our tank around minimal water changes). So we have a lot to learn!

Our next investment will an atuo top-off system it seems.
 
Well, hallelujah! We finally (think we) made sense of everything. The biggest "aha" was realizing our skimmer is missing its pump - so we will be evaluating with a critical eye if it makes more sense to buy a replacement pump, or just get a new skimmer. Fun decisions! I'm on version 16 of "what we need to buy" but thankfully, that list gets shorter as we get more educated and watch a disturbing number of professional and amateur YouTube videos.

With a little pvc, a couple of power heads for the tank, and an extra brain (THANK YOU!!), we might get water in this thing next week.

And in case anyone wants to offer opinions, here are the questions on our brain for now:
- Where do we put the GFO/carbon reactor? (Which stage of our sump?)
- pros/cons of using filter socks.
- if we keep our skimmer, how do we determine the right rating for the pump?
- calculations for the in-tank powerheads given we have Danner Mag 9.5 return pump

Fun Times!
 
So sorry! I thought I had replied.

Friday is good - then we have the weekend to get the plumbing done. Does that still work for you! I am free except 12:15-1:15/after 9:15.

Denzil gave us an impeller for an ASM G4, but there is no logo or marking on the skimmer itself - well a symbol on the collection cup cover. They also drilled and then sealed a few places. That is part of our confusion. I'm curious if we are better off getting a new one anyway.
 
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L/B Block said:
So sorry! I thought I had replied.

Friday is good - then we have the weekend to get the plumbing done. Does that still work for you! I am free except 12:15-1:15/after 9:15.

Denzil gave us an impeller for an ASM G4, but there is no logo or marking on the skimmer itself - well a symbol on the collection cup cover. They also drilled and then sealed a few places. That is part of our confusion. I'm curious if we are better off getting a new one anyway.
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Yeah, that impeller should be good for the skimmer pump we gave ya (I forgot what brand the pump was). The skimmer we gave ya was also one we picked up from a previous BAR president that had seen use from a previous owner (which explains the acrylic patches in the skimmer itself). It's entirely up to you if you want to replace the skimmer with something entirely new or slightly used, as long as your pocket can afford it. :)

Used skimmers are fairly easy to find on CL, RC, and sometimes even here on BAR. Good luck with everything! @Coral reefer should be able to get you guys up and running!
 
You are sweet to have looked, @Coral reefer ! I'm triple checking the original pump isn't sitting around in the South Bay somewhere, but it's been a very long time... If only we'd known what we were doing when we started! 'Sokay. Still an awesome setup and we are excited to get it running. Last night we spent 20 minutes talking about gate vs. ball valves. Sad but true.
 
And since @Corallus asked... One from two years ago when we got the setup. One from last year when @jestersix did our rockscape (photo doesn't do it justice.) I'm taking photos here and there. :)
 

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That rockwork is beautiful! It seems like you're pretty close to being able to add water - can't wait to see more pics! How's the plumbing and sump coming along?
 
We do love the rock work!

Wahoooooooo! We are ready for water!!!

We aren't done plumbing - still need to get the reactors plumbed and add our PS, but we are missing one part plus tubing (ordered from BRS) and still waffling about our decision on the PS. We have three awesome choices.

One thing I notice - our return pump isn't sitting firmly anywhere, and has the pull of the flexible PVC. We'll learn what happens when we get the water in there and turn things on!

Lawrence is at the store now working on the plumbing setup to get water from our hose bib into the Kold Ster-Il. Then we get water IN.

Best discovery so far: use of a hair dryer to warm and expand the flex PVC to get it over the barbed fittings. Not loving the coil of spa flex tubing but it will do for now.
 

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Corallus said:
That rockwork is beautiful! It seems like you're pretty close to being able to add water - can't wait to see more pics! How's the plumbing and sump coming along?
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Part of us thinks it would be cleaner and easier with hard PVC and joints. :) but this is done for now. :)
 
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