90 gallon build in six easy steps

[cr500_af]

OK, this will be short on the web, even though it took me *cough* twelve and a half hours *cough* to do in real life. Apologies in advance for the cell phone pics!
My free, undrilled 75 gallon is coming down to make room for a 90 RR with a 30g sump.
12:30pm Sunday:

1: First the livestock and CUC go into the clean 10 gallon QT with some of the rock. Dining room lights don't do much for the look:


2: All the rock is out and in tupperware tubs with water, and all the water I can get out is in trash cans. Starting to drain:



3: Old tank moved to the side, new stand in its footprint:

4: Sandbed in sump, trying to decide which skimmer will fit best. It (the sump) won't come out with the tank on the stand, so I better like it:



5: Filling 'er up! HOB filter running to clear debris. This was 50# more rock than I had in the 75g:


6: Only 1:30am and we're all home safe. Sump wasn't turned on until Monday morning, so I'm technically still not done at this point. After this picture, sump pump installed w/ ball valves that weren't there before, and little stuff like PH locations tweaked. Strawberry pseudochromis and peppermint shrimp did not speak to me until Monday night. I'm especially happy with the rockwork. Not necessarily the looks, but a fish can go in pretty much any hole you see and exit from any other one, from one end to the other even past the overflow.


I was tired and went to bed. Thanks to LilRobb and kelloggreef I have a few softies in there now. Still gotta figure out how to mount the lunar lights made for a Coralife PC with the 2 T5 fixtures.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is Skimmer Setup and Tune Day. Also, due to popular demand from the wife unit (ClaudiasMom), it will be "Get that tank out of my foyer" day.

Trivia: This will likely be the only time you ever see a picture of me or my fish setup without a Diet Coke somewhere in the picture. You may or may not find whiskey in said Diet Coke, for future reference.


Thank you for attending the world's least amazing tank build!

[LilRobb]

Noted for future reference, diet coke frags and Jack...

Good looking setup - can't wait to hear first success stories with the softies and coraline algae...

Keep on reefin',

Robb

[atreyu917]

Looking good! YAY!

[cr500_af]

Thanks!

[LegalReefer]

Thats pretty fast!! Did you already have some SW mixed up to the same salinity?

[cr500_af]

Yes, I used about 55-60 gallons from my existing tank, the rest I mixed up in a Brute on Saturday... well, actually a Brute plus a few 5g buckets.
I knew I wouldn't have enough storage for the extra makeup water that it would take to fill the sump also, which is the other reason it didn't get done until the next day. Made more water after the tank was filled for that.
On Monday I filled the sump but didn't turn on the pump and circulate it until Monday night.

[coolsurf]

You sure got a lot done quick! Looking good.

[cr500_af]

Originally Posted by coolsurf

You sure got a lot done quick! Looking good.

That surprises me to hear. I thought I'd be done a LOT faster (otherwise I wouldn't have waited until after lunch to start). I also wouldn't have stopped to watch the Supercross from Jax on Speed!

I figured the time would be mostly spent waiting on the heaters to catch back up. That really didn't take long.

[BASSCYN]

Nice job! I like the format of your build thread.

Parts pusher my self

[cr500_af]

Originally Posted by BASSCYN

Parts pusher my self

Auto?

[BASSCYN]

Originally Posted by cr500_af

Auto?

Yes!