A New Reefing Chapter Begins

Not a lot going on this week.  I wanted to work on putting epoxy on the bottom of the stand but I need to find a day where everyone is out of the house to do it.  I heard the fumes can be pretty intense and I have to do it in the fish room because the stand is too big to move out of the room.  I will be wearing a respirator while doing it but if it gets too bad, I will stop doing it and use plastic liner in its place.
I am still waiting to hear back from Tim at Iowa Pet Foods on a firm date on when the tank will be ready.  Until then, I will continue to work on the little things.  This week I patched up the hole in the drywall because I couldn't stand to look at it anymore.  Not very exciting but at least I have pictures!  Remember, I am an amateur at drywall so take it easy on me!  If anyone have any tips on drywall, please share as it will make it easier in the future for someone with a similar situation. 
First, I had to cut the drywall out to the center point of the studs so I could fasten the new piece down with some screws.
Next was fitting a new piece of drywall to fit the hole.
This was after the first layer of mud and drywall tape
Another layer of mud
3rd layer of mud added
Final layer of mud before sanding 
After texture and paint

 

I am with you, Bud! I don't see how some people can do it with such little mud and time. It took me about 3 days total to do it and I still think I can do better on it but my wife told me to leave it alone because you really can't see the imperfections unless you were looking for it. Maybe one of these days when I have more free time, I will redo it. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

 

I just spoke to Tim from Iowa Pet Foods on the phone and he said he spoke to Marineland earlier and my tank should be built on Monday. Then the tank will be shipped to the distributor next week and then to Iowa Pet Foods the following week. I'm not sure if that's a realistic timeline or not because I think the silicone needs time to cure before they can ship but what do I know? Anyway that's what I was told so I am going with it but I'm not going to get my hopes up until the tank is actually sitting at Iowa Pet Foods waiting for me to pick it up.

In the meantime, I still need to work on the stand so I better get cracka lackin' on it! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

 

I hope so as well.  Tim has been really good about communicating what he knows and I appreciate it.  There hasn't a lot of progress on the build right now since I am still in a holding pattern for the tank but I have been making some changes on the equipment front.  
I have received a lot of questions via PMs and text messages on why I sold my AI modules when I said I was going to use them.  Well I can explain.  My OCD kicked into high gear so out they went! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/crazy.gif  I was going to use the existing aluminum light rack from JJ's build but I decided to build my own because the aluminum was pitted and the rivets he used to hold it together were rusted over the years of service.  Since I was building a new one, I was going to add a coat of primer and paint to the rack to prevent rusting and pitting.  With that said, I can paint it any color I want.  Since the outside of the MH reflectors are black, I decided I am going to paint the light rack and rails black as well.  Since everything will be black, the AI modules might as well be too!  So I am still sticking with the AI Sol Blues, just in black instead of silver. 
I am also going to change my in-tank flow pumps from Tunze to Vortechs.  Hopefully I don't regret the decision.  I owned an MP40 when they first came out and they were noisy and motor was hot to the touch.  I also don't like the idea of having to replace the wet side parts but I'm not sure if that's even an issue anymore, someone with experience can chime in on it.  But I think they have gotten better over the years so I am going to give them another try.  I want to get a couple of them and put them all at one end and point them across the tank.  I plan to make a manifold for my return and put them on the same side as well.  Basically I am setting up my flow like a typical peninsula style tank.  In the process, I want it to look clean and I don't want a lot of wires in the tank so we'll see how it goes.

 

Dang Matt, I was hoping to hear good things about them after being out on the market for nearly 6 years.  Oh well, I am hoping by having the dry side of the pump in a fish room will help block out the noise from the front.  I don't mind it being noisy in the fish room but I don't want a lot of noise from the other side of the wall.
Just something I found interesting.  I looked back on Premium Aquatics' website from June of 2006 and saw the MP40s were released at $345.  Now they are $465...talk about inflation!

 

That's crazy that magnets have gone up in price so much over the last few years.  Does anyone know what's driving up the price increase?
I haven't had much time to work on the project this week but I was able to build the frame for the light rack.  It's essentially the same rack that JJ built but instead of using rivets, I used nuts and bolts to fasten everything down.  I also moved the turnbuckles inside the frame instead of the outside.  This will help me out because I will be able to slide the rail out farther away from the tank for when I need to get in there.  Now I just need to primer and paint all the pieces and then I can chalk it down as being done!

 

Just a small update to my project.  More dry goods continue to arrive as I am finishing my light rack.  I've been putting in more work on it but I am still not 100% happy with it yet.  It is sagging in the middle of the rack and I have been trying to come up with a way to resolve this.  Adding another angle aluminum on the long side would help but it still bows towards the center as you can see in the pic below.  I had an epiphany this afternoon and decided to add a 3rd rail to the center.  The rail is still being primed and painted so I will not have it installed until tomorrow.  Anyway here are a few pics of my black (lights out) themed lighting.
New AI sol blue modules in black A view from underneath
Light rack sagging in the middle
Don't worry about the wiring, I haven't even begun to work on it yet.  They'll all be tucked away in flex loom and zip-tied to the rack to give it a clean look! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif

 

Thanks for the feedback, Bud!  I had one primed and painted last night and I finally got it on there this morning.  The sag is gone!
As far as using the slider(wheels) at an angle, that was my only option.  I didn't get a chance to do enough research on it and they didn't have much to offer locally so I used what was available.  The slider fits in the rail at an angle.  If I hung it vertically, there's a chance the slider could pop off the rail.  If I set the rail at an extreme angle, the slider cannot come off the rail because you would have to physically move the slider the other direction to get it to come off.  Thus the reason for doing what I did.  It's not the best system in the world but it works and I feel it is safe enough to hang them over the tank.

 

Say what??  I bet it's not there anymore! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/whistling.gif