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hobbies New aquarium!

Found a second wind. Up and running. Tuning the drains was easy and I've got plenty of adjustment left to accommodate more flow in the future.

The cloudiness will settle over the next few days. I'll start the cycle tomorrow.

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Gotta scrub rocks tomorrow. Then just wait and feed the tank ammonia until the bacteria bloom. 💮 Fastest cycle I've ever managed was 10 days.

The canopy lid is moving, which sucks, but was all but expected. We'll see where it ends up once the conditions have been maintained for a while, then consider solutions.

Still need to:

Drill the display
Paint the display
Cut plumbing slot in stand
Prime and paint stand and canopy
Weatherstrip canopy lid
Cut and install stand floor
Form and install overflow box
Plumb the system
Cut sump lid
Leak test
Scrub rocks
Rinse sand
Create aquascape
Cycle system (in progress)
 
The canopy lid has continued to move and now looks completely ridiculous. I've got a PVC panel on the way to replace it. Should have known better and just used PVC in the first place.
 
The powerheads I'd planned to drive the sponges were way too loud. I don't know how I lived with that in the past. So I just finished putting two sponges in line on the return intake. It was super tough and I'm hurt. I just don't bend that way anymore.
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Display is clearing, but slowly. It'll go faster now that I've got the mechanical filtration right. I also need to swap out the aspirated drain's fittings with Schedule 80 - I hate the way the white Schedule 40 lights up behind the weir.
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The new canopy lid material has arrived. It'll get cut and installed sometime soon.

I took apart the sponge not in use and discovered the cores are modular. I can link them end to end. Gonna model up some new caps with barbs for some security in the assembly.

My pulls and strains from my last sump crawl are healing, feeling better. Thanks for the squdge, Tink. 🔗
 
Lol. Soon! I got a few of the smaller rocks in the tank yesterday and I've seen some ammonia consumption. I've got the new sponge cap models off to the printer, too. Couple more weeks or so. Ordering fish is just waiting on the cycle - I don't need the new parts for that, but I'll likely have them sooner, anyway.

I'll post some video when the fish arrive. 🙂
 
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Yeah, see that big ugly piece of equipment in the background buggering up the shot? 😁 Pretty little fish. Some kind of goby?
 
I need a screen on the aspirated drain's intake to keep fish out of the sump. I added a shield to block the fittings from view so I won't have to swap for the larger Schedule 80 stuff.

aspirated drain screen.JPG


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This is not the final arrangement, but it gives a decent idea of what it will eventually look like. Almost all of these rocks will move once I get the rest of them in there. Gotta wait for help to move the big rock into the tank; I can't wait to weigh it.
I love how the overflow box disappears when its foot is obscured.
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