Journal of a reef tank from the ground up

[clouserw]

I've gotten a bunch of great information from lurking around on here, and thought I might be able to give something back. I was going to post a thread about my tank once it was online, and offer it as a Yet Another Tank Building Guide, but then I thought, "Why not just post about it now, and maybe get further advice?"

So, the tank is far from complete, but its coming along. I just started cutting PVC for it, but its looking good. I have an 80 gallon tank, and two 55 gallon food grade barrels to use as a refugium. Here is a rough Sketch:
http://micropipes.com/gallery/d/33-2/setup_large.jpg


I ordered the TyphoonII RO/DI unit yesterday, and a skimmer to hook up as well. I've still got a long ways to go, but feel free to offer advice. This is my first saltwater tank, although I've had fresh for a while. And thanks for keeping this site up and running - it's great. :)

I started this project's journal on http://micropipes.com/reef/ before I started reading this place regularly, so I'm going to keep the journal there (rather than make a thread). I'll keep reading this thread though, but if you want quick updates, check the site. :)

BTW - I'm kind of winging it on where to put this thread - if this is the wrong forum, let me know :)

[Andrew]

[welcome]

Keep us updated on the project with pictures. :)

[clouserw]

Thanks andrew. And things we're going so well. I've hit a bit of a setback: :(

Edit: Looks like it won't let me inline the image, so here is a link: http://micropipes.com/reef/?id=14

No worries though, I'll get it fixed.

[avshockey311]

ooops! I did the same thing working in my crawl space a while back. Sprinkler line!!!