Bobs 400g Dream System

[bjmycroft]

I have made a little progress since the last post but I¡¦m still waiting for the tank to fill. Its now about 80% full so I¡¦m close ¡V should be full in a day or so and then start to fill the sump. I replaced the carbon and sediment filter on my RO to be double certain that the water is good.

I added the first bucket of salt last night along with a few heaters and some small pumps and it had all dissolved this morning when I checked. It looked fab though with a layer of white salt on the bottom contrasting with the blue back ¡V im thinking I may have to fnid a good source of really white sand!

I also moved the lighting a little which was a bit of a task. Because the tank has the external overflow at the back, it is about 6¡¨ forward of its predecessor. Also the last tank had the huge overflow inside the tank at one end and the bulbs in the metal frame had been positioned accordingly. This meant I had to rework the positions of the reflectors to be exactly over the holes in the Eutobrace. I also positioned them so that the inside of the single ended bulbs (the double ended bit inside ) was exactly over the centre of the holes.

Next I need to get some fans to play across the lights and top of the tank, in an effort to keep the acrylic cooler that it would otherwise get.

New Years Eve is looking decidedly rocky as a target-date for getting the rocks etc drilled and positioned. I had it all planned out, evening by evening but then suddenly its Xmas and all my evenings are getting stolen! Im desperately trying not to falter at this late stage and rush it, just to meat an arbitrary deadline set by myself ļ

All I have left to do is;
1) Finish filling, heating and mixing
2) Cut some thick acrylic pieces into 2¡¨ squares, glue em into columns and drill them as supports for rock
3) Drill the rocks and cement together into the rock structures I want.
4) Skin the top so that people are not blinded by the lights.
5) Skin the bottom to stop the cat from investigating the pumps etc too closely.
6) Plumb the 4th overflow directly to the skimmer (parts bought).
7) Build a rack to hold the heaters stationary in the sump.
8) Cut overflow grilles out of eggcrate for the tank to stop fish sufing the Dursos.
9) Spend xmas money on snails and crabs etc.
10) Order/build a freshwater resouvoir out of glass.
11) Set up a cuttings/quarantine tank for while im treating the corals in my current tank to get rid of Red Flatworm (Flatworm Exit dip in a small hex tank).
12) Cut some acrylic to make a cover for the external overflow ¡V to stop algae growth etc

Apart from that, not a lot to do really¡K..