Tank Entry

I suppose the 29 gallon must be feeling jealous of the attention and parts bill for the 75 gallon. Today while I was home for lunch the second of the main tank power compact light units went up in smoke. Horrible smell! Luckily, I was home and was able to get it unplugged and outside. No fire, but did I mention the horrible smell. Fried ballast is not a pleasant smell.

So in the last couple of months both 65 watt power compacts (used for the main lighting in the tank) have ...

Well, I planned my work and worked my plan...until my brain got in the way, then I revised my plan and made things way more complicated.
Anyway, the plumbing is done...mostly.

How we got there:

Time to plumb a pump.

I started with a 3/4" to 1 1/2" adaptor threaded to a 1 1/2" union. I screwed these 2 fittings together prior to putting them on the pump to avoid cracking the pump housing.


...

Anyone see what's wrong with this picture?



Doh! Guess I get to fix it in the morning.

I want to start by thanking melev (Marc) for a great plumbing article and the follow up comments as well for helping me plan and begin the plumbing on my tank (finally).

Marc's article can be found here: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...o-it-correctly

Here's the tank and sump on the stand (yeah).


Here's most of the plumbing parts. Some of you will notice there's a single union ball valve in ...

I want to keep my project moving forward, but as I said in my last post the oil base floor and utility enamel is taking a long time to dry. Fortunately, I learned my lesson and started painting without thinning first. When I painted the remainder of the stand, it dried much faster and I've been able to get two good coats on the top and sides. I plan on moving ahead with the plumbing this week prior to putting the second coat on the underside of the stand.

For tonight, I decided to move ...