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Dadekster
02/04/2009, 01:30 AM
Ok, so like many others in this hobby, I too have finally decided the time has come to start a large tank. A bit about myself first though. I work 12 hour shifts and am married with a kid, so my progress will come in spurts as I have the time and energy to do things. I started doing the aquarium thing about five years ago. It all started when we decided that my son was old enough to have his own pet. What could be easier than a goldfish, right? Well, of course it ended up being my goldfish, and of course he was lonely, then he had friends needed a bigger party house and one thing lead to another!

My first foray into reefing was about two years after that having done some post graduate work in African Lake cichlids :p I set up a reef ready 58 gallon Oceanic tank and learned a lot of things from it. I ended up setting up a sump, remote DSB, a 20 gallon fuge, going from PC lighting, to T5's and even a 250 halide and attaching another tank in line. Through it all I learned many things and while I still have a lot to learn I feel I am competent enough to move to a larger tank.

With that out of the way, let me explain what I have in mind.

96" x 36" x 18" TruVu
To get an idea of what it looks like
http://www.truvuaquariums.com/48cofl3.html

It is ordered and should be here either end of week or next week. I had the height added by 2" and the overflow will be external and on one end. It will be drilled with a total of four holes, two drains and two returns. I went acrylic due to weight and the fact I live in California aka earthquake country. I also don't plan to have any rock work any where near the sides.

Some of the other equipment either on hand or on the way.

Reef Octopus Extreme 300 Protein Skimmer
ReeFlo Dart/Sequence 3600gph
Octopus Dual Chamber Calcium Reactor
Tunze 3155 Osmolator Universal
JBJ Dual Gauge CO2 Regulator w/ kit
American Marine Pinpoint pH Controller
Tek5 six bulb setup
250 watt Hamilton w/20k bulb
40 gallon breeder tank/glass
29 gallon tall/glass/drilled
DIY kalk reactor
Aqua Logic Trimline Delta Star 1/3HP Chiller
Ton of pumps/heaters/ and assorted crap


Some things I still need to obtain. A 5lb or 10lb CO2 tank. Luckily there is a place local that sells lab grade CO2...never knew there was a lab grade CO2 tbh :p I have also not yet made up my mind how I want to go about lighting my setup. I am leaning T5's for the overall ability to pick the look and cost as far as bulb replacement plus less heat. But I really do like the glimmer the halides provide. I also need to buy a second small sized acrylic tank which will be a surge tank.

As far as the setup itself. The stand is going to be standard lumber, using 2' x 8' for across with 2' x 4's as support. I will probably add a center brace/leg for the reason I will skin the front leaving a rather big opening for ease of access to equipment. Overall looks are not primary as this will be against a 10' wall in my office. I plan to use the 40 gallon as my sump. The 29 tall will be for water changes. The acrylic (not bought yet) tank will be used as a surge device. I have some interesting ideas for the surge tank. While serving as a surge tank I also plan for it to be a fuge of sorts. I am hoping that this will provide the display tank with some additional food.

I knocked out a quick paint job to help those that hate reading walls of text. :D

Legend -

A - skimmer
B - heaters
C - pump
D - chiller
E - CA reactor
F - pump for water change tank
G - surge device for surge tank
H - lights
I - more lights
J - overflow



So being 3' wide the tank gives me quite a bit of rockworking choices. The tank is planned as a bio tope tank. I plan to have a bit of a vertical rock wall near the surge outlets and a lagoon type setting on the other side with an island in the middle. If I find the surge device unsatisfactory I can always go with a Vortech or similar I guess. So that is what is planned. I'd like to hear what some people think about this idea, especially from people who have similar setups as I hate making blatantly stupid mistakes. Unfortunately it is the one thing I seem to excel at :eek: :)

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/tank.jpg

Novacaine
02/04/2009, 02:39 AM
i like the concept. Cant wait to see how this one turns out

Dadekster
02/04/2009, 12:18 PM
Thanks. I am awaiting some of my equipment due today. I'll post the 'required' new loot in boxes pics when it gets here :D

I need to make a couple trips today as well for other misc stuff. On the agenda today is to pull up the carpeting where the stand and tank will be going as well as start building the stand. Spent about forty bucks on lumber last night including 2lb. of screws. Had no idea stands could be built so cheap. I still need to buy the top panel plus siding (sheeting) to give it added bracing for lateral movement since I'll be going with a surge tank for water movement.

The more I think about it the happier I am with going the shallow route. So many benefits to going that way versus a tall deep tank. I am designing this tank to be viewed as much from above as I am from the side :) Anyways hope to have an update later today.

Dadekster
02/04/2009, 10:56 PM
Alright so I received a bunch of new toys today and I got some stuff done :)

I was able to pull back my carpeting as I don't want any of the soggy mess associated with it or the padding underneath. My last house was elevated, but my new house has a nice slab...and its even level :eek2: This is what it looked like before.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Wallshotpreprep.jpg

I also figured I would need power and water as those seem to be used in abundance in reefing :p So I had a line spliced off from my hose in the back yard. It runs underneath the recessed wall of my house and through the wall. Same thing for the power except its comes from the master power with all the breakers. I had my brother in law do this as electricity frankly scares the crap out of me :o and he's a licensed electrician. In the end it looked like this.

<a href="http://s670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/?action=view&current=Newwaterlineaddedplusfutureaddon.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Newwaterlineaddedplusfutureaddon.jpg" border="0" alt="Water line tapped and add on"></a>

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Waterlineleadinpluselectriclinein.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Rightsidepowerpluswaterline.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Closeupofleftsidepower.jpg

So as you can see we got power and we got water. So on to ripping up carpeting.

Dadekster
02/04/2009, 11:24 PM
Myself and my son in law next ripped up the carpeting. We still have some work to do, basically we need to align the edge with the carpeting. I am going to try to keep a small strip of linoleum between the tank stand edge and the carpeting. The stand I started is approximately 43" wide. This gives me some wiggle room for the tank which is 36" wide and a little lip to set things on, like my beer when gazing into the tank :D So we went to town on the carpeting.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Edwinpulleduprightside.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Edwinpullingupcarpet.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Leftsidepulledup.jpg

Once it was torn up and cleaned fairly well I learned that I was one of those rare people that has a level slab in their house. This of course means I won't have anyone to blame when I build my stand crooked :( Regardless I went to Lowes and promptly bought the cheapest linoleum they had and we installed a 45" wide by 10' wide strip. It actually came out pretty nice. This hopefully guards me against the accidental spill and drips I know will happen. As a precaution we also ran silicon around the edges by the baseboard so water can't seep underneath there. Of course if I spill 20 gallons I am still screwed as this won't help in a large spill, but then I can only blame myself. So with that out of the way I started on the bottom frame of the stand. Being so large I have to build it sectional as there is no way in h3ll it will fit through my door or window (which is how the tank will get in by the way).

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Thebottomframestarts.jpg

The bottom frame is all I got done tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I will add the legs/supports and get the top done. I will then stain and seal everything to include the sheeting. I mentioned I received toys as well I think? :rollface:

Dadekster
02/04/2009, 11:46 PM
I remember when getting GI Joe and Transformers toys was the best thing about being a kid. Now fast forward and I get giddy when the UPS guy shows up and gives me a CA reactor and an auto top off. Weird ;)

Anyways, the stuff that showed up today.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/CAreactorsolenoidosmolatordrillandc.jpg

I plan on drilling my 40 gallon breeder and use that for my skimmer and as my sump. To that end I saw a pretty nice device to help me do that and to stop paying the over priced glass shops around here 30-40 bucks each time I need a stupid hole drilled. That would be the drill guide. I have never used an auto top off device but I have heard mostly great things about the Tunze osmolator even if there are DIYer's that can do this for 20 bucks. I am honestly tired of hauling buckets of RODI water around and doing it for 270 gallons would probably be considered training for some triathlon. I'll pass thanks and just get something considered reliable :) The Octopus CA reactor on the other hand is more of a risk. I have not seen much about them, but from the Octopus Extreme 300 skimmer I received about 2 weeks ago I figured if their skimmers were any indication then the CA reactor should be decent. Time will tell I guess. To go along with that I got the required JBL solenoid setup that come with bubble counter and so forth. I have never used a CA reactor before so this will be a learning experience. I also got the American Marine Pinpoint controller. Lastly I also received my Reeflo Sequence Dart that does 3600 gallons per hour and can be throttled accordingly. I will be building a manifold so this will be handy.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Amanlypump3600gallonsperhour.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Octopusskimmer.jpg

So that's it for now. Tomorrow I should have some more updates and I will be calling TruVu to see if I can get a firm date for delivery. The plan is to have it all ready to go so when the tank gets here I can set it on the stand and go from there. As usual any comments or suggestions are welcome as well as anything that screams out *** are you doing don't stick your finger in that or whatnot! :D

stunreefer
02/05/2009, 12:07 AM
Great build! Love shallow tanks :thumbsup:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14321763#post14321763 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dadekster
Now fast forward and I get giddy when the UPS guy shows up and gives me a CA reactor and an auto top off. Weird ;) :lol: Funny how things change isn't it?

... I get giddy when the tracking website says its in the state!

Dadekster
02/05/2009, 12:34 PM
Speaking of giddy I just got off the phone with TruVu and I was told I will have my tank early next week, probably Monday or Tuesday!!:D

Perfect as I am off for four days. Guess I should get cracking on my stand eh?

Chrisrush
02/05/2009, 01:52 PM
I'm not following how you are going to try and incorporate a surge and a fuge in the same tank. A surge will drain all the water out of the tank. I think you are referring to an above tank fuge, and by the looks of your drawing, that's what I can tell.

Tank looks good though, might have to keep one of those in mind for the future.

TandN
02/05/2009, 04:07 PM
I love the dimensions

Dadekster
02/05/2009, 08:46 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14325159#post14325159 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chrisrush
I'm not following how you are going to try and incorporate a surge and a fuge in the same tank. A surge will drain all the water out of the tank. I think you are referring to an above tank fuge, and by the looks of your drawing, that's what I can tell.

Tank looks good though, might have to keep one of those in mind for the future.

This will be a work in progress so bear with me. When I had a surge tank on my last tank even though quite a bit of water drained, there was still at least 25% of it left. So while it well be an above tank fuge, it will also drain like a surge tank. I plan to use egg grate or whatever else material I come up with to keep the drain free of debris. The hope is that through regular surges pods and other animal life go into the display on the current, sort of simulating a real current. I figure plumbed correctly I can keep some sand and some rock in there as well as cheato although I might keep that somewhere else as it tends to act like steel wool and I don't want it swirling around my display. I might even attempt to baffle the surge tank but I think that would restrict the pods too much. Like I said though, it will be a work in progress when I get to it. If it doesn't work out I'll just turn it into a straight surge tank and plumb a fuge in line somewhere.

Hope that explains better what I have in mind.

I am really excited about the dimensions as well. I am eating dinner atm but when done I will hopefully get the supports done on the stand. I was able to pick up my CO2 bottle today and the carpeting is done. I will try to get some pics up later tonight to show some of the progress.

Bax
02/05/2009, 09:34 PM
Nice dims on the tank this will be a very cool shallow reef!

SMOOTHIE
02/06/2009, 12:44 AM
Sweet! 18" deep you could even play around with the lighting. 175 will even do, or t-5 if you sacrifice the shimmer effect. Please keep us posted. Cool build

Dadekster
02/06/2009, 02:09 AM
Well it was another productive day...bet my employer wishes they could say that about me more often :p Anywho, I got quite a bit done today even with the wife wanting to go shopping. I was able to add the legs to the stand as well as the top outer framing. I just need to add three additional cross beams for support. Not sure if I really need them, but I'll feel better and it won't add much additional weight. As is now I can easily move the stand around, ok, maybe not easily, but I can get er' done myself. :)

The carpeting was also finished. Nothing fancy here, basically just a cut and tuck using metal trim into the concrete. I have a little 2" gap along the front of the stand for the drips. Once I am able to move stuff over from my holding tank I plan to actually cut the carpet back a good foot or two and cut from the stand edge and install something nice. As is what I have now will serve its purpose. Once that was done I was able to completely seal the stand in Olympic water sealant wood guard. Guess it protects against water, mildew, UV lighting and adds linseed. I just want to make sure it beads water so I can clean it easy. So I coated the whole stand in that and letting it dry overnight. So here are some construction shots and where I am at.


http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Addingthelegscloseup.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Addingthelegs.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Topoutlinedone.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Crossbeamsaddedleftside.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Crossbeamsaddedrightside.jpg

So while that was soaking up the sealant, I figured what the heck, let's go start on the panels. I went to the garage and sealed the top panel as well as the bottom panel. I then added a layer of Red Mahogany to what is going to be the front panel. I will cut quite a bit of the front panel out leaving access to the front. I am undecided on how to do the front. Doors, panels with velcro or magnets, leave it open for the muscle car with no hood effect? I'll have to ponder it some. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Toppanelandbottompanelcoatedfrontpa.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/CloseupofstainRedMahogany.jpg

On a related note I put together my Octopus CA reactor. It came with one sheet which has a picture and I kid you not the following written near the bottom.

PLEASE ASSEMBLY ACCORDINGLY! :confused:

Anyone know where there are any online docs for this thing?

Dadekster
02/06/2009, 02:16 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14330012#post14330012 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SMOOTHIE
Sweet! 18" deep you could even play around with the lighting. 175 will even do, or t-5 if you sacrifice the shimmer effect. Please keep us posted. Cool build

I am pretty sure I will be going with T5's as I had good luck with the one I had and I like the color it provides. I have one of the 3' long Tek5 six bulb setups. I think I will buy one more. That will give me 6' of coverage and some shadier spots for some livestock flexibility. I might do a spotlight halide for effect, but not sure. I'll have to see what I have with the two Teks up there. As I made my stand about 43" wide I have some choices on how to mount my lights. I don't want to drill holes into my ceiling and I am always paranoid that my lights are going to fall into my tank I get a bit anal about supporting them. :p

I do have to admit having a shallow tank and the shimmer would be really sweet, giving it that true lagoon look.

Dadekster
02/07/2009, 12:54 AM
Another day, another update. I got several things done today even though I felt like crap. I got the bottom of the stand put in, the top support frame put in and the front of the stand added. So other than some cosmetic things such as putting in the screw hole and staining over that the stand is ready for the tank to be set on it. I am leaving the sides open as well as the back for ease of access. I am still undecided on how to cover the front. I am not big on doors as I just find them in my way constantly when I am performing maintenance on the tank. One of the big things for this tank is to make sure that taking care of things is not a chore because its a PITA. I am strongly considering making panels that hang so I can just take them off and have the whole front open so working on things is easy. I may do the same for the sides if noise is an issue as well. So here are some progress shots and where I am at now.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Topsupportsadded.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Topcompleted.jpg

and finally the front panel.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Bottomaddedandfrontadded.jpg

My son wanted to get in on the action and now he wants a club house built :p

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Chrisandequipmentbelow.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Chrisbelowwiththeequipment.jpg

I am thinking that I will buy another 40 gallon breeder and plumb that in line with the skimmer sump. I will use that for the CA reactor, chiller, carbon running etc and then run the Dart into that. I have plenty of room and if I plumbed with unions and valves I can take them off line independently for maintenance as needed. This will also tie into my ATO tank. The Dart will be plumbed to be the return and also feed the surge/fuge tank.

So I still have some things to do but the next stuff I have planned is to order my other light fixture, get the front panel finished, figure out my doors/panels, get another 40 gallon tank, and plumb what I can until the tank gets here. As usual let me know if you see anything I can improve or if you have suggestions. I'd rather have something pointed out that I missed than find out the hard way. :)

jpa0741
02/07/2009, 01:20 AM
This build brings back some memories for me. I miss waiting for the UPS guy. My reef is the almost just like the link you have in the beginning (96"x36"'16"). Just click on my red house for my build log. Please feel free to ask my any questions you might have. First thing I will do is try to persuade you to go with MH. I am subscribed and can't wait to see more. You will love the dimesions of your tank.

Dadekster
02/07/2009, 02:11 PM
Thanks for the compliment, I can only hope my tank turns out half as good as yours. Yours was one of the big reasons I thought a widescreen high definition tank would be possible :p First time I saw a pic you posted of it in someones thread I was like, ok that's what I want my tank to look like.

I'd ask what you would have done differently, but honestly I think you have your tank down to a science...if you could just stay out of the LFS like you stated :) you'd be golden.

I am running down to Lowes today to buy some things. I think I will put some baffles into my sump today and buy some plumbing supplies I know I'll need. I have work today so won't get much done the next two days.

Dadekster
02/10/2009, 10:29 PM
Been a couple of days, but I got a couple things done. As far as the tank goes, I am hoping it get here either tomorrow or Thursday. The stand as far as having the tank sit on it is all done. There are about a million minor things that need to be done like having these installed underneath the tank so I can see what the heck I am doing.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Undercabinetlighting.jpg

I also found this at Home Depot.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Possiblenightlightslitup.jpg

I am going to see if I can install it over the tank and use it as night lighting. If it doesn't work I just bought Christmas lights early. :p

I have definitely decided to go with T5 lights so with that decision made I had to figure out how I was going to hang them. I knew I didn't want to drill holes into the ceiling and I don't have the woodworking skills to build some crazy hood setup. I also wanted something that was adjustable as far as lateral placement as well as horizontal. As usual when there is something I want to try out but I'm not sure how to do it, I just cruised the aisles of various stores :o

This is what I came up with.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Rightsideoflightingsupports.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Leftsideofsupportsforlights.jpg

And it actually doing what it is intended to to.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Lightshungstraightview.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Lightshungleftsideangleview.jpg

My other Tek light should be here tomorrow so I can hang them both. With this light rack with just six bolts I can move the whole system sideways, front to back and up or down as needed. I can even add more beams, which I plan to do so I can use night lighting. Now the bad thing it isn't pretty. I still need to take it all down, primer it and add a sealant coat to the whole light rack system.

I also have successfully drilled my 40 gallon breeder tank and added baffles to it. This will hold my skimmer and at least one drain line will go to this. From the 40 gallon sump I will have a line going into a 40 gallon feed trough I bought. The 40 gallon trough has been drilled for the Dart and also to tie into the 40 gallon breeder/skimmer sump. The feed trough will hold live rock and be used as the mixing tank so to say. I will have the chiller outflow, CA outflow, top off etc go into this. I don't have pics as I still have to plump this and my baffle job is so ugly my nine year old son laughed when he saw it. :o He was like "Hey Dad, you blind it's crooked." Oh well, I water tested the whole thing in the backyard hooked up the Dart and it worked. :D

As usual, let me know what ya think, have any questions or just want to tell me I'm out of my mind.

jpa0741
02/11/2009, 08:15 AM
Looking good. I am not sure, but I would think about building your light rack with aluminum angle. I got mine from Home Depot. I would think that the steel angle will rust like crazy. Just a guess. Maybe some others with experience using that will chime in.

Never mind, just re-read and see you mentioned sealing it. Sorry. Keep up the good work.

Dadekster
02/11/2009, 08:41 PM
Yep, I put some sort of professional grade primer (probably a marketing gimmick:rolleyes: ) rust protection on it and then added two more top coat of finish on it, both made by Rust-Oleum. I am hoping it will give it decent protection and I will just keep an eye on it and either replace as necessary or use a more marine resistant metal. Here is what it looks like finished.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Lightrackdoneandstartingplumbing.jpg

As you can see I have done a couple other things as well. I have put up a blue tarp in the back to protect the wall from occasional splashes. This runs all the way to the floor and under the stand where I have cut out access holes for power. This will hopefully keep the panel safer. Depending on what it looks like I may also use it as my background. The nice thing is that I am using zip ties to keep it up from the light rack and as needed I can take it down, rinse if off or buy a new one and put it up. The tarp is like five bucks and I didn't even need to cut it, perfect size out of the bag :p

I also installed my under tank lighting, three LED spotlights. You can see them in a previous pic. They were like ten bucks and come with very long cords and are easy to install. I can move them around but I think they are in good spots at the moment. I have puttied over the screw holes in the front and just need to restain over them. I am debating putting trim around the edges and maybe on the front of the light rack, but not sure yet, especially on the light rack as it might look odd having it on the front and seeing bare metal elsewhere. What do you guys think?

The wife thinks a fabric curtain over the front would look good, but I sort of am thinking of hinge doors that would lift up to provide access. I am in no rush to get that done as I will want to let the tank run for a good month or two to get used to its....idiosyncrasies. I am waiting on my other light to arrive today so when that gets here I can hang that for that completed look as far as the light rack goes. I may later on mount the 250 Hamilton I have as well to see if it provides glimmer lines and maybe as a highlight section. We shall see.

I have started the plumbing as well. I will dry fit everything and hopefully that will give me a good idea what to do when the tank gets here...hopefully tomorrow. Think I need to call TruVu and get an update on my tank. Surprised they have not called me yet to let me know it is being delivered. So this is what it looks like before I get started.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Plumbingpartsgalore.jpg

And I haven't really bought anything other than unions and some valves :o yet. So there you go, all caught up for now.

reefwizz
02/12/2009, 03:43 PM
Wow amazing build! Can't wait to see more pics.

thatguy559
02/12/2009, 03:48 PM
looking good so far

danferd2002
02/13/2009, 07:34 AM
Is that a 2x8 on top? I would add another set of "legs" in the center of that stand(one in front, one in back). While im sure that top rim can hold the weight, it will eventually start to sag in the center.

Dadekster
02/13/2009, 09:05 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14385224#post14385224 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by danferd2002
Is that a 2x8 on top? I would add another set of "legs" in the center of that stand(one in front, one in back). While im sure that top rim can hold the weight, it will eventually start to sag in the center.

I an definitely not a structural engineer, otherwise I'd be making much more money I am sure :p but I used this thread for my stand idea.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1169964

I think somewhere in there they get into the nitty gritty of how much weight some of these supports can hold and so forth. The stand feels super solid and I am confident it will hold the tank, water, sand and rock. But I appreciate the concern.

As far as other news, I received the tank today and it is sitting in the garage atm. Waiting to get at least one other solid body to help me move it in through the window and into place. The wife could probably actually help me move it, but she's nursing a bad back so probably wouldn't be prudent. Even though the tank is 8' long I'd say it weights under 200 pounds easy. I can actually move it myself in spurts but no way I can lift it through the window. I got 80% of the dry plumbing done and once I get the tank into place I will complete it all and triple check everything is the way I want it. Then comes making it permanent with glue. After that, the water test :rollface:

I have work tonight so I will post some pics of the tank tomorrow. It's a solid and beautiful piece of work and the options I have as far as rock scaping it are just awesome. Anyways, that's it for now, pics tomorrow I promise and hopefully I can get a volunteer to move it in. Keep your fingers crossed. :D

TandN
02/13/2009, 09:49 PM
I hope that skimmers cup is just not on right because thats one hell of a slant on it lol

Dadekster
02/14/2009, 03:25 PM
I should tell everyone that it is designed like that and skims 50% better but to mod your skimmer like that I need 50 dollars to make it happen :p but the truth is, yes, the skimmer cup is not on their solid :)

Dadekster
02/14/2009, 03:54 PM
Ok, tank pics as promised. Atm the tank is still in the garage and no time to really move it into the office. It is lying on its back side and its about perfect. The only thing I have noticed that will give me some issues is the fact that you can see into the overflow from inside the tank. Kinda odd that they didn't put some black acrylic in the spot, but I guess the plus side is you can see your drains etc. Not sure what I'll do about it, but I think it will be distracting when you are looking into the tank to see four tubes.

Styrofoam down and dry plumbing still in progress. Got the other light up as well.
http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Bothlightsupexploringplumbingoption.jpg

The tank in all its glory.
http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Thetanklongview.jpg

Close up of the overflow. The teeth are in and removable as well as the lid that goes on top of the box. You can sort of see the front of the overflow here and that it is clear.
http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Closeupofoverflowwithteethinplace.jpg

And the last pic shows the size as compared to a soda. The thing is loooooooong :D
http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Bottomoftankwithsodacomparison.jpg

Can't wait to see this thing in place with the plumbing done. Might take a day or two though, hopefully done around Tuesday or so.

~sp0ok~
02/14/2009, 05:56 PM
wow nice job

Dadekster
02/14/2009, 06:46 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14396168#post14396168 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ~sp0ok~
wow nice job

Thank you.

One of my friends came over to pick something up from the house, he got to pick up more than he thought! :eek1: After much effort, (we had to lift the tank pretty high due to the fence being close to the window) we managed to get the tank into the office and on the stand. It sure looks purty sitting up there now :rollface: I have to get ready for work, but I'll take some pics of it on the stand tomorrow.

Corndork2
02/14/2009, 06:52 PM
lookin good so far!

Dustin1300
02/14/2009, 08:49 PM
Looks great so far...love watching builds as its the best way to learn new ideas for your next "big" build! Tagging along....Beautiful tank!

jpa0741
02/14/2009, 09:06 PM
Looking good. Don't worry about the overflow. You will not to be able to see inside it when viewing from the front. It will reflect like a mirror. My whole end is an overflow and I was worried about the same thing so I put a siliconed a piece of black acrylic inside. I later found out it was not needed. I had also bought black acrylic for the other 3 sides and are just held in place with velcro for my background. I never hang the one on the other side without the overflow.

Are you planning to only have those lights? I don't see them being able to light the whole 3' width.

Dadekster
02/15/2009, 07:07 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14397167#post14397167 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jpa0741
Looking good. Don't worry about the overflow. You will not to be able to see inside it when viewing from the front. It will reflect like a mirror. My whole end is an overflow and I was worried about the same thing so I put a siliconed a piece of black acrylic inside. I later found out it was not needed. I had also bought black acrylic for the other 3 sides and are just held in place with velcro for my background. I never hang the one on the other side without the overflow.

Are you planning to only have those lights? I don't see them being able to light the whole 3' width.

Well that's good to hear about the overflows since I was really scratching my head trying to figure out how to take care of that. I might hang my 250 in the middle or over an island depending on how the rock scape comes out. I have a basic idea in my head how I want it to look. The majority of the lights needs to be center and I would actually like some darker spots for LPS's and I like the effect of light contrast. Having said that I am not sure it will light three feet deep as you brought up. I have the lights turned on and it seems the light spread gets most of the bottom. For some reason I can't get the outside banks on my older Tek light to work now. I am going to have to switch some bulbs around to make sure its not a bulb issue. If the brand new ones don't work then it's going to be a wiring issue and that's going to **** me off since now it's something else I need to take care of...and I have stated already how much I love missing with electricity. :mad2:

That being said, I took some pics of the tank sitting in place and with the lighting that works, lit. Many things to still take care of before I go wet, but I'll be tackling them in the next couple of days so bear with me. I will of course keep you updated with pic tank porn :p

Shots from both side.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Leftsidetankinplacelightson.jpg

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Rightsidetankinplacelightson.jpg

And the full tank shot. I have to stand in my closet for this, I guess that's a good thing? :o :D

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/FTStankinplacelightson.jpg

So what do ya think?

Dustin1300
02/15/2009, 08:13 PM
Whether you can see the overflow or not would be the least of my worries! Tank looks great and cannot wait to see the good stuff! (i.e. filteration/plumbing)

Dadekster
02/16/2009, 04:39 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14403173#post14403173 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dustin1300
Whether you can see the overflow or not would be the least of my worries! Tank looks great and cannot wait to see the good stuff! (i.e. filteration/plumbing)

Thank you. I will be starting that today. Hopefully I will be gluing things into place later today and I can do a water test.

TandN
02/16/2009, 04:50 PM
Theres one thing most people always worry about. Thats there light spread. Truth be told you only need light where you plan on having corals. I have a 36" deep tank and theres 5" in the back of the tank w/o anything and then theres 7" in front w/ acans and micros yumas rics so my 400wers dont need to have full coverage in back or to much in front. that said its all up to you how you plan on having your rockwork but please this is JMHO

:)

Dadekster
02/16/2009, 07:42 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14409646#post14409646 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TandN
Theres one thing most people always worry about. Thats there light spread. Truth be told you only need light where you plan on having corals. I have a 36" deep tank and theres 5" in the back of the tank w/o anything and then theres 7" in front w/ acans and micros yumas rics so my 400wers dont need to have full coverage in back or to much in front. that said its all up to you how you plan on having your rockwork but please this is JMHO

:)

Good point. The basic plan is to have two islands. One facing lateral to where I plan to have the surge tank, that being the right side of the tank. This is where I plan to have the high flow loving corals. I want it to be a slightly elevating structure has it goes right to left. On the left side of the tank is another island which will get a more general flow. Hopefully some of the surge will carry over and mix up with the returns. I am strongly considering at least one Vortech on that side as well to hit the surge head on. This should provide a nice chaotic swirl over the middle open area. The two mini islands are for a future anemone setup and for something else TBD. I might make three islands, that's sort of up in the air. The thick lines represent arches as I like the look of them. I will make a pretty deliberate attempt to create caves on the left side island as well.

So here's my awesome paint sketch

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/tankrockdesign.jpg

The right side of the tank has been drilled for two returns which will the surge returns. You can see them here.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Surgereturns.jpg

I am planning once I get my 72 gallon holding tank drained and the occupants moved over to build a separate stand on the right side. As of right now, it's in the darn way and until drained I can't really work on my surge stand. This stand once built, will hold two surge tanks and my TO tank underneath. The two surge tanks will run independently from one another. I hope to create a really random surge this way as most of the time they will stagger, but sometimes they may both surge at the same time. That's about as random as it gets. The closer surge tank I plan to divide and run as a fuge as well since it may require occasional maintenance. I don't plan to use it so much to grow macros as I have a 40 gallon feed trough underneath for that running reverse light cycle. This surge tank will be a place to let pods really grow as well as a bit of a sand bed with no predators. Hoping it will kick in some extra food on the currents.

The plan to get the plumbing done tonight is on hold unfortunately as I am short one 1" bulkhead for one of the drains. Of course they are all out of stock at the store so I will need to make a special trip to a plastic supply store. They sell industrial bulkheads....aka expensive. I will be trying to figure out why my Tek light is fubar instead tonight and getting what odds and ends I can done.

As usual thanks for taking a look and giving me some opinions.

king4345
02/18/2009, 01:55 PM
WOW!!! I have always been partial to wide and shallow reef tanks. However, I have never had the place to put one. :( Some serious equipment going on in those pics. Looking fantastic I am anxiuosly awaiting further pics and more of the progress. :D

Dadekster
02/18/2009, 02:52 PM
Thanks, I am drooling over how I am going to have my rock work done. Being 3 feet deep allows so much! On the bad news front, I bought some 80 sch 1" bulkheads and they are just a tad too big to fit. So I called TruVu and they will be sending some out which will fit. I have to give them a plug as they have been super to work with and quick to answer any questions even after the tank was delivered. Great customer service which you don't get to see much these days unfortunately.

Anyways, the other bad news. The Tek light that I was having problems with...the outside bank (actinics) wouldn't come on, it's now completely broken. It shorts out my whole outlet tripping the breaker. Now none of the lights turn on although the bulbs work fine when put in the new Tek light I received. So I have no idea what is wrong with it. The wiring looks fine, nothing corroded, the prongs for the lights and the end caps looks fine. My guess is the ballasts are shot, but I have no idea tbh. So looks like I need to order another one. I was not counting on having to buy two Tek lights so there goes the budget :(

Good news is I have 90% of the plumbing done since I was able to find a spare 1" bulkhead lying around in the garage. I used that in order to complete one drain, but I will change it out when I receive the ones from TruVu as I don't trust the bulkhead I found, seems sort of flimsy. As is, when I get those two I can pop them in relatively quickly, get stuff cemented and water test. After that, wait for my salt and substrates to show up, decide what kind of rock I will use and get the cycle going. Then move over my fish from the holding tank, take that down and complete the surge and water change stand and tanks. Should be fun :)

This is the substrate I am using.

Monterey Beach sand aka play sand. Bought 200 lbs.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+10741+7321&pcatid=7321

x 2 bags

and

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+10741+16765&pcatid=16765

also x 2 bags. I got the reef substrate with shells etc.

I am hoping this provides a nice mix of grain size etc. I am debating whether to mix it like soup or go for specific sizes in different areas and blend at the edges. I noticed in my last tank other than directed blasts of water or livestock that spits sand everywhere, it tends to stay in one spot. What do you guys suggest?

Dadekster
02/22/2009, 04:02 PM
Just a quick update. I will post pictures tomorrow probably when I am off. Our area is getting a lot of rain and that makes it busy for me at work the last four days. Some things that I have managed to get done.

1. Made two Hoffman gurgle buster standpipes
2. Completed the drains.
3. Added piping for easy draining for measured water changes.

I also received my salt and two bags of the reef substrate sand. I have to admit the reef substrate sand looks really nice with whole shells in it and large rubble mixed with finer grain sand. It's pricey but I am thinking of ordering two more bags. I still need to order another light system and I also need to order rock.

A question for some of you reefers. I tore down my display about six months ago and even though it broke my heart I put about 100 lbs of prime rock in my backyard due to no space. It is bleached bone white now and has been getting soaked by rain (should be good Pacific ocean rain I hope) on and off the last four months. What do you guys think about adding this rock? I plan on buying some marco rock and also adding a few small select super scrutinized pieces from the LFS for bio diversity. I hate to see the rock I have wasted though. Any thoughts? I don't mind a cycle as I will be just adding five small fish in the next six months after water hits the tank. I'm in no rush, but also don't have the time or inclination to cure rock in my garage for a month or two.

jpa0741
02/22/2009, 06:26 PM
I say clean the rock good and use. It is the same as the Marco rock you are ordering.

Dadekster
02/25/2009, 06:20 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14457745#post14457745 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jpa0741
I say clean the rock good and use. It is the same as the Marco rock you are ordering.

I think I will be taking your suggestion and going exactly that. I have looked at it and it's bone dry. I will put it in the sump area for a while while I'm letting the system run for a week and do some water tests and see what happens.

Onto other news, I hit a snag...again...as I began my leak test. I had planned to start filling the tank up with RODI water instead of tap since I didn't want to waste water draining it once the leak test was done just to fill it up with RODI water. I figured it could fill up to the top and then I could watch the plumbing as it filled up piping and the sump tanks. I have enough valves and so forth that I can isolate any section of plumbing I need to fix leaks if I find them.

So I mentioned a problem right? :p Well I started to fill the tank up and I knew it was gonna take a while so I went to bed. My system is a 60 gallon/24 hour deal just fyi. So I come down in the morning and it smells like a fish market downstairs. I walked around wondering what the heck it was thinking the cats got in the trash or something. Nope, it was coming from my water. Seems my filters are shot. TDS of 86 coming out :mad2: I haven't used it in about 2 weeks and forgot I had it outside although I had it covered. I think that was a mistake. I have since ordered new filters from specturepure. My lights are also on order, and one day Aquacave will let me know when they are being shipped I guess :rolleyes:

Once I get my camera charged I will take some pics of the plumbing and post it so you guys can critique/laugh at my efforts :o

Dadekster
02/26/2009, 12:38 AM
Ok, so pictures. All the plumbing is done except of course the right side where the surge tank will go. I'll be fully wet before that side gets done since I need to put my existing live stock somewhere. Other than that, all that is left is to prime and glue the pipe in place. But I'd figure I'd put what I have up here first since I'm in no rush needing filters before I can fill er' up. So here are some shots of the plumbing and most of the electrical. Please voice any concerns or questions regarding what I have done or am doing. I might even be able to explain the reasoning behind the madness ;)

Left side of the tank. One drain goes into this 40 gallon breeder. It has a ph probe, and temp probe from the AquaJr. as well as the skimmer. From here I have the 40 gallon breeder hooked up to a 40 gallon rubbermaid style true sump. They are union hooked so I can separate them as needed for maintenance and flow can be controlled via a valve between them.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Leftsideunderneathp.jpg

The right side has the true sump. I will have live rock/ macro in here, my carbon, output for the chiller and the CA reactor feed in here. In addition I left room on the right side for additional hookups if I need to later. I plumbed off the return line so I can do measured water changes relatively easy.

http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv63/dadekster/Rightsideunderneathp.jpg

I have setup this to be as simple as possible with the exception of using certain plumbing parts I had on hand instead of making a special trip to Home Depot (hence some of the odd plumbing connections for those of you paying attention :p ). My primary focus when setting this all up was to be able to perform all maintenance tasks to be as simple and painless as possible. I have a huge area to work with under the tank. The skimmer is easy to get to, carbon easy to change, CA reactor in easy spot to reach, return pump easy to check, etc. Even the lights are easy to reach and work on if needed (another reason I picked T5's/less bulb changes). I learned quickly on my first tank, if's a pita to work on, it doesn't get done when it needs to.

So there you have it. I am going to leave it as is for a day or two and continue to stare at it and see if anything pops into my mind as wrong or easier to do. Like I said, please share your thoughts if you see anything as well.