The Fish Room 500 Redux

[pch90265]

If you followed my last thread on this board, then you know that in December of 2004 I left behind a tank that I had poured my efforts into for over a year. My family, and the tank, were victims of circumstance -- a job change that came to fruition over the space of a couple of weeks after 24 months of lobbying for the promotion I eventually received. So, in the space of about eight weeks we sold our house, packed up what we could take with us from our aquatic adventures in California, and we moved to Monument, Colorado (about 2/3 of the way to Colorado Springs from Denver, if you don't know the area.)

Here's a photo of our new house from when I was browsing in early January. It was completed two days before we closed on it in the middle of Jan.

http://www.inverttanks.com/houses/100_0796.jpg

The house is a "rancher" with a walk-out basement. I can't describe the blessing we feel to have upgraded from a 950 sq ft home in Cali... even if the other house did have a separate building for my fish tank. ;) I'm stoked that we found a home with amazing workmanship in a neighborhood where I don't have to worry about my 3rd grader being sold crank at his elementary school. Everything is custom from the moulding to the cabinets to the light fixtures [eg, the moulding was milled to spec on a saw profile that the finish-carpenter designed himself, not pulled off the shelf at Lowe's]

Aside from the workmanship, I was also really attracted to the layout of the house. Rather than chunking the space down into a bizillion (I believe that is the scientific term...) little rooms, the builder chose to open the floor plan up and build the upstairs and downstairs each around a greatroom. Both are about 35' long, with the greatroom in the basement being about 35' x 15'. Here's a shot of the "family room" downstairs (thanks for posing in the room for scale dad...)

http://www.inverttanks.com/houses/100_0753.jpg

Just to the right of where my dad is standing in the long shot above is where I'm going to set the tank. It will be opposite the bar, and a sitting area we've put at that end of the room. So, there will be plenty of opportunity to hang out and stare at the tank -- in fact, I expect the family room to get much more use once the tank is down there. :)

Aside from the aesthetics of the location at that end of the room, another factor came into play in putting it there. Immediately behind the wall we've chosen for the tank are a storage closet under the stairs, and our utility room. The utility room is concrete slab [as is the rest of the basement, under the carpet,] has a floor drain, has a water spigot, and houses the main panel for the house. All in all, it's an ideal spot. Here's my rough overlay of the tank's location relative to the wall...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595RecRoomWall_overlay.jpg

The wall's width from the stairs to the hallway is 84", but I have to leave a little room to access the furnace inlet... so, I'm looking at a 83" x 33.5" x 25.5" tank from James at Envision. That works out to about 270 Gallons of internal volume. One of the cool coincidences of the location my wife and I agreed to is around the construction of the wall. You'll notice in the pic above the wall changes depth -- by about 3" -- as a result of a load bearing post the builder couldn't move when he rearranged the floor plan to a greatroom concept. So, I'm planning to have James build the tank with an external overflow [about 6"] and use the resulting 3" space between the wall and the rest of the tank for running cords, plumbing, etc.

As readers of my previous thread may remember, my wife is almost as into our tanks as I am into putting them together, so selling her on the idea of getting a tank running wasn't hard. However, there was a little post-move clean up to do. Here's a shot of the Utility Room in its post-move state, and then the recently [last weekend] organized state. I'm planning to put up a 8' tall false wall in front of the white batting you see to act as a moisture barrier and a backing for hanging RO/DI, UV sterilizer, etc... once that's done it will leave me with a roughly 9' x 4' area for my sump, pumps, and skimmer. Depending on how I arrange the area, it will likely also leave me with room to stand up my old 135G corner tank as a refugium that gravity drains directly into the sump.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595UtilityRoomCleanup.jpg

Between this area and the tank there is, as mentioned, a closet, and a crawl space. My wife, bless her, has agreed that running a pair of 2" drains and a 1 1/2" return through the closet is an acceptable use of space, so I won't have to kluge together a stand that leaves a big ol' hole for the furnace intake... I just have to make the tank/stand narrow enough that I don't block it. Speaking of stands -- if anybody who checks out this thread knows a good welder in Denver or [preferably] Colorado Springs, let me know. I've decided to follow the current trend and have my stand made of 2" x 2" steel, rather than building my own wooden frame. I'm going to have the cabinet maker who did our house skin the frame with the same Alder wood facing and doors that run throughout the house for that "built-in" look.

I hope to have a nice layout/schematic of my plans posted by Friday... as always, please feel free to comment and critique.

Thank you again to everyone who tagged on to the old thread. I hope this one is equally entertaining to you over time, even though I'm not cutting holes in my roof or pouring 12" concrete piers in place for this one. :rolleyes:

Cheers
--Sean--

[jun41]

I'm glad you're once again on your way. :thumbsup:

[Gujustud]

Lookin' good, can't wait to see how it works out.

[SERVO]

Once again, I'm along for the ride! Good luck! On the bright side, you'll never need a chiller.

[browardreefer]

or u can burry pipes ourside below the frost line. ( right where the soil is warm enough not to freez e yet always cold)


and that can be a NICE CHILLER.

im along for thed ride aswell. but lets not maek them split the thread by having 1000 im along for the ride post :P see the buttons below the reset form button use them :P

[Bryan89]

Sean,

Congratulations again on the move, the beautiful house and the chance to do another tank! I'm looking forward to this thread. Are you planning to move the load bearing wall back or will part of the tank be obscured?

Bryan

[Coralover]

Nice house.Im sure the tank is going to be nice aswell.

[nolofinwe]

On a scale of one to ten, how dissapointed are you that you won't be up at 5am pouring concrete supports for this tank?

Maybe you could make your own rock, just so you have an excuse to mix a wheelbarrow of cement.

[IsThisNameTaken?]

sweet! I followed your last thread religously.

If you need any help, I'm right down the street in colorado springs so dont hesitate to give me a holler if you need any help!

[dubitup]

Congrats & Welcome to Colorado.....

please check out theColorado Rocky Mountain Reef Club...whew thats a mouth full (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=81)

There are many large reef tanks here and many, many great people here. Look forward to seeing this develop

Cheers
dub

[H20ENG]

Nice to see you here again, Sean.
Sweet palace you got there:)
What are you doing for lighting?, or did I miss it already?

[alkoenig]

Welcome to Colorado! I would love to live in Monument... one of these days. Good luck with your plans, I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

[pch90265]

Thanks all for the warm welcome to "CRMRC" Country! I really am stoked to be in Colorado, and to become a member of the [seemingly] active local reef community. I missed the April Colo Springs meeting because of travel, but hope to catch a May or June meet.

Well, here's a REAAAAAALY rough layout of the tank location vs the sump vs the fuge. This is based on the original plans for the house, so some of the dimensions are frustratingly off in this illustration, but it gets the point across. I'll throw this whole thing into Maya (3D software) in the next couple of weekend and get a good couple of renderings done.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595floorplan_overlay.jpg

Here's a little better picture of the Utility Room to give an idea of scale... my parents were kind enough to call upon a couple of Air Force Academy Cadets they sponsor to help me move the tanks from the garage to the basement. That was HUGE, because I didn't know how anything would get done otherwise... The sump is a 180G 60" l x 24" w x 32" h tank that James at Envision built for my last rig.

My old 135G tank is going to get a few mods before it goes up on the stand you see in the corner behind it in the photo. The stand is going to get some repairs too, based on move damage. The tank was laid out with two bulkhead-holes up high on the walls of the overflow, so I'm thinking I'll use the bulkheads as part of a Carlson-style surge device and make a surge biotope out of the tank. I think that makes sense especially in light of the fact that I designed the sump taller than wide so it would be able to handle a 75G surge on my California system. More details on that when I have photos and a good elevation side drawing done. My wife says it isn't worth the effort since "no one will see it," but I reminded her that if there is something interesting to see, my son and I will go stare at it even if it means climbing on the roof.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595tanks_in_the_raw.jpg

Cheers,
Sean

[pch90265]

Oops, almost forgot to give a shout out to Chris!!!

Glad to be back on the board man, thanks for noticing!

I'm not going to open holes in our 14' vaulted ceilings and install solatubes, or anything crazy like that for this tank. So, I'm going to use 250W MH.

The lighting things I'm debating:

*** five vs. six bulbs [five for the visual harmony of an odd number of pendants hanging from the ceiling, six for the ability to go 2:1 -- 10000K:20000K -- ration]
*** SE's are highly unlikely, but... AquaMedic Ocean light vs Aqua Spacelight vs full-on hood with retrofit optics (Luminarc perhaps...) vs ReefOptix IIIs again
*** to supplement with T5's, or not

The "usual" inner monologue of a 21st Century Reef Keeper... vis-a-vis lighting anyway.

I hope to have some bizarre relay questions for you at some point !!! ;) Just not sure what those might be in relation to on this system at this juncture . . .

--SM--

[Bryan89]

Sean,

Your wife is too understanding of your hobby! :D

Bryan

[H20ENG]

Sweet! let us know:)

[IsThisNameTaken?]

I'm gonna recco a combo of metal halide and t5s. They go together like lamb and tuna fish;-) Metal halides in the same 2:1 sequence and then full actinic for the t5s.


Your basement is lookin awefully pretty so as to stay with that same feel I'd probably incorporate and stand and canopy that match all the beautiful molding and cabinitry that already exists down there. I love a nice science project looking tank with the hangin pendants and all but with that basement go with something a bit more classy. In fact do everything the opposite of what I've done :lol:

[AcroSteve]

How are you making out on this?

What became of the tank you left in CA? Is it freshwater, or did he tear it down?

[pch90265]

Hey Steve,

Timely question... I spent Sunday afternoon building a plaform for my corner tank to stand on, and leveling that and a insulated base for the sump. My wife is after me to "get the tank running," so it has become a priority again.

I'm in the Denver airport waiting on a flight for a dive trip out of Santa Barbara as I type this, so it will be a couple of weekends before I'm back at it...

However, I did just get notice that my order for a nice new 1800W heater from Aquatic EcoSystems, and 15 sq ft of neoprene, shipped today. I'm planning to make covers for the sump and the corner tank out of polycarbonate with neoprene gaskets between the tanks and the pc. Since these tanks are going to be in my basement utility room, I want to absolutely minimize evaporation and therefore mold in the rafters... I figure that the MRC Skimmer I'm running on an Iwaki MD-70 and an MD-100 will provide PLENTY of gas exchange for now, and the display tank's 21 sq ft of surface area shouldn't hurt things either... opinions on this concept are very welcome.

As to the old display tank, what became of it is a mystery to me. I'd like to think that there are several dozen beautiful FW fish in it, but who knows...

--SM--

[pch90265]

It's amazing how at home I feel plumbing... call me crazy, but there are few things as enjoyable as plumbing a system anew.

So, this weekend I finally carved out time to get the sump and fuge plumbed out. Details follow pic, but the news was pretty good after the effort... on the first fill the only leaks were around a bulkhead in the sump whose 1 1/2" flex PVC outlet had wiggled loose and another bulkhead in the sump whose rubber grommet had slipped out of place!!! A little more work (like scrubbing out the sump :( )when I get home from D.C. this weekend, and we'll be ready for a few hundred # LR!

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595plumbed_but_empty.jpg

To keep maneuverability and maintainability around the tanks as high as possible nearly everything has been plumbed with 1" or 1 1/2" spa flex. You can see lots of it visible in the pic. It isn't pretty, but every line has a true-union ball-valve at both ends so I can disconnect any give line from the system for maintenance without spilling much H2O on the floor. But, when I do, there is a floor drain just out of view at the bottom left of the picture.

The two Iwaki's in-view will power the skimmer and feed the fuge. The smaller pump is an MD-70, and the longer one on the right is an MD-100 which is Tee'd off to the fuge. Immediately to the right of them is a drain line which is run straight to the floor drain. I figure that will beat the heck out of the ole "siphon through a 1/2" PE hose into a home depot 5G bucket" method of extracting water for changes.

The three lines in the bottom left of the pic that run out of the sump are currently all capped off with true-union ball-valves. Two lines are 1 1/2" and one is 1". The 1 1/2" lines will feed the return pump(s) to the display [haven't decided between two alternating flow pumps, or one flow and one closed loop...] and the 1" line will feed the chiller and U/V sterilizers. The heater is not in this photo, but is a 1800W titanium number from aquatic eco systems that will drop directly into the sump. I figure that with no less than 8000 GPH through the sump an immersion heater will have plenty of water contact for doing its job.

Since space is limited in the utility room, I'm also planning to do a "Immersion Quarantine Tank." I'm planning to have James at Envision build a tank that has a broad flange around the top so it can drop inside one of the sump's upper openings, without falling in. Why such madness??? Well, the thing I hate most about running a QT is trying to keep its temperature stable. By keeping the running level of the Immersion Tank at the same level as the Sump, the QT should stay at the same temp as the main system. Hopefully that will keep things simple and keep me motivated to quarantine EVERYTHING. I'll diagram that out sooner than later . . . [i hope :rolleyes: ]

[pch90265]

Well,

Among numerous of reasons to give thanks this Thanksgiving Weekend, I got to add the ordering of my new display tank!!! The dimensions are final, and my wife is stoked about size of the tank for the space we are putting it in. Once again we ordered from James at Envision Acrylics, and I am delighted to enter the serious construction phase to prepare for the tank arriving in late-January or early-February.

The final verdict -- 82" long x 32" wide x 28" tall with a 6" wide x 14" tall external overflow. According to the "tank size calculator" that's 280G of internal capacity. Running capacity should be a smidgen under that, around 270G.

Here are the room that the display tank will be living in, and the 3/4" ply base that the stand will sit on top of soon:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595in_context.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595base.jpg

Over the next week I'm going to spend the evenings working on the stand. I was contemplating having a welded steel frame under this tank, but I don't think I have the patience to wait for a welding shop to finish this job if they aren't done before the tank arrives...

This past week we also got the sump and fuge up and running, and received #205 of LR from Marine Depot Live and Reefer Madness. I bought a box each of Fiji Show, "Lalo," and "Buna Branch." The score of the load was an oblong table piece in the Lalo box that is approx 24" x 20", about 4" thick in the core, and has three oblong 6" x 8" protrusions that stand 2-3" off of the top of the plate. It's pretty clear that this is the remains a table-top colony of some sort. It should be an awesome center-piece for the display tank, and will make a great home for a table-top acro or two when the tank is ready for SPS.

Hope everyone out there on the Large Tank Forum had a fantastic -- and tank-emergency free -- Holiday Weekend.

--Sean--

[mmd]

looking good

[mmd]

were is the link to your old thread? sounds interesting

[edgerat]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=318473

[pch90265]

edgerat,

Thanks for the bump on my old thread...

Michael, a number of the pictures that were less important than not to the documentary have been pulled out of my gallery. So, apologies in advance for the broken links! I had to make room for the pics of my new tank . . .

--SM--

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

nice startup.

[pch90265]

Being on the road, I can't take any pictures of this week's progress... because there is none. This shot is of the underside of the gaskets I have built to cover the sump and refugium.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595sump_cover.jpg

This is one of two covers over the sump. The MRC quad-becket skimmer sits on top of this one, with the drain from the skimmer plumbed to the 1 1/5" blukhead you see in the center of the picture. I have the RO/DI directly connected to a speed-fitting above the 1" blukhead you see at the top of the shot, and I have a neoprene cover on the inside and outside of the hole that has no bulkhead. The submersible heater gets inserted through that 4 1/4" hole, and the neoprene has been cut to provide a very tight seal around the cord that runs back to the controller for the unit. I also run all of my probes (pH, temp, etc) through that seal, so I don't need fifty holes through this cover.

Eric Borneman's recent articles on oxygen in our aquaria have me thinking about disolved O2 saturation in my (mostly) sealed tanks. I'm probably going to add an O2 probe to my lineup, even though I'd rather spend the $250 on LR . . . ;) Given his comments that skimmers do a good job on providing O2 saturation in "small aquaria," I'm still of the opinion that my skimmer -- sized for a 3000G system -- can provide sufficent O2 for the sealed sump and fuge. When I pipe in the display tank, BTW, it's surface area will be uncovered.

So far I have seen tremendous benefits from the covers. I am losing very little water daily (which is a minor miracle in CO with our extremely dry air) and the two humidty monitors I've placed in the utility room are registering 12-15% humidity -- identical to outside air right now. Obviously the real test of this system will come when summer arives and air temps go up, but with our 30% avg humidity at our 7500' elevation I'm pretty upbeat.

Without turning this into a humidity control thread, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this approach.

--SM--

[pch90265]

One more thing... the cover is made from 3/4" ply. The white material is polystyrene, and the red material is 1/8" neoprene. The dark lines behind the white material, and the tan you see around the neoprene is a marine-grade, non-toxic polyurethane adhesive.

[NexDog]

I make your new tank 318 gallons. 82x32x228/213=318g.

[DerekW]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6243665#post6243665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pch90265
So far I have seen tremendous benefits from the covers. I am losing very little water daily (which is a minor miracle in CO with our extremely dry air) and the two humidty monitors I've placed in the utility room are registering 12-15% humidity -- identical to outside air right now. Obviously the real test of this system will come when summer arives and air temps go up, but with our 30% avg humidity at our 7500' elevation I'm pretty upbeat.

Without turning this into a humidity control thread, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this approach.

--SM--

Wow, that humidity is way low..Is it that low in your whole house? if it is, low humidity can cause health issues, if it is, I'd use the utility room to vent air into the house.

[pch90265]

NexDog -- I used the internal volume to calculate the volume... 3/4" acrylic gives net dimensions of 80.5 l x 30.5 d x 26.5 h /230.9 = 281.7G... but, running volume would be 1/4" to 1" lower than the inside surface of the top bracing, or 271-279G, depending on flow.

Derek -- I agree that those humidity levels are miserable... but, when there is that little moisture temps like -5 to -15 F are tollerable! The top floor of the house is 25-35% percent humidity (we run a humidifier on the furnace fan.) The basement is in the 10-15% range. We run portable humidifiers in the kids' rooms to minimize health problems. Those spaces get up to 40-45% in there with those.

I'm strongly considering a "chimeny" between a bulkhead in the covers over the sump and the furnace inlet. A little extra H2O in the air would be nice... the basement should also be helped out greatly by the display once it's up.

--SM--

[pch90265]

Sketches of the Quarantine Tank that will drop in to the sump...

The pictures read like this. 1a and 1b are top down views of the right half of my sump. 1a is a view of the side walls of the QT (without the bracing/flange) with the solid blue area depicting the bracing of the sump. 1b is the QT bracing/flange by itself.

Drawing 2 is a section view of the sump and QT, head on as you would see it squatting in front of the sump. You can see clearly who the QT will sit inside the sump's top opening. The tan/red area indicates the cover for the other half of the sump. The solid lines under the body of the QT are "fins" made from scraps of 3/4" acrylic. They are meant to help support the weight of the QT should there be a mismatch between the sump's running level and the QT's running level -- don't want all of the weight resting on the top flange!

Drawing 3 is another section view, this time from the narrow (right) end of the sump.

I know many of you are engineers, builders, etc so please forgive the sloppy reference lines and the imperfect shading of the section views... these drawings are meant simply to convey the theme. For those who don't read plans regularly, the funny triangle and circle with a number in it on drawings 1 & 2 are meant to indicate the relative view of the other drawing numbers from the perspective of the drawing they appear on . . .

I'll post another drawing later depicting the cover, skimmer, pump, foot valve, lighting, etc.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595QT_1a.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595QT_1b.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595QT_2.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595QT_3.jpg

[DerekW]

That is just a fantastic idea, a removeable quarantine. If I read it right, Looks like the dimensions will be approx 24Hx22Lx10W...gives you about a 20 gallon quarantine.

[H20ENG]

Do you worry about getting some QT water in your system, due to splashes, etc?
It will be stable, just be careful:)

[pch90265]

Hi Chris, nice to hear from you. :) I'm not too concerned about splashes, since the other half of the sump is also covered, and there will be a neoprene gasket between the flange of the QT and the top of the sump.

I'll post another diagram that shows the pump/skimmer/lighting for the QT when I get a chance. I'm trying my best to make it a "turn of a ball valve" to get water in/out. I will plumb a 1/2" return line from the skimmer pump on the main tank to a union in the cover of the QT, and a 1/2" drain line from the skimmer on the QT to the floor drain in the room. That should make the only risk of splashing during the removal of QT livestock, and during removal of the QT itself.

Derek, yep, I'm shooting for approx 20G. I figure that lets me quarantine just about everything that is appropriately sized for adding to my reef tank. I'm not a big fan of adding full-size adult fish/invert specimens, so short of a 36" wide table top acro, I think I can get just about anything in there that is reasonable. ;)

--SM--

[cityofangels]

TOTM in the making! Can't wait to see more pics! :)

[pch90265]

Here is the drawing for the display tank. Later this week I'll either post another version with the stand shown, or post pics of the stand, depending on how ambitious I get the next couple of evening.. ;)

Click on the image for a larger version of the file...

<A HREF="http://www.inverttanks.com/images/Print_Specs.jpg" border="0"><IMG SRC="http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595Print_Specs_low.jpg"></A>

[pch90265]

Oh, forgot to mention above... the hole locations are tentative, based on where the final beams/trusses/joists/etc end up on the stand when it gets built. The drain locations might vary just a bit too, based on where the studs are in the wall that they will be passing through. I'm planning to get the stand done ASAP so that I can get those spots finalized...

Where ever they end up, there are going to be six holes. Two that will be hooked to a pair of spray bars along the back edge of the tank (behind the rock work) that will run 24/7, and four that will be connected to an OceansMotions four-way (the 8-way seems like overkill on this tank volume...)

I plan to get additional water motion via 2 or 3 of those spiffy new IceCap/EcoTech powerheads coming this Spring.

--Sean--

[pch90265]

The stand is coming along slowly, but surely. Here are some pics of the skeleton.


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595PicturesOf2005_3584_low-med.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595PicturesOf2005_3583_low.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595PicturesOf2005_3579_low.jpg

The first picture shows the bottom frame, 82" l x 32" w. It consists of (2) 2x6 studs per side, laminated together with 2 1/2" nails that I drove with the nail gun. In the second picture you can see the way I have cut the lengths and ends to form a butt joint. Sorry for all the wood in the background, I didn't realize it obscured the picture so badly.

The posts in each corner will rest on the bottom frame, and the top frame will rest top of the posts in turn. I'll be using braces to guarantee squareness and level. The posts in the middle were cut before being laminated together to form a notch on top and bottom (shown before nailing in the third picture.) They will rest on top of the bottom frame in part, but will also make contact with the ground directly. The top frame (identical to the bottom frame, BTW) will rest in the nothces so that the plywood top of the stand will rest on the post and the top frame.

I'm counting on getting this done this weekend, but I've said that before and had to eat my words... We'll see!!! With the QT done (pics later) and the display coming soon, I'm feeling the pressure to finish this project. Being a "works best under deadlines" kinda guy, those impending arrivals should help motivate me this weekend. :D

Comments and critique of the stand design are appreciated!

--SM--

[pch90265]

Well, I've finally gotten the stand finished.

Here are two pics:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595PicturesOf2005_3770_lowrez.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595PicturesOf2005_3771_lowrez.jpg

What look like gaps at the top of the two outside corner posts in the bottom picture are spots filled with a high-tensile joint compound. They are SOLID, and the entire stand is dead level.

Can't wait to throw a tank on top of it!!!

--SM--

[pch90265]

Ahh, I love a plan coming together.

James sent me the pics below of my "drop-in" QT. I was busy with the stand this weekend, so I didn't have time to post them earlier... It is exactly as I drew it -- now my fingers are crossed that I drew what I really needed! ;)

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595actual_QT_2.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595actual_QT_1.jpg

The acrylic stands that will drop in to the bottom of the sump are completely seperate from the QT, so they can hang out in the sump full-time. You can see them sitting off to the side in the second picture. With the "flow-through" holes they might even make a great spot to drop a supplemental bag of carbon . . .

--SM--

[pch90265]

W O O WHOOOOO!!!! :D

James just sent me these pics of the finished Display Tank!!!

It should be on its way tomorrow, with delivery late next week (around 2/8.)

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595PICT0664.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/17595PICT0666.JPG

[JOSHUAB]

tagging

[Bryan89]

Sean,

Congratulations on getting the tank made. Looking forward to some additional photos (hint hint). :D

Bryan

[Shawnts106]

WOOO!! 6 days till' delivery!!!

WOW! geeze, and I thought I was excited about my boat propellers comming for my powerhead mod... lol!


this is going to ROCK!

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6649111#post6649111 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JOSHUAB
tagging

You can "Subscribe to this Thread" which is located at the bottom rather then "tagging"...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/91862Subscribe_to_this_Thread.jpg

[pch90265]

Display tank and gobbbbs of plumbing supplies arrived today.

Too exhausted to post pictures, been stressful.

Pics tomorrow. :)

--SM--

[pch90265]

OK, here are some shots of the tank, and the effort to get it in the house!

To get the tank onto the shipping company's lift-gate truck I had to go down to their loading dock in the Springs and affix four furniture dollys to the bottom of the crate -- they couldn't figure out that pallet-jacks with 2' tines wouldn't be able to lift an 8' long create from its end . . . So, we used those dollys to wheel the tank from the driveway down to the sliding glass door in the basement by rolling the tank down a few sheets of plywood. We had to flip the ply several times to get it to the door, but it sure beat carrying the tank a hundred feet.

BTW -- I used a moving company to handle this... after moving the 600G tank in CA with willing amatuers, I decided any tank I bought in the future would be moved professionally, or not at all. Cool thing was, two of the movers keep reef tanks!



http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595alittlehelp-med.jpg

An hour after the delivery, the tank was in place... plumbing should start next weekend, and I hope to have a S/W fill the weekend after... but, that's pretty optimistic. There are still a number of parts that need to arrive before I can start circulating water, and they may not get here on my timeline.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595tank_in_place_open_stand_02092006.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595tank_in_place_open_stand_fromleft_02092006.jpg

[Bryan89]

Congratulations Sean. You moved the tank exactly the same way I moved mine. :D

Setup is looking great. Keep up the good work. BTW, James builds great tanks and crates, doesn't he?

Bryan

[JustOneMoreTank]

Wow looks pretty well thought out and what an excellent spot for the tank. I like the super heavy duty stand as well. Keep up the good work. :)

[nbd13]

any shots of the drop in quaratine? that sounds intresting!

James is a great guy, he built my 275 gallon....

Nick

[NexDog]

Followed this for almost a year and I'm so happy that you finally got the tank. Next stage of the journey begins! :)

[david86camaro]

I love your tank, I would love that, but I would have to get a bigger house first. It definatly makes my tank seem small!!!
Good job getting that tank in in one piece, I have followed this thread and your previous one too, you do a very good job.

[pch90265]

All -- thanks for the positive feedback! I appreciate the support.

Bryan -- Yes, James builds an awesome tank, and amazing crates. The professional shippers and movers have been impressed by the last two (my old 600 and this 280)... which says a great deal about how James approaches everything he puts out.

JustOneMoreTank -- Thanks for the feedback on the stand, not many people have said anything... which is either a really good or really bad sign. ;)

Laurence -- I've been following your tank too, thanks for the kind words. Your system is looking great. Can't wait to see how the rock "piles up" to its full build-out.

[pch90265]

Nick -- thanks for asking about the QT, I completely forgot to post these pics!

Here are two shots, one with the QT resting on the lip of the sump; and the other with Tricia helping me test the fit ... sure enough, my measurements were correct and the QT fits perfectly in the sump.

The Sequence Pumps for the display arrived yesterday, so I hope to get all the plumbing done this weekend... once the display has been leak tested and filled with RO/DI I'll mix salt into it, and open the valves to the sump. Hopefully that will be the weekend after this one. Once that occurs I can get all the LR out of my sump and get the QT spun up completely!!! Then I can start ordering livestock.

Almost there . . . I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . .

--Sean--

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595drop_in_dry.jpg
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595drop_in_test.jpg

[nbd13]

That looks cool.

So the water is seperate right? and will never touch the tank's water?

very cool idea, should have had James build me one too. haha

Nick

[pch90265]

Yep, totally separate h2o. The two *should* never meet. There will be a neoprene gasket between the lip of the QT and the top of the sump to help with the separation.

--Sean--

[Bryan89]

Silly question - How many gallons is the QT going to be and do you plan on lifting it out while full of water?

Bryan

[Ixthys]

Also, what was the reasoning for the QT in the sump?

BTW, from the pics of the outside of your house it looks like you are actually in Woodmoor and not Monument....am I right?

[pch90265]

Bryan -- Not silly at all. The QT would be ~28G if filled completely, but it will be run at closer to 18-20G... the QT will run at the same level as the sump. Since the circulation and filtration (UV and Skimmer) will be above the lip of the QT, I'll be able to get all but a gallon or two out of the tank with a "bleed valve" off of the circulation pump. Once the water is out, the QT will float. It's about 60 lbs, so it's under 100 lbs with a few gallons -- easily lifted by me and my wife. We'll only remove it completely when sterilizing it after habitation by a specimen that was positive for parasites or infection. Otherwise, I think a good fresh water rinse will suffice between QT runs... I don't plan to dose any major meds in the tank -- BTW.

Ixthys -- *Hopefully* running the sump and QT at the same level will keep the QT at the same temp as the main system. The whole point in doing the drop-in is to eliminate heating/cooling the QT seperately. That's always been the biggest challenge for me when running a QT in the past.

Nope, we're not in Woodmoor ... we're a couple miles east. We're right next to Kings Deer, if you seen the subdivision. Did you live in the area?

--SM--

[Ixthys]

Very interesting idea. I'll be looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I read your other thread prior to your move...nice job. I'm sure this one will be a success as well.

I grew up in Woodmoor (left in '86) but my folks still live there. I've heard Kings Deer is a nice place. The entire area is a good place to raise kids.

[Julio]

Nice tank, can't wait to see that thing fully stock!

[Lpabsolute]

Sweet Looking Setup

[DerekW]

Loooks like you can change the "Current Tanks: section in your profile now :)

[arconom]

Also I imagine the water TEMP in the QT would be identical to the Sump tank this would allow you the ability to not need a heater and help in the process of acclimating.

Awesome idea:)

[pch90265]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595full_tank_shot_03122006-med.jpg

Well, despite my inability to keep up with posting my progress, progress has been made on the tank. Got it fully circulating last week, and she's humming along beautifully.

No, I'm not going with a BB, the substrate hasn't arrived yet. Should be here "any day."

The LR looks even better than it has in the sump for the last four months... ;)

I'll post more on progress later this week.

--Sean--

[H20ENG]

LOVE that thick acrylic:D

[NexDog]

Do you have a CL running through that bottom rack?

[pch90265]

Thanks Chris, it sure has that "Public Aquarium" feel when the acrylic is nice and thick . . . ;)

NexDog -- They are not actually closed-loops. I have both return lines poking through the bottom of the tank. I did that on my 660G, and it seemed to fit this one as well. I'll post additional shots that show the plumbing, but it basically allows me to have nice clean lines on top when I have the stand enclosed with a nice surround. I'm running two 3600 GPH Sequence 750's, which should give nice flow when I added to the IceCap/EcoTech widgets I'll be ordering soon . . .

--SM--

[asmodeus]

looks good glad to see you have made lots of head way...

[AcroSteve]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6948807#post6948807 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pch90265
I have both return lines poking through the bottom of the tank.

How did you address the danger of potentially draining the tank?

[cmhollis]

Good question Steve, I was thinking the same thing.

[Untamed12]

...please don't say "check valves"...

[pch90265]

A combo -- I do have check valves, BUT they are only to keep my pumps primed. Sorry, old habits die hard... I also have a "U" in the return line that runs above the top level of the tank... those are connected to a "j line" to break any syphon that tries to start. Those lines are behind the wall, behind the tank.

Lots more "behind the scenes" photos to come... I have much more plumbing to finish, and then I'll update the string with more photos.

[alien9168]

Very Very nice! I really like the quarentine Idea! :D

-alien

[JustOneMoreTank]

The returns through the bottom scare me as well :eek: I am interested in a couple pictures of the plumbing.

[pch90265]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595width_04202006-med.jpg

I know I've been horrible about updates, but it's been a busy month since last I posted on this thread!!! And, I've been focused on maintenance/improvement items in the precious spare time I've had.

I took the pic above a couple of days ago. As you can see, I've run through two rounds of QT on livestock, and that has been for the betterment of the tank thus far. No Acro FWs, no red bugs, no ich... would that I stay that fortunate for some time to come!

I'll post additional pics next week when I take a few days off from work. Too swamped at the moment to do a more detailed update justice.

Cheers,
Sean

[pch90265]

OK, maybe two more quick pics, since I already took 'em...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595front_free_04202006.jpg

Electric Turqoise Acro from reefermadness... about 10" across. Barely fit in the QT with the other pieces I received! BUshy as all get out, 24/7.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/17595PL_front_free_04202006.jpg

Another RM supplied Acro... this puppy is pink in person, with beautiful white polyps. Slightly purplish terminal axial corralites.

--SM--

[JustOneMoreTank]

Wow those are two great corals. RM really hooked you up!
That black sand is pretty stunning. I like it ... very different than the standard white sand setup. :)

[mbunaman]

any updated pics?

[pch90265]

Just took a batch on Wed... planning to post on Sun or Mon . . .

Thanks for asking!!!

--Sean--

[thor32766]

wow love the sand

[David P]

ok its been almost a year, time for some photos....

[gwrulzmylife]

nice looking tank

[pch90265]

GW -- good to see you're still out there... if you're ever "Outriding" in beautiful Colorado, look me up for a 40K game... updating a few armies this summer w/ my 11 year old. Hoping to hit a few GT's next year with 'em.

David, thanks for the prompt on the photos.

Here's an updated full-tank shot...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8476775@N05/513691485/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/209/513691485_424b5b9664_o.jpg" width="1000" height="418" alt="Full-tank shot, 05212007" /></a>

I've been pretty slow to add new stock, preferring to let pieces show what they're made of before crowding them. You can check out what I mean -- I've posted some other growth pics here...

Growth Pics Post (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1021686)

There are a few outstanding additions that I'm really happy with -- most notably an A. aculeus, an ORA purple frag, and a green/purple-tips ORA chips frag. I'm also stoked, just taking a quick glance back to my January post above, how much my A. efflo and others have been growing. I'm not quite at the "inch a month" rates that some TOTM's are at, but slow and steady will fill up a 270G tank before you know it. ;-)

Here are a few more shots of the tank, a bit closer up:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8476775@N05/513691453/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/209/513691453_06f3eb84f6_o.jpg" width="800" height="532" alt="Middle of our Tank, 05212007" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8476775@N05/513691447/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/513691447_95559d17a2.jpg" width="500" height="388" alt="Pink Skunk Clowns, 05212007" /></a>

Over the weekend I'll be moving several pieces from the QT to the display tank. I'll try to find an afternoon to snap and post a bunch of macro shots. I know there isn't anything too exotic in the tank, but please tell me if there are any requests for a close up. :-D

Cheers,
Sean

[GT2NV]

wow the black sand looks amazing.. black tahitian moon sand? Pricey stuff!