A Capital Dream - 400g SPS build

[rockworm]

Originally Posted by Rybren

It's coming along nicely.

Thanks. Got to get you over real soon.

[rockworm]

Time to look at the light rack. Here is the full foundation of the light rack (ignore the diagonal perforated metal at the far right that parallels the t5 end caps. It got in the picture because I did not notice it.). I will incorporate a wood frame on it after the tank is on the stand.



As discussed previously, the rack is mounted to the barn door sliders and pulls out fully from over the tank.

The light rack is made up of two elements. First is a rectangular frame that suspends from the rails. Second is a floating rack (not secured) that sits in the rectangular frame. I will be installing a couple pulleys that will allow me to lift the front face of the rack upward to provide access to the tank. The back face of the frame will act as a fulcrum to allow the front to lift.

I said previously that there will be supplemental lighting. I mounted four of the four foot T5 retros on each side with the Reefbrite LED's in between the two rows. All of these units are fairly light, so I screwed them to 1" pine strips/ The T5 ballasts were mounted on the back side of the pine.



It is the T5's that sit on the strips. The LED's are set in between the strips to provide for the passive cooling they use. I just added a simple cross support that they screw into.

You can see that the lights are angled into the tank. I just used two different length corner braces to attach them to the aluminum cross members.



The short brace is on the inside and keeps the side closer to the MH's. Th longer brace is used to drop the outside. this should help reduce the shadowing that the Lumenbrights create.

Here you can see the effect of this design.



And if you look real close on the left you can see some of the Lumenbright pendants (on top of the freezer that currently has 15 lbs of Bacon and other meats, i think. I just know that it has Bacon.

The wiring for the T5's and LED's will exit at the left of the tank and will be set up on Profilux timers.

And that is the light rack. At this point, I have no idea what colour T5's I will use. I will defer that to another day.

[rockworm]

Time to take a break from the build and take a small look at my current 220g. I can't quite figure out how to take good pictures, so I only have a few that look very good. I used my Samsung S5 for these. I do own a Nikon D80, but I bought it for my daughter's use. I now have it, but haven't a clue how to use it properly. One of these days I will dig out the manual.

Mandatory FTS



I know, bottom few inches is clouded by coraline algae. Did I mention how much I dislike a 30" tall tank.

My little dragon corner. green and red.



An unknown smooth skin. It is more gray with blue tips than the picture shows.



Pink nauti



Following are a couple SPS with serious polyp extension.




A nice orange setosa



Close up for polyps

[rockworm]

I like the red in this one and am waiting to see how it turns out in time.



Finally, I kind of like this little combo.

[rockworm]

And that is it for tonight, because Game of Thrones starts in 10 minutes. The only TV show I will not miss.

[Rybren]

Ward,

Thanks for having me over today. I can't wait to see the 400 filled with water and especially livestock.

The 220 looks great. The fish are all fat and happy and you've got some serious colour going on in your corals.

Thanks for the Red Dragon. It's an awesome piece and is a great addition to my tank. I've got it down low for now.

Cheers,

Jerry

[rockworm]

You're welcome. Whats a hobby if you can't share it with friends.

[rockworm]

Today I take a break from the 400g build because Santa paid a little visit.



I received 2 Mitras LX 6200 LED's that I will be using over the 75g. I was one of the people that jumped into the LED arena when the PFO Solaris was introduced. I have the Solaris H4 unit without the power supplies and a second unit without the power supplies (warranty) that was sent for parts. They are taking up space and I am not sure what I will do with them. I will probably find a local reefer, who likes to tinker with LED, and give them to him/her.

I have been reluctant to use LEDs because MH with T5 provides proven light for SPS. Hence the reason I am going with this combination over the 400g. I decided to experiment with LEDs again and bought the GHL Mitras. Yes, I could have gone with cheaper lights, but I am a fan of Profilux and have had it since 2009.

I also got the PLM-PWC, the Mitras wireless addition for Profilux so that I can control the lights through the controller.

Each morning I go to the basement to take a quick look at the controller display to check the sensor readings. I could fire up the laptop, but it takes too long to fire up. (Cheap, actually very cheap laptop). Now, I will admit that if I can find an easier softer way, I will. So Santa delivered a Profilux Touch. The Touch can be setup remotely and has the ability to display all the information I need, without having to take that strenuous stair exercise each morning. Awesome technology.

The new Profilux equipment will be used on the 75g.

For the 400g, I received a Gyre 150. This will give me two 150's (one in 220g now) plus two Tunze 6101's (in 220g) for water movement. I also bought 4 1.5" bulkheads (I forgot to get the 1" I need, doh, so I will pick them up locally), 20 feet of 1/2" acrylic rod for scaping, Luxcore ballast (150w-250w), Radium 250w bulb and two 72" x 36" mesh screen for the tank cover.

Now I am off to work on the 75g. This way I can procrastinate on cleaning up the room that will house the 400g.

[Rybren]

Oooh. Lots of cool new toys

[rockworm]

Dont know why some earlier pictures came out as giants. I had resized them, but they still come as monsters. Probably user error.

Teaser time. I spoke with the builder today. The tank will be crated and shipped Friday. It will take 3 to 5 days to get it, so I will probably have it here by mid-week next week.

Here is what it looks like so far:



Need less to say, I am now getting excited. Still lots to be done before it arrives, but now I have an idea of when it will arrive.

[Acrononomus]

Awesome ! Keep those updates coming!!!

[rockworm]

Originally Posted by Acrononomus

Awesome ! Keep those updates coming!!!

I will, for sure. In the past, I have not kept any kind of journal. I wish I had because it always suprprises me how much things change over time. I remember the failures of some things in my first 90, the almost total velvet wipeout of the 220g when it was a FOWLR, the succrsses of finally growing SPS. Even through all that, the aquarium is a great comfort for both me and my wife.

Tomorrow is clean up the room day. It has been the workshop for the light rack and other stuff. I have to make room for the delivery. With any luck, I may also get the Mitras mounted over the 75g. I find the build challenge one of the more gratifying stages of the aquarium hobby.

[rockworm]

Well I got some good news today. The tank is done and is being crated for shipment today. I received a few pictures from the builder.

This is the right side of the tank. You can see the external overflow with the 2 holes for the 1.5" drains and 1" return. The overflow has black acrylic to hide the plumbing. The overflow is 20" long and will be hidden inside cabinetry. The front 16" will be visible because I did not want to give up the full side view. The left side has been made the same way.

You can also see that the back is covered with black film om the outside.



Here are a couple more pictures:





The final countdown has begun. There are still more preparations for its arrival and I will be updating more this weekend.

[rockworm]

I have had a busy few days and thought it time to catch up on what is going on. The tank stand is a little lower in the front than it is in the back so will have to be shimmed. However, I don't want to shim until the tank is on it because the stand may settle a little more. In preparation for the eventual leveling, I added shims on the inside.



The shims protrude out the front by about 1/8" to 1/4" so I can see where I placed them. I did this because I am hoping that I wont have to lift the stand bottom after the tank is in place. I know where the interior shims are and can mate them to shims from outside the stand.

And why don't I want to lift the bottom? Because there is 400 lbs of sand sitting on it.



I really do not want to move them again until I put it in the tank. In reality, 80 lbs of the sand will be used in the 75g.

[rockworm]

I finally got the light rack pulley system set up.



It is a simple 2 pulley mechanic that makes lifting the light rack easier for me.

In the lifted state.



I now have some headroom for maintenance.



The core of the light rack is done and I am happy with it. It rolls forward and can be lifted making maintenance work much easier. I intend to create a finished wood frame so it looks more like furniture than a metal monster.

[rockworm]

One question that came up was how do you get a 36" wide tank through a 30" door. You don't. So you make a new door.



I will remove the window and studs opening up a means to get the tank in. From the outside



The opening will be from the ground to the top of the window. I have already cut through the nails on the top and two sides. The small 2 x 4's are keeping the window from tipping forward or backward. My son is coming over tomorrow to help at which time I will cut the sill and remove the window. There is a little studding work that has to be done to make a plumb side for the doors. I will get a new window later this summer, but I want to keep the temporary door until I at least complete a tank leak test. I do not anticipate any problems but should something happen, I can at least have access for replacement or repair. I hope to have the doors in place by sundown tomorrow.

I have discussed this plan with the mover and the plan is to run the ramp from the truck right into the room. The width and height will allow this without having to make a larger opening.

And yes, I have to write everything down because my memory is not what it used to be. A white wall makes a great scratch pad as you can see above and below.

[rockworm]

I took some time this week to work on the 75g. I got the GHL Mitras lights set up and running. I could not find a bracket that would work. They were either too short or too long or not black. I found a smaller bracket and made a wall mount hanging system.



The mount is basically two 3/4" dressed boards with a 1 1/2" spacer between them. The brackets are simple flower basket hangers that hold the aluminum tube. I drilled the tubes and used the hanging kit that comes with the light. I forgot to paint the small acorn nuts on the bracket and will wood fill and paint the screws visible on the back board. Tat board is screwed directly into 3 different studs, so it is not going anywhere.

A more front on view. There is still a little wire management to do, but have not yet looked for any mods to help hide them hide:



Finally, I am giving some thought to going minimalist on this and was telling my wife. She told me that I might want to reconsider how minimalist I am going and maybe add a few more rocks. I thought it was kind of cool.



I put it in there because I just had to see what the purples and blues looked like on a white rock.

[Rybren]

Lots of good progress Ward. I'm with Susan, you need another piece of rock in the 75.

[rockworm]

Ok. I will look for a couple more pieces. I picked up 50 lbs of marco when I got the sand. Should be a couple good ones in there.

[rockworm]

I made good progress on the new "door" today, but did not get as far as I hoped. We got the window out and the lower part of the wall removed. I had hoped to put temporary doors in, but it would mean opening up the wall more and moving a stud. At the end of the day I just tacked the new door frames into place and think about what I want to do. These are meant to be temporary so I may just screw them to the existing studs in a way that I can easily remove them when the tank arrives. I have been doing a lot of "design on the fly" and this is just a minor bump.

I did get a little surprise when I took a look at the 220g. I have cyano in one of the front corners. I have not seen any of this in almost two years. I believe the source was a vinegar overdose. I had detached all the cables on my Profilux controller in order to add the Wireless card for the Mitras LED's and when I attached all the cables I reversed two by mistake. The doser kicked on and ran continuously for about 3 minutes before I realized what was happening and changed the cables. This put approximately 180 ml into the tank in one shot. I was only dosing 74 ml a day. I turned down the current dosing and will pick up some bacteria in a bottle on Tuesday. Hopefully this will replace the cyano bacteria. Just another little bump in the reefkeeping hobby.

[rockworm]

I am glad I thought about it. I managed to get 'doors' in the wall.



I don't think I will qualify for Fine Home Building, but I am happy with the result. There are still a number of finessing touches that need to be done, but it is functional. That is a good thing, because the tank is in transit and expected to arrive in the city on Thursday. I have let the movers know so that we can set a move date either Friday, or next week. And so the anticipation builds

[lg2725]

Great build so far. Keep it up. I'll be starting my 120g build shortly with all equipment in the basement directly underneath the main tank. Keep us updated.

[rockworm]

Originally Posted by lg2725

Great build so far. Keep it up. I'll be starting my 120g build shortly with all equipment in the basement directly underneath the main tank. Keep us updated.

Thank you. I have the most fun doing the builds. All the big and little decisions to make and the problem solving to get it done the way I envision. Today was one of the boring aspects. Cleaning up the room to remove obstructions and simplify the move. I have to go from full workshop to mainly display room. So it has been sweep, sweep, sweep, garbage. Rinse and repeat.

[rockworm]

The tank ism on its way, but appears to be taking a rest 2 hours from me. The carrier uses rail to go from Calgary (West) to Montreal (East) and then the tank is transferred to truck for the rest of the journey to Ottawa. Unfortunately, the tank has been sitting in Montreal since Wed May 25. The original estimated delivery date was May 26. I contacted the carrier that afternoon and was told that it was in Montreal. They revised the estimated delivery date to May 27. I called the local terminal to find out if it was there, and nope, still in Montreal. The earliest it would go on a truck was Sunday night for Monday delivery, but probably Tuesday this week. SO the estimated delivery went from 5 days to 10 days, if it comes tomorrow. I was a little frustrated because I had lined up movers to bring the tank to the house. This is their busiest time of year so rescheduling will be a pain.

Needless to say, I sent a message to the carrier late Friday telling them of my displeasure. I also contacted the builder. so they will know what is happening with the carrier they hired. The funny thing, the tracking still shows May 27 as the estimated delivery date. IN the message to the carrier head office, I suggested that if they intend to delay delivery, they might want to provide a little customer service by providing timely information regarding any changes. Guess they did not get the message in time.

Out of this came some good news. It gave me a little time to get an exhaust vent installed. I am a little concerned about the heat and humidity in the room. I found a 150 CFM 0.3 sones exhaust at Lowes. I hooked it up over the weekend.



I wanted to put it in the ceiling so just the face would show. However, there is a bedroom directlyt above the tank location. It was too much work to install it and vent within the joists, so I settled on surface mounting it. I vented directly outside with insulated flex pipe. You can see that the unit and the pipe clears the light rack. I wired a 50 ft 16 gauge exterior extension cord because it will be controlled by the Profilux to turn on when the lights turn on. This thing is dead silent.



I still have to secure the flex pipe because it is hanging too low and the light rack scrapes it if rolled forward. I will pick up some strapping to secure it.



Oh yeah, I also installed the MH pendants. They are not wired to ballasts yet because those are still lighting the 220g.

[rockworm]

I took time to work on the 75g this weekend. I finally got the marco rock and sand into it. I also added a few rocks from the 220g to help it along.



For now, I will be moving LSP, zoas (at least those that have not been eaten by my scribbled rabbit) and Rhodactis.



We have had this plate for 1.5 yrs and it is now 5" in diameter.



I have some acans and favias and others that I have not taken time to identify.


I also want to test SPS with the new LED's, so I picked up a couple of sacrificial ones on the weekend. The pictures are not that great, but here they are.





And that's it for today. Enjoy.