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Dez
03-21-2009, 10:15 PM
Hi guys....it's been about 4 years since I've been active on the board. I guess I'm pretty old school by now and trying to learn all the latest stuff. I used to have about 600 gallons of salt water aquariums in my condo....but we moved March 1, 05 and before that I sold everything and all my tanks and livestock kept some equipment because I was going to set up a tank right away in my new house. I still have a whole box of new VHO bulbs (I hear those are super old school now) I've kept some live rock in the basement of my new house and the live rock is still in salt water running (and has been running for the last 4 years without a water change...ugh). Doubt that the rock is live any more.

During this time, we've developed the basement and had to move the stupid temporary rock tank a few times while developing the basement. We got our builders to beef up a wall and there was a custom opening in the wall to fit our 150 gallon 5 x 2 x 2 tank. I have a hole pre - drilled in the floor inside the wall to run my sump in the basement.

My wife has recently told me that I have to sell the tank (that has been sitting in my garage for the last 4 years) or to set it up. Or that if I sell the tank, I could buy another Mini (I drive an old school Mini now and want another for my summer car). I have chosen to set it up.

The main reason that I haven't set it up is that 2 months after we moved, we had a baby boy, and then 14 months after we had a baby girl. Life gets busy with kids and to me, my family is more important than a fish tank.

However, now I find myself taking the kids to the fish store all the time and they want to buy fish but we don't have a tank. They love the coral and all the livestock in aquariums. We take them to the Vancouver aquarium once or twice a year. So Now I figure it's a good time to set up the tank so that my kids can be involved with me and make it a hobby together.

Today I started drilling my tank. I will post pics in the next posting....

Cheers and I welcome suggestions as I am super old school now in the hobby.

Dez

PS - this might be a super slow tank build but hopefully I'll get it done before Delphinus :)

Dez
03-21-2009, 10:21 PM
Here is the picture of the opening while the house is being built. One side is a den, and the other side is the living room. 2 side viewable tank.

Is there another way to have the picture directly in the post other than uploading it onto a website with a url? I don't have a website and I don't upload my pictures onto the web.

This would make my tank journal easier.

Thanks.

saltynuts
03-21-2009, 10:29 PM
wow thats an old pic the house was not even done! lol
if you need a hand lifting that tank into place let me know.
and i am sure you will be done before tony!

Dez
03-21-2009, 10:31 PM
Here are some pictures of the tank drilling. There is going to be an external overflow box at the end of the tank with a built in wavebox on the outside. I also started drilling the middle bracing of the tank (got 3 done until my drill battery died). I'm going to cut out a large hole (rectangular with rounded corners) so that more light can enter the tank.

I've thought about just ripping all that bracing out and eurobracing it but I hate ripping tanks apart and that way I don't have to buy extra glass to make the eurobracing.

I bought this tank used off of a canreef member (can't remember who) about 5 years ago. We bought it before we built our house and it had a corner overflow in it but I ripped it out. It was dirt cheap, I think I paid $200 or $300 for the tank.

I was going to use the corner overflow but decided against it after figuring out how to cut an oval shaped hole at the end of a tank for an external one.

Anyway here are the pics. Sorry, all pictures are taken with my cell phone camera because that's what I have handy. Later I'll start using a real camera when I'm getting close to having water or livestock in my tank.

That is my 3 year year old son helping spray with water while I drill :). This was taken about an hour ago.

Dez
03-21-2009, 10:32 PM
wow thats an old pic the house was not even done! lol
if you need a hand lifting that tank into place let me know.
and i am sure you will be done before tony!

I know you right? You used to have a different name on Canreef.....hmmm are you Ed?

saltynuts
03-21-2009, 10:38 PM
yes now lets get building!

mr_alberta
03-21-2009, 10:49 PM
Holy cow Dez,

I didn't actually think you were serious this time around! :lol::lol: We should call Rich, Russ and Ryan out and have the old gang get together again!

mark
03-21-2009, 10:51 PM
nice to see you back,

Planning anything that I still figure is the greatest fuge
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/das75/ref-1.jpg

From a photobucket account then just copy the IMG Code link

Dez
03-21-2009, 11:03 PM
nice to see you back,

Planning anything that I still figure is the greatest fuge
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/das75/ref-1.jpg

From a photobucket account then just copy the IMG Code link

Hey Mark!!! Why do you have a picture of one of my old tanks? For those who don't know, that was one of my many tanks in my old condo with a viewable refugium. I miss that tank. DIY stand, Canopy etc.....

What tanks are you running now?

Okay, I'm signing up for photobucket now....let's try this. This is a beckett skimmer I built back in the day....I hear those are pretty old school power hogs now too... In the background was a calcium reactor that I built.


http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/BeckettBack-1.jpg?t=1237677269

Dez
03-21-2009, 11:07 PM
Holy cow Dez,

I didn't actually think you were serious this time around! :lol::lol: We should call Rich, Russ and Ryan out and have the old gang get together again!

I had those holes drilled 15 mins after I called you man! Now for the last hole. Any comments anyone on a closed loop with returns (say 3 of them) through the bottom of the tank. Anybody have closed loops through the bottom now and regret it? Anybody have leaks? What would you do different? etc...

I'm thinking about doing a closed loop through the bottom, but am unsure at this point. I'll have lots of room under the tank as the sump will be in the basement.

Comments will be appreciated.

Jack
03-21-2009, 11:15 PM
You can edit the size of your pictures on Photobucket. edit images - resize

I wouldnt drill the bottom for a closed loop - a bit what if factor.

Delphinus
03-21-2009, 11:30 PM
Besides, closed loops are old school too. :mrgreen:

(Maybe not.)

Good luck with the build.

andestang
03-21-2009, 11:31 PM
Well well well - Hello Dez good to see you are back.I remember that tank, it gave me the insperation for my 150. I seem to remember a 180 that was by your front door also. Good luck with your build, I'm sure it wont take you long to get up to speed with things. :biggrin1:

nice to see you back,

Planning anything that I still figure is the greatest fuge
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/das75/ref-1.jpg

From a photobucket account then just copy the IMG Code link

Dez
03-21-2009, 11:42 PM
Yeah.....the 180 was my wife's favourite tank. Hopefully this build will be done by next winter :). It's good to be back.....it'll be better to have a running tank though.

mark
03-22-2009, 12:04 AM
Forget where I grabbed that picture of yours from but kept it as a build plan. I've put it up a few times and always with a comment like "fantastic idea".

I've got a 145g but how my stand is then with the basement sump, never was able to copy your idea.

Dez
03-22-2009, 12:17 AM
Here is a picture of the opening looking from the den. The tank will stick out 17" on this side and I'll have to build a stand/canopy. You'll be able to see this from the sidewalk in front of my house because I have a 5 x 6 window right in front. You should be able to look through the tank all the way into my backyard.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0185.jpg?t=1237680584

Here is a picture of the opening looking from the living room. The idea is to have it look like a picture frame from this side (it will be flush with the wall with access for feeding and aquascaping)...the top part of the picture frame will flip up.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0186.jpg?t=1237680746

Here is a picture of my rock tank that has been sitting my basement for the last 4 years getting moved around a couple of times while developing my basement. This was the first time that I've been in this room for probably a month. I don't go in there at all because there's an auto top off. I'm thinking about using it as a frag tank hooked into my system. But it's kind of long. Look at all that salt creep....sick! And my rusty old Hamilton light fixture with halides and vho's. I haven't had light on this tank in years....it's just decorative now :).

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0187.jpg?t=1237680774

rocketlily
03-22-2009, 01:09 AM
The picture of the tank with the viewable refugium is ust what I've been looking for, for inspiration. I hope you don't mind but I've saved it now as well. Good luck with the new build. Excellent little helper you've got there.

Dez
03-22-2009, 01:35 AM
The picture of the tank with the viewable refugium is ust what I've been looking for, for inspiration. I hope you don't mind but I've saved it now as well. Good luck with the new build. Excellent little helper you've got there.

You are welcome to use the idea.....My stand was just a skin as well. That whole front panel came right off and the side panel came off and each "door" looking panel came right off as well. I used magnets. I just checked out your tank build and it looks awesome. You aren't even too far ..... just off of the Henday. I have a friend that has a tank in Sherwood Park. Maybe we'll meet soon.

rocketlily
03-22-2009, 01:50 AM
What an idea, to hold the doors on with magnets :clap2: Excellent idea. Probably one of the things that has been holding me back on finishing the cabinet is the doors. Thank you.

andestang
03-22-2009, 02:36 AM
Ya, I sorta copied that too.:redface: :mrgreen:

You are welcome to use the idea.....My stand was just a skin as well. That whole front panel came right off and the side panel came off and each "door" looking panel came right off as well. I used magnets. I just checked out your tank build and it looks awesome. You aren't even too far ..... just off of the Henday. I have a friend that has a tank in Sherwood Park. Maybe we'll meet soon.

Murminator
03-22-2009, 04:02 AM
Welcome back Dez long time no see :mrgreen:

Dez
03-23-2009, 05:36 AM
This is what I have so far for my tank. I'm not sure of holes in the bottom for a closed loop yet. I'm debating putting an external overflow on the other side for a hidden stream. The compartment beside my overflow box is for an external wavebox. Any suggestions would be welcome.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/Tank-topview.jpg?t=1237786382

Dez
03-23-2009, 04:33 PM
Here is a picture of what the actual tank is going to look like. The reason there's that big brace in the middle is because that is what is existing already. I'm going to cut out that middle part of the brace so that I get more light getting into the tank. I might drill a couple of holes for returns, or closed loop on the other end of the tank and a couple on the bottom.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/TankFinal.jpg?t=1237825837

jgoldsney
03-23-2009, 07:00 PM
Wow dez....long time no see....

I have been out of the aquarium scene for a bit too.....had a few major overflows and the boss said no more tanks :D

well we are in a new house now and I am trying to convince her that a small pico reef down on my bench would be totaly safe....

I will be following your build to see what you come up with...your tanks always seem to have a unique tweak here or there that I like to file away for future considerations.

Joel

BTW I work with a friend of yours....Darnell

Dez
03-23-2009, 07:05 PM
Wow dez....long time no see....

I have been out of the aquarium scene for a bit too.....had a few major overflows and the boss said no more tanks :D

well we are in a new house now and I am trying to convince her that a small pico reef down on my bench would be totaly safe....

I will be following your build to see what you come up with...your tanks always seem to have a unique tweak here or there that I like to file away for future considerations.

Joel

BTW I work with a friend of yours....Darnell

Darnell just lives down the street from me. We are over there lots and his family is over here lots as well. He is one smart guy. Are you still in Sherwood Park?

jgoldsney
03-23-2009, 07:09 PM
yep...still in the park

michika
03-23-2009, 09:08 PM
Wow...I never thought I'd see the day that you showed back up here! WB Dez!

Dez
03-23-2009, 09:17 PM
Wow...I never thought I'd see the day that you showed back up here! WB Dez!
http://canreef.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon10.gif
I think I officially have to have water in a tank to be officially back. Right now I have to commit before my wife changes her mind. It's good to be back, and hopefully I'll be in the market for livestock before next winter!

michika
03-23-2009, 10:46 PM
I would have taken the Mini (provided it wasn't a Clubman), and found a way to make a tank work too. I love Minis!

Dez
03-24-2009, 03:16 AM
I would have taken the Mini (provided it wasn't a Clubman), and found a way to make a tank work too. I love Minis!

Seeing that I already have a Mini and that another mini takes up less room to store than a fish tank, I opted to go with the fish tank. I'm still working on getting permission for another Mini though. :)

BWI
03-24-2009, 04:22 AM
its going to be a nice setup! keep the pics coming!

Dez
03-24-2009, 04:50 PM
Here is a bit of a conceptual drawing as to what the picture frame side of the tank will look like. The top panel of the picture frame will be hinged so that I can feed/aquascape/access from this side.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/TankWallFront.jpg?t=1237913131


Here is what the tank will look like from top view. I'm not sure what to do with the stand/canopy yet. Most likely the stand will come 8" past the tank on both sides to cover the overflow box and also cover plumbing so that I can run plumbing up the tank opposite side of the overflow. So it will now become a 2 side viewable tank. My wife thought that having the stand semetrical on both sides would look better. This gives me more options anyway.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/TankWallTopView.jpg?t=1237913383

Dez
03-24-2009, 04:56 PM
Here's another view from my Den side. As you can see, 7" of the tank is actually resting on the wall itself. So only 17" of the tank will stick out into the Den side.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/TankBack.jpg?t=1237913610

Dez
03-26-2009, 02:23 AM
There's a little bit more progress on my tank. Thanks to a fellow Canreef member, I traded some 1/4" glass for 3/8" scrap glass so that I can make my overflow box. Maybe that will happen this weekend, the glass needs to be cleaned thoroughly though.

Harvey came over tonight and sprayed water for me while I cut the center brace of my tank. I'm quite pleased with the results, it needs some sanding and it should be pretty. Thanks Harv.

Here are the pictures of final product. Yeah, now we can have more light penetration into the tank.

I am now debating whether to take all the trim off of the whole tank or to leave it on. Any suggestions? The advantage of taking all the black plastic trim off is that my moulding can be flush to the tank itself and the canopy can be flush to the tank. What do you think?

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0210.jpg?t=1238033972

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0211.jpg?t=1238034051

xtreme
03-26-2009, 02:29 AM
What type of bit did you use to cut out your brace?

Dez
03-26-2009, 02:40 AM
What type of bit did you use to cut out your brace?

I used a regular glass hole saw for the corners and a grinder for the straight edges with a diamond blade. Did the same for my overflow slot.

brizzo
03-26-2009, 06:24 AM
I used a regular glass hole saw for the corners and a grinder for the straight edges with a diamond blade. Did the same for my overflow slot.

Nice, I was curious myself how you cut the overflow. Did you use a continuous rim diamond blade?

Dez
03-26-2009, 02:28 PM
Nice, I was curious myself how you cut the overflow. Did you use a continuous rim diamond blade?

I'm not sure if it was "continuous". It was smooth, $9.99 from Home Depot and it was for tile/marble. I just picked the thinnest one there was. I wasn't too concerned because worst case scenario, I break the brace and have to rip all the trim and other bracing off and Eurobrace it. But that would have been really time consuming and costly. I was worried about possible vibration while cutting though, but I had it supported quite well underneath with a cardboard box.

Delphinus
03-26-2009, 04:26 PM
How long did it take the cut the overflow and the brace like that?

Dez
03-26-2009, 04:33 PM
How long did it take the cut the overflow and the brace like that?
The brace only took me about 20 mins last night (holes were drilled already).

The overflow took about 5 mins. It goes really quick. I wore safetly glasses, full long sleeves with my neck covered (I forgot to wear gloves....but I was okay). I recommend wearing gloves. I wore gloves when I did my overflow.

I wish I could of used some sort of guide though because I did everything free hand. Oh well, the brace is never seen anyway...

Some people think that it was super risky of me cutting that brace, but I still think it's got tons of strength to it....what do you think?

banditpowdercoat
03-26-2009, 04:46 PM
Definately lots of strength there :D

xtreme
03-26-2009, 04:58 PM
I think it would still be strong enough. Its a great idea, I wish I would have thought of that before I filled my tank. I definitely get less light penetration through that glass.

new but handy
03-26-2009, 05:42 PM
Just out of curiosity why not just do 2 - 4" cross braces
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=54&pictureid=896

Dez
03-26-2009, 11:27 PM
Just out of curiosity why not just do 2 - 4" cross braces
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=54&pictureid=896

Ideally the tank would be just eurobraced without any crossbracing at all, but this was a used tank that I picked up for dirt cheap and just modifying it to fit my needs in the easiest way possible. For me to rip out the exisiting brace and re-brace it would be a lot of work and time consuming and that nice black trim would probably be all broken by now (I'm still debating wether to keep the trim yet) This took me less than an hour total and I think I achieved decent results. I think it was just a matter of me taking the easiest route possible while achieving results that I would be satisfied with long term. It ends up being 2.5" too, so that's better than 4" I guess.

Dez
03-28-2009, 02:57 PM
So yesterday afternoon, my kids helped me cut the glass for the overflow. I was quite pleased with the results. First, we semi cleaned up the glass to be cut (it was full of silicone and fish water residue). I got this 3/8" glass for trade for some other clean 1/4" glass that I had sitting around in the garage, so I'm not complaining. Here are pictures.

This one shows my 2 outside walls of the overflow and the divider. The kid's books was just used to prop the glass up will breaking it along the score line.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0228.jpg?t=1238251906

This picture is to show that I got pretty close to 90 degree cut. I was surprised that the newly cut edges were not sharp. I could run my hand up and down the fresh edge quite comfortably. Sorry for the fuzzy picture (cell phone camera)
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0229.jpg?t=1238252008

And here my son being a goofball. He was helping me with the breaking of the glass. This picture shows the fresh cut :)

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0232.jpg?t=1238252126

Hopefully today or tomorrow I can drill the drain holes and assemble the box. I have to get a wire brush or something to clean the excess silicone of the edges though. I'm not too much of a fan of this. At least we have a bit of progress.

rocketlily
03-28-2009, 03:06 PM
Excellent job on cutting the glass. Your son sure is a little cutie.

Dez
03-28-2009, 06:51 PM
Excellent job on cutting the glass. Your son sure is a little cutie.

Thank you...it's been a few years since I've cut glass. It's easire with a helper now :). Hes really excited to help me build the overflow box today. Looking forward to it. Just gotta go put my little daughter for a nap first.

Dez
03-28-2009, 09:49 PM
More progress today: I build the overflow box. First I had to drill my 2 holes for the 1 1/2" drains in the overflow box. Here are both my kids helping me.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0243.jpg?t=1238276306

The worst part is cleaning silicone off dirty glass. I got the glass from someone who had ripped apart a fish tank so I had to use tons of razor blades and wire brushes to clean up the edges. Here is the mess created!

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0246.jpg?t=1238276419

Finally all the glass cleaned up.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0247.jpg?t=1238276511

Here is the glass prepped with masking tape to get less smears in the silicone. I am using clear silicone. I know that the overflow box is not seen, but I still want it to look nice.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0249.jpg?t=1238276653

I cleaned all the edges with vinegar and newspaper (a trick from the guy who used to build tanks for Inter American or Bow Valley Aquariums). Here is the overflow box built. I just have to let the silicone cure and then razor off the edges. All the edges lined up flush and there are no air bubbles in the visable seams so I think that's the most important part.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0250.jpg?t=1238276919

Thanks for looking!

Mrfish55
03-28-2009, 10:46 PM
Looking good, surprising at how clean your cuts are, usually old glass doesn't cut so well, especially thicker stuff. Well Done! Is the extra chamber going to be for your external wavebox?

Dez
03-28-2009, 11:12 PM
Looking good, surprising at how clean your cuts are, usually old glass doesn't cut so well, especially thicker stuff. Well Done! Is the extra chamber going to be for your external wavebox?

Thanks for the comments. Yes, the extra chamber is the external wavebox. it's 4 1/2" x 5" x 14".....hopefully it'll work. the actual wavebox dimensions are 4 1/2" x 4 /12" x 12". I think it'll work cause it's just displacing water at a set frequency.

banditpowdercoat
03-28-2009, 11:45 PM
Thats some thick glass for an overflow. Is there a specific reason you went so thick?

Looks good though, Those siliconed joints will be fine. It's amazing how well silicone bonds to glass. I like how you taped the joints for a smooth silicone edge. Most people me included, would just apply and spread with finger to Fillet the joints, on an overflow LOL

Dez
03-28-2009, 11:59 PM
Thats some thick glass for an overflow. Is there a specific reason you went so thick?

Looks good though, Those siliconed joints will be fine. It's amazing how well silicone bonds to glass. I like how you taped the joints for a smooth silicone edge. Most people me included, would just apply and spread with finger to Fillet the joints, on an overflow LOL

It's only 3/8" glass. It's external with bulkheads and anytime there's a bulkhead there's extra stress on the glass. There's also not that much room from the edge of the hole to the edge of the glass so I didn't want to risk it. I didn't trust 1/4" glass. Believe it or not, the internal overflow box that I ripped out of the tank was 1/2". That's pretty think, it was probably for it to have a nice surface for the egg crate to sit on though. I don't ever want to have to tear this tank apart because of something I miscalculated. I'm trying to do it right the first time y'know? Thanks for the comments.

banditpowdercoat
03-29-2009, 12:04 AM
Oh, thats not that bad. It look's like 1/2" in the pics. 3/8 is not as bad. ya, I woulda gambled with 1/4" If I was buyin the glass. But then. I gamble alot on thing. But NEVER at a casino, go figure HAHAHA

Dez
03-29-2009, 12:06 AM
Oh, thats not that bad. It look's like 1/2" in the pics. 3/8 is not as bad. ya, I woulda gambled with 1/4" If I was buyin the glass. But then. I gamble alot on thing. But NEVER at a casino, go figure HAHAHA

Funny thing is that I have a ton of 1/4" glass. But I traded for the 3/8" so it cost me nothing :)

Dez
03-29-2009, 02:31 AM
Here's a picture after taking all the masking tape off. That's an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper inside just to give a reference of size.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0268.jpg?t=1238293770

saltynuts
03-29-2009, 02:55 AM
wow look at you go! nice job on all the glass cutting.

subman
03-29-2009, 03:17 AM
Wow looks great! Can't wait to see more.

lastlight
03-29-2009, 03:34 AM
Really makes me wish I wasn't done the silicone on my project. Great work!

Delphinus
03-29-2009, 05:06 AM
What does cleaning with newsprint do? Wouldn't have guessed that was a "trick". Neat.

I have a 40g you made a couple years ago, 24x24x12 and the overflow is made out of 1/8" ! :lol: But it's internal though, I was pretty unsure of it at first but it seems to hold up.

Nice progress so far, everything look is looking good. :)

Canadian Man
03-29-2009, 07:42 PM
Well I am just checking in on the thread dez.

I do have the constant desier to set up a tank but just a lack of time. My Nitro powered
helicopters keep me busy:)

I do enjoy watching your thread progress so keep up the good work.

Jonathan

Dez
03-29-2009, 07:52 PM
What does cleaning with newsprint do? Wouldn't have guessed that was a "trick". Neat.

I have a 40g you made a couple years ago, 24x24x12 and the overflow is made out of 1/8" ! :lol: But it's internal though, I was pretty unsure of it at first but it seems to hold up.

Nice progress so far, everything look is looking good. :)

Hey Tony....I'm glad it's holding out. With internal overflows there isn't any pressure, it's equalized as long as the overflow box is fairly full (that's my theory at least)...I'm just glad it hasn't exploded and there's no lawsuit against me :)

Skimmerking
03-29-2009, 08:05 PM
WOw great thread there Dez, long time no see on the boards great to have you back again... so what type of tank is it going to be again SPS or mixed

Dez
03-31-2009, 04:54 AM
What does cleaning with newsprint do? Wouldn't have guessed that was a "trick". Neat.

I have a 40g you made a couple years ago, 24x24x12 and the overflow is made out of 1/8" ! :lol: But it's internal though, I was pretty unsure of it at first but it seems to hold up.

Nice progress so far, everything look is looking good. :)

Tony, I think newsprint doesn't leave any cloth residue if you're using a rag. My parents always asked me to clean the windows with windex and newspaper, that way it didn't leave streaks. Try it sometime!

Dez
03-31-2009, 04:55 AM
WOw great thread there Dez, long time no see on the boards great to have you back again... so what type of tank is it going to be again SPS or mixed

Hey Mike,

I'm thinking sps tank, but my wife wants more of a mixed. I'm still doing my research on mixed. Either way, I'm going to be really careful of what I put it cause there'll be no upgrading in this house :).

Dez
04-03-2009, 04:34 AM
There is now a little bit more progress on the tank. I ran into some "minor" problems though, I'll explain in a bit. I started building the stand today.

Here is the rough plan of what I was going to build:
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/Jpeg.jpg?t=1238732278

However, as I started to build the bottom frame, screwing the last long length my robertson #2 drill bit slipped out of the screw and hit my thumb. I thought it was just a cut, then I looked at it, and it had gone through the nail and out the other side. Here's what it looked like (sorry for the fuzzy cell phone camera picture):

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0289.jpg?t=1238732665

I wanted to just bandage it up and continue, but my wife is much wiser than I so she made me go to the medi-centre. Doctor took an x-ray and found a bit of bone damage. I had to have a tetnis shot. Here is an xray shot, you can see a tiny bit of chip on the upper right:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/LtThumb0005.jpg?t=1238732865

Since there was bone damage, I had to get some antibiotics. They look like Halloween candy. 4 times a day on an empty stomach....argh.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0292.jpg?t=1238732976

Well....after all that, at least there is a bit of progress on the stand. Here's what I have so far.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0290.jpg?t=1238733029

The good news is that I got all the lumber for my stand for free. I asked one of the builders that I work with if I could look look through their framing garbage pile :) Hopefully there will be a bit more progress in the next few days while my thumb heals. Thanks for looking.

bignose
04-03-2009, 04:39 AM
God I love this hobby!

lastlight
04-03-2009, 04:50 AM
this is one hardcore build so far! i've never seen a build accompanied by x-rays before!

Delphinus
04-03-2009, 05:07 AM
LOL no kidding. Ouchies Dez, hope your thumb heals quick. Enjoy the Hallowe'en candies.

Dez
04-04-2009, 04:31 AM
There is now a little bit more progress on this build. I never realized how important the opposable thumb was until today. I basically put on an oversized mitten to keep my bandaged thumb clean and made another attempt to build my tank stand. My children were very helpful in handing me individual screws and glue. Here is the start:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0294.jpg?t=1238818835

Here's a shot with the verticals and top frame glued and screwed in. It gives you an idea of the size.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0295.jpg?t=1238819358

I was quite pleased with the measurements. I got the stand completely flush with the wall and everything is perfectly level.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0296.jpg?t=1238818934

The stand was a lot more sturdy than I thought. I almost didn't need those 45 degree top braces. Eventually the stand will be screwed in to the wall. I will paint the stand later with some sort of marine paint and will screw on a sheet of plywood accross the stand and cover the top of the wall as well.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0297.jpg?t=1238819019

Thanks for looking. Hopefully my thumb heals fast and I can get more progress on this build. I'm held up on bulkheads now....J & L is out of stock and I'm trying to track down a used oceans motions, I might have to break down and buy one new. I also need a pump to run the closed loop, I'm thinking of a Sequence Dart. I have yet to plan my fish room in the basement. I have to plan it out and figure out what I want to do with the sump, frag tank etc......

Skimmerking
04-04-2009, 04:36 AM
Dez like always you do a great job man.... well done so far

Dez
04-04-2009, 04:43 AM
Dez like always you do a great job man.... well done so far

Thanks Mike,

I just realized, my tank is the same size as yours. You're running a 5 x 2 x 2 right? It'll be a while before I get water in :)

Cheers

Skimmerking
04-04-2009, 04:48 AM
ya i love the size of mine too, and i really like that i put a over flow box in my tank to give me more room for the fish, i get the whole 5 feet of tank to place rock and corals

raisemyrent
04-04-2009, 10:41 PM
The brace only took me about 20 mins last night (holes were drilled already).

The overflow took about 5 mins. It goes really quick. I wore safetly glasses, full long sleeves with my neck covered (I forgot to wear gloves....but I was okay). I recommend wearing gloves. I wore gloves when I did my overflow.

I wish I could of used some sort of guide though because I did everything free hand. Oh well, the brace is never seen anyway...

Some people think that it was super risky of me cutting that brace, but I still think it's got tons of strength to it....what do you think?

Hi,

I was just catching up on this... the brace will be alright! If it were metal, different story, but the glass will be fine... the piece will take the stress, and the extra silicone joints stay the same...

Dez
05-18-2009, 08:47 PM
Finally some progress to this tank build. I've been busy the last few weeks with work, family etc. My brother came up this weekend and I convinced him to be my "variable jig" for building my stand for my sump room in the basement. After about an hour here's what we came up with. Everything is screwed and glued.

The sump is going on the floor, in the middle rack is my existing frag tank - 48 x 18 x 14tall, and at the top either a standard 75 gallon tank, or 54 gallon tank as my reservoir/water change tank.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0453.jpg?t=1242679506

Dez
05-18-2009, 08:52 PM
Earlier today I got up the motivation to drill my tank for the closed loop. As usual my 3 year old son was helping me spray with water to keep it cool while I drilled. Here's what we ended up with. The 2 holes in the corner really close together are going to be patched (they were the holes for the existing "reef ready" tank when I bought the tank. I ripped out that internal overflow). The biggest hole is for my 2" intake of the closed loop. I'm getting antsy now because I'm getting closer and closer to plumbing. I have to order an Oceans Motions 4 way cause I can't seem to find one used.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0456.jpg?t=1242679777

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0457.jpg?t=1242679813

Dez
05-21-2009, 02:02 AM
A little more progress today. Got some primer and I primed the supporting structure of the tank. My wife was great and painted the entire wall that the tank is going against with "mold, mildew and moisture" resistant paint. She also painted the inside ledge. It doesn't even look like she repainted cause we tinted the paint the same colour as the rest of the walls. Maybe tonight after the kids are in bed I'll paint the stand with the same paint.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0460.jpg?t=1242871039

mark
05-21-2009, 02:55 AM
Maybe tonight after the kids are in bed I'll paint the stand with the same paint.



thought they were your helpers?

Eduardo
05-21-2009, 02:55 AM
looking good Dez!

Dez
05-21-2009, 04:27 AM
thought they were your helpers?

Ha ha....with paint, it's a different story. I'd rather the paint stay off of them, I wouldn't want them to become mildew, mold and water resistant would I? :)

BlueAbyss
05-21-2009, 04:44 AM
Wow looks amazing! I hope my stand looks as good as yours when I'm done. I also hope my siliconing job looks something like yours when it's done :lol:

Dez
05-22-2009, 06:47 AM
Well, more progress today. I painted the stand last night. Looking at it today though it'll need another coat. I cut a hole in my wall today. In the picture you'll see a rectangular hole in the floor already. I cut that hole in the floor 4 years ago when the house was being built in anticipation of setting this tank up. If we ever move, I'll just put a cold air return vent to cover this hole and there will be no patching of drywall needed. This hole is where my drains/return will be going to the basement sump directly underneath.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0484.jpg?t=1242974339

In that picture you'll also see a GFCI plug. I put that plug in tonight. There was never a plug there before. Originally when we were building this house, we were planning for the tank to stick out into the other room(living room) instead of the den. We were going to use the den as an office, but after we had kids, we realized that with an office on the main floor, you can't get any work done unless you ignore your kids. So now we had to add a plug. Wish some fishing of wires, I managed to get a new plug on there (on a separate breaker) without damaging the drywall.

Here is a picture of the plug and hole with the stand in place. Notice the green light on the plug :).....it works!!!! I didn't even electrocute myself.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0485.jpg?t=1242974740

BlueAbyss
05-22-2009, 07:18 AM
Lookin good! No electrocution? How can you call yourself an amateur electrician :lol:

banditpowdercoat
05-22-2009, 12:03 PM
You wired the plug backwards, supposed to light up blue HAHAHA

Delphinus
05-22-2009, 03:40 PM
Looking good. Yeah it's amazing how much bare wood will suck up paint. <paint paint paint> Looking good! Hey what the? Where'd the paint go? <paint paint paint> Looking good! Hey, where'd the paint go .. again? <paint paint paint> Looking good!! Hey, what the... ?? .... etc.

Dez
05-25-2009, 05:10 AM
Found some time today to continue on the project. I cut holes in the plywood to match the holes in my tank. I went to Canadian tire to buy a hole saw but couldn't bring myself to pay $40 for a 4 1/2" hole saw/mandrel. Then I'd have to buy a 3" hole saw for the other holes. So I ended up using a jigsaw. Here's the result. I screwed the plywood on and I also screwed the stand into the wall after ensuring everything was level.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0503.jpg?t=1243227717

This piece of plywood came with the tank when I bought it, so I figured that I might as well use it. That's why it's black. I had to trim it to the exact dimension of the tank because it was overall 1/4" bigger than the tank. I proceeded to prime the inside of the holes so that I can paint it later with that moisture resistant paint.

I also took most of the black plastic trim off of my tank today. The reason for doing this is so that my stand and moulding can be flush to the tank itself when it is all said and done. Then I'll silicone the molding right to the glass so that moisture can't get behind it. I left the 2 pieces of black trim on so that when it is sitting on end as shown, nothing gets scratched. I'm getting excited to get this tank out of my garage. After it's lifted onto the stand, then I'll take the last 2 trim pieces off quickly and clean up the edge before sliding it into position. I'll have to silicone my external overflow box on soon.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0504.jpg?t=1243228032

I got enough energy to prime the stand and some of the wall in the basement sump room. I ran out of primer though. Tony is completely correct, that darn wood just keeps soaking up the paint. One thing I found when I went downstairs to the sump room is a marble :), I guess my kids threw a marble down the hole from upstairs.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0505.jpg?t=1243228097

Dez
05-25-2009, 05:16 AM
Just a side question here....does it matter what thickness of foam that goes under the tank? I have some 3/8" stuff that's supposed to be used on the outside of houses before siding. It's got a reflective foil on one side and green on the other. It's pretty soft. Does it matter? Thanks.

Des

Dez
05-26-2009, 04:45 AM
Today I painted the plywood on my stand so that at least it'll be nicer to look at until there's a skirt around the stand and fish to look at. Here's the final product (sorry for poor quality pics, all pictures in this thread are taken with a cell phone camera):

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0527.jpg?t=1243312665

Now that the tank is almost ready to go in, I decided to silicone the overflow box onto the tank. As usual, I cleaned the glass with newspaper and vinegar, masked off the area for a "clean" look and went at it. Here are the pictures:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0522.jpg?t=1243312822

I still have to razor blade off the excess silicone from when I built the box itself. But here is the picture freshly siliconed:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0523.jpg?t=1243312867

I was pleased with the bubble free joints:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0524.jpg?t=1243312975

And this is what the tank looks like with all the masking tape off. I'll let it cure for a day before even moving the tank.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0526.jpg?t=1243313034

Thanks for looking everyone. Sorry that this build is so slow and uneventful.

Delphinus
05-26-2009, 05:22 AM
Don't apologize dude, this thread progresses just fine. :)

Dez
05-30-2009, 05:53 AM
More progress. I put foam on my tank a yesterday and then my family wanted to lie down on the tank stand :). My daughter joined in later. I almost took a snooze on it.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0554.jpg?t=1243661926

Then with the help on my 2 neighbours I lifted the tank into place. At first I grabbed one neighbour and he tried but didn't trust himself to lift it, so later we grabbed another neighbour and we got her in. My neighbour then proceeded to lift up one corner of my mini since he was in the "lifting" mood. He got the car up about an inch in one corner....yikes.

Here's a picture looking from the living room.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0559.jpg?t=1243661975

Here's a picture from the den side, my tolerances were tight. I have about an eighth of an inch on either side of the tank and my overflow is about an eighth of an inch away from the wall. I'm so glad it fit:
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0560.jpg?t=1243662129

The external overflow - the 2" bulkhead in the bottom of my tank is the intake for my closed loop.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0562.jpg?t=1243662167

Tonight I decided to make my first piece of aragocrete. The idea is to make a piece of rock around a 2" plumbing "Y" to use as an intake for my closed loop. I hate the idea of the strainer and trying to hide it with rocks, so I'm making a strainer rock.

Here is the Y with a ton of holes drilled. I've kept the shavings to add to my aragocrete mix to make it more porous.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0574.jpg?t=1243662253

Here's another couple of pictures with straws inserted so that there will be holes to suck water in from. The balloons are to prevent my aragocrete mix from going into the fitting.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0575.jpg?t=1243662493

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0577.jpg?t=1243662527

And finally, my artwork. Hopefully the backside turns out alright. I think I'll put the backside toward the overflow side cause it's going to be rather "flat". The reason I'm using a Y is to try to create more surface area for the suction to create less "suction" points. I don't know if that makes sense. Not to great with words. Hopefully you're enjoying this slow tank build.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0579.jpg?t=1243662709

subman
05-30-2009, 05:58 AM
what a great idea can't wait to see more!

Dez
05-30-2009, 06:06 AM
Thanks Subman. I forgot to mention that after the aragocrete cures, hopefully I'll be able to pull all those straws out. *cross my fingers*, worse case scenario, I'll cut 'em flush and they'll be eventually covered in coraline algae anyway.

golf nut
05-30-2009, 06:09 AM
You might want to do some math, you need about 165 drinking straws to handle a 2 inch feed, likely twice that much considering the friction loss, starving a pump is going to cause nothing but grief.unless your plan is to leave the ends of the wye open as well.

Dez
05-30-2009, 06:16 AM
You might want to do some math, you need about 165 drinking straws to handle a 2 inch feed, likely twice that much considering the friction loss, starving a pump is going to cause nothing but grief.

Ahhhh.....you wonder why I have balloons covering all parts of the Y....it's because I took your advice and I'm just going to use eggcrate to cover the two 2" holes at the Y. The straws are just "extra" to spread it out even more. I really did take all of your advice to heart and am planning it the way you suggested. Instead, I didn't use a T, cause a Y takes up less space. You wanted me to draw water from top down, so that's what I'm doing.

Thanks for the advice.

golf nut
05-30-2009, 06:18 AM
That's why my edit is earlier than your post :)

lastlight
05-30-2009, 06:49 AM
some very crafty ideas here! Can't wait to see more. Your rate of progress is just fine =) I'm a fellow slow-builder and sympathize entirely. I'm also a dad of two now and I'm scared to set my tank up now until they're older. I do bedtime diaper changes sitting on the floor because I'm too tired to do it any other way!

I'm still intrigued by the rock you let sit for 4 years...that's insane! With the topoff and salt creep I'll bet your salinity is so low it's more like a long freshwater bath for the rocks...

BlueAbyss
05-30-2009, 07:21 AM
Hmm, that's a slick idea Dez. Nicely done, hope it works out well... I'm sure you'll have no problems getting most of those straws out, though the ones with the 'crinkle' on them might stick pretty good.

Dez
05-30-2009, 02:22 PM
some very crafty ideas here! Can't wait to see more. Your rate of progress is just fine =) I'm a fellow slow-builder and sympathize entirely. I'm also a dad of two now and I'm scared to set my tank up now until they're older. I do bedtime diaper changes sitting on the floor because I'm too tired to do it any other way!

I'm still intrigued by the rock you let sit for 4 years...that's insane! With the topoff and salt creep I'll bet your salinity is so low it's more like a long freshwater bath for the rocks...

Brett.....ha ha. It is kind of sad isn't it. I should have taken the rock out, dried it out and seeded it when the tank was set up if I knew it was going to be 4 years. The funny thing is once in a while I'd push the salt creep back in :). I still don't own a hydrometer. I just ordered a refractometer from J&L along with a bunch of bulkheads and stuff. I will be placing an oceans motions order soon because I can't seem to find one used. Man this hobby is expensive. My wife and kids are the ones getting after me now to get the tank set up, but I try to do it after the kids go to sleep cause I can't let these years go by working on a tank when I could be playing with my children. At least a lot of the things they can help with. I have very much appreciated your tank build. It is immaculate. Maybe one day we'll meet. I used to go down to Calgary lots just for reef stuff :)

Dez
06-02-2009, 04:27 AM
I've now removed my aragocrete rock from the mold. I've also taken the straws out. It wasn't too bad. I'm gonna wait a little bit before I begin the 6 week water curing process. Here are a couple of pictures of rock. I think it'll look fairly natural once the coraline algae and stuff grow on it.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0602.jpg?t=1243916555

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0601.jpg?t=1243916590

I'm getting pretty excited to start plumbing. I still have to prime and paint the sump room. But I could get started on the closed loop soon after I order the oceans motions.

BlueAbyss
06-02-2009, 07:15 PM
That Y looks very... liverock-y. Good job! :biggrin:

Dez
06-04-2009, 05:17 AM
I put my new arago"y" in the tank to see what it looks like. After I fully water cure it, it will slip into that male adapter right beside it. I'm quite pleased as it's fairly well balanced. I will have a sandbed so the male adapter should be covered.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0614.jpg?t=1244092370

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0615.jpg?t=1244092620

Doug
06-04-2009, 12:39 PM
Great tank build. Rock looks good.

Dez
06-04-2009, 08:06 PM
Great tank build. Rock looks good.

Thanks Doug....can't wait to get all the stuff to start plumbing the closed loop!

muck
06-04-2009, 09:10 PM
Did you pickup one of the used OM that was posted the other day?

Dez
06-04-2009, 09:22 PM
Working on a deal.....

muck
06-04-2009, 09:42 PM
Excellent... wanted to make sure you saw it. :wink:

banditpowdercoat
06-04-2009, 11:46 PM
Good thing theres 2 OM-4 for sale LOL. I have one spoken for too. last piece to my plumbing puzzle


Your tanks coming along nicely, I may add

Dez
06-05-2009, 02:43 AM
The funny thing is that I ordered new OMs the night before the posting came out. Good thing they didn't ship it out yet or else I would have had to pay shipping back to return it. I held out for so long ordering. Glad you got one too Dan. Looks like you're setting up the exact same dimension tank as I am. Wish Mine was eurobraced though, but I got the tank for dirt cheap so I can't complain.

The Codfather
06-05-2009, 03:11 AM
You guys will love the OM4, I have an 8 way, works great and i just changed out the drum to a version 3. stirs up everything quite nicely i might add.

Dez
06-05-2009, 03:35 AM
You guys will love the OM4, I have an 8 way, works great and i just changed out the drum to a version 3. stirs up everything quite nicely i might add.

I'm sure looking forward to it!

The Codfather
06-05-2009, 03:40 AM
I might have to hold it for ransom! Just kidding Dez, you'll have it Sunday, as planned.

banditpowdercoat
06-05-2009, 03:48 AM
Ya, I have my little giant sump return running right now, I SOO want to get some OM flow happening

PS, how did you get such bubble free joints? The ones on my tank are ugly....

Eurobraced or not, I like yours.

Dez
06-05-2009, 04:45 AM
Ya, I have my little giant sump return running right now, I SOO want to get some OM flow happening

PS, how did you get such bubble free joints? The ones on my tank are ugly....

Eurobraced or not, I like yours.

Bubble Free Joints I think cause of practice. I used to build tanks here and there as I got free glass (Just small ones though). And I've also helped quite a few friends build bigger tanks. Also, I'm in construction by trade so I use a silicone gun lots cause clients can be pretty picky with the way caulking is put on. I think the key is running the bead of silicone in a STRAIGHT line and then setting the glass on perfectly the first time. I think if you move it around to adjust the joints don't seem as nice. I hope this helps. I am by no means great, but I just take my time (as you can tell by the time frame of this tank build)

Dez
06-06-2009, 05:09 AM
Tonight was one of the happiest evenings this year. My family and I were out at Ikea cause it's about time we get a new couch cause our 2 love seats are 9 years old now and we're not going to have a couch on the wall the fish tank is on once it's running. So this is probably the couch we're going to get:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0618.jpg?t=1244264549

Anyway, that's not why I'm happy. I could really care less about the couch, although it'll me much more comfy than a $250 love seat that's 9 years old. This couch is 10 ft long and it'll be facing the tank :)

The reason that I'm super happy is cause first of all Ikea here in Edmonton is redoing all of their displays so they're clearing display stuff out for 40% off. I looked at this mirror which was beautiful....paused for a sec and thought, I should measure this.....it might by chance fit my tank for the picture frame side. The measurements were EXACT! 59" X 21 1/4". CRAZY. We loaded this mirror on the top of our jeep with string and cardboard and home we went. I couldn't wait to put my kids to bed.

Taking the mirror apart wasn't too bad, undid a few bolts and took the top part of the frame and slid the mirror out.

I proceeded to cut out the back to hollow it out a bit where the fireplace switch (see page 9 of this thread to see where the fireplace/fan switch is on the left of the tank) is and hung the frame. Look at this......BEAUTIFUL! My wife and I just sat and admired it for a while. What are the chances that this fit? The best part is all I have to do later is dowel the top piece and it'll just slide off for access to the top. All I have to do to switch the fireplace on is pull the bottom out a bit and turn the switch on. Nice!

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0622.jpg?t=1244264229

Delphinus
06-06-2009, 05:20 AM
Heh .. neat.

Question though. Why not consider moving the switch?

Dez
06-06-2009, 05:24 AM
Heh .. neat.

Question though. Why not consider moving the switch?

Simple answer - I'm lazy.

Also, we don't use our fireplace much at all. It is REALLY EASY to switch it on and off now. If we moved it, it would involve fishing wire......probably down to the basement and back up another wall.....not my cup of tea. Also switches are not that esthetically pleasing to look at , so this is a perfect solution I think - cover it :).

subman
06-06-2009, 05:34 AM
All I can say Dez is......
AWESOME!!!

I am loving this build!!!

Dez
06-06-2009, 06:00 AM
Heh .. neat.

Question though. Why not consider moving the switch?

Also, the kids won't turn the fireplace on and off now :)

Subman:

Thanks for the props :o).

Dez
06-07-2009, 09:23 PM
I found some time this morning to modify the frame that I got from Ikea so that I could have simple access to the top. Here is a picture of it without the top. Basically to take it off I have to lift up one side of the top and the other side will slide off easily, fairly simple. It just "snaps" back into place. I did this with the placements of the dowels at an angle and glued the dowels into one side.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0629.jpg?t=1244409527

Here is a picture of the dowels glued in:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0630.jpg?t=1244409569

And a close up of the quality of the mitre when it's back on:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0631.jpg?t=1244409669

After it's all back together with "livestock" in the tank...

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0627.jpg?t=1244409692

And finally, full view of the room. That little 5 gallon nano on the left will be taken down after this tank is set up.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0624.jpg?t=1244409761

Thanks for looking!

mark
06-07-2009, 09:34 PM
coming along nicely

Parker
06-08-2009, 07:52 PM
Looks great Dez, I like the mirror idea!

christyf5
06-08-2009, 08:05 PM
Thats some cute livestock you've got there Dez :wink:

What a great idea with the mirror frame, it looks perfect! :biggrin:

Dez
06-08-2009, 08:42 PM
Thats some cute livestock you've got there Dez :wink:

What a great idea with the mirror frame, it looks perfect! :biggrin:

Thanks :), I really enjoy my livestock....that's what's slowing this build down is I'd rather spend time with my kids than be working on the tank.....

My wife and I still can't believe how exact that mirror frame fit....we are still in awe. My wife is actually going to get me to cut up the mirrow to use as a decoration project in my daughter's room. Best part of it was that the mirror was 40% off. I couldn't have bought the materials to build it myself for what I paid. I love it when things work out!

Dez
06-09-2009, 12:03 PM
Got some more equipment yesterday. I got a PM Bullet 3 skimmer. I know that no one uses Becketts anymore but my budget doesn't allow for a skimmer like a Bubble King so this will suffice for now. I also picked up a used wavebox and a 48 x 24 x 20 tall acrylic sump. Here's a picture of the skimmer compared to my car

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0652.jpg?t=1244548996

Enjoy. Thanks for looking. I'll post a picture of the sump when it's in place, it's sitting on its side now and the picture doesn't look like much.

banditpowdercoat
06-09-2009, 01:41 PM
Hey, I'm usin a Beckett style skimmer. Although not as BIG as yours HAHAHA.

fishytime
06-09-2009, 02:29 PM
I couldn't have bought the materials to build it myself for what I paid. I love it when things work out!


The same holds true for most stuff at Ikea....I couldnt build a simple bookshelf for $20....labour alone would be more than that. The tank is looking killer!

Dez
06-10-2009, 12:19 PM
Hey, I'm usin a Beckett style skimmer. Although not as BIG as yours HAHAHA.

I know....it barely fit in my car :), I'm not sure if I'll run in in sump or not. The guy who sold it to me recommended to run it externally cause he says it works better, or to raise it up in the sump. But it's too tall for me to run it raised up above the water in the sump. We'll see I guess when it comes time to plumb it.

banditpowdercoat
06-10-2009, 02:46 PM
Ya, I may have to do that too.My stand is 33" inside, but the sump is 26" tall. Doesnt leave me much headroom. Wasn;t thining of skimmer. Other thing is, The skimmer drain has to be above the waterline, OR, if I put it outside the sump, above the top edge of the sump, so it drains into sump properly. That rules out putting a external skimmer under stand. I saw a 6 foot tall skimmer once. Now there's a conversation piece HAHAHA

Skimmerking
06-14-2009, 05:50 PM
looks great that Dez love the trim on the tank, and the skimmer nothing wrong with tha PM Bullet 3 that will clean you tank no problem......

Dez
06-14-2009, 07:26 PM
looks great that Dez love the trim on the tank, and the skimmer nothing wrong with tha PM Bullet 3 that will clean you tank no problem......

Thanks Mike,

I'm feeling a little unmotivated to work on the tank lately with the nice weather. Just want to hang with the kids and my trophy wife gets me to do yard work....

I might move the frag tank in place and take down my live rock tank today....we'll see....

Des

Dez
06-14-2009, 09:41 PM
Well,

I found some time today to take down the live rock tank. Let me just say this - 4 years of salt creep is disgusting. My son and I took out all the rock and put it in a holding tank with a Mag 7 circulating the water for now. Here it is in it's temporary location....man, everything seems to be temporary...argh.. It was close by and I'll still be able to get my sump and other tanks by to plumb the tank and still be able to paint the rest of the room with the rock tank here.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0689.jpg?t=1245015321

Here is the live rock tank almost empty.....just getting the seashell base outta there. I'm going to wash it really well in fresh water over and over. Then I have to find someone to help me lift this tank outside and I'll try to scrape/clean the tank before it'll go in it's final location. This tank will be my growout tank.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0690.jpg?t=1245015438

And, my son helping me dump all the seashell base into a bucket to wash.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0691.jpg?t=1245015639

Thanks for following.

Dez
06-16-2009, 03:30 AM
The frag tank is now clean. My trophy wife helped me carry this disgusting tank upstairs into the yard for me to wash out. It is now fairly clean :)

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0693-1.jpg?t=1245122531

Here is the frag tank now in place....I'm getting excited. The dimensions of this tank is 48 x 18 x 14tall. Now the plumbing is getting to be a possibility:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0695.jpg?t=1245122691

And here is the sump. It is a 100 gallon sump, or 99 gallons. The dimensions are 48 x 24 x 20 tall. I picked it up for 100 bucks - acrylic.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0696.jpg?t=1245122828

Thanks for following. My friend is taking down his tank this week so I'll be able to get his Dart off of him and plumb my closed loop. I've ordered a Reeflo Blackfin 6000 for $254 shipped - I'm pretty excited to get it. I should be getting a tracking number tomorrow for it.

Thanks for following.

Dez
06-16-2009, 03:40 AM
Here's a picture of my wavebox installed. There was a slight hiccup on this. When I got the used wavebox, I brought it home and found out that my hole was too small. A friend with a wavebox had given me the wrong measurements. I'm just glad that he didn't give me too big of a hole size. I had to crawl into the tank and RE - drill the hole slightly larger. Now it fits perfectly. Sorry for the fuzzy image - cell phone camera.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0698.jpg?t=1245123483

Dez
06-22-2009, 06:35 AM
Well, a bit more progress on the tank today. I got my pump from my friend (Sequence Dart) since he took down his big tank today and downsized. This is the result.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0713.jpg?t=1245652143

I managed to do all of the outputs with all soft 90 degree bends. All the true union valves are done with flex pvc. I was considering doing the whole thing with flex but I didn't have any in 1 1/2" and I got pieces of plumbing here and there from various friends. The reason the intake has three 90's in it is because I got that whole section from my friend with the pump, so that saved me from buying a ball valve and union. Ideally I would have done it all with soft 90's for decreased resistance, but it was what I had.

Here's another shot of the Oceans Motions:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0714.jpg?t=1245652372

And full tank shot. Sorry for the bad pictures (late night, low light, cell phone camera)

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0715.jpg?t=1245652435

Thanks for following.

Skimmerking
06-22-2009, 01:12 PM
looking good buds, what are you going to keep in the tank for corals Dez.

Dez
06-22-2009, 01:25 PM
looking good buds, what are you going to keep in the tank for corals Dez.

Hey Mike,

I'm leaning toward all SPS, but my wife begs to defer. I might let her have some LPS though. Definitely no softies or zoas as this will be my only tank with no upgrading later as this is fairly permanent being in the wall. I don't want to have to try to get rid of softies later when the SPS grow. I can't wait for my return pump then I can do a full wet test. When I get home today I'll do the wet test for the closed loop *fingers crossed*

Skimmerking
06-22-2009, 01:32 PM
ya that is what i have for my tank dez. I have all SPS and i also have 3 of my fav open brains that i hav tucked in to places where the current isnt bad. i still have a few softies in the tank i cant rid of, green polyops, green ricordias and red ,green ,purple mushrooms here and there...

banditpowdercoat
06-22-2009, 02:44 PM
Lookin good Dez. You will LOVE the OM when you get her flowing. Are you going BB or sand? I have sand, but had to add some larger #1 aragonite and crushed coral to keep the sand down. The flow created sand storms LOL

saltynuts
06-22-2009, 04:46 PM
looking good! can,t wait to see it!
i,ll have a frag or 2 0r 3 for you when your ready.

Dez
06-22-2009, 07:43 PM
looking good! can,t wait to see it!
i,ll have a frag or 2 0r 3 for you when your ready.

Thanks Ed, How's Harv's Tank working out for you so far. I'm still waiting for my return pump before I do any more plumbing to the basement.

Dez
06-26-2009, 04:46 AM
Lookin good Dez. You will LOVE the OM when you get her flowing. Are you going BB or sand? I have sand, but had to add some larger #1 aragonite and crushed coral to keep the sand down. The flow created sand storms LOL

Dan, I'm going to have about a 1" sand bed. I personally don't like the BB look. Most of this build I haven't thought too far ahead. I sort of take it one step at a time.

Dez
06-26-2009, 04:55 AM
Okay, I finally had a chance to leak test the OM plumbing. I was quite disappointed because I had used a bunch of old plumbing from a friend and it was that whole section that leaked like a sieve. So I decided to just go buy new plumbing and redo the inlet without any 90's. I'm quite happy with it now. I also redid some of the plumbing in spa flex so that I could have a flexible line to drain it when servicing the OM. Here is a picture of the final leak free plumbing:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0724.jpg?t=1245991854

And a photo of my son and I shopping for plumbing parts. It's amazing how many times you have to go shopping for fittings because you forgot that one part.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0711.jpg?t=1245991940

And a couple of pictures of the OM in action. I am quite pleased with the Sequence Dart. That is some FLOW! I'm glad I plumbed everything in 1 1/2" plumbing.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0721.jpg?t=1245991978

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0720.jpg?t=1245992061

Hopefully more updates to come soon. Work has been too busy for my liking.

Skimmerking
06-26-2009, 04:57 AM
adda boy Dez looking sweet man.

Dez
06-26-2009, 04:59 AM
I got my Reeflo Blackfin 6000 pump today. Man this thing is a monster. I can't believe that the intake and outlet are 2"! I'm gonna have to re-mortgage my house just to do the plumbing for this tank. I got it for $260 shipped to my door directly from Reeflo. I'm quite pleased about that. Now to find time for plumbing. I still have to patch a couple of unusable holes in the sump and drill a hole for the 2" bulkhead for the intake of the pump. This is the only major piece of equipment that I've bought new so far...

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0718.jpg?t=1245992269

Here is one with my hand for size refererence.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0719.jpg?t=1245992341

mark
06-26-2009, 05:05 AM
have to agree, monster pump

BlueAbyss
06-26-2009, 09:07 AM
:eek:

Wow, 2" intake and output. That's like, firehose capacity.

Dez
06-26-2009, 12:28 PM
:eek:

Wow, 2" intake and output. That's like, firehose capacity.

I know, kind of crazy. On the website it stated 1.5" adapters, but it is 2". 2" plumbing parts are super expensive.

Delphinus
06-26-2009, 04:41 PM
:eek: uhhhh wow. Big pump.

Interesting to note that if you google "reeflo blackfin 6000", this thread comes up around 4th place...

Delphinus
06-26-2009, 04:42 PM
Whoops, my bad, 3rd place.

Dez
06-26-2009, 09:41 PM
:eek: uhhhh wow. Big pump.

Interesting to note that if you google "reeflo blackfin 6000", this thread comes up around 4th place...

Wow, that is an interesting tidbit. Hopefully it works well. There's a full 2 year warranty on it. Can't wait to find time to plumb it up and test everything. Need bulkheads though that I'm waiting for.

Dez
06-29-2009, 04:40 AM
Well, yesterday I went off to get plumbing parts to plumb the main tank to the basement. Here's what $250 in plumbing gets you (the used plumbing on the left of the picture I got for free cause the owner was going to throw it out anyway, I used it for the valves.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0734.jpg?t=1246249424

And here's how we got the pipe home

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0735.jpg?t=1246249537

Here is the plumbing under the tank plumbed up. That 3" dryer vent looking thing is for an inline fan that I'll have in the future for the lights. I'm going to extend it all the way to the canopy and have the fan downstairs drawing air into the canopy.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0736.jpg?t=1246249561

And the return line plumbed up. My WavySea wavemaker came from J&L missing the union and the height adjuster so they have to ship it out to me Monday, that's why I left he plumbing long so when it comes I'll just cut and attach it.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0737.jpg?t=1246249661

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0738.jpg?t=1246249692

Heres the wavebox and emergency drain pipe

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0739.jpg?t=1246249787

Here is the plumging in the basement. Keep in mind that plumbing on the right is all 2". Crazy. Yup, that's a 2" gate valve (the only reason I bought a gate is cause they were out of ball valves and I wanted to do the plumbing on the same day and every where else was closed on a weekend.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0743.jpg?t=1246249944

The drain line that's sagging is temporary (that's my emergency overlow). I'm going to hook up the frag tank's drain line into that pipe, as well as the water change tank's drain.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0742.jpg?t=1246249980

All in all I'm happy. I had a minor leak (hate threaded fittings). So had to unscrew and put more teflon tape and all was good. The wavebox works!!!! I get about an 1 1/4" wave. The unit is louder than I thought so I'll have to try insulation around the box and cabinetry when I get it. I am quite happy with the flow from the Blackfin 6000, however I would NOT recommend it going in your stand. Boy am I glad it's in the basement, the thing is a beast and it's quite loud. I am very happy with the sump, even with my pump cranked full there are no bubbles getting back into the main tank.

Now to get sand, clean it, drain the tank, get the RO unit hooked up, paint the rest of the sump room, get cabinetry, get my lights hung and hooked up, plumb in the frag tank/drain, plumb in the water change tank, get the RO reservoir hooked up, get the dehumidistat wired, get pond liner to line under my tank with 3 1/2" dams, get my live rock zip-tied, or rodded together.....hmmmmm the list doesn't seem to end.

Thanks for following.

subman
06-29-2009, 04:56 AM
Wow Dez it's looking awesome! 2" plumbing:shocked!:

Skimmerking
06-29-2009, 05:00 AM
hey there Dez i wold watch out with the wavy sea man, i sold mine when the power cuts out the unit will continue to spin until the unit is reset ok.. just letting you know. that is why i sold mine.. it caused a huge flood with mine same place that you have yours is the place is where mine spit out alot crap load of water......


mike

Dez
06-29-2009, 11:36 AM
hey there Dez i wold watch out with the wavy sea man, i sold mine when the power cuts out the unit will continue to spin until the unit is reset ok.. just letting you know. that is why i sold mine.. it caused a huge flood with mine same place that you have yours is the place is where mine spit out alot crap load of water......


mike

Thnaks Mike, I'll be doing a lot of testing with just fresh water in the tank and testing all situations to make sure that I'll have as little water as possible on the floor :). I remember you telling me this a few months ago. It was on sale at J&L so I thought it's worth a shot for tweaking etc..... Hopefully I can work aroudn the bug.

Dez
06-29-2009, 11:39 AM
Here's a short clip of the wave that I can get. The sump isn't running in this video, that's why you can see the water line. when it's all runing, the water line is hidden.

I don't know how to post videos but here's the link. I don't know how to rotate it either on quicktime.

http://s600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/?action=view&current=Wavemaker-2009-06-28.flv

Just copy and paste the link to your browser.

Skimmerking
06-29-2009, 12:01 PM
right on man :mrgreen:

banditpowdercoat
06-29-2009, 12:13 PM
Lookin good Dez.

You think you hate threaded fittings. The prev owner used Silicone on all my fittings, and thusly, over tightened them. Just had another fitting break. a 3/4" 90 just shattered. Wife was home, but not in living room. Pumped my entire sump out onto the carpet.. I am not pleased, and I wont be hore for over 2 weeks yet:twised:


Yours looks Much dryer LOL :D

Dez
06-30-2009, 04:17 AM
Lookin good Dez.

You think you hate threaded fittings. The prev owner used Silicone on all my fittings, and thusly, over tightened them. Just had another fitting break. a 3/4" 90 just shattered. Wife was home, but not in living room. Pumped my entire sump out onto the carpet.. I am not pleased, and I wont be hore for over 2 weeks yet:twised:


Yours looks Much dryer LOL :D

Ouch....yikes. I couldn't imagine. I'm pretty lucky (or maybe well planned?), my sump is right beside my sump pump reservoir - so theoretically the lowest point in the house. When I had to take my pump apart to load more teflon tape on, I just closed the valves, unhooked the pump and let her drain onto the floor and it just went into my house sump pump reservoir. I know what you mean about silicone.....ugh....I got some used 2" plumbing from a friend for my closed loop that was all glued together already, and when I hooked it up it leaked like a sieve.....argh.... I'm glad it did though because in the end I was happier cause I didn't use any 90s. Hopefully your carpet it dry.

Man, the things our wives put up with hey?

banditpowdercoat
06-30-2009, 04:32 AM
ya the things we put them through. Tank is fixed, and now teaching the wife, over MSN, the difference of ATO and SW, and why we dont fill 20G of lost tank water with ATO water. Man, I hope she pays a little more attn now when I tell her how to do thngs...

apexi
07-02-2009, 10:18 PM
Looking good so far. Love how you framed the tank to achieve that picture frame hanging on the wall look! I also did something similar as well except mine is see through on both sides, with piping to a basement sump room.

Dez
07-02-2009, 11:09 PM
Looking good so far. Love how you framed the tank to achieve that picture frame hanging on the wall look! I also did something similar as well except mine is see through on both sides, with piping to a basement sump room.

Thanks for the comments. I don't know if you have read through the whole thread, but mine is see through on both sides as well, there'll be custom cabinet work done on the other side of the "picture frame" and also piping to the basement sump room.

Skimmerking
07-02-2009, 11:17 PM
less talk and more pictures Dez you know the drill you have been on here long enough let get at her.:lol::lol::lol:

Dez
07-02-2009, 11:25 PM
less talk and more pictures Dez you know the drill you have been on here long enough let get at her.:lol::lol::lol:

Mike, too busy with work, the tank is getting neglected. But so far 4 days full of water with no leaks :). Once my wavy sea attachment comes I will finalize the plumbing then drain the tank and someday hook up my RO unit and get sand etc..... I'll post more pics when there's more progess. You could always come down and help!!!!

Skimmerking
07-03-2009, 01:37 AM
oh Dez I would love to come help ,sxince the last time that i saw you was 03 pretty bad.... eh from the reef party

Dez
07-04-2009, 05:02 AM
Okay, more pictures and progress (Pictures are for you Mike). I got the missing parts from my Wavy Sea from J&L today. So I installed it right away. Here's a picture -
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0748.jpg?t=1246682865

And one of the controller
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0749.jpg?t=1246682912

Mike said that when the power goes off, it resets to spin at 360 degrees. They have fixed the bug. I pulled the plug on the unit to simulate a power outage, and when power comes back on, it just stops where it left off. If you have it set to sweep in between 2 different points, it will never spin beyond that in a power failure and when power comes back on. I'm quite impressed with the unit - it is dead silent. I also tested it at 360 degrees just in case and I don't have water shooting out of the tank because the nozzle is low enough in the water. In a power failer, my sump level will only rise 2" as I have a 100 gallon sump so I'm safe there.

Full tank shot
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0750.jpg?t=1246683222

Tonight I also found some time to put my fish guard in on my overflow. I also took the time to raise my overflow level. Since I have the IKEA frame, I had no control over the frame size, so I actually see about 1/8 - 1/4" water line at the top depending how much I'm cranking my return pump. I have a pet peeve of seeing a water line, so the solution is to raise my water level (I have 1 1/2" to play with so I raised the overflow by 1/4") I cut a 1/2" strip of glass and siliconed it to the overflow. I also siliconed my eggcrate in while I was at it. Here's a picture.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0751.jpg?t=1246683415

And one from the other side.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0752.jpg?t=1246683450

I also hooked up my RO/DI unit yesterday. I've had this unit for almost 5 years sealed in package. I ordered it before I moved thinking I was going to set up my tank right away, but 5 years later I open it ;).

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0753.jpg?t=1246683549

It's on the floor for now because I'm not sure I'm going to keep it there and I still have to paint the other half of the sump room. It drains into my house sump pump reservoir for now. I think I'll put the unit in my furnace room long term because there is a floor drain there so that the sump pump on the house isn't constantly going. I already have a line going from the furnace room to the fish room anyway (I put it in while developing the basement a few years ago. Thanks for reading.

The Codfather
07-04-2009, 05:14 AM
Dez,
Remember if that RO/DI has never been used before to flush it a good while before using the water.
Bob

Dez
07-04-2009, 05:17 AM
Dez,
Remember if that RO/DI has never been used before to flush it a good while before using the water.
Bob

Thanks Bob, I almost forgot, I read that while trying to figure out the schematics of it last night....I was just testing for leaks while hooking it up.. How long should I run it before using it for the aquarium? Appreciate the help! (Thanks for the sump BTW, as you can see, it fits perfectly hey?)

The Codfather
07-04-2009, 05:27 AM
I would flush at least a gallon or two, it should say in your manual(if of course you still have it). I should thank you, I just revamped my sump and its real good now, took me most of a weekend, if i would have gone to the smaller one I don't think i would have had enough room for what i wanted. I will send you a couple of pics in a bit.
Bob

Dez
07-04-2009, 05:32 AM
Believe it or not Bob, once I opened my RO/DI unit, (it has been sealed for 5 years) I was looking for the manual in the box, but instead there is a slip of paper that says "your instruction manual has been e-mailed to you..." Argh, the problem is, I went in on a bulk group order of these units with Canreef folks 5 years ago. So I had to search online for a while just to find the plumbing schematics. At least I figured it out.

lastlight
07-04-2009, 06:28 AM
So is Wavysea still in business? I was reading on the other forum maybe a year ago that the maker was basically MIA and wasn't answering the phone anymore etc.

I was dead-set on using a pair of them until I read this. Please keep us posted on your experience with it. My eurobrace holes were driled with these units in min and if what you say is true about improvements being made then perhaps Wavysea is alive and well now.

Still can't get over your dremelled glass bracing. You're a DAREDEVIL.

Dez
07-04-2009, 01:29 PM
So is Wavysea still in business? I was reading on the other forum maybe a year ago that the maker was basically MIA and wasn't answering the phone anymore etc.

I was dead-set on using a pair of them until I read this. Please keep us posted on your experience with it. My eurobrace holes were driled with these units in min and if what you say is true about improvements being made then perhaps Wavysea is alive and well now.

Still can't get over your dremelled glass bracing. You're a DAREDEVIL.

I have no idea if they are still in business. The website doesn't work, but a couple of months ago it worked. J&L has it on a good sale so I though I'd try it. Mike said that it worked well except the bug of it going 360 if the power went out, but I was willing to fiddle with it. But when power goes out it just stops, and when it kicks back on it stays stopped, so that's fine by me.

It was tough finding reviews online because there weren't that many out there. The few reviews I found were mostly positive and people that were amazed. I am super happy with it. Very easy to set. I love the controllable speed etc. It is DEAD silent! I was going to go with a Sea swirl but the guy I was going to buy one from used decided not to sell. As you can see, I'm trying to get as much random flow in this tank as possible. So I'm happy for now and I couldn't resist when I saw the sale J&L had.

The OM 4way, combined with the external Wavebox and the WavySea is awesome.

Regarding the glass bracing - I'll have to correct you. It was a GRINDER that I used :). I think that deserves more of a daredevil title. Overall, cutting that glass brace out after the 4 holes were drilled took only about 10 minutes. It was fast.

So I hope this helps with your wavysea decision.

StirCrazy
07-04-2009, 01:59 PM
Regarding the glass bracing - I'll have to correct you. It was a GRINDER that I used :). I think that deserves more of a daredevil title. Overall, cutting that glass brace out after the 4 holes were drilled took only about 10 minutes. It was fast.

So I hope this helps with your wavysea decision.

did you do like I did after you cut the bracing out.. slowly fill the tank and check the long sides with a strat edge to see how much it bowed.. :mrgreen:

I was pretty nervous at first but I figured I could live with a 1/64th of an in overall deflection in the tank.

Steve

Dez
07-04-2009, 02:09 PM
Actually Steve, the funny thing is I cut out the glass brace so long ago that I didn't even think about it when I was filling the tank. I was quite confident that the glass brace would be fine though. I will however be careful of heat from lights. I don't think that there is any deflection at all, so I'm good to go for now.

Skimmerking
07-04-2009, 02:54 PM
so you are saying that the wavy sea doesn't spin around after the power went out or they got unplugged , may be mine was a defective one maybe... well that is great for you

xtreme
07-04-2009, 03:03 PM
It was a GRINDER that I used :). I think that deserves more of a daredevil title. Overall, cutting that glass brace out after the 4 holes were drilled took only about 10 minutes. It was fast.

Thanks to this thread, I had the guts to take the grinder to my sump to mod it a bit. You're right, it did go really fast and I couldn't believe how easy it was. Thanks again for the idea.:biggrin:

Dez
07-04-2009, 04:47 PM
so you are saying that the wavy sea doesn't spin around after the power went out or they got unplugged , may be mine was a defective one maybe... well that is great for you

Yup, once unplugged, it just stops where it is. When plugged back in, it doesn't move at all. Just stays where it is.

Dez
07-04-2009, 04:49 PM
Thanks to this thread, I had the guts to take the grinder to my sump to mod it a bit. You're right, it did go really fast and I couldn't believe how easy it was. Thanks again for the idea.:biggrin:

I'm glad, the first time I tried I was a little nervous. I was grinding out my external overflow slot and that piece of glass is pretty important I'd say. With the brace, if it broke, then I would just have to eurobrace. But I got the best of both worlds I'd say.

StirCrazy
07-04-2009, 11:47 PM
I'm glad, the first time I tried I was a little nervous. I was grinding out my external overflow slot and that piece of glass is pretty important I'd say. With the brace, if it broke, then I would just have to eurobrace. But I got the best of both worlds I'd say.

hey Dez, what kinda grinder did you use?

Steve

Dez
07-05-2009, 03:49 AM
hey Dez, what kinda grinder did you use?

Steve

Hey Steve,

I believe it was a 4" Dewalt Grinder, might have been 4 1/2". I used the thinnest diamond blade that I could find at Home Depot, the blade itself was about $10 I think. Well worth it.

Dez
07-07-2009, 05:10 AM
I found a solution to hang my light today. I used a chest lid hinge. So I can move the light forward and back and side to side a few inches. Fairly simple and only $4 each. It's a PFO pendant for 250 watt DE bulb. I've had this light for 5 years in storage.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0760.jpg?t=1246943132

A view of the light from farther back:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0761.jpg?t=1246943294

And a bad cell phone picture of one light in the middle lit up. The middle light is only $150 watt. Really it's only to take care of the lower intensity light in the middle from the light spread.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0762.jpg?t=1246943336

lastlight
07-07-2009, 05:54 AM
I almost bought that mirror a few years ago. I recall it being at least $200. I know exactly how good that frame must look. I dig!

Dez
07-07-2009, 06:12 AM
I almost bought that mirror a few years ago. I recall it being at least $200. I know exactly how good that frame must look. I dig!

Got it for $107 :). I dig too! I don't think I could have done a better job it I did the woodwork myself.

Dez
07-08-2009, 06:22 PM
This isn't really a tank update, but near the beginning of this tank build I mentioned that my wife said that I have to pick between the tank and another mini (car), so I picked the tank. A few months later and voila - I have both. I love my wife :)

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0766.jpg?t=1247077211

And my 2 cars together -

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0768.jpg?t=1247077349

Enjoy.

kien
07-08-2009, 08:20 PM
I see that the new mini has coloured up nicely. What sort of lighting are you using for it? Any additives?

K.

Dez
07-08-2009, 08:33 PM
I see that the new mini has coloured up nicely. What sort of lighting are you using for it? Any additives?

K.

Ha ha, actually I'm still acclimating the new mini. We'll have to see how she turns out after the mechanical inspection for insurance.

Dez
07-09-2009, 06:04 AM
Well, a little bit more progress today. I went to a friend's place and picked up some sand that was in his tank for over 10 years. He had about a 5" sand bed and he was redoing his tank because all of his sps corals had grown to the surface so he had to harvest out the skeleton base of the rock and lower all the sps to halfway down his tank again. He decided to cut the sand bed in half to about 2-3" because deep sand beds are sort of a thing of the past. So I got all his old sand. It's been sitting spread out a bit in his back yard for a couple of weeks already. I took it home and my whole family helped me wash it out. I quad rinsed it a bit at a time with the water that was in my tank. I am done my water testing so I watered my lawn/garden/filled my rainbarrel, watered house plants and rinsed the sand with my leak/system tank water (I drained it because I am using RO/DI water).

Here are a couple of pics of the washing. You can see in the pictures how dirty the water is.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0777.jpg?t=1247119232

While we were doing this, my son out of the blue says "Man, this is dirty business". We thought it was hilarious.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0778.jpg?t=1247119258

I also got the hardware and mounted my other 2 lights.

View from cabinet side:
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0779.jpg?t=1247119287

View from picture frame side:
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0781.jpg?t=1247119355

With only the middle 150watt on (I still have to wire the 250 watt pendants to the ballast):
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0782.jpg?t=1247119397

And finally a view from OUTSIDE my house. I have a 5' x 6' window at my front porch of my house. So it'll be quite a view from the street.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0783.jpg?t=1247119511

Thanks for looking.

Skimmerking
07-09-2009, 02:57 PM
Looks great Dez I'm going to have to come visit you. When I pop up there

mseepman
07-09-2009, 03:55 PM
Looking good...did you have all three lights on in the picture from outside?

Dez
07-09-2009, 04:03 PM
Looking good...did you have all three lights on in the picture from outside?

No, I only have the 150Watt on. I still have to wire the 250's to the ballasts sometime. Pretty bright hey? I'm quite excited as I live on a corner lot so I'll be able to see the tank everyday as I drive in from the street.

Leah
07-09-2009, 04:18 PM
"Dirty business" that is truly the best way to describe salt tanks.........kids really figure it
out before we do, hehe! My daughter prefers to leave when I tear tanks apart, huh !!!!
Your kids are adorable. Can't wait for water though

Dez
07-09-2009, 05:00 PM
"Dirty business" that is truly the best way to describe salt tanks.........kids really figure it
out before we do, hehe! My daughter prefers to leave when I tear tanks apart, huh !!!!
Your kids are adorable. Can't wait for water though

Thanks Leah,

Water is filling as we speak. It'll probably take 4 - 5 days (using RO/DI) to fill. Then I have to salt it and heat it. It's coming along quicker than I expected though. I might wire the other 2 lights to the ballast today and maybe put the pond liner under the tank....ahhhhhhh, so much to do.

Dez
07-10-2009, 05:29 AM
Today I got some more done on the tank. I lined the bottom of the tank with pond liner. This way I'll be able to hold about 16 gallons of water under my stand in case of spills. I went to a local pond place and asked for a 7' x 3' chunk of pond liner and he just gave me a scrap piece he had. I though nothing was free anymore.

Here is the chunk before I cut it up
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0784.jpg?t=1247203060

Here is the final product
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0786.jpg?t=1247203283

I also put my washed sand in the tank
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0788.jpg?t=1247203327

I plugged the holes of my closed loop so that I don't get sand in the OM 4 way. Right before I turn it on then I'll remove the plugs.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0789.jpg?t=1247203359

I also wired my other lights tonight and boy is it bright with all 3 lights on. I picked up another PFO pendant with ice cap ballast from Saltynuts tonight which worked out perfect because I only had one ice cap ballast. So now I have a matching pair. I'm debating whether to switch the middle pendant to 250w. I'll wait and see for now. I mounted the ballast up in case of spills.

Right side
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0790.jpg?t=1247203424

Left side with the 150 watt ballast as well.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0791.jpg?t=1247203572

I actually didn't have quite enough sand, so when Saltynuts came, he brought me some sand. I used a quarter pail more to top it off to the level I was satisfied with. Funny thing is the sand that Ed brought over was from my 180 gallon tank that I had running 5-6 years ago. I had sold the setup to a fellow canreefer, and it then went to someone in Spruce Grove, and then went to someone else and Saltynuts ended up with the sand from it recently, and now I have it again. I guess the saying "What goes around comes around" is really true.

I also started filling my sump this morning at 7am. Now it's 11:30 pm and the tank is only 1/4 full - this is only the sump. It's going to be a long wait to fill the tank. Thanks for following.

lastlight
07-10-2009, 06:17 AM
Clean work with that scrap. A few questions for ya:

1) what's with the flexible white ducting near your return pump
2) where on earth did you get that strip of plugs? Looks like the power poles you sometimes see in office spaces.
3) are you worried about moisture with the plugs on the floor and facing up?

Must feel nice to post updates so darn often. Onward! Oh and those sink plugs were totally the dezTouch©

banditpowdercoat
07-10-2009, 12:10 PM
Ya,. I'm wondering about the plugs too. Water will get in them. Not good.

Also, GREAT idea on the stoppers for the OM-4 returns. I was extremely carefull not to get sand in my loop. Then, when tank was full, and I went to fire the loop up, Soon as I opened the shutoff's. Each outlet gulped its air out and took in a big breath of water and SAND. Had to take it apart and clean. I suggest fill the inlet first, turn OM-4 on, and start pump. then open the outlet shutoff's and use the pump to purge the sand out. The pump should push the plug out too :D

Dez
07-10-2009, 12:44 PM
Clean work with that scrap. A few questions for ya:

1) what's with the flexible white ducting near your return pump
2) where on earth did you get that strip of plugs? Looks like the power poles you sometimes see in office spaces.
3) are you worried about moisture with the plugs on the floor and facing up?

Must feel nice to post updates so darn often. Onward! Oh and those sink plugs were totally the dezTouch©

Hey Brett,
1) That flexible white ducting goes from my basement. It will be run all the way to my canopy to pull/push air through the canopy. The idea behind this is to keep the fan noise in the basement. I copied this idea from mark. It works great for him.
2) That strip of plugs is from Princess auto. Bought it for $3. It's great. I'm going to use my wife's label maker to label everything when all said and done.
3) I was toying with the plug facing up thing for a while. It is sitting 3 1/2" up. There is 3/4" plywood/foam right above it. It I have a leak, it's going to trip the GFCI anyway. If I have spills, it's going to be down the face of the tank and no where near the plugs. I am actually not going to be under the tank all that much, but in the basement sump room where all the equipment is going to be. Thinking about all of my old tanks, I had several power bars hooked up together sitting behind the tank facing up without being plugged into a GFCI outlet.... Never got wet ever. So after going through all of these options in my head, I settled on that location. I tried it upside down on the underside of the stand, didn't work well, in the front upside down, it impeded access to my flow valve. I thought this way everything is labelled in case my wife kids have to unplug something in an emergency where I'm not home, it'll be right there and labelled.

PS. My wife thought my sink stoppers were dumb. I told here they were $1 each, and she said that's a waste of $4. You should have just used seran wrap and a rubberband. I'm glad that you like the stoppers. I was pretty proud of myself when I thought it up.

Thanks for the comments.

Dez
07-10-2009, 12:46 PM
Ya,. I'm wondering about the plugs too. Water will get in them. Not good.

Also, GREAT idea on the stoppers for the OM-4 returns. I was extremely carefull not to get sand in my loop. Then, when tank was full, and I went to fire the loop up, Soon as I opened the shutoff's. Each outlet gulped its air out and took in a big breath of water and SAND. Had to take it apart and clean. I suggest fill the inlet first, turn OM-4 on, and start pump. then open the outlet shutoff's and use the pump to purge the sand out. The pump should push the plug out too :D

Hey Dan,

The whole loop is full of water now from my full water test run, so I think it should be pretty good. I plan on loosening the stoppers, then turning the pump on and letting the stoppers fly. It'll be like mini-fireworks to kick off the debut of the tank.

:)

Leah
07-10-2009, 01:04 PM
If she was upset about the $ 4.00's for the plugs, I say you had better learn to hide receipts:lie:

lastlight
07-10-2009, 03:00 PM
Haha true dat.

My wife handles all the money. It's a wonder I'm even alive anymore!

Fan in the basement. Hmmm. You know there's just a LITTLE room left in my cold air return hole...Wonder if like a reverse spraybar along the back of my tank (which is open top) sucking humid air would be worth it. It's have to blend pretty darn well tho.

Dez
07-10-2009, 07:40 PM
Haha true dat.

My wife handles all the money. It's a wonder I'm even alive anymore!

Fan in the basement. Hmmm. You know there's just a LITTLE room left in my cold air return hole...Wonder if like a reverse spraybar along the back of my tank (which is open top) sucking humid air would be worth it. It's have to blend pretty darn well tho.

It's interesting the crazy ideas you get from canreef isn't it? I'm looking forward to the final product.

Leah, My wife wasn't "concerned" about the $4, just thought I could get the same results with seran wrap and rubber bands. If she was concerned about the $4, she wouldn't let my have my toy cars.

I have a good excuse with the fish tanks because my wife was the one originally who got us into the hobby.

Dez
07-12-2009, 04:31 AM
Not too much to update except that I'm getting fairly impatient. I hooked up my ph controller that I had from 5 - 6 years ago and calibrated it tonight. What is the standard ph of RO/DI water? Is it under 7? I thought it'd be right around 7. I have been filling the tank for 2 and a half days now and the tank is about 2/3 full and there is about 4" of water in my 100 gallon sump.

Can't wait. I still have to figure out what I'm going to do for heaters after it's full.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0797.jpg?t=1247372919

StirCrazy
07-12-2009, 04:50 PM
What is the standard ph of RO/DI water? Is it under 7? I thought it'd be right around 7.

there is no standare for RO water as thee is no buffer in it to maintain PH. usaly it is a little acitic. to calabrate you have to use a solution that is buffered to a specific PH RO water will just screw ya up.

Steve

Dez
07-12-2009, 05:53 PM
there is no standare for RO water as thee is no buffer in it to maintain PH. usaly it is a little acitic. to calabrate you have to use a solution that is buffered to a specific PH RO water will just screw ya up.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I just calibrated the ph controller, and the RO wasn't constant. That makes sense now. It's been reading about 6. I guess I'll wait to heat and salt the water then worry about the ph. Thanks for the help.

Dez
07-12-2009, 11:55 PM
Well, I've been checking the ph of my closed loop intake "fake" rock. It's ready to go into the tank. I cut up some eggcrate and pressure fitted it into the abs fitting. Here are some pictures.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0802.jpg?t=1247439227

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0803.jpg?t=1247439256

My tank is now 90% full, but I can't run it with the sump until I get probably about 50 more gallons of water out of my RO unit. I put the rock in the tank and this is how it looks.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0807.jpg?t=1247439346

And just for fun I started up the wavemaker to get the water moving and here are some pictures for an idea of how high the wave is. Just look at the angle of the water.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0805.jpg?t=1247442848

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0806.jpg?t=1247442873

As soon as I started up the wavemaker, particulate matter from the sand became suspended. So I guess it's working.

I also added a heater in the main display with the water motion so that at least the tank is not ice cold when I start salting the tank.

I turned on the OM 4way with the dart on full blast for a while and put my hand near the intake of my fake rock and I can barely feel any suction at all. I think I did pretty well in trying to spread the intake flow out over a larger area, this was my goal in the first place in making my fake rock.

Lance
07-13-2009, 01:39 AM
Awesome job on the intake! It'll take a sharp eye to find it. Nice work.

Dez
07-13-2009, 01:44 AM
Awesome job on the intake! It'll take a sharp eye to find it. Nice work.

Thanks so much. Hopefully I'll be able to conceal it a bit more once I start aquascaping and "covering" the holes from the viewable sides.

Dez
07-14-2009, 05:48 AM
Lots to update on. First of all last night I plumbed in my frag tank. My tank is 80% full of RODI water now. Man, a few days to fill a tank. Gotta have a lot of patience. Here are pictures of the plumbing

This is the spray nozzle that I always had on my frag tank

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0826.jpg?t=1247549769

Here is the drain line T'd into my emergency overflow
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0827.jpg?t=1247549821

That was last night. Tonight was much more exciting. This morning I saw there was enough water so I turned the system on and let her run. I've been heating the water for some time now. So tonight after the kidlets went to bed I salted the tank.

I dug up a BRAND NEW bucket of salt from 6 YEARS AGO. I opened up the invoice stuck to the side of the pail and it was dated 8/5/2003. I ordered it from J&L for 54.95. My system ended up using the ENTIRE pail of salt. I even ended up with a free Mini Jet pump in the salt. My salinity ended up being 1.023.... I'll probably slowly bring it up to 1.024 later when I get another pail of salt. Notice that this pail does not have the twist off lid?

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0835.jpg?t=1247550131

Anyway, I added my live rock that I've been storing in heated, salted, flowing water for the last 4 years. I know that I don't have any bad critters at least. This is what 4 year old cooked rock looks like with a few chunks of aragocrete:

Water is still a bit cloudy from fooling around in there and I gotta change that yellow light bulb. It's an xm 10K and I don't like it at all - got it from Saltynuts a few nights ago.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0837.jpg?t=1247550339

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0838.jpg?t=1247550367

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0839.jpg?t=1247550418

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_0840.jpg?t=1247550444

Pretty boring, but thanks for following this slow build. I managed to hide all the nozzles of the closed loop fairly well and also the intake of the pump while still allowing full flow with no blockage or things in the way.

Skimmerking
07-14-2009, 10:56 AM
Dez that looking really great. well done you must be stoked by now.

Leah
07-14-2009, 11:52 AM
It looks great, nice aquascaping!!! What are you planning for fish?

Dez
07-14-2009, 12:03 PM
It looks great, nice aquascaping!!! What are you planning for fish?

We aren't quite sure what for fish yet, Here is what the kids/wife came up with though

Yellow Tang
Kole Tang
Mandarin Goby (probably a couple of years down the road when it's established)
If we can find an angel of some sort that won't touch sps (I know, good luck on that)
A pair of clowns (probably just oscellaris)
A trigger (maybe Niger or Bluethroat)
Regal Tang

That's about it so far. We are going to try to find most of our stuff "used" from people who are shutting down systems etc....the livestock seem to be much healthier that way. But our impatience might impede us on this idea.

Doug
07-14-2009, 12:35 PM
Yea, looking good Dez. Rockwork is great. Good work on the closed loops.

saltynuts
07-14-2009, 04:03 PM
10k does look bad. sorry man didn,t look to bad on my nano(20gal)
i have xm 10k bulbs on the big tank and they must go.
looking very good

mr_alberta
07-14-2009, 07:31 PM
There are some reef safe angelfish that are SPS friendly. I have one in my tank right now. Its going to Russ though unless you can convince him otherwise...there's a male version of my fish at Marine Aquaria right now too if you were wanting a possible pair......

Theres also a really nice pair of Sargassum Triggers there right now. Nice fish.

We aren't quite sure what for fish yet, Here is what the kids/wife came up with though

Yellow Tang
Kole Tang
Mandarin Goby (probably a couple of years down the road when it's established)
If we can find an angel of some sort that won't touch sps (I know, good luck on that)
A pair of clowns (probably just oscellaris)
A trigger (maybe Niger or Bluethroat)
Regal Tang

That's about it so far. We are going to try to find most of our stuff "used" from people who are shutting down systems etc....the livestock seem to be much healthier that way. But our impatience might impede us on this idea.

lastlight
07-14-2009, 10:00 PM
I can tell you're giddy as hell. Glad to see you get water in that beast!

Dez
07-14-2009, 10:12 PM
I can tell you're giddy as hell. Glad to see you get water in that beast!

I sure am! Even my neighbours accross the street e-mailed and commented at how they were sad when we closed the drapes cause they were absolutely loving the lights.

Now I can't wait for my cabinet work to get here!

pelle31
07-16-2009, 05:47 AM
Hi Dez
it was nice meeting you and thanks for the equipment!! The tank looks AWESOME!!!!
I now have to get a bigger tank!! Take care!!

mark
07-16-2009, 06:22 AM
water and rocks, looking great.

btw, well done on the CL intake.

fishytime
07-18-2009, 03:12 PM
I agree great job with the aquascaping. Your not concerned about ever having to clean the CL output nozzles? Looks as though that may prove to be difficult.

Dez
07-18-2009, 05:55 PM
I agree great job with the aquascaping. Your not concerned about ever having to clean the CL output nozzles? Looks as though that may prove to be difficult.

Thanks. No I'm not too concerned. They are full 1" outs. I don't foresee having to take them out ever. I can actually reach my hand in an touch them all which means I could always get a small brush in there. But with 3600 gph closed loop running 24/7 I don't think the outputs will need much for cleaning. The intake was more of a concern for me. That's why I went with eggcrate as a grate (Larger holes, hopefully won't clog. But they are fairly Accessible.

fishytime
07-19-2009, 01:29 PM
Ya, you wouldnt think stuff could grow with that much flow but, my vortech puts out that much flow and still needs to be cleaned....should be all-right if you can get in there though.

Skimmerking
07-19-2009, 02:37 PM
hey what about a pair of lammerick angels that are not sps nippers i have one in my tank and he is a bubble algae picker.

Dez
07-19-2009, 10:55 PM
hey what about a pair of lammerick angels that are not sps nippers i have one in my tank and he is a bubble algae picker.

Do you have a picture of yours? Sounds cool.

Skimmerking
07-20-2009, 12:16 AM
there should be one in my thread on my 150 gal let me find one for you then

Skimmerking
07-20-2009, 12:19 AM
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/asmodeus338/150%20MIXED%20INWALL/DSC06080.jpg

Dez
07-20-2009, 06:14 AM
Not much to update except I was about to hook up my skimmer and noticed a small leak. I have to go get some weldon 40 sometime to fix it....boo. I have filled my frag tank with water and salted it (also with 6 year old salt :). Here are some updated tank shots that aren't cloudy. I took down my 5 gallon nano and added the rock to the tank to help with the cycle.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2704.jpg?t=1248070363
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2705.jpg?t=1248070383
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2706.jpg?t=1248070408
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2707.jpg?t=1248070434
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2709.jpg?t=1248070461

Skimmerking
07-20-2009, 11:09 AM
looks great buddy. hows the CL in around the rocks are they stable there with all the water movement.

Dez
07-20-2009, 12:22 PM
So far so good. It's been running like this for a few days and I haven't had my hands in the tank at all. The sand however has moved a little bit on the edges because I moved the wavy sea closer to the end of the tank. I siliconed a piece of glass to use as the wavysea bracket, which raised the wavy sea a little bit. Here's a picture - I wanted the wavy as far left as possible, but as you can see it can't go any lower:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2875.jpg?t=1248092337

So I couldn't put a 90 degree fitting because it was just a tiny bit too high which drew bubbles from the water surface, so I ended up putting a 45" elbow on the end of the wavy sea which points it too far down toward the sand, so it gradually moved the sand a bit exposing some of the glass bottom. The solution to this is I've ordered an omni flex nozzle from Oceans Motions. It's sort of like a 2 section locline but in full 1", that way I can adjust it so that it's not facing down like the 45 elbow, or too close to the water's surface like the 90 elbow.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2876.jpg?t=1248092514

Ryan
07-20-2009, 01:44 PM
You could buy a coupler as well. This would allow you to put the 90 as low as you wanted it to go.

Delphinus
07-20-2009, 02:40 PM
I picked up a pair of bellus angels a couple weeks ago, cousins of the lamarck angels. These swallowtail angels (Genicanthus species) really grow on you. Another one that is sometimes is available is watanabei (sp?) angels. Think there are around 6 swallowtail species (give or take). Check this page out: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/angels/genicanthus/

And oh yeah, doesn't need saying of course, but your tank is really looking great. :cool:

Dez
07-20-2009, 05:51 PM
You could buy a coupler as well. This would allow you to put the 90 as low as you wanted it to go.

Way too low. I know I could cut it down but I'd rather the schedule 80 grey look and some flexibility. I am really happy with the omni flex nozzles on the closed loop returns.

Delphinus
07-20-2009, 05:55 PM
Are the Wavysea's also a metric pipe size? I know I tried fitting a 1" coupler onto it and it wasn't a really good snug fit, had a slight wobble to it.

Dez
07-20-2009, 06:03 PM
I picked up a pair of bellus angels a couple weeks ago, cousins of the lamarck angels. These swallowtail angels (Genicanthus species) really grow on you. Another one that is sometimes is available is watanabei (sp?) angels. Think there are around 6 swallowtail species (give or take). Check this page out: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/angels/genicanthus/

And oh yeah, doesn't need saying of course, but your tank is really looking great. :cool:

Thanks Tony,

I'll have to consider one of the angels. Looking forward to stocking, but gotta be patient.

Dez
07-23-2009, 06:06 AM
I got my first 3 fish today - FREE from Blacknife (Thanks). These are sort of my test the water fish. I have about 5 - 10 lbs of seasoned nice rock in the tank already along with some really old cooked rock. The water tests shows everything at 0 so I'm assuming the tank doesn't have to "cycle".

I put the 3 domino damsels in my 40 gallon frag tank. They seem to be doing well. I'm just gonna leave it at these 3 fish for a while and maybe as I get algae (as I'm putting my tank on a 12 hour photoperiod off the bat), I will get a good clean up crew in there first before any major fish. I spent probably 1 1/2 hours acclimating these guys.

Here are a couple of shots.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2877.jpg?t=1248328696

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/IMG_2878.jpg?t=1248329191

Dez
07-23-2009, 06:14 AM
Sorry, deleted double post.

blacknife
07-23-2009, 07:13 AM
awe they are all hanging out together they must be confused :)

A little more space in there than in the bucket they spent the day in.

Dez
07-23-2009, 12:23 PM
awe they are all hanging out together they must be confused :)

A little more space in there than in the bucket they spent the day in.

Thanks again John, They seem to have acclimated well for being so new to my tank. :)

BlueAbyss
07-23-2009, 09:10 PM
Love the rockwork Dez... keep up the good work!

Can't wait to see this with corals. I'm in love with the living room side of the tank <3

Dez
07-23-2009, 09:26 PM
Thanks for the comments BlueAbyss

I have a problem. One of the damsels died today (I haven't been home yet). My wife took the other 2 in rough shape to the store to rescue them so that we didn't kill the rest. Everything seems to have tested fine and I actually have a frag of colt coral that's in the main display for about a week already and it is fully open all the time.

I will test when I get home. But this is really baffling me cause it's been running for almost 2 weeks now without anything.

Could it be the 5 year old live rock leaching something? PH is at about 8.25 all the time. Temp at about 78.5 all the time even with this 30 degree heat wave (I attribute it to having so much water volume in the cool basement). Ammonia was at 0 last time I checked. I will check other parameters as soon as I get home.

I am just starting to get the brown algae forming on the rocks which is part of the nutrient cycle right? All the damsels were healthy....

So frustrating.....

Any ideas? Or people with experience?

lastlight
07-23-2009, 09:42 PM
Love those damsels.

I know I'm crazy but I totally love all the cheap, common damsels. I'd love a school of the 3 or 4 stripers but have no idea how bad they'd be.

blacknife
07-23-2009, 10:19 PM
They might have got stressed from being in the bucket. I checked the temp every hour or 2 and it stayed around 84 degrees. but that floating thermomoter might not be accurate. poor little guys

Dez
07-24-2009, 04:46 AM
New update. The other 2 damsels are completely fine. My wife dropped them off at our local fish store today and I went there tonight and the other 2 damsels are completely fine in their quarantine tank. So something is seriously STRANGE going on in my fishtank.

I tested parameters tonight

Temp - 78
PH - 8.25
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5-10ppm
Calcium - 440
DKH - 17 (This was ridiculously high.....but would this cause fish death and should I do anything to lower it?)
Phosphate - 0 - 0.25

What is wrong? How could healthy damsels keel over and die overnight?

I bought some carbon tonight and I'll throw that in the tank.

My colt coral frag is doing really well with full polyp extension. It's only a 1" frag, but everyday for a couple of weeks it is fully extended.

I AM BAFFLED. ANY IDEAS?

Should I do anything about the DKH? It should be 7-9 right?

Malibu
07-28-2009, 09:20 PM
I have read that soda water or carbonated water will lower the DKH. As to whether it could harm your fish - I'm uncertain, not knowing very much about salt systems. However, I would assume that it's like any other water parameter and any high or low level can be bad...

lastlight
07-28-2009, 10:39 PM
Sorry to hear of the setback Dez. When I posted like an idiot about how cool damsels are I think I had my reply window open a while and your post wasn't there yet so I had no idea.

I don't know enough to help you out but good luck I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of this. If anything a few big water changes might help get rid of something you can't test for that MAYBE leached...

Dez
07-29-2009, 12:18 AM
Sorry to hear of the setback Dez. When I posted like an idiot about how cool damsels are I think I had my reply window open a while and your post wasn't there yet so I had no idea.

I don't know enough to help you out but good luck I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of this. If anything a few big water changes might help get rid of something you can't test for that MAYBE leached...

Brett,

It is the most frustrating thing ever and the guys here at Marine Aquaria have been awesome. They took the damsels in and I ran 1 lb of carbon for a few days and I actually have my skimmer up and running. Then they gave me an even bigger damsel that has been in their sump forever cause no one wants the fish and they can't seem to kill it.

I took it home (this was a couple of days ago) acclimated the fish and checked on him in one hour. Seemed okay. Then to go clean up my kid's toys, then came back downstairs to check and the fish was dead! 2 hours! Completely dead, no red gills or anything, just dead.

Today, after a couple more days of carbon and skimming, the guys at Marine aquaria give me this huge fish that a customer brought in to test my water again. I put him in my tank and he seems fine, but then after a couple of hours, the fish has laboured breathing. I knew he was not doing well so I put him back in the original water he came in and half of my water cause the original water got cold. After a little bit, the fish stopped having laboured breathing.

So what I'm going to do is to drain my 40 gallon frag/tank. Isolate it from the system. Mix new salt with R/O DI water. Then I'm going to Marine Aquaria and they'll give me a damsel - theoretically at this point the fish should be fine - fresh new water. If the fish is not fine, then I know it's a crappy batch of salt. If the fish is fine, then I'm going to move a bunch of my rock into the tank to see if it's the rock leaching stuff into the tank. If it's fine, then I know I have to change all my water out or something. If the fish is not fine, then I know that there's something leaching from that 5 year old rock. Then I gotta get rid of the rock.

Here's wierd thing as well. The colt coral frag in my tank has been doing well during this whole time. Good polyp extension and everything. What kills fish but not coral? And what kills it so fast?

Could it be the sponge that grew on the rock while it was in the dark for 4 years? Now it's beginning to die off (only the parts that are exposed to the light). I scrubbed as much of the sponge off today to maybe try to eliminate another variable.

Argh....time to pack the bag in on this hobby....life was much simpler the last 4 1/2 years without a tank.

mark
07-29-2009, 02:07 AM
not sure of the effect on fish of high alk but have you've been able to get it down?

i have crabs
07-29-2009, 03:33 AM
dead sponges= bad
im quite shure dieing sponge could be a issue, i have no idea if its causing your problem though, have you tested amonia/nitrite? not shure if they release anything toxic

Dez
07-29-2009, 07:11 AM
Parameters are all pretty much stilll the same. The dkh went down a bit though

Temp 78
Salinity 1.024
ph - 8.3
Calcium 440
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5ppm
dkh - 15
Phosphat 0 - 0.25

These are all within limits of keeping fish. Must be an unknown toxin. My colt coral frag from my nano is still doing amazing with great polyp extension.

Tonight I drained the 40 gallon frag tank and I started the RO/DI fill of it. So I will have to wait a day before it's full and then I'll salt it and try to figure out which variables cause the fish to die/breath hard.

Anybody wanna buy a tank? argh

raisemyrent
07-29-2009, 01:21 PM
Hi Dez,

I've been following your thread; you've done a great job. What I think would be causing it is the salt that was put away for years. My guess would be that some of the minerals chelated or something crazy and are now in the water, killing fish. Think heavy metals.

I'd do a massive/emergency water change, followed by another (dilution is an itch), and one more for good measure. Then try a damsel...

I am fighting cyano (still ayoung nano), so I hear some of your frustration.

all the best

Dez
07-29-2009, 02:34 PM
Hi Dez,

I've been following your thread; you've done a great job. What I think would be causing it is the salt that was put away for years. My guess would be that some of the minerals chelated or something crazy and are now in the water, killing fish. Think heavy metals.

I'd do a massive/emergency water change, followed by another (dilution is an itch), and one more for good measure. Then try a damsel...

I am fighting cyano (still ayoung nano), so I hear some of your frustration.

all the best

Here's the thing though....the 5 year old salt was new and still sealed. Do you think the salt has a shelf life? Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out. The fish store maybe thinks it might the be 5 year old rock that was 'cooking' leaching something out. We'll see in a few days I'm sure. Thanks for the comments. PS, do you like the aragocrete that I made as my closed loop intake (remember I came to your place and picked up that cement?)

lastlight
07-29-2009, 02:51 PM
Worst case you replace the rocks and salt Dez! Sucks but that'd be a garantee! I need to see this one mature please power through!

Dez
07-29-2009, 03:24 PM
Worst case you replace the rocks and salt Dez! Sucks but that'd be a garantee! I need to see this one mature please power through!

Ha ha, do you mean worst case remortgage my house? That'd be another $2000 in stuff. I probably spent that in electricity trying to keep that stupid rock alive. Should have dried it out....but who knew it would take 4 1/2 years to get the tank up.

Well....I've even stopped really updating this thread. I should put up pictures of the skimmer running at least to show some progress when I get home.

Thanks for the encouragement Brett (to spend more money that is).

subman
07-29-2009, 03:35 PM
You can't stop now; it will be worth it when you figure it out!
(plus this is my favorite tank journal 'selfish :redface:')

I would be worried about the salt as wells and I have no actual scientific facts for this but just a feeling. I know you'll figure it out and the guys at Marine Aquaria are awesome keep the faith it WILL get better!