The LAST big upgrade
 

As requested I'm making a separate thread to document our last big upgrade from our current 180g grow out tank to a ~450g display system in the basement of our Calgary home.

We have decided that we are upgrading to a 10ft long by 2ft tall by 3ft deep glass in-wall tank. Right we we have decided on a coast to coast overflow in the back which will probably only have a depth of 6-10" depending on the plumbing.

Our goal is to light this tank with a combination of MHs and T5s. Part of our decision to go 3ft deep rather then the original 4 ft is the opportunity to reduce the number of MHs/T5s we require (and the electricity bills),

We got a quote back on the stand, and are just waiting on some details before officially placing our order. I'm amazed at the price quoted, and after some checking around, I don't think we'll do better for quality, price, or service. I'm feeling pretty confident on placing this order. At least with a stand on hand we can fit it into place while the renos are ongoing, with minimal worries over it getting damaged.

The tank will also have a sump, refugium, frag grow out tank, frag QT, and fish QT systems. We also have plans to encorporate an auto-water change system. We expect most everything to be run off our Reef Keeper Elite.

I have budgeted about $10-$15K for the build and stocking of this tank from start to finish. We also expect to pay an additional $300-$500 per month in maintenance costs, electricity, water, supplies, etc.

On January 11th, 2009 we made the first physical steps towards renovating our basement. Really by renovating I mean actually making it functional because its one of those 1950s basements with nothing in it.

This is the outlined area where the tank will be sitting. It will share the same room as our entertainment area. We plan to have two panes visible, the front, and the right side.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0424.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0806-1.jpg

That will be amazing:mrgreen:

Exciting! Will you assemble this tank yourself?

Well its about time!:lol: j/k You will definitely not be disappointed with the stand...if you decide to go with him. Did I show you guys the blue metal flake stand he did at the shop? Its one pimped-out metal stand.:biggrin:

We're pretty firm on going with him, just need a time-line on when it could be ready, and to discuss some details about how to get it into our basement.

You'll have to show me on Saturday. I totally want some randomly coloured stand now.

Probably, we are still 50/50 on if we will or not. Either way it has to come into the house in pieces through one of the basement windows, and must be assembled on site.

thats going to be a great setup, can't wait to see he progress.

congrats Catherine glad to hear it and glad to hear that your tank is doing alot better... lord knows the time and effort you have put into it and the losses too.

You have to much money :razz:

Never!

She won't after she stocks that baby! :wink:

Good for you Catherine! Can't wait to see it up and running.

so whats the approximate clam count for this tank? 50 or 60? :lol:

That's gonna be a whole lotta salt!!

this is going to be an amazing tank, i wish i lived in calgary now just to see this. i guess everything will be cheaper now that you have to order everything by the crate:lol::lol::lol:

Easily...if not more! :lol::lol:

Hahah, yeah, I plan on it!

beat me to it, at least the clam farms will be happy about this news

Hey...maybe you should nudge Kevin to order some more clams in:wink:

Your avatar made me giggle Cory.

Going to be a kick ass setup. I can't wait to see this come together!

It looks like it will be a great setup...I'm assuming that you'll have a bit of a fish room behind the tank...how big will it be and what will the setup be like?

Looks good Catherine, but don't lie to us. The LAST big upgrade? Really, common now. You can lie to yourself and you can lie to your friends but you can't lie to us. We all live with the same disease. :mrgreen:

:lol:

I like Corn.




on a side note, I look forward to this build. Let me know if you need any help with anything along the way!

Hello Catherine....

Any diagrams of set up, fish room etc? I still vividly remember where you lived here in Edmonton and one of the reef meets we had at your place! Calgary is where I grew up, a good place for you to end up :). Looking forward to this build.

Have you considered making your stand out of wood, I'm sure that would save a ton, and shouldn't have any problems if built/designed right.

Cheers,

Des

Shhhh its a SECRET!

I like cheese.... I knew I liked you!


Yes we do plan to have a dedicated fish room. It will house everything, and my dream of finally not having fish stuff all over our basement will come true! I think the tentative footprint on it now is like 8ftx12ft ish. Its our old basement bathroom that never should have been a bathroom in the first place. The only thing its leaving behind is the well placed floor drain!

We still have to do some work on getting a humidex, or installing an HVAC system into the house, whichever will be better longer term I guess.

I have a notebook that is FILLED with diagrams, although as to if anyone can decipher them...that is a whole other story!

I've never not had a wooden stand, so I guess it really is something to ponder. I just worry about the weight over time, plus the fact that this stand will probably have to be constructed and brought into the hosue in two pieces.

Ahhhhhhh!!! LOL...Don't say that! :)

I animated a character once for a show I was working on and ALL he said was that he liked cheese...and chocolate milk. It was terrible...absolutely terrible....



Going to be fun to watch this one come along!

Corn? Cheese? Animated Characters?........... What the heck! I thought this was Canreef... :der:


Looking forward to this catherine... We should race, see who can finish first! :lol: At the very least, bounce some idea's back and forth!

So I have this dilemma and I need some input.

Two of my "must have" tangs were, and maybe still are, available to me, a bariene tang, and marculiceps tangs. So the question is, do adopt them? This is killing me, and if I do it, I have to pull that trigger tonight.

Well that would certainly light a fire under build huh? I could look into it to see if we can get them in for you at a later date?....If that helps?

I'd like that a lot.

I've decided it will probably best if I pass on these fish right now, as much as it is kililng me to do so, its the right thing to do.

I'm REALLY pushing for this tank to come online in September/October right now. I'm thinking we'll have all summer to work on it, and we can really focus on the tank itself when it gets cold out.

So we have started our three part plan, which I'm trying, I'm not sure how successfully though, to get three parts moving at once, 1) get a stand, just have to order it, 2) finish the basement demo, and 3) start collecting rock to cycle.

I'm also looking at the UFA catalog to hopefully order our final water mixing/holding containers. I'm also trying to find one of those rubbermaid troughs to either look at using for a sump, fuge, or frag tank.

**Edit
In case anyone is looking, this is the UFA catalog link to those poly water storage container on page 182. You can also go here, to look at some troughs that look to be similar to the rubbermaid ones we keep seeing, also from the UFA catalog, these ones are on page 3.

The UFA out in strathmore carries them on a regular basis...or they can order them in for you if you need.

I used a rubbermaid trough for my initial large tank set-up becuase I thought it made sense, and I saw it on the net....I have since removed it from use but keep it around for flex space in the event of an emergency. Found it was ineffective due to it's shape, inability in install baffles and clean, and it was just plain ugly compared to a glass/acrylic sump (or refugium). This was just me, but consider making your own sump or buying one.

[quote=michika;408829]I'm also looking at the UFA catalog to hopefully order our final water mixing/holding containers. I'm also trying to find one of those rubbermaid troughs to either look at using for a sump, fuge, or frag tank.[quote]

Corn....the vegetable that keeps on giving

the ufa water bin i have for mixing water might be for sale in the next couple months if your interseted, personally i wish i spent the money and got one the dimensions i wanted but this one was a fairly good price and wasnt a 3 hour drive away, i think its 30x36" and maybe 24" tall

Catherine, another place you might consider is a small shop in Crossfield I use. (Promold MArketting Inc.) They carry a lot of different sizes and styles. Nice thing is they also will either sell you the parts or install custom bulkheads and lids.

This is the 5 gal ATO bin I got from them. I liked the hopper bottom and wall mounting.

http://www3.telus.net/lucas-mustangs/AQUA/ATO.jpg

This one was already threaded for wall mounting and came with the 6" vented cap (it has a valve to relieve vacuum as the level drops). They also supplied me with my SW storage tank. A black 35 gal RV tank that I stood on end and fitted with a 6" vented lid.

I'm not sure how their prices compare with UFA, but I know they have a wide variety in shapes and sizes. I was checking out their 10,000 gal poly tank the other day....got me dreaming:mrgreen:

Francis

:lol: Just because I want to see if it will work, I planted some corn yesterday.

I am passing on the rubbermaid containers as a sump. Dave makes a really good point, and I don't want to deal with the inevitable headache of cleaning it down the road.

We are still going to go with those UFA containers for water mixing and top-off. Crabs, shoot me a PM on the dimensions and we'll chat! Although, if Promold has something that would fit for our sizing needs, I'd be open to reconsideration. Thanks Francis!


I was at RC on Thursday and we chatted more about our stand. The stand presents us with a few unique difficulties in that getting into our basement will be difficult. We are looking at splitting it down the middle into two, with separate stands that would be 18" deep, and then sliding it through a window. I have some measuring to do.

Congrats on the new tank plans, I'm sure it will be top notch when completed.:biggrin:

Thanks Greg!

You have a couple different options with your stand. If you make it out of 2x6 material you can save a lot of cash and you can do it yourself on site. No need to worry about weight or time, that is (along with concrete) what holds up your house. If you really want metal make it out of 2" steel tubing and make it so you can bolt everything together onsite. Just some different thoughts. By the way, hurry up with this thing:)

So there has been loads of progress recently, but my old iMac and photobucket are like a bad on again off again relationship, and are currently in the "we're not talking" phase.

Anyways we've renamed this tank, its name is Tibet, courtesy of JDigital. Which stands for The Incrediably Big Expensive Tank. I like it!

So everything in the bathroom is gone, no walls, no door, nothing. Most of the ceiling is down in the main area. Plus we had some lovely suprises. Kevin had a razor blade fall on him from IN the ceiling. We also discovered a lot of bad DIY electrical work. Plus we originally thought we could leave the outside walls up, however after seeing some of the great DIY work, I made the executive decision to remove the walls to make sure the wiring is all proper, plus to make sure everything is properly sealed.

So next up:
- Continued demo of the ceiling
- Confirming our tank dimensions
- Ordering the stand
- Re-wiring the electrical and adding in wires for cable, internet, and the whole-house sound system
- Insulating with sound barrier
- Framing out the tank wall
- Demo of the remaining rooms in the basement, laundry room & storage room

I really wish I could get some photos up. My basement isn't the same basement anymore!

I forgot to add that somewhere in that list is a need for us to make the decision between a humidex or an HRV and to get the appropriate quotes, etc.