225gal in-wall predatory mixed reef upgrade

[whatcaneyedo]

An update finally. After waiting a several weeks and wondering what had happened I phoned up Fastfrate today and so did Denny from Concept. It turns out Fastfrate had transferred the shipment to Bandstra in Edmonton but when they did someone entered my phone number AND address wrong on the new shipping documents. So Bandstra had been phoning the wrong number trying to deliver the tank to a house that doesn't exist for over a week. We corrected those two points and they delivered the tank this afternoon.

It was crated really well and arrived without any damage. I was able to strip everything off and move the tank onto two furniture carts for a better look. The edges are clean cuts, dimensions are what we agreed upon, there are some air bubbles in the silicone but that seems to be normal and they don't look excessive. Overall I am very pleased with the tank and I'm really looking forward to getting it installed. Denny included a weir for the overflow which at first I didn't think much of but now that I see it in person I really like it. This weekend I'll begin work on the stand and closed loop plumbing.



Bottle of Corona for scale.

[Snappy]

Very nice - good luck with your project.

[whatcaneyedo]

I have been able to get a little bit done over the last few days. The structural portion of the stand is done. 2x4 studs, 2x6 joists 5/8" sub, 1/2" foam and 1/2" oak sheathing. I planed any irregularities out of the top of the stand so its quite flat however the house slab is not so I'll have to shim the base once its in. I plan to do some sort of recessed panel finishing to it later once the system is running.

Plumbing for the closed loop is coming along slowly. Once it and all of the other plumbing for the overflow, return, and skimmer input are done there won't be much room left to move.

[kien]

That's coming along nicely. And WOW, that stand looks pro!

[whatcaneyedo]

The tank holds water and the stand holds the tank! I have some tweaking to do with the plumbing but its beginning to take shape. My main concern at the moment is the powerful amount of suction at the closed loop intake. Even with a strainer over it I worry about my fish getting stuck to it so I may add a T and second strainer. If I can get organized well enough I'm hoping to do the full conversion and install this weekend.

[whatcaneyedo]

I spent all day gutting the room, moving my captives into two large stock troughs and then finally moving the new tank into position. I was fortunate enough to have a lot of family in town for the day to lend a quick hand. Tomorrow everything goes back in and I finish up the plumbing. Over the course of next week I hope to more or less get everything back to normal. However the final finishing touches will likely be stretched out over the spring.

[Madreefer]

Looks awesome so far bud. Sorry I'm not around to help

[whatcaneyedo]

By late Sunday night I had the plumbing complete and most of the equipment set up. The live rock, coral and fish were back in although not looking their best. I lost the Flame Angel due to low oxygen in the stock trough. The bin had plenty of flow and a heater but was densely packed so most of the fish were gasping by Saturday morning. After I added an air pump things were okay but the damage was done.

I still have a lot of work to do to finish off the stand and fine tune the system. But overall its looking good and I'm happy with it.

[whatcaneyedo]

I have a problem. The centre brace on the 120gal which now serves as my sump/frag tank has broken. I foolishly had the MH above it hanging too close and the heat caused this. I guess the simplest thing to do would be to have a new piece of glass cut and silicone it on top to tie the two broken halves together. However I have always hated this brace and it would be nice to come up with some alternative. Any suggestions?



Here is what the rest of the top bracing looks like, its sort of a thin eurobrace on either side of the centre brace. For now I'm supporting the front and back panel with some lumber but even prior to noticing the damage and adding the supports the overall deflection or gap between the broken halves was only about 1/8"

[1eyedjyde]

You could silicone euro bracing along the front and back to the underside of the existing glass trim and completely remove the centre brace.