360 gallon logistical nightmare and no spare time!

[fatboyt123]

ooo and whenever you need help moving anything just give me a holla.

where are you at in tacoma

 

[nsamouroux]

On Portland Avenue near 38th street. Hard to take pictures when it's dark out I didn't want to bring the canopy inside yet because I still have to put the hinges, fan cutouts, and the rest of the reinforcement framing into it and then paint the interior with a few coats of Killz primer to keep it from rotting in the humidity and then either stain or paint the exterior. By the time I finish one project for this blasted system I already have three others to start :badgrin:

 

[nsamouroux]

It's ugly as hell, but it will hold lights and fans! Once I get tired of this contraption, or it falls apart, I'll have one of the pros make me something nice. I don't have the time or motivation to make something furniture-grade, so ugly works for me at the moment. I'm sure if Saltybell reads this, he'll run for the hills when I ask him for a quote / design for a permanent canopy and stand sheath to surround the steel stand :badgrin:. I had to use some heavy-duty (think 400lb capacity each) powdercoated steel shelf brackets at the corners because the span was too long for the flimsy construction. I had to keep it lightweight because I have to be able to move this thing by myself, but it still weighs around 100lbs... I'll paint the interior with a few coats of Killz primer to act as a moisture barrier, which should have the added benefit of reflecting any stray light from the halide reflectors. Since it's slightly hideous, I'll be adding some trim / molding on the edges and at the seams to cover up some gaps and uneven cuts from my PITA old table saw. It'll be painted to match my living room walls, since it's not intended to be a permanent fixture and doesn't deserve a nice coat of stain :lol:


Front of the canopy (closed). It's on the tank backwards in case of drops / scratches.

Side, slightly open to show seam.

Interior, before adding corner reinforcement.

As it sits now, in all it's fugly glory!

 

[Chichas01]

fugly...that means 'fish ugly' right? :lol::lol:

 

[nsamouroux]

Something along those lines anyways A couple of the letters match, and are in the right order at least, so "fish ugly" works as well as anything else!

 

[nsamouroux]

Oh my, things are finally starting to come together at the last minute I just placed an order for 320 lbs of nice aragonite sand, I've got some neodymium magnets on their way for a pair of DIY magnet cleaners I'm making (already got other materials, just need magnets!), and I'll be stopping by Barrier Reef tomorrow after work to order up some Koralia Magnum 8 pumps (yay for sandstorms!). If I finish at BR in time, I'll pick up a 100 or 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank from Del's farm supply, and then I'll just have to finish off all the plumbing, dump everything in my 100g into the stock tank, and get it all moved over on the weekend. Wheee! I'm also going to have to stop by Costco and pick up a bunch of Mountain Dew, or I don't think I'll survive all of this...

 

[barrierreefcf]

Found your build and its looking good. Tagging along. Those K Mag 8's are gonna be nice

 

[nsamouroux]

Thanks! I was debating whether to have four of the k-8 pumps, or two of them and maybe four other koralia 4 or 5 pumps for more flow in different directions, but I figure I can always add more smaller pumps later on as things grow in. I'll start off with a k8 on each side of the rear panel (a few inches from the top) pointing towards the center of the front panel and two more k8 pumps in towards the middle of the back panel (probably under the horizontal overflow box) pointing towards the outside upper corners of the front panel. This should form somewhat of a double-X overlapping pattern and should give me plenty of clashing currents and lots of water movement for only 72 watts of power . Hopefully the angle and wide flow pattern of the pumps won't send all of this sand flying everywhere... It should calm down after it grows some bacteria though. If I discover any dead spots (probably the areas directly below the larger pumps) I'll add a couple smaller Koralia pumps in those areas. I really like the Koralia line of pumps for the low power consumption, wide / somewhat erratic flow, and the range of positioning. A tunze model would probably be even better, but the price tag makes me queasy I don't even want to get into Vortechs... Yikes.

 

[nsamouroux]

Happy day! My new Koralia Magnum 8 pumps have arrived (THANK YOU Barrier Reef!). I had to test them out as soon as I got home, so I plopped one into my 100g reef tank and plugged it in. It was about 8" under the water surface, no other powerheads were running (just my 800gph sump return) and it pushed a SOLID wave of water across the entire 60" length of my tank and dumped a bunch out the other side. Oops!

They're certainly large size pumps, but are smaller than I expected given the amount of water they can move. They're about the size of a softball, I doubt I'll even be able to see them with the size of the new display They seem very well built and sturdy, with a shaftless design and are easy to take apart and clean. The holder magnets / suction cups are very strong (held the pump steady when I attached it to a 1" piece of scrap wood). Strong flow (3250 gph on the Koralia Magnum 8!), very good price (if you order them through Barrier Reef ) and best of all they are COMPLETELY silent. I couldn't hear them start up or run and I had my head right next to the side panel of the aquarium where it was attached. I'm extremely happy with these!

Enough babbling... Pics!

 

[nsamouroux]

Oh, and good things travel in pairs... My order of 320lbs of Marco Rocks Bahamas aragonite sand just showed up as well The USPS guy looked a bit... upset... Eight 40lb boxes of sand :badgrin:. I offered to help him unload them, but he just sort of glared at me. Oh well, I can't make everyone happy!

 

[Myteemouse]

LOL Thats what my fed ex guy was doing to me after ordereing all of the stuff for my 125 build..
GLARING!! LOL
Especially when one of the sand boxes busted open inside his truck..sand everywhere ..LOL

 

[nsamouroux]

Sand! 320 lbs, this should give me at least a 2" sand bed on the 360g tank. It wasn't packaged very well (only a single garbage bag per box which wasn't even sealed, although the box itself was mummified with tape), but none of it spilled in the first box I opened so I guess I can't complain until I check all the other boxes It's a fairly fine grain sand, and EXTREMELY soft. They weren't kidding on their website where they said it was the softest sand you could find, it's almost like holding a mix of baking flour (if the particles were larger) or very high grade brown sugar. It's not a pure white like I was hoping, more of a slightly beige / brown tinted color, but it should look much better under the halides. My living room lighting is slightly yellow (compact fluorescent bulbs in a chandelier fixture), but it looks much brighter / whiter when I took it outside in the sunlight to compare. Should look pretty good!

Again, enough of my yammering. Pics!

My house is now marked on the USPS &$*# list Good thing I had more than enough rock for the new system! The driver might have clubbed me like a baby seal right then and there :badgrin:

 

[ReefferMan]

Thats way to funny! you should've said that you have to inspect all the box's before he left.....lol Nope this one has sand in it lol Oh and the sand will look much better when its in water and well lit....i thought the same thing when i looked at my sand...

 

[nsamouroux]

Hah! "Hey driver guy, get your butt back here, I want to file a complaint! You broke all of my glass figurines into powder!"

 

[nsamouroux]

Not too much progress to report today, had a crapton of errands to take care of... I did manage to track down Fatboy123 and buy four of his excellent Lumenarc reflector clones, so my canopy is effectively done once I paint it and put these in. He does excellent work with these, but I believe he's out of them for now. Hah! I got the last of em! . I'll have to track down two more ballasts or a single dual-output unit (either 250w or 400w to match my existing lights), and then buy a bunch of XM 20k bulbs. I am planning on buying two rubbermaid stock tanks this weekend as well (a 150g for a sump, and a 55g for a refugium), so almost everything is done aside from breaking down my 100 gallon reef and moving everything over, and setting up all the plumbing to / from the basement. If I'm particularly lucky this weekend I might even be able to get the new tank filling up with RO/DI Certainly by next weekend I plan on having everything up and running, although I'll still have to upgrade the skimmer and purchase the new bulbs once I sell my 100g setup. Here's the plans for the lighting, since the tank only has two large openings in the top (and I have to cram enough halides into it to cover the 8' x 3' length :doubt:

The fixtures will be mounted in the 14" tall canopy in the above positions, which will place the bulbs about 9" off the top of the tank or 10" off the water surface. Should be just right I might have some areas below the center brace and at the extreme edges of the tank that don't get enough direct light, but these will be open areas for fish raceways and I don't want to give too much light to the viewing panels to prevent as much algae growth as possible (which leads to less panel cleaning! :lol.

 

[nsamouroux]

Alrighty, a somewhat productive day . Painted the interior of the canopy with Zinzer123 (was recommended over Kilz by a painter friend for moisture barrier use), and I tracked down a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank. I have a sump now! I'll probably buy one of the 55 gallon stock tanks after everything else is set up to act as a refugium, but for now the main sump tank is more than large enough for a ball of chaeto in a basket or something. I am figuring out my plumbing through the floor (drains / returns) and will probably move my RO/DI downstairs next to where the sump will sit instead of having it under the kitchen sink. I'll have to mount the reflectors in the canopy after attaching some mogul sockets, and then I'll have some GFCI outlets to install next to the sump area for equipment. Depending on how motivated I get, I'll be ready in the next couple days to empty and move the 100 gallon tank so I can place the new display in it's place, and then start everything filling with RO/DI and mixing salt Over the next month or so I'll have to set up a water change station in the basement, but that's sort of a low priority at the moment. Wheeeee! Progress!

 

[nsamouroux]

Dialup beware, for your modem will probably gasp it's last breath and keel over dead... The sump is finished aside from the return and drain plumbing through the floor which I can't do until the 100g is out of my way. I've got 150 gallons of saltwater mixed and ready. With that amount, plus what is in my 100g reef tank when I break it down, I should have plenty to get the tank at least 2/3 full and enough to keep everything alive and kicking for a day or two while I make the last of the water.

unfinished basement fish room with 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank sump:

Return pump connection:

New electrical: Two 15a lines w/ GFI protected outlets (wired in series, so main line comes first to the GFI outlet, then to the "normal" duplex outlet below it to maintain protection):

RO/DI connection and site of future water-change station

Left half of support beam directly below where the 360g display will sit

Right half of beam (it's 12' long to provide additional support, back half of the tank is supported by the poured foundation wall which holds up the floor joists):

Some current pics of my 100g tank. I lost almost all of my SPS and quite a bit of my LPS when I moved back in April (was too cold, and took too long to set the tank back up on my own). Thankfully my anemones survived, along with the monstrous clumps of pulsing xenia and other softies...

Anemone is 14" diameter when fully extended... This is the monster that ate my blonde naso tang... My regular naso is sticking his nose into some of the pics, hope the 'nem hasn't developed a taste for them...

Sebae anemone is almost 12" diameter when extended, but it's sort of wedged into a crack in the rocks:

I also finished (other than some router work and flame polishing) my DIY cleaning magnet made from 1.25" cast acrylic blocks and some powerful neodymium / rare earth magnets. It should function well on up to a 3/4" thick panel, so my 5/8" acrylic tank should be fine. I might make the next magnet tool even stronger depending on how this one works out for me, I bought enough acrylic and magnets to make two of these, but I might have to get larger / stronger magnets just to see what happens :badgrin:

 

[Saltyfish]

Hey looks great,

On water making note, Lowes has a great 30 return policy. 50 Gallon Trash cans work great for making some water.

Also check with your local recycling yard. They may have some food grade pretty cheap. I saw a 50 gallon for $25.00 at mine. I decided to turn in some cans and old wire I have laying around so it will not cost me anything out of pocket.

 

[nsamouroux]

I was trying to figure out how much water I would need, the display is 345 gallons or so when factoring in operating level and overflow displacement, then subtract the rock / sand volume from that. I've got ~100 gallons in the tank I'm replacing, and another 150 gallons ready in the sump, so I might be OK on filling at least the display, and then would have to re-fill the sump and mix more salt... I might look into the trash cans, but wanted to figure out something more permanent to preserve my fragile sanity :badgrin:. If nothing else, I'll complete the water change station and use both containers for saltwater until the system is finished... I've been looking at food grade barrels locally that go for between $25 and $35, but I'm not sure that I want to screw around with uni-seals. I've never had one of those blasted things last for very long. I've been trying to find some sort of rectangular water tote (or at least a barrel with a flat portion) that I can attach bulkheads to, but there's nothing local and I don't want to pay more in shipping than the container costs in the first place . If I can't track down the type of container I'm looking for I'll just get two 35 or 55 gallon barrels (one for salt, the other for RO/DI and gravity-fed topoff) and risk the uni-seals again... The benefit of an unfinished basement is that I don't have to worry about water going everywhere :lol:

 

[Saltyfish]

Well as far as your first water why don't you get the 50 gallon cans and just put fresh RO/DI water in them. Then transfer the water from your sump to your tank when the tank is in place and plumbed. Then dump the fresh RO/DI water into the sump and mix overnight. As long as you have some sort of power head in the tank you should be good for 8 to 12 hours.

I tell you making water to while filling a tank is a pain in the butt. I did it and I hated it. At least I was able to mix it in the tank. I know Sid ran into the same thing and he ended up borrowing a tank from someone so he did not have to wait to get it going.