Joe's Wet Dream, A 550 Gallon Work In Progress

[NC2WA]

Joe,

Can't wait for the pics....Anticipation....

I just placed an order for a gold spotted rabbitfish and a pair of orange diamondback gobies from vivid aquariums..will post pics for you once the fish are settled in the tank.

Kirk

 

[Jobiwan]

Matt, I'm bummed, you got to see my baby before I did....Maybe Jason will send me a photo tonite...Neat fish Kirk, let me know what you think of the Rabbit Fish, I want to get a couple of more, just got the one basic model now...

 

[Jobiwan]

First View of the Tank

Here's a couple of photos of the tank, the initial assembly (bottom, top, sides) is all complete, check out the size, I'll be breaking out the diving mask for my aquascaping... You can see the overflow box in the back, it takes up 6 inches front to back, lots of room for all the plumbing etc.. You can get a little perspective of the sump size in relation to the tank...

 

[NC2WA]

SWEEEET !!!!!

I absolutely love the design of the sump. Can't wait to see it installed in your house. It is going to take at least 4 large men to move this sucker. You will be amazed at all of the hoses, bulkheads, etc. it is going to take to successfully plumb it. You will also be amazed how neat Jason (and prolly Eric) are when they are installing it. Most people don't notice the little details they did, but I did.

Are you having Jason install an automatic water change system like the one I have for my tank? If you can swing it, it is well worth doing esp for the size of your tank. I would think this is a MUST have.

Kirk

 

[Jobiwan]

My Skimmer Is Here!

After two months my skimmer has arrived, I bought the Bubble King 300 because I liked the pretty red pipes. I hope it skims OK...

 

[Jobiwan]

Hey Kirk, yeah, Jason is doing some kind of system for me, He had me buy an Iwaki 100 to pump from the holding tank in my garage to the tank, he's doing everything he can think of to make the system Idiot-Proof, he loves a challenge so...

 

[Jobiwan]

Kessler Construction, Home of Fine Stainless Construction

Here are a few photos of the humongous equipment in use at Kessler Construction, where my stainless stand and hood will be designed and built. Jason and I met with Ken again today, everything is a "go", they will have some time between major projects in three weeks, once they can get going on it it will be done in a day or so.

 

[Bricky]

I'm wondering when Royal Exclusive went with the white elbows on the skimmer as mine has the the grey. Not a big deal. You might want to do a hot water rinse on the skimmer before you run it. Also, if you have any troubles tuning it or just general questions on the skimmer just let me know. I've got some experience with these beauties.

matt

 

[Jobiwan]

Thanks Matt, I will take you up on your kind offer, you can learn a lot from someone who actually has hands on experience. Think using a mild dish detergent on it would be allright? I think the residual oils that slow the breakin period would be cut better with soap, I would think some thorough rinsing would get rid of the soap, but I don't want this to turn into another learning experience either...

 

[Scooterman]

The stainless we use for our control & process panels are all 12 gauge 316L Nema 4 custom made.
The "L" is low carbon, although the panels don't rust themselves they do gather rust covered surface over the years but Imagine a control panel with about 100K worth of electronic equipment 20 foot above the saltwater in open air. I think you will be really please with this stainless, I can't wait to see it. As far as that skimmer it looks awesome, have no idea what all the thingies are on it but it sure looks pretty. :lol:

Yeah, I'm a slob when it comes to maintaining wood fixtures around a salt tank, I pretty much trash them within a couple of years, one of my many talents. I hope the stainless works out, I've never seen that done before, it will either be incredibly striking or a total disaster, I don't see any chance for anything in between. Some "stainless" will readily corrode in a marine environment, there are a multitude of alloys available with differing properties, the stuff they will be using for me is the same stuff they use to make cabinetry on commercial fishing boats, they have some of their products that have been out there in that harsh environment for over 30 years. Rather than a mirror like polished surface (it wouldn't be mirror like long around me) I will have a wire buffed surface, it gives it a lot of patterns and texture, you may have noticed this type of finish in some of the bars/retaurants around here that have stainless as part of their decor. I should have some tank photos to post tonight or tomorrow, stay tuned....

 

[Krish]

Very nice stuff man...The end product should come out really nicely.

 

[class clown]

joe-the tank is huge and looking great. and in the picture with you standing next to it,you are looking pretty slim and trim these days . congrats!

it seems like things are really moving along quickly now. when's the target moving day to your house?

 

[spongebob lover]

wwwoouu dood pretty nice .
i can't believe how huge your tank is gonna be .
please keep the updates coming

 

[Bricky]

Joe,

I wouldn't put any soap into the skimmer no matter how much you rinse it. You could use vinegar or muriatic acid, but just hot water should be enough. I would mix in the vinegar with your wash if it was me.

 

[blind1993]

would the vinegar and hot water reduce a break in period.

 

[Jobiwan]

Sept 1 at the soonest for delivery I would guess, depends on the stainless though, Jason will be done with his end soon...

I'll try the hot water/vinegar Matt, anything that removes traces of residuals such as oils etc will reduce breakin time in theory per the last posting
...

 

[blind1993]

ok thz for the answer.

 

[NC2WA]

With my H&S skimmer, I just plugged it in and fired it up. It started to produce skimmage in matter of hours. Being H&S and BK are considered higher-end skimmer, shouldn't this be this same for a BK? I wouldn't think a break in period is necessary.

Just my observation

**disclaimer** (which may be totally inaccurate) **disclaimer**

 

[pfish]

Along for the ride.

 

[Jobiwan]

One would sure like to think that they would thoroughly clean their skimmers before shipment, little details like that can really add to a skimmers reputation amongst the small world of reefers. I'll let you know what happens when I plug mine in...