430gal., L-shaped display

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:)

Even though they bumped the completion date on us a bit, I'm still really excited. They did a lot of clearing out of stuff in the main level today and the space just feels good. It feels like home. I'm really happy with the job those guys are doing.
 
Thanks! Yes, I'm really happy with how they turned out. Before the crew started on the stairs, they sent the ballisters off to be dip-stripped. They were so beautiful that we just had to go ahead and strip the rest.

I still can't really understand why someone would've painted over them in the first place....
 
Well ... I guess so. And I guess that at some point it's easier to paint over something than to do the restoration necessary to keep up wood. But still ... it's not like you're ever going to see wood like that again.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed your holiday and are in tryptophan-induced comas right about now. :)
 
The installer came by today and finished the closed-loop plumbing and almost all of the plumbing in the fishroom! Woohoo! We're pretty much ready for a water test in the basement!!!

He's still going to extend the top and bottom loc-lines just a bit and we need to finalize intake strainers for the closed-loop, but it's close.

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Ugh. I spent most of the afternoon cleaning the aquariums. Go figure. The aquarium builder gave me a freshwater test date of Dec. 1st weeks ago and then vanished. I found out yesterday that he went out of town and won't be back 'til Dec. 6. Oh, and I also found out that he doesn't really want me to to the freshwater test without him there. Grr. Bite me. He promised he'd have this freakin' thing done by the end of September and _I'm_ doing the damn cleanup at the end of November. But, we need to get the test done (and soon) so that we can finalize plans to finish the downstairs floors. So, on we go.

Anyway, there are still some areas that need cleaning, but I got the majority of it done. Good enough, anyway, that I'm not worried about large stuff getting sucked into any pumps.

***Self-portrait warning***

Me in the aquarium:

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Hey Andy, looks like the aquarium builder is making you pull your hair out! Are you isolating the fish room with a sill of any type in case of the incredibly remote chance some water may hit the floor? The stairs are a real focal point, is every piece original?
 
Get that guy outta the way so I can see the fish tank.... :)

Hey Andy, looks like the aquarium builder is making you pull your hair out! Are you isolating the fish room with a sill of any type in case of the incredibly remote chance some water may hit the floor? The stairs are a real focal point, is every piece original?
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Do you mean the fish room down stairs? I've had them seal the concrete down there and they've also installed a floor drain. In case the floor drain is overwhelmed and water heads down the stairs to the new basement, there's also a floor drain in there. If you are talking about up stairs, I plan on doing most of the tank maintenance in the bathroom and that'll be all tile, but there'll also be a floor drain in the space under the tank in case there are any leaks down there.

Unfortunately, not all of the stair pieces are original. They had to recreate some of the trim and a few of the balaster square top pieces. They also added some newly-created trim to hide the fact that they couldn't get paint out of all of the cracks between the stairs. Fortunately, the crew saved a bunch of the old hardwood floor for me and the original builders had built the floor and stair from the same wood, maybe even the same tree. So, it was a very good match.

Hey Andy, looks like the aquarium builder is making you pull your hair out!
Click to expand...

I know. I had a full head of hair before this. ;)

Actually, my lovely bride was taking pictures of me and the kiddo several years ago and I noticed a big-ol' bald spot that I had never seen before. That was it. I shaved that day. :)
 
Andy
It's coming along just fine (house and tank - except for the FW test). I see that you seem to have black PVC hose on the discharge of the pumps. Where did you get that from? I assume you used something different for the suction to avoid collapsing the hose.
Thanks
 
It's all reinforced spa-flex. The only reason he used white at all was that he underestimated what he needed and the local hardware store only had white. But, I have no idea where he got it. I'll ask him next time I see him.
 
Yes, this stuff is really stiff. It likes to make quite gradual bends around corners, although if you heat it you can get it to bend farther. If you look at the last large pipe to the right, you can see that there's a ball valve and street 90 on the large drain pipe. They are only there because the installer cut that section a little long and couldn't get it to bend in to the connection. All I had in that size was a street 90, so the ball valve is there to complete the connection.
 
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