4x8x32 550gal in wall build

[camaroboy8691]

so now , all i need to do yet , is EVERYTHING , haha .... no really its getting closer . 2 yrs or more in plaining and im down to a few weeks till DONE .

need to work on the overflow plumbing next along with return pump plumbing .

getting closer .... anyone care to comment or add advice PLEASE , let me know !

thanks

 

[dave.m]

Do you get enough sunlight in PA for Solatubes to really have any effect? Not that I'm knocking them or anything; I really do love the natural colours you get from Solatubes. But I'm wondering if they'll be effective.

Thx,

Dave.M

 

[camaroboy8691]

i want to add , that under the tank im also going to put together 2 55gal drums for water changes , and i should have enough room left to put together a 30-40 gal fuge setup .

i would also like to put alot of live rock in a 55 gal drum . but we will see how much room i have left under there .

 

[camaroboy8691]

Do you get enough sunlight in PA for Solatubes to really have any effect? Not that I'm knocking them or anything; I really do love the natural colours you get from Solatubes. But I'm wondering if they'll be effective.

Thx,

Dave.M

hey dave ,

i added to post 38 while you made your post here it is


" i went with the solar tubes to obviously help lighting , i live in pennsylvania where the sun isnt the best in the winter , but come summer its great ! it also helps that my building and the pitch of the roof where the tubes are installed face south , so even in the winter i get alot of sun on the building , it may not be directly over head , but i do get sun in the winter . id say sun hits the roof around 10am , and doesnt give up till around 3pm in the winter , summer time sun from 9am till after 6pm .... so i dont need a ton of extra lighting "


to add to that post , i know i will have to run extra lights, but im hoping its not alot of lighting like some guys run on these bigger tanks , i know its not the same as what the southerners get sun wise , but im hoping it helps . i guess i will see how it goes and then add lights as i see fit

 

[dave.m]

Dave.M

 

[camaroboy8691]

got the plumbing all done , i think .

using the hammer head for a return and also for my skimmer which is a PM xl2 its currently in use on my holding tank so i cant plumb it in until im ready for the move which shouldnt be to hard ..... i also ordered a new dart instead of waiting for the tear down on the holding tank , figured everything else is new might as well get the new pump and test everything before the big move .

over flow pipes . i guess it follows the bean principle . i didnt drill a safety overflow becuase i have alot of extra room in the tank incase one of the over flows plugs , i have alittle over 3" from the water line to the euro on the tank so i think its ok with out it . during testing it all seemed to work pretty good noise wise . no gurgle or anything . only noise i have is from the water flow through the sump .

my return line is 1-1/2 from the hammer head up into a T where it goes into 3/4 pipe . i have 3 returns into the tank and it seems to have alot of flow . but i wont be able to fine tune everything till the skimmer is installed

hard to see , but you can see the 3 returns {gotta get black pvc}

i think im on the right path . going to run the tank with junk water in it for another day , and then drain and start the rock work and stuff . im hoping within the next week i can start adding RO water and start the cycle . this all depends on getting the final walls built around the tank which shouldnt be more than a days worth of work .


any comments please post !

 

[camaroboy8691]

started to add rock and sand ... this is 350lbs of some marco rock and reef rocks ... still need some more it barley put a dent into the 4x8 area, i had steve at reef rocks get me a big chunk like 12x36 for a shelve or something ... also got another 200lbs coming in from them .

i have like 150lbs of rock in my holding tank that i will transfer over on moving day ... so that should put me around 800lbs of rock when done .... getting closer

 

[camaroboy8691]

got an order of more rock in , this time i got a big chunk this is 300lbs .

 

[camaroboy8691]

the big chunk i put over the side view area , this is looking in , i couldnt take the viewing area as high as the big viewing area due to the different elevation in the shop floor vs the living area .

looking towards the other viewing area from inside . i still have alot more scaping to do , but this was the big part for me on getting what i wanted

 

[camaroboy8691]

 

[camaroboy8691]

 

[camaroboy8691]

that big rock wieghed about 90 lbs , it was not easy to get into place . used a good bit of stick epoxy and rock placment to hold it in spot , it seems very rigid so i dont think it will go anywhere

i still have to finish scaping the back and middle , i hope to get that done in the next day , but its hard becuase i have about 150lbs of rock in my holding tank including some very nice cut slabs from marco rock . i have about 100lbs of dry rock left from reef rocks to put into place , then its getting wet ! .... all goes well this thing is getting filled up this weekend !... pretty excited


and yes , i will remove those ugly white returns , got black fittings coming .

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Nice start on the scape and that boulder looks good too.

 

[camaroboy8691]

ok , time for alittle update , since my last post i got the wall up on the outside of the tank to enclose it . didnt get a pic of it finished ,ill get that later .

i got more of the rock work done .

 

[camaroboy8691]

while doing the rock work i wanted to keep the rock away from the back of the tank so there is about 2" between the rock work and the back i also moved the closed loops up in the tank so its easier to clean the strainers

in the middle of the back i was able to keep the rocks further out so i could put in a mount for 2 power heads . i opted for something cheaper and went with 2 hydor 3250 pumps ..... i took a piece of acrylic and bonded it to the back panel , and then mounted the pumps onto that , this way i can have a constant flow behind the rock work .... i did a compromise , alot of suggestions about power heads using less power and better than a closed loop system . so i hide them behind the rocks . you can see them alittle bit in the front but after some corals start growing in there you wont be able to see them ..... i made little cable mounts to hold the wires to the back wall of the tank

 

[camaroboy8691]

so heres where im at today dec 3rd at 3pm est .... half full of ro/di water ... been filling up since sunday afternoon . should be filled up by friday and salt in it over the weekend

it was even a little sunny out today in pa and the tank is really lite up .

 

[camaroboy8691]

if you missed it , i have about 150lbs of live rock in my holding tank , when im ready for the move the right side of the tank and center will get some more rock to make it look less empty . but from the middle over rock work is done .

i have alot to do yet like main electrical , a water drain so i dont need to drag out water hoses to do water changes , and trim work inside. among all of that i still need to remove the ugly white returns . but my GOAL , is to get salt into it this weekend so it can start cycling , i will finish up the little stuff next week while its cycling .

 

[camaroboy8691]

update time . 90% complete . and fish are in it , still have to make a water top off setup and mixing station , but water is excellent and fish seem to love there new home .

the light in the tank is just from the solar tubes , nothing else , and today is a cloudy day , we had like 5" of snow last night , but the tank is lite up pretty nice

when i did the wood trim i put a led rope light up under the bottom part so light shined down on the lower tile work .

heres a better picture with flash

 

[camaroboy8691]

i need to do alittle better with the aqua scap , the 200+ lbs of rock in my holding tank really cluttered it up some

3 tangs just hangin out

 

[camaroboy8691]

my 2 false percs , been in it for the long hual 5 yrs and 4 tanks later . still hangin on .