A Capital Dream - 400g SPS build

[rockworm]

One question that came up was how do you get a 36" wide tank through a 30" door. You don't. So you make a new door.

I will remove the window and studs opening up a means to get the tank in. From the outside

The opening will be from the ground to the top of the window. I have already cut through the nails on the top and two sides. The small 2 x 4's are keeping the window from tipping forward or backward. My son is coming over tomorrow to help at which time I will cut the sill and remove the window. There is a little studding work that has to be done to make a plumb side for the doors. I will get a new window later this summer, but I want to keep the temporary door until I at least complete a tank leak test. I do not anticipate any problems but should something happen, I can at least have access for replacement or repair. I hope to have the doors in place by sundown tomorrow.

I have discussed this plan with the mover and the plan is to run the ramp from the truck right into the room. The width and height will allow this without having to make a larger opening.

And yes, I have to write everything down because my memory is not what it used to be. A white wall makes a great scratch pad as you can see above and below.

 

[rockworm]

75g update

75g update

I took some time this week to work on the 75g. I got the GHL Mitras lights set up and running. I could not find a bracket that would work. They were either too short or too long or not black. I found a smaller bracket and made a wall mount hanging system.

The mount is basically two 3/4" dressed boards with a 1 1/2" spacer between them. The brackets are simple flower basket hangers that hold the aluminum tube. I drilled the tubes and used the hanging kit that comes with the light. I forgot to paint the small acorn nuts on the bracket and will wood fill and paint the screws visible on the back board. Tat board is screwed directly into 3 different studs, so it is not going anywhere.

A more front on view. There is still a little wire management to do, but have not yet looked for any mods to help hide them hide:

Finally, I am giving some thought to going minimalist on this and was telling my wife. She told me that I might want to reconsider how minimalist I am going and maybe add a few more rocks. I thought it was kind of cool.

I put it in there because I just had to see what the purples and blues looked like on a white rock. :lolspin:

 

[Rybren]

Lots of good progress Ward. I'm with Susan, you need another piece of rock in the 75.

 

[rockworm]

Ok. I will look for a couple more pieces. I picked up 50 lbs of marco when I got the sand. Should be a couple good ones in there.

 

[rockworm]

I made good progress on the new "door" today, but did not get as far as I hoped. We got the window out and the lower part of the wall removed. I had hoped to put temporary doors in, but it would mean opening up the wall more and moving a stud. At the end of the day I just tacked the new door frames into place and think about what I want to do. These are meant to be temporary so I may just screw them to the existing studs in a way that I can easily remove them when the tank arrives. I have been doing a lot of "design on the fly" and this is just a minor bump.

I did get a little surprise when I took a look at the 220g. I have cyano in one of the front corners. I have not seen any of this in almost two years. I believe the source was a vinegar overdose. I had detached all the cables on my Profilux controller in order to add the Wireless card for the Mitras LED's and when I attached all the cables I reversed two by mistake. The doser kicked on and ran continuously for about 3 minutes before I realized what was happening and changed the cables. This put approximately 180 ml into the tank in one shot. I was only dosing 74 ml a day. I turned down the current dosing and will pick up some bacteria in a bottle on Tuesday. Hopefully this will replace the cyano bacteria. Just another little bump in the reefkeeping hobby.

 

[rockworm]

I am glad I thought about it. I managed to get 'doors' in the wall.

I don't think I will qualify for Fine Home Building, but I am happy with the result. There are still a number of finessing touches that need to be done, but it is functional. That is a good thing, because the tank is in transit and expected to arrive in the city on Thursday. I have let the movers know so that we can set a move date either Friday, or next week. And so the anticipation builds

 

[lg2725]

Great build so far. Keep it up. I'll be starting my 120g build shortly with all equipment in the basement directly underneath the main tank. Keep us updated.

 

[rockworm]

Great build so far. Keep it up. I'll be starting my 120g build shortly with all equipment in the basement directly underneath the main tank. Keep us updated.

Thank you. I have the most fun doing the builds. All the big and little decisions to make and the problem solving to get it done the way I envision. Today was one of the boring aspects. Cleaning up the room to remove obstructions and simplify the move. I have to go from full workshop to mainly display room. So it has been sweep, sweep, sweep, garbage. Rinse and repeat. [emoji3]

 

[rockworm]

The tank ism on its way, but appears to be taking a rest 2 hours from me. The carrier uses rail to go from Calgary (West) to Montreal (East) and then the tank is transferred to truck for the rest of the journey to Ottawa. Unfortunately, the tank has been sitting in Montreal since Wed May 25. The original estimated delivery date was May 26. I contacted the carrier that afternoon and was told that it was in Montreal. They revised the estimated delivery date to May 27. I called the local terminal to find out if it was there, and nope, still in Montreal. The earliest it would go on a truck was Sunday night for Monday delivery, but probably Tuesday this week. SO the estimated delivery went from 5 days to 10 days, if it comes tomorrow. I was a little frustrated because I had lined up movers to bring the tank to the house. This is their busiest time of year so rescheduling will be a pain.

Needless to say, I sent a message to the carrier late Friday telling them of my displeasure. I also contacted the builder. so they will know what is happening with the carrier they hired. The funny thing, the tracking still shows May 27 as the estimated delivery date. IN the message to the carrier head office, I suggested that if they intend to delay delivery, they might want to provide a little customer service by providing timely information regarding any changes. Guess they did not get the message in time.

Out of this came some good news. It gave me a little time to get an exhaust vent installed. I am a little concerned about the heat and humidity in the room. I found a 150 CFM 0.3 sones exhaust at Lowes. I hooked it up over the weekend.

I wanted to put it in the ceiling so just the face would show. However, there is a bedroom directlyt above the tank location. It was too much work to install it and vent within the joists, so I settled on surface mounting it. I vented directly outside with insulated flex pipe. You can see that the unit and the pipe clears the light rack. I wired a 50 ft 16 gauge exterior extension cord because it will be controlled by the Profilux to turn on when the lights turn on. This thing is dead silent.

I still have to secure the flex pipe because it is hanging too low and the light rack scrapes it if rolled forward. I will pick up some strapping to secure it.

Oh yeah, I also installed the MH pendants. They are not wired to ballasts yet because those are still lighting the 220g.

 

[rockworm]

I took time to work on the 75g this weekend. I finally got the marco rock and sand into it. I also added a few rocks from the 220g to help it along.

For now, I will be moving LSP, zoas (at least those that have not been eaten by my scribbled rabbit) and Rhodactis.

We have had this plate for 1.5 yrs and it is now 5" in diameter.

I have some acans and favias and others that I have not taken time to identify.

I also want to test SPS with the new LED's, so I picked up a couple of sacrificial ones on the weekend. The pictures are not that great, but here they are.

And that's it for today. Enjoy.

 

[rockworm]

Good news. The tank is in the city at the carrier's terminal. I have contacted a mover and hope to hear back from them tonight or tomorrow. With any luck, beast will land on it's stand in the next the next few days.

 

[Rybren]

So, when's the big day?

 

[rockworm]

So, when's the big day?

Thursday afternoon, if all goes as planned. The movers will call tomorrow with an update. The weather may not cooperate with us. Looks like rain and thunderstorms. I will certainly understand if they have to cancel due to weather. Just one of those little bumps.

 

[Rybren]

I hope for your sake that the weather holds off.

 

[rockworm]

I hope for your sake that the weather holds off.

Thanks. I hope the same, but another delay won't bother me much. All the predelivery work is done ao now I just need the tank. Feels weird not having anything to do on the build. I am actually watching tv tonight with Sue.

 

[rockworm]

Lol. Delivery changed again. Now going to take delivery on Friday afternoon. This time it sounds pretty firm, so I am hopefull. This hobby teaches patience in more ways than one.

 

[Rybren]

Good luck with the move today.

 

[rockworm]

Well, the tank is in the house. Unfortunately it is not on the stand. The movers were not equipped to lift it (I had a funny feeling about 1/2 way through the move.) I will call around and hire some strong bodies for the lift.

The good news, the tank is very well built and looks amazing. I will get some pics up later. Maybe tonight.

 

[Rybren]

Glad to hear that the tank arrived and you are happy with it.

I won't be much help in the lifting department - I busted up a finger pretty badly last weekend and am operating one-handed.

 

[rockworm]

Glad to hear that the tank arrived and you are happy with it.

I won't be much help in the lifting department - I busted up a finger pretty badly last weekend and am operating one-handed.

Thanks. I will hire some weightlifter movers to put it on the stand. I don't want to alienate any friends. [emoji3]