A Great Way to ruin a perfect wall; My 400 Gallon Project

[melev]

When you are of the age were buying disability and life insurance becomes priority, you tend to start thinking very conservative about all "big investments".

What-ever! OLD man. :lol:

 

[SERVO]

What-ever! OLD man. :lol:

Bahhhhhh Haaaaaa Haaaaaa:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[springerhd]

springerhd; You are exactly right! I made the assumption that you also were swindled into paying more that you should for a stand. I looked at that as a reluctant investment. Afterall, it is a fantastic piece of mind to have that type of security. When you are of the age were buying disability and life insurance becomes priority, you tend to start thinking very conservative about all "big investments".

So that stand is an oceanic? I assumed you'd made it. Do you think it's sturdy, look mainly like 2x4's and plywood? Is the front pane of glass even with the drywall or is it set back 1/2 of an inch? How high off the ground is it?
After I was quoted $500 for an in-wall stand from oceanic I said forget it. I'd really like the warranty but I've got to design a stand around a 6" step up from the garage to the living room.

 

[SERVO]

I'm so mad, I spent about an hour or so posting this exact post. I put to many damn stupid smilies and submitted the post it created an error and I lost all of my work! Down with smilies:mad2: This thing was so long and full of pictures, that after I retyped it, it wouldn't let me post, so I need to trunkate this into a couple of posts.

Well here goes again, Ughhhh The second time here hasn't captured the flair that the last post had. Oh well. Pictures are worth a thousand words.

springerhd; Unfortunately from all of these pictures, the items really appear scaled down and shrunken. The stand is VERY sturdy. I agree, the stand is way overpriced, but it is analogous to puchasing an extended warrenty. The support braces are 1 1/2 inch by 3 inches, while the front and top panels are 3/4 inch thick while the base is 1 1/2 inch thick. The way most hobbiests construct stands is overkill. Furthermore, we tend to place the support beams pararrel to the edges. Structurally, this potentially can cause bowing of the supports and failure in the long run. My tank has the support beams running perpendicular to the edge. (This was the reason for all my sump woes, it ended up shortening the width under the stand) With the majority of the weight being distributed around the edges, I shouldn't have to worry about the weight of the tank resulting in any structural failure with this type of construct. The tank stand is 36 inches. With the lip of the garage, it is actually 3 inches taller in the room.
The garage is actually one inch below the floor of the dining room.


As for the tank running flush with the wall; in order to truly do that I would have had to use the front of the stand as my new "wall". I wasn't to keen to that idea. This would pose an additional esthetic problem with my style tank; with the black metal edging. In addition, the dry wall has to be flawless or you will REALLY notice any imperfections when the tank is flush with the dry wall. Framing out the tank solved these problems. I didn't want the mundane picture frame look. The way I have the tank not only gives it a dimensional perspective independent of the actual depth, it really draws your perspective to the actual tank. If you want me to post additional pictures of the molding close up and obliqued against the wall I will.


Here is a shot of the top of the tank. Sorry that I couldn't get more into the shot, I was already sitting on the do not stand or sit rung! The damn thing is 8 feet long and I couldn't get the camera to zoom out any further

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/tanktop.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

So the construction is basically finished. I still need to get a door knob. Other than that things are finally progressing. Here is a shot of the room from the outside, framed and painted.

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/dooroutside.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Here is a close up of the A/C opening

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/achole.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

And here is a shot inside the room looking into the right back corner

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/inside2.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

 

[SERVO]

Now on to equipment


Here is the return pump; a sequence Hammerhead. I put one of my sandles next to it (Size 12) for perspective on this monster

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/hammerhead.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Here is our closed loop pump; a sequence dart

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/Dart.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

My ATI calcium reactor from Germany (Das Goot)

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/calciumreactor.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

 

[SERVO]

Finally, what I am so excited about; my custom sump. Now this is truly custom

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/monogram.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/monogram2.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Not to sound like a commercial, but I really want to thank Trigger Systems for such an awesome sump. This thing is such exceptional quality check em out http://www.triggersys.com/

Now here are the reasons why this is so cool. All of the sumps have a drawer under the returns. This allows you to line the bottom with foam to collect detrius and help keep your sump cleaner. You can also place bags of carbon underneath it or other media.

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/sumpdrawer.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/sumpdrawer2.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

In addition, I have custom probe holders for my aqua controller

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/probeholders.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

In the back of the sump before the out flow to the Hammerhead, I am going to have a Tunze Osmolator system. I have three more probe holders there as well. As you see, all of them have adjustable screws to hold them in. I will use the osmolator probe in here.

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/sumpprobeholder.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

And.....It all fits!!!!

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/itfits.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/ryanreeves/itfits2.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">


Looks like it is finally time to plumb!!! I am finally about ready to add water into this Mofo!!! None of this 6 months of posting pictures without adding water.

 

[melev]

That is AWESOME. A tank with a SUMP that fits, and it was even autographed by David's computer-controlled router. WAY COOL!

 

[Hop]

Very nice... The progression is very motivating! I love the attention to detail. The behind the scenes stuff is going to be as great as the tank itself

I did have one quick question though as I could not find the answer in you're previous posts(but then again maybe I'm too tired to have caught it reading through the thread).

On you're AC hole it appears that you are going to be using a window type unit and allowing it to exaust into the garage. Is this the case or did I miss something?

 

[melev]

Yes, that is correct, as Ryan is trying to do the same thing I'm doing with my 280g reef.

Buying a window unit for $140 or less is a lot less expensive than an $700 (or more) chiller. Plus the fish room is comfortable to work in.

 

[AcroSteve]

I'm so mad, I spent about an hour or so posting this exact post. I put to many damn stupid smilies and submitted the post it created an error and I lost all of my work! Down with smilies:mad2: This thing was so long and full of pictures, that after I retyped it, it wouldn't let me post, so I need to trunkate this into a couple of posts.

I have ahd that happen to me too. Nowwhen I remember, if I have a lengthy post and before I hit submit, I will highlight the whole post and hit ctrl-c to copy it to the clipboard. This will at least save it. Sometimes you type too much and it is over the limit for a single post and must be seperated. This works well for this issue also.

 

[Hop]

Yes, that is correct, as Ryan is trying to do the same thing I'm doing with my 280g reef.

Buying a window unit for $140 or less is a lot less expensive than an $700 (or more) chiller. Plus the fish room is comfortable to work in.

Are you guys worried about the additional heat in the garage from the exaughst. I was currious about the counterproductivity is all. I just completed the framing and exterior sheetrocking on my garage wetroom and was planning on mounting the same type unit, put in the outside wall. If this works well for you guys, I may do the same. Less holes on the outside of the house.

 

[SERVO]

I have ahd that happen to me too. Nowwhen I remember, if I have a lengthy post and before I hit submit, I will highlight the whole post and hit ctrl-c to copy it to the clipboard. This will at least save it. Sometimes you type too much and it is over the limit for a single post and must be seperated. This works well for this issue also.

Yup; I too have now made that my posting etiquette!


Marc is right on, except I did buy a chiller with some extra store credit that I had at That Fish Place in PA. I was bringing in Red Sea Xenia and accumulated a LOT of money. (You can only buy so much salt and I didn't want to accumulate more live stock to move to Texas). Well the sad point is, the chiller is WAY to small. I was given mis-information based upon the tank size not taking into account the ambient Texas heat.

I will hopefully have thing thing plumbed very soon. Once I do that, I'm going to add my starboard, some larger rocks and then throw a little cocktail shrimp party!

 

[SERVO]

Are you guys worried about the additional heat in the garage from the exaughst. I was currious about the counterproductivity is all. I just completed the framing and exterior sheetrocking on my garage wetroom and was planning on mounting the same type unit, put in the outside wall. If this works well for you guys, I may do the same. Less holes on the outside of the house.

You know, I was wondering about that when I was planning. I thought that may decrease the efficiency of the wall A/C unit trying to pull in all that hot air. The garages around here can get up to 120-130 degrees on any given day in summer. I can always crack or open the garage door to vent out the excessive heat. (110 is still cooler than 140!) I have had the A/C unit in the garage and it is very cool in the room. The insulation keeps the room very cool as well. I ran the A/C unit yesterday while I was in the room for about an hour and a half. I came back about 6 hours later and the room was SUBSTANTIALLY cooler than the interior of the garage. Now, the garage has only peaked out to about 110, (estimate; I haven't measured) and I haven't had a reason to cool the room. Furthermore; the hole in the wall was cut larger than the A/C unit so there is excessive space on the sides of the A/C unit for hot-cold air exchange as well as the hole in the door with the door nob should be. With that stated, the room is very well insulated and I don't think that I will have any heat issues. Heck, I am wondering if I need the chiller! I am going to wait to plumb it in and measure the tank temp while I'm cycling to experiment. If the temp is stable, I'm selling a brand new 1/3 HP chiller for a steal!!!! I'll need money to buy my 14 tangs (LOL Nathan )

I would recommend that you install a couple of wall fans like I have. I felt markedly cooler with them circulating the air. I think that that will really help with the humidity as well. We will see.

I have other pictures of the construction that I didn't post if you are interested in something more specific. PM me and I could e-mail or post.

 

[Hop]

You know, I was wondering about that when I was planning. I thought that may decrease the efficiency of the wall A/C unit trying to pull in all that hot air. The garages around here can get up to 120-130 degrees on any given day in summer. I can always crack or open the garage door to vent out the excessive heat. (110 is still cooler than 140!) I have had the A/C unit in the garage and it is very cool in the room. The insulation keeps the room very cool as well. I ran the A/C unit yesterday while I was in the room for about an hour and a half. I came back about 6 hours later and the room was SUBSTANTIALLY cooler than the interior of the garage. Now, the garage has only peaked out to about 110, (estimate; I haven't measured) and I haven't had a reason to cool the room. Furthermore; the hole in the wall was cut larger than the A/C unit so there is excessive space on the sides of the A/C unit for hot-cold air exchange as well as the hole in the door with the door nob should be. With that stated, the room is very well insulated and I don't think that I will have any heat issues. Heck, I am wondering if I need the chiller! I am going to wait to plumb it in and measure the tank temp while I'm cycling to experiment. If the temp is stable, I'm selling a brand new 1/3 HP chiller for a steal!!!! I'll need money to buy my 14 tangs (LOL Nathan )

I would recommend that you install a couple of wall fans like I have. I felt markedly cooler with them circulating the air. I think that that will really help with the humidity as well. We will see.

I have other pictures of the construction that I didn't post if you are interested in something more specific. PM me and I could e-mail or post.

Thanks for the quick reply! I guess the heat in Texas is quite a bit more than here. When I was planning my room and the AC, I guess I was just concerned about the heat rising in the garage since I do a lot of projects in there. But Hot for my garage is 100, not 110-120, whew! I guess I'll do some pondering over the weekend as to which way to go, I still have electrical and insulation to go before things are set in stone.

Thanks again and I'll send you a PM.

 

[melev]

I've never measured the temperature in my garage, but it gets hot. However, during the winter, it adds a little 'free' heat to the workshop.

Cracking the garage, or opening the garage door once or twice a day seems to vent out the heat for a couple of minutes... no problems so far.

Ryan, I think I want to add the fans myself. I'd like to know more about it. The Euroreef is making the fishroom quite humid, which wasn't the case with the Lifereef skimmer. The Lifereef would suck the air out of the collection cup for the venturi, where the ER pumps moist air out 24/7. At night, the fish room gets very humid, if not dank. A humidistat is in my future.

 

[bulldogfish]

SERVO

If you could, please post some pics of the tank to wall mating and trim work if you could. I am ctarting on a 270 and need some ideas.

Thanks

 

[Morgandy]

So, have you started filling with water yet? I'm dying to know how your pumps sound, whether 'whisper quiet", as they're supposed to be, or making some noise. Let me know!! You guys must be so psyched as this is progressing.

 

[lostreefermike]

how much is this all costing? it sounds like it is going to be an incredible tank when its all set up.

 

[lostreefermike]

how much is this all costing? it sounds like it is going to be an incredible tank when its all set up.

 

[Awright]

Servo,
Great thread :thumbsup: One heck of a sump system. You haven't cut any corners that's for sure. I will definitely following this one!