Addiction wins, 450 gallon system begins

[melev]

It is really better to get everything done in advance if at all possible, before adding any water and livestock. That way you can make adjustments and corrections without fear of losses or pollutants.

 

[jnarowe]

as far as when to start the system, I am planning on building everything first as follows:

1. Wreck out room, add electrical circuit, install header & "window", insulate, wall-board
2. Move stand into room; coat with resin; top with styrofoam;
3. Move tank onto stand, polish out scratches, drill for plumbing;
4. Install ventillation system;
5. Install RO/DI system & barrels, plumb, start up;
6. Build shelving for refugium, dual sumps, & install;
7. Install cooling system & plumb
8. Install lighting rail, fixtures over tank & refugium;
9. Install skimmer & plumb;
10. Wire all electrical including monitor & control, heater, etc.;
11. Install 29g Tall for QT on separate system;
12. Finish all plumbing & fill with tap water, test all systems
13. Fill with sea water and run no lights for 1 week, check all equipment daily;
14. add 200lbs. live rock and run 2 weeks.
15. Start lights;
16. add 1000lbs. live rock and run 4 weeks.
17. Start adding fun stuff!

Sound OK??

 

[melev]

You are going to be SOOOO busy.

 

[Hop]

as far as when to start the system, I am planning on building everything first as follows:

1. Wreck out room, add electrical circuit, install header & "window", insulate, wall-board
2. Move stand into room; coat with resin; top with styrofoam;
3. Move tank onto stand, polish out scratches, drill for plumbing;
4. Install ventillation system;
5. Install RO/DI system & barrels, plumb, start up;
6. Build shelving for refugium, dual sumps, & install;
7. Install cooling system & plumb
8. Install lighting rail, fixtures over tank & refugium;
9. Install skimmer & plumb;
10. Wire all electrical including monitor & control, heater, etc.;
11. Install 29g Tall for QT on separate system;
12. Finish all plumbing & fill with tap water, test all systems
13. Fill with sea water and run no lights for 1 week, check all equipment daily;
14. add 200lbs. live rock and run 2 weeks.
15. Start lights;
16. add 1000lbs. live rock and run 4 weeks.
17. Start adding fun stuff!

Sound OK??

:crazy1: Gulp... It sounds great, but when you see the plan on paper like that it really makes it look like a project Makes my system seem like a little weekend project!

No in reality though, I think it's a great plan. In case someone had not figured it out yet, most of my entire system is in my head. I did do some diagrams regarding plumbing and used a ton of calculations to figure out flow and plumbing issues, but I'll be honest... I'm running on pure vision here.

Melev: Thanks for being the voice of reason.

I think the next step should be to get the cabinetry going, the painting/sealing, then the lightrack and plumbing and then finally the venting ot the canopy. Should take a couple weeks and then I'll be able to do the wet test. I really want to run everything for a day or two and ensure there are no glitches. Then I'll hook up the ol' RO/DI and start the week long (or so) water filling process:rolleye1:

 

[WarEagleNR88]

jnarowe, you might as well hire a crew. That's some tough stuff. One question though, why not add all 1200#s of LR?

Looking good Hop! Really good looking tank and I can't believe how BIG it is. That's a monster. My best guess is you'll have problems filling the entire thing.

You think the tank costed a lot heh you haven't seen the first of it. Looking forward to more pics of the progress. And if you can get the better half to swimming in it, wow you've got the TOTM nomination from me.

 

[Airman]

I have not read the entire thread but I will. I like the shot of Ariel in the tank.

 

[DerekW]

1200lbs of rock? What kind of rock are you using?

 

[NexDog]

Hop, what's the size of that tank again?

 

[Hop]

Hop, what's the size of that tank again?

96"X30"X30".. If my head remembers right with the 3/4" acrylic its about 342 gallons +/- a tad.

 

[NexDog]

96x30x30/231 = 375 gallons (minus the acrylic as you said but I don't know how to work that out ). Also saying you have a 375g sounds a tad more impressive.

Just trying to get a feel for the size of my 72x36x30. With I could have gone to 96" but I'm hoping the extra depth will make up.

 

[thardy]

great work

 

[Hop]

96x30x30/231 = 375 gallons (minus the acrylic as you said but I don't know how to work that out ). Also saying you have a 375g sounds a tad more impressive.

Just trying to get a feel for the size of my 72x36x30. With I could have gone to 96" but I'm hoping the extra depth will make up.

Yeah I guess 375 has a bit of a ring I don't think your going to be disapointed with that size. I think it's going to be incredible. I keep sitting on the couch in the new tank room just thinking to myself My God what was I thinking getting a tank this big But then reality sinks in and I can't wait to see this thing up and running

thardy: Thanks for the comment!

 

[Stevenx2]

All I can say is: incredible! I have always dreamed of getting a tank that big! I can hardly wait to see it finished! Keep posting lots and lots of pics!

 

[Airman]

Cool to the MAX

Cool to the MAX

Hop,

Looking good. I finished the 10 pages of this thread. A quick note off subject. I grew up on a farm and had a Blue Aus Shepherd save my life once. They are great dogs. I like your wet room. It looks like water changes will be painless for you. Can you give some details how you will access your tank? With six OM 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ nozzles and lights coming from the top will this restrict access from the top? I like the nozzles.

 

[Hop]

Stevenx2: Thanks and don't worry... There will be pleanty of updates! It's almost as fun running this thread as it is building the thing.

Airman: Thanks and I'm sorry you had to suffer through the 10 pages And I hear you on the aussies. My blue mearl was the same way.

As far as maint. goes There will be two 4' access panels on the front and then the right side will have a feeding door, approx. 6"X6". Also this panel will be able to be removed in order to facilitate the removal of the 2 section light rack. On the left of the tank, there will be an upper and lower access hole to get into the overflow and the drains if needed. There is 30" above the tank for access and the light rack will be on a pully system to pick them up and out of the way. I will have to use some homemade tools in order to get complete access to the bottom and back of the tnak for scraping etc, but we'll tackle that when it comes up The nozzles seem to be really cool. It will be interesting to see how they work. I was going to go with 1 1/2" PVC, but these came out as I was ordering and figured what the hey...

 

[Hop]

Whew... Worked like mad today getting the beginning of the cabinetry going. Sorry about the picture quality tonight, but I got dust on the lens and didn't notice until it was too late.

Started the morning off by getting the bottom stand portion wrapped with plywood and then moved on to framing the ceiling area and beginning the canopy. I only have one more piece of ply to add to the left side before the plumbing starts, which should be tomorrow. Then once the plumbing is completely done, the plywood comes off, gets sanded and painted! I still have to make the doors to the cabinet, but those will wait till after the tank is up and running.

This upper portion of the cabinet will house the two doors that you see here. In addition the entire piece of ply is removable if I need additional access or need to remove the light rack.

Just another shot of the same, but different angle. I wish the room was bigger, so I could get the whole tank and stand in the picture, but it's only 9 1/2 feet to the back wall from the tank now and I cant squeeze it all in. The pictures give the illusion that everything is "top-heavy" but in reality, the stand is a few inches taller, placing the tank slightly above dead center. I was planning on doing some shelves or something on the top, but decided that the more air space, the better for cooling reasons. In addition the lightrack will be on a pulley system and can just be hoisted up and out of the way, without taking the whole thing apart.

So we decided that we will be painting the stand this time instead of staining like the rest of the woodwork in the house. We decided that this room should be a break from the norm of the rest of the house.

I also managed to find just enough time to install the 4" vent in the canopy that vents air outside. I got it screened to keep the critters out and hopefully will pick up a couple fans in the next few days

Sorry the post isnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t that exciting tonight, but I'm really tired tonight :lol:

 

[sellout007]

You sure you want to paint that isntead of staining it????

That has the potential to be such an awesome looking unit *shrug*

 

[Hop]

You sure you want to paint that isntead of staining it????

That has the potential to be such an awesome looking unit *shrug*

It goes back to trying to make this room stand apart from the rest of the house. I have hundreds of hours building cabinets, shelves doing custom wanescot, wood ceilings and floors. The amount of time was incredible and I'm still not done with it. I was actually suposed to finish the rest of the woodwork before I started the tank...Ooops.

It's still going to have crown molding in the room and tie into a chair rail and such. I just want the room to be different. We're still bouncing back and forth between a whitewash type staining technique or just a glossy white, luster type look. The kind that looks like the ivory keys on the piano.

I don't know, maybe a poll is in order:rolleye1:

I hope gregt doesn't mind me posting this... But something along these lines...

 

[sellout007]

It goes back to trying to make this room stand apart from the rest of the house. I have hundreds of hours building cabinets, shelves doing custom wanescot, wood ceilings and floors. The amount of time was incredible and I'm still not done with it. I was actually suposed to finish the rest of the woodwork before I started the tank...Ooops.

It's still going to have crown molding in the room and tie into a chair rail and such. I just want the room to be different. We're still bouncing back and forth between a whitewash type staining technique or just a glossy white, luster type look. The kind that looks like the ivory keys on the piano.

I don't know, maybe a poll is in order:rolleye1:

Hmmm well I vote for a nice deep dark stain. *drooools*

But if you want to go different then everythign else in the house, go for it. Id go for the whitewash then.

*polls are always fun.

 

[jnarowe]

I think the white will bring out more contrast in the tank, as would black. So many are done with wood stain, but I think the grain etc. adds uneeded complexity to the visual affect of the tank. I would rather not even "see" the cabinet by blending it into the room as much as possible.--J