Barely made the club but time for my 180 upgrade (Warning: Progress may be slow)

[caliking]

Off to a great start. I can't wait to see it complete.

 

[nightOwl]

SPotter - You speak 'Tank' so fluently...LOL.

caliking - Welcome to the fun.

I am finally back from vacation so I will be back to working on the tank next week. I plan on finishing up the removal of silicone and at least starting to seal the bottom.

 

[SPotter]

It's my checkbook that speaks fluent "fish tank" and I think my wife is taking lessons so she can figure out how much I'm spending!


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[nightOwl]

SPotter - My bank account speaks it fluently as well. It is a language I wish it had never learned.

Well its been a long time since a decent update but I have a few updates. The holidays are over and there are no more bowl games so I can go back to making progress.

Tank Reseal - Complete

I was able to complete the tank reseal tonight.

I used painters tape to make my seams consistent and it works pretty good. This is the tank all tapped up before the silicone reseal.

I used two tubes of silicone in the process.

If you have not used this product before there are two things to keep in mind.

1. It seems to skin pretty fast
2. The fumes will give you a headache

Now I wait for 72 hours or so and then start the water leak test on the tank. Followed by redoing the aquascape.
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Top-off Water Reservoir - Complete

Third time is the charm for acrylic and me. The first two times I had very small leaks. Tonight I can safely say no more leaks. The container has held water with no leaks for the past 3 days so I figure it's complete.​

Screen Covers for tank - In Progress

I began the construction of the tank screen covers for the fish I will have down the road. My fish list has a few jumpers so I decided to start on the screen covers while I was procrastinating resealing the tank. The only thing left is to order the netting from BRS. Below are the two screen covers. I made two instead of one big one so I could work in the tank if needed and no have the full top exposed.

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The Family - New Children Added

I added a few new children to the family. With the new lights I want to know what PAR I am getting in the tank. For my existing tank I know where my high intensity areas are as well as my lower PAR areas. I figure it will take a little getting use to MH so I brought a MW700 Lux Light Meter w/ Waterproof Probe.

Back when I did research on the Apex Curt from Neptune recommended two EB4 for my set up so I order them as well.

The other child arrives on Thursday. It will be an EB8.
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[SPotter]

Very nice....now lets see water already!!!

 

[nightOwl]

SPotter - I now have about 72 hours to wait. I am hoping that by Sunday I will begin filling with fresh water to see if there are any leaks. I am hoping that will go well.

 

[nightOwl]

Not much going on while I wait for the silicone to dry. I played around the aquascape and added some more zip ties so I will be able to transfer the rock work to the tank without many changes. My table saw add on did not go so well so I have to figure out a way to cut the acrylic for the sump.

Aquascape/Rockwork Support - Update

While waiting for the silicone to dry I decided to go ahead and drill the PVC spacers that will be used to keep the rockwork from falling once I get my blue spotted jawfish. I drilled holes in the PVC to keep the areas in the PVC from getting too stagnant.

Before

After

The Family - New Children Added - Update

The UPS man delivered the last of my children for a while. The EB8 that I had ordered with my EB4's arrived today. I think that will be it for a while for the Apex components. With the tank being closer to having water in it I need to decide where I will be mounting the EB4's and EB8's.

Frag Tank - Purchased

One of the things I always wanted with my last three tanks was a dedicated frag tank. Having one this go around will not only allow me to have more frags, but increases my total water volume. That makes it a win win or at least that is how I rationalize it . Petco is running their yearly $1 per gallon so I picked up a 40 Gallon Breeder. I have to look through my spare parts for a bulkhead.

 

[SPotter]

What kind of tax deduction do you get for these "kids"?

 

[nightOwl]

SPotter,
It will be a many months before the return on investment is shown from these new "kids"...LOL. Until then I just see them running up my electric and water bill for a while. Although just looking at them now brings a smile to my face. The existing "kids" are feeling so neglected . With the new frag tank the MP10's will get to go over and get some work for sure. I may even upgrade them to the wireless option and let the Apex control them as well.

 

[nightOwl]

So it has been a while waiting for the silicone to dry in the tank. Apparently my idea of curing is not what it feels like to touch.

Sump "“ Sump Construction Underway

I will try and get pictures of the sump this weekend. I only have four sides and I want to take a picture of the whole thing. So far peeling the paper backing off has been a PITA. I am not sure if it's due the age of the acrylic, brand, or that the basement is cool. Either way it sucks! It takes so long to complete and it does not come off in big chunks. The biggest piece I have removed at one time is a 6" x 14" piece. Anyway enough of that rant. Hopefully this weekend I will peel some more backing off and glue it down. I decided to use the router method instead of trying to cut the size for the bottom.

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Tank "“ Tank Leak Test Underway

The tank has finally seen water and I must say even though there might be a slight gap at the top, it is going to look nice in the wall. I ran into a minor issue and found out I need to buy new bulkheads as the washer on one of the bulkheads was leaking. It's almost as if the hole is not the right size for the bulkhead. There is so much of a gap around the bulk head and the hole it goes through. The current bulkheads are 1" and I think I might buy 1 ½" bulkheads and see if they fit. The way they are now they "œsize up" to 1 ½" then back down to the 1" bulkhead then back to 1 ½" to the 2" pipe. The previous owner cut the pvc pipe off so the bulkheads have about ¾" of pipe sticking out where they exit the tank. I don't know if there is a way to salvage the bulkhead by removing the old PVC but I will look into my options. If I could it would save me some time and money as the existing plumbing runs into a 2" pipe that I hope I can reuse.

I also picked up some foam board to use on the sides. I plan on painting it black to keep the light from the basement from being visible in the tank. I have to cut the pieces down to size and use velco to attach them to the side. I will call them tank blinders sorta like the harness blinders they have for horses...lol.

Before "“ If you look closely you can see the water hose

After "“ If you look closely you can see a gap at the top. The gap is a little bit below the height of the overflows. If you look closely you can see both of them near the top.

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[SPotter]

I'm eating my heart out!!!! I knew a's soon as you got water in that baby I would want to start a bigger tank!!! It looks awesome but I really can't see the gaps you're talking about. I really like the tank blinders idea....lol.

Can't wait to see the lights turned on!

Nice job


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[nightOwl]

Time for a quick progress update...I am waiting for an order from BRS with my bulkheads and netting to finish my tank screen covers. I choose the 1/4" clear netting. I want to limit the fish jerky as mush as possible. No on to the updates.

Sump – Sump Construction Underway - Update

I finally completed the sump and it has failed two leak tests. Thank whoever created Weld-On 16 :lol:. I think it was my clamping the pieces together because both leaks were right in the lower corners. Next week I will try again and see how far I get before the water leaks. It is roughly 50" x 18" x 16" and I still need to add baffles and determine how big the areas will be for the skimmer, return, and refugium. I found a few layouts I like but just need to decide if the return will be in the middle or not. So far I am thinking (from right to left) Skimmer, Refugium, Return. My only concern is that the light from the refugium will cause that nasty growth on the inside of the skimmer. I also ordered bulkheads for the sump from BRS. The refugium area will also have a few extra pieces of LR in it along with sand when it is all said and done.

Sump before leak test

Skimmer in place

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Tank – Tank Leak Test Underway - Update

Nothing every seems to go as planned but so far no leaks in the current water level. Due to the damaged bulkhead I was unable to fill the tank but so far. BRS was out of the bulkhead I wanted and I got tired of waiting and ordered a different type. They are supposed to arrive today, but the weather may be a determining factor. While waiting I got a little antsy and curious as to how the tank will look with some rock and sand in it. With that said please enjoy the sneak peak of the tank with water, rock, and lights.

The eggcrate and PVC standoffs will be covered by sand and not visible when the tank is fully set up. Once I play around with the aquascaping a little more I will cut away the excess eggcrate so the Blue Spotted Jawfish will have lots of places to dig. I think the current aquascape gives loads of growth for corals and also gives fish nice swimming lanes. It's hard to tell from the picture but there are 5 rock structures. Heavy duty zip ties make creating these structures a breeze. This go around I wanted to have less rock in the display tank and rely on my skimmer to be the workhorse.

Tank with lights on (old bulbs) - 3 x 400W Radiums - 20,000 K

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[SPotter]

now you're talking!!!!! looks awesome and the sump is amazing. You saw pics of my new sump where the return is in the middle and I really love having the fuge away from the skimmer section. I can the water level higher in that chamber and slow down the flow rate thru that section as well. The baffle is black so it does a great job of blocking the light from spreading into other areas of the sump.

You are doing a great job and I dont know how you have the patience to wait for the bulkheads. I would have just gone and paid the extra money!

 

[nightOwl]

SPotter,
The blue glow of Radiums are almost eerie looking. Making this sump I see why people who do acrylic work charge so much. Making sure you have exact cuts is the main part and that can be kinda challenging at times. All in all I am happy with the way it has turned out. I think the black acrylic may be the way to go. Hopefully Krylon spray paint will do the trick. How much space do you have around your skimmer in the skimmer section? I want to give it about 3" on each side. Do you think that is too much? I will make a baffle jig to make the teeth look somewhat decent . I almost broke down and purchased the bulkheads locally but I could almost get two for the price of one if I waited so I chose to wait .

Updates - General

My bulkheads arrived but the glass drill bits are a little behind schedule. It looks like it will get them sometime next week. I ordered a set that will allow me to drill 3/4", 1" , and 1-1/2" holes for the corresponding bulkheads. I am thinking of increasing the size of the drain holes to 1-1/2" to get more water turn over in the tank. More updates in the coming days...
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[SPotter]

Here's my sump and skimmer. My skimmer is a little smaller than yours and I have it on an angle because of where my filter sock is.

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[BowieReefer84]

Tank is looking really good man. Glad those heavy duty zip ties made your life a little easier. What type of substrate are you going with? Maybe 60/40 arroganite sand/crushed coral? The jawfish would love that haha. Tagging along.

 

[nightOwl]

SPotter,
Thanks for the pictures of the sump. I had a chance to play around with my sump tonight . I am in the process of building a filter sock holder into my sump. I cut a piece tonight and now I have to find a 3.3" holesaw for two filter socks to rest in.

BowieReefer84,
Welcome to the party . Those zip ties came in handy for sure . They worked so well I went out and purchased some more just in case.

I am going with CaribSea SeaFlor Special Grade sand. I have used it in the past with great results with jawfish. It doesn't fly around too much and they seem to be able to build with it pretty well. I crush up some shells and make a few places where they can "shop" for rock and rubble. It is so funny to see them "shopping" for just the right rock.

Updates - General

I was able to complete the tank screen covers. The clear netting looks pretty nice. The only change I might make is to paint the aluminum black.

I had never used Tunze pumps before, but tonight I got antsy still waiting for the drill bits and pulled the Apex out the box fired it up and connected the two Tunze pumps. All I can say is these things are sooooooo quiet. The amount of noise they make is much less than expected for their size. I could hear my MP10's across the room ramping up and down over the sound of two Tunze pumps. It was hard to tell how much water they are pushing but I could see the pumps working. I was only using the default settings on the Apex. I will have to do the real tweaking after I actually read the manual .
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Sump "“ Sump Construction Underway - Update

Tonight I cut the pieces for the filter sock holder I mentioned above, the dividers, and the refugium separator. I have to make a tooth jig for creating the teeth.
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[cilyjr]

is the finished side done? have you considered access to the front of the tank? when i built my 180 inwall i was advised by a friend that one should consider some way of getting at the tank from the front. i know this is late advice. i find the frontal tank access invaluable.

 

[cloons411]

This is an impressive build so far. Should turn out to be a beauty.

 

[nightOwl]

cilyjr -Welcome to my little build party. The finished side is done ;( I am hoping that mag-floats with the razor attachment will help keep the front of the glass clean and I will be able to reach the front of the tank with huge tongs should I need to access something in the very front.

cloons411 - Welcome to my build party and thanks for the compliment. I am hoping that in the end I will be able to sit down in the basement and enjoy my little piece of the reef.

Updates - General

Tonight I made a home depot run, but it was close to closing so I was not able to pick up all my items. The plumbing section can be such a distraction. I picked up a few plumbing parts but still need more .

I worked on my panel that will hold the my 3 ballasts. I mounted and drilled some holes for cord access and right now it will be temporary.

I need to order a rail to move the lights when trying to perform maintenance in the tank. I found out tonight I am limited to 4 feet of space to the left or about 4 feet behind the tank. If I were to move the lights to the left of the tank it would leave about 2 feet overlap when trying to work in the tank. If I set up the rail to move the lights behind the tank (away from wall) I think I will have enough space to use my step ladder and the lights should be completely out of the way. I need to decide fast either way as I almost put a gash in my head tonight while on the step ladder playing with the rock work.
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Fish List - Update

Now that I can actually see water in the tank I am a little more motivated to nailing down my fish list. I have updated it slightly. This is now v1.2.
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Currently Have

1 - Yellow Tang
1 - Mated pair of False Clowns
3 - Glass/Longfin/Blue eyed Cardinal
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Want
1 - Blue Spotted Jawfish
1 - Mated pair Mandarins ?
4- Glass/Longfin/Blue eyed Cardinal (I will have a total of 7)
3- Wrasse -1 Male , 2 Female - Pintail (Attenuatus) flasher, Blue Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus lineopunctatus), or
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus carpenteri)
3 -Dispar Anthias (Pseudanthias dispar)
1 - Bristletooth Tang
1 - Angel (Reef safe) if possible - Bellus Angel


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