Gofor's 60"L X 30"W X 24"T LeeMar Upgrade

[gofor100]

What made you decide a metal stand over a wooden stand?

Well, I've done wooden stands in the past, and I never was able to access the sump area as much as I'd liked to. With metal stands, you typically have much less building materials getting in the way (since steel/metal is stronger than wood). Also, as you might notice on the CAD drawings earlier in the thread, that the front of the stand doesn't even have a center brace (the builder was able to get away with this because of the material being steel), giving me full access to maintenance of the sump.

The other reason was durability... all of my wood stands seem to wear down over time, and I've heard that as long as you correctly seal the steel stand (mine will be powdercoated) and are careful with scratching it, then it will last much, much longer.

Hope this helps,

Chad

 

[geaux xman]

have you gotten your SUMP from AA yet?

 

[geaux xman]

have you gotten your SUMP from AA yet?

when is the expected delivery date on the DT?

 

[gofor100]

have you gotten your SUMP from AA yet?

when is the expected delivery date on the DT?

Yep, the sump was picked up a couple of weeks ago... although I've been so busy getting everything prepared for the build, I've neglected to post the pics yet. Once things settle down a little, I should be able to update the thread with some pics.

As far as the tank goes... the tentative delivery date is this weekend. The reason why I say "tentative" is because the glass is all cut, but they just need to put it together and say they are "pretty sure" it will be ready. If not, then I assume the latest will be Thanksgiving Day weekend.

I'll be crossing my fingers for delivery this weekend so that I'll have some days off over Thanksgiving Day Weekend to dedicate solely to the tank.

Thanks,

Chad

 

[Bigfish93]

Good points about the stand. Now you have me thinking differently. Will you be skinning the stand yourself or is the builder doing that as well?

 

[gofor100]

Good points about the stand. Now you have me thinking differently. Will you be skinning the stand yourself or is the builder doing that as well?

I'll be skinning (or should I say one of my friends that has a little bit of experience in this area will be)... although the builder would have been able to do this, but of course, it would have cost more and I decided that I wanted to allocate those funds to other enhancements to the set-up.

The cool thing about this though is that the skinning does not need to be done immediately... so more pressing needs can be addressed before taking the time to skin (i.e., setting up the plumbing and sump area).

I'm pretty excited about the newfound room I'll have in the stand.

Thanks,

Chad

 

[gofor100]

Alright... here's an update I was hoping not to give...

The good news is that the tank/stand/canopy were all delivered yesterday. The stand and canopy both look GREAT!!!

The bad news is that the tank had a nice 3+" scratch in the front viewing panel!!! :headwally::headwalls::thumbdown:furious::sad1::uzi::angryfire: (add any other smilies that would depict the internal fire of rage that burned inside of me all day yesterday)

I was in shock first, then that turned to frustration that LeeMar would even let the tank leave their offices with such a blatant defect (not to mention there was a nice little crack in the bracing where it seems they didn't put enough silicone and it was glass on glass). Then this turned to pure rage burning inside me, which soon led to depression that the thing I've been looking forward to and planning for weeks will now be delayed another 2 weeks (MINIMUM)... probably more.

Needless to say, I'm not in the best of moods right now and the pics will have to wait... sorry guys.

-Chad

 

[Bigfish93]

THAT SUCKS!!!! I'm sorry to hear that. So what is next? Do you send the tank back or do they send you a new one? Hopefully Leemar has good customer service. I would be extremely pistoff as well.

Hang in there...it will all be worth it at the end.

 

[gofor100]

THAT SUCKS!!!! I'm sorry to hear that. So what is next? Do you send the tank back or do they send you a new one? Hopefully Leemar has good customer service. I would be extremely pistoff as well.

Hang in there...it will all be worth it at the end.

Well... the next step has already been taken. I had the LFS take it back and wait for LeeMar to come pick it up. The problem is that LeeMar isn't scheduled to be in their area until NEXT Friday (December 2nd). Once they have their hands on it, they'll either replace the glass or buff it out (depending on the severity of the scratch).

I'll keep you guys updated.

-Chad

 

[gofor100]

Update time... and this time with pictures.

So the tank is due to be picked up this Friday by LeeMar, who will then replace the scratched glass. They say this should take a week, so I should have my tank by the following weekend. Crossing my fingers, but not holding my breath.

So in the meantime, I've been keeping myself busy... First, here's a picture of the tank and the stand/lightholder before I noticed the scratch and had to send the tank back.

 

[gofor100]

So, to keep myself from thinking about not having my tank, my brother and I (he's in the picture) went ahead and cut out a 1/2" plywood base for the sump and other equipment to sit on in the stand.

 

[gofor100]

Also cleaned all of my sand so I don't have to waste my time doing this when I actually have the tank sitting in my living room...

 

[gofor100]

And here's me leak testing the sump...

 

[gofor100]

And finally, I was able to pick up some fish, which are now staying in the 60 gallon/QT. As you'll see, the first phase of fish include:

> Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish
> Yellow Wrasse
> McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
> Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
> Starry Blenny

 

[Bigfish93]

Pictures!!! :lolspin: About how much does the tank weigh?

 

[gofor100]

Pictures!!! :lolspin: About how much does the tank weigh?

Hahaha... yeah, pictures are finally here.

Not sure about the exact weight, but about three guys (4 would be better) are needed to lift/move just the tank.

My next goal is to rinse the dry rock I have (first I'll spray it down then I'll rinse it in RO/DI water). Once the rock is dried out, I'll start figuring out my aquascaping (which is one of the funnest parts for me).

Thanks,

Chad

 

[gofor100]

So I got home early from work and was able to rinse the rocks (no surprise that there wasn't much that rinsed off, just a little bit of dust... Marco Rocks are super clean).

Here's some pics of what I'm working with (approximately 150 lbs.- I know I probably got a little too much for what I'm looking to do, but I'd rather have too much than too little).

The first pics are of the "smaller" pieces (they all are pretty good size).

 

[mc-cro]

awesome butterfly fish. looks like your steadily making good progress

 

[gofor100]

Then there's the two show piece rocks... both are pretty huge and all of these pieces were hand-picked when Marco Rocks showed up at Reef-a-Palooza (aka RAP).

 

[gofor100]

awesome butterfly fish. looks like your steadily making good progress

Thanks! The Longnose BF is definitely one of my favorites. I've had one in the past and they are probably one of the most unique looking fish out there.

Slowly but surely I'm getting stuff done...

Now that I've cleaned my rocks, next step is to aquascape them. I'll probably create a mock tank (with borders made of tape on my garage floor) and try to put together my aquascaping (probably using some cement I got from Marco Rocks to attach some of the pieces).

Once all of this is done, and assuming I actually get the tank on time, I should be making much more progress in the coming weeks. My goal is to have all of this up and running/cycling BEFORE Christmas. We'll see how it goes...

Thanks,

Chad