ktownhero's Red Sea Reefer 425XL build

[ktownhero]

Drill a stop into the floor.

Not pretty, but 1,000x better that a broken tank if the wind gets a hold of the door.

Thanks for the idea. I currently have one that is on the hinge that can be adjusted, but it does feel a little flimsy. The type of stop you have there *might* work, I won't know for sure until I get it in there. It depends on how far back I decide to keep the tank. The only problem is I would be drilling into concrete, I also may end up blocking the tank doors. But I like your idea, I'll investigate alternative but similar options.

Fortunately that is a door to our garage, so while it is very frequently used, it is not much of a wind risk.

 

[ktownhero]

What I can probably do is put a hard wall stop on the trim to the right of the tank which would hit the inside of the door and prevent it from swinging too far. I'm going to experiment with that.

 

[bizacon]

This picture shows the door going a little past the width of the stand

 

[ktownhero]

This picture shows the door going a little past the width of the stand

Oh bizacon, thank you, but I just realized that I didn't clarify what I was looking for correctly. What I mean is whether the door at the point closest to the hinge extends beyond the width at any point during the swing? I think these have the type of doors that sort of suck-in and don't extend out, but I just would feel better verifying

If you can imagine for a moment that my stand, when closed, will fit rather tightly (~1/4" of free space on each side) in that opening. I want to be sure that the door closest to the hinge doesn't need room past the width of the stand to properly open.

EDIT: This is one of those things that's much harder to explain than it seems lol.

 

[Therinx]

What's to the right of the door?

We had an issue like this once, and we just redid it so the door opened to the left instead of right, or vice versa. Or you could have it open out into the garage instead of the fish room.

 

[ktownhero]

What's to the right of the door?

We had an issue like this once, and we just redid it so the door opened to the left instead of right, or vice versa. Or you could have it open out into the garage instead of the fish room.

There is a couch, but there may be enough room to do what you are saying. Not a bad idea...

 

[bizacon]

Nope. No extra room needed. You are good to go

 

[ktownhero]

Nope. No extra room needed. You are good to go

You're awesome, thank you!

 

[mpderksen]

Thanks for the idea. I currently have one that is on the hinge that can be adjusted, but it does feel a little flimsy. The type of stop you have there *might* work, I won't know for sure until I get it in there. It depends on how far back I decide to keep the tank. The only problem is I would be drilling into concrete, I also may end up blocking the tank doors. But I like your idea, I'll investigate alternative but similar options.

Fortunately that is a door to our garage, so while it is very frequently used, it is not much of a wind risk.

Gorilla glue and done. If the cabinet door work, of course. I dread the follow up thread where you post a picture of a busted tank....

 

[moondoggy4]

You could have the door knob lowered and the locking assembly lowered as well easy job for a door guy. Garage doors are fire rated so it has to be done right. The stop is a great idea as well.

 

[ktownhero]

Gorilla glue and done. If the cabinet door work, of course. I dread the follow up thread where you post a picture of a busted tank....

Appreciate the concern, but you'll never read that thread. I don't do half assed work lol.

I already have a stopper on the hinge that prevents the door from going that far. I'm going to add a second one for the heck of it. Also, this door doesn't swing freely so any opening of it has to be deliberate. The tank is not going to be flush with the wall, it will be recessed and sit flush with the inside of the frame. I may consider flipping the door but I actually like the door closing in front of the tank for physical and temperature protection.

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[ktownhero]

So I decided to take an extra week and pour a self-leveling underlayment... It was worth the wait. Space is officially ready for the tank

The space was so far out of level that I poured a nice thick layer, so the tank will probably go directly on it versus laying the laminate back down.

 

[ktownhero]

Well, we have the dry set up complete!

Thank god for self-leveling cement... Worked perfectly:

 

[GQuinn]

That fits in there perfect. Looks good.

 

[bizacon]

That is a perfect fit for sure. Looking good.

 

[ktownhero]

Thanks! I started experimenting with aquascape last night. Just to remind, this was the base drawing I did a while back:

So based on the rock I received, this is the core structure that I feel pretty happy with:

And then for fun I just experimented with stacking the rest of the rock to see what it looks like. I actually somewhat like how it turned out:

The only issue I am thinking is that the primary viewing position for the tank will be off center to the left, so I want to be sure that from that angle you get the coolest view. It's hard to convey in pictures, but that layout actually has a pretty nice "3d" effect due to the angle of the structures and the way they overlap when viewed from the left.

Thoughts?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I like it! Looks close to perfect.

One suggestion would be to make sure the two structures are not the same size, so it doesn't look too symmetrical, and the tank is not divided in equal halves. I think you're pretty much doing that, but you may want to emphasize the size difference a little more, if I'm nitpicking.

Sweet!

 

[ktownhero]

I like it! Looks close to perfect.

One suggestion would be to make sure the two structures are not the same size, so it doesn't look too symmetrical, and the tank is not divided in equal halves. I think you're pretty much doing that, but you may want to emphasize the size difference a little more, if I'm nitpicking.

Sweet!

Hey, thanks for the input! I actually agree with you entirely. I just threw that last mound on the left together last night just to see what it would look like if I used all of the rock, but the reality is I won't likely use all of it. Plus, I still need to leave room for 20ish lbs of TBS rock to seed the tank with Thing is, I'm so happy with this Pukani that I almost don't want to have to throw a different type of rock in there. But I really love live rock so want to use enough that I'm sure to get ample life.

 

[ktownhero]

Well, got the tank wet for a test run last night. Everything is great except I'm still waiting on some black vinyl tubing for my final return plumbing.

The only issue I have is the Eheim 1262 is too loud. I have it on air tubing skis so it's not vibration, and confirmed the noise with the pump held in my hand and with no tubing touching the walls. I took it apart and everything looks perfectly fine. Does this pump require a break in period before it quiets down?

Also I think I settled on this as my final aquascape:

 

[bif24701]

Well, got the tank wet for a test run last night. Everything is great except I'm still waiting on some black vinyl tubing for my final return plumbing.

The only issue I have is the Eheim 1262 is too loud. I have it on air tubing skis so it's not vibration, and confirmed the noise with the pump held in my hand and with no tubing touching the walls. I took it apart and everything looks perfectly fine. Does this pump require a break in period before it quiets down?

Also I think I settled on this as my final aquascape:

What type of plumbing did you use on your return pump? Using soft tubing or a short run of silicon tubing will silence the pump.


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