vangoghfish
Member
Great idea on the mirror Alex, you are always thinking, must be those young genes...haha
My 195 Build Thread...
- Thread starter Alex T.
- Start date
vangoghfish
Member
Love the custom sump Alex, nice setup.
Yikes! I can understand how that little imperfection must make you feel. I agree though that it shouldn't affect the integrity of the tank at all. If it involved any sort of crack up along the length of the glass that would be a different story. But a chip from the bottom corner that doesn't even extend into the silicone won't make any difference at all.
The tank is built well and as long as its on a solid, well built stand thats perfectly flat and level, you won't have any issues to ever worry about.
I say, just try to forget about it and proceed!
The tank is built well and as long as its on a solid, well built stand thats perfectly flat and level, you won't have any issues to ever worry about.
I say, just try to forget about it and proceed!
Alex T.
Active member
Unfortunately David, I'm running out of the young ones and seem to be stockpiling the older ones faster than I'd like.
Thanks. I wanted it to be as large as possible and still have some room left over inside the stand to the right of the sump so that I could fit two five gallon buckets, shelving for test kits, and a dry spot away from the sump to drill the controllers for my four Vortech MP40's. This way I can plumb the drain line with a ball valve that will allow me to pull the Durso pipe in the overflow and empty the contents into a 5 gallon bucket instead of having to siphon it out once in a while when it builds up detritus. I'm trying to solve all the problems I had with my last tank and make it as easy as possible to maintain. Slowly but surely.
In all fairness, the chip reaches all the way to the bottom panel but does not affect it. I can barely scrape my fingernail on the underside of the bottom panel's silicone seam, but there is no crack and still 11/16 of a possible 12/16 bonded surface between the side edge of the bottom panel and the bottom portion of the chipped back panel. I agree these things are built like....well...TANKS. I just don't like knowing it's there.
vangoghfish
Member
Can't wait to see!
Alex T.
Active member
Ok...time for an update. I'm bad at taking pictures as I build things with all materials and equipment neatly displayed. I sort of design with an "organic" touch. That's layman's terms for "reckless abandon".
I've stuck to my guns by trying to do things exactly as I set out (minimalist approach, easy access, design built around longterm maintenance of the system).
So far, here's where I am:
As stated, I built the stand using RocketEngineer's design from the DIY Forum. This allowed me to build the stand without a center brace so that a larger sump could be installed. For added peace of mind I used 2x6 for the legs instead of the 2x4 construction that was in the original design. I also dressed the sides and back with marine grade OSB 1/2 inch plywood, one coat of Zinsser mold resistant primer, exterior white silicone for all the joints and 3 coats of Coronado Rustscat Semi Gloss Latex paint. This is by far the hardest, most durable paint finish I've ever used on wood. The front stand panel was build using 1/2" birch plywood and poplar trim and received the same finish. Since I didn't want doors to open with additional hardware that would rust over time, a large plywood panel in the stand would have warped so I chose 1/2" Hardibacker cement board that I painted with a stainless steel handle for removal. It's heavy, but durable, mold resistant and will never warp. You'll note in the picture to the right of the sump that I plumbed the return line to an insulated box in my garage which is on the other side of the wall behind the stand. I also ran the drain line from the right side of the tank into the garage and re-entering the stand on the other side near the skimmer. This allows for easy access to any part of the sump with no salt creep to clean off of pvc. I will be drilling one more large hole in the stand that will be for the chords to the heater, the carbon/gfo reactor, the calcium reactor and the skimmer pump. This way there will be no outlets or plugins inside the stand. All reactors will be located in the garage and feed back into the sump minimizing noise and unneeded heat from entering the system.
I laid out my aquascape, which includes only 93 pounds of dead rock and 80 pounds of Fiji Pink Aragonite making a 1" bottom cover. After seeing how the tank was lit with only 2 of the 400 watt Radiums, I may stay with this setup and add VHO actinics and maybe a Stunner Strip for moonlight. The Halides are 16 inches over the water, and the tank is still very intensely lit...no doubt that the Lumenmax Elite reflectors help with water penetration at the low rock profile that I've laid out. The dust still needs to settle, and I've been dosing MB7 daily to get bacterial beds going.
The canopy was built with the same methodology (poplar, 1/2" birch plywood, primed and painted.) The removable door panels are affixed with construction velcro. They are painted the same color as the walls in the room with a lauan cutout mimicking a wave that was glued on top to show depth. The affect is pretty cool, and one of my daughter's ideas.
And so it begins...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187233&stc=1&d=1335473036
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?
attachmentid=187234&stc=1&d=1335473087
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187236&stc=1&d=1335473283
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187237&stc=1&d=1335473340
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187240&stc=1&d=1335473482
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187243&stc=1&d=1335473884
I've stuck to my guns by trying to do things exactly as I set out (minimalist approach, easy access, design built around longterm maintenance of the system).
So far, here's where I am:
As stated, I built the stand using RocketEngineer's design from the DIY Forum. This allowed me to build the stand without a center brace so that a larger sump could be installed. For added peace of mind I used 2x6 for the legs instead of the 2x4 construction that was in the original design. I also dressed the sides and back with marine grade OSB 1/2 inch plywood, one coat of Zinsser mold resistant primer, exterior white silicone for all the joints and 3 coats of Coronado Rustscat Semi Gloss Latex paint. This is by far the hardest, most durable paint finish I've ever used on wood. The front stand panel was build using 1/2" birch plywood and poplar trim and received the same finish. Since I didn't want doors to open with additional hardware that would rust over time, a large plywood panel in the stand would have warped so I chose 1/2" Hardibacker cement board that I painted with a stainless steel handle for removal. It's heavy, but durable, mold resistant and will never warp. You'll note in the picture to the right of the sump that I plumbed the return line to an insulated box in my garage which is on the other side of the wall behind the stand. I also ran the drain line from the right side of the tank into the garage and re-entering the stand on the other side near the skimmer. This allows for easy access to any part of the sump with no salt creep to clean off of pvc. I will be drilling one more large hole in the stand that will be for the chords to the heater, the carbon/gfo reactor, the calcium reactor and the skimmer pump. This way there will be no outlets or plugins inside the stand. All reactors will be located in the garage and feed back into the sump minimizing noise and unneeded heat from entering the system.
I laid out my aquascape, which includes only 93 pounds of dead rock and 80 pounds of Fiji Pink Aragonite making a 1" bottom cover. After seeing how the tank was lit with only 2 of the 400 watt Radiums, I may stay with this setup and add VHO actinics and maybe a Stunner Strip for moonlight. The Halides are 16 inches over the water, and the tank is still very intensely lit...no doubt that the Lumenmax Elite reflectors help with water penetration at the low rock profile that I've laid out. The dust still needs to settle, and I've been dosing MB7 daily to get bacterial beds going.
The canopy was built with the same methodology (poplar, 1/2" birch plywood, primed and painted.) The removable door panels are affixed with construction velcro. They are painted the same color as the walls in the room with a lauan cutout mimicking a wave that was glued on top to show depth. The affect is pretty cool, and one of my daughter's ideas.
And so it begins...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187233&stc=1&d=1335473036
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?
attachmentid=187234&stc=1&d=1335473087
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187236&stc=1&d=1335473283
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187237&stc=1&d=1335473340
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187240&stc=1&d=1335473482
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=187243&stc=1&d=1335473884
Attachments
vangoghfish
Member
Love the last shot Alex with MH.
Alex T.
Active member
Thanks David. No flash needed!
vangoghfish
Member
Starting to look like paradise already, without fish or corals too.
Alex T.
Active member
It appears that my overflowing skimmer has subsided and begun skimming a dry skimmate. I'm going to let it run with a lower water level a few days to make sure it's not going to overflow again and make sure it's stabilized.
I tested alkalinity over the weekend and saw that it had dropped to 6 dKH. For the life of me, I can't figure out what could cause such a drop from 8 dKH in a new set-up with dead rock and dry sand. I use Red Sea Salt mix (regular formula, not Coral Pro which measures to 8) and I started dripping kalkwasser yesterday afternoon with my topoff water. I was able to raise it to 7. I don't want to do it too fast, but it appears I need supplementation already to keep things stable.
I've never had a kalk reactor, but if someone knows of a brand/type that they could recommend, I'm all ears. I'd like to run kalk with all evaporated water, but I know as SPS begin to grow that I'll have to bring my calcium reactor online as well.
Thanks guys.
I tested alkalinity over the weekend and saw that it had dropped to 6 dKH. For the life of me, I can't figure out what could cause such a drop from 8 dKH in a new set-up with dead rock and dry sand. I use Red Sea Salt mix (regular formula, not Coral Pro which measures to 8) and I started dripping kalkwasser yesterday afternoon with my topoff water. I was able to raise it to 7. I don't want to do it too fast, but it appears I need supplementation already to keep things stable.
I've never had a kalk reactor, but if someone knows of a brand/type that they could recommend, I'm all ears. I'd like to run kalk with all evaporated water, but I know as SPS begin to grow that I'll have to bring my calcium reactor online as well.
Thanks guys.
SPotter
Active member
Alex, I have a precision marine kalk stirrer that I am not using on my tank. Its probably 18 months old and only used for about 12 months.
http://www.aquacave.com/Precision-Marine-KR-620-Professional-Kalkwasser-Reactor-P207C476.aspx
let me know if you're interested...we can do a trade for the sohal.
http://www.aquacave.com/Precision-Marine-KR-620-Professional-Kalkwasser-Reactor-P207C476.aspx
let me know if you're interested...we can do a trade for the sohal.
teacherthomas
New member
Just wondering, since it has black walls and sides and the chip is at it the backhand bottom, with and you are using a sand bed, and worried about the chip, why didn't you silicon a couple of pieces of glass yourself on the inside of the tank at the corner, one at the bottom and one at each of the sides, they would have only had to be a couple of inches wide to re-enforce the corners, and then you wouldn't have to have wondered about it at all. It would never have been seen by you after the sand bed was in place and there would be absolutely no structural issues to thnk of (though from the look of the chip and the location there likely won't be anyway)
Alex T.
Active member
Alex T.
Active member
I'll PM you my number and we can finalize meeting up. Would love to see the monster you're creating.
Alex T.
Active member
As for corals, it will be predominately SPS, with an assortment of staghorns, milleporas and a nice efflo if I can get my hands on one. For main lighting, I'm only going to be running two 400 watt Radiums cheated toward the middle so I can fade to black at the sides of the rock structures. I arranged the rock work like it was designed for a 4 foot 120 gallon tank so that I would have the 1 foot of negative sand space on the sides. That way I'll be able to keep some lower light acans, brains, zooanthids and palys on the left and right and under overhangs.
As for fish, I'm keeping my Yellow tang, looking for maybe an Achilles or Powder Brown, a couple interesting wrasses and a small school of Bartlett's Anthias. In the middle twixt the rocks I'll find some nice Maxima clams and then watch it grow out. I may put a maximum of 20 SPS corals in this tank and just let them grow out instead of smaller specimens jammed together. The skimmer just broke in, and diatoms are dieing off (Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate are at 0) so I'll be looking for some easy corals and maybe introduce the Anthias once things stabilize and I start seeing specs of coralline. I'm happy with how it's gone so far. Time will tell.
teacherthomas
New member
That was my meaning. It won't be an issue, but by doing so would remove the worry from you so it wouldn't always have to be "in the back of your mind". It is the worrying that is the problem, not the tank. Smile
Alex T.
Active member
Thanks for the advice. I'm worrying less and less about it. I'm just trusting that my carpentry skills with a plumb, level and sturdy stand can help alleviate any undue stress on any of the panes of glass.
As for an update, I've added a cleanup crew consisting of 20 Cerith Snails, 10 Nassarius Snails, 10 dwarf blue legged hermit crabs and 2 peppermint shrimp. They've all but eliminated what little diatoms I had. The tank seems to have stabilized at the following parameters:
Ammonia and Nitrite were never present. I thank MB7 and dead rock and sand for that.
NO3: undetectable (Salifert Kit)
PO4: undetectable (Hanna handheld meter)
Ca: 410
dKH: 8
Mg: 1270
Salinity: 1.025/1.026
Temp: 78 - 80
Ph: 8.13 - 8.37
I'm evaporating about two and a half gallons per day which is replaced with kalkwasser dripped through a stone age Kent doser until I trade up next week with another reefer for his Kalk reactor. I also introduced the following livestock:
1. Male Orange Tailed Blue Devil (very docile...hides in the rocks most of the day and has been with me for 3 years)
2. Derasa Clam (now 6 inches...going to another reefer next week)
3. Green and Purple Lobed Brain Coral LPS (new addition)
4. Montepora Setosa (new addition)
5. Bali Green Slimer (new addition)
6. Red and green Favia Brain (new addition)
7. Purple, red and green acan polyp (new addition)
8. Green flower pot (Goniopora and new addition)
9. Montepora Capricornis (Red cap and new addition)
I'm going to use kalkwasser until my supplementation can't be sustained with it alone, and then I'll bring my MRC Dual Stage Calcium reactor on-line to do the bulk of the calcium and alkalinity demand. Sorry for the crappy iphone pictures. I need to get a nice camera to hopefully have much more beautiful and growing corals in the next months and years to come. The skimmer finally broke in and started pulling skimmate last Friday. Yeah!!!
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