New 225 Setup with Aquascaping Focus

[andrewsk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7579313#post7579313 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrismunn
right, thats why i was asking. the frameless looks like acrylic, but by the pic you can tell its glass, very nice!
and why would you need to cut a hole in the foam pad exactly? i dont see any reason to?
by the way, what was the time frame you were looking at untill this thing has water in it?

This is what I was told by Gold's. The store that built my tank.

Since this tank is frameless, you'll want the center of the tank to "float". The reason being that, under pressure, the glass will push down against the floor support, with the floor support exerting an equal amount of pressure back against the glass (physics, lol). If there's ANY kind of uneveness against the glass (eg. a knot area in the plywood), it's going to create different areas of pressure; foam will only provide a marginal buffer against this. Imagine pushing the end of a 2x4 against the center of the front panel, it'll just break. The same applies to your bottom panel, except tenfold since that's where all of the weight is concentrated.

For this reason, Oceanic will not warrantee cracked tanks that are not put on Oceanic stands. These stands support only the outside edges of the tank, thus, floating the center.

Edit: you're going to want to go back to Home Depot and pick up some of the 3/4" hard foam insulation sheets for this. Soft foam is just asking for it...

The tank has to sit for a week and then have water in it for a week to leak test.

 

[andrewsk]

Well, my live rock arrived today. I currently have about 70 lbs of Deep Water Tonga in my 90 gallon so I re-odered another 70 as I love the look of it over the standard Fiji. It is more expensive but well worth it. I also have another 50 of Fiji rock to go under the Tonga.

I took it out of the box and placed it in one of my barrels of salt water. It will stay in here until some of the pollution is gone from it. After a few hours in the bucket I am glad I did this because MAN DOES IT STINK! My wife is not pleased. Just look:

I will be changing the water daily until this clears up a bit.

I also found the strangest creature lurking near the surface of my smelly mess. Anyone recognize this?

I also replaced the foam to the thicker 3/4" pink styrofoam and cut it out as per Alberts help.

Now I just need to get someone to lift the tank for me! Any takers?

I also installed the bulkheads so that they can have a week to cure along with the tank.

The rest of the week will be plumbing the tank and refugium.

 

[thor32766]

great work keep it up!!!!

 

[King-Kong]

Cook that live rock.

 

[andrewsk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7580645#post7580645 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by King-Kong
Cook that live rock.

You don't think I should give it any light? The shades of Coraline are amazing and I would like to keep some of it.

 

[bradleyj]

I just started my 225 two weeks ago. I added a closed loop run by a sequence dart pump, and I have a dart for a return.
I also went with a 72" Maristar light fixture-3/ 250w Ushio 10k and 4 T-5 Geissman pure actinic.
I added my rock to my tank last week and now the waiting has begun.

 

[King-Kong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7580768#post7580768 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by andrewsk
You don't think I should give it any light? The shades of Coraline are amazing and I would like to keep some of it.

I dont think you should light it. I think you'll have more corraline than you know what to do with either way, and by the time this beautiful tank takes off, you'll care more about your beautiful corals and fish than the corraline covering your walls and rock.

If you properly cook this rock, you can better ensure the possibility of enjoying the tank rather than dealing with algae blooms and continued leaching of nitrates/phosphates (for the next 6 months).

If you do cook, keep very strong current on that rock; this will help the corraline and deter the nuissance algaes. Also, keep the water theyre in clean, and high in calcium/mag (an aggressive rock-cooking water-change regiment should maintain that balance).

 

[King-Kong]

To add to the above, if you want to really ensure the corraline colony[ies], you can try to find small pieces with the specimens you like, and move those small pieces to your existing tank, or an existing tank with good conditions to let it thrive.

You dont have to cook every last ounce of your rock; I dont think sparing a couple of pounds [which that corraline on it] will hurt.

 

[andrewsk]

Ok Kong,

Lights are off. Rocks are cooking. My plan is to leave it for 3 - 4 weeks with a water change daily. No lighting.

Sound reasonable?

 

[andrewsk]

Looks good bradley. we have a lot of the same equipment. Keep us posted.

 

[chrismunn]

very cool bradleyj, you should start your own thread!

by the way guys, what is "cooking rock"?
last time i cooked rock i was getting high!

 

[deansreef]

cant wait too see the progress!!!!

 

[andrewsk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7583199#post7583199 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrismunn
very cool bradleyj, you should start your own thread!

by the way guys, what is "cooking rock"?
last time i cooked rock i was getting high!

Cooking rock is just placing it in fresh Salt Water with no light. All of the impurities and junk, that cause the algae to grow all over the rock in out tank is slowly leeched out. It takes a while to do and a LOT of water changes, but as Kong said, it save a lot of hassle in the long run.

 

[BC Sparky]

Hey, great to see another Canadian starting a project like this- I'm just in the planning/ dmeo the house stage. I'll follow your progress.

 

[andrewsk]

Well I have a new update for anyone following along. The tank has now been placed on the styrafoam sheet and filled with water! (No leaks yet)

I have hooked up the wavebox and one of my Tunze Streams and the flow from the wavebox is truly amazing. So far, the best purchase I have made. I cannot wait to get my Corals in there.

In the images above you can see the wave being kicked up by the wavebox!

I also got the custom starboard installed. I cut it on a 45 degree angle so it did not touch the original silicone, and filled in the spaces/gaps with new silicone. Since silicone does not stick to starboard, it was simply used for filling in the spaces. All the silicone on the top of the starboard was removed/wiped off before the water was added. So far it seems to be working very well.

The Overflow box is now working well and is very silent. The strainer on the left is connected to the Main flow pipe which has a gate valve attached at the sump. The valve is closed to allow just less than enough water to flow through. The pipe on the right catches the tiny bit of extra flow and the tank is totally silent.

I have a temporary Sump set up until the new one from Golds is done.

It had to be special ordered to allow my skimmer to fit into it.

My live rock is still cooking/curing and the rotten smell is almost gone now.

We are also completing construction on the sump room so I hope to have this all set up in the next 2 weeks, followed by the sump, lights and then the Aquascaping can begin!

 

[andrewsk]

We are currently waiting for the floor to be installed in the Sump/filter room before I can get the sump in and start hooking up all of my goodies! I am hoping next week.

It is being done by Sierra Stone and thay are putting this awesome Shark image out of Black stone right in the middle of the fish room.

Walls are getting painted tomorrow...

Here is the tank with Water in it and my beginings of the Aquascaping. The rock and tank look so small in these pics. LOL. Some of the rock pieces are HUGE.

It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a nice long lane between the 2 rock piles that I really like. I am still playing right now.

The pile on the left will be getting more rock added to it and I may drill some of these with PVC. Corals are waiting to be placed.

Fish are in quarantine in 2 holding tanks and want out badly.

I am seriously thinking of getting a chiller so I do not have to worry about overheating with my PFO Metal Halide system (3 x 250 Watt). Going to start pricing tomorrow. Then I have to figure out how to vent some of this air.

Opinions and suggestions are always welcome!!!

 

[vermast5]

Hey great looking set up!
Im a canadian to!
Im from Ontario though!
I actualy am flying out to Calgary tomroow!
My brother lives in red deer and is getting married!
Looks great love the tank!
Your overflow is sweet i like that style of overflow!
Keep up the good work
ill be taggin' along wheni get back on AUG 19LOL
ya thats right!
sweet vacation eh!

 

[andrewsk]

Man, sometimes I slay me....

I ordered a new Air Dryer for my Ozone Generator but I guess I did not read the measurments properly as when it came today I could not believe how big it was! I dont even know if my air pump will be able to produce enough pressure to push air through it.

 

[breedingroom]

tagging along ...i like it

 

[Odin1]

The tank seems to becoming along very nicely. Why cook the rock? Even though it will deter algaes it will also kill almost all the benefical organisms that came on the rock. The only thing that will stay alive are the non photosynthetic organisms. Its almost like buying base rock and seeding it with a couple of peices of live rock. So in a sense you wasted your money buying live rock.