New Tank Diary! 70 Tall (36x18x25)

I forgot to mention one thing. If it were me, I would run 2 drains in the overflow (one main and one backup) and I would run the return over the back. Since you will have to keep the tank off the wall to accomodate the closed loop, you might as well put the return back there too. You have already had one tank explode, and a heater break and destroy your rock. Your reefing luck hasn't been great.

Safety (and redundancy) First!



Brad
 
anyone else have any opinions on black silicone? is it worth $35??

I agree on the height it'll definitely give me more options when aquascaping - and it will allow me to keep a variety of coral (can move non-sps lower/shaded if the light is too intense up higher)

What plumbing could I buy before the tank gets here? I know i need valves (which kind again?) after the main drain, before the skimmer, CL (how many? 1 on each side of the pump and 1 for each hole in the tank? 1 drain 2 returns so 5?).

Also i need 1 more bulkhead - JJ I think you said you got those 2 (2" and 1 3/4"?) from savko, which ones were they.

Should I get any locline for my CL returns? (which are going to be down near the bottom, 4 or 6 outlets) or should I just use PVC? what about penductors (although the snapper is flow rated not pressure rated) or those little things that spin around (can't think of what they're called)
 
I was definitely contemplating 2 drains in the overflow and the back of my canopy is currently open (might have to do something about that if the light is too distracting) - looks like I'll have to get some black PVC from Savko (i think the return will be the only visible plumbing if I can keep the CL down low enough.)
 
About time you start your dang tank! yeah those are form Savko if you go to there site they will list the dimensions of the bulkhead so you can give those to glasscages to have those holes cut, or we can just do it again here. I think they charge like $15 a hole but a nice clean cut or I can do it for free but not as clean.

good luck man, update with pics!
 
The cuts you did on my last tank were very clean! plus when the bulkheads are in place you can't see them anyway, so i think i'll have you do them again...save me some $$ for other things (like fish and corals :rolleyes: )

I'm gonna call them today, so hopefully 30 days is enough time for them to get it built.
 
All right! Tank is ordered and I'll pick it up the 14!

Now if I could just change the title of this thread to "New Tank Diary! 65 Gal"...
 
Nice. This is going to be sweet. JJ and I should be plumbing my setup in about a week and a half. You should come by when we do it so you get an idea of how everything works. Once you have seen that, we can come up with a plan for your tank and an exact list of all the plumbing parts you'll need.

Give me a call this week and we can get a start on killing fish over a sushi lunch.
 
I see how it is...Phil and I work in the same building only one floor apart and he gets a sushi lunch invite while I have to settle for my ramen noodles yet again?

Sheesh you help a guy move his tank and he won't even let you drink BEFORE the work at hand...

;-)
I would like to stop over during the plumbing phase too. I may decide to drill after all and if I do that, I am doing a stand and canopy to conceal all of the plumbing...
 
I didn't realize you worked downtown Ryan. If you want to come have lunch with Phil and me sometime, just holler at Phil and we can set it up.

If you want to come watch the plumbing phase, feel free. I am sure JJ will be happy to have more people to hand him 90s or bring him drinks! I will let you know when we are ready to start, so we can work something out.


Brad
 
I definitely want to be on hand while JJ is plumbing!

and sushi for lunch this week sounds great! Have you guys tried Junko yet? (although I think all they have is Sushi so we may have to stick to Zen or Sushi Box if sarah comes or if Ryan doesn't like sushi)
 
I like Sushi but I got spoiled by a GREAT place next to the hotel I always stayed at in Detroit. They also had a Korean BBQ attached.
I haven't tried either place downtown yet. May be a good chance to try it. Today or tomorrow will not work for me but Thurs or Fri will.

On the plumbing side, any info I can glean from anyone's tank will help. I am still nervous about drilling my tank and adding a cal-flow overflow. Still favoring just a HOB overflow but we will see what happens. I am starting to like the idea of building a stand to contain my sump and fuge and skimmer and not having to cut a hole in the wall for it...
 
You can still have all your equip in the stand if you have a HOB overflow (well i assume, not sure how your setup will look), that's actually what I was going to do - but when my 40 broke and I decided to get a new one I looked for a RR since the tank will be against a 1/2 wall and I (my GF) wanted as little plumbing to show as possible.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10790914#post10790914 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Philby
I looked for a RR since the tank will be against a 1/2 wall and I (my GF) wanted as little plumbing to show as possible.
Click to expand...


There you go Phil, you are already working it like a reefer. "You know dear, the tank would make far less noise with a deltec skimming it..." "If we only had an aquacontroller, this fish tank wouldn't take up so much of our free time..." Etc. etc. :lol:



Brad
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10790747#post10790747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZLTFUL
I haven't tried either place downtown yet. May be a good chance to try it. Today or tomorrow will not work for me but Thurs or Fri will.
Click to expand...

I am already booked for lunch on Thursday and Friday, and most of next week I will be busy as well. I say we hit Zen next Friday at 12:30.
Brad
 
I just got a call and it seems like making the tank 24" high is going to be near impossible because the starphire comes in 25" sheets and can't be cut down an inch - I have never worked with glass so I decided to go with the expertise of the people who do this for a living.

I really don't think this is too big of a deal - an extra inch isn't going to make that much of a difference in the lighting - and may actually make it easier for me to keep a mixed reef (lower light softies on the bottom, LPS lower middle, SPS up higher on the rocks).

And if I determine I need more light, a 2x39W normally driven t5 rig shouldn't be too expensive and should fit nicely into my canopy (i'd put the actinic supplementation on the normally driven ballasts and the "daytime" lighting overdriven on the icecap ballasts)

Plus I get an extra 5 gallons of volume!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10800802#post10800802 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Philby
I just got a call and it seems like making the tank 24" high is going to be near impossible because the starphire comes in 25" sheets and can't be cut down an inch - I have never worked with glass so I decided to go with the expertise of the people who do this for a living.

I really don't think this is too big of a deal - an extra inch isn't going to make that much of a difference in the lighting - and may actually make it easier for me to keep a mixed reef (lower light softies on the bottom, LPS lower middle, SPS up higher on the rocks).

And if I determine I need more light, a 2x39W normally driven t5 rig shouldn't be too expensive and should fit nicely into my canopy (i'd put the actinic supplementation on the normally driven ballasts and the "daytime" lighting overdriven on the icecap ballasts)

Plus I get an extra 5 gallons of volume!
Click to expand...

I don't ever recall anyone saying, "I wish I had gotten a smaller tank." Once the tank shows up, you'll be wishing that the sheets were 26" tall!

As for the lighting. Is there a big price difference between normally driven and overdriven T5s?


Brad
 
Overdriving my 39W T5s will actually push about 63W through them...which should also increase the PAR.

Here's some research done by the Grim Reefer where he posts some wattage and par measurements between different ballasts with a 4x54W t5 setup. He also compares it to some MH he had...

http://www.creativereefing.com/viewtopic.php?p=10078#10078

that Thread contains a lot of good info as does the T5 Q&A thread here on RC (in the lighting forum), but it's been split like 6 times so it takes awhile to sift through. There's also a good thread in the lighting forum of the other board I linked to called T5 101.
 
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