fishcatdog66
Member
Man that looks slick!You for sure don't have kids!I have the dj panels too but out of curious little fingers way.Very pro job.
Planning a 225g reef tank
- Thread starter DaveWC
- Start date
bradleyj
Reefkeeping Mag Staff
Dave , your setup looks great. I set up my 225 back in June, so I have a little bit of a head start. Your rock looks very similar to mine , so I thought you might want to see a pick of how I set mine up.
I think I have 18 rocks total for a weight of 274lbs, so each rock is pretty large. I stacked them with lots of caves and tunnels for the fish with very little of the rock on the substrate.
I think I have 18 rocks total for a weight of 274lbs, so each rock is pretty large. I stacked them with lots of caves and tunnels for the fish with very little of the rock on the substrate.
invincible569
New member
I love your custom work and ideas!!! Good job Dave!
seamonkey2
New member
very well done, very clean I like it
excellent job
Jose
excellent job
Jose
roushboy2857
New member
Tank looks awsome! Nice planning from the start.
Getting to the picky details now. The Sfiligoi lights are 71Lx21.65Wx8.5T and will be hung from the ceiling. I've got a drop ceiling with those soundproof-butt-ugly panels. So today I decided to move one and see where the beams were above them. Luckily the beams run along the length of the tank, which will make it easier to find anchor points for the 6 aircraft cables coming from the light fixture. I decided that I want the front edge of the light to be 3" from the front edge of the tank. That way it will light everything in front 2/3 of the tank to a greater amount then the back 1/3. There will be more rock & higher rock towards the back so this makes sense to me. My house was built with Trus Joists, which are like I-beams made of 2x3 and plywood. Unfortunately there wasn't a joist exactly where I needed it for an anchor so I had to build my own. It wasn't too tough at all since there is a lip above the Trus Joist where I was able to screw in a 2x4 to support the lengthwise 2x4 that the light will be supported by. I used 3" screws all around so this baby is rock solid. I did a few chinups on the joist when I was done and it didn't budge. It's ready for the light now.
Yahoo, the tank's in place and filled with water... Yeah, right. Ok so it's sitting at Reimer's Express and won't get to my house until tomorrow. But I've got the sump filled and I'm making another 80g of RO/DI water right now so I'll be ready when the tank does get here. This also allows me to test much of the plumbing for leaks. Just have to get the tank connected and make sure the bulkheads don't leak. I'm going to risk it and not do a leak test with tap water. I figure if it leaks I don't have to drain the tank as the tank is drilled only within the overflow box. We'll see if I'm ok doing this. Otherwise all I have to do before moving the tank into place is to get the lights hung.
Since I have water in the sump I was able to connect the Aquatronica and get all of the probes in place and much of the timers/programs setup. So far this unit works great and is very easy to use. It's going to:
- handle the refugium light timing
- monitor the pH in the calcium reactor and adjust the co2 on that basis
- turn the kalk mixer on/off throughout the day
- act as a thermostat for the heater
- handle the topoff of the sump with RO water
- measure the pH in the sump
- measure the salinity of the system
- measure the ORP of the system and control the ozone reactor on that basis
- possibly put the UV on a timer
I've also got the ethernet adaptor on order so I'll be able to monitor/control all of these devices remotely.
Since I have water in the sump I was able to connect the Aquatronica and get all of the probes in place and much of the timers/programs setup. So far this unit works great and is very easy to use. It's going to:
- handle the refugium light timing
- monitor the pH in the calcium reactor and adjust the co2 on that basis
- turn the kalk mixer on/off throughout the day
- act as a thermostat for the heater
- handle the topoff of the sump with RO water
- measure the pH in the sump
- measure the salinity of the system
- measure the ORP of the system and control the ozone reactor on that basis
- possibly put the UV on a timer
I've also got the ethernet adaptor on order so I'll be able to monitor/control all of these devices remotely.
Ken Sellick
New member
Truss joists
Truss joists
You need to carefully look at those trussjoists. At a quick glance they look to be cut up to much by the duct work. I would atleast add 3/4" plywood gussets to each side of each trussjoist.
Consult with the joist manufacturer before hanging anything on those!!!!!!!
Truss joists
You need to carefully look at those trussjoists. At a quick glance they look to be cut up to much by the duct work. I would atleast add 3/4" plywood gussets to each side of each trussjoist.
Consult with the joist manufacturer before hanging anything on those!!!!!!!
Re: Truss joists
Re: Truss joists
I'll look into it, thanks for the concern. It doesn't seem like it would be a problem though. The light is about 100lbs and will be spread out over a 6 foot span. I'm no engineer and I don't know if it's the same to compare weight hanging from a joist as placing weight on a joist, but isn't a 100lb weight on a 6 foot span the same as hanging a 16lb weight every foot? And the weight will be shared by the two parallel joist so that would be like hanging an 8lb weight from each joist every foot for 6 feet. It doesn't seem like a big issue to me but I'll ask a buddy who knows this kinda stuff. If I can't get any info I'll brace it with plywood like you suggest.
Re: Truss joists
I'll look into it, thanks for the concern. It doesn't seem like it would be a problem though. The light is about 100lbs and will be spread out over a 6 foot span. I'm no engineer and I don't know if it's the same to compare weight hanging from a joist as placing weight on a joist, but isn't a 100lb weight on a 6 foot span the same as hanging a 16lb weight every foot? And the weight will be shared by the two parallel joist so that would be like hanging an 8lb weight from each joist every foot for 6 feet. It doesn't seem like a big issue to me but I'll ask a buddy who knows this kinda stuff. If I can't get any info I'll brace it with plywood like you suggest.
Ok, the guy that I talked to said I shouldn't have anything to worry about. But when I started this project I was determined not to take shortcuts and to do it right. So today I added gussets to both i-beams. It's probably overkill but it's done & now I don't have to think about it at night. Thanks to Ken for the tip.
The tank is here, it's been moved into the basement and on Sunday I'll get it on the stand. Moving it downstairs was a challenge. I've got a curved staircase and the tank was about 400-450 lbs. We had 3 suction cups for lifting and without those I don't think we'd have made it. I had lots of help but you can only fit so many down the stairs at one time. Thankfully it's inside and soon I'll get some water into it.
The light is hung and looks great. I'll get some pictures on Sunday.
The light is hung and looks great. I'll get some pictures on Sunday.
Michael Mota
New member
awesome, can't wait to see it on the stand!!
