rEd86
Premium Member
OK. We're finally ready to get moving with this tank upgrade! I have found someone that is going to come up this Tuesday and repair the tank. His name is Larry Iacobella from Alabama and he has been building/repairing tanks for over 25 years. It should be interesting working on this monster since it's not something you can easily flip in order to get at different areas.
So I have started getting items ordered that I am going to need for the upgrade. I am trying to get away with moving to this system without too much initial out of pocket expenses. Ideally I'll break even after I sell the 180g & 265g tanks that I am replacing. Luckily, most of the equipment that is on the 265 can be reused, which was the plan when I initially set it up.
Since I want this tank to be a peninsula, I am going to remove one of the overflows and use the three 1 1/2" bulkheads for a closed loop system. One will be for the inlet and the other two will server as the outlets, alternating flow with a Oceans Motions 4-way. It will be powered with the Reeflow Hammerhead pump that I currently have hooked up as the return for my sump. I spent a good bit of time talking on the phone with Paul Hayton about this. He went through everything that I was doing to make sure what I was ordering was going to work. He validated everything I was planning on doing and clarified a couple of things I wasn't sure about. Talk about great customer service! The closed loop will supplement the VorTech pumps I have and provide flow in the middle section and hopefully avoid dead spots. I can order other pumps as necessary and move the VorTech pumps around when I need to adjust flow.
I have ordered one of the new Reeflow Blackfin 6000 pumps. It has 2" in/out so I can hook it directly to my sump for the return. I plan on building a manifold that can feed most of my equipment in the sump and eliminate a couple of smaller pumps that are not necessary. (on the calcium reactor, skimmer, etc.)
The fun part is going to moving the 265g out of the way to set up the 700g (it will be sitting over the same spot) and moving everything into the new system. The goal is to build the stand once the 700g tank repairs are completed and do a dry fit of all the plumbing and equipment. Then over a weekend, I would take a day to move everything out of the existing tank and into tubs so I can slide the old tank/stand out of the way. The second day would be spent setting up the new tank and moving everything back into the 700g tank.
With any luck this thread will get some activity over the next few weeks and moving forward. And it’s been too long since I have posted a picture so I just snapped this:
The girls have made the tank into a clubhouse while it’s been empty â€"œ patiently playing in it when I have to come in and do some work on the tanks at the office. This will be the last time they play in it when it’s dry. Maybe I’ll let them play one last time in it and go for a swim when it's filling up with water before we move the rock in!
--Ed
So I have started getting items ordered that I am going to need for the upgrade. I am trying to get away with moving to this system without too much initial out of pocket expenses. Ideally I'll break even after I sell the 180g & 265g tanks that I am replacing. Luckily, most of the equipment that is on the 265 can be reused, which was the plan when I initially set it up.
Since I want this tank to be a peninsula, I am going to remove one of the overflows and use the three 1 1/2" bulkheads for a closed loop system. One will be for the inlet and the other two will server as the outlets, alternating flow with a Oceans Motions 4-way. It will be powered with the Reeflow Hammerhead pump that I currently have hooked up as the return for my sump. I spent a good bit of time talking on the phone with Paul Hayton about this. He went through everything that I was doing to make sure what I was ordering was going to work. He validated everything I was planning on doing and clarified a couple of things I wasn't sure about. Talk about great customer service! The closed loop will supplement the VorTech pumps I have and provide flow in the middle section and hopefully avoid dead spots. I can order other pumps as necessary and move the VorTech pumps around when I need to adjust flow.
I have ordered one of the new Reeflow Blackfin 6000 pumps. It has 2" in/out so I can hook it directly to my sump for the return. I plan on building a manifold that can feed most of my equipment in the sump and eliminate a couple of smaller pumps that are not necessary. (on the calcium reactor, skimmer, etc.)
The fun part is going to moving the 265g out of the way to set up the 700g (it will be sitting over the same spot) and moving everything into the new system. The goal is to build the stand once the 700g tank repairs are completed and do a dry fit of all the plumbing and equipment. Then over a weekend, I would take a day to move everything out of the existing tank and into tubs so I can slide the old tank/stand out of the way. The second day would be spent setting up the new tank and moving everything back into the 700g tank.
With any luck this thread will get some activity over the next few weeks and moving forward. And it’s been too long since I have posted a picture so I just snapped this:
The girls have made the tank into a clubhouse while it’s been empty â€"œ patiently playing in it when I have to come in and do some work on the tanks at the office. This will be the last time they play in it when it’s dry. Maybe I’ll let them play one last time in it and go for a swim when it's filling up with water before we move the rock in!
--Ed
