Restarting an old 280 build

[Northside Reef]

I Started a build thread some 6 1/2 years ago. and that build has started and stopped so many times I am not sure if it will ever get done.

It's back on again and I hope this time to finish it. The last stoppage was due the economy. It just did not seem like a good idea to put a bunch of money into a hobby when things were looking pretty grim for a lot of folks.

The basic idea of this build was to give me more water volume then I was using to help keep the system stable and the water as clean as I could.

Here is an old pic from the first thread.

The project was getting a little larger then it should have and I was going to double that water volume but it has been dialed back to the original design.

This pic shows two of the large 300 gallon tanks and three of the 100 gallon refugiums.

I am going to eliminate one of those large tanks mainly because it will just make things too crowded. I have the lower half of the system laid out in my shop right now. and it will be some form of this.

The large tank is a sump/grow-out tank, and I will have a lot more room to move around and work with this arrangement. The sump is sitting on what used to be the canopy of the old stand. The new build is going to be an in-wall so I won't need it and I like the idea of having access to the space under the sump for plumbing.

So those are pretty much the changes and where I am at thought wise with the build. A lot is still up in the air and even though I am back at it. it's still going to be slow and an ever changing process until I have things in place.

 

[Northside Reef]

Where I left off on the build last time I was just getting the filtration shed insulated and wiring it.

That's about as far as I got. I did not get the cross members made for the walls since I told my buddy who was going to make them I was putting it all on hold so hold off.

I am glad I did that because as I had more time to think about it, I changed that design.

Here is the original concept drawing I had in mind.

Even with those center braces I did not like the way those wall mounts attached to the wall.

Here is revision two.

Now not only will I be lagging those mounts into the wall, they will be bolted through the studs. There will still be center braces and those are going to be overkill.

here is what they look like.

1/4" plate so pretty sturdy.

 

[Northside Reef]

The job this weekend was to get those plates up on the walls so I can Sheetrock next weekend.

I took a few pics just for the heck of it, it just feels good to be working on this again. Looking at old pics of my poor dearly departed first tank before the big overheat crash and burn has me really motivated to get back at this.

Here are a couple of pics of that tank. It's not up to many of the tanks we've seen here but I could stare at this thing for hours and not even notice the time.

 

[fragyoureef]

best of luck

 

[Northside Reef]

So anyhow back to the wall mounts. Here they are going in:

Looks pretty level and sturdy as heck. But they have to be they'll literally have more then a ton of water sitting on them.

 

[Northside Reef]

Next I need to get those light tunnels in place so I can finish the ceiling insulation and start sheetrocking

Not sure really how much these will help those refugiums but as you can see there is a lot of light that comes down those things. I suspect in the summer it will be pretty massive. Winter not so much as they'll most likely have snow on them.

 

[Northside Reef]

How much dust do you think are on these things?

They're the old covers to the 100 gallon refugiums. I guess I have a couple more than I need now.

 

[Northside Reef]

I really hope I have more to share after next weekend.

best of luck

Thank you! I may need it.

 

[jnarowe]

love the light tubes and racking. so where you are, insulation doesn't have a paper backing?

 

[Northside Reef]

the paper needs to go away from the vapor barrier so it's there. I just need to put the vapor barrier in.

 

[jnarowe]

ah got it. I really like the wall mounts. Nicely done.

 

[Northside Reef]

ah got it. I really like the wall mounts. Nicely done.

actually took a good look at the insulation last night. It is completely unbatted. It has been awhile since I looked at it.

Put the insulation and vapor barrier up in the ceiling last night so I had to look.

Hope to at least have the ceiling done this weekend.

Meanwhile I see I have a lot of catching up to do in the hobby. LED lighting looks like it has made huge strides since I last was actively involved and I really want to take a good look at that since it was MH overheating my water and a chiller malfunction that killed my last tank.

 

[jnarowe]

Meanwhile I see I have a lot of catching up to do in the hobby. LED lighting looks like it has made huge strides since I last was actively involved and I really want to take a good look at that since it was MH overheating my water and a chiller malfunction that killed my last tank.

Yeah, I am very curious about these new advancements. I still am a bit skeptical about how well they would do in deep tanks, but I'm willing to learn!

 

[Northside Reef]

Got the sheetrock up in the ceiling hope to get the rest up this weekend. Once I get that taped and painted, it will be time to figure out what I plan to do with the floor. Once that's done I get to finally start putting things in there.

That will feel pretty good. Still a ton of work ahead, but getting this shed done will be a huge step.

I put the diffusers in the light tunnels, gets them out of my way while I figure out if it is best to just go with the clear glass.

Before:

After:

 

[jnarowe]

now comes the hard part...MUD!!

 

[Northside Reef]

now comes the hard part...MUD!!

Yeah, I have never taped and mudded before so I figure the filtration shed is a good place to practice. A buddy of mine is pretty good at it and said he would lend a hand.

Speaking of, I have a couple buddies coming over in about a half hour to help get the rest of that rock up. So that should be done today and I will get to start on the taping and mudding.

Once that's done it will be time to start in the fish room.

Here are a few old pics from the first thread of some of the equipment. This stuff is all pretty old since I started on this project over 6 years ago. These are when they were new lol. The good news is, at least it's all paid for .

Picture of one of those refugium covers before they were covered in dust, you can see the gasket on it:

And here it is on the 100 gallon Rubbermaid tub. Three of these will be under those light tunnels:

A few fittings and an old Oceans Motions 8 way valve:

A couple of pumps:

The filtration shed from the outside from a couple years back when I thought I was going to get to finish this build: The hose you see was from the sump pump. It's been rerouted since this photo

 

[jnarowe]

Mud sucks. And the "calculator" @ HD is WAY OFF! lmao You might consider getting someone in to do it, if they run cheap in MN. I would probably gore myself on those trick sump lids. :hmm5:

 

[Outerbank]

Glad you are back!

 

[Northside Reef]

Glad you are back!

Thanks, let's hope the third time IS a charm and I get this done this time.

I got most of the sheetrock up. I still have a few pieces around the window and a couple of outlets, but nothing I can't finish myself.

Looks like I need to clean that camera lens.

 

[trickedout900]

Nice selection of parts you have there. Can't wait to see some more progress.