Restarting an old 280 build

[Northside Reef]

The filtration shed floor was much more solid after work, but I had my mind made up to clean out the laundry room where the tank is going.

That's the wall it's going into, but I am expanding it over one more ceiling joist so it will be right at 8' wide and just a hair over 8' long once the divider wall is put up between my man cave (or small cubby if I were being honest) and the laundry room.

This shot shows the basement window. The filtration shed is right above that window so access into the shed will be right above that window or anywhere along that wall above those ceiling joists.

I hope I have a productive weekend lol. Lots to do!!

 

[corpse_grinder0]

this is coming together nice!

 

[Northside Reef]

this is coming together nice!

Thank You it has taken me long enough.

So today I finally put the vinyl baseboard in. I kind of sucked at it because I rushed it since I had a limited amount of time with the extra hands I needed to get the stuff from my shop to the shed.

But I was able to get a lot of the stuff in place and it fits as well as I could have hoped. It all laid out on Solid Works, but it was tight and you know what they say about theory and reality so I was worried.

It's hard to give you a real sense of the layout because I can't get a decent shot of all the equipment.

This was the solid works drawing.

And here is as best I can do with the actual placement.

 

[Richard Reefer]

Thank You it has taken me long enough.

So today I finally put the vinyl baseboard in. I kind of sucked at it because I rushed it since I had a limited amount of time with the extra hands I needed to get the stuff from my shop to the shed.

Looks good from here. Equipment in the equipment shed, it makes sense to me. :thumbsup:

It's looking real good man, keep it up.

 

[blkg35]

This is an awesome project. Glad you started it back up.
Do you have a tank currently running or will you be starting all over with livestock?
What are your plans with the livestock?

 

[Northside Reef]

Looks good from here. Equipment in the equipment shed, it makes sense to me. :thumbsup:

It's looking real good man, keep it up.

Thanks Richard.

This is an awesome project. Glad you started it back up.
Do you have a tank currently running or will you be starting all over with livestock?
What are your plans with the livestock?

I will be starting from scratch.

The 125 had:

5 Lyretail Anthias 1 male 4 female
1 Mystery Wrasse
1 Red Margin Fairy Wrasse
1 Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse
1 Bicolor Blenny
1 Powder Blue tang
1 Copperband Butterflyfish

I liked that combo so probably that. The Powder blue and the Cooperband were really cool fish that for some reason really bonded with each other. If you look at the pictures of my old tank you'll see no mater where one was the other was always near by. Same two fish are in my avatar.

I would also like to add a couple of Jaw fish. the MN zoo has a couple in their display tank and the kids love watching them dig. they'll be the first ones in. I tried a Blue spotted in the old tank but he was a late addition and the Mystery Wrasse would not leave him alone.

Also, Interesting problem I just encountered. The sump was made years ago and as you can see in the picture, it still has the protective paper on it. The paper does not want to come off. It will only comes off in minuscule little pieces that would take forever to remove.

I am going to get some goo be gone and see if it helps. Anyone have experience with this?

 

[Lavoisier]

Will you have 3 refugiums? I love the solar tubes!

 

[Northside Reef]

Will you have 3 refugiums? I love the solar tubes!

Yes, more live rock outside the tank more room inside of it.

 

[blkg35]

Nice stock list. The blue spotted jawfish would be a nice addition.

Regarding the sticky adhesive from the protective paper. I used isopropyl alcohol on my tank to remove it. I was advised by the acrylic company to not use it though. I tried in a small spot first and didn't notice any adverse effects so I used it to remove all the adhesive on the back of my tank. Maybe try it in a small area not noticeable first? You'll have to scrub a few times then it will come off.
Maybe others have a better way, I'm very interested to find out too.

 

[Richard Reefer]

Try using a heat gun or blow dryer to warm up the adhesive before you try to peal it off.

If you do use a heat make sure you use it on low as you could warp or burn the thin acrylic.

 

[Northside Reef]

Thanks for the advice on the paper I will try a heat gun on low and see if it helps.

Destruction day:

That's as far as I got. Need to clean the camera lens again

 

[Northside Reef]

First major change to the plan.

Originally I planned to put the tank behind this wall.

But that would have only given me a couple of inches behind the tank for the bulkhead fittings for the closed loop.

I could have pulled the tank forward a bit, but that still meant I would have needed to rebuild the front wall. So I took the wall out.

This left me with a few options I hadn't considered.

The tank will now go parallel to this wall.

I can arrange the room a lot better for my desk and the viewing couch, and I have enough open areas for the two future tanks I wanted to put in there eventually.

 

[Northside Reef]

Cleaned up the old lumber so I could get the tank in the general area.

 

[gmate]

Subscribed. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

 

[dweathers]

Looking good so far. I'm interested to see how those tube lights help out down the road.

 

[Northside Reef]

Subscribed. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

Thanks for tagging along

Looking good so far. I'm interested to see how those tube lights help out down the road.

Thanks, I am too. As mentioned I think in the summer it will be something. It is bright in there when the suns out most of the time now as well. It's just being from MN it's just a matter of time before they're covered in snow and the days are so short.

So it has been a little slower going. I picked up some lumber and started work on the top half of the dividing wall. I think I am going to take it down and redo it though because the access windows in the center will be too high if I leave it like it is now.

Here you can see one of our cats inspecting my work. She's probably not too impressed lol

Once I do get the upper half of the divider done I am going to have to pull the tank out and finally plumb it and test the Ocean motion and the returns for leaks so I can slide it back in place and finish the lower half of the divider wall

 

[jdpiii3]

what a great build! I love the sun-domes! I'm using 2 21" Sun-Domes over my 400 I love the natural look. Check out my build when you have a chance.

 

[Northside Reef]

what a great build! I love the sun-domes! I'm using 2 21" Sun-Domes over my 400 I love the natural look. Check out my build when you have a chance.

Thanks JDP, I took a good look at your build. It looks fantastic. Wish my solar tubes where doing more than lighting a few refugiums. But not possible where the tank is.

I hope your wife is getting better.

Worked on the top half of the divider today. As I mentioned I redid the first run at it. The access holes where way too high. I can almost touch bottom now with them moved down. and the tank still has to go on some plywood and Styrofoam so it will move up a bit. Add some sand and I should be able to reach pretty far down there.

The bottom half is just roughed in and clamped in place. I will still have to cut some plywood and Styrofoam. Plumb the tank and leak test it before I can finish the bottom half off.

 

[Northside Reef]

Here is something pretty cool I think.

I ordered some rock from Marco Rocks. Wow I am impressed. I plan to attach this rock to the back of the tank and the left side wall. He precuts one side of it so it is flat. It's very cool not sure if these pictures will even do it justice. There is a lot more so I can do the whole back wall but I figured this will give you an idea of what I plan to do



Top side uncut

Bottom side very smooth and flat.

Very happy with how well these turned out. +1 for Marco Rocks

 

[Northside Reef]

hmm, well I forgot what I had that tank drilled to. I want to use 1" Schedule 80 bulkhead fittings for the closed loop returns but I guess I had it drilled for schedule 40. Hopefully I can do the old hole saw within a hole saw trick to drill them out big enough. I will have to give it a go tomorrow or Sunday time permitting. Don't have any that are the right size here.