SaraB's 183G Rimless AGE Downgrade

[SaraB]

My husband calls this my "Death-row Tank" which is interpreted to mean if I ask for another large display tank he will most likely kill me! I had installed a 268G display just over 2 years ago, but I have far too many hobbies that demand my time, so someting had to give and the big display was it. I chose a rimless with a low stand that will make it easier for me to maintain.

I purchased this used A.G.E. tank and stand from Austin (stunreefer) back in December. I'm not sure how, but I convinced the hubby to make a day trip to Ann Arbor, MI with the truck and trailer to get the tank and get it back to IL before an ice storm hit.

Tank Dimensions: 48" x 36" x 25"

Flow: Return is fed of my Sequence Barracuda Gold which also feeds a bunch of other stuff in the fishroom. Tank also has 2 MP40's on it.

Lighting: I'm slow to convert ... so I'm moving from Metal Halides and VHO's over to a T-5 Fixture. More on that later!

Tank is plumbed into an exising system and the total water volume is about 400 Gallons.


Here's a pic of the 268G display that was being replaced:

And this is the octopus plumbing that was behind it:

After the 268G came out at the end of January, we had a 7.5' x 5' hole in the wall to fix. My husband and I never framed in a wall, but we did so in 2 evenings and without even arguing ... amazing! We replaced the framing and hung the drywall ... but we paid a really good painter to tape, mud and repaint the wall. I can't take credit for any of that work!!!

And a cleaned up wall without a plumbing octopus behind it!

Here's the finished wall and the tank being leveled by my hubby ... that's where his help ends with the tank other than helping move it around!

Finally the tank and stand in place together:

 

[SaraB]

Here's where my friend Ed takes over with the plumbing! We were able to plumb the system in one evening after work:

Here's my simplified plumbing going through the opening in the wall with one return and one drain ... what a concept simplicity is

 

[James404]

Looks great so far Sara, tagging along.

 

[SaraB]

So I planned this downgrade/tank swap in a 3 step process and here's the first step.

Step 1 started with plumbing in a 100G rubbermaid tub in the fishroom into the system to hold my liverock and fish from the 268. The coral in the display will be moved into the frag tank. We'll also be taking off the last remaining surge and using its feed-line to now direct flow into the protein skimmer and the rest into the fuge since both of those are currently fed by a drain line from the display. Doing all of this will allow me to cut the flow to my 268 and take it down while the remaining system will run behind the scenes in the fishroom.

Here's the 100G Rubbermaid that will sit on the stand behind it and will be plumbed into my system:

We fed the tub with extending beyond the existing valve on the left and will be adding a wye to the drain from the frag tank and draining the tub into it.

Got one shot of Gary and Ed working on adding the wye to the exising drain line. Thanks to both of you for helping with my never ending projects!

Of course nothing goes as planned ... this tub has held water on and off for like 3 years and wouldn't you know when it got filled with sand and saltwater that stupid bottom drain started to drip from the bottom of the bulkhead!!! That took 2 hours of messing around with new gaskets and actually flipping the bulkhead around on the tub and shaving off the tub a bit. We fill it back up with no leaks and then Gary leaves and 10 minutes later the brand new top 2" bulkhead decides to start dripping!!! By then it was 11:10PM so I drained the tub down and dropped in a powerhead and heater and called it a night. Ed helped me fix the top bulkhead the next day and the tub was filled.

This tub was set up for about 4 weeks while the existing display came down and we fixed the wall which was step #2. The wall was completed at noon on a Monday and Ed said he'd be right over to plumb ... so we actually got the tank and stand in place, got it leveled and then plumbed it that same evening. We had been planning for this for a month, so we had all the pvc parts we needed available to finish the job. For the next 3 days I was making RO/DI water so that we could do a swap with shutting down the rubbermaid tub and using about 70 gallons of the water it held and then added the rest as new salt water. I have a saltwater mixing station, so I was able to make salt in 60 gallon batches, let it sit for a day and then add it to my current system and then turn on the return to the new tank and add water there for holding. I had powerheads and a heater in the AGE tank so that the water would not sit stagnant for the couple days this took me to have enough water made to run the full 400G system.

I had enough water by that Thursday which was the end of February, so Ed came by to make sure there were no leaks when we turned the system fully on and then Gary and I worked to move all the rock and livestock from the tub over into the tank, all of which took about 4 hours, but we had the whole thing done with the tub emptied and removed from the house and the extra drain that was added to my frag tank plugged.

So that is where I am at now ... the fish are pretty happy in their new tank and I'm waiting on the shipment of my light holder and my new T-5 fixture which is shipping from Toronto tomorrow.

Lighting: So as I mentioned above, I'm slow to convert on lighting and I decided to move from my big ole Lumenarc III's with Radium bulbs that are supplemented by actinic VHO's over to a sleek T-5 fixture on this new tank. I didn't figure that combo of lighting would look very nice over the new rimless is all. I'm also not ready to move over to LED's as I think there's still some expansion coming on the products, plus I'd need at least 4 fixtures and that breaks my current budget!

I decided on the SFILIGOI Stealth 12x39W fixture which is the 3 foot version. I got it from Tim over at Aquatics Elite who is a sponsor here on RC. He's great to work with and he's got some fantastic fixtures on his site!

http://www.aquaticselite.com/Stealth_12x39w_p/st-t5-1239.htm

I'm also having a custom light rack built to mount on the back of my stand that is hopefully here about the same time my T-5's arrive. Here's a link to some where I'm getting the light rack and I'm having one made like the last one pictured:

http://mycoralgardenonline.com/#/light-hangers/4542021954

 

[SaraB]

Looks great so far Sara, tagging along.

Thanks James!!!

 

[silentscream]

Those are nice dimensions, will this be your first open-top aquarium? I've found them to be quite nice for in-tank maintence. Almost too easy, tough to keep your hands out when you walk by! I'll be following this for sure.

 

[qwuintus]

I like the new tank better but is this really a 'downgrade' ?

 

[dave.m]

Perhaps "downsize" would be a more appropriate term (?).

Dave.M

 

[BADGUS]

Wow,lookking good sara,Thanks again for the nice reflectors.Tagging along.

 

[SaraB]

I like the new tank better but is this really a 'downgrade' ?

Seriously? If we must ...
"¢A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating; To place lower in position; To 'dumb down', reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts; to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity; To revert software back to an older version
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/downgrade


Thanks for the compliment on the tank. It's a financial and complexity downgrade and a downsize of about 100G of water volume. :hammer:

 

[SaraB]

Those are nice dimensions, will this be your first open-top aquarium? I've found them to be quite nice for in-tank maintence. Almost too easy, tough to keep your hands out when you walk by! I'll be following this for sure.

Thanks! I have a rimless frag tank so I know it's easy to get your hands wet often. I have wrasses, so I actually have a mesh top fabricated to cover the tank. I know it takes away from the "rimless look", but I don't really have a choice with my jumpers.

I'm also thrilled about not need a permanent ladder stationed in front of this tank. I can actually reach the bottom when I stand next to the edge ... so a nice step stool gives me access to most of the the tank which makes maintenace easier!

Awesome dimensions, I can't wait to see it filled up.

Thank you ... stay tuned as I'll post some more pics of the tank filled tonight.

 

[leslie hempel]

very nice cant wait to see the outcome.

 

[SaraB]

Wow,lookking good sara,Thanks again for the nice reflectors.Tagging along.

Thanks Gus for tagging along. Glad you were able to use the ballast and Lumenarc's!

 

[Dejavu]

Looking good Sara :wavehand:

 

[SaraB]

Looking good Sara :wavehand:

Thank you Brian! Glad you found your way over to the new thread :beer:

 

[SaraB]

FISH: :fish2::fish1:
I sold my large blonde Naso, Achilles and Purple Tang due to the 100G reduction with this new tank. I also got rid of my Bellus Angel pair and an exquisite fairy wrasse just because I wanted to change some of the fish selection in the tank. I'll also be adding some new livestock as well.

Since I have not mentioned my current fish in this tank, here's my list:

Male Lineatus Fairy Wrasse
Trio of Attenuatus Flasher Wrasses
Red Headed Wrasse (Halichoeres rubricephalus)
Magnificent Foxface
Cleaner Wrasse
Pair of Anthias - Pseudanthias flavoguttatus

Last weekend I added:

ORA Plantinum Clowns (Added them for the hubby)
Laboutei Fairy Wrasse
Lineatus who seems to have morphed to male so he's been removed and put in the cube since my large male wanted nothing to do with him being in the rimless

Here are some pics of the fish that were kept and transfered over into the new rimless tank. I'm lucky to have Gary about 5 miles away, so he has taken some awesome photos of my fish!

I have a pair of these anthias (Pseudanthias flavoguttatus):

This is my magnificant foxface showing off:

This is my red-headed wrasse (Halichoeres rubricephalus) that is not too happy about the move. He's only been coming out every other day from his sandbed!:

I also have a trio of attenuatus flasher wrasses (Parachellinus attenuatus). Here's the male:

And a submale:

I also have a male lineatus wrasse and a cleaner wrasse that are not pictured.


The new adds from last weekend:

 

[canyousee]

You have a fine mix of fish and Gary sure shows then in their glory. Nice down grade. Do you have any pictures of your screen top? Mike

 

[Flippers4pups]

Nice Wyoming clowns!

 

[elijaher]

Wow tagged alone.

 

[DanW]

Wow Sara, great progress and I love the new set up :inlove: Those P. flavoguttatus are sweet fish someday I'd love to add a pair to my system. We want new photos of that bad boy up and running :hammer: