The inwall 380 starfire reborn

[Sparkss]

Ok, here is a question for you "big tank" reefers out there. According to Miracles in Glass (who originally made the tank) this tank should sit on foam (even though it has bottom trim). The previous owner had it on 3/4" foam (just like I do) for about a year or so (give or take). My question is this :

When I put the tank up onto the stand, even though I had the foam taped down (and the paint on the stand top held it in place a bit also), but the foam moved a little (but not much). Looking at the picture, is this anything that I need to be concerned with ?

From what I can tell the side glass all rests on the bottom pane. The foam is back from the edge but still under part of the back pane's thickness. From the way it is designed, the weight shouldn't be on the back pane bottom. Should I try to cut the foam and put a larger/longer piece in before I fill the tank a final time ? It will not be an easy task, but it will also not be impossible (at least I don't think so, I already worked out a plan of how to do it, but every time I move the tank it has it's risks).

Any and all feedback would be most appreciated.

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8826690#post8826690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sparkss
From what I can tell the side glass all rests on the bottom pane.

Usually the sides of the tank sit around the bottom, on larger custom tanks... I think the tank will be fine... I would have went with the pink foam myself... But the stuff you have will work...

 

[Sparkss]

Thanks Shawn. I am leaning towards just leaving it the way it is, unless someone is positive that it will be a problem down the road. So many long days working on this, and just now I got to test the flood resistance of the powder coating and epoxy paint , I had the tank filling for the leak test and was up here posting.. well guess I take longer to type than I thought and the tank reached the top bulkheads for the original CL (that I had not yet sealed off), so now the leak test will be watching the water level versus looking for any puddles in the morning.

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8826645#post8826645 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sparkss
Do I run the new system completely standalone and let it cycle, etc, until I am ready to start moving stuff over to it from our current tank ? Or do I connect it to the shared sump now and hopefully minimize the cycle "growing pains" ?

Anyone have any thoughts on standalone versus connected ?

I would run the system "standalone" until it's cycled...

 

[mrcrab]

Looks great Sparkss, especially since you're working solo.

I went with the reef crystals. From what I understand they had the best results from the testing that Eric Borneman did. It's on sale here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4856&N=2004+2032+113009
and delivery is very cheap. I bought 4 barrels and shipping was only $12.

If you don't have any nasties in your other system I'd probably join them to help or even eliminate the cycle.

Add hydrochloric acid (pool acid) to clean the tank. It'll come right off.

 

[Sparkss]

Thanks for the feedback Shawn.

I have some muriatic acid for cleaning our pumps that I am dilute and use (with a mask and gloves) to clean the tank with. Thanks mrcrab. And yea, seeing that I have done 99.5% of it solo (except for needing my neighbor to help lift the header into place) it hasn't turned out too bad so far. I sort of enjoyed everyone telling me how many people I needed for each phase of the setup, from the tank to the stand to the concrete, but in the end just lil old me was all that wsa needed (and a good relationship with the local equipment rental company )

 

[jnarowe]

hmmm, don't forget that vinegar dissolves coraline fairly well too.

I would do something about the hang on the foam. IMO it's just too risky to leave alone. I would either move the tank so it fits correctly, or use spray foam to fill the gap. You could fashion a form from just about anything to run the length of the tank and spray in the foam. Once cured, you could remove the form and cut off the excess.

As far as attaching the system, if you don't have any bugs, aiptasia etc. I would definitely attach the two. That is a great opportunity to bring the new tank online with minimal cycling and perhaps you can avoid an HA outbreak! Also, pods, micro-organisms, and other small creatures could migrate to the new system and help establish the reef.

 

[Sparkss]

Would the spray in foam have the same properties as the sheet foam ? IE: to compress as needed and even out any inconsistencies with the stand top.

I can't move the tank any, it is where it needs to be, just the foam isn't. I was thinking of sliding the tank off the back of the stand a bit (after draining the tank of course) and them blocking up under the back edge and using a floor jack to pick the tank back up off of the stand, then cutting back approx 12" along the foam back and replacing it with a slightly wider piece and lowering the tank back down and pushing it back into place. It should be easy enough to accomplish, I just need to pop off to HD during my errands tomorrow to pick up a new sheet to cut up for this. *sigh* guess it would be better to just do it now and get it over with than to worry about it going forward.

 

[jnarowe]

Yes. Foam it when the tank is empty. The handi foam at HD will work fine. It is fairly dense when cured and I have used it alot for a variety of purposes.

Why can't you just move the foam a little when you jack it up, or is it just a bit tto small? Make sure if you buy more rigid foam at HD that it is the exact same product or it will not have the same dimensions.

 

[Sparkss]

I am worried that the handi foam would be too dense and would not compress the same as the sheet foam, so I think I will just go with replacing a portion of the foam under it now.

I would only be jacking up the back of the tank, the front of it would still be resting on the foam, making it relatively impossible to move it. Remember, the tank is 4' from front to back, so even when I lift up the back, there will be a significant amount of weight on the front.


And to answer to a previous question here, I just finished ordering a couple of barrels of Reef Crystals from D&F. Thanks for the tip

 

[mrcrab]

No problem. I need to order more myself.

It's weird, RC and IO are made by the same company but over the course of the testing RC got much better results.

 

[Sparkss]

I believe that the RC was geared towards reef tanks and IO was towards FO tanks, if I recall an article I read some time ago.

 

[Elite]

Wow looking good Tom. I'm having a hard time moving a 50G glass tank by myself. Don't really how you can move that thing all by yourself ..

 

[Sparkss]

It's like I told my wife when she made a similar comment : "I used my head more than my back, if I tried it the other way around it would still be sitting on the floor of our garage "

The old adage : " The right tool for the right job" definitely has a place when it comes to moving these larger tanks around !!! It is just a matter of figuring out how to leverage what you have to get the job done . Wish I could give you better directions, but every job is different.

 

[Al G Blenny]

Yeah it looks like the tank is coming along nicely. I can't wait to see the finished product. Are you going to have a tank tour at your house when it's done? I wanna go.

 

[thor32766]

yeah looks great.

 

[Sparkss]

Thor, do you experience any aggression between your purple tang and sailfin tang ? I have those 2 fish in separate tanks and want to put them both into the new 380, any suggestions or advice ? going to move them both in at the same time, or maybe put the sailfin in first (since I read that they are the more timid of the two).

Thanks

 

[xinumaster]

Tom, where did you buy stylofoam u use underneath your tank?

 

[Sparkss]

Perry, I got it at Home Depot, but they also have it at Lowes.

I cleaned, drained and replaced the foam under the tank to correct the "overhang" condition. Once the tank was back into place I put the 8 bags of sand in, the 2 pieces of base rock that we have, installed and plugged the back 2 bulkheads that were originally used as part of the closed loop and started the RO/DI unit filling it with water. Here is what it looks like so far :

The rocks really help put it into perspective . Now I just have to wait... waiting on the tank to fill, waiting on the salt mix to arrive, waiting on the box track for the lighting to arrive.. just lots and lots of waiting . In the mean time I will be finishing up the electrical, plumbing and planning out the migration from the old tank. There is very little electrical left (less than an hours worth), and not much plumbing (2, 3 hours tops), so for the most part it is just a waiting game . Oh, I also have the screen framing for the mesh top, so I can get started on that as well, but that shouldn't be more than an hour or so. So all told I could wrap up the loose ends in under a day's worth of work (until the lighting and box track arrive). **which also means at this point that it will all likely get pushed off while I do some rest and recuperation **

I will be placing our order for the Vortec pumps either later this week or the first of next, right now that is more a matter of budget than anything else . I am hoping that a deal will pull through that will help fund that puchase, at least partially. Trying to sell off stuff this time of year is rough .

 

[jnarowe]

It took over 3 weeks to fill my display! I couldn't stand the wait.

BTW, I have a purple and a sailfin and they don't seem to bother each other. It's all a question of personality and reef politics. It could be fine in one tank and not in another, but it usually has nothing to do with the tank.