Don-Coraleone
New member
thats an awesome tank. you are quick.
The Ultimate Eight Foot Softie Reef
- Thread starter InsaneClownFish
- Start date
InsaneClownFish
New member
Thank you for such kind words. I feel a bit undeserving of the praise with such an ingenious and thoughtful community of reefers. It's just good planning. In the end, building the stand myself helped me to "see" the whole picture and anticipate issues. I also had extra time to prep the stand, and I made sure to secure and level the support brackets before the tank arrived.
Most of the extra salt water was already made, and the rock was completely cycled and functioning as a 44 gallon Brute tank. My goal was to have enough cycled water, and of course rock, to start up the tank immediately. Since the 44 Brute was already a functioning system, I provided light, flow, and supplements just as I would an actual system; and for me, I stayed pretty diligent with the water changes. That Brute ran for 2 months before the tank arrived. My thinking was to treat this as a transfer with a large water change. So far, it looks like I hit a home run, and the water is pretty much crystal clear.
That being said, the advice about the lights is well headed, but in my case, this tank should be pretty much cycled. I do anticipate a mini cycle, but with the water volume, and the lack of "life" encrusted rock, this should be minimal. What I should have managed to salvage in the transfer is the bacteria. The room is also somewhat cool. It's the only basement room that is not directly heated, so I kept the lights on to help compensate for some of the cooler water entering the system from the sump and the freshly mixed distilled.
I think the most important factor contributing to the expediency is experience. As many of you know, this is my third build here on RC. Man have I made my mistakes, and man have I learned ALOT. Experience in reefing helps with anticipating problems and issues before they occur. I'm terrible with plumbing IDs, so in anticipation of this I purchased about 10 times the plumbing parts I would need. I have alot to return
With my last build, the cube, I ran into all sorts of problems finding the right parts, and ended up going to no less than 4 stores to find the right combination. I was not going to repeat that mistake. 
I was not able to acquire, as of yet, one of the drilled 20g tanks to use as a refugium. While I was able to leave room next to the ATO container for the fuge, it was something I could eliminate out of the immediate plumbing equation.
My uncle was the one who helped me move the tank into the house. Since he and my aunt were running late, I took the time to prep the bulkhead and find the right fittings. I realized the locline would not seat properly into the return, so I cut and fashioned my own washer out of some old black air tubing. This worked like a charm. I had also already fitted the standpipe with an extender. It sat in the bulkhead perfectly, and to my surprise, I hit the height perfectly. I took care of issues as they arose. I shimmed up under the foam where I thought it was necessary as the tank filled. Also, I added some water to the overflow as the tank filled to test the fittings. I noticed that the standpipe extension, even though it seated flush, would let subtle amounts of water between the edge and the inside bulkhead where it seated, so I let the water drain out and siliconed this on the fly.
Thankfully, everything seemed to just come together
I'm also going to have 30 people at my house Sunday for our house warming. God's honest truth, I could have cared less about showing off the tank. I just wanted everything done and out of the way.
I should also say that expediency can lead to errors. I'm still drying up the 30 gallons of water I put on the floor between my RO/DI mishap last night, and the pump xfer hose the night before.
And people want to know why I didn't slap this bad boy in my living room. 
Last night my fiance asked if she could use the dryer, so I wheeled away the 33g Brute and shoved the RO/DI hose in a 5 gallon bucket. Well, being under the weather still and quite exhausted, I fell asleep. You know the rest. I also lost one of my clowns. He fought and fought, but finally gave up early this morning. I've never seen a fish fight so hard. When I was moving the rock, I made the mistake of not putting the clowns in a separate container. Well, he got blasted with ammonia leeched from the rock. I got them into the tank right away and added heaters. Lack of oxygen in the filling tank really hindered any recovery.
Thankfully, my other clown is happy and healthy(just fed him actually). The Black foot Trochus is grazing and so is the blue hermit crab I had.
I also didn't think my ATO container was high enough to create a back siphon. Well I woke up to almost 4 gallons dumped into my sump. I'm really happy I decided to use a small ATO container. I'll add a siphon break before I fill it again. I mixed up a heavy patch of salt water from the tank and added it directly to the overflow. The salinity was a bit low with the transfer for my taste to begin with, and the fresh water top off didn't help. It was around 1.022 when I read it. I'll slowly bring this up to 1.024.
1.024 is where I will probably try to keep the tank this time around. I've found I'm far more comfortable trying to raise salinity than having to lower it from evap. I also decided to take your advice Marc, and build a stand for my skimmer. I used egg crate and cut it to size. I then used zip ties to hold it together.
Everything looks great. Except for the loss of my clown, I couldn't be more pleased. The tank and the room setting is truly impressive. Everyone who has seen the tank in person has been blown away, and my youngest came down to see the filled tank for the first time last night and he did the "Home Alone" thing with his face and gasped WOW!
Thanks for the compliments all!
The stand is approximately 29" The tank has a very subtle bow outward right out of the crate. I'm not sure if this was something on purpose in James' design to anticipate a bow. (maybe similar to how, on Bob's suggestion, I put the bow of the wood up on the stand) With water it is almost identical. There is a bow but it is so very subtle. 1" Acrylic FTW! This tank is a beast, truly.
I know, this tank screams SPS. Once again, from past experience, and knowing my own abilities and the demands of family, I won't be able to put the care into a full blown SPS tank. Honestly, I got caught up in the "SPS thing" before when it really wasn't what I enjoyed looking at. I want a living, moving, dancing reef. Some of the most beautiful reefs I've seen have been loaded with softies.
Stay tuned, I'm uploading more pics...
InsaneClownFish
New member
Pictures :fish1:
JustinReef
New member
Looks great! Wow.
Did you ever check to see how much it bows? If at all?
Did you ever check to see how much it bows? If at all?
melev
Well-known member
Great post. :thumbsup:
To avoid the ATO siphoning too much, you can do two things. Anti siphon hole in the tubing inside the container, which means water will squirt back into the reservoir while it runs, but breaks siphon when the pump is off. The second method is to run the effluent tubing up higher that the max water level in the reservoir, trickling into the sump. If that is too high, you can put an upright piece of PVC in the sump for that water to trickle down.
To avoid the ATO siphoning too much, you can do two things. Anti siphon hole in the tubing inside the container, which means water will squirt back into the reservoir while it runs, but breaks siphon when the pump is off. The second method is to run the effluent tubing up higher that the max water level in the reservoir, trickling into the sump. If that is too high, you can put an upright piece of PVC in the sump for that water to trickle down.
melev
Well-known member
Those pictures snuck in while I was working on a different thread's post. It looks super!
Would it be possible to run the light cords down the other side near the overflow by any chance? Or run some plugs up high on the ceiling, and run them up the support wires? Or paint the cords white?
Would it be possible to run the light cords down the other side near the overflow by any chance? Or run some plugs up high on the ceiling, and run them up the support wires? Or paint the cords white?
InsaneClownFish
New member
Now you have me contemplating painting the wires the same color blue as the wall
Vince, what time would you be passing through? I'm not sure I want to be in the middle of acclimating stuff with guests ready to beat down my door That being said you should pick up Marc and swing by just to see the tank and catch some good food and beverage before you hit the meeting! Marc where's your hotel? You coming in Saturday night?
Since people are interested, I tried to get some pictures of the subtle bow. This picture was taken with the camera flush against the wall, but keep in mind, the wall is not completely straight either:
Lined up as straight as possible along the edge:
It's really minor and only noticeable if you're looking for it.
Vince, what time would you be passing through? I'm not sure I want to be in the middle of acclimating stuff with guests ready to beat down my door
That being said you should pick up Marc and swing by just to see the tank and catch some good food and beverage before you hit the meeting! Marc where's your hotel? You coming in Saturday night?Since people are interested, I tried to get some pictures of the subtle bow. This picture was taken with the camera flush against the wall, but keep in mind, the wall is not completely straight either:
Lined up as straight as possible along the edge:
It's really minor and only noticeable if you're looking for it.
Life is hell.
ctreefer
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13701233#post13701233 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Aww. I see NEMOOOO!!!
I arrive Saturday around lunchtime. Talk to your club's BOD to get any specifics you need to know. I just do what they tell me.
checking into it. Will let you know.
