Tnt's 154 G SPS reef build

[tntneon]

Good news at last !!!!! :bounce2:

Tommorow i can pick up (if i don't break my back) the bleu hardstone / granite panel (140 kg or 280 lbs) that will come under my tank.
Wich is almost ready to get shipped to here

I already received an low resolution picture of the tank from the tankbuilder.

only i don't have a clue what the tank wil weight , i would guess more than 100 kg or 200 lbs .

greetingzz tntneon

 

[tntneon]

hi reefers ,

today i went to pick the tablet up from the stone shop toghether with my father .
At the stoneshop they placed the tablet gently into the trailer of my father.
At home we had to lift the tablet manuly into place onto the stand :wildone:
We placed the trailer as close as possible against the stand w/o scrathing it !
And placed the tablet into place , not in one go though.
First time my two fingers where jammed between the hardboard and the granit ( between a rock and a hard place .... )
After some horrible language from my side and a gentle medical intevention of my wife , and some gloves we placed the stone ( 140 kg) into place :wildone:

Big respect for my 59 year old father that was on the other side lifting :love1:

here some pictures , i'm very pleased with the precise work delivered by the stone worker !

still a littlebit damp / wet from cleaning the dust off

greetingzz tntneon

 

[miwoodar]

Then it was time to move the frame from the barn of my father to my place where i could mount the inside wooden and already painted panels.

The overhanging granite looks great. It ties in with the inset wooden panels well, too.

Perhaps I missed it in the discussion, but is this tank going to be setup outside on a porch?

 

[tntneon]

... but is this tank going to be setup outside on a porch?

Thx miwoodar , but no it will not be outside on the porch i would have to many heat issues during winter i guess :lmao:
On my porch is where i have the most space (dry space) to fit and plan the build.
In the house where the 154 g comes , now stands my nano and a big closset.
The plan is to buy other furniture too .
Wich is comming (new closset)on the opposite wall , so that i have the intire wall to put the 154 g w/o disturbing furniture then.

-Once the build is finished i'm gonna dissamble the tank in four managable pieces ( stand , granite tablet , tank and hood) and gonna rebuild it inside (once i have the space).
Last step will be transfering live stock from nano to 154 G .

Hopefully i have new furniture in about two month's or so ....

greetingzz tntneon

 

[tntneon]

One thing i can't seem to decide.
To have an DSB or not , not in the tank but i was thinking to put it in my overflowbox.
It measures 12 " X 6 " and is 22 " high i would fill it half way up 11" dsb , would it have some benefits or is the surface area to small ?

any experiences with dsb's in overflowboxes ?

greetingzz tntneon

 

[SnRFishies]

I'm not sure if the dsb would benefit in the overflow, but i thikg your display should be barebottom. I went barebottom and I highly doubt I'll ever go back to sandbed. The tank looks great. Can't wait to see the whole system together.

 

[tntneon]

... Can't wait to see the whole system together....

hi SnRFishies , Me too
I too did remove my sandbed in my nano , but i still have one in my sump.
I want the new tank to be bare bottom , but don't know if would put it in the overflow , it's an original idea from mr wilson or chingchai to do it in the overflow box.
Don't know it would have any benefits in an already carbon driven system ( pellets)....

greetingzz tntneon

 

[Dirrk]

are you going to isolate the glass from the stone top with some kind of mat? I've seen some unhappy results from glass coming into contact with concrete or stone. Really sweet craftsmanship on the stand, sump and plumbing, by the way.

 

[sahin]

Beautiful system. Cant wait to see this finished. Subscribed!

 

[tntneon]

Beautiful system. Cant wait to see this finished. Subscribed!

THx , me too
But i have some good news , the tank itself should normaly arrive here on thursday :jester:
finaly i can do the drain pipes , lighting canopy and prefitting the returnpipes to display.

are you going to isolate the glass from the stone top with some kind of mat? I've seen some unhappy results from glass coming into contact with concrete or stone. Really sweet craftsmanship on the stand, sump and plumbing, by the way.

Thx , i was planing to do that , i still have to buy it though.
I was thinking of using 2 mm rubber thick underlayment , i would think that's enough ?
The stone top is absolutly flat so i expect no troubles i that area (hopefully )

when tank arrives i will post more pictures , if i don't get blown away from the storm that is passing over for the moment.

greetingzz tntneon

 

[strout]

Could you tell me the dimensions of your tank? Thats one nice looking LFS, well maybe not local 200 miles round trip. Keep us posted with pics.

 

[uncleof6]

Not to rain on a parade, but running the output of that pump into a Tee is like running it into a brick wall. It looks clean, but dings the heck out of the flow. Main flow should flow through the Tee, not into it, if that makes sense.

 

[tntneon]

Not to rain on a parade, but running the output of that pump into a Tee is like running it into a brick wall. It looks clean, but dings the heck out of the flow. Main flow should flow through the Tee, not into it, if that makes sense.

Hi uncleof6 ,

I have to agree with you , but with the limited space i had in there ( the pump was bigger than i thought it would be) , i went with this set-up.
Probably the first resonating sounds i had earlyer where maybe due to that Tee ?
I already did some flowtest (fresh water) earlyer and it's gonna be around +/- 1000 G/h ( with an 1625 G/h rated pump).
I'm happy with that figure since i'm also gonna put 1 or 2 vortech's or streamers in the tank for additional flow.
More flow thru the two 32 mm drainpipes would also result in more splashing sounds.

uncleof6 , what do you think about the rubber underlayment , good thickness ?

greetingzz tntneon

 

[Scej12]

Great Build...!

Great Build...!

Hi tntneon! I just discovered this build. Fantastic work so far... and BTW, THANKS for the lesson on the stand welding - never actually had the process explained for me in that way before; so much appreciated!

One thing i can't seem to decide.
To have an DSB or not , not in the tank but i was thinking to put it in my overflowbox.
It measures 12 " X 6 " and is 22 " high i would fill it half way up 11" dsb , would it have some benefits or is the surface area to small ?

any experiences with dsb's in overflowboxes ?

greetingzz tntneon

I can't say for sure how this very deep sand bed idea will work with live reef microfauna occupying it, but I have to mention that I tried the exact same principle on a large freshwater system about 4 years ago. The tank is 600g and the overflow tower is 16"x8"x 32"(H). There was about 24" of gravel (not fine sand) within the o/f tower. The o/f tower was also equipped with a bottom plenum; as well as two drain access pipes: 1 actively pulling water from below the plenum (and therefore through 24" of gravel substrate); and the other elbowed up to take water from above the deep gravel bed.

The original idea was to effect some kind of low O2 denitrification. All of the o/f effluent percolated through decent sized bio-towers before entering the sumps. The system seemed to work fairly okay for the most part, with the exception of an occasional, but recurring fishy (ammonia) smell being produced by this basement aquarium that is perceivable all the way upstairs in a fairly large house.

After checking for the source of this smell everywhere else, I eventually determined that this very deep sand bed was generating ammonia pockets that was perceptible by smell throughout the house. I then fished out all of the gravel; replaced it with additional bio-balls; and the problem never returned more than 2.5 years later.

With regard to DSBs, they do certainly become anaerobic once deeper than 4-5 inches... at this point they become ammonia producers. Personally, I have used DSBs (in refugiums only) but have always installed a Jaubert Plenum as a measure to ensure against total anaerobic substrate environments. The argument is that the plenum coupled with a maximum of 5" of substrate will create low O2 conditions as opposed to No O2 Conditions.

Anyway - as mentioned prior, my experience was with a freshwater system, on a bigger scale; nonetheless, I would expect a similar effect with a 22" DSB. HTH.

Great build once again!

Regards,

Sheldon

 

[tntneon]

Hi Sceij12 ,
Nice to hear it from you !
After 3 years of dreaming / planning and re-planning i finaly started my build .
I want to do as much as possible myself , but gleuing the tank , the woodwork finish and stone top is something i leave for specialized craftsmen .

As for the DSB i think i'm not gonna do that , for reasons you've mentioned.
If it starts to smell ,and i have to remove it out of the narrow overflowbox it will be an PITTA to do
Bp pellets / GFO and carbon in combination with alot of skimming will be the core filtration proces of the system.
And a small layer of course coral gravel in the display will do i think.

greetingzz tntneon

 

[tntneon]

dirkk ,
i've been to a hardware shop today where they selled me fine ribbed rubber matting (see attachement) about 4 mm thick , that i'm gonna use as underlayment.
I think that would be fine ?

greetingzz tntneon

 

[Scej12]

Excellent Glass Aquarium Reference..!

Excellent Glass Aquarium Reference..!

I certainly hear your point re leaving the specialist to their work, however, just for kicks and giggles, you should take a look at Moser's build. He has a thread that you might have seen here on RC, but he began his build about 2 years prior on his local UK based forum, where he posted every single photo; from the house extension; as well as the actual on-site aquarium construction - everything from double layered glass bottom; steel top and bottom framing; a clever way of cleaning up silicone joints.... the works!

I was so well informed on the glass tank building process from his detailed photo-log, that I bookmarked his thread in my internet favourites just for reference! If you're curious, check it out here for the thread; skip through to the glass aquarium construction part! It's worth checking out all the construction photos, and to save your sanity you can filter the thread to only show posts by thread originator...

I feel like I earned a master's degree on glass aquarium construction just looking at all of those photos

 

[tntneon]

That is really awesome !!!! :inlove:
I instantly subcribed myself to that topic.
But if i'm correct he had help with the glass from a specialized company , what is normal seen the size of that tank !

Now i'm waiting for my tank , but it's the most horrible weather one can imagine ( storm , hail showers , lighting) there is even a national warning for flooding !!!
so i hope that my tank arrives in one piece !!!!! :headwally:

greetingzz tntneon

 

[Scej12]

You're correct in that the aquarium professionals built the tank on site; Moser was good enough to photo-log the entire process for all of our benefit.... THANKS TO ALL YOU CAMERA WIELDING HOBBYISTS...!!!

Good luck with the delivery! I'm sure it will land on your step in great shape.

Sheldon

 

[tntneon]

Not happy with the tank !!!!!

Not happy with the tank !!!!!

-Yesterday the tank arrived on time here on my doorstep .
The first thing i noticed was the greenish color of the front glass when looking from above , NO staphire or optiwhite here !!!! :furious:
The second thing i notticed was thet the glass wasn't 12 mm or 1/2" but only 10 mm or 3/8" !! :furious:
and the third thing i noticed was that they didn't used any spacings between the glass pannel :furious:

-In other words i've been ripped off with an capital "R" , leaving me dissapointed and angry.

-I already mailed the guy of the tank , i'm currious what he has to say ....

greetingzz tntneon