Not as thick as you wanted maybe?

Yes, this is the missing detail! The tank is 3-side Starphire and the eurobrace was supposed to be Starphire too, but it's just plain float. It's a beautiful green one-piece polished eurobrace. :(

Regardless, I'm still happy with the tank. It looks great - super sleek.

That's all how I wanted it. There is a 3/4" hole in the middle back of the eurobrace where the return pipe will slide through.
25% right. I think my dark pics threw you off.
That's how it's supposed to be. Though I think I made the gap too big. :o
Me too!
Thickness is fine.

I started off with no teeth on my overflow because it's supposed to pull the water better. All was well for a few months until some of the smaller fish found out it was a water slide! I was pulling fish out of my overflow or sump every day. Beautiful looking tank BTW!

Yeah. I'm pretty sure I will have this problem too. It is 1/2" gap and I think I should have done 5/16". That was my spec though, not Dave's. I think I will add a bit to the top part to make the gap smaller.

Lovin the new tank Mindy

For your overflow ...
You could silicone some small glass strips inside the box - one set for spacers and slightly thicker than the acrylic you'll use, and a second set to hold a sheet of acrylic with teeth cut out of it. Then you just slide your acrylic up and out of the box for cleaning.

I realize you'll lose some of the weir effect, but it'll keep your critters where they belong.

Or you could get inventive and design a mesh 'box' to cover 'some part' of the weir.

New idea ...

Vertical strips of glass on the left and right ends of the weir say 1/4" thick. These keep the weir running 100% as they will space the acrylic 1/4" away from the back glass (inside the overflow).
Next is some strips @ 90 degrees to the first strips. These hold the ends of the tooth sheet.
And lastly is some vertical strips @ 90 degrees to the second strips. These hold the tooth sheet in place against the second set of strips.

I like this idea so much I'm going to incorporate it into my upcoming build.

I'll try to post a drawing later today
Right now I have a brake job to do

My dream tank would have a weir. They look so stealth:)

Greg, I like your ideas, but I'm not willing to sacrifice the weir design. I'm just going to silicone some 1/4" acrylic half-round rod to the top of the weir wall. This will raise the water level in the tank a sniff too.

I know, eh! :)

Even better

I got the sump finished up last night with the trim that Dave sent me. :D I'm putting another coat of paint on the inside of the stand this morning, and then that will all be done. I was too distracted with everything else last week that I didn't get my plumbing order into Bayside, so I'm just waiting for that. Unfortunately, I won't have very much spare time for the next two weeks, so it will be a challenge to get it running right away.

It turns out the 1/4" acrylic half-round rod isn't easy to find either. 1/2" not so bad. Of course! ;)

I have a friend with a 3D printer, and he's printing me up some custom fit rounded screen corners so I can make a screen lid for the tank that will sit inside the eurobrace and be flush with the top of it.

I also have to modify some light hanging arms I have so they will fit onto my stand.

Then after all that, and the tank is running then I have to get started on the panels to finish the outside of the stand!

Whew!

Now that I actually have the tank the project has ground to a halt! :lol: I have some commitments last week and this week that have taken up all my free time. My plan is to get the tank running this Saturday. I was planning to get it going last Saturday, but I noticed there is a small gap between the tank and the stand (~1/16") in opposite corners, so I had to get some styrofoam to fix that. I can't lift the tank myself, and hubby wasn't home to help.

Well, the tank is running. I have a leaky bulkhead that I might have to replace. Tightening it doesn't seem to get that last bit of seepage. I haven't installed the half-round to the weir to make the gap smaller yet, but so far no fish have gone over anyway. I might leave it, but the water level in the tank is 1 1/2" from the eurobracing which is way further than I was hoping for. No need for eurobracing if the water level is that low. :lol:

It's been a long time since I weighed rock before putting it into the tank, so this time I weighed it all piece by piece so I have an accurate number. Interestingly, I only used rock that was already in the 50-gallon tank, so I didn't have to add any of the rock that I acid washed. So I have about 100 lbs I can sell. Ha! All the rock that I used in the new tank is all branch rock, so it's super light - only 28 lbs in the tank!

I did all the plumbing using grey SCH80 pipe and fittings. I was short one bushing fitting for the return pump, so I did it in white (I have tons of white pipe and fittings). I have a new Eheim Compact 3000 return pump on the way right now anyway, so I'll redo the return plumbing when I install that pump. I am adding a tee into it with ball valves for my water changes anyway.

My original plan was to run the tank bare bottom. I was expecting the tank to show up with a clear bottom pane which I was going to paint white, but it showed up with black vinyl on it and then the tank was built onto particle board. So the tank has a black bottom. I'm not sure I'm keen on the black bottom, so I washed some sand to put in the tank, but now I'm kinda diggin' the black look (no reflection). So I'm going to hold off on the sand for now. I'll have to add a little tray of sand/rubble for my pistol shrimp though. Poor guy doesn't know what to do with himself. I'll get a little black acrylic box made for him - or maybe I'll just cut down one of those coral viewers. Or maybe I'll get Concept to build me a little polished tray. :D

I still have to get the light hanger installed, it's on some SWEET unpainted 2x4s right now. :lol: I have to get the screen lid installed too. I have a friend with a 3D printer and he's printing me up some custom-fit round corners to fit into the eurobracing. They even have a lip on them to hold the screen in place so it will fit flush to the surface of the eurobracing with no tabs to hold it in place.

There's a bunch of corals in the tank that still need to find a home. The only fluff I'm keeping are the rainbow brain, the Space Invader Pectina, a few select Zoas. Even most of the current SPS are going to find their way out of the tank (the birdnest, the tricolor, and the Pocci).

During the tank transfer I remove some fish too. I have left a breeding pair of beautiful Onyx Perculas, a big old Pajama Cardinal, and a Royal Gramma. I had a breeding pair of red Firefish too, but during the tank transfer one jumped out and I didn't notice in time to save it. :( I decided to re-home the remaining red Firefish and will replace them with Purple Firefish I think, maybe Helfrich's.

The dimensions of the display portion ended up being 36 x 20 x 21" so it is no longer 69 gallons, BUT if you include the back chamber, remove the glass displacement of the entire tank, then the actual tank volume is 69.7 gallons. So I'm still calling it 69-gallons. :D The sump has another roughly 14 gallons in it taking glass displacement into consideration, so the whole system has about 73 gallons of water, minus rock displacement, so pretty close to 70 gallons of actual water volume.

Here's a crappy photo to show the size difference of the old 50-gallon and the new 69-gallon.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202%202015.jpg


Here's the view from the recliner. :D
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%206.jpg

A couple photos showing the little pipe stilts I made to hold the rock off the bottom for optimal water flow and to prevent detritus settling.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%205.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%204.jpg


A couple closer photos showing the rock - though it's hard to see very well with all those fluffy corals on the bottom.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%203.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%202.jpg

👍

Looks good Mindy. As you know I vote for no sand. :D. I like the way they are up on pedestals. Hopefully my plan of the large rocks on the small ends will be something like that

Looks awesome!!!!

Thanks guys!
Ya I don't want sand, but I'm just not sure about the black bottom. I was also planning on putting a Jawfish or two in and some Wrasses so I don't know - decisions!

The little stilts ended up working out really easily and now that I adjusted the powerheads there is no detritus settling under there at all. I'm going to have to experiment with what to do with the Zoas I'm keeping. They are on tiles now...maybe out stilts under them or maybe I'll peel them off and put them onto the rocks. Hmm...

Oh and I placed an order with Greg that's going to fill the tank and then some I think. :lol:

Giving up wrasses is hard. Mine are going to a new home. I already had done up an order elsewhere when Greg started his. Would have loved to get in on his though.

Your helfrich's will want sand as well :) I like the small stilts for the rockwork! Smart. I need to do an order from Greg, time to plump up the tank.

Yeah, I had a Grey Head (like a Melanurus) and a Yellow Coris in my BB 90. They just slept at the base of the rocks.

Yeah, Firefish like sand too, but I think they could learn to deal with it. I'm still undecided yet. So far, the sand is still in the bucket. :D

Tank is looking good Myka!

Thanks Mark! Good to see you around here!

So, I randomly took a drive over to Purolator, and they randomly told me that there was a package there for me. :eek:

What is this...? (it's not fish)
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...209%202015.jpg

Such a tease!

Ohhhhhhhhhh, I know. Pick me.......:lol:

Hehe, someone went a little BOGO-crazy.

I stopped by to post some pics, but Photobucket is down for maintenance. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/im...lies/frown.gif

I tested the tank today...

Ca 410 ppm (Elos), 415 ppm (Salifert
Alk 137 ppm 7.7 dKH (Hanna), 7.8 (Salifert)
Mg 1320 ppm (Salifert)
NO3 undetectable (Salifert)
PO4 0.00 ppm (Hanna)
K ~400 ppm (Elos)
S.G. 1.026

I have over 800 mL kalkwasser per day spread over 24 doses. I mix it 3 tsp RowaKalk, 45 mL vinegar, fill to 1 gallon. If I don't start seeing some nutrients I'll start skipping out the vinegar. I don't have carbon in the tank right now, and I don't use GFO unless I'm having a PO4 issue (which is rare). I do dose Prodibio BiOptim and BioDigest (bacteria and carbon source) every 14 days as recommended - I love this product. I added the first dose the day I transferred the tank.

Fish are eating lots, but there's just the 4 of them right now.

Some fish I'm considering...

- Helfrichi Firefish pair
- Candy Basslet (he can pair with the Royal Gramma lol)
- Yellowtail Damsel pair (hey, I like them!)
- Some kind of Perchlet (Plectranthias sp)
- Yellow Coris Wrasse

Feel your pain photo bucket foiled my fun tonight too

Photobucket is up again. :)

The pics in the tank were taken maybe 20 minutes after introduction. I have them on a rack for observation, and then that rack will be outta there!


Dippy dip, and inspection. Nothing came off them. :)
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%204.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%203.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%202.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...209%202015.jpg

`

I love my Prodibio also. How come you add vinegar to your kalk? Do you add 3 tsp/day or just when needed. Maybe I should up mine.

The vinegar makes it so you can dissolve 3 tsp kalk per gallon rather than just 2 tsp. It's also a carbon source to lower N and P.

The 3 tsp goes into 1 gallon of RO/DI and that mixture is dosed at a rate of 800 mL per day so the 3 tsp goes into the tank in a little under 5 days. I have room to dose more - it's not affecting pH much at this rate.

So you dose vinegar in addition to Prodibio. Are they not a similar purpose?

Thats a beautiful batch of frags.

IME, Prodibio has not affected N and P in any tank I've ever used it in even though that's what it's advertised for. I notice SPS color improvement when I use Prodibio BiOptim and BioDigest in tanks with SPS even though I don't see any difference in nutrients or other measurable parameters. I don't notice this difference in softies or LPS. I do think that it helps keep the good bacteria population up so there is less opportunity for bad bacteria in the tank, but that's just speculation.

The vinegar is a carbon source, but the main purpose I use it for is to increase the saturation of kalkwasser.

Yes, the frags are nice! Thanks to Coral Master Greg! :D

Good info Mindy. Thanks. I use a Tunze kalk mixed, so assume vinegar can't just go in the make up water ?

There's nothing wrong with using vinegar in top off water as a carbon source except it will vary a bit depending how much evaporation there is.

You can't use It in your reactor though.

Thanks Mindy, looking good :biggrin:

L: Sunset Mille
R: Blue Polyp Nasuta
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...02015%2014.jpg

L: A. lovelli
R: Strawberry Shortcake
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...02015%2013.jpg

L: CM Fiji Cobalt
R: Albino Mille
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...02015%2012.jpg

L: Extreme Insignis
R: CM Sun God Mille
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...02015%2011.jpg

L: ORA Red Planet (showed up nice, but has bleached in my tank)
R: CM Green Dragon
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...02015%2010.jpg

L: CM Golden Sunset Mille (really diggin this one)
R: CM Christmas Hyacinthus
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%209.jpg

L: DWI - Deep Water Insanity
R: CM Sexy Beast
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%208.jpg

L: Cherry Popper A. florida
R: For the Love of Ivy
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%207.jpg

This is the aquacultured Mille that showed up with most of its zooxanthellae expelled a couple weeks ago. I don't see any green sheen anymore (yay). Looks like it will be blue, pink, purple.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%206.jpg

This is another aquacultured piece I picked up at the same time. The branched were a rich forest green with blue tips. It's bleaching a bit, so maybe I have it in too much light. It's about 1/3 up the tank. I'm not sure what species it is - some sort of deepwater.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%205.jpg

This is Montipora capitata that I've had for a couple years. I like it, so it's staying for now even though it's a Monti.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%204.jpg

This is some sort of tabling Acro that came in on consignment at the LFS. There were some big chunks, but I just wanted a small chunk so I don't get weird growth pattern changes. I'm hoping it has more color to it, but I haven't seen any changes yet and I've had it about a month.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%203.jpg

This is a weed that isn't going to be staying in the tank.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...202015%202.jpg

This was a nice surprise - I picked it up as a skin flap frag that was totally browned out and I had no idea what it was. It it super sensitive to alkalinity swings, and there were a couple low alkalinity issues not long before the tank transfer. I almost lost it. The green is normally a really deep green with neon magenta corallites. Some sort of SSC. It's been my favourite for a long time, but it grows painfully slow It's 2 years old.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...014%202015.jpg