You could just bolt in a couple more vertical braces in between the main legs, from the top frame work and make them touch the floor.

Great looking Build can't wait to see more photos

Well it has been a while with not much happening. I was off work for the two weeks during the Olympics and although it would have been a great time to get things done we escaped to Miami (South Beach) to visit family. My dad's condo is right on the bottom tip on the water and every morning we would go out and look at the fish by the sea wall. Beautiful Parrot fish and some said baby marlins. My dad's favorite quote as I did this was "Imagine that tropical fish in the tropics". I finally got fed up with the mocking and informed him that he was actually in the sub-tropics as my iphone indicated that they were at 25 degrees and not 22.
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...alat/Parot.jpg

When I got back I finished off the plumbing and had initial problems with my return pump. Once the replacement arrived things were starting to look up... but the tank seemed "un stable". Even though the legs are perfectly level the tank still vibrated when you gave it a shot. It reminded me of the glass of water in Jurasic Park when the dinosaur walked by. I thought at first the stand just needed more points of contact with the floor so I welded in 3 more legs (2 in back and one center front) but I still wasn't satisfied. I added some plywood to the walls under the tank and built up the gaps and added shims which seemed to do the trick. I then drilled the the back cross beam and the side beam and bolted them to the studs in the wall. The city of Vancouver phoned and wants to put a sign outside the house indicating that the area under my tank can now be used as a safe haven in case of an earthquake.

I am going to try to start building some of the rock structures that will hide the closed loop this week. We will see how far I get. My plans for getting salt water into the tank by Christmas(last) now seem so unrealistic.

Finally got the RO/DI water in the tank and raised Salinity to 1025. It has been running for a few days now and the water has cleared and things look pretty good.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...d/IMG_6565.jpg

I am pretty happy with the rock structures I built but the closed loop needs some modifications as the two back outlets are blasting all the sand away from the front of the tank.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...d/IMG_6567.jpg

I am hesitant to do the full tank move over and instead think I will cycle the new tank with a sacrificial chromis or two and see how things go that way. I just couldn't imagine moving everything and having it all die.

Looks good!

We went to Hawaii during Olympic break too! Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay! So we got to see fishies too!

What are you doing for ATO? Are you still going to do it by hand?

(PS.. next meeting is at your house.. ;) )

I have been running the tank for about a month now and I am happy with how things are going. I had to adjust the outlets of the 2 back 90s of the closed loop as they were blowing the sand away from the front of the tank. I cut the 90 flush so that their stream is wider and it seems to fix things except now I get a bit too much at the top. The eruobrace keeps everything in but I might have to dial it back a bit, we'll see.

I put a Blue Chromis in about a week and a half ago and he is doing well. Ammonia and Nitrites are 0. Added my two clowns on Friday and I can say they have settled in nicely. I thought with such a larger tank they would be all happy and free like birds but they still just hang out near the overflow like they did in my 75 and rub up and down against each other. Ahh the life of a fish.

I think I will try to move over the rest of my livestock next weekend and then try the corals slowly or should I just do it all at once and shutdown the 75?

I've been working on my reflectors that I have been planning on making since January 09. http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=48082 This is a picture of the second one. Just one more to go.
http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...d/IMG_6738.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...d/IMG_6737.jpg

I went with the scattered finish but will use the smooth finish aluminum for the t5s.

Joe

Wow, this is really coming along. Nice work...you're a real DIY guy!

For ato I bought a bulk reef supply auto top off. When I refinished the wall behind the tank I ran a water line to where the ro/di will be under the tank.

Haven't hooked it up yet but maybe tomorrow.

Thanks Mark. It progresses in spurts. The DIY is just a matter of necessity.