lastlight's 404
 

I dunno. Why not right? :biggrin:

I met with Dave at Concept Aquariums and they should be starting the build on-site sometime in February. I was talked out of starphire once again and feel really good about that choice (again). Dave let me handle a glass sample while we talked...yeah it was hot.

Here are the rough details:

96L x 36W x 27H
19mm
External overflow on end
Viewable 2 sides

Ok my wife typed that bit in quotes while I was away parenting for 2 minutes. If she's right stay tuned for hot deals. If she's wrong maybe a flooded basement? The fun is not knowing!

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Table of Contents:

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+ The Mess
+ The Cleanup
+ The Stand
+ The Little Helper
+ The Tank
+ The Temporary Office
+ The Sump That Attacked Me
+ The Lots Of Wood Update
+ The Reno From Hell Part I
+ The Whitewash
+ The Shiny Floor And Scribe Party
+ The Reno From Hell Part II
+ The Salt Tower
+ The Rock Kid
+ The Big Sexy Skimmer
+ The Laying Of Pipe
+ The Power Centre And Fill Up
+ The Great Cycle
+ The Scape
+ The Transfer (Video)
+ The Tailspot (Video)
+ The Backlit Reef
+ The Livestock Photo Dump (FTS)
+ The Truth About Frags
+ The Paranoid Squarespot (Video)
+ The Romancing of the Squarespot, Chromis Gang (Video)
+ The T5s
+ The Ugly Filtersock Tower Of Terror
+ The Triple Threat - Striped Damsels And A Filefish (Video)
+ The Big Mac Part I - Acanthurus Maculiceps
+ The Big Mac Part II (Video)
+ The Random Livestock Peep Show
+ The Big Mac Settles In (Video)
+ Rip-a-reef-apart-apalooza (Filefish Edition)

Here is v1 in sketchup. I am leaning towards using one of Paul's new Ocean Motion devices but I need his (and anyone else's) input to plan where I need holes. I would like to have current flow one direction for maybe 60 seconds, then reverse and flow the other way. I'm interested in reversing the intakes as well like I think Paul has demonstrated. I'm still confused so hopefully he can chime in here.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/sketchup1.gif

Why talked out of Starphire??

Here is a really ugly drawing of the basement which I am renovating once the tank is in place. Very small basement but I have full ownership of one side.

Things of interest:

- 18" wide access tunnel behind tank. Will have floor raise about 2 feet with steps for easy access to back of tank
- Overflow will be on the fishroom side of course
- Nice view from my modest little office space
- So far fishroom is 12x4. Maybe a bit small but once I have the stand built I may move things slightly.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/sketchup2.gif

Scratches easier and I was actually surprised that the 19mm didn't really look all that green to me. In the end I always think...tank gets filled with water which certainly isn't 100% clear and then I turn on a small army of Radiums and the tank is quite blue. I'm going to spend my money elsewhere =)

That will be quite the tank. Any ideas for the wall with the overflow box? How are you planning to hide it? Or are you even going to hide it? Ive got same style overflow box and dont like seeing glass edges or inside the overflow box. I was thinking a piece of black acrylic against that wall but i dunno anymore.

Ok. I've been having the interanl debate over this for my next tank, which may be plywood with a glass front. Figured the cost of one pane wouldn't be too much more.

Those dimensions seem very familiar.:wink: With 18" behind the tank I suggest you don't put on any weight.:lol: However perhaps you are also planning sump access from all sides which would resolve that issue.
If doing it again I also wouldn't waste money on starphire glass. Just one tiny grain of sand in the magfloat can leave a lot of scars.

Yeah I hope it will be. I do have a history of not finishing haha. With my current tank I picked up some black acrylic from IPS here in town and siliconed it over. It blends perfectly with a painted black background and so far it scrapes clean as well as the glass with my Kent scraper. I will most likely be doing the same thing on this tank. It would be nice to have a removable black panel so I can peer in from the room but in my experience that black will not look the same as the back panel which has no air gap (painted right on) and also I really don't want to see in that box. The box will go there because I want my access tunnel to be obstacle free.

The cost for front and side in starphire as quoted by Concept Aquariums was very reasonable but I think I'm forever a regular glass guy. I got extremely tempted though. I want to have this tank done not obsess over too many fancy details so that I never have budget to run it.

Here is where my journey begins. Actually...I've been down there cleaning a little already if you can believe that. I took out 14 bags full of recyclables! Pop cans are the wife's job lol.

Kids' TV and toy room:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/messy1.jpg

Looking towards my office:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/messy2.jpg

Tank and fishroom. You may need to really just have faith at this point?

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/messy3.jpg

Ooh, a 404. Is there a web based meaning hidden in there?

Yeah Greg as soon as I arrived at these dimensions I knew I'd have some explainin' to do haha. 8x3 is the largest piece of glass that fits down my stairs. The rest sorta fell into place with height being the only remaining factor i could tweak. My 392g was 30" high and that was without a doubt too high for my liking. The 225g was 24" which I liked but I had a real issue with upgrading to a tank that was shorter than my current tank which is 26" tall. So the choice was made =)

Amen on the starphire. Dave has 19mm starphire and I laid awake a few nights dreaming about it. In the end I couldn't commit.

As for sump access... one of my must-haves is a sump not under a stand. The sump will be right against the wall that touches the overflow end of the tank. So if you stand in the fishroom and face the overflow box the sump will be on your right. On a stand much to my sore back's delight.

Lol I *was* going to title this 'lastlight's 404 (Not found)' but thought it'd be lost on most. Thx man I respect that!

haha... you should have. That was the first thing i thought of from the title too. :lol::lol:

Love those dimensions Brett. 36" deep is awesome and I agree with you on the 27" height. Anymore than that is too difficult. Good call on the sump being up off the ground too. My sump is on a 26" stand built into a closet and I love it. The top of the sump is chest height and easy to work on. Any thoughts on lighting, skimmer, etc. Don't want to rush you but there is the "need to know factor"

Lance I think the only difference here worth mentioning is I won't need to come out of the closet everytime I'm done working in the sump. Just sayin' =)

I have been buying hqi ballasts when I see them. I now have:

1 x dual pfo hqi
1 x dual bluewave hqi
1 x single bluewave hqi

I picked up an old maristar 2x250w with bad t5 ballast. I intend to buy just a reg electronic ballast to run this over a frag tank (no T5) when and if I ever go down that road.

so the tank will have at least 4x250w. I may go with 5 and simply run the center one as my sunrise, sunset light. Perhaps avoid having to install (and replace) T5s. Not sure yet.

As for a skimmer I haven't really seriously looked into that yet. I'm not looking forward to it either!

Yeah, I hear 'ya. A skimmer for a tank that size is going to take a good size bite out of the old wallet.

Looks like it will be a gooder, I'm a little jealous!

Brett addy boy wish you had the BK now don't ya. and you will need 400's wanna trade.:lol:

Yes I def DO wish I still had that skimmer.

250s are way more than enough =) Nice try!

:lol:

I think it will look great when is done.

Wow, I thought I was the only person in the world with a basement dumping zone :behindsofa:


J/K

Looks like an awsome build plan, I'll be following the progress :thumb:

The dimensions are identical to mine. I will say it is still a challenge reaching stuff that falls to the bottom without a "grab tool" although my tank stand height is 40" which I prefer over a 30" height. The 30" height is more designed to view the tank while sitting down which is fine but when my tank was that height I'd always be bending to see things in the top half when standing. Now it's hard to get people to step away from the tank to sit down.:lol:

Hi Brett,

Regarding your inlet and outlet locations, Your only option is to have them on the back wall, given where your overflow is.
What I like about the tidal flow setup is that it almost completely eliminates dead spots where detritus can accumulate.
If you can locate your sump return line(s) and your rock layout, it might become obvious where exactly your plumbing holes should go.

Why does the overflow location limit placement of inlets or outlets? I must be missing something Mitch.

Maybe it's the scale of the drawing that I see, but it looks like you would have some pretty crowded plumbing underneath the overflow...?

Awesome Brett - You don't waste any time upgrading. Can't wait to see it.

That is too funny, I thought the same thing... We are just way to geeky/techy

Wow, now that is a big tank... If you ever want some help with any setup, let me know, I would love to give a helping hand.

It's hard to tell a huge difference between starphire and regular with small samples but I've put together 19mm tanks with and without starphire and it's a huge difference when the glass is that thick and you're looking at large sheet of it with light on the other end. I've almost always had starphire tanks and it hardly scratches any easier, if you did something that scratches the starphire it would probably scratch the regular glass as well. Even my wife won't let me build a tank for us without using starphire. Either way is cool though, looks like a sweet setup!

Guess I'll have to start my 405 gallon build :wink:

This is going to be awesome! So happy to see you doing another big build...if it's anything like the last one we're all in for a good ride.

Have you thought about a DIY LED fixture for a tank that size? I am only doing a 290g but the savings of going LED just on bulbs, etc really made a lot of sense.

Lol thanks but this won't be like the other build for a few reasons: No high end skimmer or light planned. The lighting I have (need to pickup more reflectors I guess) but the skimmer I have no idea about.

I'm trying to make this a larger version of my current tank. Modest in design and equipment but easy to care for and relatively successful.

I'm planning on going with the Octopus XP Cone 5000 internal skimmer. I think the External might be a good match for your tank...they have pretty good reviews...semi-reasonable pricing and a 3 year warranty on the pump.

Where to start, as usual there will be lots of questions.

What type of coral would you like to keep..
Do you have an idea of the aquascaping,
Can we plumb both ends,
Can we drill the bottom
What internal turnover do you think you would like.
Do you have flood insurance J/K

Paul

Paul, I always enjoy your sense of humour. You don't post much, but every time you do, I chuckle.

Brett, glad that you can get going on this sucker. Should be an amazing tank. Paul is really good to deal with. When I was setting up my tank he helped me with my closed loop/flow even though I didn't even buy the 4way from him. He spend lots of time on the phone explaining and pm'd diagrams etc. Almost a year and a half later, I wouldn't change a thing about my plumbing. I don't have a single powerhead in the tank and all my outlets are hidden and all my sps corals still seem to be getting enough flow.

WOW Man!.....thats going to be one monster tank..I'm looking forward to seeing this all come together.

Paul thanks for chiming in here =)

- Mostly SPS. Some acans, zoas in the mix as well but mostly sticks
- I think the rockwork will be one larger pile and maybe one or two smaller ones. The piles might be closer to low towers. I am open to working outlets and inlets into these structures. Open sand between structures.
- We can plumb through all panes except the front and the viewable end. Even 90s or 45s a few inches away from the front or side panel are ok
- Drill bottom sure. This is a new thing for me to be down with. I'm IN.
- in my current tank I have a nano wavebox and 3x6025s (modded) and eheim return. So not even a ton of flow. That's maybe 35X not counting wavebox. I think I'll need more than that so long as it's planned right
- I will likely have sand. I envisioned intakes in a rock tower like Dez but maybe 12" off ground to avoid sand?

I'm open to the tidal thing or your traditional 'keep stuff suspended and just get it to the overflow' thinking. I likely won't be doing a wavebox in this setep tho so I'd like to match its ability to move all areas of the tank.

I've heard the same which is why I really wanted his input. I love the uncluttered look of your tank.

Thanks I'm looking forward to it as well. It will move faster than the first big one I hope.

Looks like its going to be a very nice build & tank, Brett. Good luck with it all. I can sell you my 160 in awhile and you can run a pair then. :lol:

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