The why, oh why, 38 stair, 290 gal build revised

[gregzz4]

As far as the Concept tank journal goes, just link your build thread in their's. And maybe send Dave a note about it in case you do it wrong or such.

I don't want to rain on your build parade, but seeing you siliconing the brick stuff to acrylic brings up an issue;
Silicone and acrylic don't stay bonded for very long, especially if there is any stress/weight involved.

Maybe you could come up with a better way to bond them together, or use glass instead.

[reefwithareefer]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

As far as the Concept tank journal goes, just link your build thread in their's. And maybe send Dave a note about it in case you do it wrong or such.

I don't want to rain on your build parade, but seeing you siliconing the brick stuff to acrylic brings up an issue;
Silicone and acrylic don't stay bonded for very long, especially if there is any stress/weight involved.

Maybe you could come up with a better way to bond them together, or use glass instead.

I did link it before, but the instructions were confusing to me. Dave actually started mine in his thread, for me..lol.

Lol, I am terrible at putting stuff together properly in my journal. I actually sanded and scored the acrylic really deep and then drilled thru the acrylic so that the silicone would go into the holes and onto the back side, giving it something to bond to. I am hoping that will do the trick.
Thank for pointing it out though, if you had not said something, someone might have tried this and did not know to drill or score the acrylic and then a disaster could have happened...

[reefwithareefer]

Not sure if Ozone is the cause or not. Sea Apple appeared healthy in color and size then 2 days ago it shriveled up and was gone within 36 hours. Nothing in the tank appears to be harmed by any of the so called "toxins" from the dead sea apple.

[The Guy]

Wow what a great setup, I'd love to come over and see one day, you did a super job.

[reefwithareefer]

Originally Posted by The Guy

Wow what a great setup, I'd love to come over and see one day, you did a super job.

Thanks for the kind words and you are always welcome to come by and say Hi.

[reefwithareefer]

Time for an update..
Once again I am doing everything out of order, but that is ok. My thread, my rules.

I had time to set up my lights and build a new canopy. I took some pics and put them in a folder and that is when I found the pics that show the wall being ripped out and being rebuilt so the GF could have a saltwater tank again.


I started this on a friday night and had it mudded and taped by Sunday





This wall divided the front entrance and living room. Pic shows the drywall removed






Looking at the front entrance, from the living room.



and looking from the kitchen.....



Cut down the bearing wall studs....



Added a 3 1/2" x 9 1/2" x 14' Microlam to carry the load



Then I ripped out the old tiles and flooring, cut down the studs to proper elevation and then put the top plate on....




I can not find the the other pics showing the framing out of another wall to make the top 28" wide, but this gives the idea....




Another view...This one showing the laminate flooring installed as well. I used 6x6 for the posts and header, then sheathed with 1" plywood.




I do not have pictures, but I tiled the entire top as well.

[reefwithareefer]

This was the first tank, An oceanic 180 Bowfront. It looked good, but never really filled out the space I had built, so I wanted to "upgrade" right away.




I did not need a center post with the 180..
When I got the 290 gal, I added a 4x4 post in the center for better support.





After a month or so, I checked the header and it had not deflected at all, so I took it out and started the closet doors and shelves.



I started this 2 weekends ago. It took a day to complete.



I salvaged some solid wood doors from a job I was on and made them into shelves. The closet doors we cut down to fit the opening, then I trimmed it all out.



I finished all the electrical wiring and and plumbing etc for the tank and closet, so the canopy and lights were the next to attack...

[reefwithareefer]

I have been all over the place with how I was going to do the canopy and lights. Each one affected how to do the other.

I had a 6 ft fixture with 3- 250w halides, 4 80w T5s and some moonlights. It never worked right with my 8' long "CONCEPT" (hint hint) built tank. Trying to find an 8ft fixture was futile and 2 4' just did not work for me

Ever since seeing Slyguys tank and how the corals popped, I have tried to get the same effect. I have changed bulbs, type of lights, height from top of tank, added led, took away led, added lots of T5s then took some away etc etc.

The final decision came a few weeks ago after the GF hinted about finishing the canopy etc for the one millionth time...

Metal halide pendants were the choice as was the decision to rip apart my existing fixture for the 4 80w T5 setup.
After pricing everything out, it was cheaper to just rip apart the 5 month old fixture, rather than buy everything new. Add it the fact of having three extra HQI ballasts and all was good.

Gutted..



I found 4 pendants on canreef and scooped them all for 200.00. Cleaned them up and swapped bulbs. Ready to put above the tank.



Of course nothing is that easy around here. After measuring the height of the pendant lights, I was not happy with how close they would be to the top of the tank....So....


Only one solution...Cut the drywall ceiling out and install them between the floor joists of the floor above the tank..Oh the GF is not impressed now...









Not too bad. 2.5 hours and the holes were laid out, cut and cleaned up...Now I had to vent the heat from between the joists. Off to Home Depot to get a bathroom fan and vent cover...

I cut a hole in the soffit to cut the boxer out and then installed the fan, so it would suck out the heat into the roof jacks and voila... Ready for the next step




I put hooks in the floor sheathing and hung each pendant. Ran the cords thru the joists and down to the Galaxie ballasts, which connected to the Apex..The pendants fit perfectly within the floor joists. Left about 3" to the floor sheathing and I made the openings about 3 inches larger. The pendant glass was flush with the drywall. This gave me about 8" above the tank now.


The T5s were installed as well as some strip led lights from Home Depot. The LEDs were for the moonlights.




Lights done, now for the canopy

[reefwithareefer]

It has taken some time and thinking of how to build the canopy. I did not want them on hinges as that would impede what little room I had to access the tank. Drawer sliders were too complicated to design and install, etc etc
I chose to use a friction fit design. I had cupboard doors from the salvage, that were the same wood and stain, so that decision was easy...

Cut to size.



Now to design the friction fit...I always found a trip to Home Depot will help with figuring out the design of stuff.See what there is and if I can incorporate it into the build...

I picked up some felt pads, a few black, rectangular, aluminum hand rail pickets, cabinet door magnets, screws and the design was done in my head and the result was...

This




The pieces were cut to size, then I pre-drilled some holes in the picket and screwed it to the wood. Added the felt pads to the underside of the picket, so the aluminum does not touch the glass. I also added some to the face for safety sakes. Last thing was to install the door magnets. These would hold it from tipping outwards and the felt pads helped keep the friction fit , nice and tight.

With the 2 pieces up



One off



Both off



Other side



Still need to finish this up





I will hinge the end piece so that it can be swung down easily to feed the fish etc...




Misc pics of the canopy and lights








Cabinet magnets




Inside the canopy

[reefwithareefer]

Last of the updating for a bit or until I get a better camera than my Iphone..
I had asked what I should do to my lighting etc so that my corals would "pop" like Slyguys and most said it is most likely a water issue and change the T5s to ATI blues. So I hooked up the diatom filter and installed some ATI actinics that i had not used yet..Pretty blue for me, but an improvement. Still nothin like Slyguys...

Quality of pics suck....

Left side of tank. The cultured stone wall is starting to blend in. Only have a few encrusting corals on it for now.




Center




Left side






End of tank