Myka's 90 gallon build & 3 province move (Pics Feb 6)

[Myka]

Managed to get the tank in the house today! I was going to fill it up and put the rock in it tonight, but I'm scared that the overflow might leak, and I don't have a sump setup yet, so that would not be good if it leaked!! I painted the back of the tank black today too. I think I will add a backdrop to the stand too as sphelps has suggested. I still have to make the front door for the stand and the canopy wrap, but right now I'm concentrating on getting the rock in the tank because my livestock is arriving June 1st or 2nd.

I can't find a suitable tank for a sump here. The closest thing I have found is a 20 long which is 30x12x12" at PetSmart. It's not ideal, but I would be happy with this as a sump. However, I was just looking at my skimmer and the way that the gate valve mod has been glued in makes the skimmer take up a larger base area. I'm not sure if I can squeeze it into 12" wide...and if I can't I will either have to get a custom 16" wide sump made ($$$) which I don't want to do, or I need to buy a different skimmer. Not sure what to do...

Anyway here it is situated in the living room. With a temporary 2x39w T5 fixture on it...with blue bulbs and dirty glass. Need to clean up the area around the tank, and move the pictures on the wall.

[fishytime]

Looking really good .....your tang will be thanking you Cowtown soon?

[Myka]

I was just thinkin...maybe I will use two sumps, one for a fuge and one for a sump. That would make finding a suitable tank easier as I'm sure I could fit the skimmer into a 20g, then have a few baffles, and the return pump. Then just have the fuge drilled and plumbed into the return chamber to overflow through a 1" bulkhead or something like that. Would need to figure out a way to make sure it doesn't plug up and overflow on the floor...maybe a backup drilled higher? Anyone have any thoughts to add to this?

Thanks Doug! My tang will love it. He will get lost though. I don't have any plans to go to cowtown right now...

[Kalifornia]

Looking great , can't wait to see more

[Myka]

Thanks Chad!

Well, I'm really disappointed in myself. After building the stand TWICE, I totally forgot that I wanted to leave the top trim piece sticking up a couple inches so that the tank would fit down into it so I wouldn't see the foam or the tank trim. Then when I put the canopy wrap on it will cover the trim too and match. But, nooooooooooooo I forgot. Oi.

I am going tomorrow to pick up a couple tanks off someone. A 15 for the sump, and a 5.5 for a fuge that I will plumb in. This will leave room so I can use the PS3 for my return, which I was starting to think wouldn't happen. I ordered the glass for baffles today...I just hope that I'm right with the measurements of the inside of the 15!!

I'm crossing my fingers that I can get water and rock in the tank by Saturday!

[Kalifornia]

Mindy

Hey can't you add a trim around the bottom nothing fancy but just something to finish it off for you ?
Very cool , are you going to plum your sump and fuge in line ? or just going to (T) off your PS3 to use for the fuge and the return ?

I will keep my fingers crossed that your able to put rock and water in it on Saturday

looking forward to seeing it

Chad

[mseepman]

Looking good as expected there Myka.

I find I live by the same rules as you when it comes to woodwork...why build something only once when twice is double the fun!

[Blom]

Agreed, when I built my stand I forgot some sort of opening on the back side to run the power cords. Guess I was thinking all natural tank.

[Myka]

@ you guys!! I don't like building it once, let alone twice. If it bugs me enough I will drain the tank, drape some wet towels over the corals, pick it up with the corals and rock in it still, and put a new stand under. Hey, it's only a 90! But I doubt it will bug me that much! It might happen though. Who knows.

My livestock will be here next Sunday, so the race is on!! I meant to have the tank running for a month before my livestock got here, but I'm a lazy @$$ when it comes to building stuff, so I'm REALLY behind schedule. The tank shouldn't cycle because the rock is fully cured, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Same with the sump and fuge thingy I got goin. I might decide to learn how to do acrylic works, and then replace the sump later on down the road, but I think what I have rigged up will work.

I was going to put the water and rock in the tank last weekend without any plumbing, but I was thinking "What if my overflow leaks?" I mentioned this to another reefer, and he says "Well it would be good to know because if it leaks, then you're gonna have some major trouble in a power outtage!" Why didn't I think of that??? No kidding it better not leak!

So...I'm filling the tank as we speak! It will take all day though, and then some as my RO/DI is only 75 gpd. I did have about 30 gallons made up already, so I should get it as full as I want it today anyway. I will have to wait for the silicone in the sump baffles to dry overnight anyway. I'm only going to let it dry for 12 hours, so hopefully that's enough. I will have Sunday morning to work on the tank too because I don't think I'm working until 3:30 pm.

TODAY:

~ Pick up acrylic rods, black zip ties, more plumbing pieces, glass baffles, and sump & fuge.
~ Water and rock in the tank by tonight.
~ Most of the plumbing should be roughed in.
~ The sump and fuge will be prepped.

TOMORROW:

~ Install sump and fuge.
~ Work on rockscape.

Originally Posted by Kalifornia

Hey can't you add a trim around the bottom nothing fancy but just something to finish it off for you ?
Very cool , are you going to plum your sump and fuge in line ? or just going to (T) off your PS3 to use for the fuge and the return ?

I think it would look funny if I added more trim. It's perfectly balanced and a mirror image on top and bottom, so I don't think that would work well. The sump will the inline, and I will T my PS3 for the fuge. I have to steal some flow anyway because the PS3 should have about 700 gph at 5' head, and my Herbie drain is only a 1", so I can only have 600 gph going through the drain, max. Which doesn't bother me any because with a total volume of about 110 gallons, that gives me 5.5x turnover through the sump which imo is pretty much perfect. I don't want anything more than 100 gph going through the sump either, so it should work well. I just hope I can fit that dang PS3 in the stand!

[Myka]

I had a friend stop by yesterday which promptly halted all progress, and then we went out and spoiled ourselves with lobster tail, King crab legs, garlic shrimp, asparagus, salad, and biscuits!!!! Yum!! Oh, and don't forget the Mai Tais!!! Hehehehe

Lastnight I picked up the 15 and 5.5 gallon tanks. The 15 gallon had blue silicone...and many of you know what that means! Either the tank was treated with methylene blue or COPPER!! So I talked him down in price, and today I ripped the tank apart, and resiliconed the entire tank, let it dry for a couple hours, and started installing the baffles. I ordered the baffles a bit taller than I should have so I tried cutting the glass myself. I have cut glass before with varying success, and today it didn't work so well for me. The edges are horridly jagged - nothing a good gob of silicone can't fix!!!

So I started filling the tank up this morning. My oh my it takes a long time to fill a 90 with a 75 gpd RO/DI! I had about 30 gallons kicking around already, so I mixed that with saltwater, and dumped it in the tank. Then I tested the water the live rock was in, and it all tests good, so I tossed the rock and the rock water in too. So it's just under 1/2 full now, and I am mixing another 35 ish gallons right now. That should be all I can fit in there for now until I get the hole in the top of the overflow blocked off. I'm going to put a bulkhead in it and a plug, but I have to figure out a way to cut the end off a bulkhead because it protrudes into the oveflow box too far and gets in the way of the stand pipes.

I just set the rock in there so that it's all covered with water for now, will do the scaping probably at a later date. I bought some acrylic rods to drill into the rock. Just need to find some epoxy, which I think I have to order. Also, couldn't find 3/4" bulkheads for the life of me yesterday for the refugium, so I will have to order those as well.

I have an idea... I'm tossing the idea of running my two reactors (carbon and GFO) inline with the refugium which is T'd off the main return, then have ball valves on the fuge, and the reactors. The reactors would be chained together running about 50 gph through them, then their output would go into the refugium. Thoughts?

Anyway, look WATER and ROCK!!! Believe it or not that is 99 lbs of live rock. I have another 50 sitting in another bucket waiting as well so I can cherry pick my pieces.