lastlight's 225

[lastlight]

Well some progress again. This time I have the tank itself to show. I opted for no starphire and looking through it now I honestly think I'll be happier with regular glass. I hear starphire scratches easier, this isn't too green at all and I had weird distortions with my last starphire tank.

I had *removed* build this for me and they did an awesome job. Ground and polished edges, black silicone and eurobraced with a few holes. Getting the tank into the livingroom was pretty easy but to get it up on my high stand (44") we hauled my kitchen table over. We got it on the table first and from there onto the stand. Extra thanks to *removed* for delivering this beast to my door at no extra charge.

[Lance]

That is one fine looking tank! I agree, I see very little green at all. I've got a 225 Sea Star coming next week with starphire front. I've heard from some owners that the starphire glass does scratch easier and others say no. I personally have never owned it before, so I don't know. I've seen other tanks with it and I really liked it. I'll guess I'll soon find out.

[Delphinus]

Oh - I think I saw your tank at the store before it had the bracing or box on it.

"Shore is purdy"

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Oh - I think I saw your tank at the store before it had the bracing or box on it.

"Shore is purdy"

Does EVERYONE get to go into the back room there? I thought I was all special getting to see the operating room table and stuff. Yeah that was mine you saw!

[Delphinus]

Are you kidding? He'd chase me out of there with a shotgun if I got anywhere near. He had the tank out in front, you had to walk right by it to get at his fish tanks

Originally Posted by lastlight

Does EVERYONE get to go into the back room there? I thought I was all special getting to see the operating room table and stuff. Yeah that was mine you saw!

[lastlight]

Since this build is slow I will tend to update for ANY progress lol.

By extreme luck Gold's had my skimmer in stock! This won't see any electricity for months unfortunately. It's a BK SM250 and the thing oozes quality. The lid is a WEAPON. Hopefully it can skim too =)





Next item will be a Dart Gold that I have on order. I really hope the new (original) Baldor motors are as quiet as I've heard.

[lastlight]

A bit more progress to report...

I've got most of my plumbing parts now and I began connecting it all. This pic shows the 4 1" returns into the tank. These will tee to 1.5" flex pvc that will snake behind the tank to the pump. The 90s are slipped on right now because there isn't enough clearance to rotate them all the way around and I don't want to commit at this point. I may use some 45s for the middle two returns to get some flow between my planned rock islands/piles.



These next two pics show the two tanks I tried my hand at building. I picked up 3/8" glass and went to town and I'm really happy with the result. I water tested successfully and then added the first baffle. I may not add anymore actually. Will do a wet run and see how the bubbles are. Space was at a premium so I don't have a large return area so more baffles might actually increase noise. I'll see...

The tall tank is basically an extra 20 gallons of system volume I will have in circulation. To do a water change I'll shut it's feed valve, flip a switch to run a little eheim that always sits in it...draining it into the basement drain (via the safety drain in the bottom of my stand). Then I'll turn a valve on my mixing tank hidden in my office (other side of the wall, in a cabinet) to top up the tank and open it's feed valve back up to bring it 'online'.





Once my flex pvc arrives and the baffle cures I'll get these into the stand and hook it all up! Really excited to be able to fire my Dart up. My fuge will be a 15 gallon tank on a shelf inside the stand but I likely won't build it. Just need to plumb everything to make sure a stock 15 (24x12x12) will fit. Cheaper than custom and I'm nearly out of black silicone anyways.