MitchM tank build

[MitchM]

Tenecor called today. The tank is finished and is leaving their facility in Phoenix on the 18th.

Mitch

[MitchM]

I've ordered the sand and salt:

Sand
800 lbs Sugar size
150 lbs Select size
40 lbs Special grade

Salt
Seachem Salinity (Aquavitro) 8 pails

It should all be ready for me to pick up around Oct. 20.

Mitch

[Delphinus]

Where did you order the sand from?

[MitchM]

Red Coral.

Mitch

[Delphinus]

Cool, thanks. I think I might order some sand as well after all for mine which is why I ask (I had originally planned on BB but have changed my mind.) How did you figure out how much to order?

[MitchM]

Hi Tony,

I'm following Ron Shimek's guidelines as best I can that I found here:

http://www.ronshimek.com/deep_sand_beds.html

Particle size distribution:

0.1-0.5 mm = 80%
0.1-0.75 mm = 15%
1.2-1.7 mm = 4%
1.7-2.5 mm = 1%

Here's a link to his discussion about it:

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic70...hlight=dsb+0.1

I am trying for a 4" or better depth.

Mitch

[MitchM]

Well the tank finally arrived today.
There was a 2 week delay getting out of Tenecor. I was able to track it up through the border, no hassles there.
Environment Canada issued a heavy snow/ winter storm warning for our area so I tracked down the aquarium to a yard in Calgary and asked if I can come and pick it up before we have snow on the ground. We live on a steep hill.
First they said yes, then they said it would be too much trouble to empty out a 53' trailer to get to it. I told them it would be less hassle than pulling their truck out of the ditch....no go...
They ship it to Red Deer....it snows of course...now they won't deliver it until the roads are "clear"...
Next they ship it to Sundre...well, we only go to Water Valley on Fridays...o.k. it's Friday...we're on our way...Hello?..this is the shipping company...our truck broke down, we'll call you in a few days.
So it shows up today. I'm glad the temperature is 0 and not the -27 it was there for a bit.



It's just me here to do this, so I get my tractor and unload it:



In order not to put too much pressure on the sides of the tank, I cut a couple of 2 X 4's a bit wider than the tank and hold the straps off the edges of the aquarium:


...and away I go:



I wasn't totally alone..I did have an audience:



I placed it up on my table saw and unwrapped it:



The best part...not a single scratch!

Here's the feeding tube and you can see the edges rabbeted for the lexan lids I ordered:



The back 40" overflow:



Here are the intake strainers, with my iPhone on top for size comparison:


While I was waiting for the aquarium I was looking at a full size piece of plywood, trying to imagine aquascaping this thing. This is going to be a daunting task.

Mitch



.

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by MitchM

Hi Tony,

I'm following Ron Shimek's guidelines as best I can that I found here:

http://www.ronshimek.com/deep_sand_beds.html

Particle size distribution:

0.1-0.5 mm = 80%
0.1-0.75 mm = 15%
1.2-1.7 mm = 4%
1.7-2.5 mm = 1%

Here's a link to his discussion about it:

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic70...hlight=dsb+0.1

I am trying for a 4" or better depth.

Mitch

Ron Shimek's sand formula is a good one, but it leaves out one important factor... scratching acrylic. I use Special grade with some extra shells and coarse sand mixed in. This way you are less likely to stir it up and get it stuck in cleaning magnets and it won't scratch the bottom of the viewing panels as much when you use a plastic scraper.