Tank arrived

[VegasMike]

I finally got my tank today. I ordered it 8/27, so it took about 4.5 months. I didn't mind the wait since I am also having a 750 square foot addition put on the house where the tank is going to be and the addition still isn't ready yet.

The tank is 96"x36"x32", around 450 gallons actual volume. It was built by InterAmerican/Bow Valley. I had some of the same run around that most have with Mitch where he tells you it is going out tomorrow, tomorrow, next week, etc. The real trick is to speak with Audrey and get the straight answer. Mitch was never rude with me, frequently apologetic, but, in my view, just thought it would make me happier to keep hearing a date, no matter if that date turned out to be real or not.

Getting it from the freight company this morning was really fun. They called me up yesterday and told me that the crate was too big for their lift gate. I called my contractor and he had a forklift delivered early this morning. ABF told me that my tank would be here between 9 and 10. It showed up at around 9:10am. That's when the real fun started. The boom lift had 4' forks and the crate had to be lifted from the end and the crate was 10' long. The guy figured out how to get it off the truck using the 4' forks and some chain. I decided to take a walk while they did that. They were making me a little nervous. Once on blocks on the ground he was going to go under the box from the side to better distribute the weight. Well, lets just say the box was about 4'3" wide, yet another obstacle for the guy to figure out, which he did. HE drove over the curb with the forks about 6' in the air (good thing this boom lift had huge tires and low end torque) and through my front yard. He then had to lower the tank onto three furniture dollies sitting on plywood to roll it between the house addition and the rock landscaping (read hill here). They kept domino-ing the plywood and finally got it on my back patio on blocks. There it will sit until I can get my addition to the right point.

The tank appears to be built exactly to specs, all of the bulkheads the right sizes in the right places, overflows exactly as planned, bracing as planned, everything. The silicon looks very even and straight from what I can see through the top of the crate. I can't wait to see it uncrated, but I will probably not fully uncrate it until it goes into the room. I will, however take the top off tonight to see it a little better and check a couple other things.

I will take some pics, but I haven't figured out how to resize the pics yet so that I can post them. Any suggestions? Someone told me about hosting the images, but I still don't quite understand that yet either. I can e-mail the pics, but they end up being about a meg each.

Mike

[3z]

Congratulations on your new pride and joy! The specs sounds great! Have fun. :thumbsup:

When and if you get a chance, would like to hear your particularized reasons behind your choices in regards to lighting and flow of the main tank.


By the way, I am near Boca Park in Summerlin, so if you need an extra hand at any time, let me know.

Best wishes,

3z:cool:

[geshields]

Mike,

Do a search on powertoys It is software from Microsoft that will enable you to right click the mouse and resize the pic...

NM..did the search for you..here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp)

On the right side, download the image resizer

Greg

[VegasMike]

Thanks Greg,

Too bad it's dark here or I'd take some pics and post them tonight. I'll try to take some tomorrow and get them posted.


3z - Thanks for the offer. I'll keep it in mind. I will post tomorrow in response to flow and lighting. Mitch sent a big box of bulkheads and plumbing parts with this thing and I'm trying to sort out what I have.

You are right down the street from me. I live close to Crestdale and Hillpoint. My in-laws have a place in Queenridge North.

Mike

[VegasMike]

Greg,

The imageresizer is for Windows XP and I am not running that at home. I will try it at work since that is where I am usually doing this anyway. It might take a few days to get some pics up, but watch out when I get this to work.

Mike

[tfp]

mike,
man i wish i coulda seen that thing! wifey and i just got back from lv tonight from a quick vacation. if i make it down there again, i'd love to check it out.

tfp

[myreef]

Congrats Mike...Can't wait to see!

[VegasMike]

Ok, for those who want to know what I am using for equipment and some of my thinking behind it, here it goes.

First, I got my sump from Greg at www.reefmania.net. It is 60"x24"x22". It as four bulkheads for the tank overflow drains that flow into a chamber and over the first baffle. There is a 20" section for the skimmer and then over another baffle, through an eggcrate (used for carbon or other chemical media) shelf adn under/over another series of baffles. There is another slightly larger chamber just before it flows over and through another eggcrate shelf (mechanical media here to help protect the pumps) and through three 1.5" bulkheads to the pumps, one for tank return, one for the skimmer and one for whatever (you'll see that I design for flexibility).

That brings us to the pumps. I will be using one Sequence 4600 for the return to the tank. That should pump about 3000 gph conservatively. I am using another Sequence 4600 for the closed loop. I am going to start with an Iwaki 70 for the skimmer, but may upsize that later depending on performance of the skimmer.

The skimmer will be a MR-4 from Andy at www.myreefcreations.com. I think it's an MR-4, I can't remember, but it has dual beckets and sits around 36" tall. Andy could confirm it if you need any other info. Lets just say the thing looks like a monster. I will start with it in the sump, but I have the flexibility of locating it external to the sump since I also had a skimmer return buily into each side of the sump. Both sides because I want the flexibilty of sump orientation.

I also purchased a Kalk reactor from Andy as well which will have all of the top off running through it through a Litermeter III. RO/DI will be made using a Kent Maxxima 60gpd unit into a 50 gallon covered resevior filled via a Lifereef float switch. I am also putting a spectrapure float switch on the Litermeter so that the Litermeter will shut off before it overflows if I don't have the Litermeter set just right. This will allow variable evap rates to occur without any Litermeter adjustments. Oh yea, the fresh water resevior has a safety outlet at the top in case the RO gets stuck on. This outlet goes straight to a drain. There is also a drain in the center of the fish room just in case. The fish room is recessed two inches blow the rest of the addition, including the outside walls, to act as a basin of sorts so that all water is contained.

That brings us to the Fish room. There will be an area roughly 8'x 15' behind the tank with a sink and counter space. The fish room has its' own dedicated AC/heat and thermastat. It also has a 260 cfm exhaust fan with it's own humidistat/thermastat and override switch. It willbe set to come on if the humidity gets too high, the temp gets too high or I flip the switch. The make-up air for the exhaust fan actually comes from the rest of the addition and goes through the separate AC/heat unit for that area. So, in effect, there are two AC units that can help cool the fish room depending on how I have the exhaust fan set. Oh yea, I have six separate 20 AMP circuits wired to the room and one outside.

That brings me to a chiller. I have not settled on one yet, but I have a 12"x12" access panel about 6" from the floor that leads to outside. This can be used to route water to a chiller located outside or I can direct the hot air from the chiller through a duct out this panel. Again, flexibility.

Tank flow will be though the 3000gph from the sump return pump, 4000gph through the closed loop mainly behind/within the rocks and I am going to start with two Tunze 6100's on a multicontroller. I had the bracing for the top of the tank designed in such a way as to put 3" semi-circular holes in the back corner and the middle of each side for mounting Tunze units. So I can add two more 6100's if I want to. The closed loop feed is via one 3" (yes, 3") bulkhead in the middle bottom of the tank. I have buily an eggcrate tower to shield the three inch standpipe for the closed loop so that I can remove the standpipe for cleaning. Knowing that eggcrate alone won't keep all critters out, I am going to put rigid mesh tubing that I found at www.aquaticeco.com around the stand pipe. The stand pipe will be drilled full of holes to spread the flow around the pipe. We will see how this works, but I got the idea from a guy in Texas that is doing the same thing with great success and a lot more flow.

Lighting is still one of those areas in flux (no pun intended). Since I want to keep a mixed tank, I am initially going with four DE 250watt Reef Optix III/Icecap units with 10000k bulbs. I am planning on adding more lighting, but I want to wait and see how those look before either adding four more RO III with 20000k bulbs or VHO lighting. The lighting is suspended from an aluminum ladder frame I made using 1" square tube aluminum. Since the tank is an in-wall sitting between two walls, I can make the lighting frame slide from the front to the back. I am using "L" bracket aluminum to do this. One inch "L" sits on top of a 2x4 mounted to the wall above each side of the tank. An inverted 3/4" "L" is on each end of the frame. This allows the frame to "hook" over each side and slide back to front. When another such light rack is added, it limits how much sliding can really be done since each rack is 14" wide and the tank is 36" wide. So I am linking the frames together with a hinging system so that thay can be "folded" on top of each other. We will see how this all actually works, but that is the plan for the moment.

My existing 150 will be used as a refugium with a DSB segregated into three compartments. The plan is to change out one of these compartments each year so that the DSB won't become too saturated with "stuff". The main tank will be 1"-2" of sand only in the areas that you can see. This sand will be vaccummed periodically fro detritus build up adn replaced as needed.

The Calcium Reactor is an expanded version of my one from www.lifereef.com. I had Jeff make me a 24" extension for a reactor I already have. The CR is now right at 40" tall. We will see how that works out, but a Deltec unit may be included under next years' Christmas Tree.

Let me know if I left anything out. I am plannign on having some pics in the future.

Mike

[BigDaddy]

How much did the whole thing weigh? My 280 (72X30X30) should be done w/in the next 4 weeks.

[Ken Sellick]

Mike I am glad to hear about your progress.

[VegasMike]

According to ABF, the shipment from IA weighed in at a paultry 1930 lbs. That included the tank, crating, stand for the 450 and a stand for my 150. I would guess the tank itself will weigh in at around 1200 lbs easy.

[Foster]

Im going to pick up my 225 (72x30x24) leemar glass tank tomorrow, I was told it weighs a little over 400lbs

[BigDaddy]

Thanks, so I will guess around 500lbs or so. So, I'm hoping 4 people can lift it.

[myreef]

Mike..yes you have the MR-4 skimmer...dual injectors.

[dgasmd]

MYREEF:

so given you make all this equipment and you have a large tank too, what kind of skimmer do you run in your tank? Post some pictures.

[geshields]

I think Andy runs a piccolo airstone skimmer on his 400:D ...hehe Couldn't resist..:jester: :jester: :jester: :jester:

Greg

[myreef]

Originally posted by geshields
I think Andy runs a piccolo airstone skimmer on his 400:D ...hehe Couldn't resist..:jester: :jester: :jester: :jester:

Greg

Greg, you know I told you to keep that quiet.... :lmao: hehe...

Originally posted by dgasmd
MYREEF:

so given you make all this equipment and you have a large tank too, what kind of skimmer do you run in your tank? Post some pictures.

I am running a MR-6 dual beckett skimmer, being run by an Iwaki 70. I took pics of it today, but left the camera at work. I will post some tomorrow or Monday.

My reactor is a CCR-818 with internal spray bar. It has an Iwaki 20 RLT pump for the recirculation pushing the spray bar that runs down the center of the media chamber. It is a sinlge chamber but large (8") diameter. My CA runs at 450 and my alk at 12 DKH. I also use a Nilsen reactor (6x22) to help with pH mainly. I use a liter meter to replenish about 8-10 gallons of evaporation daily.

CCR-818 reactor
http://www.myreefcreations.com/personal/tankpics/400/equipment/CCR818.jpg

[weatherson]

Hey Mike,
Congratulations on the new tank and I'm glad to see you are underway. Your equipment/system sounds like a winner. I look forward to seeing your progress. If there's any help I can give with photos, just let me know.

Joseph

[Salt-Reefer]

Im sure Andy has a little better picture, but this the MR-6 that he is talking about.... 48" tall and mine will be runninh of a Sequence 3200 which is from the pressure series of pumps.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/1867MR-6_Skimmer_and_water_tank__Small_.JPG

[delphinus]

Mike, what thickness of glass does your 450g have? That is the exact same dimensions I was thinking of going with. I would probably go with IA since I am in the same city.

Did you go with Starphire at all (double-paned-laminated-whatever it's called when it's doubled up)?

I hear rumours of 3/4" Starphire becoming available ... hmmm. :cool:

[VegasMike]

I will have to measure it when I uncrate it. I uncrated half of it last weekend for inspection, but recrated it after. The one thing I do know is that the front is the laminated starphire, about an inch thick. The back and bottom are supposed to be tempered, but I can't remember whether they are 3/4" or 1". If you look at the pics, the top trim looks to be all the same size so I would guess it's 1" all the way around.

I will confirm it in about two weeks when we are planning on putting the tank on the stand in the addition.

I would definitely give Mitch a try if you are local to him. No shipping and you can ride heard over him more easiliy. Nothing like showing up to see your tank as soon as Mitch says it's done. I would tell him you want to inspect it as soon as he says it's done.

He also did a fairly good job on the stand. I say fairly because he did not brace it like I would have. There are no diagonal supports in the corners to keep it from going trapezoidal. He made it almost exactly like the drawing I sent him, but I also asked him to add any support he thought was required. My advice would be for you to design it for him. Other than that, I would have said that the stand was perfect. The powder coating really turned out nice. It really wasn't that big of a deal for me since I found someone here locally who is going to add the support I think will make me sleep easier for $200. That will make the total price for the stand $950. Given that most of the other quotes I got were from $1400-$1900, it did not bother me too much. I just wish I had been more specific about the stand design.

I was very specific in my hand drawings of my tank and the tank was built exactly the way I wanted.

[VegasMike]

Oh yea, if you decide to have Mitch do the tank, ask him fro a copy of my drawings and modify them as you wish. They may give you some ideas. My design wasn't all that complicated.

[RedEyeReef]

Congrads Mike, can't wait to see it up and running.

[VegasMike]

Just for an update. The tank is still in it's crate, but not for long. They have finished drywalling, taping, mudding and painting the addition. They have put in all of the travertine flooring in the bathroom and around the perimeter of the main room. Carpet will be in the center of the main room. They are currently (as I type this) putting the Azrock flooring in the fish room which means that the tank can be put on the stand tomorrow. The contractor has all of his guys coming at 2:00 tomorrow to do the deed. If it doesn't get done then, I have to wait until Monday. No more waiting, pleeeeeeze.

Here is a pic of the space the tank will occupy. Once the tank is on the stand and leveled, leak tested, etc. they are going to build a littleremovable wall in front of it to create the in-wall effect. They will also be creating a picture-frame type of effect around it including access door across the top.

The picture shows the center spca for the tank as well as a closet on the left and a bathroom on the right. Access to the fishrrom behind the tank is actually through the closet.

[VegasMike]

Here is another picture showing the view of the room from the tank. You can see where the carpet goes in the middle of the room. The TV will be in the far left corner, probably a 60" Hitachi LCD. The wife has purchased two swiveling rocking recliners that will go in front of the tank and a loveseat on the right facing the big window on the left. There is also a huge window seat being built for in front of that window. The speakers (not sure if you can see them) are all in-wall Canton speakers.

The impetus for doing this room was our third child and the desire not to walk up and down stairs or ahve the baby wake up our 6 and 8 year olds. I've always want ed the bigger tank too, but we didn't have a place for it. The addition was actually the wife's idea and I give her full credit and will continue to give her credit for the idea as she asks why I am spanding all of my time in this room. I am hoping to have the baby evicted in about six months (as soon as he sleeps through the night for 7 nights in a row is the deal I have with my wife). Meanwhile, it doesn't prevent me from spending time in there setting up the tank.

[dgasmd]

Originally posted by VegasMike
I am hoping to have the baby evicted in about six months (as soon as he sleeps through the night for 7 nights in a row is the deal I have with my wife). Meanwhile, it doesn't prevent me from spending time in there setting up the tank.

Yep, I remember doing one of those deals. 23 months later, the kid is a permanent resident in our bedroom still. heck, the doog and him have kicked me out of the bed a few times be cause "they" can't get enough room. :D :D

Addition looks great. I can't wait to see it progress, so I know it must be murder for you.

Alberto

[VegasMike]

Ok, I am keeping my fingers crossed that 8 guys can move this monster. I am not sure there is room to fit too many more hands around the tank anyway. I told my contractor that the more the merrier, but he thinks 8 will be enough.

The stand is in the space and it fits with about 1/4" to spare on either side. This is going to be much tighter than I planned.

The contractors ended up putting the framing on the line that was supposed to be where the drywall stopped so the shorted me about 1/2" on either side. The tank is 96.5 inches fitting into a space 97". This should be fun. Everyone is supposed to be at my house at 3:00 to put this thing in. The stand was tight enough that any thing other than exactly perpendicular or parallel did not fit. In the end, it slid right into place, snug up against the vinyl cove base that goes around the room. They even had to trim the curved lip at the bottom of the base off because the stand would have sat on that and pulled it away from the wall.

Wish me luck.:D

[VegasMike]

dgas,

Luckily, the kid does not sleep in our bed, the other two kids are old enough not to want to and the dog is old enough (and the bed high enough) that she can't get into it.

Since the addition is off of our bedroom, my wife has kept the baby in the entry hallway (about 8' wide) to our bedroom and sometimes right in front of the 150 gallon tank. We catch him watching the fish all the time. It is amazing how quickly it calms him down when he gets fussy. She wants to put his crib right in front of the big tank when it gets done. I see some sort of compromise in the future.

Now, call us nuts, but we have a new Lab puppy to pick up in the middel of April. We had purchased a white Lab last September, but it died at about 5 months old of Juvenile diabetes. The vet said it was his first case in 16 years and only the second case his partner has had in 30+ years. The breeder was great and appologized and told us we could have the pick of the next litter. Well, here we are with a 6 week old baby, a soon to be new baby (my tank) and a new puppy.:rollface:

[Ken Sellick]

VagasMike, I see you have a full house now.