Tank get's to it's home

[Mdwannabe]

Just had to tell someone. The 170 moved from the basement to the living room yesterday. A lawn tractor, trailer, and 3 young backs, along with 2 old ones was all it took!... LOL
The BOSS was out shopping when the move happened, but, upon her arrival she had only three words to say...."OH MY GOD", but I still live here so it could have been worse.
Hood was installed and wiring done this morning. Lights have been on all day just to see how much heat is being created by 3 400 watt M.H bulbs (so far not too bad). Though even in the middle of a bright day, a neighbor came over to see what all the light was about.
Wanted to post some pictures, but my piece of cr** digital camera died. Should anyone like to stop by to take some pic's I'd love to have a visual history of the set-up, not just the end product.
Next challange is monitoring the reinforced floor as the tank get's wet. Have to go out of town next weekend, so filling will start the week after.
I look forward to hosting a meeting after the tank settles down.
Going with a 3" "Southdown" sand bed, along with about 50 Lbs. of live sand, but if anyone would like to contribute a cup of sand from their tank, no offers will be refused.

See Ya:
Rick

[fishdoc11]

"she had only three words to say"

ROFLMAO

[Oldschooler]

Does this mean you'll want your "stuff" back???

Waaaaah :.(

[sunamoon]

Congrats on surviving the move of such a huge tank! i'm sure it was quite a job! can't wait to see the pics! somebody has to live close by... right guys?
Glad the Boss let you stay.... is there air conditioning in your "doghouse?" also glad she didn't faint from her 3 words... giggles

good luck with your set up!

[fishdoc11]

Oh, I'm sure I could stop by with my camera sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Chris

[reewik]

Heck I will even move the tank to my house and photograph it every day for you.

[gflat65]

Rick
I've got a spare digital camera I can let you borrow for the process. I took pictures along the way from step to step, too, with the intention of writing a thread with what exactly I did in each process for comments, etc. One of these days, I'm going to quit work and write it. I'll PM you with my number.

[Mdwannabe]

Chris:

ROFLMAO?

And hey I'll probally take you up on your offer to stop by and do some shots

Rick

[Mdwannabe]

Oldschooler:

Yea, the end of their visit is coming, but I need to come and spend some money with you before it happens....LOL
I'll give you a call when I get back in town next week.

[Mdwannabe]

Can you tell I am trying to get past the magic 100 post point so a picture of the tank can be my personal icon?
General info. about the tank progress:
Looks like I have to change the wiring on the lights, having three 400 watt MH ballasts under the tank is making the bottom of the tank too hot, for a live sand bed, unless new forms of worms and inverts like their bacteria/detrus cooked!... :-)
Should not be to big a problem, have an extra hole going through the floor to the crawl space where they can live for a while.
Final location will be in a closet located behind the tank, but that invloves yet another remodel project, which I just don't have time for right now (I want to see water in the tank first). Espically considering this is a custom built tank that has never seen water, Murphy spends a lot of time involved in my DIY projects..LOL
Updates to follow.

Rick

[fishdoc11]

Definately want to move the ballasts out from under the tank. Didn't see that when I was there.
ROFLMAO = rolling on floor laughing my arse off
Just give me a call.
Chris

[Mdwannabe]

Chris:
Easy enough to understand, as the tank was in the basement, and the cabnet was in the livingroom.
You know at this rate I may be able to have a custom icon by the end of the evening.....LOL
Thanks, I'll give you a call when I get back in town to snap some quick Pic's.

Rick:D

[Mdwannabe]

Reewik:

I'll tell you what, If you come (by yourself), pick up the tank, get it in your car (not a truck), and provide a video stream to my web page, the tank is yours......along with all bills to date!....LOL
I'll even throw in the BOSS (she's out of town so I can post this), I guarantee you she can tell you the best way to do this move :-)

LOVE IS GRAND!!!!!!

Rick:beer:

[Mdwannabe]

Gflat:

Appreciate the offer, even considered taking you up on it, but the last thing I need is to borrow a piece of equiptment like that, and have Murphy pop up, causing yet another cost that would force me into the non-air conditioned dog house.
And I guarantee you, more than 3 words would come out of the mouth of the BOSS!
I still have to tell her, her Digital Camera died!
Can't wait for her to get back in town.
If you see no further post's you know her flight got in just fine....LOL

Rick:D

[reewik]

LOL....

[gflat65]

I understand completely. If you decide you do want it, just let me know. The cost of it was actually negligible and I have a much better one, so I only use it, well... The wife uses it when I'm out of town without her and have the good camera. It's only happened once in the last few years. If something were to happen to it, I'm sure we could work something out not involving cash. Just let me know.

[Mdwannabe]

Gflat:

Offer really appreciated! Should no other options be available, I'll take you up on it. But like I said...Murphy lives at my house, and I fear his presence.
At the very least, I'll avail upon you,concerning the up-sizing of any shots I do get together, and now that I crossed the magic 100 post number, look to you for help in setting up my new avitar.
Really appreciate the help!
Rick

[fishdoc11]

I finaly figured out who "Murphy" is, Duh!

[Mdwannabe]

Chris:
Come to my house again, I can show you examples of every one of his laws! At last check he had over 100.....None Good!

Law 1: If it can go wrong, it will!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mdwannabe]

Hey Folks:
I am quite happy to announce that duct tape and solder ( literally)came through, and I got my piece of cr** camera working (at least as good as it can).
Please, go to my gallery and check out my progress pics.
Quality of picks sucks, but you'll get the idea.
I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Enjoy:
Rick :-)

[reewik]

Looking great!!!! The wood turned out awsome.

[Countzer0]

Good thing your color blind or i would have to give you a hard time about that shirt! hehhe :)

[fishdoc11]

The tank looks great. I especially like the recirculation system. The 2 Mags(?) hooked up to the lower part appears to be a great idea!
Chris

[imsqueak]

Rick, I know what you mean about Murphy, I thought he lived at my house! I also know about wanting water even though you know about possible problems. Been there, done that, what a pain (broke the 70G sump removing it from the stand). After building my stand (which Murphy helped), plumbing a major CL pushing about 4000gph (with Murphy's help) and odds and ends I put water in and cranked it up one night. Left lights on and pumps running till I got home from work. Walked into a sauna! House was at about 80 where the tank is and 72 in the bedrooms, tank was at about 90, humidity about 90%. That was about 2-3 months ago. Long story, but I cut thru the wall to the laundry room and have all my equip there.

I still have heat issues running 4x250s on pendants and no heat under stand. Are you planning on getting a chiller? cost is a killer! I'm hoping beyond hope that a surface fan on my display and another on the sump will fix it. Otherwise, wait till bonus check comes in October to put anything in it.

I love your reticulation idea! (except the heat)

Keep up the good work. I've found Murphy is a wimp and you can kick his butt, but he's persistent, you just gotta be more persistent.

ps. some diy and tank pics in my gallery

[Mdwannabe]

Imsqueak:

Chiller already in-line, and yes the cost was a killer :-)

[coralreefing]

I'm impressed. Thats a great looking reef even without water :-) I agree with fishdoc on the loop. Great idea, no drilling, no dangling pumps, no external plumbing to leak. The only thing I would do different would be use grey PVC & black loc line. Corraline will take care of most of that though. Keep up the good work & we'll beat old Murph down even if we have to gang up on him.

[kev-dog1]

HI Rick
Your new tank is very impressive! Keep the photos coming.
Can I ask you about the re-circulation plumbing you have designed? I'm considering copying it when I set the 38g back up. I've always hated my "dangling powerheads" whose suction cups have fail after about a week, and your design seems to neaten that up well.
Is it basically just a powerhead mounted on the pvc? Is it all internal? Am I missing something else in the design ie wavemaker? What inspired you to do this/what are you trying to accomplish?
Do you anticipate a loss of flow due to the 90* elbows? What size PVC and connections? What powerheads are you using? I'm a maxijet fan but would consider something else. Any anticipated maintenance to this system?
Sorry so many questions, but I'm intrigued and would like to solve the "dangling powerhead" problem when I set the 38g back up.
Thanks,
Kevin

[fishdoc11]

Hey Kev dog,
I have my sump and closed loop set up in the garage right now if you would like to come see it. You had mentioned you were interested.
thanks, Chris

[kev-dog1]

Yes Chris I would like that, Thanks.
Maybe one day this week?

[Mdwannabe]

Kevin:
Let's see if I can remember all the questions, and attempt to answer them in order....LOL:
1)No, my tank came with arcylic covers surrounding the overflows, I just drilled mounting holes in the acrylic and used plastic nuts/bolts (home depot) to mount the pump mounting frame. the pumps are removable from this frame for service or replacment (thus the unions seen in pic's).
2)Yes, it is all internal
3)Pumps will be cycled on/off using X10 modules creating a wave maker.
4)Inspiration was MacGyver!, though he would be disappointed no duct tape was used.
5)According to my design flow charts (from my other life as a Mechanical Engineer, each 90 is worth around 9" of head with this size pipe -vs- flow rate.
6)Pump outlet is 1/2", PVC is 3/4"
7) Pumps are Mag-Drive Model 3/350 GPH
8)Maintance?, surley you gest.... :-)

[kev-dog1]

MacGyver...I love it! Me too. You should see my canopy/hood. (also something getting a major modification during this take down and set up)
So, no sump, correct? Then why the overflows? is this to recirculate surface water or Hide equipment? Anything in the overflows?
Sorry for so many questions. My wife says I'm "mechanically challenged" so sometimes I need to ask lots.
kev

[Mdwannabe]

NO,NO,NO.......Presently have 30 gallon sump (going to 75... my old tank... with a fuge).
Tank overfolws through cabnet, through living room floor to sump, runs through calcium reactor, prot. skimmer, heater/cooler, along with UV sterilizer.

[fishdoc11]

A paper clip and chewing gum should finish the job.
Chris

[Mdwannabe]

Chewing gum....OK, Paper clip...no way, metal is not right, and peeling chrome would ruin looks...LOL

[kev-dog1]

OK Thanks for straightening me out.

So what do you think about adapting your recirculation model to function without a sump? Basically securing a powerhead to a vertical piece of pvc that bends and routes under the sand to branch off and pop up in a couple of areas. Am I just creating a vibrating, noisy, algae collecting nightmare? Or a nice way to stabalize a powerhead in position and create dispersed flow?

kev

[Mdwannabe]

My recirc is just that, it is not tied into the overflow in any way. Just a submersable pump discharging to several nozzles.

[kev-dog1]

Hi Rick
It's me, Question Man :)
Wondering about the pieces and parts you've used in your recirculation device. Where did you get the blue bendable stuff and the orange nozzles? How are they attached to the pvc?
kev

[Mdwannabe]

It's called Loc-Line. Go to Loc-Line.com to order. Grainger also sells the stuff but a mark up is involved. PVC is drilled, tapped and an adaptor installed.

[kev-dog1]

Thanks for the info. Man that stuff is expensive. Looks cool tho'.

[Mdwannabe]

Just to keep everyone up to date, the tank got wet this weekend, so did the cabnet it sits on, the carpet and the crawl space under it (along with some electrical equiptment, but I'll go into that in a minute).
I have to admit, I Think it was my fault. It would seem that in the various moves the tank went through, I stressed the Schedul 80 1.5" bulkhead fitting on the supply side without knowing it. Not seeing the crack, I powered up the main pumps, and everything seemed fine untill I noticed a sound that was not right. I opened the door to the cabnet and found Niagara falls going full force.
After the pumps were shut down, the lights shut off by themselves. I knew I had problems.
Now to the electrical equpt.
I just got off my soap box on a thread called "Don't Let this happen to you" Please read my input!
Readers Digest version is as follows:
DO NOT RUN ANY TANK CIRCUIT ON YOUR TANK WITHOUT THE PROTECTION OF GFCI!!!!!! Any form is fine (extension outlet......that say's GFCI, not "surge protection", or centralized circuit breaker).
I'm not kidding folk's, I saw this cost someone their life. If not your life, it could cost you your house.
Sorry about preaching, but this hits close to home!
Electricity and water are not a game!

Again Sorry, but it matters:

Rick

[rcmike]

I hear ya! I had a light fall into the tank once while I was messing around in it. The GFCI tripped and I never felt a thing. Without the GFCI it could have been nasty!

[Mdwannabe]

Just a quick update, the tank is finally Wet & Running, without watering the livingroom floor!
Please check out my gallery to see wet tank pic's. Please let me know what you think of the hard scape. All input is appreciated.
Can someone tell me how to delete my old gallery pic's?, yes I am to lazy to figure it out myself, though I will if I have to :-), but that would take time away from staring at my tank!
Oh and by the way, to answer the numerious questions, yes though I am color blind, I did spend the money on a color TV!

Rick
:wavehand:

[Mdwannabe]

Save the keystrokes, I just figured out how to delete the unwanted photo's.

[fishdoc11]

Looks great Rick!

[reewik]

I have to agree with fishdoc11. I do like the way it curves on the right side. That makes a natural look to the structure. A suggestion for all the spouts out of the gravel. Shorten them or cover them with starpolps or some other encrusting coral. Just my opinion Rick.

[fishdoc11]

Or paint little spots on them and call them sea snakes or garden eels lol.
Chris

[reewik]

do not forget the eyes...LOL

[fishdoc11]

Looks very nice. Saw it in person today:-)
Chris