Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[Michael950]

I am sure it is something similar to Houston to Austin or San Antonio. The funny thing is it was a Boeing Super 80 (just slightly smaller than a 737). I know that from Houston to San Antonio (about 220 - 275 miles) they usually use smaller jets (like Continental Express using private jets or prop airplanes).


[private jets = relative size of jet not actual private jets]

[Lostmind]

no pics yet?

Hmmm, melev must be working OT on the tank. Cant wait to see it installed

[hail_sniper]

i wonder if he is still at homedepot? i sure wouldnt want to go twice, so i'd make sure i got everything, yeesh if i was doing this project i wouldnt sleep until i passed out from from being exhausted

[melev]

Hi Guys!!!!

Listen, there are about 8 minutes before RC goes into back up mode, so let me just quickly post that the tank is in place and filled up as far as I dared (almost to the locline connections on the overflows).

We did so much today, and at times I thought someone was literally going to be killed by this tank, but it has tons of promise. I took a lot of pictures, except during the move because it took all 8 of us to carry this beast.

A few club members came over after the tank was in place, and helped with more stuff.

More sand was added, but it is only about 2" deep currently. The fish are still in a trashcan of water (they came with the tank) and I dropped in some flake food about 20 minutes ago, which they all ate hungrily. I'll probably have to change the water in there tomorrow!

What else....(5 minutes until the backup)... Evan took the time to clean the tank inside, and used a cool little gizmo made by "Dawn" (the dish soap). It is available at Walgreens, and is battery powered. Completely submersible, it cleaned off the glass including coralline. Best $8 ever spent, as there was no risk of scratching. The brush at the top of the device rotates, and the top-most bristles are stiff enough for coralline.

That is about all the time I have, and now I have to rush to work, so I can get back in time to return the U-haul truck.

I'll update the thread later today.

[jobryan26]

Sweet!

[SOMEthinsFISHY]

wow u guys were up late !!

[DerekW]

http://www.homemadesimple.com/dawn/dish_brush.shtml

Another consumer product stolen by the ever thinking Reefer

[melev]

Derek, thanks for posting that. That is the exact gizmo. It uses up a lot of batteries, but I guess if you had enough rechargeables, it wouldn't be so bad.

I'll start posting some pictures for y'all, then I have to return the truck to U-haul and finally get a little sleep.

[Jamesurq]

Originally posted by DerekW
Another consumer product stolen by the ever thinking Reefer

Another consumer product stolen from the adult toy industry.

[quiksilver]

Man cleaning out Melev's tank last night was so fun I think I'll go back today and help plumb and get it going!!! LOL man we were up late and somehow I still made it to work this morning.

BTW do yourself a favor and buy that dawn scrubber! As Marc said, best $8 ever spent ("adult toy industry" LOL).

Marc, can't wait to put the fish in in the next couple days!!! We are gonna make the 14 days, or die trying.

[melev]

Moving this tank was a huge challenge, and even with all the preparation on my part, it still was overwhelming. I want to thank all the club members that joined in this effort - André(Dré), Chris(marine_noob), Chris (phaux), Brian (BrianC.), Barry (bfonc1), Todd (patteto), Evan (Quiksilver) - you guys are the best!!!!

These guys worked so hard, and never complained once.

When we got to the house where the tank was, it had to be disassembled and the water drained. We brought a bunch of trash cans and barrels to take the water to my house, as well as the steel frame, canopy, and wood panels.

Barry focused on disconnection all the plumbing parts, so when it was time to put it back together late last night, it was quite a jigsaw puzzle.

About 30 or 40 lbs of LR were pulled out by Brian, and kept submerged in one of the trashcans with tank water. Evan and others drained the tank into container after container, and barrels of water will filled up on the Uhaul. When the tank was down to about 4 or 5" of water, I got out a large net and caught all the fish. There are 5 tangs - a (blonde?) Naso, 2 Hippo Tangs with yellow bellies, a purple tang, and a Powder Blue Tang. Additionally, I got a female blue Mandarin, a lawnmower blenny, a clownfish (not sure if it is a true or false percula yet, as I never looked at it closely), a small Australian (something) that was trapped in an overflow), two bangai cardinals, and a golden eel. Here's a picture of the eel from a few weeks ago.



Once all the fish were in a barrel of tank water, we took all the water, fish and LR to my house. After getting an airstone each trashcan with livestock, we went back for the tank.

The tank was up on a 40" steel stand, and the 8 of us discussed how we would pick it up and carry it. One thing you don't think about with a used tank is how slippery they are to hold onto, due to water and salt creep. Carefully sliding it forward, everyone was very careful to keep all their fingers safe, we were able to get it off the stand and onto some 2x4's on the floor.

At this point, I really should have used furniture dollies, but I was afraid that the massive weight pressing on those dollies would act like pressure points and break the base of the tank. That is why I decided to use man-power instead.

We picked it up and made our way across the room and to the open front door, which were double doors so there was a big opening to go out. However, the trick was getting through a very narrow hallway as you pivoted out the front doors, and that is when we ran into real trouble. There simply wasn't room for men to be on the sides of the tank, which put all of the weight on 4 guys, two on each end. The rest of us scrambled to squeeze in where we could, but muscles were straining and eyes grew wide with the realization that it was growing heavier by the second with all 8 people helping. Some of us used our thighs to support the tank while others attempted to help. I know that I've got a bruise on my thigh, and Evan proudly showed me his. ("Chicks dig scars!" he says) Chris quickly crawled under the tank to get to the other end to help support it, but it was just too much!

At this point, I really worried it was about to be dropped by one or more of us, and someone would be crushed, or their bone(s) be broken by the weight and mass of this 72" x 30" x 30" tank.

Quickly we agreed to lower it, which was a real feat of control, considering how worn out we were - adrenaline was already used up. We were able to set it down gently across the threshold, where it teeter-tottered and all of us could remove our fingers safely. whew!!!

We took a break and planned our next move. About 10 minutes later, we summoned the strength to tackle it again, and pivoted the tank across the threshold of the doorway so that we all had room to pick it up at once. All we had to do was pick it up, and carry it forward about 14 feet and slide it into the back of the U-haul truck. 1, 2, 3! it was lifted up, but it wasn't nearly as heavy as it was in the corner situation. We moved it onto the truck, setting it on 2x4s.

Then we went back for the glass sump. The sump is 48 x 18 x 18, and built with 1/2" glass. It took four of us to pick it up, and get it into the truck. Btw, I hate the sump and you can bet I'll make a much nicer one that will do the job nicely.

[melev]

Chris and Barry used their trucks to carry the canopy, woodwork and steel stand.

When we got back to my house, the first thing we did was all guzzle down some nice cold RO water. Next, we struggled with that stupid sump again, and got it under the new platform. (sigh)

Again, we mapped out how we would carry the tank and insert it into position. We moved more stuff out of the garage to make sure we had plenty of maneuvering space, and now 9 of us brought it in, as John joined the group with fresh strong muscles.

Even though I intentionally left the foam sheet oversized in case it moved, and even though we put soapy water on the surface so the tank wouild slide, the sheet moved forward and there was nothing we could do to put it where it needed to be. So we cut some small pieces to fit in the spaces where there was none, and then pushed the tank into its final spot.

YAY!!





Again, I want to thank all of you that helped move my dream tank. Evan decided to stay and volunteered to clean the tank. As noted above, he was able to use the "Dawn" scrubber, as well as plastic scrapers and sometimes metal ones. Because the tank was dry, he would spray a spot with tank water with a spray bottle, then scrub or scrape away the algae.



Meanwhile, John rinsed out three buckets of live sand that came out of a 120g yesterday. I didn't want to chance phosphates being released into my new system, so he poured some of the LS into a bucket and ran water through it until it ran clear. All this rinsed sand was added to the LS that came with the tank, and stirred up. There is probably 2.5" of sand in the tank now.



At this point, Kaveh came over and started cleaning all the equipment. He cleaned the Tunze Streams, the LifeReef skimmer, the Durso standpipes and returns, locline, etc. Working over the sink with various instruments including dental tools, he proudly produced nice clean parts - ready to use again.

One thing we discovered during the move was that he bulkheads had to be replaced. While the guys were cleaning, I drove to Brad's house to get new bulkheads, then to Home Depot to get all new plumbing for the drains, returns, and closed loop.

Evan found all kinds of snails that were transferred into the fish barrel.

[Strandedthinker]

Looking awesome Marc

[H2OLUVSME]

fits perfect, huh? looks great.

what are you planning on above the tank (to fill the open space)?



well never mind ill be suprised...im sure itll be real nice.

LT

[melev]

For the next couple of hours, we fought with the bulkheads to get a good dry seal. I swear I need to invent the perfect wrench for those wretched things, because they are a reefer's nightmare!

Unfortunately, I didn't have all the right pieces for the plumbing, so the return pump (Ampmaster 3000) was not hooked up. I'll buy new parts today, so that tonight I can get everything circulating.

Kaveh and Evan filled the tank up with as much water as possible, without passing the locline connections. As long as no water goes in the overflows right now, the garage will stay dry.

The skimmer wasn't working properly, but after a good soaking in hot water and vinegar, it was disassembled for cleaning. Scott (Scotty's_reef) came over and helped with that little project. Thanks Scott! A wierd thing that I discovered was that the intake to the pump was really clogged. It turned out there was a rubber hose washer in the intake of the pump, blocking at least 80% of the water from getting in. How wierd is that? I can't even imagine how or why such a washer would be in a reef setup, let along get sucked into the intake of a Mag pump.

Now that everything was clean and ready to use, I set up the skimmer in the display to help clear the water. Here's what it looks like currently.



It is on a terra cotta pot to elevate it, but it created a great foam tower immediately, and has been skimming for the past 6 hours. Running a drainline from the collection cup to a trashcan behind the tank, about 1" of water has been removed.



Meanwhile, the fish are all fine from what I can see. About 3am, I fed them some flake food and they all seemed to eat with excitement. I have an airstone bubbling, a small powerhead and a heater (78F) keeping them happy for now. Hopefully tonight's plumbing will get done and they'll go back into the tank.



The tank was never cloudy, due to the method we used to add the water to the tank. I secured a cup to the end of a 1" hose. Kaveh brought trashcan after trashcan of water to the tank and Evan use a Rio to pump water into the tank. Here's a picture of some of the 280g of water. The blue barrels hold 55g each.



With a large serving platter on the substrate, the water would pump into the cup and overflow gently onto the platter. You could see the back of the tank within the first 30 minutes of filling up the tank.

Here is a picture of the canopy and stand that came with the tank. I'll be using the stand as a workbench for building sumps. The lighting turned out to be 3x250w, not 3x400w. And one bulb was shattered before we arrived to pick up the tank. It looks like the lighting was splashed repeatedly with the return lines, because the former owner didn't want too much water to siphon out when the return pump was off. We drilled holes in the return lines to avoid that problem.

Btw, the ballasts are IceCap for the 250w. Does anyone know how to determine which bulbs will work with it? XM? Ushio? The bulbs I have have only one marking - "250w MH" Not too helpful.



So now you are up to date, assuming I haven't bored you with the details.

[electric130]

icecap MH's will run just about anything. XM (10 or 20k, i've ran both) iwasaki's (what i'm running) hamilton 14k, CV, venture, radium (i have run in past).

[WifesaysImnuts]

Very nice.

Tank moves are a ton of work. It'll be worth it though, that tank is going to be beautiful. I look forward to seeing it come together.

[starmanres]

Marc,

Very impressive!

All the preparation paid off with a tank in place and no injuries. Continue to bore us with the details...

I'm lovin' every word.

One other thing... The Dawn Scrubber - What are your thoughts on using it on the Acrylic...? Try it in an inconspicuous spot and see?

Robert

[LVfishguy]

FYI, thse girip wrenches that HD sells work really good for bulkheads. Takes a little playing around to get a good grip but once it's on, works like a charm and doesn't shred the bulkhead.

I really want that eel btw!
awsome job too!

[danellis06460]

I stayed up late to be "bored" with the details last night.

Its like Extreme Makeover or some TLC program for reefers, I am loving it!!

Originally posted by melev

So now you are up to date, assuming I haven't bored you with the details.

[rjwilson37]

Awsome Marc, you have done it. Now the really fun part begins.

You have to be one happy camper... A 280g tank that is 30" deep compared to your older tanks that were only 12" deep.

WOW!!! YAHOOEEE!

[xchrisjb]

Marc,

It's looking good. I honestly don't know how you manage to get so much work done and still find time to take pictures and keep us all up to date.

-- professional stripper, eh? --

RC Extreme Makeover ... Wouldn't that be cool! The RC sponsors could donate a few of their products and someone's reef would receive a great makeover/upgrade. Local reefers could get together and do the work and such ...

[Dk Coral]

Congrats on the new tank Marc...

You know what is comming now dont you - aquascaping.... ohh no.... thats a hard one
Just promise me that you wont just make one of those boring LR walls from one end to another in that new beauty

[DerekW]

Originally posted by Jamesurq
Another consumer product stolen from the adult toy industry.

LOL Touche!

[carpetride]

Congrats Marc, I'm glad you got everything moved in. Something tells me that this is going to be a stunning tank. Thanks for sharing.