The begining of the 125g

AquaReeferMan · #1 02/11/2007, 01:47 AM

So I picked up my tank this morning. Up bright and early at 8am. Standing out in the freezing cold trying to load a 125, stand, and mics equipment into a jeep. Well everything wouldnt fit so we ending up making 2 trips and I ended up being late for work. All in all it was a great time. This tank will be set up at the end of this month. I cant wait. More to come. This is one of the most happiest days of my life. Heres some pictures to show how excited I am.

I always wanted a tank I could fit into.

AquaReeferMan · #2 02/11/2007, 01:51 AM

First step will be building 2 overflows around the 2 end intakes. They will replicate the megaflow type overflows. The 2 outs located towards the center will turn into the intakes for my closed loop.

Mishap · #3 02/11/2007, 01:51 AM

Finally! This should be fun....... now you just need your house to put it in.

AquaReeferMan · #4 02/11/2007, 01:52 AM

I know son! Settlement Feb 28th. Get ready to move. Once again thanks for helping me pick it up.

AquaReeferMan · #5 02/11/2007, 02:12 AM

Heres a run down of what I am planning on running as far as equipment goes.

Lighting will be DIY inside a canopy
3x250w 14k HQIs
4x39w t5 actinics

Circulation will consist of
return pump Coralife Turbo Sea 1740 High Pressure Pump
closed loop pump Coralife Turbo Sea 1740 High Pressure Pump
2xKoralia 4 powerheads

Filtration
Red Sea Ocean Clear 340
55g sump/refugium
DIY recirc Skimmer

tkeracer619 · #6 02/11/2007, 02:49 AM

Sweet. Looks like its going to be a nice setup. Very similar to mine.

I have a few ?s

What are you planning on keeping? I'm assuming everything demanding.

Why the canister filter?

Why use high pressure pumps? Get a reeflo dart for the CL and you wont need the koralias.

Is your sump going to be in a basement?

AquaReeferMan · #7 02/11/2007, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tkeracer619
Sweet. Looks like its going to be a nice setup. Very similar to mine.

I have a few ?s

What are you planning on keeping? I'm assuming everything demanding.

Why the canister filter?

Why use high pressure pumps? Get a reeflo dart for the CL and you wont need the koralias.

Is your sump going to be in a basement?

I am planning on keeping a lot of stuff. Mostly Zoanthids and some Montipora with a few LPS thrown in.

The canister came along with the tank so I figured I would give it a try.

As for the pumps one came with it and I am still up in the air for the one on the closed loop. Just figured I would buy the same one.

Sump will be under the tank.

tkeracer619 · #8 02/11/2007, 03:50 AM

I would use the canister for your QT setup.

If you already have one of the pumps use it, very nice pump. Assuming you use this as a return pump will it also power the recirc skimmer? If you put 700gph through that and 700 back into the tank that could work out nice.

Instead of the powerheads and another 1740 look into the reeflo dart for the closed loop. it moves more water for less money and is almost silent.

we def have similar taste.

One thing I wish I did was spend the time with the rocks as shown here You end up spending the same amount of time in the long run and have a much more stable and interesting rock structure.

AquaReeferMan · #9 02/11/2007, 03:04 PM

Thanks for the info. Ive been looking into the reeflo dart and that looks like a better option for the CL. You tank is looking good. I like the diversity. I really like the look of SPS but just not a whole tank of it. Plus I have tons of zoanthids. I will be adding all my tanks into this. See I got 2 of those canister filters with the tank. I was planning on using one of them on my QT and the other one on the tank. Are they really that bad. The one I was going to use has 40 sq. ft. of pleated micron cartrage and 50 sq. ft. polydtrand bio-core wrapped up inside of it. I know I really dont need it but would it hurt putting it on and seeing that happends? As for the rock work I already have like 300# and need to save money for the lighting. That site does have some nice dry rock though.

AquaReeferMan · #10 02/25/2007, 01:59 AM

Well today while I was at work Matty(Mishap) was building my overflows. I dropped about $100 bucks on five 36"x12" sheets of acrylic. The overflows used about 2 and half. I was getting worried since I have settlement for my house in a couple of days and needed this to be done. I will reply later with some ideas that have been going through my head. Ive changed some things. Heres some pictures.

First cut of acrylic

Smile and show off them teeth

Building the reservoir for the middle and bottom inlets.

Almost done

Nice coat of paint

MGP2162.jpg[/IMG]

AquaReeferMan · #11 02/25/2007, 02:00 AM

This is what we closed in. I will be adding a longer PVC pipe for the drain.

Steve supervising, letting us know were doing a good job

Taped in place

Nice border for the silicone.

Silicone in place

AquaReeferMan · #12 02/25/2007, 02:01 AM

Matty in action

Looking good

Right

Left

Mishap · #13 02/25/2007, 02:11 AM

Walkthrough of how the overflow box was made:
Started out with 5 sheets of 1/4" acrylic. 2 sheets were used for the boxes. Weld on #4 was used for this entire project.

First I cut the main sides. One is 6.5" x 20.5" the other is 5.5 x 20.5". Next I drilled holes 3/4" down from the top of each pane. Then 6 holes spaced out in the middle and closer to the bottom. After that I cut out the teeth by cutting to the sides of each hole on the top.

Next came the inner boxes. These are 16.5" x 5" x 1/2" thick. The inner boxes were created to mimic the mega flow boxes from the oceanic/aga tanks.

The next step was to glue the inner boxes to the main overflow box. The final step was to paint them black with Krylon Fusion black gloss.

Lastly, we glued them in place. We taped off lines to make nice straight lines with the silicone. Then beaded it on and smoothed them out with my finger. We waited about 20 minutes then removed the tape leaving nice straight clean looking seals.

Next project: Skimmer

Matt

600k4 · #14 02/25/2007, 02:15 AM

nice, thanks for the pics and info.

What kind of silicone did you use?

BigBadBlenny · #15 02/25/2007, 02:16 AM

nice tank. lots of pics great thread so far..

PS.... flush that orange and blue tang you have in your second pick yeeesh.

AquaReeferMan · #16 02/25/2007, 02:19 AM

Yes thanks again buddy. Anyway Ive decided to do away with the canister filter. I dont think it will fit underneath with the 55g sump. Wednesday is going to be a long day. Not only do I have to move everything, I need to set this beast up also. Everything will be moved around the tank. I still dont know which room it will be in. I will be combining 4 tanks into this. Day one I will be adding 140 lbs of dry sand, 60 lbs of live sand, 150 lbs of cured live rock, and saltwater. Day 2 I will be adding 3 fish and a small clean up crew. I will let that run for a week. I am keeping my 55g running at my old place for a week or so before moving it over. The 55g will add the last 120lbs of LR, 4 fish, and all my coral and inverts. This should be fun. More picture to come in 4 days....

Mishap · #17 02/25/2007, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 600k4
nice, thanks for the pics and info.

What kind of silicone did you use?

Silicone was All Glass Aquarium Sealant.

AquaReeferMan · #18 02/25/2007, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigBadBlenny

PS.... flush that orange and blue tang you have in your second pick yeeesh.

600k4 · #19 02/25/2007, 02:30 AM

Thanks again for the info, good luck with the rest of your build.

AquaReeferMan · #20 02/25/2007, 02:40 AM

Thanks. I cant wait till wednesday. I just wanna fill it up.

AquaReeferMan · #21 02/25/2007, 05:10 PM

bump

Hop · #22 02/25/2007, 05:19 PM

Are you going to be adding longer standpipes or a durso/stockman type drain? The reason I ask is that there are strainers about 5" off the bottom of your tank and holes in the bottom of you overflows. In the even of a power outage, your tank will slowly drain to about the 5" mark

I'm sure you already though of this, but thought I would throw it on the table just in case

Mishap · #23 02/25/2007, 05:37 PM

Hi Hop! Allow me to answer this one, Durso pipes will most likely be added, we just haven't gotten to the plumbing aspect yet.

I'm pretty much the technical advisor for his tank since I got all the power tools. lol

Hop · #24 02/25/2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mishap
Hi Hop! Allow me to answer this one, Durso pipes will most likely be added, we just haven't gotten to the plumbing aspect yet.

I'm pretty much the technical advisor for his tank since I got all the power tools. lol

OK, you sound like Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High

"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it."

Mishap · #25 02/25/2007, 05:45 PM

Haha, I actually use that exact line at least once a week.