Well, it has been nearly 5 years... (shesh, I did my doctoral work faster, seriously!), but I have my 120g back from storage and ready for water! It went to my in-laws in May 2011 for the move to DC, then I moved back to NC, and then a few more years before I could get it back. It also serves as a great reminder that I am terrible at build pics. I go 10 hours of work and then remember that I need to take a photo. I also know I have been a ghost on TRT as late. Buying & renovating a house, working 12 hour days, and having a 'frag' leaves little time for such fancies.
Here was the tank in Spring 2011
Here is the 40B up temporary before I renovated the lower-room. You can see the mess, bare concrete, problematic stairs (still unfinished but safe now)
So how about the good stuff?
Ok, so I re-tiled the floors (last room in the house to be renovated). I added faux-wood ceramic tile. I reconfigured the duct work. Minor changes to the electrical. Minor wall work and painted it. For the tank, I moved it in (hardest work). I added some support to the stand (I just do not trust pre-made stands, but it is 6 years old and still ok.). I resprayed the back. Hard plumbed the returns, acrylic soft-plumb the return to minimize the vibrations from the return (Eheim 1260). I baffled the 40B sump... which was unbaffled. Added a 13g RO/DI reservoir. The tank needs to be water tested...5 years without water might be an issue but after inspection, the silicone looks good. I thought about doing it outside with freshwater but heavy rain forced everything inside after transport. The tank was stored in a high-humidity area so I think I am ok. Vinegar cleaned. So...
tada!
So most of my Sunday afternoon was dealing with the plexi/sump. In 2011, I built the 40B into the stand. It is not coming out. So adding the baffles, was an not-as-fun task. I used 1/4 plexi (the thick stuff) and siliconed it in. (I HATE PLEXI WORK!) The skimmer is my 2007/08-era Xtreme 200. Yeah, back when Sicce 2500 was new! Anyway, it has the BubbleBlaster 3000 on it. It is actually a brand new pump. Back when I lived in DC, I had it replaced by Coralvue under warranty (best customer service btw). Since the big tank was not running, it has hung around in a box. Nice to get a "big" skimmer going again. The return is a Eheim 1260. It is actually the same pump from the 40g. I batted around the idea of going external or going with a new, slightly more efficient pump but the $ saving vs replacement cost made the Eheim cheaper for over 7 years. Considering the Eheim has about 10 years of use, another 7-10 years will make it about the right time of use. While (maybe) undersized, it should move about 400-450gph (3-4x actual volume) based on my headloss, which I am fine with. I like slow-and-steady main pumps. If you noticed, there is a middle empty chamber in the sump. I don't have a conical settling tank but I will use this as my detritus collection and export area. Not as easy as Geoff's system but it should work right?
And here is the fish holding area. Rock is in the big vat, corals and fish in the lit vat. They are about a week from moving.
And of course, their "neighbor" wants that saltwater away from it.
So we still have a way to go.
Stuff to do:
I need to build a canopy. I am a stone/metal person more than a carpenter. So it will be interesting. I am making a 24" tall+ canopy. I will be running metal halides (likely 175w) 12-16" over the water. I ran the cost/electrical vs spread issue and while I could save space, the MH were cheaper to run than the LEDs especially since spread is important. I was looking at four 90w or three/four 130w LEDs and the cost savings (including bulbs) is not there. Also, with this being a below-grade room, temp is a steady 68 degrees, so heat is a non-issue. As for the canopy, I will vent it plus store ballasts and electrical hidden on top. Design is in progress... eek.
The tank will be BB. I have some white acrylic textured sheeting that I will silicone to the bottom. Circ pumps will be whatever I have on hand. Two non-controllable Tunze will be in the back blasting down. I am not sure if my MP10 will work on the glass thickness, I need to check. Then I have a few left-over Gen1 Koralias about. Eventually I will get some nicer pumps but I have enough for now. It will be a LPS/SPS tank so I don't want to overdo the flow. Enough, but not epic flow.
The rock has been "cooking" for 4-5 months now. It is in "ok" shape. Lots of detritus at the bottom of the vat. Should be move and go.
And that is all I can think of at the moment.
Here was the tank in Spring 2011
Here is the 40B up temporary before I renovated the lower-room. You can see the mess, bare concrete, problematic stairs (still unfinished but safe now)
So how about the good stuff?
Ok, so I re-tiled the floors (last room in the house to be renovated). I added faux-wood ceramic tile. I reconfigured the duct work. Minor changes to the electrical. Minor wall work and painted it. For the tank, I moved it in (hardest work). I added some support to the stand (I just do not trust pre-made stands, but it is 6 years old and still ok.). I resprayed the back. Hard plumbed the returns, acrylic soft-plumb the return to minimize the vibrations from the return (Eheim 1260). I baffled the 40B sump... which was unbaffled. Added a 13g RO/DI reservoir. The tank needs to be water tested...5 years without water might be an issue but after inspection, the silicone looks good. I thought about doing it outside with freshwater but heavy rain forced everything inside after transport. The tank was stored in a high-humidity area so I think I am ok. Vinegar cleaned. So...
tada!
So most of my Sunday afternoon was dealing with the plexi/sump. In 2011, I built the 40B into the stand. It is not coming out. So adding the baffles, was an not-as-fun task. I used 1/4 plexi (the thick stuff) and siliconed it in. (I HATE PLEXI WORK!) The skimmer is my 2007/08-era Xtreme 200. Yeah, back when Sicce 2500 was new! Anyway, it has the BubbleBlaster 3000 on it. It is actually a brand new pump. Back when I lived in DC, I had it replaced by Coralvue under warranty (best customer service btw). Since the big tank was not running, it has hung around in a box. Nice to get a "big" skimmer going again. The return is a Eheim 1260. It is actually the same pump from the 40g. I batted around the idea of going external or going with a new, slightly more efficient pump but the $ saving vs replacement cost made the Eheim cheaper for over 7 years. Considering the Eheim has about 10 years of use, another 7-10 years will make it about the right time of use. While (maybe) undersized, it should move about 400-450gph (3-4x actual volume) based on my headloss, which I am fine with. I like slow-and-steady main pumps. If you noticed, there is a middle empty chamber in the sump. I don't have a conical settling tank but I will use this as my detritus collection and export area. Not as easy as Geoff's system but it should work right?
And here is the fish holding area. Rock is in the big vat, corals and fish in the lit vat. They are about a week from moving.
And of course, their "neighbor" wants that saltwater away from it.
So we still have a way to go.
Stuff to do:
I need to build a canopy. I am a stone/metal person more than a carpenter. So it will be interesting. I am making a 24" tall+ canopy. I will be running metal halides (likely 175w) 12-16" over the water. I ran the cost/electrical vs spread issue and while I could save space, the MH were cheaper to run than the LEDs especially since spread is important. I was looking at four 90w or three/four 130w LEDs and the cost savings (including bulbs) is not there. Also, with this being a below-grade room, temp is a steady 68 degrees, so heat is a non-issue. As for the canopy, I will vent it plus store ballasts and electrical hidden on top. Design is in progress... eek.
The tank will be BB. I have some white acrylic textured sheeting that I will silicone to the bottom. Circ pumps will be whatever I have on hand. Two non-controllable Tunze will be in the back blasting down. I am not sure if my MP10 will work on the glass thickness, I need to check. Then I have a few left-over Gen1 Koralias about. Eventually I will get some nicer pumps but I have enough for now. It will be a LPS/SPS tank so I don't want to overdo the flow. Enough, but not epic flow.
The rock has been "cooking" for 4-5 months now. It is in "ok" shape. Lots of detritus at the bottom of the vat. Should be move and go.
And that is all I can think of at the moment.
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