A Sketchy Build Thread (fatc)

[Reefer Reboot]

This is for all those contests that need an entry into a build thread. (fatc = for all the contests)
Disclaimer: I didn't take a lot of pictures but do have a few. I did most of my planning using SketchUp so I'm just going to use a lot of screen shots from the planning stages with a few pics thrown in. Also, because this is for the contests, entries will be rather sketchy and drawn out (pun intended). ;Playful
(Time to go enter contest #1 )

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Just a little background as to how/why this tank came about. Pre first wife, kids, taking my career seriously and all the other challenges life throws at a person, I can always remember having some kind of fish in the house. Be it a goldfish in a bowl, a metal rimmed guppy tank with a corner air driven floss filter, one of those "new fangled" acrylic tanks with an under gravel filter, a saltwater FOWLR with trickle filter and bleached corals, a real reef tank, to a temperate temperature tank self stocked with local critters. But like so many others, my passion had to take a back seat to life's other pressing matters. So, as surviving past retirement age started becoming a real possibility, I began contemplating "rebooting" myself back into the hobby as a retirement activity. Now, I have a tendency to take my sweet **** time in planning stuff ("some people" call it procrastination). My latest and greatest wife (also known as "some people") thought I was taking way too long. One year while vacationing in Las Vegas I expressed an interest to "some people" that I would like to go check out ....... (DOH, time for contest entry #2;Facepalm)

 

[Reefer Reboot]

(And now it's time for the dark and menacing horror movie music, at least in some peoples eyes. But not mine. Now, where was I? Oh yeah....)
....... ATM, you know, Acrylic Tank Manufacturing, that "Tanked" show. Come on, admit it. You've watched it, I know you have. ;Playful (It's just a TV show, not total reality. Oh I can hear the haters now. Just joking around.) Anyhow, at this point I had been talking and planning about starting another reef for years but I tend to be a little slow (kind of like this thread) about actually starting as I enjoy the planning stages. So when I mentioned about going there my wife said "Great, maybe now you can actually get a tank." I'm thinking yeah right, like we could actually fit one of those in our house. We live in So. Cal., not the Midwest,... on a farm,.... with plenty of acreage,.... and a barn,.... and a basement,.... and a huge rambling house,.... and...… Oh man, I'm so jealous of that.
So off we go to ATM. If you've ever been there then you'll understand when I say "What a Jungle". They have a whole menagerie going on in there including the owners. (Voice from self #1, "Just exactly what the heck does this have to do with your build"? Voice from self #2, "Nothing really, I'm just trying to make sure I have plenty of entries for the contest bonus entries, so don't interrupt me".) When we walked in it was between the regularly scheduled tours so at first we didn't see anyone. Then out from somewhere pops Brett. (I'll try speeding this up for you and self #1.) He asked me what I wanted to buy. I told him I had no room for tanks that big. He asked me what I had room for. I said I had only been looking for a 36" cube. He said "follow me, today's your lucky day".
He asked me which episode of his show was my favorite. Before I could think of an answer he asked if I had seen the show with Shaq. I said I may have it on TiVo but don't think I've watched it yet, why?
(Oh look at what time it is. Time for contest entry #3. How long do you think it's going to be before I put anything meaningful in here?)

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Just a little background as to how/why this tank came about. Pre first wife, kids, taking my career seriously and all the other challenges life throws at a person, I can always remember having some kind of fish in the house. Be it a goldfish in a bowl, a metal rimmed guppy tank with a corner air driven floss filter, one of those "new fangled" acrylic tanks with an under gravel filter, a saltwater FOWLR with trickle filter and bleached corals, a real reef tank, to a temperate temperature tank self stocked with local critters. But like so many others, my passion had to take a back seat to life's other pressing matters. So, as surviving past retirement age started becoming a real possibility, I began contemplating "rebooting" myself back into the hobby as a retirement activity. Now, I have a tendency to take my sweet **** time in planning stuff ("some people" call it procrastination). My latest and greatest wife (also known as "some people") thought I was taking way too long. One year while vacationing in Las Vegas I expressed an interest to "some people" that I would like to go check out ....... (DOH, time for contest entry #2;Facepalm)

I love las Vegas, it's where I get all my best worst ideas ever.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

New contest:. Post one full current tank shot in your build thread and I'll wire you $5 lol. Hope your tank is doing well.

 

[hambandit]

New contest:. Post one full current tank shot in your build thread and I'll wire you $5 lol. Hope your tank is doing well.

is...is that open to anyone

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Oh Gawd, a "current" tank shot? Way too embarrassing. I've been letting it go "Darwinistic" (survival of the fittest) lately while I get NO3/PO4 and other issues back in order. Now if you could find a way of turning that $5.00 into 5 hours of tank time instead I'd take you up on it. But I'll work on it, free of charge.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Okay @Rob.bucek , here you go. This is going to throw off the chronological timeline of my stupid little story but maybe that's a good thing. (Voice from self #1, GET ON WITH IT!) So the heck with embarrassment. Current state of my train wreck, I mean slice of the ocean. (anybody want some GSP? ;Joyful)

My RBTA decided to go on a walkabout yesterday after staying front and center for 3 years, went right up to where the clownfish hang out but they still won't host with it (even though they were hosting with it when I bought it), my Foxface decided he liked the taste of the firework polyps so now they are behind the fishing line grid, the wife couldn't care less about any coral, she just wants more fish (as if 18 fish isn't enough), nitrates shot up to 160, couldn't figure out why until I retired and found the wife feeding the fish non stop because "they look hungry, every time I walk by the tank they want to be fed";Facepalm!! So between that and the pest control spraying poison into the sump, the EB832 dying, salinity gages being out of whack, Roomba smacking my feet while I type this, Blah Blah Blah... Well, you all know, the same basic stuff just about everyone goes through, yeah things got a little wonky. But I've been here before and know I can battle my way back.
Now the only contest open is for that $1,000.00 gift card from Reef Institute. Right now I think I'll just pass due to the state of stuff and let someone else win. (Like I was going to win anything)

 

[BlueRose]

This is for all those contests that need an entry into a build thread.
Disclaimer: I didn't take a lot of pictures but do have a few. I did most of my planning using SketchUp so I'm just going to use a lot of screen shots from the planning stages with a few pics thrown in. Also, because this is for the contests, entries will be rather sketchy and drawn out (pun intended). ;Playful
(Time to go enter contest #1 )

This is my first post in here, and I’m unsure of the etiquette, but I feel I have to jump in. We had CBB’ a couple of times, and as soon as the apstasia was gone, we couldn’t tempt them with anything else, and believe me we tried. Did a lot of research and discovered File fish. They are awesome. They will rid you of aipstasia in no time, and they will eat frozen mysis , flake and tiny pellets. They are great little fish. Funny looking, and there are various types of them, some of which aren’t aipstasia eaters, but your trusted fish store will know which one you need. We have had one in our 90 for years. Also in our nano. They are very friendly, definitely non aggressive, and none of the more aggressive fish bother them. They seem to just hang in the tank not moving much, but the are capable of moving very quickly at feeding time. Please don’t sacrifice a beautiful CBB for a short term nuisance which can be solved by a a far less beautiful and far less expensive fish.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Um, how to respond to this?! First of all, seeing as this is your first post, Welcome to R2R my fellow "Earthling"! I'm sure you'll get up to speed in no time.
As for the rest, well, I don't recall ever saying that I had an Aiptasia problem. I do agree with you that File fish are interesting fish but I do not have a need for one. I bought my CBB (which my wife named "Rubberband") more for the personality of the species. He (or she, whichever) is by far the most inquisitive and personable fish in my current tank. I'm sorry to hear that you lost a couple of them due to eating issues. Luckily (or by effort), that has not been my experience with mine or any of the other "finicky" fish I have or have had in the past. So I have not "sacrificed" a CBB for any "nuisance" but instead provided a safe and secure home to a wonderful addition to the family.
I do wish you the best of luck in your endeavors going forwards. Can we look forward to a build thread of your own to document your progress?
(Oh, and thank you for reminding me that I need to keep up with this thread. Now I will need to go check out what contests are being run.)

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Okay, more contests to enter demanding that we put posts in our build thread, so, back to the regularly scheduled program. (As if there is anything regular about this post.) Continuing on from post #3 (see how sad this is, there are more post not regarding the build than there are actually talking about it. My bad!) Now, um, oh yeah, the story... So Brett walks us back into the warehouse and is pointing out all these monstrous tanks and I'm wondering which part of "I only have room for a 36" cube" he wasn't understanding, not that I was planning on buying anything anyhow. And then it happened, (cue the hallelujah music;Singing) the only tank I have room for finally comes into view. Now if you've ever watched "Tanked", specifically the one where they build Shaq's diesel truck/superman tank then you've seen my tank. No, not the one Shaq got but the reject one where they screwed up the measurements the first time.;Facepalm Just a plain, simple, no fake coral inserts, thick walled, well made tank of a tank. I didn't know it at the time but my wife had decided right then and there that she was not going to let me leave without it. (Oh look at that, time to go enter another contest. To be continued.)

 

[fishlover1478]

are you only posting if there is a contest that requires it?

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Just post pictures of cats in that case

 

[Reefer Reboot]

are you only posting if there is a contest that requires it?

Yeah, I did say that in the very first sentence but I get ya'. Maybe I should move this along a bit.;Playful;Shamefullyembarrased

Just post pictures of cats in that case

Bwahahaha ;Hilarious Ya' mean like this?!

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Okay, to speed this up, the rest of this stupid story of "how I ended up with this tank" will be told in Readers Digest form. (Google the reference if needed.)
Wife says I'm taking too long to get a tank. She wants it and she wants it now. (But wait, isn't patience the key ingredient in this hobby. So what if I've been planning this for 5 years.)
Brett sees her impatience and offers the tank to us for "cost" since it's just taking up room in the warehouse. (I did look up the cost of just the material and I couldn't have built it myself for less.)
Wife says "deal" and writes him a check. We arraign to pick it up at the end of the week before driving home.
The day before leaving to go home Brett calls and says he left the check in his pocket and put it through the washing machine.
Wife has no more checks with her to write a new one.
Tank now goes on my credit card which I and I alone pay for.
Wife still takes credit for "buying" me the tank. ;Facepalm;Hilarious

 

[Reefer Reboot]

After all that I can't find a single picture of just the tank alone so this will have to do.

Installing tank on stand during the middle of yet another one of the wife's home remodeling job. (Happy wife, happy life, or so I've heard;Playful. Luv ya babe!) Freshly laid tiles, kitchen completely gutted, I'm stuck at home alone with my arm in a sling (shoulder surgery), not too good at just sitting still. So yeah, sounds like a perfect time to move the 325lb. tank onto the stand by myself. I mean really, what could possibly go wrong?! (This was definitely the pain killers talking.;Wacky)

A little ingenuity, a lot of blocks to slowly raise the tank up and most of the day later, the stand is under the tank.

From here out this will be a mixture of SketchUp to make it easier to see details with a few real pics.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Tank dimensions are 36" x 36" x 30" (X, Y, Z axis). Horizontal panes .75" thick, vertical planes 1.25" thick.

Stand in it's original configuration. (The evolution of the stand is a story in itself as I always have to tinker with something.)

The stand dimensions are 39" x 33.5" x 39" (X, Y, Z axis)
.5" thick acrylic table top on top of stand with 3/8" thick HDPE sliders on bottom.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Time for another contest entry so time for another build entry.
Moving on to the first part of the plumbing which will include the return lines and flush plumbing located inside of the overflow weir.

Add it all together =
xray view

Normal view

In case you're wondering what the Overflow Flush Assy. is for, this tank has a coast to coast weir/overflow compartment and it is the entire depth of the tank. Using a Herbie style setup I would not be drawing from the very bottom (remember 36" deep) which I felt would lead to a massive detritus trap which would be hard to vacuum. So I designed this to pick up water from the bottom (bottom horizontal white tube has holes on the bottom) and push it back into the display area, thus keeping any leftover food in suspension. Of course that lead to the next problem of what would happen during a power failure. It could have allowed the entire tank to back siphon into the weir and down to the sump leading to a flooded floor and a very angry wife!:mad: (That's exactly the look I would have gotten!)
This is why I have it go up through a check valve, to the pump and then back down and out to the display section with the added check valve on top (above the pump) to allow air in to break any siphon. It also created the perfect feeding hang out for my shrimp due to the current created by this setup.
From a birds eye point of view it creates two circular flow patterns (in red) flowing along the back in each direction, towards the front along the sides, to the middle along the front and then to the back again in the middle. Using eductors increases this current.

Guess where the shrimp sit stuffing his face all day with whatever the current brings him.

Spoiled lazy shrimp, go out and work for your food like the rest of us! Oh well, the shrimp might not have an incentive to show himself but at least I have a clean overflow.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

what the heck?! Where's my cat pic?? Great detail man! Love the setup and level of effort. Love me some GSP too! i have that going finally and the same shrimp haha.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

What, you don't like the one I stole from the caption contest post?;Hilarious Okay, let's try this one!

The GSP is one coral my Foxface doesn't care to devour so I guess it's going to be my main coral until I start another tank. He's the reason I can't have anything nice anymore.