Crystal Dynamics 72x24x24 Build Thread

Tom Stevens · Mar 13, 2020

CJBuckeyes said:
How are you going to move it into place after it's delivered? I still need to figure this out.

Good question. I bought some suction cups on Amazon and hopefully will find 6 friends to help. Luckily, it will be less then 30 feet from garage to final resting place with only one turn.

Tom Stevens · Mar 20, 2020

The tank arrived today! I was not expecting it with the ”stay in home” order, but the doorbell rang and there it was. Luck I am working from home now.

Reef370 · Mar 20, 2020

Let the fun begin!!! Can’t wait to see the progress! I know your stoked!!

Tom Stevens · Mar 20, 2020

Reef370 said:
Let the fun begin!!! Can’t wait to see the progress! I know your stoked!!

I am excited, but I am not sure how I am going to move it when we have to stay 6 feet away from each other. We are under a ”stay at home” order because of the virus. So close but yet so far...

Reef370 · Mar 20, 2020

Yikes!!! Forgot about that !!! Well everything in the hobby is about patience..... so we wait!!

NeverlosT · Mar 20, 2020

My 330 is supposed to be done this week and ship Friday, I guess I will still expect it. Though I am in the same boat, not sure how i'll get it on the stand if we all need to be 6' apart. Aghghg Then the guy building my sump is having a hard time getting the PVC sheets to finish it.

This virus is a pain, but I guess others have it much worse than me and my "fishtank problems".

That tank looks amazing, keep it up!

CJBuckeyes · Mar 21, 2020

Mine is supposed to be finished this weekend. They're cranking them out..

Crack those boxes open already!

Tom Stevens · Mar 21, 2020

CJBuckeyes said:
Mine is supposed to be finished this weekend. They're cranking them out..

Crack those boxes open already!

Lol, I did already. Already found out the skimmer i purchased is 1/8 inch to big. Doh! Oh well, everything else is looking spanky. I will send more pics tomorrow.

bpro32 · Mar 21, 2020

Tom Stevens said:
I am excited, but I am not sure how I am going to move it when we have to stay 6 feet away from each other. We are under a ”stay at home” order because of the virus. So close but yet so far...

I'm in the same spot. My 230g CD setup arrived last Friday but even without the shelter in place order I didn't want to invite 4-6 people over to my house in the midst of a pandemic. I expect the tank to sit in my garage for a couple months.

Tom Stevens · Mar 21, 2020

bpro32 said:
I'm in the same spot. My 230g CD setup arrived last Friday but even without the shelter in place order I didn't want to invite 4-6 people over to my house in the midst of a pandemic. I expect the tank to sit in my garage for a couple months.

Yes, it is going to be hard staring at this tank in the garage. It is only about 30 feet away from its home too.

Tom Stevens · Apr 5, 2020

I finally got this beast in the house. It took 5 of us with masks, but we did it. I didn’t get any move pictures because, well, I was moving the tank .

Basically, we kept the tank in the crate and used furniture dollies to move into the house through the front door. Then I attached Amazon suction cups, 6 of them, and we muscled the tank in place. Before the tank went on the stand, i placed furniture pads under the legs so I can slide into place when I am done. Then I will level with pool table leveling 3” hard rubber mats. I tried to level before putting the tank on the stand, but quickly realized there was too much of a slope to completely level with the leveling feet provided.

I am now in the process of putting together the plumbing.

Here are some picks after the move and a some of the plumbing completed. I did not like the manifold provided by CD, so I modified to suit my needs. I also started playing with the under cabinet layout. There is never enough room! I kind of realized earlier more room would be needed so I purchased a cabinet that will sit to the right of the tank for anything that does not make it underneath.

If you have to stay home, it is nice to have a tank to work on.

Planning on finishing the plumbing today. Fun stuff!

Tom Stevens · Apr 21, 2020

The tank is cycling! Starting the tank with Zeovit. Still deciding if I like the aquascape. Here are some pics.

mattzang · Apr 21, 2020

looks nice!

how do you like the octopulse pumps? i bought a pulse 4 awhile back and was surprised not many people had them. the few i've come across people run them at like 10% because they're so absurdly powerful.

Daniel@R2R · Apr 21, 2020

Excited to see this fill up!

Tom Stevens · Apr 21, 2020

mattzang said:
how do you like the octopulse pumps? i bought a pulse 4 awhile back and was surprised not many people had them. the few i've come across people run them at like 10% because they're so absurdly powerful.

So far so good and you are correct they are very powerful. I chose them because I wanted to use the Hyros WaveEngine. They connect directly and I don‘t need their controllers or bricks. Saves on a lot of space. Bricks are a pain in my book.

mattzang · Apr 21, 2020

Tom Stevens said:
So far so good and you are correct they are very powerful. I chose them because I wanted to use the Hyros WaveEngine. They connect directly and I don‘t need their controllers or bricks. Saves on a lot of space. Bricks are a pain in my book.

i hear that.. i'm upgrading to a 100g from a 50g and i was thinking there will be all the space in the world for stuff under the stand. i put the sump in last night

Tom Stevens · May 2, 2020

It has been a couple of weeks and the tank is cycled. Added the Tang gang. 2 yellows, Kole, Powder brown and blue. All are doing well. I added the yellows and kole 1st and after they settled in added the powder brown and blue. All are small and getting along for the most part.

Gablami · May 2, 2020

Nice, looks like a great start. For my first tank, I started with zeovit too. Full zeovit. I kept experimenting with the blue bottles and changing the doses (because the dosing instructions are somewhat vague), and things didn’t turn out that well. I tried a lot of different things that first year lol. You seem like you have things very much together and have a lot of support. Wishing you the best of luck! Been following.

Tom Stevens · May 2, 2020

Gablami said:
Nice, looks like a great start. For my first tank, I started with zeovit too. Full zeovit. I kept experimenting with the blue bottles and changing the doses (because the dosing instructions are somewhat vague), and things didn’t turn out that well. I tried a lot of different things that first year lol. You seem like you have things very much together and have a lot of support. Wishing you the best of luck! Been following.

Thank you. I agree Zeovit seems a little like mad scientist but I was inspired by @ycnibrc tank.

I have a 75 gallon that is turning 2 years old in Aug. It has been a challenging ride and I tried Red Sea, Brightwell and a number of other products. It was not until I started using Zeovit that the tank turned around. Granted, I am not using the stones, but the other products have helped color everything up. It turns out I was starving the coral as I was trying to get rid of GHA and a mild case of dinos.

I am glad I re-entered the hobby with the 75 gallon before going big. I learned a lot and hoping to use the knowledge on this tank. My dream is an eye popping SPS tank. The Zeovit tanks I have seen are what I am striving for. I hope I can achieve the right balance and make it all happen.

Thank you for the luck!

TexAgReefer · May 3, 2020

Tom Stevens said:
Thank you. I agree Zeovit seems a little like mad scientist but I was inspired by @ycnibrc tank.

I have a 75 gallon that is turning 2 years old in Aug. It has been a challenging ride and I tried Red Sea, Brightwell and a number of other products. It was not until I started using Zeovit that the tank turned around. Granted, I am not using the stones, but the other products have helped color everything up. It turns out I was starving the coral as I was trying to get rid of GHA and a mild case of dinos.

I am glad I re-entered the hobby with the 75 gallon before going big. I learned a lot and hopping to use the knowledge in this tank. My dream is eye popping SPS tank. The Zeovit tanks I have seen is what I am striving for. I hope I can achieve the right balance and make it all happen.

Thank you for the luck!

I will be going full ZeoVit on my new tank. Definitely following along!