Hitch08 Build....re-Build Thread

[Hitch08]

Hello all!

I'll start with the "build" part of this thread. Although, that "build" occurred back during the first half of 2015. Then, I'll move to my re-build, which occurred due to the Marineland tank springing a leak earlier this month.

First, the stand and related construction. Here's a few photos.

 

[Hitch08]

Then I worked exterior, although I didn’t take many photos of that...

Picking a color to stain with.

 

[Hitch08]

Worked on the front doors (not completely done in this photo):

One of the side doors:

 

[Hitch08]

First time that I used a router. Some edges were OK. Some, well, not so good.

 

[Hitch08]

Meanwhile, I started to cycle some rock and buy stuff.

That's a 40g breeder for a sump. I purchased a LifeReef skimmer, which is off to the right side of the first photo.

 

[Hitch08]

Sorry that the photos are so big.

 

[Hitch08]

 

[Hitch08]

Started staining.

 

[Hitch08]

Rock was leeching a lot of phosphates, so I started to use lanthanum chloride.

 

[Hitch08]

Sump, skimmer, plumbing etc., installed.

 

[Hitch08]

That summer, I decided to put in an order at Tampa Bay Saltwater.


Ended up with too much rock (as you can see) so I later pulled out some of the rock that I had previously cycled.

 

[Hitch08]

This is a very poor photo, but I shows you what I ended up with.

 

[Hitch08]

As you can see below, I started to have issues with Cyano.

 

[Hitch08]

Shortly thereafter, my wife was diagnosed with cancer (she later kicked its butt ),so the tank was not a priority. I really wasn’t able to do much with the tank other than routine maintenance. Once things started to return to normal, I started to work on the cyano.

I also decided to upgrade the Venturi on the LifeReef.

And my wife found us a puppy:

 

[Hitch08]

Anyway, I dosed NOPOX for a while and then switched to vinegar via an Apex Doser. I also added a turf scrubber. With some increased water changes and treatments, I was able to get rid of the cyano.

At that point, my water quality was very good. I had very low nitrates and phosphates. I was also paying better attention to my Alk, Cal, and Mg and was dosing those by hand. I only had a few corals, but they were doing very well. I have a pair of clowns and they were protecting the new eggs on the rock where they hang out. Go figure, that's when the tank decided to leak.

:mad:

Ended up purchasing an Aqueon. Course, the Marineland had a single overflow in the left rear and the Aqueon has two overflows to the left and right sides of the middle of the tank. When I built the stand, I put two 2x4's right where the Aqueon's overflows come down to/through the stand. If you scroll up to the photo with the sump installed, you can see the two 2x4's at the very top of that photo. I had to cut out the ends of those two 2x4's and then I added a new 2x4 in the middle.

I also had to completely re-do my plumbing. Was able to get the lion's share of that done this weekend.

Here are photos of a level sitting on each of the four sides of the tank. Looks pretty good to me.

 

[Hitch08]

Plumbing work from this weekend. As mentioned above, the new tank has two overflows - each with two bulkheads. Going to use the outside ones to run water back into the tank. The two inside ones will be drains, setup as a herbie.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks like a great recovery! Thanks for sharing all of the details.

 

[Hitch08]

Questions for you all,

The return pump will connect to the middle of that manifold. I'm now questioning why I added the ball valve in that location. It's not really needed as there are other valves further up before the water will go back into the tank. However, that ball valve has been glued in. I don't think it's needed, but I'm inclined to now leave it there. Is that a mistake?

Same question with the ball valve on the drain on the right side. That side will be the slow trickle drain for the herbie - at least that's the current plan. When I was designing the plumbing, I decided to add that ball valve in case I changed my mind and wanted to have the main drain on the right side. I know that I don't want to have any limitation on that second drain, in case the first one happens to clog. I can certainly just leave that valve fully open.

In any event, same question as before. Is it a mistake to leave that ball valve there?

I appreciate any thoughts and advice!

 

[Hitch08]

I'm leaning towards leaving the valves there. I'm guessing that the people who read this thought that it's not an obvious mistake.

With no water in the tank and the sump removed, I was able to move the stand over a few inches. I have my ATO water stored right next to the stand in an ugly plastic container. With this additional space, I'll be able to build something to put over that container and hide it a bit.

I'm finding myself nervous about filling the new tank. On Tuesday, I put some water in the overflow - to check the seals on the bulkheads. No leaks!

The next day, I added about 10 gallons. Then, on Thursday night, I added 45 more gallons. Maybe I'll be able to get the nerve up to fill it the rest of the way this weekend!

 

[Sottish_Reefer]

Sump, skimmer, plumbing etc., installed.

Is that a Fluval sp4 return pump?

Nice tank!!!
Nice to hear your wife kicked cancers butt