How about a nightmare build thread?
- Thread starter Gregg @ ADP
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I have maintained a couple of tanks on the side in the past and it was extremely frustrating. I found that most people wanted something to look a certain way but were not even remotely willing to pay a little money for the right equipment to do the job. Even new RO filters were looked at as some kind of luxury item that they really didn't think was necessary and an actual working skimmer and some powerheads.... Forget about it! They were both pretty wealthy people and just were unwilling to spend a little to make things work better and get them what they really wanted out of their tank. I was spending about 3hrs a week at each place and was only charging $50 a week because I just wanted to help them get things going the right direction. I just couldn't take it and had to move on because I was just spinning my wheels with trying to get them to make improvements rather than taking advantage of me doing maintenance for them.
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Gregg @ ADP
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Haha, just building the suspense.We're waiting...
I’m actually going to include a nightmare minor make-over that I was doing today. Client graduated from greatest hits mixed reef to SPS dominated. The only way to make that work is to add a dosing pump.
Any guesses on how long that took me?
(here’s a hint: it’s a 1/4 cylinder tank in an office)
I am going to get some more pics of the 380 nightmare on Thursday. I want to make sure I give the appropriate amount of time to Hell’s Corner (the overflow area). Good times coming up.
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
Tank Mess #2
Admittedly, I really have only myself to blame for this. Before we get into it, it’s a really successful and pretty good looking tank. But this is a case where space and time limitations forced me to go more the pre-fab route than I typically would.
Tank- ~120 gal 1/4 cylinder (I don’t like any tank with the word ‘cylinder’ anywhere in the description)
Sump- some prefabbed point of sale (can’t even remember the brand...not that it matters)
Here is the primary issue (and I knew this when I started): the tank is in an office and all filtration and equipment had to go inside the stand (gag). An even bigger issue? Non-custom aquarium stands are built the way they’re built, and you can’t modify anything w/o voiding the warranty. Also, any stand/cabinet for a 1/4 cylinder has tick poor functional space and everything is a nightmare when it comes to putting in an LFF.
Here’s the story on this tank:
The client (a little over 3 years in) has graduated beyond the standard beginner and intermediate stages, and has committed to transitioning this tank from the standard mix of greatest hits softies and LPS to an SPS dominated system (YAY!!!).
We have removed a bunch of the soft corals and started with some SPS frags about 1 year ago. Things were generally good, but growth stalled. This mandated bringing in a doser. Went with the GHL 2.1 and a 3x2.5L container.
The problem? No place to put anything. This resulted in me having to redo everything under the tank in order to install a shelf and clear some space for the dosing containers.
Admittedly, I really have only myself to blame for this. Before we get into it, it’s a really successful and pretty good looking tank. But this is a case where space and time limitations forced me to go more the pre-fab route than I typically would.
Tank- ~120 gal 1/4 cylinder (I don’t like any tank with the word ‘cylinder’ anywhere in the description)
Sump- some prefabbed point of sale (can’t even remember the brand...not that it matters)
Here is the primary issue (and I knew this when I started): the tank is in an office and all filtration and equipment had to go inside the stand (gag). An even bigger issue? Non-custom aquarium stands are built the way they’re built, and you can’t modify anything w/o voiding the warranty. Also, any stand/cabinet for a 1/4 cylinder has tick poor functional space and everything is a nightmare when it comes to putting in an LFF.
Here’s the story on this tank:
The client (a little over 3 years in) has graduated beyond the standard beginner and intermediate stages, and has committed to transitioning this tank from the standard mix of greatest hits softies and LPS to an SPS dominated system (YAY!!!).
We have removed a bunch of the soft corals and started with some SPS frags about 1 year ago. Things were generally good, but growth stalled. This mandated bringing in a doser. Went with the GHL 2.1 and a 3x2.5L container.
The problem? No place to put anything. This resulted in me having to redo everything under the tank in order to install a shelf and clear some space for the dosing containers.
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
So, here’s what I started with:
(I had already removed the skimmer and reactor)
See how the pump is installed? Because of the layout in the cabinet, that was the only place I could put a pump. Given that there was no place to put a chiller and a lot of temp uncertainty, I opted to install it externally. Well...that kills any space we might have in that already cramped mess of a cabinet.
(also, don’t ask why I have a ball valve out of the pump but not one going in)
After installing a fan in/fan out system, temp was always really good. That meant when I moved everything that I could just put the pump in the sump and cap off where that bulkhead is. Once that pump and the return line was moved, I could then put a shelf in for the doser and then open up space for the containers.
That’s about a 1.5 hr job, including hooking up the doser.
(I had already removed the skimmer and reactor)
See how the pump is installed? Because of the layout in the cabinet, that was the only place I could put a pump. Given that there was no place to put a chiller and a lot of temp uncertainty, I opted to install it externally. Well...that kills any space we might have in that already cramped mess of a cabinet.
(also, don’t ask why I have a ball valve out of the pump but not one going in)
After installing a fan in/fan out system, temp was always really good. That meant when I moved everything that I could just put the pump in the sump and cap off where that bulkhead is. Once that pump and the return line was moved, I could then put a shelf in for the doser and then open up space for the containers.
That’s about a 1.5 hr job, including hooking up the doser.
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
In order to get that pump out and redo the bulkhead so that it could be capped off, I had to cut through the old bulkhead. Well...the first thing that happened was my PVC cutters broke. I mean, the handle snapped off. This is in downtown Chicago, so it’s not like I could run right out and buy new cutters. Dug around and found a small handsaw that would allow me to to cut the bulkhead out.
No biggie...except for that huge plywood support right in the front middle of the cabinet. It took me about 20 minutes to cut through a 1” bulkhead.
Once that was out, I made a cut on the return line and pivoted it toward the right sonthe pump could sit in the right front corner of the sump. Naturally, when I did that, the bulkhead for the return line turned a little, and water started dripping out.
This is where the cabinet maker makes my list of people I want to throw in a dumpster.
It’s super, super easy to install and tighten bulkheads on an empty aquarium before it goes on the stand. But the cutout they make in the top of the stand is only big enough to accommodate the bulkheads. Then, once plumbed in, there is virtually no way to get channel locks (or any other kind of bulkhead tool) in there and tighten anything.
I then spent about 40 minutes playing Twister with the aquarium stand in order to finally be able to get a roughly 20 degree turn on the nut and tighten it enough to stop the leak. Just impossible to get to a critical piece of the aquarium.
No biggie...except for that huge plywood support right in the front middle of the cabinet. It took me about 20 minutes to cut through a 1” bulkhead.
Once that was out, I made a cut on the return line and pivoted it toward the right sonthe pump could sit in the right front corner of the sump. Naturally, when I did that, the bulkhead for the return line turned a little, and water started dripping out.
This is where the cabinet maker makes my list of people I want to throw in a dumpster.
It’s super, super easy to install and tighten bulkheads on an empty aquarium before it goes on the stand. But the cutout they make in the top of the stand is only big enough to accommodate the bulkheads. Then, once plumbed in, there is virtually no way to get channel locks (or any other kind of bulkhead tool) in there and tighten anything.
I then spent about 40 minutes playing Twister with the aquarium stand in order to finally be able to get a roughly 20 degree turn on the nut and tighten it enough to stop the leak. Just impossible to get to a critical piece of the aquarium.
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
Then, once I put water back into the sump, the capped bulkhead started dripping because it was tight enough. Know why it wasn’t tight? That stupid huge support in the middle. To tighten a nut, you have to be able to hold both parts. For me to do that, I had to clamp down on the fitting with my left hand, and with my face pressed against the support, reach into the sump with my channel locks in my right hand and blindly tighten. It took longer than one might suspect.
Anyhoo....4 hours and $50 for parking later:
I had this bright idea to just run the reactor off the main pump. Of course, angles being what they are, there wasn’t a clean way to do it. Not to mention, going from US to metric plumbing means extra parts. I think I’m just going to end up cutting out and redoing the whole return line from pump to bulkhead.
The dosing containers can go under the shelf where that capped-off bulkhead is. Last thing I’m going to do is cut a hole out of the plywood by those power strips so that I can run the cords through there and keep them ‘neat’ and somewhat organized.
Last thing is that I’m going to modify that drain chamber on the sump so that I can have an algae scrubber in half of the and then some macro algae going in the other half. I can install a light to the underside of that shelf. Water quality is pretty good for that tank, but I want to be able to feed more, plus I like what p-synth does for the tank at night. Also going to redo the aquascaping in the very near future.
Here’s the tank several months into the transition to SPS:
Anyhoo....4 hours and $50 for parking later:
I had this bright idea to just run the reactor off the main pump. Of course, angles being what they are, there wasn’t a clean way to do it. Not to mention, going from US to metric plumbing means extra parts. I think I’m just going to end up cutting out and redoing the whole return line from pump to bulkhead.
The dosing containers can go under the shelf where that capped-off bulkhead is. Last thing I’m going to do is cut a hole out of the plywood by those power strips so that I can run the cords through there and keep them ‘neat’ and somewhat organized.
Last thing is that I’m going to modify that drain chamber on the sump so that I can have an algae scrubber in half of the and then some macro algae going in the other half. I can install a light to the underside of that shelf. Water quality is pretty good for that tank, but I want to be able to feed more, plus I like what p-synth does for the tank at night. Also going to redo the aquascaping in the very near future.
Here’s the tank several months into the transition to SPS:
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
Yeah, I can’t do a black background anymore. Especially tanks with any kind of depth. Some clever light-play and you can make it look like corals in the foreground and open water behind them.
That tank is in the very early stages of SPS growth. Once I move the rocks a little and turn those corals loose, that blue background is going to look sweet.
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Lance in Madison
New Member
I suddenly feel sooo great about how long and meticulous my build is taking
dantimdad
7500 Club Member
john.m.cole3
cyclOps
must have more!
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
Chapter II of Tank #1 is going to drop later this afternoon.
I got some good news today from that client in the form of a green light to switch over to SPS heavy...at least in the top 1/2 of the tank. Moderate rebuild coming soon.
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
From Disaster Tank #1 today, showing that there are silver linings in every dark cloud:
This guy is awesome. He is the biggest camera hog I’ve ever seen. We were doing a photo shoot for my new website a couple of weeks ago, and the photographer was like ‘I can’t get any good shots of the tank because this fish won’t get its face out of my lens’
This guy is awesome. He is the biggest camera hog I’ve ever seen. We were doing a photo shoot for my new website a couple of weeks ago, and the photographer was like ‘I can’t get any good shots of the tank because this fish won’t get its face out of my lens’
Wow!! He's nice!From Disaster Tank #1 today, showing that there are silver linings in every dark cloud:
This guy is awesome. He is the biggest camera hog I’ve ever seen. We were doing a photo shoot for my new website a couple of weeks ago, and the photographer was like ‘I can’t get any good shots of the tank because this fish won’t get its face out of my lens’
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
It hasn’t launched yet. We’re about 2-3 weeks out.
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Gregg @ ADP
Valuable Member
The other thing I think is nice in that pic is the purple mushroom in the bottom corner. It’s almost 6” in diameter.
