I hope I remember how to do this

[cmaxwell39]

So with that in mind, I came home from church today, checked the plumbing real quick to make sure everything looked tight and good, dumped the sand in that had been rinsed a long time ago, and threw some valves to start pumping water from the sump to the tank while at the same time pumping fresh saltwater into the sump.

First of all, no leaks in the return plumbing. Will still have to check bulkheads when the water gets up that high, but all the piping looks good.;Joyful

Next, I want to say that I am impressed with the Sicce SDC 9.0 so far. The Bottom of my water mixing barrel sits higher than the water level in my sump, and I have a mag 9.5 to use as a transfer pump between the mixing barrel and the sump. It is all plumbed in 3/4” PVC, and there are a number of 90’s in the run, but the mag 9.5 should still be pushing a good amount of water. The SDC was sucking air less than halfway into the transfer, and in order to balance the water theSDC was pushing to the display with the water the mag was sending to the sump I had to dial the SDC back to 48%. I think it should provide plenty of flow.

 

[cmaxwell39]

So, the rest of what got done today:

Installed 1 vortech to keep water in the tank moving a little. Kept it all the way turned down for now.

Got second batch of water mixing

Refilled RO storage barrel with the C water that had been in the degassing barrel (~40-45 gal)

Rinsed one more bag of sand and got it put in the tank.

Now for the 1 little hiccup.

Two things happened. First the rank ended up 2” further off the wall then I had planned on in order to allow all the piping to cross as needed.

Secondly, I miscalculated center of the tank when I made the mounting bracket, so the lights need to move out 4” or so.

So I am debating between 2 options. Option 1 is to rebuild the light hanging bracket from scratch to the new specs.

Option 2 is to build a spacer block/box that would go between the current hanging bracket and the wall. Would love some input on which way to go. Obviously, the lights are supported until I can get one of the other built and powered coated.

 

[Gablami]

So, the rest of what got done today:

Installed 1 vortech to keep water in the tank moving a little. Kept it all the way turned down for now.

Got second batch of water mixing

Refilled RO storage barrel with the C water that had been in the degassing barrel (~40-45 gal)

Rinsed one more bag of sand and got it put in the tank.

Now for the 1 little hiccup.

Two things happened. First the rank ended up 2” further off the wall then I had planned on in order to allow all the piping to cross as needed.

Secondly, I miscalculated center of the tank when I made the mounting bracket, so the lights need to move out 4” or so.

So I am debating between 2 options. Option 1 is to rebuild the light hanging bracket from scratch to the new specs.

Option 2 is to build a spacer block/box that would go between the current hanging bracket and the wall. Would love some input on which way to go. Obviously, the lights are supported until I can get one of the other built and powered coated.

That’s unfortunate :mad:. First, is there any way to fix the plumbing issue to bring the tank back a couple inches? Maybe use spigot adaptors or change location of unions? The tank look about 6” off the wall which is a lot of space. How far am I off?

If you can move the tank back even a couple inches, building a black spacer behind the fixture to bump it out a bit would be more acceptable. 4” is a lot, because part of the appeal is how flush/thin it is against the wall.

Second, how much are we talking to rebuild a new light fixture?

Third, I don’t think your light has to be dead center on the tank. Most of our corals are in the back 2/3 of the tank anyways. And less light bleed to the front panel means less algae and less cleaning. My fixture on my current tank is offset towards the back. I agree that the current location relative to your light is too offset. But if you could even move your tank back 2” I think it might be acceptable.

?

 

[cmaxwell39]

Unfortunately the drain and return lines had to cross which is why it is a little over 6” off the wall. The external overflow is 2” from the wall, and I want at least a 1” space between the overflow and the wall just so that if it does have to be removed I have space to do it. I will probably eventually have some nice trim pieces made to go between the tank/stand and the wall to finish it off some, but it boils down to that is where the tank needs to go.

I think I am leaning towards just rebuilding the whole thing. I don’t think it would look awful to build a box behind it, but you are right, it wouldn’t look as clean.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Second batch of saltwater in the tank.

After pushing this round of saltwater up fro the basement, I transferred the last of the RO/DI I have in hand into the saltwater mixing container and added salt. 35-40 more gals tomorrow night. Don’t think that will quite be enough, but I have another 49 gal batch of RO degassing right now, so hopefully by Wed or Thursday night we will be full.

 

[cmaxwell39]

So, did a quick experiment to see how much flow I would really get out of the SDC 9.0 pushing up from the basement. I started with the pump off and filled the sump as full as it would go with water from the saltwater mixing bin before turning the pump on. From the time I turned the pump on, until the 45-50 gal batch of saltwater was in the display was 3:22. I used 47 gal for my calculations and came up with 822 gph based on that flow rate. I don’t know how long the SDC takes to come up to full speed with its soft start, but I know some pumps can take 20-30 sec to reach maximum flow from a stop.

My goal for the tank was 800-1000 gph turnover through the sump, so I am pretty happy with where it is at. I don’t think it quite does advertised flow (almost 1300 gph at 13’ of head) but it is probably close.Time will tell, but I think it is going to match what I want out of the system really well.

 

[Victoria M]

Your friend that came to help you is a true friend indeed!
looking awesome!

 

[cmaxwell39]

Thanks Victoria. Don is a good friend. It was good to be able to catch up with him and make some huge progress on the tank. Amazing how many great, kind, generous people you meet through reefing.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Well, got a few things done.

first of all, I rebuilt the light hanging bracket.

Same basic idea as the first one, just will extend 4” further off the wall. Also, enlarged the bracing at the back corners to help stiffen up the back edge along the wall.

Still needs to be tug welded, but I don’t do the pretty stuff, so will have to wait until next week to get that done. It is a bummer that it had to be remade, but it is only a minor setback.

 

[cmaxwell39]

And, the moment you have all been waiting for.... OK, maybe you guys haven’t, but I sure have.

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. That is water in the overflow. The tank is full and water is pumping from the sump to the tank and back again.

Only one very minor leak on the plug I put in the bulkhead that isn’t being used. Tried to tighten the plug in the bulkhead a couple of times, but it was still leaking ever so slightly. Since I didn’t want to crack the bulkhead and it was getting pretty snug, I ended up just cutting a 3” piece of pipe, gluing a cap on the end of it, and then sticking that in the bulkhead on the inside of the overflow after drying everything up. Didn’t glue it in, but it is sealing it up good enough to stop the drip.

Will watch it for the next few days to make sure it is good, but overall it was an easy fix.

Such a great feeling to have a tank full of saltwater and everything working out like I had planned for the most part.

 

[Gablami]

I must have missed that you made that light hanging fixture yourself. In that case, by all means, make another one! Pretty cool.

 

[cmaxwell39]

It’s aquascape time. Rock is all cured in the sump. Time to transfer it to the display and see how it lays out. Pics to follow.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Before pics, just because.

All the rock in the sump.

Empty tank:

 

[cmaxwell39]

Left side first attempt:

What I am going for, since there are three main viewing angles, is three islands. The left one will be the largest, and the tallest since it will be the furthest away from the two secondary viewing angles.

Here it is so that you can kind of get an idea. The three angles. This is not the final version and there is extra rock sitting around, but you get the idea.

From the dining room/ in front of the tank.

Right end view: This will be the view from one of the main traffic areas of the house, the walkway between the kitchen and the living room.

Snd finally the view from the kitchen. You get part of the end view, but also get the front pane at an angle.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Final version, at least for now.

Dining Room View:

End/Walkway View:

Kitchen View:

Once everything clears I will take a couple top views to show that dimension some.

 

[Gablami]

Ahhh, nice scape! I’m gonna miss sand. It adds a feeling of peacefulness. Rocks alone don’t have that for me.

 

[GQuinn]

Set up looks great. I had a Custom Aquarium 120 and was very impressed with the quality of the tank. I will have to go to Summit City Corals the next time I am in Fort Wayne as I have never been there.

 

[count krunk]

Looks great! What are the dimensions again? It looks like 6x2x2.

I was going to say to rebuild the light rack as that is all you would be happy with longterm so I am glad you went that route. The stand is really slick. It's not easy getting the corners mitered so nicely like that. Mitering the corners on my tank stand is why I own a tablesaw now

 

[cmaxwell39]

Ahhh, nice scape! I’m gonna miss sand. It adds a feeling of peacefulness. Rocks alone don’t have that for me.

Yeah, I know the advantages of going bare bottom, but I just can’t do it. I have to have a little sand in the tank. Are you going BB on your new build? I can’t remember.

Set up looks great. I had a Custom Aquarium 120 and was very impressed with the quality of the tank. I will have to go to Summit City Corals the next time I am in Fort Wayne as I have never been there.

Thanks, I am really happy with the build quality of the tank. The stand fits very nicely into the room as well. It is really what I had envisioned when I ordered everything.

Definitely check out SCC. Fairly small shop, but super knowledgeable, down to earth people and a nice selection of corals. Fish selection is hit or miss, but I think most shops are like that right now

Looks great! What are the dimensions again? It looks like 6x2x2.

I was going to say to rebuild the light rack as that is all you would be happy with longterm so I am glad you went that route. The stand is really slick. It's not easy getting the corners mitered so nicely like that. Mitering the corners on my tank stand is why I own a tablesaw now

Dimensions on the tank are 60x30x22... about 170 gallons.

Light rack has been finished up (pretty welds put on by someone that actually knows what they are doing. Here are a couple pics of it test fitted before sending it to be powder coated.

As far as the stand, I cannot take credit for it, but fit and finish on it is very good. Custom aquariums did a very nice job on the stand as well.

 

[Gablami]

Yeah, I know the advantages of going bare bottom, but I just can’t do it. I have to have a little sand in the tank. Are you going BB on your new build? I can’t remember.

Yup, bare bottom. Haven’t done it before. Going to give it a go.

Light fixture looks great! Glad you made a new one.