Perseverance Reef

[Petcrazyson]

 

[Fishy888]

Thursday night I got part of the woodcutting done. Last night I got everything cut but three legs and the spacers for the top and bottom. I also started dry fitting the framework. I didn’t get super far but I definitely made some progress.

Later today I’m going to finish dry fitting the framework and if all goes well I’ll start gluing it up. I have several bottles of isopropyl alcohol ready to clean and de-grease the surfaces to be glued.

I’m going to screw and glue a crossbeam on the underside of the top frame so I can install some lights over the sump. The crossbeam will run the length of the stand and get glued to the spacers and the ends of the stand.

I’m going to make doors from some wood I have in storage once I get the framework done. I’ll also add some quarter round to the bottom of the stand, and some 1x4 around the top of the stand such that it hides the bottom frame of the DT. I'll attach some quarter round under the 1x4

I love doing projects like this. I can customize everything and it’ll last years. It’s satisfying to watch the tank and to know I built a stand that can hold a literal ton. Of course most of you who follow my build thread have been DIYers for years; but if anyone new happens by this thread who is nervous about DIY, I hope this encourages you to learn. I’m still learning myself in fact and I have far more to learn. It takes practice but it’s not as hard as you might think.

Once the stand is done, hopefully by Sunday afternoon, I have some friends who will help me put the tank on the stand. Once it’s there I’ll fill it to just below the lowest hole and transfer everything to the new system. I’m pretty sure 75 gallons of water will bring me to just below the lowest hole in the tank. Dory will be coming home at the end of the month. If I can get the 210 up and running by Monday at the latest then she’ll be able to go straight into the new system.

All my animals are still doing good. The Kenya tree is shedding but it should start opening back up within a day or two. The nem is reaching for light but it still looks good. It’ll be under MH soon enough.

 

[Fishy888]

I’ll definitely get a yellow “coris” wrasse again. I also want a Cortez rainbow wrasse. I’ve got to look at some of the green wrasses @Petcrazyson mentioned. It’s hard to find green fish even in saltwater.

 

[Petcrazyson]

I’ll definitely get a yellow “coris” wrasse again. I also want a Cortez rainbow wrasse. I’ve got to look at some of the green wrasses @Petcrazyson mentioned. It’s hard to find green fish even in saltwater.

So Halichoeres chrysus. I’d be cautious with other wrasse if you are set on adding the a Thalassoma lucasanum, as they are very famous for bullying other smaller wrasse to death. Just keep this in mind.

 

[tbrown]

I’ll definitely get a yellow “coris” wrasse again. I also want a Cortez rainbow wrasse. I’ve got to look at some of the green wrasses @Petcrazyson mentioned. It’s hard to find green fish even in saltwater.

The H. Leucoxanthus is a better looking fish IMO, although it I ever find another Chrysus I will be adding it. The LFS I went to last weekend had them on sale but my wife already wasn't happy I was spending what I was so I refrained.

 

[Projects with Sam]

@fishguy242 have you ever heard of anyone using an angle-grinder to cutdown an existing tank? just wondering how easy it would be to make that 75 a low-boy without having to panel it to cut.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

@fishguy242 have you ever heard of anyone using an angle-grinder to cutdown an existing tank? just wondering how easy it would be to make that 75 a low-boy without having to panel it to cut.

Is the 75 all annealed glass....none of it tempered?

 

[fishguy242]

@fishguy242 have you ever heard of anyone using an angle-grinder to cutdown an existing tank? just wondering how easy it would be to make that 75 a low-boy without having to panel it to cut.

yield glass Q to Brandon, acrylic yes in a pinch not a clean cut though

 

[Fishy888]

And last night this happened…

The two nems look good right now considering they just split. They’re circled up and it looks like they’re healing although they’re not closed yet.

It’s good news in a way but I know that in this situation, the lighting being as low as it is, it probably split due to stress; so I have to get this stand done and the new system working ASAP. I’m going to park the nems right under the halide once they heal up and can handle that kind of light again.

I’m hoping to get them to move to better rocks than the base rock they’re on now. For now I’ll put a couple of rocks on top so the nems will climb up and onto the good rocks.

 

[Fishy888]

I made some progress overnight.

I got the dry fitting done. Later today I’ll get the glue up done. Once I get the shell glued I’ll cut wood for the spacers. I’ll use pocket joinery to attach the spacers.

I’m getting even more excited. The stand’s framework is almost done. I’m thinking Monday I’ll be able to get the tank on the framework and get it wet. I’m going to stain the doors once I make them. I’ll also stain the paneling. Man O’ War varnish will be my choice for a finish.

Now that I’m this close to getting the 210 up and running I’m really thinking hard about what fish I really want. I want either a sailfin or desjardini tang, possibly three or four convict tangs, and maybe, just maybe, a yellow tang or three. Needless to say I won’t stock all of those especially since I want a sizable shoal of possibly some dart fish or maybe some stoplight cardinals. I don’t want too many huge fish though because I don’t want the fish to suffer or for the tank look more like a 21.0 gallon tank than a 210 gallon tank. I wish I could do some CBBs but they’re harder than moorish idols to keep from what I hear.

I’m also excited about having two nems. Even though I’m convinced the original nem was stressed and split as a result; It’s about to have much better digs, tank size wise and water quality wise.

I was thinking about the possibility that the original nem got stressed out enough when I still had it in the bin right after the blowout that it decided to split. I wonder how long it takes from the time the stress triggers the nem to split until it does so. I still think it was stressed out from not having enough light but soon both nems will have MH back in their lives.

Of course I don’t want any of my animals to be stressed. Since the nem split though I want to learn all I can from it and give the two nems the best life I can possibly give them. That’s part of why I’m upgrading. That’s also a big part of why I’m excited about the new system in general. There’ll be much higher water quality. I’ll have plenty of turbulent flow. I’m getting even more live rock once I get the new system set up. I’ll have clean sand to put in. These things should help tremendously.

 

[Fishy888]

I’ve done the glue up. I still need to get the lumber to do the two center supports and three legs. This is it at the moment.

I decided to use 2x4s for the spacers. I’m going to add a 2x4 beam across the length of the stand. It’ll get screwed and glued to the spacers.

In other news it seems these nems are healing much quicker than I thought they would. I hope it means that stress didn’t cause the split. Anyhoo I took an image of each nem.

Hopefully tomorrow I can round up enough people to get the 210 on its stand. I’m truly stoked. It’s getting real now.

 

[Projects with Sam]

you verified the cut-list against the dimensioning of your tank right? I got those measurements off the internet for Aqueon 210g tank but realize I never got tanks size from you or specifically told you to verify measurements.

 

[Fishy888]

you verified the cut-list against the dimensioning of your tank right? I got those measurements off the internet for Aqueon 210g tank but realize I never got tanks size from you or specifically told you to verify measurements.

I did. I appreciate all your help with the plans and cut list @Projects with Sam!

 

[Fishy888]

Pics because it happened. Ok it’s a single image but still…..

 

[Projects with Sam]

Pics because it happened. Ok it’s a single image but still…..

Looks awesome!
I actually started trying to learn fusion 360 FEA analysis to figure out if you need the middle support but I need to buy a membership to the app and I'm just not there yet.

 

[Fishy888]

Looks awesome!
I actually started trying to learn fusion 360 FEA analysis to figure out if you need the middle support but I need to buy a membership to the app and I'm just not there yet.

It’s going to get two supports and legs in front and one support and leg in the back. The reason for two in front is because I want to make three doors in front.

 

[Fishy888]

Here are a few more pictures. I took these an hour ago. I turned the lights back on briefly to take these pictures.

These next pictures are of the anemones in the new system.

Today I’m going to mount the MH lamp over the nems. I might have to go with horizontal reflectors. The type of reflector I want to use might be tall enough to hit the ceiling fan.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Happy nems will recover from a split way quicker than we expect. Given the time you have had it, I'd venture a guess that it split because it was ready to.

 

[Fishy888]

Happy nems will recover from a split way quicker than we expect. Given the time you have had it, I'd venture a guess that it split because it was ready to.

Thank you @Lost in the Sauce. Sometimes I worry wayyy too much. I’m getting better about it though.

I’ve listed my 30 gallon tank for sale now since the 75 is going to be my new sump. My system will be a grand total of 285 gallons, less the volume of rocks and sand. It’ll probably be 250 gallons of actual water but I’ll take it!

I found two more MH high bay lamps for sale. They’ll be 50 bucks for both. The proceeds from the 30 gallon tank, and some freshwater decorations I’m about to put up for sale, will go towards getting the high bay lights.

Next on the hit parade is getting the rest of the fittings and plumbing I need for the closed loop. I‘ll also be getting the wood for the supports and legs for the back and the front where the doors will go. Of course I’ll also be getting the salt I need in order to fill the tank the rest of the way.

 

[Fishy888]

I finally got the sump in place last night. I messed up while measuring the distance between the bottom spacers. I was off by half an inch on each side but I decided to just move the rightmost spacer over to the right an inch. I had to pull the stand out far enough from the wall to remove the two screws on the rear side of the right spacer and to screw the spacer into its new place. The tank, stand and sump are back in place now. Thank God the tank wasn’t anywhere near full. It took all I had to move it the little bit I did.

I’m going to keep the space to the left of the leftmost spacer open for culturing a couple of two liter bottles worth of phyto. The space to the right of the rightmost spacer will be where I keep the closed loop pump so I can easily access it, the gate valves, and their unions for easy access. It’ll add some resistance but it’ll be worth it.

I still have to clean the new sump but that won’t be hard. Later today I’ll get the MH mounted. Hopefully I’ll get the T5s mounted above the sump today or tomorrow.

My animals are doing pretty well. I took these pictures a couple of hours ago, just after I moved the system to where I want it to be.

Here are some pictures with the new sump in place. It’s 2 inches farther from the wall than it was. That’ll make it easier to install the bulkheads and the overflow box.

I added the rest of the rock from the old sump to the new system yesterday morning. They’re also in the pictures; they’re mainly on the left side of the DT.