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my new 290gal is .....


izzypop

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I'd like to give a HUGE SPECIAL THANKS to Shannon aka (reefhut) for making this whole thing possible. With out him I wouldn't have been able to do it. After seeing how much work was involved it would have cost me a small fortune to have someone do it (correctly). He is truely an asset to the reef hobby and a wonderful friend.:D

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Some updates. I have decided on a stain for the mouldings and will be finishing that up in the next few days. I will also be doing some of the plumbing for the sump and returns so I can get water in this baby test it and start the cycle. Pics to follow in the next couple days. Ran into a bulkhead problem. some of the CL bulkheads ended up being the wrong ones so I am working on getting that fixed. Also probably will be working on the electrical and auto water top off as well.

Under the stand I went with an EVA waterproof Foam for the equipment and sump to rest on. I have been using this stuff on my frag tank and it is great for noise and waterproofing.

 

The skimmer is getting new becketts and seals shortly. I'll be going with a wannareef dual beckett to start and then probably upgrade next year when all these new skimmer designs and pumps are tested.

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Saturday was great day for working on the tank. Sunny and dry. We decided to just cap off the closed loop since I don't have all the stuff to install that yet and don't need it to cycle the tank. We brought in the sump and mocked out how the overflow drains and return plumbing was going to be. Made the normal trips to Home Depot and wham we were cuttin, fitting and glueing. I also finished the prep work on the moulding and did some staining. There are a few mouldings not in the pic that go around the inside touching the tank but those aren't installed yet. Still trying to get that the way I want. mouldings should be finished in a week or so.

 

For the plumbing I went with traditional white because it is easy to get and I still think it looks better than grey most of the time. I also can not stand "spa-flex" looks horrible and messy. For the bulkheads went with some really nice Hayward bulkheads. The rubber seals are 3 times thicker than the normal ones and they actual work "hand tight" 100% of the time IME. The bulkhead sizes are slightly larger so back to Home Depot for a holesaw that fits a 2" hayward. Back to plumbing. Finished all that up and now it's time to fill it. Hmmmm it's 11pm should we...... Heck Ya. Oh yea I only have 40 gal of saltwater made up right now and I need like 350gal. Shannon to the rescue. We drove his truck to his house and took as many containers as we could filled up his truck with saltwater and back to my house. Started filling the tank and got 3/4 full. [language filter]. We aren't quiting now. Back to his house for more saltwater, sand and some rock. Okay got it filled, turned it on. NO LEAKS sweet. Wait we're out of beer now. Off to find beer at 12:45am. No luck, wait that person just got into Safeway.... we just tried the other doors on the opposite side and they were closed. Hot [language filter] it's open. Beer to the rescue. Back to house and had a great time tweakin with stuff and watching the tank run.. Here are the pics. Take a look at the pic with the water just starting to fill. The tank is dead level. The water filled up all around the center, it was perfectly level.

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Oh yea. It is really nice to see the tank and hear nothing. It don't get much better. I am really glad I went with no front access too. Everything is turning out great. Tank is clear now too. Skimmer is almost done so that will be soon to come on as well. Lumenarcs and actinics going up shortly. I still have to get the electrical done. The rest is just add ons and tweaking. I'll get some more pics up once I get some more stuff done.

I'm not looking forward to aquascaping but I do have some Envision Built viewing boxes which should make it pretty easy.

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Some updates.... Got most of the equipment like Lumenarcs, pumps, etc....

Skimmer is done and will be plumbing it this week.

 

I'm going to be running 220v for my MH lights. I'll be running 3 400w HQI ballasts attached to lumenarcs and then some VHO's for actinic. (Yes I have lots of T5 experience and I'll just say now "not running them" on this tank)

The light rail system will be barn door rails from Grainger just ordered the stuff today. I will get some pictures when we start building the light rack and electrical.

 

Here is a pic of the skimmer I'll be using. Custom built dual beckett (almost 4 feet tall)

skimmer_after_fixed.gif

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I haven't seen or heard the helicoptors flying around your house lately, think they've got it figured out yet? They may be back over to this side of the highway with our next 2 electric bills going up another $100 with Xmas lights... and after 3 months of running 7 pumps 24/7 and VHO lights beeming 1/2 the day.

Things are looking good, what's your time frame for being "done", year, months?

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Well I am hoping to have the majority of it done by the end of January. That is when our new baby is due. I will have the stuff for the light rack in this week and working on that next. Then electrical. This stuff is never completed but hey I have 4 chromis in there. Well I think I do, I'll find out when I can turn on the lights.

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That is when our new baby is due.

I forgot about that! I don't see you guys walking the dogs with the poochy belly since you moved. Let me know if you need someone to drop in and plop in some food or whatever when the time comes. I remember ever so well, everything else is kind of a blur when you're at the hospital.

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