Drukkosz upgrade - something little different

drukkosz

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Hello all,

With last year purchase of a dream house it was also a time for a new tank as well.

It has been a crazy journey that I have been working for over 7 months now. Didn’t really have a plan at the beginning so was modifying things as I went.

Main goals:

150g premium crystalline Planet Aquarium 60x24x21 in leaving room,
125g in fish room
40g sump
All plumbed together

Secondary goals:
Silent,
All filtration and equipment in the fish room below,
No more lifting buckets,
Easy maintenance and customization,
Lots of storage and no more clutter and stuff laying everywhere,
Protect the floor and walls from saltwater!
I will probably add more to that list as we go…….

So this is the new fish room:



Ok a portion of this room will be dedicated to the fish (right corner)



After installing floors, painting the room and moving the tank from the old house:



[/QUOTE]
 
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drukkosz

drukkosz

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New build started simple:

I was going to use a 100g tub that I already have laying around and build a sump from it just like I had it on my previous tank:







Yea, that changed quickly too.

After doing some thinking and research I decided not to go with the tub option. But I couldn’t really find anything that I like for the sump and frag tank.
In meantime I received a sump from a family member that I decided to use. But I was worried about the amount of water in the pipes in case of power failure. It has to drain somewhere and my floors are not the option.


After months of cutting, staining, and changing my mind all the time I came to conclusion that I will add my existing 125g tank to the mix and make it as a second aquarium. WHY NOT?

The plan is to have the water drain from the main tank to the sump that will be sitting on the right site and from there it will drain to the 125g, I will cut the overflow from the old tank shorter so there is plenty of room for the water to drain. At least that my theory.

After taking everything apart for the 15th time and building new stand for the 125g here we are:

 
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drukkosz

drukkosz

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As far as wall protection from saltwater I decided to have a little fun with a torch.

I also moved the electric outlets higher so they are not so close to the water source.

While doing that I run new lines and added more outlets so now I have 3 20amp dedicated circuits for the fish.





 

Mastiffsrule

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Howdy,

Just checking out the build. The torch job came out great on the wood. Any recent updates
 
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drukkosz

drukkosz

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Thank you, that was defiantly fun part of the project. I was so sick of staining....
I have been working on the plumbing, takes forever to prep and pain all the parts and pieces.
I will use 100g Rubbermaid tub as a temporarily sump and have it plumbed with the main tank before the big move also trying to figure out easy plumbing transition.

Will take new pictures and post soon.
Meantime I installed pond liner on the floor to protected if from the saltwater.


And got my new skimmer. I have to say I am extremely pleased with the quality of it. Kevin from @DeltecUSA was a pleasure to deal with. Super fast shipping and great price. I was originally thinking about purchasing Reef octopus elite 220SSS but I am glad I did more research and learned about Deltec.

 
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drukkosz

drukkosz

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So, let me tell you about my Planet Aquarium tank nightmare!

I placed an order on May 1st through LFS to have the tank ordered and delivered. (I have a back injury so lifting it wasn't an option for me.)

A month later the tank was delivered to LFS, and few weeks after that, it was delivered to my home. I was at work at that time it was delivered (my wife was home) and when then the two guys carrying it were just two feet away from the stand, one of them lost grip and dropped it…chipping a corner.

They left the broken tank sitting on my living room floor for over a month because the owner of the LFS didn't want to take it back and risk dropping it again.



Finally, 6 weeks later, LFS came to my house to swap out the chipped tank. But, when I took a closer look at the replacement tank, I found all kinds of problems with it! Bubbles in the silicone. A scratched background. Peeling silicone. Etc. I have no idea who built that tank and how quality control let this Frankenstein leave their factory! See for yourself:

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I was told LFS would contact PA and see what they could do.

Week after week I waited and heard NOTHING. I kept sending emails and calling LFS and every time I got a hold of them, I was told they were still waiting to hear from PA.

Mind you, the reason I have been working on a new tank build since New Year’s and that I ordered the tank in May is that we are expecting our first baby at the end of August and I wanted to have the tank moved and ready before the baby arrives.

At this point I was really starting to lose my patience—especially because every time I contacted LFS I was told they hadn’t heard back from PA. I even called PA myself, but they didn’t want to deal with me and sent me back to LFS.

Finally, LFS got back to me and said PA was building me a new tank (yet again). In the end, after almost 4 months of dealing with headaches from LFS and PA, I received an acceptable tank on August 19th…a week and a half before my baby’s August 30th due date!



 
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drukkosz

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90%of the plumbing has been done, the white parts are temporary and will be cut when the 125g is moved. In meantime I will use the tub as a temp sump.
Hopefully his weekend (if the baby wont arrive first) I will fill it up with water and test all the connections and flow to the tank upstairs. I have Reef Octopus Water Blaster HY-12500W and hoping it will handle the height.









 
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drukkosz

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I had a chance to run the water test and honestly it was a disaster. 7 leaks total. 2 loose unions- no big deal, one coupling that I forgot to glue, external overflow dripping between glass and external box and other 3 require to cut and replace the pipes.:headwally:



Also I am running 1-1/4 pipes from my return pump and needed 1-1/4x1-1/4x1/2 tee, went to four different home improvements stores and no body had any.

I still dont understand how the leaks developed there, I used good quality glue with primer, cleaned all the pipes, applied glue to both ends and twisted pipes while gluing.







to fix the external overflow leak I decided to put an extra 2 bulkhead gaskets, went to LFS to purchase them, then after draining the water and removing overflow I noticed this:






even thickness was different. Luckily LFS had more so i was able to exchange it.

Oh and my 10 years old apex stopped working over the weekend (eb8) so there goes another $800 :headwalls:

I got so frustrating that had to take few days off from the tank.

It was a good time to focus on my other projects so I restored a fire hydrant:







 
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drukkosz

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Plumbing is finally fixed and tested. So far so good. Next step is rock structure. I purchased few pieces of the foundation rock from BRS and will try to use my excising live rock to build the structures.

Also this little guy arrived last week! Future reefer.



 
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drukkosz

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Finally had some time to work on the aquascape After watching Nathan I decided to give it a try. I have to admit it was really enjoyable. I used my live rock that I broke into pieces and used the glue and sand method.
If you planning on doing that make sure you have a plenty of glue. I think I am on 6 bottle right now, also I like the glue masters medium glue better then thin, I would recommended to get both, some spots are hard to get so the thin glue works good there but mostly I used the medium because it doesn't drip everywhere. make sure you wear good gloves this glue will burn your skin - know from experience.


I was able to keep the rock alive by keeping it in 100g tub that is my sump at the moment.

Oh the black background was provided to you by a Pizza Box!
















 

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Rock work is looking fantastic! Nice job! But this little guy is what it's all about!! Congrats!

Plumbing is finally fixed and tested. So far so good. Next step is rock structure. I purchased few pieces of the foundation rock from BRS and will try to use my excising live rock to build the structures.

Also this little guy arrived last week! Future reefer.



 

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Thank you, that was defiantly fun part of the project. I was so sick of staining....
I have been working on the plumbing, takes forever to prep and pain all the parts and pieces.
I will use 100g Rubbermaid tub as a temporarily sump and have it plumbed with the main tank before the big move also trying to figure out easy plumbing transition.

Will take new pictures and post soon.
Meantime I installed pond liner on the floor to protected if from the saltwater.


And got my new skimmer. I have to say I am extremely pleased with the quality of it. Kevin from @DeltecUSA was a pleasure to deal with. Super fast shipping and great price. I was originally thinking about purchasing Reef octopus elite 220SSS but I am glad I did more research and learned about Deltec.

Thank you, It was our pleasure. We are happy to hear you are enjoying your new skimmer!
 
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drukkosz

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This is just a little remainder to everyone how important is to quarantine your new fish.

Purchased this little guy few weeks back from LFS together with a male leopard wrasse.

They were both doing great and all the sudden Tang started to show some kind of infection. At first we thought he has injury possibly from running into something after being spooked.





Unfortunately after few days he started to look worse.

Thanks to advice from great people on this forum #reefsquad @Jay Hemdal @Qasimja I started the treatment combining furan-2 plus kanaplex and metroplex









He was still eating well so I had hope. Wrasse didn't show any symptoms.






Few days later:






Unfortunately He didn't make it.
In 12 years of reefing I never had a fish that was sick like that during quarantine. Yes I had some die but never got sick :(. It was realy sad to see your fish slowly dying and getting worse day after day.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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