Gablami’s 260 gallon Rimless SPS Build

[Gablami]

Got a few photos from CDA this morning that I wanted to share. Man, what a rollercoaster ride. I feel like a crazy girlfriend (or boyfriend) who’s trying to get back together with her ex but doesn’t want him to know that she’s desperate. Obviously there’s been a lot of delays, and periods of incommunicado (not from my side). But in the end, so much of the drama feels like it’s in my own head.

The stand has not been painted white yet. and my external overflow box will also be white.

 

[alpburakozbay]

Congratulations on quality equipment and a planned setup. I look forward to the completion of the setup.

 

[Dr. Bluethumb]

very well thought out and planned. love the quarantine station.

 

[rds85]

Finally! Real question is are you going to drive down and pick it up the second it is ready?

Man that tank looks super similar... haha

 

[Gablami]

Congratulations on quality equipment and a planned setup. I look forward to the completion of the setup.

Thanks! Me too

very well thought out and planned. love the quarantine station.

Appreciate it! I’m not sure I’ve posted my QT station. I’ve got one though, a 20g IM nuvo fusion that I always keep running. I used to keep it in an ikea cabinet, but have sense repurposed the cabinet for kids toys:

Finally! Real question is are you going to drive down and pick it up the second it is ready?

Man that tank looks super similar... haha

Not nearly as wide as yours . I wish.
Hmm, I never considered driving down and picking up. It is like a 6 hour drive. If I didn’t have kids I actually would do it, I think.

 

[rds85]

Next tank can be wider.

6 hrs... I would be very tempted myself!

I am really excited to see how that white bottom looks in 10 months. bare bottom decision confirmed?

What about the front pane situation with flow?

 

[Gablami]

I’m gonna try the tunze turbelle 6255 pumps, two of them, just on the left panel. Maybe one mp40 at the bottom left corner, just to keep detritus away from that corner.

yes, bare bottom confirmed! White bottom. Maybe I’ll have a couple urchins to keep it white if I like the look.

 

[signal7]

Looks fantastic!

I have a build on order with CDA and have experienced the delays as well. I'm being patient though and they've been communicative, helpful with planning, and accommodating of surprise revisions. Yours is actually moving along more quickly than mine, so you should be happy about that!

 

[cmaxwell39]

this tank is going to be sweet. The pictures from the builder look great.

This is such a well thought out build. Can’t wait to see it get wet. Your planning and execution thus far have been superb.

 

[Gablami]

this tank is going to be sweet. The pictures from the builder look great.

This is such a well thought out build. Can’t wait to see it get wet. Your planning and execution thus far have been superb.

Thank you! Slowly but surely. I’m just a few weeks behind you (I hope). It’ll be awesome for the both of us.

Looks fantastic!

I have a build on order with CDA and have experienced the delays as well. I'm being patient though and they've been communicative, helpful with planning, and accommodating of surprise revisions. Yours is actually moving along more quickly than mine, so you should be happy about that!

I have to agree. These days there’s so much stuff that you can read online, both extremely negative and positive. And sometimes when there are delays, one can fear the worst. Zoya has been nothing but professional and accommodating (you should see our email thread - it’s probably the longest email thread I’ve been on!). The tank and stand has a bunch of details that I feared would get missed, but so far everything is spot on. You can’t even tell that one of the vertical steel legs is removable to allow a sump to slide in.

So far I’m very happy. I’ll post a detailed review once I receive delivery. I’m guessing that the tank might be delivered in a 2-3 weeks but I’m trying not to get my hopes up.

When did you place deposit?

 

[signal7]

When did you place deposit?

Placed deposit at the end of November, but made a substantial revision in December that might have bumped my place in line.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Hope the next few weeks go fast rather than just creeping by. It is exciting to being close to having a tank going again. Can’t wait to see yours get wet as well.

 

[rds85]

I’m gonna try the tunze turbelle 6255 pumps, two of them, just on the left panel. Maybe one mp40 at the bottom left corner, just to keep detritus away from that corner.

yes, bare bottom confirmed! White bottom. Maybe I’ll have a couple urchins to keep it white if I like the look.

I think with the bar bottom you can get creative with flow at the front. Specifically since you can put pumps on the bottom of the glass.

I am curious of white it will look with the refraction through the water and then if it holds its white colorant with intense lighting. Are you going to have any encrusting corals on the actual bottom?

 

[this is me]

Nice! Getting there. That looks like a huge tank.

 

[Gablami]

Still waiting for the tank. Some minor updates. While the GHL fans in the light fixture looked cool, I was worried about the difficulty in replacing any of the fans should they fail in the future. I decided to replace it with a vornado fan again the wall. Way more powerful and nearly silent at low speeds. Reassured that even if my central AC fails, this should be able to keep my tank at an acceptable temperature.

I also decided to add a fascia around the light fixture. I was initially planning on leaving the lights exposed, but (my wife) decided it would look better to cover it.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[Gablami]

In keeping with my practice of trying to show everyone how I do everything, here’s how I made the fascia. Nothing mind-blowing but maybe someone will find it helpful.

I bought 3.5” wide pre-primed baseboard from homedepot. They have many different sizes. I used a generic pocket hole system, but the Kreg’s pocket hole jig kit is what I’ve used before.

Measure the length and width that you need and cut boards to length.

Then drill your pocket holes. The kit comes with a guide that you can clamp down. It also comes with the special drill bit and specific

Then sand everything down and paint it. I used semigloss spray paint. If you’ve never painted outside before, nice to setup a spray paint station and better if not it’s not too windy.

And then I secured to the structure with additional 8020 extrusion pieces.

All done!

I should add that I removed the back panel because it would block the fan. There was plenty of support from the 3 other sides that I didn’t need it

 

[Gablami]

For the fan, I bought this model:

I opened it to make sure I drilling in a safe place:

And then just drilled two holes and screwed it into the wall.

 

[Wrangy]

Dang that looks absolutely slick as mate!!

 

[Gablami]

Dang that looks absolutely slick as mate!!

Thanks mate! I feel like I’m really stretching the limits of what I can do with a tank build without actually having a tank!

 

[Wrangy]

Thanks mate! I feel like I’m really stretching the limits of what I can do with a tank build without actually having a tank!

I'm here for it!! haha Given your efforts, even without a tank the tank thread is awesome!! haha