Mehaffy's 1100+ gallon Plywood display in North Alabama

OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Progress has been a little slow but I think I have beat Covid 19 and I am feeling energetic so I did more fiberglass work today. The fiberglass work is almost completely finished other than some sanding and a little work around the glass pockets. I should start the Epoxy Paint next weekend. I am really happy that I did this last layer of fiberglass with the woven cloth it really smoothed out the surface and I feel that it was a good way to finish out the fiberglass.
IMG_3595.JPG
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
For the next few days I really have to get focused on the plumbing layout and get that figured out. I want to get the holes drilled for bulkheads before I start paint so that those areas are completely sealed. For pumps I have the follow list and just need to decide how to best utilize them.

1 ea Reeflo Tigershark = 8500 GPH
1 ea Reeflo Hammerhead = 6000 GPH
3 ea Neptune COR 20 =2000 gallon per hour ea. total 6000 GPH
10 ea Neptune WAV = 4000 GPH ea. total 40,000 GPH

I think that the Tigershark will be the main workhorse for circulation through the sump and the Hammerhead will just sit dry as a backup.
The WAV's will provide a lot of random water movement in the tank
Then there's the COR 20's.

I will need to feed water through my chiller and water to my refugium so I think the one of the COR 20's will do that.

I may save one of the COR20's for a future frag tank and keep one for a spare.

Any ideas suggestions on the best way to utilize these pumps?
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just a quick shot out to fellow reef2reef member @swsmith. I just vistited him today Really nice guy. I picked up about 100 lbs of rock and a Beast of a skimmer. A MRC Reeflo Orca Pro2. This thing is going to be great on the new tank. Thank You again
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Check out this Skimmer! This thing is a beast. As many of you know My Reef Creations makes some very high quality products and then match that up with a Reeflo pump and you have one heck of a skimmer. Yes its a little dirty right now but that will be easily cleaned with some acid this weekend. I will post some more pictures after I clean it up. It has a 10" diameter body and is over 3' tall.
IMG_3597.JPG

IMG_3598.JPG
 

SPR1968

No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
View Badges
Joined
Feb 21, 2017
Messages
20,028
Reaction score
124,587
Location
Nottinghamshire England
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
For the next few days I really have to get focused on the plumbing layout and get that figured out. I want to get the holes drilled for bulkheads before I start paint so that those areas are completely sealed. For pumps I have the follow list and just need to decide how to best utilize them.

1 ea Reeflo Tigershark = 8500 GPH
1 ea Reeflo Hammerhead = 6000 GPH
3 ea Neptune COR 20 =2000 gallon per hour ea. total 6000 GPH
10 ea Neptune WAV = 4000 GPH ea. total 40,000 GPH

I think that the Tigershark will be the main workhorse for circulation through the sump and the Hammerhead will just sit dry as a backup.
The WAV's will provide a lot of random water movement in the tank
Then there's the COR 20's.

I will need to feed water through my chiller and water to my refugium so I think the one of the COR 20's will do that.

I may save one of the COR20's for a future frag tank and keep one for a spare.

Any ideas suggestions on the best way to utilize these pumps?
If you haven’t already purchased these, have you considered the Abyzz pumps, for example, A200/400 ‘s as you get 10 year warranties from the German manufacture and there very reliable, although expensive

They are also absolutely silent, as in you can’t hear anything silent

The skimmer is a monster!
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If you haven’t already purchased these, have you considered the Abyzz pumps, for example, A200/400 ‘s as you get 10 year warranties from the German manufacture and there very reliable, although expensive

They are also absolutely silent, as in you can’t hear anything silent

The skimmer is a monster!
I did look at Abyzz pumps and actually considered selling some of these. I already had the 2 reeflo pumps and 1 of the COR20 before even starting this build so some of this I am using from my previous tank.If I don't slow down a little on money spending I think my wife may leave me :oops:
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Things are really starting to come together. I have a few updates and I am really making some progress.

1. All of the fiberglass work is done!!!:):):) All I know is I sure would not want to work in the Corvette plant. That fiberglass is some really nasty stuff smelly itchy just no fun.

2. Got a call this afternoon from Joe @glasscages.com Hooray the glass is ready for pickup. They actually got it done early. They had told me 3 weeks which would have been Christmas day so I guess they decided I needed an early Christmas. I am going to have to recruit some help just to get the glass unloaded and into the tank building as it weighs approx. 300 lbs. for just the front panel.

3 .My epoxy paint has shipped and is expected Monday or Tuesday so I want to have everything ready so that I can paint the week of New years. I did end up going with Black Epoxy. I thought that would be best because it will hide the powerheads better.

So I have been working on design of plumbing and I think I have a plan to route the pipes and place the drains and return. So for this weekend after Christmas I will start drilling holes for Bulkheads. That's really scary after all of this work and now I'm going to start making holes in this thing. I need to get all of the holes drilled before I start painting with the epoxy.

This should keep me plenty busy for the next couple weeks.
 
U

User1

Guest
View Badges
For the next few days I really have to get focused on the plumbing layout and get that figured out. I want to get the holes drilled for bulkheads before I start paint so that those areas are completely sealed. For pumps I have the follow list and just need to decide how to best utilize them.

1 ea Reeflo Tigershark = 8500 GPH
1 ea Reeflo Hammerhead = 6000 GPH
3 ea Neptune COR 20 =2000 gallon per hour ea. total 6000 GPH
10 ea Neptune WAV = 4000 GPH ea. total 40,000 GPH

I think that the Tigershark will be the main workhorse for circulation through the sump and the Hammerhead will just sit dry as a backup.
The WAV's will provide a lot of random water movement in the tank
Then there's the COR 20's.

I will need to feed water through my chiller and water to my refugium so I think the one of the COR 20's will do that.

I may save one of the COR20's for a future frag tank and keep one for a spare.

Any ideas suggestions on the best way to utilize these pumps?

Only suggestion I have for the Cor 20 is to plug it outside the EB832. That is if you use it for any sort of closed loop or return. They are great pumps. Solid. Heavy. I run one along with a pair of Cor 15's. The 15's are on the EB832 due to how it powers but the Cor 20 is on its own wall outlet for redundancy. I guess that is a lot of words when redundancy is what I'm trying to hint at :D I can't comment on how it compares to the other pumps but due to the size of the tank it probably isn't enough. I do run my 15 and 20 on a 1" sea swirl with a random flow nozzle.

Great work btw.
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Only suggestion I have for the Cor 20 is to plug it outside the EB832. That is if you use it for any sort of closed loop or return. They are great pumps. Solid. Heavy. I run one along with a pair of Cor 15's. The 15's are on the EB832 due to how it powers but the Cor 20 is on its own wall outlet for redundancy. I guess that is a lot of words when redundancy is what I'm trying to hint at :D I can't comment on how it compares to the other pumps but due to the size of the tank it probably isn't enough. I do run my 15 and 20 on a 1" sea swirl with a random flow nozzle.

Great work btw.
Good idea on not plugging into the EB832 I think I saw that once in the past on a post. I will be using one of the Reeflo pumps for circulation and the COR pumps will feed things like Refugium, Chiller and Skimmers.
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have a little more to share. I posted pics of the new/used MRC Orca Pro2 but I already have a MRC-2R that i had on my old system. I added a 30" extension tube to this skimmer and have a nice Blueline pump providing water through the bubble makers.
IMG_3601.JPG

Here are the 2 side by side they both need some cleaning but I'm sure I will have no problems with organics in this tank.
IMG_3602.JPG
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Cool project !! Please, more pics !!
I have plenty of pictures. The first is a look through the side glass so 10' from glass to far wall this will be fun to look into when I have this tank up and running. I am going to have to be sure and position rock work so that I don't completely obstruct this view. You can see my old tank there to the right. This beast sure makes my old 225 look small
IMG_3603.JPG

The next picture shows the pocket I did by cutting the holes in the plywood different sizes to create a pocket for the glass.
IMG_3604.JPG

IMG_3606.JPG
 

swsmith

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 25, 2020
Messages
15
Reaction score
13
Location
Atlanta
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Just a quick shot out to fellow reef2reef member @swsmith. I just vistited him today Really nice guy. I picked up about 100 lbs of rock and a Beast of a skimmer. A MRC Reeflo Orca Pro2. This thing is going to be great on the new tank. Thank You again
Nice to meet you! I’ll be following along on this awesome journey!
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Did a lot of work today on both the tank and the room. First I cleared off some shelves behind the tank because they will be coming down as they will not be used once the tank is filled. I also did some work cleaning the old tank and cutting off a lot of pipes so that I could get it moved out to make more space.
Anyone need a used 225 gal tank?

I then sanded the entire interior of the new tank to get the surface prepared and ready for the epoxy paint. The paint should be arriving early next week so when it comes in Ii am ready to start paint immediately. I will be heading up to @Glasscages Monday to pick up the glass so as soon as paint is complete the glass will be going in.

I have also decided to build a platform behind the tank to make the tank and lights more accessible. So I need to buy more lumber.

Still a lot to do but I feel like things are moving along at a good pace.
I also ordered a hole bunch of Bulkheads, Valves and other misc. plumbing parts yesterday so that I will be ready to start some of the plumbing after the paint is finished.

I also did some testing of my lights. I have a couple of Current fixtures that each have 2ea 250W MH and 4ea T-5's all work but one pair of T-5's so I am going to take that fixture apart and see if it needs a new ballast.
IMG_3609.JPG
 
OP
OP
mehaffydr

mehaffydr

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
1,866
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Harvest Alabama
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Tomorrow I am going to pick up the glass. Lucky for me I live less than 100 miles from Glasscages. I have a 12' utility trailer so all I needed was a nice glass rack to hold the glass fro transport. Glass is not supposed to be transported laying flat it is supposed to be transported standing on edge so I built this cool rack for my trailer. I will disassemble this after I get the glass and use the wood for my walking platform I am building behind the tank.
IMG_3610.JPG

IMG_3611.JPG
 

shred5

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 7, 2007
Messages
6,360
Reaction score
4,812
Location
Waukesha, Wi
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Nice, I always wanted to do a plywood tank. It is so hard to get a large tank into my basement so this has always been a way for me to get a larger aquarium.
 

revhtree

Owner Administrator
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
47,602
Reaction score
85,989
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Looking great!
 

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

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top