Paul's First Saltwater Tank

[PaulPerger]

watching this thread, hoping to see the tank room downstairs haha

That won't happen for a while... The basement is under construction and my Man Cave was the only available space in which to move stuff while construction is going on, so my Man Cave is basically a room full of boxes, furniture, etc. with two small walkways to give me access to my tanks so I can feed the fish and change their water when necessary... After I'm done with the basement construction though, I'll post some pics...

 

[Fishable]

That won't happen for a while... The basement is under construction and my Man Cave was the only available space in which to move stuff while construction is going on, so my Man Cave is basically a room full of boxes, furniture, etc. with two small walkways to give me access to my tanks so I can feed the fish and change their water when necessary... After I'm done with the basement construction though, I'll post some pics...

No worries, let us know if you decide to do anything special on the family side of the room for your tanks (plumbing, wiring, etc). I'll be finishing my basement sometime in the future and I'm kinda curious if you come up with any ideas. Thanks

 

[PaulPerger]

So, it's been a while since I updated, not that there is a whole lot to update, but in the interest of posting at least once per month to this build thread, here's what has been happening...

I'm still curing rock. Pretty boring. Doing 100% water changes every Sunday. Still using filtered fresh water with no chlorine or chlorides, but not yet using RODI water.

I skipped a week of water changes and I had some film and foam develop about 10 days ago, and it was suggested I do a full test panel, so I did and found that my Ammonia was through the roof! Like off the scale 10 ppm PLUS. So, I did my usual 100% water change (well, all but about 1 inch in the bottom of the 55 gallon tank), and started testing Ammonia daily to see how fast it is rising. The first day, it was up to about .5ppm, day two 1 ppm, and it has been rising about 1 ppm every day since. So, I think it is safe to say that something is decomposing deep within my rock.

I picked up some water storage barrels this week so I plan to build my water station this weekend and get my RODI unit up and running.

I have decided that this weekend I am, once again, going to remove ALL of the rock, scrub it all once more just in case there is some stuff on the surface I missed the first time, rinse it VERY WELL in RODI water, and put it all back in the 55, and fill this time with RODI water, which I will of course begin using for all future water changes.

So, hopefully my next post contains a photo of my water changing station!

I've also been taking advantage of Christmas sales, picking up stuff I'll need for the build and the aquarium. Pumps, Bulkheads, plumbing, etc. So, excitement is building, but work and family obligations have been high this month and I have gotten nothing more done on my stand build, but that's OK because the tank is going to go where the Christmas tree is right now, so I've got at least a few weeks before I could even think about setting that up.

 

[PaulPerger]

Well here we are, more than a year later. Since my last post I really haven't done much in relation to this tank.

One year ago today, January 28, my wife celebrated her birthday by taking me to the hospital with severe chest pains. On January 26, two days earlier, I felt fine. On January 27, I was sick as a dog with the FLU. We now know that on the 28th, I had severe pneumonia (my lungs were 70% full of fluid), thus the severe chest pains. It was determined that I needed to be admitted to the hospital to undergo intense Intravenous Antibiotic treatment and by the afternoon of the 29th, the infection had gotten into my blood and the decision was made to induce a coma and flood my body with antibiotics.

Three weeks later, I woke up. My wife endured three "come to hospital now, we don't know how long he's going to last" phone calls, and each time I pulled through. I spent another four weeks in the hospital being weaned off of life support and undergoing physical therapy, and then another four weeks at home before being able to return to "life as normal".

During my hospitalization, my family did the best they could with my fish, but they knew nothing about water changes, how much to feed, who got fed what foods, etc. Long story short, by the time I was conscious and able to communicate, I had lost all of the fish in four of my seven tanks, and it was too late to save most of the others. By the time I got home from the hospital, I was down to two tanks, and six fish. Well over 100 had died.

Of those six, only one remains. Four of them were just too weak or sick to recover, and my 12" Comet, somehow cut himself on his back (I think he ran into the return nozzle) and I wasn't able to treat him, he got infected and within two weeks he too was gone. So, I now have one Purple Raspbora and several hundred snails, previously being bred as food for my puffers, and now simply reproducing. I bought a few Assassin snails to keep them in check, but have taken a long break from the hobby.

I've learned a HUGE lesson. Automate everything possible, and educate someone on how to care for the fish should I not be able to.

Two weeks ago I decided it was time to either put all of the equipment up for sale, or start building again. After a long discussion with my wife, I decided not to sell. So, consider this my official "I am going to restart this build" thread.

I started by moving the tank and the stand into the room where they are going to reside so I see them everyday and am inspired to get moving. So, without further ado...

My tank and the bones of my DIY stand...

 

[flowflezy]

Wow that is crazy, meaning what u went through. Deciding to rebuild and start over again gives you something to look forward to. Keep us up to date.

 

[PaulPerger]

Decided to move the tank into the Family Room where we will see it much more often. (I wasn't sure my wife would entertain the idea, but once I put it out, she suggested moving it!) Today I started working on the Canopy Frame.

Eight six foot 1x2s

All layed out after 24 45 degree cuts, and ready for assembly

Frames assembled and placed so I could get a visual... I think I am going to be happy.

Tomorrow I plan to place the cross bracing, and then it will be time to start working on skinning the frame and canopy. I plan to attach all skin pieces with magnets so I can fully access all components of the tank and sump.

And I received my lights Yesterday! Very excited to get new equipment!!

I took a picture with them all lit up, but it looked horrible... Good news though, they look beautiful!

 

[PaulPerger]

Worked on the canopy today... But I am bad about "Process Photos", I tend to take pics after I'm done with a few steps...

I attached some cross bracing and I got some aluminum angle bar for my lights. The light fixtures rest in the aluminum rack.

The lights will be centered over the tank front to back. I have enough room to add some T5s in front and in back of the LED rack, which I will very likely do.

A shot with one of the lights setting in the rack. I had to test to ensure the remote would work while in the rack, so once I had the rack hung I had to double check! The lights will be about 8 to 9 inches above the water level.

And my last step for the day, I mounted the top.

Next steps:
1) Add the back to the canopy
2) Add bottom and top to the stand body
3) Paint stand base with black water proof paint
4) Paint trough for sump with pond sealer to create a water tight section for sump (to protect my floors from leaks!)
5) Paint canopy frame and top brilliant white to reflect as much errant light as possible down toward DT.

 

[nickkohrn]

Good-looking build, Paul!

 

[PaulPerger]

Well, today was another day to work on my stand. Once again, I failed to take "process" photos, so I'll just share what I did today with photos after everything was done...

First, I finished the canopy frame. This photo is of the back of the canopy. Both sides are much longer than the canopy because that is where the canopy will attach to the frame of the stand.

Next I moved my stand from the Family Room to the this room (the Dining Room which we are remodeling so it is a perfect place to work... However as soon as I put the tank on the floor my Granddaughter lectured me for putting the tank on the floor.

About five minutes later, I heard Zelda screaming from the Family Room, "NO, OUT... NO, OUT!" So I came back into the room and found this...

The first thing I did was remove the crossbar from the bottom and attach a panel to the bottom. Then I put the top on. There is space at the back for plumbing, power cables, etc.

Then I put in my power bar. This is for the equipment that won't be plugged into my Apex Jr. Full power protection with eight individual on off switches for each for each of the eight outlets. And then all of the Apex equipment will be mounted on the panel below.

And the business side of the power strip.

A better look at the back side of the stand.

So, that completed the work for the day.

 

[PaulPerger]

Not a HUGE leap in progress, but I did work on the tank for about a half an hour, and I finally took a 'process' photo!

So, what did I do? I drilled holes for my Shadow Overflow by Synergy Reef. This is one of those pieces of equipment that called out to me the moment I saw it and said, "You want me in your tank... Buy me NOW!!" So, I did. I've had it for well over a year and last night, I opened the box. It will be a while before it is officially installed, but I had to start somewhere...

So, I used their template to line up where I wanted the holes to be, positioned my hole guide and stabilizer, and then, I started cutting...

The Synergy template is actually VERY nice. I used my guide/stabilizer, and taped their template on the other side of the glass, but if I didn't own a hole guide, I would have been perfectly fine using their template as a bit guide.

My complete holes... Not as clean as the last holes I cut, but this glass is much thicker than on my smaller tank. I think I started to push a little on my first one (on the right with the rougher edge), on the second one I remembered to let the drill do the work, but still wound up with some rough edges.

Of course I HAD to dry fit my overflow and I must say, I am very happy with how it looks.

After my dry fitting, I put it back in it's box and shoved the tank back against the wall. I still have one more hole to drill in this tank, as I am going to add a drain so I can do water changes by simply opening a valve, draining water out directly to the sewer line and then add new water back in. I did this with my FW tank and I will do it with every large display tank I ever build, as it is SO easy. The only reason I didn't go ahead and cut that hole already is I want to hide it, and I am still undecided on how I want to scape this tank. Once I figure that out, I'll know where to put the drain hole.

 

[nickkohrn]

It’s nice to see that you’re taking it slowly and being methodical. It’s much better to do it the way that you want the first time.

 

[MaiReef]

Good luck with the build. Looks great so far. For the Acylic rods in the rock, did you silicone them?

 

[PaulPerger]

Good luck with the build. Looks great so far. For the Acylic rods in the rock, did you silicone them?

I haven't done that part yet, but I decided against drilling the rocks and using rods and instead I bought some reef cement which I will use to hold the rock structure together.

 

[MaiReef]

I haven't done that part yet, but I decided against drilling the rocks and using rods and instead I bought some reef cement which I will use to hold the rock structure together.

Only reason I would say rods is so that if you have a rock that needs something like GHA you can remove it temporarily. The cement is a great option and much better than how I did it first...stacking(and of course they fell twice and scratch my glass.

 

[PaulPerger]

I worked on the tank and the sump today.

First, I cut the drain hole in my DT. First step, prepare everything and position the stabilizer where the hole is to go.

I tried to take a photo while drilling, but it is all blurry... So, here it is after the hole was completed.

I normally cut holes outside where I just run water from a hose continuously, so I have never seen the cut glass soup that is present when the job is complete.

After cleaning up the glass and uprighting the tank, here you can see where the drain will be.

Then I worked on the sump. In the past, I have always cut acrylic on my table saw, but the table saw is currently buried in the garage behind a Seadoo and my racing wheels and I didn't feel like moving stuff, so I scored and broke it... I'll never do that again. It worked OK, but the lack of precision made me feel like I have OCD.

Then I got the first piece in place...

At this point I realized I had failed to grab my caulk gun. I went to get it and can't find it anywhere. I have a feeling my son may have borrowed it, so I'll get another one tomorrow and pick up where I left off.

Here are my "plans" for the sump and the tank's plumbing. PVC fittings were all ordered today, so maybe this weekend I'll get it all assembled.

 

[PaulPerger]

Well, I decided to start making water!

QT tank is up and running, and going through the cycling process...

The Beginning...

Once it was all set up I turned on the water and immediately had water spray everywhere... I failed to secure one of the John Guest fittings until it sealed! So after cleaning up, I started again.

About 15 hours later, I had some water...

15 more hours the next day and I finally filled the tank...Full enough I could turn on some flow anyway...

After spending 30 hours to make roughly 21 gallons of RODI water, I decided to buy a booster pump. It should be here next week, and well before I am ready to set up a permanent water station. So. Progress. just a little, but progress is progress...

 

[PaulPerger]

Trying to get my stand frame completed so I can set up my DT and sump and get it wet. Not to mention I have equipment all over the place in boxes and need to get it all unboxed and set up... So, last night I focused on finishing the interior of the canopy. Brilliant High Gloss white...

Tonight I'll move the stand frame up onto the horses and start painting it all black. Between coats I plan to complete my sump. I have changed my mind on how I want to do the sump... I think I am going to go without socks and do a much larger refugium.

 

[PaulPerger]

In the interest of regular updates... I cleared out the area for my water station today. Immediately to the right of this photo I am installing a bathroom. You can see the capped rough-in for the toilet in the very bottom right of this photo. The pipe on the right is the waste water line I will be tapping into for the utility sink I am adding here as well as the tank's discharge and overflow. As the water station takes shape I will post updates.

I also painted some more on the stand. Because I have cats who will jump on any flat surface and then track paint all over the house, I have to paint vertical and the bottom side of surfaces. First coat done on the base, and the final coat was done on the canopy. Tomorrow I will move the canopy and get the stand off the floor and finish painting it...

 

[PaulPerger]

More painting... I painted the top of the stand (failed to take a photo), then I stood it up on it's side and painted the legs and the side panel on the outside.

And I filled the cracks on the bottom edges with silicone. I am not good with caulk, or silicone and I decided to just focus on filling the crack, it will be painted black and it will be inside the cabinet and won't be seen, so I am not concerned with how it looks... (If I were, I would have asked my son to come do it for me!)

The canopy can be seen in the background of the first photo. It is finished. I should finish the stand this week and possibly get it set up this weekend and start working on plumbing, equipment, etc.

 

[PaulPerger]

So. Over the past few days I finished painting the stand's "bones". I then painted the interior base with Plasti-Dip so it should be water tight to contain any leaks. I will have a leak detectors to alert me to any water down there.

I also completed my sump.

Unfortunately I failed once again to take process photos. so here are a few "after" photos...

Fully painted stand.

My sump. The photo is looking at the bottom of the sump because I had to put it against the wall to keep the cats from getting in it.

In the bottom right is the splashdown chamber. Water will go over to the socks (bottom left) in this photo. Then to the skimmer section (middle left) then to the return chamber (middle right). The large section at the top will be the refugium.

And I bought four clowns.. unfortunately one of them swam straight out of the net into a power head... So, I have three clowns in QT.
Two look like this one.

And the one I lost looked like this one...