Rags2Riches - The Learning Curve. 125g

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For all those who dont truely believe this reef is coming down and that I'm heading west to live my dreams next spring, here are my christmas gifts from kalisha, as well as a voucher for 1 round trip flight there to scope out which city/town we are gonna move to...
20191227_184036.jpg



"The mountains are calling, and I must go"

I even got colorado coasters for my beverages. :)
20191227_192349.jpg
 
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:):):confused:
Two happys and a sad
Happy you are going to chase your dream
Happy that Kali will be by your side you two are meant to be
Sad that it’s that far away
Richapalooza 2020 will be one heck of a send off my friend. And I promise I wont serve hockey pucks this time. ;)
 

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For all those who dont truely believe this reef is coming down and that I'm heading west to live my dreams next spring, here are my christmas gifts from kalisha, as well as a voucher for 1 round trip flight there to scope out which city/town we are gonna move to...
20191227_184036.jpg



"The mountains are calling, and I must go"

I even got colorado coasters for my beverages. :)
20191227_192349.jpg
It is always good to follow your dreams Rich, many people don’t have the courage, we are here to support you. Are you going to keep reefing in CO?
 
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It is always good to follow your dreams Rich, many people don’t have the courage, we are here to support you. Are you going to keep reefing in CO?
That's very possible. Maybe a shallow cube or something to keep the itch under control. Nothing large tho for sure.
 
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#honestyinreefing

When I drained the tank and drilled it last year I shimmed the right side of the stand to help with old saggy floors. Well, I didnt shim enough and the downstream effects have reared their ugly heads. Found salt creep forming along the rim on the lower trim coming up on the glass. This means only 1 thing, a leak... after a thorough investigation I found a trickle coming from the (lower) right side rear of the glass. But it wasnt from the seam, it is coming from under the lid. When I removed the ATO resivoir from the left side to make room for the dosing station it allowed the right side to sag even worse than originally. This resulted in the water piling up on the right, and it's making it's way over the top of the glass pane, under the lid, and down to the base of the tank itself. As it evaporates from below, the salt creep is the smoking gun.

For the last month + my weekly tests have shown sg at 1.025. Down from 1.026 post wc the week before. I couldnt figure out why, and now I know. Even tho its a miniscule drop in my salinity, the consequential downfalls that could compile in result are enough to give me an anxiety attack.

So my options are:
1. Remove 40g ish to lower the weight and jack up the stand on the right and shim it up to level.. For those concerned about it. The stand is steel, and back when I originally shimmed it, once it was filled and 1300lbs of salt water was added, to my dismay, i saw that it wasnt level. So I did what I mentioned above, removed 40g, jacked it up on a 2x4, and added the shims. (Not enough :( ) ... So I already know the stand can hold the weight stress when 60% full.

Option 2: stop halfway thru a 20g wc (which will lower the water level enough to silicone the corner that is leaking between the glass and rim to prevent the overspill). The gyres will manage gas exchange and circulation and I can move the heaters up from the sump to the display temporarily to keep the temp regulated while the silicone cures.. This is not my preferred method, but will work if I wanted to avoid option 1.

Option 3: drain as much as possible and have 0 risk of stand failure. (Least preferred option)

Option 4: my landlord will never let me lolly jack the floor. So that is that.

LUCKILY... I have this great guy, who lives 2 towns away, who has a jack that will work and a fetish for salty knees. After a little chat he offered to come assist me in the procedure of jacking up the tank after I remove 40g (30ish% twv) and shim it level.

Tomorrow @Raege in a cage will be here with his better half to supervise the surgery... I know the risks, but due to the experience from the last time I did it, I have enough confidence the stand will hold steady through the adjustment.

Thank you Ray. He got the text and called me with urgency immediately and basically insisted we fix it the right way. So tomorrow at 11am the Rags2Riches reef will undergo a risky operation.

Say a salty prayer for me and the tank. Bombs away. And yes, I am half crazy for trying this.
 
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Make sure you have a contingency plan.... Couple things to put live stock in if the unthinkable happens....
The 29g QT is ready and has been fallow for 5 months. If murphy shows up, @Raege will have a reef full of coral tomorrow night and be the happiest reefer on the planet. ;Hilarious
 
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wont even need the jack I’ll just stand on left frame should pop right up! Shim and I hop off then it’s to the bar to celebrate
Hoy hoy hoy I’m your boy 300 lbs of heavenly joy
Sweet baby jesus I love u right now.
 

Raege

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Woah not killing any more coral for cpl months so failure is not an option.
I got a 29g tall if needed plus extra heaters pp8 powerhead etc but not gonna need em.
If your landlord would be mad at a lolly column in basement imagine how ticked he be at a 100 gal of water :eek:
 
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Woah not killing any more coral for cpl months so failure is not an option.
I got a 29g tall if needed plus extra heaters pp8 powerhead etc but not gonna need em.
If your landlord would be mad at a lolly column in basement imagine how ticked he be at a 100 gal of water :eek:
Im lucky he even let's me keep a 150g reef.. not gonna give him any reason to shut me down now.. we are basically geniuses ray, we got this. The more we drink the smarter we think we look right? I'm sold.
 

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#honestyinreefing

When I drained the tank and drilled it last year I shimmed the right side of the stand to help with old saggy floors. Well, I didnt shim enough and the downstream effects have reared their ugly heads. Found salt creep forming along the rim on the lower trim coming up on the glass. This means only 1 thing, a leak... after a thorough investigation I found a trickle coming from the (lower) right side rear of the glass. But it wasnt from the seam, it is coming from under the lid. When I removed the ATO resivoir from the left side to make room for the dosing station it allowed the right side to sag even worse than originally. This resulted in the water piling up on the right, and it's making it's way over the top of the glass pane, under the lid, and down to the base of the tank itself. As it evaporates from below, the salt creep is the smoking gun.

For the last month + my weekly tests have shown sg at 1.025. Down from 1.026 post wc the week before. I couldnt figure out why, and now I know. Even tho its a miniscule drop in my salinity, the consequential downfalls that could compile in result are enough to give me an anxiety attack.

So my options are:
1. Remove 40g ish to lower the weight and jack up the stand on the right and shim it up to level.. For those concerned about it. The stand is steel, and back when I originally shimmed it, once it was filled and 1300lbs of salt water was added, to my dismay, i saw that it wasnt level. So I did what I mentioned above, removed 40g, jacked it up on a 2x4, and added the shims. (Not enough :( ) ... So I already know the stand can hold the weight stress when 60% full.

Option 2: stop halfway thru a 20g wc (which will lower the water level enough to silicone the corner that is leaking between the glass and rim to prevent the overspill). The gyres will manage gas exchange and circulation and I can move the heaters up from the sump to the display temporarily to keep the temp regulated while the silicone cures.. This is not my preferred method, but will work if I wanted to avoid option 1.

Option 3: drain as much as possible and have 0 risk of stand failure. (Least preferred option)

Option 4: my landlord will never let me lolly jack the floor. So that is that.

LUCKILY... I have this great guy, who lives 2 towns away, who has a jack that will work and a fetish for salty knees. After a little chat he offered to come assist me in the procedure of jacking up the tank after I remove 40g (30ish% twv) and shim it level.

Tomorrow @Raege in a cage will be here with his better half to supervise the surgery... I know the risks, but due to the experience from the last time I did it, I have enough confidence the stand will hold steady through the adjustment.

Thank you Ray. He got the text and called me with urgency immediately and basically insisted we fix it the right way. So tomorrow at 11am the Rags2Riches reef will undergo a risky operation.

Say a salty prayer for me and the tank. Bombs away. And yes, I am half crazy for trying this.
Wow, that is rough. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
 
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Wow, that is rough. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Thank you sir...

If I'm not back in a week, forward my mail, and whatever @Raege doesnt take can go to @Katrina71 for her new dream tank. Her and andrew deserve it.

Cant believe I'm about to try this.
 

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