RFBF's 90 Gallon Déjà vu All Over Again

[redfishbluefish]

Since you are just replacing the old tank and reusing the stand, what's your plan of action for the swap?

Well, I'm most likely still a month or two away from the swap, but my knee jerk reaction to the tank leaking was to assemble almost every tank I own and put them in the fish room.

Not a very good picture, but you're looking at two 55 gallon tanks, a 40B, and 2o Long, and a regular 20. The current plan is to set up the two 55's in the basement to hold most of the fish and current rocks. The two 20's will go up against the wall in the fish room to hold smaller frag size corals and maybe a fish or two.

I also have a 100 gallon stock tank...and that was my first thought on the leak problem, if I would have had to pull everything out that day, but that didn't happen. I'm currently using that stock tank for beginning the rock cure. I wouldn't want to use it as a first choice to hold everything anyway, because I would have had to pile rock upon rock (with corals) and I don't want to do that.

So that's the current plan.....but let's see how it evolves.

 

[1Blazer]

@redfishbluefish By far my favorite Dr. Seuss book and I definitely am looking forward to this tank. Did you ever consider using Muriatic acid for the rocks?

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm not a believer of acid washing live rock. I feel the only thing that does is give you less rock, as the hydrochloric acid dissolves the calcium carbonate. I also don't like the fact that it is very dangerous....and I'm a chemist!

 

[redfishbluefish]

Upper / Lower Frame Differences and Foam Bottom

The one thing I noticed when I was flipping the tank around to drill and paint is that the plastic frame is cut differently from top to bottom frame. The top frame has mitered corners (cut at 45°):

(Sorry pictures aren't that great)

The bottom frame is not mitered....straight cut with overlaps to the front/back frame:

This leaves a slight lip on the end portions of the tank. My concern was placing this directly on the plywood top on my stand.

I sent a request to Glass Cages for recommendations, and here are their exact words:

We always suggest 3/4" thick styrofoam. Plain white, not the foil-backed kind. Will probably squish down to 1/2" thick when weight of tank is placed on it. Using the foam eliminates any pressure points on bottom - long lived happy tank with foam.


Wasn't planning on raising the tank this 1/2 inch or so. Have to see if a rework of the canopy can absorb this height difference.

 

[slowngreen]

Never thought of putting foam down first, makes sense though. Might have to do that myself.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Never thought of putting foam down first, makes sense though. Might have to do that myself.

Proceed with caution....check with your tank manufacturer. It is my understanding that tanks with conventional one-piece plastic frames do not need foam. So again, check with the manufacturer....just like I did.

 

[TheEngineer]

3/4” foam!? That seems really excessive.

 

[redfishbluefish]

3/4” foam!? That seems really excessive.

I can't agree more. I was thinking 1/4 inch, but can't find that in styrofoam. Looking at yoga mats now.

 

[TheEngineer]

I can't agree more. I was thinking 1/4 inch, but can't find that in styrofoam. Looking at yoga mats now.

My understanding is that the only purpose of the foam is to even out the interface of the stand and tank. If there is a gap that big there’s a big problem. Yoga mat should be all you need. My tank sits on an 1/8” piece of foam board.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Just getting caught up on the build. Looking good Paul!

 

[redfishbluefish]

I haven't done much the past couple weeks.....life keeps getting in the way. Haven't even gotten the rock in water to start the cure. This is going to be a slow build.

Today I started working on getting the tanks ready that I'll be using for the transfer. I originally had two 20 long tanks, but when I went to get them,one tank was crack ....and of course, nobody knew anything. :mad: I had a regular 20 that I might use....or I think that dollar a gallon sale is starting this weekend. So here's the one set of tanks I'll be using for current rock/coral and fish. Lights OFF:

And now with three Fathom Hydras, Lights ON:

This is going to work.


The next set of tanks are two 55 gallons. I'm not sure if I'll need both, but will set both up just in case. I'm going to try using three fixtures over both tanks, with the tanks side-by-side.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Looks like a plan! How's the current tank holding up?

 

[redfishbluefish]

......How's the current tank holding up?

Not a drop! And the pipe clamp gives it an industrial look.

 

[Monroereef]

Very nice, Paul Loving it.

 

[chefjpaul]

Love your detail builds always

 

[ihavecrabs]

It was right in front of my face the whole time!!! I term this male pattern blindness.

This is a real thing... bahaha I'm glad I'm not the only one!

 

[Monroereef]

Update please ...

 

[redfishbluefish]

Sunny, you must have telepathic abilities. I am soooooo far behind on this tank transfer.....life keeps getting in the way. Today was the first day in months I spent the day getting ready to do the tank transfer. Between family issues. trips to South Carolina (91 year old father), and fixing everything that could break, I finally had a day "off." I won't even begin to list the things that broke, but I will say, if you need a dishwasher, a Bosch 500, although a bit pricey, is an unbelievable machine....quiet and cleans a whole bunch better than the high-end Whirlpool it replaced.

Anyway, yesterday I did a long needed waterchange and today spent the day building posts to hold the temporary lights over the two 55 G tanks and two 20 gallon tanks. In addition, I made frames for 1/2 inch mesh to cover the tanks to hopefully keep the fish from carpet surfing. These were made by ripping inexpensive fir stips to 1/2 inch strips and then assembling the frames using polyurethane glue. The mesh was attached first with staples and then covered with duct tape. Not sure if it will hold, but if it doesn't, I'll attach a thin strip of wood.

Mesh Tops:

Light Posts with fixtures:

 

[Monroereef]

Looking good chief!

 

[riche]

How do you like that footprint?