Simon's 450

Spent a couple of hours today washing the new sand that I will need for the tank changeover next weekend. If there's a task I dislike more than washing dry sand I cannot think of it ...... well, maybe paying for 'live' sand LOL. Anyhow 160 pounds of it.

 

Tomorrow is the big day . I'm prepared for all the problems I can anticipate ....... resilient to those I cannot (hopefully).

 

Some prep shots .....

 

And the old tank before break down .....



I've already done quite a bit of chiseling. Pocilopora colonies had grown on top of both educators and required a lot of elbow grease to remove.

 

Tank move happened this weekend ..... the entire weekend. I'll post a few pics but for now many thanks to Bruce, Leon, Justin, Mark and the other three chaps that spent a good chunk of their Saturday lugging glass boxes.

 

Two 'before' pics ....

 

Three 'after' .....

 

Getting 950 net gph out of my Pw200. Will be interesting to see how much more I gain after I replace the return with 1 1/2" flex PVC. My mag shelf rocks don't stick to 1" walls (even though I bought stronger magnets).

 

Great work. I love how the new tank has a lot more space.

 

Hooked up the closed loop today. Also moved all of the SPS colonies back in from the frag tank. Had a few old fish that didn't make it through the move unfortunately. Think I am going to use the WAV pumps.

 

Tank a week old and all coral colonies now installed. Strand trim has yet to be installed.

 

Built the light canopy with a compartment at the front to hold all the power bricks and cords. It also functions to keep as much light as possible off the front panel, thus making cleaning of the acrylic easier (hopefully).

 

She’s lookin’ good Simon!

~ Leon

 

Thanks chaps ..... and for the assistance.

 

So, I replaced the pump return line (as planned) with 1 1/2" line and the net flow jumped from nominally 950 gph to 1,400!!!! Zoinks, hadn't expected that much. I also replaced the 1" Apex flow meter with the 2" model.

 

um, Simon, you already have a mature and beautiful looking tank. (i might hate you a little) There is not much room for improvement, and growth. So you need to send some of those corals to me to help me with my rebuild. and in exchange I will come help you clear up that visual chaos you call a fish room.

So is the increased flow good in the scheme of things? Does it give you new challenges?

 

And I am going to steal your idea to block some of the light from the viewing panel.

 

I always shoot for 2-3x display volume in return flow. The display holds 400 gallons, so I wanted 1,200 at least. I was using the return line from the prior tank as a short-term accommodation until I had time to swap the larger line. Sump was always designed to handle a much larger tank, so no new challenges ..... I hope. The next 'project' is to try to get my sump room under control.

 

BTW, this is how I configure my returns - no check valve, siphon holes or loc-line. Just a single output submerged just enough that it doesn't suck any air shooting straight down behind the main rock pile. Back siphon of only 7 gallons - no way for it to fail.