My obsession - 450g reef

[tbittner]

Three Round Hills! Wow!

 

I'm 16 miles west of Leesburg on Route 7. In fact, my driveway connects to Route 7. Purcellville is next door to Round Hill. I work in Reston, just off of Wheile Ave and it's 34 miles from home to work, each way.

 

I'm not sure about BRK because I've never been there. I keep thinking I need to make a trip there one day because it sounds like they have a lot of good stuff, just never made the trip.

Edited April 9, 2008 by tbittner

[EBR]

Holy smoke, that's a huge tank. I think I missed something -- so where is the sump and engine room? Is it behind the wall that the tank is against? And some more shots of the room and the theater would be nice, too, ya know. What fun is this hobby if you don't venture into a little remodeling :-)

 

Keep up the good work!

Matt

Edited April 9, 2008 by EBR

[tbittner]

This is an older pic. The chiller has been relocated and I was forced to clean things up.

 

The tub on the left is the fuge, the right is a skimmer tub. Both of these drain into a 100g tank on the other side of them. I have bulkheads installed in the bottom of the 100g tank and the return pumps are connected to it.

 

The sump room is right on the other side of the wall from the 450.

 

[vaironman]

I'm not sure about BRK because I've never been there. I keep thinking I need to make a trip there one day because it sounds like they have a lot of good stuff, just never made the trip.

 

 

BRK place is great place; especially to fill up this Giant tank. You'll enjoy the trip to this LFS.

Edited April 9, 2008 by vaironman

[dbartco]

Three Round Hills! Wow!

 

I'm 16 miles west of Leesburg on Route 7. In fact, my driveway connects to Route 7. Purcellville is next door to Round Hill. I work in Reston, just off of Wheile Ave and it's 34 miles from home to work, each way.

 

I'm not sure about BRK because I've never been there. I keep thinking I need to make a trip there one day because it sounds like they have a lot of good stuff, just never made the trip.

 

WOW - we need to talk about $4 a gallon. Live on the west side of purcellville, and work at corner of sunset hills and weihle.

[tbittner]

Wow Doug! We live and work next door to each other.

 

Small world!

 

Yeah, the price of gas is really starting to hurt. Not to mention the yearly increases to the Greenway and Toll road. :(

 

At least my car gets 34 mpg.

[jason the filter freak]

What kind/How old is the chiller?

[tbittner]

The chiller is a 1/3 hp Teco and I bought it about 9 months ago. It has a built in heater and UV too. It's worked great and I highly recommend them. Although, it rarely runs now that I've moved the bulk of the water to the basement. My water stays between 78 and 78.7 during a 24 hour period.

 

The UV is on 24/7 though.

[Vader]

wish I had a basement now.

[tbittner]

Yeah, and my basement has large, wide open rooms so it's perfect for this setup.

 

Yesterday, we removed everything from the tank, because once it was full, it started leaking along the back edge. We cleaned it up, stripped out the silicone along the entire bottom, cleaned it up again with acetone, and layed down new silicone. Probably Tuesday evening I'll put 40g back into it to check it for leaks. We won't put anything in it this time until we have it full of water and run the CL for a week. That way we'll be able to see if there is any water collecting under the glass.

[Guest MikeInFredVA]

Yeah, and my basement has large, wide open rooms so it's perfect for this setup.

 

Yesterday, we removed everything from the tank, because once it was full, it started leaking along the back edge. We cleaned it up, stripped out the silicone along the entire bottom, cleaned it up again with acetone, and layed down new silicone. Probably Tuesday evening I'll put 40g back into it to check it for leaks. We won't put anything in it this time until we have it full of water and run the CL for a week. That way we'll be able to see if there is any water collecting under the glass.

the tank is looking really good, Might have to start saving up now for the 600g i might want in a few weeks, lol

can't wait too see it when your done, looks great so far though.

 

Mike

[Vader]

In regards to your drill colors/spots, what did you consider when determining where to drill? I'm going to drill my 75g, but I'm working on a plumbing design still.

[tbittner]

Me either, Mike.

 

Vader, I bought this tank used and the original owner had the holes drilled. I don't know who that was so I don't know how he had used them. I hooked the holes in the bottom up to the input to the CL pump. All of the holes on the back are returns from the CL, except for the two top holes which are the return from the sump.

 

When I had it full, I was really happy with the circulation. Debris from the sand was suspended in the water at all times. I'm sure that if I would have started circulating water to the sump, the debris would have been cleaned out.

 

Tomorrow evening is refilling day. Keep your fingers crossed that the new silicone seals it!

[Vader]

good luck

[tbittner]

Thanks!

[lawnboy]

Yeah, and my basement has large, wide open rooms so it's perfect for this setup.

 

Yesterday, we removed everything from the tank, because once it was full, it started leaking along the back edge. We cleaned it up, stripped out the silicone along the entire bottom, cleaned it up again with acetone, and layed down new silicone. Probably Tuesday evening I'll put 40g back into it to check it for leaks. We won't put anything in it this time until we have it full of water and run the CL for a week. That way we'll be able to see if there is any water collecting under the glass.

 

Sorry, I didn't know it had two leaks. Thats a lot af water to keep moving.

[tbittner]

The tank had sat empty for quite some time, it got moved around quite a bit, I should have stripped the silicone and resealed it as soon as it was on the stand.

 

I consider it a lesson in buying a used tank. ALWAYS strip the silicone and replace it. It's easy and it will most likely save you a LOT more work in the future.

[NRehman]

Terry,

Great thread and tank setup. It looks like it will be a beauty.

 

Good advice on the leaks and re-beading (maybe you can post a small step by step). Looking forward to seeing this come along!

 

Nadir

[tbittner]

Thanks Nadir. It's really easy to resilicone a tank. Just take a razor blade and cut into the silicone along the bottom edge, all the way to the side. Then cut along the side, all the way to the bottom edge. The strip of silicone should just lift out now. DO NOT cut in between the glass though.

 

After that clean the glass with acetone. This will ensure a very dry, very clean surface for the silicone to grab ahold of. Then lay in liberal amounts of silicone. We ran a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe around the seam to form a nice, rounded seam. It looked great!

 

Unfortunately, it still leaked after it was full. When I ordered the replacement glass braces, they sent me an extra piece of glass that is 3/4" thick and it's 24x4 1/2. We're going to cut out a section of the new silicone in the front/center/bottom big enough for this piece of glass to fit into. Then we'll silicone it into place with LIBERAL amounts of silicone and then run a bead all along it too. It won't leak after this silicone sets. We'll get that done tonight and by Sunday, it should be ready for another leak test.

 

The outside molding will cover this piece of glass and it won't be visible and it will also be covered with 6" of sand. I think it's a perfect solution to a miserable problem.

Edited April 16, 2008 by tbittner

[tbittner]

Well, my 100g sump tank, or the plumbing involved with it, something had a leak. Yesterday we ripped out that 100g tank and installed a 150g rubbermaid tub. I also had a problem with the electric going out and it would overflow the 100g tank so bigger is better. We got it all plumbed back up and working. No leaks.

 

I'm also in the process of filling the 450 again. We have about 40g in it and so far, no leaks. It didn't leak until it got full though so hopefully by this evening, I'll know if we fixed it once and for all.

 

I'm filling 40g trash cans and warming the water up before putting it into the tank. Our tap water is really cold.

[Carl]

 

I'm filling 40g trash cans and warming the water up before putting it into the tank. Our tap water is really cold.

 

 

You've been busy!! Hopefully you've got all the leaks fixed.

 

Why are you warming it before putting it in the tank? Isn't this just a leak test you're donig?

Edited April 20, 2008 by Carl

[tbittner]

Yes, it's a leak test but I really, really, really don't want it to leak.

 

So I'm trying to not stress the silicone too much (shrinkage). Besides, it will be running at 78 degrees so wouldn't that be the temp you'd want to leak test it at? Although, I'm only warming it to about 70 before pumping it in. I'll probably pump another 80g in and then move all four heaters to the tank and keep adding water from the hose but keeping the water temp above 70.

[lletellier]

this all sounds like way more work than I would be willing to put up with... I admire your patience! hopefully it all works out for you

[tbittner]

Well, I've always wanted a BIG tank and the price talked me into it.

 

And to have a BIG tank, I need all the other BIG stuff that goes with it. I'm just getting the kinks worked out of everything now. I DO believe that everything is going to work great and flawlessly this time.

 

I'm at 250g and so good so far.

[tbittner]

*ahem*

 

*cough* *cough* *cough*

 

*tap* *tap* *tap*

 

Is this thing on?

 

OK!

 

May I present a VERY full, FAIRLY cold, LEAK free 450g tank!!!

 

 

 

It's already up to 67.3 and warming up. The CL pump is running and I'm going to let that run until Wednesday. Then I'm going to lower the water level about 10" and add the salt to bring the salinity up. Then on Friday, we aquascape it and fill it back up to the running level. On Saturday, I'll shut down the CL pump and add the sand back in and let that settle until Sunday. Then turn the CL pump back on and let the full cycle begin!

 

The rock has been curing for over a week now so who knows, maybe in three weeks I can move everyone down. Water readings will determine that of course.

Edited April 20, 2008 by tbittner