dcreefer June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Hello WAMAS Family! If I had it all over to do again I would become a marine biologist and move to the KEYS or something but, here I am land locked in DC. SO, I am forced to bring a little bit of of God's most intoxicating creations home with me (oh the sea)! I have had several tanks from 44 gallons to 90 gallons but after about a year or so the high from the previous size would wear off and I would be looking to go BIGGER, which brings me to my latest fix (this will have to last me for a while) the 300! This is during the construction! This is post construction! Unfortunately when I was in the throws of construction I did not know about the wonderful community WAMAS, so I have made some mistakes but I am working with a few members to try and help me make some corrections! examples of Mistakes: -Since I have never worked with a tank this size (previously 90 was the largest), I did not realize that I should have factored in PVC vs hose as my plumbing plan! (thanks to Brian Ward for coming by and pointing out all of my short comings and being willing to help me correct them) (Thanks to Blaze98 for allowing me to call on him also for Plumbing Help) -Put tank in Place and my drywall guys finished the drywall and trim before I could actual cover the tank with plastic or something (Dust beyond your wildest dreams)! Thanks Hoover Vac family for helping me clean it out! - Forgot to cut the holes large enough in the 2x4 frame to get the nut to fit around the bulk heads! Got a Dremmel and got her done! Anyway this is going to be a reef tank! I was thinking of going with t5 lighting, I have seen a lot of really great tanks with just t5s! I am open for suggestions and any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Very cool. Can't wait to see the progress. Tagging along........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaze98 June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 I can't wait to see that tank man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLazar June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 That is going to be one gorgeous tank! What are the dimensions? Is that a tank room behind? My husband is going to be drooling over your set up. Can't wait to see your progress. Best of luck, and if you need help with something put up a post, Wamas folks always lend a hand. Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 nice tank, can't wait to see the build thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcreefer June 20, 2008 Author Share June 20, 2008 That is going to be one gorgeous tank! What are the dimensions? Is that a tank room behind? My husband is going to be drooling over your set up. Can't wait to see your progress. Best of luck, and if you need help with something put up a post, Wamas folks always lend a hand. Maureen Thank you Maureen! The dimensions are 8 feet long, 24 inches wide and 30 inches deep. Why Yes you did spy a "Tank Room" behind the tank! Forgive the clutter, I am hoping that this will be up and running water within the next couple of weeks. I will post some more pics soon! Everyone I've had contact with on the site has been super warm and amazingly helpful, I couldn't have asked for a better community to be a part of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YBeNormal June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Welcome to WAMAS and it looks like you are going to have one SWEEEEET setup! It looks like the front of the tank is fully enclosed with no access. Having two in-wall tanks myself, I can tell you from experience that you will regret not having access panels on the front. It's getting to the point that I may take a saw to my wall soon and correct that mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 His biggest problem right now is actually some scratches in the front panel. It's an acrylic tank and he's got to get those out before he can add water. He PM'd NAGA about scratch removal kits - anyone know if he's around lately? My tanks are glass so I really couldn't help much - so if anyone has helpful hints and can point him in the right direction for scratch removal that would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLazar June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 His biggest problem right now is actually some scratches in the front panel. It's an acrylic tank and he's got to get those out before he can add water. He PM'd NAGA about scratch removal kits - anyone know if he's around lately? My tanks are glass so I really couldn't help much - so if anyone has helpful hints and can point him in the right direction for scratch removal that would be great. Brian, How deep/bad are the scratches? After our move from San Diego Jon sent the tank out to have the scratches professionally removed. I know he's also used some over-the-counter products himself. I'll ask him to look at this thread and respond. Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcreefer June 20, 2008 Author Share June 20, 2008 Welcome to WAMAS and it looks like you are going to have one SWEEEEET setup! It looks like the front of the tank is fully enclosed with no access. Having two in-wall tanks myself, I can tell you from experience that you will regret not having access panels on the front. It's getting to the point that I may take a saw to my wall soon and correct that mistake. Thanks you YBeNormal -And yet another mistake! (lol) I have thought about that also, I may create some access panels in the front as long as upper level management approves it! (That would be the Wife) Mrs DC Reefer doesn't understand that sometimes I must go back and cut new holes in the walls in order to accomplish the Dream. All she sees is oh my goodness your tank is destroying my house and it is taking up valuable real estate hurry up and get some water in it already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vader June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Welcome, Nice set up. Looking forward to watching the progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Brian, Novus makes a line of polishing liquids that can be used for very small scratches. I've only had a few medium scratches; for these I used a buffing wheel and polishing compound when the tank was empty, or an aquarium underwater sandpaper kit on the inside of the tank when it had critters in it. I haven't had what I would call a "bad" scratch (yet). Jon Brian, How deep/bad are the scratches? After our move from San Diego Jon sent the tank out to have the scratches professionally removed. I know he's also used some over-the-counter products himself. I'll ask him to look at this thread and respond. Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Brian, How deep/bad are the scratches? After our move from San Diego Jon sent the tank out to have the scratches professionally removed. I know he's also used some over-the-counter products himself. I'll ask him to look at this thread and respond. Maureen Most of the scratches are minor and I don't think fixing them will be a big deal - just a lot of time buffing them out. I remember 1 or 2 that I would say were medium. This is why I was trying to get him in touch with NAGA - figured he could do a better job diagnosing the scratches and recommending repairs. Unfortunately the way the tank is built in at the moment, you would have to tear down the wall to get it out. I recommended this as a possible final option - even maybe having NAGA come out and replace the front panel with new acrylic. But buffing the scratches out is the first thing he's going to try - no water in the tank so all options are available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Welcome to WAMAS! The Novus stuff is easy to use. Anthony (anthworks) used it on my old tank which is about the same as this one. I was planning on helping him do it but he said it only took him a few hours. I think he used a buffing wheel on a power drill. PM 'anthworks' and ask him which Novus type he used and how he applied it. All I know is when I went over to help with plumbing, the tank looked brand new. Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Grenier June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Great work so-far. Talk to Bob "lanman" about his T5 setup. His tank is 240 or something like that and has great looking corals even low in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Hey Raymond, welcome to the club! There was actually a guy on here awhile back whose handle was also DCReefer, not sure what happened to him! I agree with Bob on the front panel wholeheartedly! With acrylic, it makes it that much more difficult as you need a really powerful magnet to remove algae with or you're reaching in to scrape! I recently blocked off my front access pending building cabinetry and I experienced a huge overgrowth on the front pane of acrylic (of course, not anywhere else, only there!). I tried out Bendalat's Great White algae magnet last night and it worked great, but man was my arm sore! Anyway, your tank is very similar to mine as is your tank room it appears. With your tank height, I would consider metal halide lighting, but this is from someone with no experience with T5 lights, so that's something to consider. Depending on your budget, you could also look at the PFO Solaris units, talk to Terry Bittner (tbittner) about his. One thing that is always helpful is to look at other members tanks before completing the set up. If you can't get out there in person, this forum is a wonderful way to see what was done. You can find my tank build in here as you can find Terry's. I believe that Justin's (ctenophore) is also in here, these are all large tank builds that started from scratch. Bob's (lanman) is also here and he's got the 240 with the T5s, or you can also check out Dan's (dandy7200) here, he's got metal halides on his beast. There are tons of ideas out there for the picking, and I'm sure that you'll find that most people on here have open door policies. You're welcome to come out and see my tank if you want and get ideas and feedback as well. By the way, not sure how much you know about acrylic scratches, but the smaller ones tend to disappear a bit with water on them, so take a wet towel and wipe them over to see how noticable they are. It won't give you a perfect perspective, but it will help to see how many will disappear. As far as replacing the front panel, I have been told that once acrylic has been melted, it loses some of its ability to be reattached again, but don't quote me on that piece of info! Scratch kits will work off of the water filling the scratches concept, only thing is you simply make the scratches as small as you can through progressively smaller scratches until they disappear. Dry, the tank will appear hazy, wet, they disappear. The buffer simply takes a more direct approach and uses the tiny scratches to begin with. Good luck and let me know if you need any advice (help is not always easy to give in person as I have 4 little ones!) or want to see my set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiguan June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Welcome. You're making good progress. I am working on a similar build (in-wall) and will be watching this closely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WallyBackm June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Sweet. Nice that you have tile flooring there. That's a bonus. Welcome to WAMAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy953 June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 This is going to be one heck of a tank!!! I second the use of Metal Halide lighting supplemented with T5s. If you are wanting to go SPS dominated the use of MH will make a big difference in growth and coloring. T5s will do a fine job as I have seen on many tanks but they just don't do what MHs do. Welcome to WAMAS! Hope to see you at the social tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRehman June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 Raymond, Welcome. Another refeer in DC. Yea! We must be up to 7 or 8! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 soon there will be enough of us to have a meeting here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy953 June 22, 2008 Share June 22, 2008 It was nice meeting you! I look forward to following the progress of your tank! You have some adorable kids too! I wish now that my wife and I had brought our son with us. We will have him at the next function (social that is) for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmward99 June 23, 2008 Share June 23, 2008 Welcome dcreefer.Glad you can join.I am in D.C. also and would love to help with anything I can.Just give a holla!.Tank looks awesome so far.I had a 180 acrylic but it crashed after some zoas and Xenia went crazy and killed everything.I have since sold off my 180 acrylic and will get a 180 or 220 glass within a few months(waiting on my upper management approval ......LOL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLazar June 27, 2008 Share June 27, 2008 Hello Ray, Monti, and mini-reefers! Any updates on your amazing tank? Have you been able to get the scratches out? Any water yet? Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefmontalvo June 27, 2008 Share June 27, 2008 How in god name did you get that sucker in the house? And I was wondering do you have any new updated photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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