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Anyone want to help me redo my fish room


DaveS

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I can probably make it any day of the weekend, I'll have 4 days off school, no homework and'll be doin nothing but chillin... :biggrin: can't do much in the way of lifting super heavy stuff, but could probably do most of the other stuff. LMK if you want the help.

Edited by L8 2 RISE
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As some of you may know, I inherited my system when I bought the house. It's a nice system but as I've gotten more and more into the hobby I'm starting to feel it's limitations. After more than a year of flip flopping, I have finally made the decision to switch out my acrylic tank for glass. In talking things over with various people who's input I value, I've come to a new decision point in this process- why go half a$$ed if I can go whole a$$ed!

 

Instead of just swapping out the tank and leaving things at that, I'm considering making more upgrades while I'm at it. Options include:

 

-rebuilding the stand to allow more space (larger sump) underneath

-lowering the tank by a few inches so it's not such a death defying feat working in the tank (the stand is 50" high which means the top of the tank that I have to climb over is almost 8' above the ground).

-redoing the wall after lowering the tank since it's an in-wall tank.

-building more shelves in the fish room to accommodate other things like water storage, more tanks, etc. (I'm already outgrowing the current rack with my frag tank).

-moving some plumbing for the house around in the room to get it out of the way for the more important fish stuff. :)

-whatever else I can get talked into by my fellow reef addicts.

 

Before I do take the plunge I wanted to ask for help. Most of what I"m looking to do isn't super difficult. It's more than I can do personally but not beyond the expertise of what I have seen others accomplish here at WAMAS. If I have to find a general contractor and spend a ton of money on construction than this may not be an option. However if anyone with some expertise is willing to lend a hand, maybe at a reasonable price, I might be able to make these upgrades happen.

 

So I guess what I'm asking is- would anyone with some good construction experience be willing to help me take on this project? I don't think this will be much crazier than many of the build threads here or on RC. I don't even need to upgrade the foundation or bulkhead the house like Dandy. :eek: In general I think I would need help with the following skill sets:

 

1) Know how to build a sturdy stand for a 210G+ tank (doesn't need to be pretty just sturdy as it will be behind a wall).

2) If it gets lowered, ability to re-frame a non-load bearing wall where the tank is.

3) Some carpentry and electrical work to move stuff around the fish room and get it out of the way

4) Decent drywall skills

5) Ability to do trim and moulding work around the front side of the in-wall tank

 

I'm more worried about someone who can help tackle 1-3 as I know of possible options for 4-5. I'm not looking to start immediately and the timing is flexible. What I probably need to do first is just figure out the things I want done- decisions which will depend heavily on what kind of help I have.

 

I can offer beer, frags and a great sense of accomplishment along with bragging rights when we are done. If you are a professional at any of this stuff, we can also talk money. I am willing to pay a professional to exercise their trade. I just want to be careful that I don't open myself up to any yahoo with a saw-z-all looking to make a buck. I hope that makes sense. :biggrin:

 

So who's interested in joining me on this adventure?

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Thanks to everyone offering to help!

 

Based on the responses so far, here's what I have lined up:

 

Saturday- Starting at Noon:

Tank tear down, move corals, rock, sand, inhabitants and water to holding bins. Move sump and lighting and replumb things so fish and corals are happy again. Vacate everything, including current acrylic tank out of fish room. Start stand tear down if we have time.

Helpers: SteveD, L82rise, ? Could probably use one more person, maybe a second later in the day to help with the replumb and removal of stuff from fish room.

 

Sunday- Starting at 10am

Start/Finish tearing down existing stand, clean floor, paint concrete floor with epoxy.

Helpers: Brian Ward, jnguyen4007, ? Might be able to use one more.

 

As you can see I'm being fairly aggressive in the schedule. The reason is that next weekend, the WAMAS construction crew (Ctenophore, Paenian and Coral Hind) is coming and we will be reframing the wall and building the stand- all before the Super Bowl starts. I thought I would have more time but between WAMAS meetings, socials and significant others, that weekend is the only one we all had available until March. So time for me to get moving on this thing!

 

If anyone else wants to join in on the fun, just let me know!

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Thanks to everyone offering to help!

 

Based on the responses so far, here's what I have lined up:

 

Saturday- Starting at Noon:

Tank tear down, move corals, rock, sand, inhabitants and water to holding bins. Move sump and lighting and replumb things so fish and corals are happy again. Vacate everything, including current acrylic tank out of fish room. Start stand tear down if we have time.

Helpers: SteveD, L82rise, ? Could probably use one more person, maybe a second later in the day to help with the replumb and removal of stuff from fish room.

 

Sunday- Starting at 10am

Start/Finish tearing down existing stand, clean floor, paint concrete floor with epoxy.

Helpers: Brian Ward, jnguyen4007, ? Might be able to use one more.

 

As you can see I'm being fairly aggressive in the schedule. The reason is that next weekend, the WAMAS construction crew (Ctenophore, Paenian and Coral Hind) is coming and we will be reframing the wall and building the stand- all before the Super Bowl starts. I thought I would have more time but between WAMAS meetings, socials and significant others, that weekend is the only one we all had available until March. So time for me to get moving on this thing!

 

If anyone else wants to join in on the fun, just let me know!

 

I'll plan for Saturday afternoon as well. I should be able to get there between 3:30 and 4 if that's not too late for the "2nd shift." I have one of those PVC cutters that I want to try out on the replumb.

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