550 Gallon 120x36x30 In-Wall w/ Side Views + Fish Room

[Blue Tang Clan]

That sounds great -- how wonderful to have suction cups for the members to use!

 

I'm targeting the weekend of October 26/27 for the tank lifting party. I'll probably create a separate thread for that since not everyone follows this thread or forum. 

 

I looked around for scissor lift tables but couldn't find any for rent. Does anyone happen to know of a place that carries them? Or if I can borrow their lifts for 90 seconds? 

[cpeguero]

Sunbelt has lift tables/pallet jacks that lift high. I’ve been researching for my own large tank install.

I might be able to make the lift party. Need to check with the wife if I can get away early enough


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[Origami]

1 hour ago, Blue Tang Clan said:

That sounds great -- how wonderful to have suction cups for the members to use!

 

I'm targeting the weekend of October 26/27 for the tank lifting party. I'll probably create a separate thread for that since not everyone follows this thread or forum. 

 

I looked around for scissor lift tables but couldn't find any for rent. Does anyone happen to know of a place that carries them? Or if I can borrow their lifts for 90 seconds? 

 

That's the weekend of the WAMAS meeting.

 

PM me a week or 10 days before. We'll have to coordinate a hand-off and return - both location and time. I have seven cups in my possession right now. A member is looking for the eighth and should have it to me before you need it. Rental is $25 per use, but we require a security deposit of $100 per cup. Write two separate checks (made out to WAMAS) and we'll deposit the rental and hold the security deposit until the cups are returned (normally within a week of handing them over to you).

[Blue Tang Clan]

Thanks -- I'll definitely do that. No problem on the deposit and rental checks -- it's such a great perk of being a member!!

[Blue Tang Clan]

Hi everyone -- my new tank has arrived!  

 

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

I am still looking for a few good men and women to help get the tank to its final spot. It's only about 65 feet away, and there is one small step. Suction cups will be on hand to make it an easy lift, but I need your help before the WAMAS meeting kicks off. I am just a few miles from North Bethesda Middle School. 

 

Can anyone else help out at 11:00am before the meeting next Saturday?

[Blue Tang Clan]

PVC sump is almost completed. Advanced Acrylics did a fantastic job

[Blue Tang Clan]

Fish tank is on its stand!!!!!!  

 

I'm still looking for 1 more person to help me (and 3 others) shimmy it a little to get the plywood to line up underneath. It should literally only take 5 minutes. 

 

Text me at 617-372-3849 if you can swing by at 11:30 before the WAMAS meeting!

[ImGoingCoastal]

Wow. That tank is amazing!!!

[Blue Tang Clan]

A huge thanks to @YHSublime; @Pedro; @maevepotter; my friend George, and my wife Cristina for getting this tank NUDGED! Also, thanks to @Origami and @AlanM for allowing me to rent the club's suction cups. Those things are a life saver!

Lesson learned -- if you are going to use a foam pad underneath, have it made an inch wider than the tank so you have some wiggle room if it's askew. Cutting off excess is definitely easier than lifting it up to reposition the exact MM measurement!

 

Thanks again guys! 

Edited October 26, 2019 by Blue Tang Clan

[AlanM]

I seriously can't wait to see you get this thing wet.  

[Blue Tang Clan]

Disaster 

The holes in the tank were not drilled properly. The Right hole is short horizontally by 1/8" (just over 3mm) and the Left hole, while being perfectly drilled horizontally off of the Middle hole, is too high by 1/8".

I tried fitting my overflow in last night and it wouldn't fit, even with a little pressure. I thought to myself, "Oh crap, the overflow fittings are off. Let me reverse the bulkheads and fit it on the outside of the tank to confirm."

I reversed the bulkheads and mounted the overflow on the outside of the tank, and the same
hole did not fit. If the overflow was the problem, the opposite hole wouldn't have fit in the reversed configuration.

So, the holes aren't evenly spaced? How is that possible? Custom Aquariums measures down to the MM. I got out my tape measure and eyeballed the Right hole being short by 1/8". That isn't scientific enough to write an email to them, so I carefully positioned a drywall saw in the middle of the Middle bulkhead, and used a laser measure tool from both ends of the Left and Right holes to the middle. Confirmed, of by 2/16ths, or 1/8".

Adding insult to injury, I checked the height of all three holes, and the left hole was 1/8" too high. what the heck! You can almost visually make it out with the naked eye.

This thing weighs a ton and it took several crews of people to unload it from the truck, move it from garage into my house, and then do a final position on the stand. I have no idea how this is going to play out, but I do have a request for a phone call with Custom Aquariums on Monday morning.

[YHSublime]

Oh no!

[epleeds]

Oh man. Where is custom aquariums based out of?  Maybe have them send a team when they deliver the replacement tank To swap it out. 

[AlanM]

It might be way easier to modify the overflow box or get them to buy you a new one than to get in a new tank.  

 

Those hole positions are important for mounting the box, of course, but once it's mounted, the exact position of them is not that critical.

[Blue Tang Clan]

Yeah, I think that will be the best solution - getting a replacement custom overflow. It’s 72” long and not cheap, but it’s probably cheaper than shipping a new tank or flying someone out to widen the holes

[ImGoingCoastal]

Not to mention quicker! I don't think a single person isn't excited to see this thing up and running!!

That said, I'd fully support you if you wanted it done right the "first" time.

How does everything else look?

[epleeds]

1 hour ago, Blue Tang Clan said:

Yeah, I think that will be the best solution - getting a replacement custom overflow. It’s 72” long and not cheap, but it’s probably cheaper than shipping a new tank or flying someone out to widen the holes

That should something the tank builder should cover. It’s the least they could do

[Blue Tang Clan]

35 minutes ago, ImGoingCoastal said:

Not to mention quicker! I don't think a single person isn't excited to see this thing up and running!!

That said, I'd fully support you if you wanted it done right the "first" time.

How does everything else look?

Everything else is solid - I like their design and bracing, and the silicon job is pretty good. 
 

Modular Marine can probably make another custom overflow - 6-8 weeks is usually the lead time, but it will take me that long to get moved into the house and get the support system plumbed. 

[AlanM]

if it's only 1/8" off, you might be OK. 

 

You can resize the hole in the back of the inside and outside parts of the overflow box if it's the one I think it is by maybe removing some material from the top or bottom of the hole with a dremel.  The rubber bulkhead gaskets will get sandwiched between the inner box and the inner glass and between the outer box and the outer glass and there should be enough contact area for them to still seal well on those holes even if they shift a bit in the box itself.

[Origami]

Enlarging the holes, if a possibility, is feasible. Just build a rigid template (wood or plexiglass) to position and hold the bit in place. Then draw a registration line across the tank, using it to align the template. Clamp the template to the tank and grind away. Keep a spray bottle of water handy, and stop and squirt a bit of water on the area a couple of times every minute or so to keep the area cool, clean and lubricated. Be patient. Clearly you shouldn't have to go through all this trouble, but you have options that don't require a new tank or a new overflow.

 

(BTW, I've drilled vertical panels on tanks with water in them already using this technique. Patience is key.)

[AlanM]

Gosh, I wasn't thinking about enlarging the glass hole.  I figured to leave the glass one there and enlarge the acrylic ones in the overflow boxes. 

 

Or maybe mail it back to Modular Marine and ask them to just replace the panels that touch the glass instead of making an entire new one.  Not sure if that's possible, but they could do a cleaner job of it than DIY I guess.

[Blue Tang Clan]

I think way forward is going to be a new interior box from Modular Marine. Custom Aquariums has been very responsive so far, so I hope to have a good resolution soon.

 

 

[Pedro]

Any updates on the build? I'm sorry about the overflow issue how did that then out? I'm excited to hear more about what you have done.

[Blue Tang Clan]

Hey Pedro, it’s been quite the journey. Overflow situation is now a private matter, but progress has been made with the various companies.

 

The fish room plumbing is taking forever! I have had quite a few joints that leaked, which I didn’t expect. I used primer and glue, gave it a twist, but still had some places that had droplets. Instead of replacing lots of plumbing parts, I tried re-priming and gluing the outside of the fittings (which was a ridiculous long shot) and that seemed to work. Getting the glue in the seams helped for now. If it leaks again in the future I will replace the joints.

 

Home Depot cabinets went in for storing stuff, and I am now cycling the tank. 
 

The crushing part is that I lost all of my SPS corals in the move to the frag tank. Everything. Dead. I can’t begin to describe how devastating that is, but hopefully when everything is stable in a few months, I can begin to restock the tank with frags.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Blue Tang Clan