Paul's' new build..

[delta]

I have had to modify my plan for the overflows. It would have been fine if I was starting from scratch with frags. It became clear to me that attaching full grown colonies to the rock was going to be much more of a challenge. I'm going to have to choose a rock, drill a hole and place an acrylic rod that I can fit the coral on and then place it in an appropriate spot. So I'm not going to do a pre-fab construction around the overflows. I will do it rock by rock as I place the coral. I might apply epoxy to the overflows first though and cover them with sand.
As for the powerheads I have an idea that I will try out soon. If it works, I'll post it. If not...back to the drawing board.

Marcorocks sells reef mortar to build the structure. http://www.marcorocks.com/aquascape-supplies/e-marco-400/

Pretty similar to the stuff Tunze made their Tunze rocks out of. You could do a base form that could slip over the overflow, then build your aquascape from their. My concern would be long term adhesion to the acrylic with anything you might try to stick to it. But a Sleeve would eliminate that issue.
I know you see it done online but I know you and you are a long haul type of reefkeeper, not one that will be redoing this in a year or two.

The base would sit on acylic and the rods attached to the acylic in combination with the sleeve would be you building blocks

I am sure you hae a plan and have thought it through just thinking out loud

 

[reefkeeper2]

The liquid epoxy should stick to the acrylic of the overflow permanently don't you think? Not much of the overflows will be visable after the rock gets placed anyway but I thought if they were covered with sand it would look a lot nicer than black shiney plastic. I was going to do the sleave idea but thought if I ever needed to relocate a powerhead the magnet base would be useless.

 

[delta]

Makes sense. Like I said, you probably had it all figured out

 

[reefkeeper2]

Ok, the tank is scheduled to arrive either on Friday the 25th or Monday the 28th. My original plan was to take the old one down and get it out on Saturday May 10th. Then the following day, Sunday the 11th move the new one in. Unfortunately Sunday the 11th is Mothers Day. People will be busy with family and it will probably be hard to get help moving the 500Lb tank into the house. I'm going to need 4 or more strong guys to do it. If I can find the people for the move I will stick to the plan. If not, I will push it up a day so that I break the tank down on friday and move the new one in on Saturday.
This weekend I dip dip dip on Saturday and pick up some spare heaters at Brians. Sunday I rinse 250lbs of sand and pick up the 300gal stock tank at Shanes.
So far I have had minimal losses with the corals. I mistakenly dipped a Hawkins frag in Revive instead of Bayer and that RTn'd pretty fast. I almost lost all of my Cali Tort but fragged it just in time. It too didn't like the Revive.
The rest are all fine so far.

 

[Flame Angel]

Sounds all positive and moving in the right direction.

 

[reefkeeper2]

Busy busy weekend but I got a lot accomplished. First I plumbed a sink in my fishroom so I don't have to lug water upstairs to the kitchen to dump it anymore.. It came in real handy after the bi-weekly dip I did on Saturday. I make up a lot of rinse water (about 30 gallons) to rinse the dip off the colonies and it was great not having to trudge up and down the cellar stairs. The corals look really good. There were no AEFW present that I could see. So far no losses except for part of my cali tort.


After that I went and rented a cement mixer so on Sunday I could wash the 250 lbs of new sand. I have washed sand before and when you have a large tank it's a tortuous task . I read about someone using a cement mixer and it sounded like a good idea. After I picked up the mixer I went to Shanes' house and picked up his 300 gal rubbermaid stock tank that will be home for my fishes and rock for the few days of the transfer.

Sunday morning I was out in the driveway early washing sand. The mixer worked really well and I was done in no time. A whole lot better than bucket method! I chose Tropic Eden mini flakes for the sand. I looked at a lot of sands and this seemed to be the right size.



Finished product ready to go...



Now I need a weekend to recover from the weekend.

 

[wdebenedettojr]

Sounds like a busy weekend Paul. Just an FYI reefrocks.net sells sand and they pre rinse it for you. I purchased some about a month ago and sand was crystal clear so I added it to my tank. Zero issues

 

[reefkeeper2]

Lol, now you tell me!

 

[mchartier]

Paul

Just wondering what you did with the gigantea during this transition?

 

[Flame Angel]

Glad to hear everything is going as planned. Still planning on May 10th? I am trying to keep my calendar open. I do not have a strong back, but do have a weak mind. I am sure I can help in some manner.

 

[lex_lutha111384]

Hey Paul, ill check my scedule at work. If i have the tenth off, ill help. I can lift quite a bit.

 

[reefkeeper2]

Paul

Just wondering what you did with the gigantea during this transition?

Nothing yet. I guess I will put it in the sto k tank with everything else. I might use egg crate to section it off so there are no accidental fish deaths.

 

[reefkeeper2]

James at Envisions sent these pics today. Delivery should be late next week.

 

[delta]

You must be getting excited

 

[Flame Angel]

You must be getting excited

That is a given... because I am getting jealous!

It really is amazing how simple they make it look to put something like this together. I know it is a lot more detailed than just slappig a couple of pieces of acrylic together with adhesive.

The right tools, clamps and table to put everything on. Similar to welding or finish carpentry. Besides that special knack of expertise.

 

[delta]

Hard not to be jealous of Paul's setup. It is not just a tank it is an experience. Only way to describe it.

One example was when Ron Hessing was here and Me, Dawn/Skyedolphyn, Joe Scavo took him into Boston. We stopped at Paul's house so Ron could see Paul's tank. Joe was stressed to the max but within 10minutes he was lounging by the tank totally relaxed. It really is like a sanctuary.

That is another thing Paul has been so gracious over the years allowing so many reefkeepers to come through and experience his tank. That in and of itself is something special to note.

 

[Flame Angel]

Hard not to be jealous of Paul's setup. It is not just a tank it is an experience. Only way to describe it.

One example was when Ron Hessing was here and Me, Dawn/Skyedolphyn, Joe Scavo took him into Boston. We stopped at Paul's house so Ron could see Paul's tank. Joe was stressed to the max but within 10minutes he was lounging by the tank totally relaxed. It really is like a sanctuary.

That is another thing Paul has been so gracious over the years allowing so many reefkeepers to come through and experience his tank. That in and of itself is something special to note.

Like you said it is a package. The tank is just one piece of the entire puzzle. Add in the sun room and all the plants... I keep threatening to pull up a chair, open a cold one and order a pizza with plans to be there all night.

I am always showing the picture I have of his (tank with the sunroom), not the sunroom with the tank... When explaining what the club is and why we do what we do... When you can see what he has going on you can understand why...

 

[reefkeeper2]

I am more nervous than excited. I'll relax when it's on the stand, filled with water and the pumps are running.
Having people come over is part of the fun! Talking tank is most rewarding when you are with your fellow reefers. I remember when Ron Hessing came over. His presentation for the club was wonderful. Seeing those tanks from all over the world gives you great ideas.

 

[s_kelley]

Tanks lookin sweet Paul! It's all coming together nicely.
Great idea with the cement mixer

 

[Ocean Explorium]

You are very fortunate to have James Steele of Envision Acrylics. He does excellent work and is wonderful to do business with. He has helped me a lot over the years. Congratulations.


Warren Gibbons
Curator
Ocean Explorium
FB @ OECorals
[email protected]
www.oceanexplorium.org