Intermediate Other Babado's Reefing Journey

Users who are viewing this thread

Hello Everyone!

After much time browsing and lurking on the forums it is time that I start a build thread of my own. I have been working on this tank setup and fish room for a few months already so I will have multiple posts to get everything up-to-date.

After a recent renovation to our kitchen & dining room area, my wife made the mistake of saying that one of the walls lacked color/needed something… It was then that she realized the extent of her mistake. The Tank will go here!

InkedIMG_5316_LI.jpg



We spent some time shopping around and looking through classifieds until we were able to find a local reefer who was getting out of the hobby and looking to sell his entire setup. This included some top of the line equipment and a 210 gallon display tank. While we lined up moving the tank and equipment, my wife and I decided to start on our aquascape and some construction in the basement to create my fish room to house the sump, R/O system, water mixing station, refugium, frag tank, etc.

For the aquascape we began purchasing by Marco rock base rock, shelf rock, and building rock. We used Gluemasters super glue with sand to hold everything together. The Aquascaping process took place over a few weeks with man hours invested.


IMG_5292.jpg


IMG_5299.jpg


IMG_5362.jpg


IMG_5408.jpg


IMG_5463.jpg



This is pretty close to the last addition before getting things in the tank to make final adjustments.

IMG_5574.jpg





We also started prepping and building the sump/fish room in the basement.

IMG_5245.jpg


IMG_5386.jpg


IMG_5495.jpg


IMG_5493.jpg
 

Babado

Well-known member
Thread starter
Country flag
So the day came to go pick up the Tank and equipment. It was pending for a while so the livestock could be relocated. To do the moving we rented a Uhaul and started the fun. Everything was set up and running so I had some cleaning in my future!


IMG_5484.jpg


IMG_5488.jpg


IMG_5489.jpg



After Hours of scrubbing and cleaning my wife and I realized that a used display tank in our space was not going to work for us. There were also some issues with the silicone and tank that I was just not comfortable with. All of the other equipment was great and working so I had almost everything I needed to get started except for a display tank.

We started researching and talking to tank builders and after talking with Glasscages we decided they were the the Tank builders for us. We worked with Glass Cages and could not be happier with our decision.

We decided that a 72"x30"x31" tank was what would work in our space.

Pic of tank during build
IMG_6009.jpg



Now that I knew the exact footprint of my DT it was time to start building a stand.

IMG_5697.jpg


IMG_5704.jpg
 

Babado

Well-known member
Thread starter
Country flag
Well the Day I had been waiting for finally came! My tank arrived! It was no easy task moving it from the back of a truck about 75 feet to its final resting spot, but we managed to get it done with no issues.
IMG_6390.jpg



I spent a couple hours washing sand which my kids loved helping with. Spread it out in the hot sun for a few hours to dry and it was good to go!

IMG_6365.jpg



Since I had most of my Aquascape already designed we got that in fairly quick and I only had to add a few more structures to be happy with the look.

IMG_6410.jpg


IMG_6412.jpg



The Tank will be heavily viewed from the side so I tried to pay close attention to the view from this angle.

IMG_6411.jpg
 
Last edited:

Babado

Well-known member
Thread starter
Country flag
So I have filled my tank with Ro/Di water to leak test everything and all is holding great.
Only issue is that my di resin was exhausted so it has about 200 gallons of 1 TDS water in a 420 gallon system. Will that be an issue? Should I drain and refill with 0 TDS water? I haven’t added any salt yet so that isn’t an issue.
thanks!
 

Babado

Well-known member
Thread starter
Country flag
So, I think I have ran into a slight issue. The bulkheads in my tank are slip instead of threaded. My return stand pipes do not fit quite snuggly enough to make me feel comfortable just sliding them in and leaving them with the pressure of the return pump. I think my best solution is to drain the overflow box, and add adapters to the bulkhead to change it to a threaded fitting. Anyone think of any issues doing this?
 

Count Krunk

Play FIFA 21 (or any game on PC)? PM me!
Location
ATL, GA
Country flag
What do you mean? You need to glue the slip by slip pipes together. If it’s. 2” bulkhead a 2” pipe will fit snugly. Needs to be glued together.
 

Babado

Well-known member
Thread starter
Country flag
What do you mean? You need to glue the slip by slip pipes together. If it’s. 2” bulkhead a 2” pipe will fit snugly. Needs to be glued together.
The drains and return bulkheads are both Slip. The drains seem to be snug and I dont foresee any issues with them but the return pipes seem to not be snug enough for my comfort. I would prefer to be able to dismantle/take out the returns in the future for cleaning so I was thinking of attaching a slip to threaded adapter so I can take it apart in the future.
Sorry, I suck at explaining :)
I cant think of any issues with it and I have all the pieces I need so I think I will give it a try tonight.
 

Babado

Well-known member
Thread starter
Country flag
That rock work is amazing.
Very exciting journal. Will be following.
Thank you! I know that the rock work is a lot taller than most recommend but with a tank this tall (31") I really wanted to reach all portions of the display. I am also hoping I included enough "cover" and hiding spots to keep my future fish comfortable.
 

Count Krunk

Play FIFA 21 (or any game on PC)? PM me!
Location
ATL, GA
Country flag
Glueing the pipe to a slip/thread fitting for future breakdown will work just fine.

I’ve never ever heard of a x size pvc pipe not fitting an x size pvc fitting
 
Top