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It’s finally that time! It’s not a build, it’s an upgrade.


Christyef

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Ok. I’ve been putting it off long enough. I was like many new to the hobby, super gung-ho. I wanted to have it all. I ended up with three tanks and way over my head. All the water changes, topping off, testing, things dying, things out growing small spaces, etc, it became too much. I began to seriously pump the brakes and sell things. I sold my 29 gal biocube for $100. Whole thing. Coral, fish, everything. Just wanted it gone. I began to sell corals from my 35 gal and anemones from my 55 gal. I tried to sell my 35 gal as a whole system, but no one bit, so I’ve decided to break it down, keep the fish, frogspawn, bubble coral, and mushrooms and scrap the rest. There are aptasia in the 35 so the rock need to be dried for a long time. The reason I’ve decided to go ahead with my 140 upgrade is because I want to keep all of my fish. I’ve had some (most) of my fish and eel 3+ years. I want to keep them all and can’t shove them all in a 55. The 35 has to go. Topping it off everyday pisses me off. I don’t want to add an ATO either. So, here we are. I have a down payment on a Mac book pro bc a laptop is much more efficient than Tapatalk. I’ve been collecting equipment for this tank for maybe 2 years.

 

140 gal tank with stand. Won’t use canopy

75 gal sump

Deltec skimmer

6-40 lb bags of arogaonite live sand

2brs dosing pumps (Thank you Ty)

MP40

BRS dual reactor from my current tank

Wavy sea wave maker for my return (single return)

2 kessils to go with my black box led (which I will upgrade when I have the funds)

And an apex gold

The tank is still under the cleaning stage. It’s on its side soaking in vinegar to get the old coraline. The stand was painted over a year ago, but I’ll do it again and add feet. I’d like it off the ground bc it will be sitting on carpet and Incase of a spill, I’d like to have circulation underneath. There’s always a spill!! Lol.

 

For those I haven’t bored to tears and are still hanging on, I have some questions. The back of this tank is a sky blue paint. I want that off and repainted with black. Is the best method paint thinner? Another question. The 75 gallon sump takes up the WHOLE stand. Leaving no room for other equipment. Should I get a smaller sump or figure out more creative ways to add equipment?

That’s all I can think of for now. I won’t be doing an sps dominant tank. I don’t want to stress over it. I tried to get my tank to be like others had theirs and have decided that’s not what I want. I want a Zoa garden, mushrooms, nem, sarcophyton, ricordia, possibly some encrusting things if I can get my parameters stable with this one. Colors and a little flow. To go with my artsy fartsy personality. [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatal36d28efd5e140f0a4ef10911578a5e03.jpg9bec70640ea8044f883a2a1a5b9155d4.jpgd488f90e23856755588adce6b0f2333e.jpgk

 

 

 

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I like what you're doing.  I know when I have my QT going along with the display it's a pain in the rear to have to maintain two tanks.  Three and it's more of a chore than a hobby.

Regarding the paint:  I would not personally use paint thinner, mineral spirits, or the like just because silicone can react to solvents.  I would use a razor blade scraper and elbow grease.  The paint "should" come off the glass without too much effort.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Thank you. I will try the mineral spirits and see what happens. The vinegar soak is working well. I checked about 10 minutes ago. It will definitely be ready to flip in the morning


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Just to be clear in case you misread the post. . . mineral spirits is not advisable if it can come in contact with the silicone.

If you read it right and going for it anyway just be careful around the seams.  Good luck - hope it comes off easy.

 

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Alright! Finally getting that build thread up! I just want to see the plumbing work on this thing! It's going to be awesome I'm sure!

You could go smaller on sump size to free up some space for other equipment. Or maybe look to run reactors in sump and hang some stuff above the sump on shelves to keep the existing one?

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Just to be clear in case you misread the post. . . mineral spirits is not advisable if it can come in contact with the silicone.
If you read it right and going for it anyway just be careful around the seams.  Good luck - hope it comes off easy.
 

Ahhhh, Yessir! I did misread that. Haha. Thank you for correcting me! I’m having success turning it from side to side letting the vinegar soak on the inside, possible the same will work when I go to tackle the back glass. I’ll be careful of the silicone


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I can’t find my exact deltec model online, but the one closest said it’s an external skimmer. I definitely don’t have room for that. If that’s the case, may have to sell it fo another one


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0599ebbe4404f02f90f5189ca8ddaf31.jpgfefd4190495371494f16df0fb21f4e85.jpgad09ce88f6f658ab0f5df1bf0cf6d5d5.jpgThe right tool for the right job. Took about an hour. You were right, Sierra Bravo. Elbow grease and a razor. I’d never scraped paint like that before so thought it was going to be way worse! Easy peasy!


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Easy peasy!
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Things always go easier with a couple of four legged assistants!

Lookin' good!

Paula

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fcacf89dc068cf03cc7db4928501466f.jpg7fe9c838f47d153d53a3bdd3c98250e9.jpg829072179bbe29c52da5207619f23761.jpg440e71996337f50f459b34c0197e7d42.jpgA few new pictures of the 75 gal sump that came with this tank. What is the shelf area on the right with the perforated 4” PVC pipe for? Does my return go there and then overflow into the chamber below? I have two overflow boxes each one having two 1-1/4” bulkheads. Are they all 4 to be plumbed together into one? Is the one on the left for the macro algae? Skimmer goes on the right? The deltec that I have says external, but some of the YouTube videos I see of my model have it submerged. Does external just mean it can be used either way?

 

 

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26 minutes ago, Christyef said:

What is the shelf area on the right with the perforated 4” PVC pipe for?

Looks like it was for the tank overflow. PVC maybe to keep splashing down.

Does my return go there and then overflow into the chamber below?

Yes

I have two overflow boxes each one having two 1-1/4” bulkheads. Are they all 4 to be plumbed together into one?

You could do this. Usually one pipe is for main and the other for emergency. You have 2 sets

Is the one on the left for the macro algae?

Looks like the left chamber is for the return

Skimmer goes on the right?

Not sure where it will fit

The deltec that I have says external, but some of the YouTube videos I see of my model have it submerged. Does external just mean it can be used either way?

No but .......The only issue using an external skimmer as an internal is that  the pump may not be waterproof and some models needs a feed pump.

These are my guesses hope this helps

 

 

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Kessil ap700. Anyone have experience with this light? It’s really expensive. Is it overkill? It’s only 48” long and says it covers 48”. But for $800 it should light up 1/2 a football field! I plan to call BRS next week and talk to someone and make sure it covers more than 48”. Maybe I read that wrong


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You could do this. Usually one pipe is for main and the other for emergency. You have 2 sets....... wouldn't that mean the bulkheads would be at different elevations? Atleast two of them? The four I have are all the exact elevation as are the overflow boxes.  I'm not sure why my response stayed red. I tried to copy yours and then answer like you did... fail. LOL. I got a new laptop for my apex and am trying to learn how to use it with ARC, too.    Getting pictures on here is going to be interesting. I don't want all my pictures from my phone coming over in the cloud because that's way too many!! So as with my upgrade, this will be a learning experience. 

 
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Normally overflow boxes have the holes in the bottom but looking at your pic i see they are in the back, yes? You can use street 90's . 2 turned up and 2 turned down. The upwards ones would be emergency.

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[emoji362][emoji362]now I get it! I actually saw 90’s with holes drilled in them to replicate the slits in those in the picture you shared when I cleaned the tank and threw things away. Thank you for helping me so much!


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I also kept a piece put together like the one on the left of your picture. The one with the red line. What’s that? It’s for air, I get that, but why don’t they both have that? Maybe bc they’re plumbed together My current tank has that on both returns to quiet them down. Same concept? So, I guess I’ll research bean overflow. Maybe that’s the route I need to go. I’ll do so reading. [emoji6]

 

 

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