Eric

I like the rail mounting system you came up with.

Update. Last week parameters were good on the new tank and I decided to move the rest of the rock, sand and occupants from the hex tank into their new home. All has made the transition not only successful, but in many cases obviously happier than before.

I finished my basic frame which I believe adds a lot to a finished look. I feel the need to get the piping and return out of view in some fashion, but overall very happy with the result of the tank in the wall.

Experienced a bloom of cyano and hair algae but the crew has been cleaning up. Cyano is gone and hair is at least going in the desired direction now. (combed over to the left)

I also added some macro algae in the fuge.

The Jebao is certainly powerful and I haven't figured out a comfortable spot for it. I seem to either through substrate all over or what looks to be a punishing flow on the corals. Any tips? I have it on the end along with my overflow, pretty much pointed at the far glass wall now. You can see the dune that's been created on the right side, dug out the front and back right corners as the flow bounces off the wall.

Not the best of lighting to take photos this morning, but this gives an idea how it looks.

Great. Sounds a lot like my story in the past week. Moved existing to combine with the new rock and water. And the push to get rid of that existing tank...

Impressive

Tank looks great Eric! Im getting ready to do a 110 gal build and im stuck in between using my MHs and investing in a controller or takeing the controller money and swithching over to LEDs.

Anyways, looks great and if I may make a suggestion.You might want to put a 2x header back under those studs you cut ,to keep them from twisting,bowing or saging.It will pop your screws out of your sheet rock and put a bow in your wall.

Todd

Good idea. The studs are only a foot long now, nailed to the header above. being so short, they probably don't add anything. I should have already taken them out, so maybe I'll do that now.

I'm more concerned about moisture affecting the drywall just above the tank. I wonder if a layer of cement board would be helpful. I originally thought plexiglass, but cement board is probably cheaper.

The center of that arch bears no load, and the doubled 2X4's (if not 2X6's) on either side can handle a lot more; feel free to remove te 2X4 studs. The only thing they support is the cap and trim making the window in the arch.

Yea, that was my thinking. Leave the two columns on either side of the arch. continuing the opening down should be safe.

Also, from the looks of it, the current "shelf" is 2X4s laying flat rather than on end. "On end" provides much more support. All leads me to conclude the wall and arched window is for looks and not structural at all. Good for you as far as flexibilty.

It would probably take me 45 minutes from cut to clean.

Intriguing.

Might I bring up; instead of tip-toeing around with that short wall, just cut it right out and put in exactly what you need? Go straight down from the existing opening. You know where the one wire is.

And we have real lights. The kits took me a few days to assemble. A little effort trying to determine all the correct wiring. The UV stars were a pain to solder and I fried one LDD driver by crossing wires. $7 mistake can be chocked up. I enjoyed the experience; my wife did not.

But the arduino based controller worked like a charm. I wired up the two 4x20" heat sink units with a royal blue stand and a combination white, UV, red and green. There are also four more moonlight LEDs currently unlit due to the fried driver. The look is great in my mind. I love the shimmer and intensity.

Photos are just from a phone.

Temporary controller wiring with power supply, drivers and dimmer control wiring.

Brought up the temp and transferred some more rock pieces. Green star polyps have come out. I'm convinced they could survive a nuclear holocaust.

Worked on the frame this afternoon as well. I've missed my deadline but no one's pointed that out. Could have it assembled and stained tomorrow.

Progress is good. I love progress.

I've got much of the system up and running now. The herbie style overflow works up to expectations. I needed to reseal some of my threaded connections but then good. I was explaining to my 6 year old how the plumbing worked. he asked about the second overflow pipe and I described it as an emergency in case the main pipe was clogged by snails. I was so proud of him when he said I should put a cap on top of it to keep snails from getting in. Low and behold I had forgotten the screen I had in my car that had just arrived. That's such a great idea! hey, it fits perfectly. Once it was all plumbed up and running, the sandstorm cleared up in a few hours. I also put a sock filter on the overflow.

The return piping tees off to a small flow for the fuge and just up and over the back. At least for now. I think I might replumb it all around the end of the tank.

I really like the Jebao WP-40, aside from being able to hear the pulsing which seems a little loud to me. But plenty of power and I enjoy the flexibility. Appears to be easy to replace the controller with my own as well.

The fuge has 20 lbs of live sand and some pieces of live rock from my existing tank. The DT currently has 55 lbs of CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand and some 85 lbs of new-to-me live rock. The rock is just set in there for now, but in approximate location I want to build.

As I wait for the lights to arrive tomorrow, I have a 20 year old 16" fluorescent fixture to give some illumination. And the lights from the equipment room.

I feel I need to finish ducting up my AC return as it's noticably higher temp and humidity in there when the door is closed. I'm contemplating going through the exterior wall for some real fresh air. But I don't know how I would handle that.

I got to work on the perimeter frame yesterday as I have 5 days left on my deadline. I promised a frame would be installed no later than 2-weeks from cutting a huge hole in the wall.

No go on that garden stake. I cut it and actually a metal tube covered in plastic. The ends fooled me.

Back to the original video, I agree it's fascinating. But I also find it humorous the "related" videos that youtube serves up when it ends.

I was worried the ¼" PVC was too flexible. But I found today at Lowes some 6' plastic stakes in gardening. Really stiff and $3 for 6'. Just like rebar but solid plastic. I'll report if it works particularly well or poorly

Where might one find that acrylic rod locally? Regal?

Better than I expected. Club price at the Dome was $.79/gallon for DI saltwater. Made filling up much faster than my little unit.

Cycling sand and live rock with help from rock from existing tank.

I settled on a "90g retrofit kit" from Rapid LED trading out the standard drivers for LDD drivers since I'll control with an arduino 0-10 PWM. 2 @ 6"x20" heatsinks with 24 leds each and room for some expansion. Have two channels to control on each. Then I'm adding 4 extra royal blues for moonlight giving a 5th channel. I can't resist not utilizing the lunar cycle the jarduino code already provides.

Waiting on the lights to arrive which gives me some time to finish up the plumbing.

7-8 hours rinsing! Good golly! Mind you I only have 55 lbs to do, I broke it up into 5-6 batches and rinsed fairly lightly. Your cloud is nothing compared to mine, so I guess the effort paid off for you. I'm not worried. I believe it'll clear much better once I have to sump working.

Ha!, as far as the chair ladders, you have another photo somewhere I saw. I noted you had matching ladders on the ends and didn't think much of it other than "Makes sense."

How long has the sand been in now? You add it last weekend?

I put the same sand in and currently have the nasty sand storm. I'm trying to decide if I should keep the flow off to allow it to settle, or run it. Seems with the powerhead it'll never settle. Right now the full cycle running through the sump isn't set up. Another day.

One of our cats slipped into my sump this morning. I'm only just filling the system with water so I figure that's just part of cycling. And she'll likely learn her lesson.

I wonder if she'll somehow relay the experience to our other cat and warn him...

Thanks to both. Got one on the way.

It looks to me like everybody who has these is all over the map as I'm trying to determine which one or how many to order for a 90g standard tank. Should I jsut try one WP-40 first? Or go for two. or mix with a WP-25?

I do have a middle of the road sized Koralia (model escapes me) that will eventually be in this tank. I'd like to get some moderate+ flow for this tank. I'm going to keep the flow to/from sump fairly low.

My thinking right now is one WP-40 isn't enough, but wonder if two is too much.

Looking very nice. Now get a cover on that outlet. Must not have gremlins looking to find what will fit in that hole.

I'm right behind you on my build. I only hope I can manage some of your patience.

Planeden, thanks for the explanation. I assumed it referred to some surprise manual labor.

Kimp, I studied your thread with an eye out for ideas. Looks like it went very well

Tank got placed yesterday and today began a slow addition of water. My ro unit doesn't produce much. I imagine I could get ro water from one of the local shops? Does anyone sell premixed saltwater that is a worthwhile deal? I've seen 5gal boxes like at petco.

My son couldn't resist a chance to climb through.

Tank room with tank and sump in place

Sounds like a story I'm not familiar with. The tank is just too much for one person and little tight coming in the door. Several people for dinner is a perfect excuse to enlist some help.

Excellent. Interested in how this is plumbed located like you describe. Don't forget to keep thanking that wife as you may get obsessed.

Today I cut the window in the wall and the dirty work part of adding an AC vent in the room. Sump partitions are done. Move the tanks in tomorrow. Unknowing help is coming.

Current state with the stand and new outlets. The chalk line on the wall shows approximate height of the tank. A 2x4 backer for a top frame should allow me to rotozip the window out in a jiffy.