The saga of the 150

[+dapettit]

Our labor of love

As many of you know Robin and I purchased a used 150 gallon acrylic tank, complete with sump, lights, sand, livestock, etc, over the 4th of July weekend. After spending 6 weekends cleaning the tank and various other pieces of equipment to our HORROR we discovered the tank was all scratched up. Imagine a cat had gotten into the tank and tried to claw its way out! Needless to say Robin and I were pissed!

So we started to investigate products we could use to get the scratches out. We started with a small hand held repair kit we received with the tank, which was a waste of time. Worked in a 3"x 3" square for an hour and it looked worse. I checked online for some other alternative. We came across a product called Novus. It is sold in Grades #1 and #2. According to the info it would get "all" the scratches out. Again a waste of money! Robin worked all Saturday at least 10 hours and the tank still looked like heck!

As you can imagine, we started getting really depressed. Here we spent all this money and our tank looks like a scratching post. I checked on line again for an acrylic repair person/place. I stumbled across a local business that refurbishes large public aquariums. I asked what it would cost for them to refurbish our tank. Well $75.00 hr @ of 1 sq ft an hour X 30 sq ft, well you get the picture. I asked if this was a project I could do and if so what materials I needed. I burned up a brand new orbital sander and invested a lot of money in sand paper but we feel it was well worth the trouble. After 46 hours (not all in row) I can now say the tank looks 100% better.

I must admit there was a time we thought to just hang it up and part out the goodies. We even shed a few tears both of anger and sadness. I have a lot of back pain, neck pain and arm pain but when we look at the tank it was all worth it!

Now we have to do the outside panels and polish the tank inside and out. A lot of work you say. Ha the hard part is over it's all down hill from here!

Here is our labor of love.

Ok this is what we were up against

Now I'll just show you what we did. Remember this is using 9 different grits of sandpaper in a 3 - 6' square area for 30 minutes. After completing the FIRST complete sanding we discovered the process did not remove the deep scratches. We had to start the process all over again adding a 220 and 400 grit.

1. Spray with water

2. Grind

3. Repeat steps 1 &2 for 30 minutes

4. Clean residue

5. Clean the cleaned residue

6. Wipe dry

7. Repeat steps 1-6 for each section per grit.

The Work Area:

The Actual Labor:

The Finished Product before Buffing: We be so HAPPY!

[Headless_donkey]

AMAZING! It looks great.

[cmanning]

That looks awesome!!! I'm glad both of you didn't give up.......I can only imagine all the work, frustration and stress, but when all is done, you'll sit back an enjoy the finish project and feel such pride....THAT'S A GREAT FEELING. Now all of us here have to wait for pics of the finish setup. Can't wait!!

Best of Luck,

-Cindy-

[+dapettit]

Cindy and James,

Thanks for reading and the kind words.

AMAZING! It looks great.

You can attest to how bad this thing really was.

Cindy,

You right when it's all set up I can say with out a doubt this is OURS!

Dave-

[+dapettit]

IT”S DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well after 3 months and a lot of ups and downs the 150 gallon acrylic aquarium is know completely clean. It’s been sanded and buffed for over 52 hours and I must say we are glad we stuck it out. It looks almost NEW!

Now we have to apply the anti-static cream and we can move on to phase 2 – plumbing.

When I buffed the sides I had to stand the tank on end. Robin thought it was funny and snapped a few pictures. UGH!

So I got even and snapped these as we were doing the final rinse. Hee, hee. . .

ID please!

It soooo shiny!!!

I can see myself!

[Headless_donkey]

FANTASTIC!

[GKarshens]

You will love this tank even more just for all the work you put into it. Congrats!

[cmanning]

Dave is your hand still shaking? I can relate to that feeling while remodeling our home. I prefer to use the nail gun/skill saw than sanding....by the way tank looks fantastic What a major improvement!!!

Best Wishes,

-Cindy-

[+dapettit]

After several attempts to get the RO/DI unit up and running we finally installed it today!

I cut a couple of holes in the wall between the RO/DI unit and the washing machine. I installed a couple of electrical boxes and drilled out 2 cable face plates. I installed a Y on the cold water tap and ran the water through the wall to the RO/DI unit. I also ran the run off water through the wall to a 55 gallon plastic drum. Robin can also move the tubing to the washer to use.

We did a test run to check for leaks. YIKES, water started to leak out from underneath the dry wall. After several minutes of investigation we discovered the leak was coming from the handle on the spicket. I tighten the nut and the leak stopped. Man that was easily!

I installed an in-line TDS meter. I was getting 110ppm on the feed line and 0ppm on the output. I ran five gallons which we used to water some plants. Then I ran five gallons for top off. It takes approximately 53-57 minute to make 5 gallons.

We moved the 55 gallon drums into place. Now they are filling them up. I have designed plumbing using part if Headless_donkey and cmanning designs to pump the water out of the 55 gallon drums to five gallon jugs. We are pretty satisfied with the output. Now we can save money on top off water and can start mixing our own salt water!

We are waiting on the completion of the stand. As soon as this is finished we will start working on the plumbing for the 150.

Stay tuned for more exciting and tantalizing new. . .

[Headless_donkey]

Nice work.

[+dapettit]

IT'S HERE!

James (Aquatic-J) delivered the stand today. What a make over. The original stand was a throw back to the 70’s and know it matches are décor. This will definitely show off the tank. Robin and I are really amazed with the transformation.

James handcrafted everything out of oak except the stars and the fluted trim. All the wood was stained honey oak to match our furniture. Then he applied several coats of polyurethane to finish it out. He will be building a matching hood for us too!

James you surely are a “Master Craftsman.” What an AWESOME job. We can’t believe that’s our old stand. WOW! And Heather thanks for letting us steal your husband.

Before:

Transformation:

After:

[Headless_donkey]

Looks good. Now its time for the fun stuff. Plumbing and water!

BTW if you want to finish my stand for me you are more then welcome.

[+dapettit]

Give James (Aquatic-J) a call. He did all this fantastic work.

[+dapettit]

It's been awhile since we posted anything to our blog so we thought we give an update.

This was a very productive week. I added an additional baffle to create a chamber for the skimmer (thanks for the advice Wendy!). Tested it for leaks and discovered a small leak around the patch (actually I sealed a cut out at the bottom of the baffle and re-cut an oblong hole higher up in the baffle). I added a bead of Weld-On 14 around the inside edge of the original hole and let it dry. After drying I added a second bead of Weld-On 14 on top of the first layer. I let it dry for a couple of hours.

While checking for leaks in the baffle I noticed a small amount of water under the fuge. Not sure where it came from. I added water to the last two chambers to just below the glued piece blocking the lower hole. The leak was at the seam between the bottom and the front panel. I ran a bead along the inside seam of the leaking chamber. Later that evening I test for leaks, YEA, NO LEAKS!

Misti came by and helped us build our Durso standpipe (actually she built it). We also installed the SCWD on the return. I had no idea I needed a standpipe. This is what I love about our hobby, always learning something.

THANKS MISTI YOUR THE BEST!

James delivered the canopy. We (he) installed three exhaust fans. One will pull air in the center and other two will exhaust air out. This should keep the canopy cool with 2X250w MH moguls, I hope. James and I mounted the Lumenbright reflectors to the canopy. We also added 3 moonlights.

Stay tuned more to come. . .

[+dapettit]

We leveled the tank. Man what a chore. I am so glad we did this. I had to use a hand truck to lift the stand as Robin slide shims under the stand. Having the tank level makes all the difference in the world.

Over the course of a couple of days (had to make water) Robin and I added about 95 gallons of water to the tank. We then added the salt. I used 4 Koralia’s to mix the salt. A small salt storm ensued, and then things settled down. I was concerned about the amount of salt settling into the bottom of the tank but as the night wore on the salt dissipated into the water. MY KORALIA”S ARE AWESOME! However they seem to making a lot of noise. Is this normal?

The next morning I checked how the salt mixing was coming along. It appears that all the salt built up on the bottom of the tank is now suspended in the water. Now we wait for it to dissolve. We added the water change water from the 29 to seed the tank. I also have some mud I got from RCA to add to the fuge. We finally filled the tank completely and add the rest of the salt. It’s starting to look like an aquarium now.

Will there be more. Who knows. . .

[+dapettit]

A shelf was added underneath the stand and the DJ switch was installed. Finally I installed and set up the Reef keeper 2.

Robin added the bedrock and sand. After the sand storm cleared we added the live rock. I completed the plumbing to sump and the return. I heard a loud pop later that night. I discovered the hose thingy in installed into the bulk head to the return had cracked.. Upon more examination it was cracked along the molding seam. However, I thought it was only cracked to the nut. I gooped a bunk of aquarium silicone around the bulked and attached a metal hose clamp around the crack. I fixed it WRONG! When I fired up the pump to the return water started leaking out of the bulk head. We had to pull it off, after un-assembling the return and reinstall everything. After fixing all this we added the sand.

After fixing the return bulk head we fired up the Mag 18. I thought we were in a toilet factory. I proceeded to enlarge the hole in the Durso a little bit t a time until I started to get even flow through the intake. This was all good. I was given several used filter sponges by a fellow reefer and placed them in the pump section to get good follow and distribution of the good bacteria to help cycle the tank. Later the night I noticed micro bubbles coming out of the return. I blew it off and went to bed.

I wonder how many more entries I will do tonight?

[+dapettit]

The next morning I still had micro bubbles but I had to go to work so I just let it run hoping it would work itself out. WRONG! When I got home the return pump chamber was almost empty and I had a blizzard of micro bubbles in the main tank. After examining the flow of my sump I noticed the water from the fuge section was just trickling into the return chamber. So I drained the return and the fuge sections (leaving water on the fuge just covering the rock). I got out my trusty roto-tool and cut about 1-2 inches off the fuge/return baffle. After cutting the baffle I refilled the fuge and tested the modification. The Mag 18 was sucking water faster than the chamber could re-fill. I switched with my Mag 7 and things are finally balance. So now the plumbing is complete!

Still having scheduling conflicts with James to get the canopy mounted so I put our old PC lights on the tank just for fun. It really doesn't look bad. . .

I'll let it cycle another week before adding/moving the livestock.

[Headless_donkey]

Every thing looks real good! I like the shelf in the stand. Super idea. I have the tap and to install an adjustable valve on your durso if you would like. Those mag 18s are big boys. The lower flow through the sump is probably a good thing any way.

[cmanning]

WOW!! That tank looks sweet, and the stand looks beautiful. What a transformation!!!

[+dapettit]

We’ve been working hard to get the tank ready for its Christmas unveiling. Robin and I have worked very hard and I think we finally like the set up.

Robin did a fantastic job aquascaping. She moved about 50 lbs of base rock and 150 lbs of live rock from the 50 and the 30 gallon trash can all by herself. I was just floored by her imagination. There was a rock with some weird ugly type of brown star polyp growing on it she didn't like so. . . We took to our LFS and traded it for 2 nice pieces of live rock that with orange coralline growing on them. Really cool looking shapes too.

I drilled a larger hole in the Durso and now we have even flow into the sump. I need to figure out how to quite it down but other than that we are happy with the flow through the sump/refugium. Thanks to James we have some Dragon’s Breath in the fuge along with a small ball of cheato. We also have about 20lbs of rock and a 4” sand bed in the fuge.

We added 3 Banner fish, small Yellow Tang, small Hippo Tang, 3 Neon Blue Gobies, Foxface Rabbit fish, Leopard Wrasse, 100 assorted snails, and other invertebrates to the tank over the last couple of weeks. We also added a Red Digitati, Yellow American Slimmer, and two different types of Stag corals, too. Oh yeah, and Yellow Watchman Goby. . .

Now we need to add an ATO to the system as well as the Euro Reef Skimmer which should be here in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting on our blog, it has been the inspiration that has sustained us through our journey!

[Headless_donkey]

NICE!!! congrats! The tank looks great. I really want to see it when those corals are huge. BTW those are some big "frags." Those reflectors are fantastic.

On the durso you can install a john guest style valve on the top. I have the tap. Just let me know if you would like to borrow it.

[+dapettit]

Will this help with the splashing sounds in the sump?

[Headless_donkey]

No, but a filter sock might.

[+dapettit]

Got one. Could elongate the over tube at the sock?

[Headless_donkey]

Does the tube from the tank go all the way into the water? If it doesn't, I would guess that is where the noise is coming from.

It also might be coming from water over the baffle into the fuge. It is kind of hard to tell from the picture. I would think that would be a much more "subtle" sound. Unless water is just ripping through your sump. In which case I would slow the flow down from the return pump.

Check at the sock first