High Tide Aquatics

Mike's Last Build

Well there's 3 basic areas, 2 - 1' x 2' sections, and 1 - 2' x 4' section approximately, the inside dimensions are a few inches shorter.

The plan was always to have electrical isolated from the sump in some way, so putting that piece of plywood through the "middle" (front 1/3) allows me get the strength I need for racking in that plane while acting as a barrier for the electrical aspects of the tank. I can use grommets as pass throughs for any cords, while certainly not completely water tight for the humidity, it will keep any splashing away from the electricity, I mean there's 2- 20A circuits coming through that conduit, last thing I want is some splashing leading to arcing leading to fire. Plus I can put all power supplies and what not in this area and mount everything cleanly (or so I hope :D). I wanted enough space to have everything not crammed together, lots of air, and I can always put fans and some vents that can pull in air not from the fish room area in later if I feel like I need to keep the area cool, which I probably will do just after everything is setup so I don't paint myself into a corner with electrical placement.

Originally I wanted to do the whole front third for this electrical area, but I figured that was probably overkill, so chopped that in half, and the other half will house "water vessels", first kalkwasser reactor, maybe calcium reactor down the line, not sure if 2(3) part containers will fit in here though, at least for a tank of this size, my 180 I used salt buckets, and those most definitely are too large to fit in (I think). I'll cut some holes (or one really big one) to allow for hoses to pass through to the back area & sump

That leaves the entire back area for a sump, which will be a bit under 2' x 4' which should be more than plenty for this tank.
 
Isolating electrical, and possibly controller, dosing pumps, etc, sounds like a good plan.

They have tall skinny water containers and reactors.
With Kalk + Dosing, it does not take huge containers.
The only main issue is RODI, which can be done differently.

I take it you have access to both sides. Unclear which side (if any) goes against a wall.
 
Ok, a major minor update here. I know I was keeping people riveted with my blistering slow pace build here, but it's "basically done" except for a few "minor" things like drilling holes for electrical grommets, and painting the stand. But no pictures (sorry).

So what's the deal I hear you asking? Well sometime in early November, I woke up with a real painful back, and assumed I just slept funny (and very well may have), now while that pain did get better over the next couple days it never went away, and here we are mid December... it's still there. As far as I can tell I aggravated a nerve right at the base of my spine, not quite sciatica because I don't feel the pain shooting down my legs, but it definitely hurts to any sort of bending, lifting, squatting down or otherwise... stuff in general. Unfortunately for the first few weeks I simply chalked it up to sore muscles, so attacked it pretty aggressively with heat which felt great, and used Icy/Hot type stuff multiple times per day which again felt great, it wasn't until the later half of November that I figured it might be nerve related and all that heat simply made things worse. So since they I've switched to ice (which also felt great) and taking Aleve like it's going out of style, I've had a similar issue with a nerve in my neck some years back and was given Naproxen 500mg so figure Aleve can work fine without a prescription, and for the most part I feel fine and can function... as long as don't try to lift stuff of any weight or bend over too much which unfortunately feeding my cats, putting water in the Xmas tree, etc is doing.

So yeah, other than the above mentioned "minor things" I really only need to clean up the area, which unfortunately falls under the category of bending over, picking things up, lifting, etc... other than that tank is ready to be moved into position, and hopefully I can drill it without breaking it, and get rocks and what not put together in structures and start letting it cycle properly... well assuming I could do all that stuff with rocks and what not without bending or lifting :D I haven't asked for help yet though because at this point *I* can't help lift the tank, and while I have no problem asking for help, I'm not going to ask for people to do everything and no way I want to even attempt to lift... I already helped Evan move a big water container into his SUV (wonder if he ever got it home :D), and that was a big mistake and probably set back for getting healed up
 
Damn, sorry to hear that. I did get it home, was a slow drive. I can help moving anything, I'm usually free. I might need to ask for some help moving tanks soon too.
 
Is this the water container?

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Coral reefer said:
Shit man, I woulda helped with the water container hadn't I known. So sorry! Me @xcaret @Jeff Rehling and @borker should be able to move it when you're ready. We are all super close by.
Click to expand...
 
Nah... those were water containers I posted about while at the GOOB Lowes in SSF, at one point I may have wanted to use them, but they're about 6 feet wide, just too wide for my needs. Did you pick them up?


The one I had was basically a vertical rectangle with a welded steel frame around it for support.
 
Didn’t pick it up, just wondered about the water container Mike mentioned.
One would need a pick up truck for that little monster.
 
Yup, that's what those things are designed for, not quite sure why they are out here though, guess someone special ordered them? Makes me wonder what other water containers can be special ordered though Lowes though. Because $294 for 330 gallons isn't that bad a price at all.
 
Ok minor update... don't feel like posting pictures (dragging out the usb cable for my phone, etc etc.. *lazy* *lazy*).

So I finally ordered a Modular Marine overflow, and I'll do a full "unboxing" on that when it gets here AND is installed... don't think I'll do video version of that thought don't think I have a "youtube" personality to let that fly. Reason why I mention this is because this is basically the final ingredient before the tank move, it requires drilling the tank, and while it can be done when the tank is in place it is often easier to drill a horizontal surface as opposed to a vertical one.

Been painting the stand, well I should say, been priming the stand, and damnit if oil based primer is NOT fun to breath in, and yes I have fans blowing around. That's not fun, plus my little Petri dish that I brought into this world has been kind enough to give me his newest present he brought home from some play group or something :D

School has started so need to get a feel for my work load schedule before I put time commitments up. But, as soon as that overflow shows up I'll be asking for moving help.
 
2 weeks later it ships! Guys website says Monday delivery, FedEx says Tuesday delivery, regardless it'll be here early in the weekend. I can finish up the top paint, and move tank ...crap not next weekend because I'll be on kid duty all weekend long, and he's too small to be running arround under foot, doesn't help that Chinese New Year means my wife wants us to go to her aunts place... in Placerville, then will probably want to do some snow fun out of it. Maybe the weekend after... we'll see. I see the finish line! The marathon starts.

FYI, I will start a new thread once the tank is all wet and finished. Then people can see the pretty without scrolling through 6+ pages.
 
I think Mario has some too, we will see. Need to make sure the overflow I ordered is not all busted up, before I make any commitments to when the move should happen, I'll aim for weekends since I know people tend to be free then.
 
It's here! Now who wants to see me drill 2 3-inch holes through some glass!? Well you gotta come help me move the tank first :D
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FYI, I'll do a full review on it once it's all set up, installed, and water flowing through it.
 
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