My New Tank

[cybermeez]

The place making my new tank just sent me some photos. They were taken with a cell phone so they're a little blurry but they give a good idea of what it looks like. I can hardly wait until it gets here! BTW it's my first acrylic tank so for those of you who have (or had) an acrylic tank any advice on care and maintanance for it is welcome.

The Tank and Stand

The Acrylic Sump Stand (part of the stand itself is the sump)

 

[noelskii]

cool idea. are those two holes the only access to the inside of the sump?

 

[prattreef]

That looks really nice. You need to be SUPER careful when you clean the "glass" or you will scratch it. Make sure no grains of sand slip in between the magnet and the pane. I can't be that careful and will never buy an acrylic tank again because of it. If you can keep it scratch free you will love it.

 

[R27]

Nice, it looks good.

How many gallons is the tank? What are the dimensions of the tank and stand?

 

[cybermeez]

It's a 120 gallon tank measuring 48x24x24. The stand is 30" high and it's slightly longer and wider (by about an inch) than the tank.

The holes in the back are to run the electical cords through and put in a small circulation fan if I want to. The access to the sump is through the two doors in the front. Rather than being hinged the they sort of function like tongue and grooved wood in that they set into the openings and are lifted up and out to access the sump.

 

[cybermeez]

BTW, since I have a Blue Dot Jawfish the thank will have a deep sandbed. One of the things I would change compared to my current setup that the live rock wouldn't sit on the surface of the sand. There is always the risk that the Jawfish's burrowing could undermine the rock and cause a collapse. Fortunately he's stayed put, but when I move him he'll have to build a new home and anything is possible.

So, with the new tank I'd like to find a way to support the base rocks with something other than the sandbed itself. Has anyone ever done something like that? If so, how did you go about it?

 

[albano]

So, with the new tank I'd like to find a way to support the base rocks with something other than the sandbed itself. Has anyone ever done something like that? If so, how did you go about it?

set up rock work, first...then add sand
In my tank, most of the base rock is drilled, and on acrylic rod 'legs'...and sits above the sand bed


.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

^+1 Albano with the acrylic legs for supporting the rocks off the bottom if you want. In your tank I wouldn't prop them up above the sand though since that would make the Blue Dot a little stressed since he wouldn't have a good spot to really make his burrow.

As for cleaning the acrylic, the easiest way I have found is to replace all the sides with glass...

 

[cybermeez]

What should the diameter of the acrylic rods be?

 

[cybermeez]

As for cleaning the acrylic, the easiest way I have found is to replace all the sides with glass...

:biglaugh:

 

[winsbxnyc]

im so jelous this tank looks great

 

[masterswimmer]

Robin, looks mega hot. Best of luck with it.

Russ

 

[cybermeez]

Thanks Russ. I'll be sure to take some photos and post them when it gets here and when I get it set up. BTW, the whole idea behind the acrylic stand was so I never have to replace another wooden stand again due to water damage.

 

[albano]

What should the diameter of the acrylic rods be?

3/4" is fine... :shhh: time saver tip: if you get a PVC cutting tool, it cuts thru the acrylic rod in 2 seconds...no need for hack/acrylic saw



.

 

[ecvernon]

LOOKS GREAT!!! Who made the tank?

 

[cybermeez]

LOOKS GREAT!!! Who made the tank?

Midwest Custom Aquariums.

 

[pecan2phat]

Nice Robin and they are plumbing in Water Blaster pumps too!

 

[cybermeez]

Nice Robin and they are plumbing in Water Blaster pumps too!

Yep.

My current tank has a pair of Mag 12's and they suck 210 watts total compared to a singe Water Blaster HY 7000's 88 watts. The WB has a little less flow, but the way the new tank is designed the corals should be perfectly happy.

The 2nd smaller WB (HY 3000) pulls 37 watts and is to power my Vertex Biopellet reactor. It's replacing an Ehiem 1260 that draws 65 watts. So the new pumps will cut my power consumption by more than half.

Except for the one powering my skimmer, all pumps will be housed outside the sump - unlike all my current pumps - to reduce the amount of heat transferred from the equipment to the water. I'm really hoping that doing this will make my chiller obsolete on all but the hottest of summer days. The chiller throws off a lot of heat and causes the apartment's AC to kick on over and over again. All it took was one $475 electric bill this summer (for a 1br apartment!) and I was on an efficiency quest.

 

[pecan2phat]

I had changed out all my external magnetic & centrifigal pumps to WBs also to conserve energy and heat. Some of my magnetics (blueline) & centrifigal (dart) were like mini heaters to the touch and the blueline under pressure sounded like a plane hovering!
One thing I would like to mention about the WBs that I had is that the HY-5000, 7000 & 10000 have a volute cover that incorporates threaded unions to the stems of the cover. I had drip leaks in all 3 pumps out of the box and had to re-teflon tape all the inlets and outlets several times to get them to stop the drips. The HY-3000 is a one piece molded volute cover so none of the above problem BUT I had one of the 1st design of the volute cover on this and it developed fracture cracks in several places that did cause the pump to leak when used externally. This was remedied by emailing Coral Vue technology and they sent me a redesigned replacement volute cover. Since your purchase is new, you should have the newer cover. The difference was at the 3 fastening screw openings, they reinforced it with metal overlays. You should add a valve since the 3000 might be too much flow for your pellet reactor.

 

[cybermeez]

Thanks for the info on the WB pumps. Now if it leaks I won't be surprised by it. One of the things I really like about the Vertex Biopellet reactor is that it has a ball valve built in on the cover. It makes up the the poorly designed sponge that filters the out flow.

The sponge gums up very easily and when it does, it does it fast. I recently I got home from work one night and noticed reduced outflow from the reactor. I was tired so I decided to wait 2 days and do it on the weekend when I usually do tank maintenance.

I went to check it on the weekend only to discover it had no flow at all and had gone anaerobic. So, not only did I have to start all over and mature the reactor media from scratch, it was really - I mean REALLY - unpleasant to clean out. The apartment stank for hours!