My New 185g Build Thread

Can't wait to see this baby completed. That is unique rock they have in Haiti. I wonder if the tsunami broke off these pieces. They seem to be very large. They must have been coral at one time. Good luck!

 

So more news...

My wife went with me to World Wide Corals last weekend and fell in love with a Midas Blenny they had. So in keeping with the old adage that a happy wife makes a happy tank I bought it for her. Now I don't want to put the new addition in my main tank because it will just be another fish to catch when I do the swap over (in what I now hope will be about three weeks) so I put her in the fuge. So she's (the blenny) has been doing fine.

Today I went back to WWC and bought another 47 lbs of the the large premium. While I was gone my wife went looking for the new blenny and when I got home she told me that she couldn't find her. I ripped apart the fuge and couldn't find her either! All the rock came out, she wasn't in any of the holes. I checked all around the fuge to see if she jumped out. Nothing! Then I caught a glimpse of a tiny bit of movement in one of the corners. She was all camoflaged up against the coraline algae that had grown in the corner of the fuge.

So crisis averted and wifey is now mad at our new blenny for putting her through the ordeal.

More stuff...

I should be getting the new tank in a little over a week. As soon as I get it I'm going to cut a template out of the PVC sheet I got to place where the overflow is and then cut the PVC sheet to match the template. Once I've done that I can start aquascaping even before I have the tank set up. How, you ask? I'm going to buy a small kiddie pool and set it up in the garage with the PVC plate and the new rock in it. Then I can do the drilling of the plate, rock, PVC pipe placement, threaded rod/rock assembly, etc. before the day of the big event so it's less work on the day of. It will also allow me to take more time aquascaping to get it looking perfect. Wifey won't like the pool in the garage, but hey, she got a Midas Blenny!

 

I got my new pump in from Reeflo last week. The story of why I needed a new pump over the Dart I had bought is in another thread detailing my wife's desire for a Porcupine Puffer. I should have just posted that here since it's really all part of the same build.

The story of the great customer experience I had with Reeflo is also in a thread in the pumps forum.

I thought I'd post a pic of the new "Goby" pump from Reeflo next to the Dart. BIG PUMP! (note keys for scale)



Also, I've got a tank set up date - April 24th! A long way away, but my best friend from college is going to come down to Orlando to help out and this is the first he could get down here. The clock is ticking!

 

I should also note that the power usage for the Goby is estimated to be about 190 watts vs about 130 for the Dart at the head pressure I'll be running it at.

 

More news...

My tank is in!

... but my stand isn't ready yet. I'm heading over to the cabinet place tomorrow to work out light placement and to get the color right. I'll take some pics and post on my return.

Also, I ended up buying a huge tub from Aquatic Eco systems that I will be using to get my aquascaping going with until I do the final tank swap. Again, pics tomorrow.

Also, also, I think I have an innovative way to do a "bare bottom" tank and have it look a little more natural. I purchased a 2'x4' sheet of 3/8" thick PVC that I'm going to use as a mounting base for PVC and threaded rods for my aquascaping. I will cut out a spot for the tank overflow and have it butt up against the back of the tank. This will leave 6" on both ends and in front. There will be about a 1/4" gap underneath. The PVC will be inserted into bulkheads that will go through the plate (hence the reason for the gap underneath). See image below:



Now having a big plate like this in a barebottom tank is not going to look good. So my thought is to first aquascape the rock and get everything how I like it. Then after everything is in placeI take some of the aquarium-safe mortar (the stuff Marco Rocks uses) to create a sort of texture on the top of the plate and have it come off the edges down to where the bottom of the tank would be (I would do this on a thick piece of plastic sheet like a shower curtain so I could peel it off after curing). After the texture looks basically how I'd like it I would dump a ton of aragonite sand over the top and pat it down lightly to give it a natural texture and feel. Let it all cure up and put it in the tank.

Now I won't want a dead space under the plate so I plan to mount a bulkhead with a barbed fitting on it and run a Mag 7 directly to the space under the plate to keep positive pressure and thus keep food and other particulates from accumulating under there.

 

Wow, you really put a lot of thought itno things. I like it. Sounds very interesting. I like the idea. Like stucco.

I would only be concerned with bonding. Perhaps you could think of using foam like they do to tank back. You know, foam with rocks and stuff for tank back walls. Spray the board, then coat it with sand. The sand will break the bubbles, but you should be left with something relatively secure???? Don't know. Looking forward to see how this comes out.

 

I'm concerned about that as well so what I'm going to do is drill a number of small holes in the plate and put in a bunch of plastic screws to help hold the mortar in place. I don't expect the mortar to bond to the PVC very well, but the screws will hold it in place.

 

Yep, that will help. Take some sixty grit and really rough it up well too.

 

So I forgot my camera when I went out to the cabinet guy's place. All I've got is crappy cell phone pics, but even with them you can see how nice the stand is coming along.

 

Stand got delivered this weekend!




Close up of the top:




The top open:




Inside the top - lumenarcs only. I'll be adding some T5s and LEDs.




The cabinets in the front:




The large area in the back for sump, etc. My sump is remote so I think I'm going to put a chiller in here with ample ventilation/fans.