The Wolfe 90 Build Thread - updated 12/30.

Greetings...

After a lot of planning and research and re-planning it's time to get this going! Firstly, thanks to the 3reef community for all the great info that is housed on this site, and in particular to the folks that helped here: http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/ews-75g-build-planning-thread-139010.html (Lucas, have not done the 1.5" x 9' full siphon test yet, but it's still on the list of things I want to try).

Yes, this turned from a 75 into a 90. Oh well, whaddya gonna do? ;D

Ok, so here we go!

Our tank made it home safely




And I managed to get it out of the car and into the house. Heavy!



Also on hand are:

• 40b Refugium and 29 sump courtesy of the $1 per gallon sale at Petco (which goes until 10/20 in case anyone's interested).
• Assorted glass panels for overflow and baffles
• 2x Radion
• 2x MP40
• Lumber
• Reef Octopus Skimmer
• Iwaki return pump
• Panworld pump for fuge/reactors
• 100 lbs Marco Rock
• 80 lbs Marco Sand
• Approximately 23,439 various PVC fittings
• A bunch of other stuff

We also managed to move the Biocube to the other side of the room successfully and cut a hole in the floor. For whatever reason those particular photos won't upload.

Working on drilling holes, building the stand, painting tank and plumbing over the next few days.

Anyhow, we're super excited. Thanks for having a look and welcome aboard!

--EW

 

Super start! Looking fwd to seeing the progress. It's going to be a gem with the Iwaki and Panworld pumps at the heart.

 

Stuff just got real...!!

Congrats and definitely following!!

 

Thank you gentlemen... I'm looking forward to your input!

 

Here's the spot in the basement where all the stuff is going.



The tall shelves on the left will house 40g water storage tanks - one for RO/DI and one for saltwater.

The middle section will have the 40b refugium.

The right (and lowest) will have the 29g sump.

It's built with 4x4 posts and 2x6 "joists" that are connected with 1/2" x 6" carriage bolts.

 

looks insane! im gonna subscribe!

 

Subscribe!

 

Glad you guys are following along, I hope it'll be worth your time!

 

Here is the dry fit of our stand (it fits together better than it looks in this picture). It's bloody bomb proof I tell ya. The tank is supported by 4x4's with 2x6 platform and 3/4" plywood. It's surrounded by 2x4 walls that extend about 1.5" above the tank bottom so it'll essentially cover up the bottom frame. The rear is going to be 6" wide so the drain pipes will enter the stand through the top rather than from behind. It's going to be covered in 1" stainless steel tiles with 1" glass tiles on the top surfaces and we're going to use some black lacquer cabinet doors from Ikea to finish it off.

It weighs a ton. Fortunately it's right above a giant steel beam (the wall it'll be up against is the major load bearing wall in the house). I figure all told with aquarium, water, rock, sand and stand we're looking at about 100 lbs/sq. ft.



Updated plumbing pic. It's still pretty rough, but you can see the three drain pipes and the return design. The blue line coming out of the wall is from the RO/DI unit and it'll eventually be connected to the sprinkler timer on the wall there and a solenoid activated valve, which I'll explain in more detail in a later post.

 

Started the silicone work too....

40b Fuge



DT - We went with the darkest grey glass we could get. The back is midnight blue.



We have some pics of the drilling process as well, but I haven't uploaded them yet. If anyone is super interested let me know and I'll get 'em posted.