It was a great Memorial Weekend. Converting Tanks. I have two tanks, a 100 gallon Tall that is built into the wall. And a stand alone 120 long. And now I have the third tank a Planet Aquarium 150 center flow (60x24x24). Thanks Franks Tank, he sold me the tank that was going to be raffled off on his annual party June 13,2015. [smilie=smile.gif] Maybe I can win it back in the raffle. [smilie=wink.gif]
[attachment=2]100 Week 1.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]100 Full.jpg[/attachment]
We are in the process of replacing approximately 1000 square feet of tile and carpet with all scraped wood. Unfortunately the installer will not move a pool table (for sale) and the fish tank (eventually for sale). So my wife gave me the go ahead to upgrade the in wall unit so we can combined both 100 and 120 into the newly purchased 150. [smilie=clapping.gif]
The 150 will be replacing the 100 in wall unit. Guess how much room I had for for this area? (61 width & 24 depth). Nothing like using every single inch of space. To prepare for the replacement of the 100 gallon, My first process was to make sure water parameters where the same in both tanks. I moved all the rock into the 120 tank. Checking parameters to make sure they didn't change. Acclimated all fish and coral for more than two hours. I had one causality. A small anemone that was eaten by a dog face puffer. I should of feed him first.
Next process was cleaning out the 100, cleaning out the sump, and reinforcing the stand for additional weight. The 100 was first setup back around late 2010. The tank was purchased used from Craigs list. When I built the stand I used 2x6 so I was able to have an open bottom for easy access to the sump. The tank sat on MDF which was painted with a water resistant paint. FYI DO NOT USE MDF. Even though it was treated, the water sitting on MDF eventually will make the MDF swell. I replaced the MDF with a plywood and painted it with a oil base paint. Because we are getting wood floors I wanted to make sure we would be leak free. I also enclosed the sump area with pond material rubber tarp, painted the walls, and lined the walls with plexi glass. My one wall closer to the skimmer was damaged. It will need to be replaced. So make sure you prepare that sump area.
On to plumbing. Looks good but can be aggravating. My 100 tank had the return and drain on the left side. Now I had to redo all the plumbing for a center drain. It has two 3/4 holes for return. Two 1 inch holes for drain. I avoided as much as possible any 90 degree turns. Make sure you glue all connections. Although I have a question, Do you glue the pipe going into the bulkhead?
The return pump is a a Mag 12. I installed a union for maintenance and a valve only for water changes. I want to set up the return so it wouldn't siphon into the overflow. Another question, I found some sites that have drill a 3/16 hole in the return pipe just under the water level to break the siphon. Would this hole be drilled to the overflow level or the display level?
I used the Herbie Style overflow system. The 100 and 120 have Durso overflows. I noticed with two Durso overflows I had problems controlling the sound. Anyways I wanted to see if I can get this sound quieter, so on with the Herbie. I converted the 1 inch drain to a 1 1/4 inch. It has a ball valve to control how much water into the sump and the slurping sound. The emergency stand pipe is 1 inch. I an still tweaking and trying to get used to the adjustments, especially on the power down/start up.
Installing the 150 tank with only two and half people. Franks tank put the tank into my Highlander. I had set the tank onto of an old thick blanket. removing the tank from the SUV was easier than I thought. I have a table that was the same height of the back of the SUV. All we did was slide the the aquarium by pulling the blanket onto the table. My wife, my son, and myself. We then transferred the aquarium to a lift cart I used from work. Just pulling the blanket with the aquarium onto the cart. When it was time to move the aquarium onto the shelf, I lined the shelf with a plastic that painters use. This allowed use to push the aquarium with any scratches to stand or aquarium. Remember the space was 61x24x24, that 1 inch made the difference in sliding the aquarium into its perfect location. The plastic pulled right out.
The 150 is filled and starting it's cycle. I added all new sand 160 lbs. 80 lbs of Carib Sea Fuji Pink and 80 lbs of Reef. Used 15 gallons of water from the 120 tank and seeded the tank with two cups of sand. I added some of the live rock, it's so cloudy I could't do any rock scaping. I will be going on vacation for a week. I going to let the 150 cycle, hopefully my plumbing is adequate to keep the water in the tank. And I appreciate any feed back. And if you have any solutions to my questions please let me know.
[attachment=2]100 Week 1.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]100 Full.jpg[/attachment]
We are in the process of replacing approximately 1000 square feet of tile and carpet with all scraped wood. Unfortunately the installer will not move a pool table (for sale) and the fish tank (eventually for sale). So my wife gave me the go ahead to upgrade the in wall unit so we can combined both 100 and 120 into the newly purchased 150. [smilie=clapping.gif]
The 150 will be replacing the 100 in wall unit. Guess how much room I had for for this area? (61 width & 24 depth). Nothing like using every single inch of space. To prepare for the replacement of the 100 gallon, My first process was to make sure water parameters where the same in both tanks. I moved all the rock into the 120 tank. Checking parameters to make sure they didn't change. Acclimated all fish and coral for more than two hours. I had one causality. A small anemone that was eaten by a dog face puffer. I should of feed him first.
Next process was cleaning out the 100, cleaning out the sump, and reinforcing the stand for additional weight. The 100 was first setup back around late 2010. The tank was purchased used from Craigs list. When I built the stand I used 2x6 so I was able to have an open bottom for easy access to the sump. The tank sat on MDF which was painted with a water resistant paint. FYI DO NOT USE MDF. Even though it was treated, the water sitting on MDF eventually will make the MDF swell. I replaced the MDF with a plywood and painted it with a oil base paint. Because we are getting wood floors I wanted to make sure we would be leak free. I also enclosed the sump area with pond material rubber tarp, painted the walls, and lined the walls with plexi glass. My one wall closer to the skimmer was damaged. It will need to be replaced. So make sure you prepare that sump area.
On to plumbing. Looks good but can be aggravating. My 100 tank had the return and drain on the left side. Now I had to redo all the plumbing for a center drain. It has two 3/4 holes for return. Two 1 inch holes for drain. I avoided as much as possible any 90 degree turns. Make sure you glue all connections. Although I have a question, Do you glue the pipe going into the bulkhead?
The return pump is a a Mag 12. I installed a union for maintenance and a valve only for water changes. I want to set up the return so it wouldn't siphon into the overflow. Another question, I found some sites that have drill a 3/16 hole in the return pipe just under the water level to break the siphon. Would this hole be drilled to the overflow level or the display level?
I used the Herbie Style overflow system. The 100 and 120 have Durso overflows. I noticed with two Durso overflows I had problems controlling the sound. Anyways I wanted to see if I can get this sound quieter, so on with the Herbie. I converted the 1 inch drain to a 1 1/4 inch. It has a ball valve to control how much water into the sump and the slurping sound. The emergency stand pipe is 1 inch. I an still tweaking and trying to get used to the adjustments, especially on the power down/start up.
Installing the 150 tank with only two and half people. Franks tank put the tank into my Highlander. I had set the tank onto of an old thick blanket. removing the tank from the SUV was easier than I thought. I have a table that was the same height of the back of the SUV. All we did was slide the the aquarium by pulling the blanket onto the table. My wife, my son, and myself. We then transferred the aquarium to a lift cart I used from work. Just pulling the blanket with the aquarium onto the cart. When it was time to move the aquarium onto the shelf, I lined the shelf with a plastic that painters use. This allowed use to push the aquarium with any scratches to stand or aquarium. Remember the space was 61x24x24, that 1 inch made the difference in sliding the aquarium into its perfect location. The plastic pulled right out.
The 150 is filled and starting it's cycle. I added all new sand 160 lbs. 80 lbs of Carib Sea Fuji Pink and 80 lbs of Reef. Used 15 gallons of water from the 120 tank and seeded the tank with two cups of sand. I added some of the live rock, it's so cloudy I could't do any rock scaping. I will be going on vacation for a week. I going to let the 150 cycle, hopefully my plumbing is adequate to keep the water in the tank. And I appreciate any feed back. And if you have any solutions to my questions please let me know.