[amc78cj7]

Today is Day 1 of the new 60 gallon setup. The tank was built by GLA with black silicone and the overflow on the right side of center. The cabinet was built by me out of birch and stained with 2 coats of English chestnut and 1 coat of hickory gel stain. Doors are yet to be built. Tank is 36 x 18 x 22; cabinet is 41 x 24 x 30 with extra bracing under the tank. Built big so that I can store the refuge, reefkeeper, BRS 2-part, and Tunze ATO underneath one cabinet. We'll call it my mini-fish room.

I started with my 34 gallon tank. This tank is being put in storage and all livestock moved to the new 60 gallon.
http://www.michiganreefers.com/forums/members-tanks/124348-made-michigan-amc78cj7s-tank-build.html

I transferred 10 gallons of water from the 34 gallon tank to a spare 12 gallon JBJ nanocube the night before and started the pump and heater going so water would be ready in morning. I also tallied up all my livestock so I would be sure nobody got left behind. Next morning I moved everyone (all coral and critters) to the nanocube for temporary living. It is packed, but everyone made the move. I couldn't find the sea star in the sand, but then found him hanging out in the overflow. I also was able to retrieve a small yellow watchman goby that has spent the last 6 months in the refuge after taking a trip down the overflow.

I then put new bulkheads into the new tank and tested for leaks. I made several trips to the grocery store to get 60 gallons of RO / UV water and filled the new 60 gallon tank and let the powerheads mix the salt since nothing else was in the tanks. I moved the refugium to the new cabinet. Currently tank is full, return pump is running and water is getting up to temp.

 

[amc78cj7]

Today was the big clean up day.
Started with washing and transferring the live sand from the old tank.
Then I arranged all the rock-scape in the new tank.
Then I emptied 5 gallons of water from the 12 gallon temporary holding tank and bulk drip acclimated all the livestock.
Then I transferred all the livestock.
Next I cleaned out both the old 34 gallon tank and stand, the 12 gallon transfer tank, and scraped and scrubbed all the salt off the wall behind the old tank.
Finally, I set up power supplies in the new cabinet and built a frame to hold my 2 Kessils above the new tank. This tank is SUPER quiet. I'm sitting about 5 feet from it right now and can't even hear it! Pics...

Cliffnotes: Here is the new tank up and running.

 

[amc78cj7]

The entire experience has been great for the animals. Living for 2 days in close proximity to each other was actually beneficial for most of the livestock. The SPS is not looking too happy though with a lot of color and/or tissue loss. The spotted goby usually is a hermit in his cave was swimming around with the other fish, and the young watchman goby that spent the first 6 months of his life in isolation in the fuge is now hanging out with the pistol shrimp and spotted goby.

And most of all, my dog has her spot back.

2 years ago (January 21, 2012) when I was measuring for the 34 gallon build

1 year ago (January 21, 2013) when the 34 gallon was running

Tonight (March 9, 2014) now that the 34 gallon is in storage

 

[SIR PATRICK]

Great looking tank! I had one very similar, not long ago. Really liked it.

 

[Rhonda]

The new tank and stand look awesome! I am happy that your doggie got her spot back too.

 

[amc78cj7]

Full Auto:

Tunze 3155 ATO started 6 days ago.

BRS 2-part started dosing calcium and alkalinity daily by hand 12 mL each at 11pm and 12am respectively last week.

Set up the Reefkeeper Lite last night and ran a test run of the BRS 2 part dosers. Worked perfectly and volumes were < 10% deviation from target. I'm using the multitimer function and set Timer 1 (Calcium) to pump 5 minutes at 11pm and 5 minutes at 3am; Timer 2 (Alkalinity) to pump 5 minutes at 12am and 5 minutes at 4am.

Picked up a few items from "Adventures in home brewing" in Ann Arbor including caps with holes pre-drilled for the tubing into the the BRS bottles, and these handy little red clips to hold the tubing over a small powerhead in my refugium to prevent precipitation.

Pics:

Full cabinet mechanics

The sump showing the handly little red clips to hold the BRS dosing tubes.

 

[n_prise]

Really nice man! That stand looks great! Funny thing there with your dog.... Lol !

 

[moonlightingrin]

I really like your stand, do you have plans you can share?

 

[amc78cj7]

Sorry, no written plans for the cabinet. I basically cut and sanded 3/4" birch plywood to build a box, using squaring clamps to make sure everything was true. I assembled those with water-activated wood epoxy and tacked with finishing nails. I then built the inner frame using 1x3 oak and Krueg pocket screws (buy the 2-hole jig at Lowes, etc). There is also a frame under the lower shelf to support the sump. Then I trimmed it out, stained and polyerythaned. There are several good plans on reefcentral that use 2x4s. I think the 2x4 method will be cheaper, but I liked the finished look and weight of the 1x3 oak. The real strength comes from the 3/4" plywood.

 

[amc78cj7]

Added liverock for the new AA swap frags.

 

[SIR PATRICK]

Lookin good.

 

[moonlightingrin]

Sorry, no written plans for the cabinet. I basically cut and sanded 3/4" birch plywood to build a box, using squaring clamps to make sure everything was true. I assembled those with water-activated wood epoxy and tacked with finishing nails. I then built the inner frame using 1x3 oak and Krueg pocket screws (buy the 2-hole jig at Lowes, etc). There is also a frame under the lower shelf to support the sump. Then I trimmed it out, stained and polyerythaned. There are several good plans on reefcentral that use 2x4s. I think the 2x4 method will be cheaper, but I liked the finished look and weight of the 1x3 oak. The real strength comes from the 3/4" plywood.

Thanks, my Husband is tinkering in woodworking, well he's always built stuff but now he wants to learn the finer finishing details. I got him a router and jigsaw a couple years ago and he just started using them recently. He said he couldn't build me one that was cost effective because he doesnt like store lumber, it takes forever for him to find nice straight pieces.... but I haven't bought a bigger tank yet so I'm not pressed for time. I would love for him to build the stand though. We have a toddler so definitely need doors on it. I'm sure there's lots of plans out there.

 

[amc78cj7]

Thanks, my Husband is tinkering in woodworking, well he's always built stuff but now he wants to learn the finer finishing details. I got him a router and jigsaw a couple years ago and he just started using them recently. He said he couldn't build me one that was cost effective because he doesnt like store lumber, it takes forever for him to find nice straight pieces.... but I haven't bought a bigger tank yet so I'm not pressed for time. I would love for him to build the stand though. We have a toddler so definitely need doors on it. I'm sure there's lots of plans out there.

I am totally with your husband. I buy most of my lumber from Fingerle Lumber in Ann Arbor as this is where my father and his father and his father have always bought lumber for finished carpentry. Also, they have a guy in the barn with a massive table saw that can cut the plywood to your specifications within 1/16" which means all he will have to do is plan out his dimensions then assemble the precut pieces. When I do buy from Lowes/HD I spend an hour with multiple boards on the floor trying to find straight boards.

He is correct that it is not cost effective. I'll have to record all my receipts, but my guess is I spent well over $300 on the cabinet to date with very little scrap lumber. I built my own because all the manufactured stands are the same dimension as the tank, and I prefer to have a table surface in front of my tank that I can place bowls on when acclimating corals, or food/supplements on when dosing, etc.

I will also be building doors, but am waiting for my father to return so we can do it together. He is a fantastic woodsmith. Finally, I would recommend he use oak rather than birch. It took me several coats of stain and a lot of finished sanding to get the birch to take up the stain evenly. The first several coats were very blotchy. Oak takes up stain in a much more predictable manner and is only slightly more expensive.

 

[moonlightingrin]

I am totally with your husband. I buy most of my lumber from Fingerle Lumber in Ann Arbor as this is where my father and his father and his father have always bought lumber for finished carpentry. Also, they have a guy in the barn with a massive table saw that can cut the plywood to your specifications within 1/16" which means all he will have to do is plan out his dimensions then assemble the precut pieces. When I do buy from Lowes/HD I spend an hour with multiple boards on the floor trying to find straight boards.

He is correct that it is not cost effective. I'll have to record all my receipts, but my guess is I spent well over $300 on the cabinet to date with very little scrap lumber. I built my own because all the manufactured stands are the same dimension as the tank, and I prefer to have a table surface in front of my tank that I can place bowls on when acclimating corals, or food/supplements on when dosing, etc.

I will also be building doors, but am waiting for my father to return so we can do it together. He is a fantastic woodsmith. Finally, I would recommend he use oak rather than birch. It took me several coats of stain and a lot of finished sanding to get the birch to take up the stain evenly. The first several coats were very blotchy. Oak takes up stain in a much more predictable manner and is only slightly more expensive.

Yep, you sound like 2 peas in a pod. He's built garden beds and a large bird cage for me in the past and it always took forever to pick out the boards. I appreciate how much he cares about stuff like that, it just means every project takes a lot longer then expected! He's mentioned Fingerle several times over the years but we've never made the trip, maybe we make one soon. I'm certain he will appreciate and understand the advice you've given so I'll show it to him the next time we talk about it. Our Anniversary is this weekend and we already planned to visit the Woodcraft Store in Canton! thanks for the help

 

[Duncmac]

Are you using an internal pump for your ato? Or an aqualifter? I use the same 5gallon jug for my RO runs at meijer. My maxijet won't fit in there lol. If I could find a way to attach my ato sensor inside that jug...

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[SIR PATRICK]

This tank still going? Would like to see it

 

[amc78cj7]

New Pics Nov. 16, 2014

Added livestock from tdb320reef and the Centerline swap. Now under Evergrow D120 LED lights set to 30:50 (W:B). and MP40W powerheads on both sides.

 

[SIR PATRICK]

Looking great man!

Wish I could have made the centerline swap....

 

[jpbilz]

wow makes me wanna upgrade to a slightly bigger tank

 

[amc78cj7]

Updated pic of the aquarium. You can see I made a frag rack on the left side and also have a cup on the left bottom holding the paly frags, as well as some misc. frags on the bottom of the tank (duncans, etc) that are being prepared for the upcoming swap. You also will notice that my RBTA is gone after 4 years Notice all the coraline algae that is now gone compared to the pic above from a year ago. Even with dosing pumps the steady growth of the SPS and also the addition of the two clams probably consume enough calcium that the coraline won't grow.

Left side

Right side

Built my first DIY refugium sump yesterday. 20g long aquarium for $20 at Petsmart, 3 pains of 1/4" glass cut by Wolverine Glass (Ann Arbor/Dexter) for ~$20, and a tub of Locktite clear silicone (aquarium safe) waterproof sealant from Lowes for ~$5. Also picked up the CPR aquatic "Sock-it" from Fish Doctors Ypsi for ~$40.

The inner dimensions of tank are (29.5" long) x (11-7/8" wide) x (12" high). The right section for the protein skimmer is is 11.25" long. Water enters here from the display tank through the "sock-it". Separating that from the center section is a glass partition mounted to the bottom and sides that is 8.5" high. The center section is 10.5" long. Separating that from the left section is one pain of glass mounted to the bottom and sides that is 8" high, then 1" gap (where a filter pad will reside), then a second pain of glass that is 7.5" in height that is mounted 1.5" off the bottom to create a baffle (7.5" + 1.5" = 9" for the top of this pain from the bottom of the tank. The left section for the return pump is 6" in length.