"New" 275G Custom Peninsula Build

[AKReefing]

The view through both sides of the aquarium--2 inches total. Good enough for water.

 

[AKReefing]

Well, I heard of a pro on R2R with a handle of "AKReefing" -- perhaps you can give him a call? Anyway, it took 2 guys ~6 hours to buff my 8x3x2 tank. It would take me several weeks (if I'm lucky) with lots of blood, sweat, and tears!

Dude, that's my handle, and this is my thread. I'm not a pro.

You're not worried about scratching it later? On my new build, I'm going to go bare bottom just to make sure I won't pick up some sand; otherwise, it will be a very bad day!

Of course I am. I've had a large acrylic tank in the past. After seeing all of the scratches inside this tank, it was clear to me the previous owner didn't realize what she was doing by dragging sand up from the bottom during cleaning.

 

[AKReefing]

Ok, slight delay in progress due to 13 straight 12-hour shifts. The OT helps, though. So as part of prep for the move I had to remove the bulkheads. They were glued to the plumbing below, so I had to cut them loose (see the picture). Glue or no glue, I would always recommend replacing bulkheads any time you remove the old ones. Cheap insurance. One of the replacement bulkheads ended up with a piece of stray plastic between the rubber seal and the bottom of the bulkhead. I discovered it during a leak test. The nut was destroyed during removal, and the rubber seal ended up with a small tear due to the plastic fragment. Fortunately, the bulkhead seller sent a free replacement. I'll install the new one today and recheck for leaks.

 

[AKReefing]

Ok, the replacement bulkhead showed up after 2 weeks... Nice customer service. Leak checked good.

 

[AKReefing]

I installed the plumbing. The return water is split into two streams. There was enough of the original red and blue PVC pipe for reuse, but I had to supplement with white Sch 40. Notice all of the unions. Cheap insurance when you need full access underneath. The original owner had gate valves and transitions to smaller diameters on the drain lines for some reason. I'd never consider restricting drains for any reason. Pardon the mess, but that purple PVC primer gets everywhere, espeecially when you don't care. It works.

Notice the unions are offset from each other. Offfsets allow easier access without pinching fingers between them.

The red and blue pipes are actually parallel in this pic. The optics makes them appear tilted.

 

[Jimbo327]

Doh, I did the same thing and use the purple PVC primer. Next time, we should use the clear PVC primer.

It's not too bad because I keep my stand doors closed. LOL.

 

[AKReefing]

Doh, I did the same thing and use the purple PVC primer. Next time, we should use the clear PVC primer.

It's not too bad because I keep my stand doors closed. LOL.

Apparently, it can be wiped off with clear primer. Low priority, but I may try it sometime.

 

[AKReefing]

Leak checks are complete. Time for rockwork. Unfortunately, living in earthquake-prone Alaska, I couldn't build a tower of rock. Fortunately, I had enough space in this peninsula tank to go fairly high by starting with a wide base, which also has the benefit of providing more surface area for direct lighting.

 

[Nonya]

Leak checks are complete. Time for rockwork. Unfortunately, living in earthquake-prone Alaska, I couldn't build a tower of rock. Fortunately, I had enough space in this peninsula tank to go fairly high by starting with a wide base, which also has the benefit of providing more surface area for direct lighting.

I like the island effect. Once the rock is covered in corals you'll still have the island for visual appeal.

 

[AKReefing]

Angled valley between the two structures to reduce dead space.