“I’ve made a huge mistake but no turning back” my 180g build has begun

[RedoubtReef]

without seeing pictures I may be misunderstanding but, couldn't you use the extra hole for a second return? Most larger tanks have 2 returns. Maybe that is what they were thinking with the extra hole? As far as it being over the edge of the stand, can you move the tank forward on the stand to get clearance? You can always patch the extra hole with a square of acrylic the right size to cover it and some weld-on.

 

[Fish Styx]

Oh, I thought tou were talking about an external overflow. Ugh...

 

[RedoubtReef]

ok, yeah, you have some issues there. That looks like they were thinking you wanted 2 returns. As well. you are not going to be able to fit bulkheads in there with that clearance. getting the nut on the other side looks like an issue to me from the pics. Throw a bulkhead in there and verify. The first hole can alwys be sealed up.

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Taking a breath, I think either "welding" a piece of acrylic or silconing a piece of glass over are my only options.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Taking a breath, I think either "welding" a piece of acrylic or silconing a piece of glass over are my only options.

I am frustrated, however. I would think a long-time tank maker would think to leave at least 2" of clearance. That seems fairly standard based on the typical stand design.

no silicone, use a square of acrylic and weld-on. I did this on mine to seal up old closed loop holes.

 

[The Life Aquatic]

When I said today would have some bumps I wasn't quite expecting this but upwards and onwards...off to find a local plastics company

 

[RedoubtReef]

Tap-Plastics, they're all over near you. You'll want some weld-on 40.

 

[twentyleagues]

Welp, tank came. I may have an "existential" issue and I'm about ready to abort this entire think.

They added an extra drain hole. I had it drilled for a Herbie (2 drains, 1 return) but they drilled it for a Beanimal (3 drains, 1 return). Not the biggest issue on it's own since I could either switch to a Beanimal style drain OR simple add a valve/cap to that drain and close it off.

But the big issue is that they placed the drain so close to the edge of the tank. It is sitting 1.5" from the tank wall. My stand has a 2" perimeter, therefore .5" of the drain would sit over the stand lip...I don't think this is a "me" issue as any stand for a tank this large would likely have a 2x4" type support on the perimeter, am I wrong?

My only issue seems to be to seal off that drain with something like an acrylic square and weld-on but that makes me very very nervous as a full solution.

I dont know if this will "blow you mind" or not but my 180 is on a 3/4" plywood stand. The stand is from a manufacturer not home made it is hardwood. They make stand up to 400g or 8' long. You can seal that hole and redrill pretty easy with acrylic, but if you gave the manufacturer the stand spec shouldnt they make it right?

 

[RedoubtReef]

I dont know if this will "blow you mind" or not but my 180 is on a 3/4" plywood stand. The stand is from a manufacturer not home made it is hardwood. They make stand up to 400g or 8' long. You can seal that hole and redrill pretty easy with acrylic, but if you gave the manufacturer the stand spec shouldnt they make it right?

without specific dimensions and clearances worked out in advance, this would not be on the tank builder unless they provided the stand.

 

[twentyleagues]

without specific dimensions and clearances worked out in advance, this would not be on the tank builder unless they provided the stand.

Right. Kinda what I said. It was an assumption ( I know) that either op or tank manufacturer would have asked/stated that. But there are work arounds if it was op not telling them and they have to "fix" it.

 

[The Life Aquatic]

without specific dimensions and clearances worked out in advance, this would not be on the tank builder unless they provided the stand.

Correct, I don’t blame them, other than some avoidable miscommunication on number of bulkheads but chalk that up to better to always overcommunicate…lessons learned.

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you to those who helped talk me off the ledge a bit yesterday ha.

Weldon 16 applied, giving it a full 36 hours before I get it wet and “test”. Although I’m feeling optimistic here because it seems there’s very little chance I screwed this up. Tank is full (below overflows obviously) tomorrow I do a test on the overflows to see if my patch holds and then from there it’s plumbing and adding the rock. I added some of my “cured” Caribsea life rock for now, and the live sand.

Despite my best efforts and constant leveling it seems I’m 1mm off to the right (water is sitting 1mm lower at right overflow than left) but I’m going to test as-is as 1mm seems within the margin of error for imperfection.

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Providing an update after an eventful weekend!

1) My patches seem to be holding. I don’t want to jinx it. I was definitely nervous about this.

2) I officially hate plumbing. My last time in this hobby I used mainly soft plumbing and this was my first time with PVC. I ended up with PVC x Vinyl hybrids in many sections. I have one small leak (1 drip every 30 minutes) coming from an emergency drain line and it seems to be from a threaded PVC joint that I can’t for the life of me unscrew (I did use blue monster sealant but I thought it would still be workable with enough pressure) so I will likely need to cut out this section and redo but given the infrequency and fact it’s the emergency drain I’ve still been running it as-is for now.

3) Live sand is in (Caribsea ocean direct). I did not rinse it. Cloudiness cleared up in a day…seems to be a lot of debate around to rinse or not to rinse. Rock etc is all in too.

4) Parameters look “good” as far as new tanks go. Ammonia stayed at 0/trace ammounts and showing .25 ppm Nitrite and 10pm Nitrate but I’ll need to see if that’s a false reading given Nitrite.

Next up, adding my AI LEDs to my hybrid, adding skimmer, and then deciding if I want to toss in a few fish or wait on parameters but given the combo of 1+ month cycling my life rock and 3 weeks of having 90lbs of “true” live rock in my system I think I should be pretty good.

Oh and just orders an ATO setup on a cyber Monday deal. Not much else needed!

 

[RedoubtReef]

Looks good! Why the gussets up above the edge?

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Looks good! Why the gussets up above the edge?

My crazy brain added them thinking they could help during an earthquake. They could do absolutely nothing, but generally speaking things "dance around" during quakes and it seemed like having it locked into the stand would be a better proposition than it potentially sliding off.

Granted there is a chance it then just makes the whole stand more likely to tip, but I still think it was a better move. If anyone with more knowledge on the subject says to remove them then I absolutely will.

 

[RedoubtReef]

My crazy brain added them thinking they could help during an earthquake. They could do absolutely nothing, but generally speaking things "dance around" during quakes and it seemed like having it locked into the stand would be a better proposition than it potentially sliding off.

Granted there is a chance it then just makes the whole stand more likely to tip, but I still think it was a better move. If anyone with more knowledge on the subject says to remove them then I absolutely will.

Yeah, that was what I was thinking. I think in a big enough quake, that whole thing is going to bounce/move across the floor Of course if it's strong enough to tip it, you probably have much bigger problems. Do you have neoprene or foam under it?

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Yeah, that was what I was thinking. I think in a big enough quake, that whole thing is going to bounce/move across the floor Of course if it's strong enough to tip it, you probably have much bigger problems. Do you have neoprene or foam under it?

I'd rather the whole thing move with the tank in-frame than the tank dance off ha but I don't think I'll have a definitive answer one way or the other...hopefully never have to find out!

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Decided to get some livestock going! A pair of clowns as the first residents.

And, I know I’ll likely get some slack for adding coral this early, but my LFS extended their Black Friday sale on buy 2 get 1 frags so I decided to load up on a few cheap and hardy $10/$20 ones to see how things will fare. Also added a small CUC but need to order more.

Also got my Hydras running and now, now
I understand what the LED fuss is all about!

*Edit* I realize after posting that this isn't a great lighting representation ha. These are LEDs on 30% and T5s off. Will get better pics soon.

 

[The Life Aquatic]

Another small update.

Clowns have been in for a few days now. Tested water and nitrites hit 0 for the first time so I tested Nitrates and they're also showing 0.

Going to up feeding and maybe add another fish as I don't want to bottom-out and risk dinos.

Much of the macro algae that came on the live rock is starting to grow back so I think that could also be sapping nutrients. Time to up the CUC to keep it in check.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Decided to get some livestock going! A pair of clowns as the first residents.

And, I know I’ll likely get some slack for adding coral this early, but my LFS extended their Black Friday sale on buy 2 get 1 frags so I decided to load up on a few cheap and hardy $10/$20 ones to see how things will fare. Also added a small CUC but need to order more.

Also got my Hydras running and now, now
I understand what the LED fuss is all about!

*Edit* I realize after posting that this isn't a great lighting representation ha. These are LEDs on 30% and T5s off. Will get better pics soon.

Aquascape looks great!