My 3ft Build Log

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srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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I thought I would document my 3ft build which is an upgrade to my current 90ltr tank. Initially will be FOWLR and maybe a few easy to maintain hearty corals. I have not decided on fish yet. Below is a pic of the refugium I scored yesterday on a local auction site and a pic of my cabinet.



I am unsure how to proceed with the refugium. Should I remove the bioballs or add more bioballs to the left side as well? Bioballs seem to get a bad rap around here so I'll have to research this. Also not sure what to put in the main refugium chamber, I was thinking a coral sand bed + and chaeta? My skimmer isn't exactly top of the line but with my budget I think it will be better than nothing.




This shows the cabinet and a guestimate of the new tank. The refugium will be underneath. The cabinet is built like a tank and weighs a ton but out of paranoia I may double up on the re-enforcement by adding some more bracing just to be safe. The floor in my place contains a thick layer of natural hardwood, underneath that is some sort of chipboard this is hard as a rock (i had to drill through it once), under that are some big floor joists that feed into main structural foundation beams -I'm assuming it will hold! I have no idea how to tell but will venture under the house with a builder friend so he can give me his 2c.

More to come over the next few weeks!
 

srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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Starting to work on the cabinet now. It is a solid Rimu cabinet (A New Zealand wood). The top piece is nearly 1 1/4inch thick and perfectly flat so that is good. The bottom piece is 1.5inches thick, this sucker is heeeavy, Rimu is not a light wood. The current bracing I have in the cabinet is in the way of my refugium so I'm going to move it to the sides. The current tank does not seem to phase the cabinet whatsoever so my bracing will likely be overkill but better safe than sorry..

 

srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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Yeah, it's almost gone though, you should have seen it a month ago. I reckon at the rate it's going it will be gone in two weeks :)
 

srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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uh oh, problems. I got out the level today, my long one it's about 3ft long. Now long ways the top of my cabinet shows flat, depth ways part of the top has an ever so slight upwards bow to it. At the worst spot 4mm at the least worst spot 2mm and flat everywhere else. Is a 1/2 inch foam camping mat under my tank enough to dort this variance out? It's looking like I'll need to call in a carpenter though to level the top. How much leway does the foam provide? Thanks!
 

daayda3

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Sep 21, 2006
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whats the red covering it for? nice tank
 

srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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phew, i just removed some of my extra bracing and the top went flat again, it was pushing the top out a bit, i think i'm in the clear now and will trim my braces a tad
 

Reefscape

I shoot people with a Canon
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Nov 8, 2006
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seethroughmylens.co.uk
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Hey...glad you have got this sorted, answer to your question, 1/2" or 3/4" would of sorted this out ok...Its always better to actually sort the level itself out, like you have, than try and compensate for it...Good work so far...Keep it up and looking forward to more progress reports...

Niko
 

srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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Thanks,

so what do you guys reckon I should put in my refug/sump? I was considering a deep sand bed + the plantlife but the refugium area doesn't look deep enough. One option is to make it deeper or with a 45gallon FOWLR tank should i just add some plant into the area + run the bioballs on both sides? For the water entering the sump do i just let it run over a filter pad to remove some waste? I can't find any filter socks in my area..
 
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