Fishie Room Redo, with 220g display

[thegrimreefer]

Many of you have seen my fishie room featuring the 125 in-wall display...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC02353.jpg

Well, in the interest of simplification... and, of course, getting a larger tank, Spazz and I came up with an alternative plan. A 220, deeper front to back, a bit taller that the 125, to fit in the same framed opening.

To build it, we'd need some space...
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0002.jpg

And need to cut out the various pieces...
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0004.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0003.jpg

[thegrimreefer]

Then, just start gluing things together, right?
First, put the ends onto the front
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0005.jpg

Then put the back on...
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0006.jpg

Then glue the top on... upside down...
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0009.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0008.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/08Apr07-0007.jpg

Then, we layed in black acrylic onto the inside back and sides... no pics of that, unfortunately..

And then...

[thegrimreefer]

And then... Glue on the bottom... This time, it's right side up...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSCF0463.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSCF0462.jpg

Just add overflow, and it's ready to go!

Of course, first I had to extend the existing stand deeper into the fishie room..
The salt bucket gives an indication of how much was added
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC03347.jpg

Sheeted the top of the stand with plywood, covered that with pink foam, and plop her in place...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC03345.jpg

[smeese]

Wow that is sweet! You are gonna lovew your overflow. We did that on my
3X3 and its awesome!

[thegrimreefer]

Oh, yeah, the overflow...
The teeth are cut right into the back wall of the tank, and the overflow is completely external.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSCF0464.jpg

A channel runs the length of the tank back on the outside...
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC03349.jpg

And you're going to have to tilt your head because I forgot to rotate these pics, but the dual 1.5 inch overflows are both at one end of the tank, to line up with where my skimmer and sump intakes are:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC03348.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC03346.jpg

And the old 125 display? It's the new fuge/frag tank at the end of the room, up on the wall...
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/DSC03350.jpg

And below it is my 180 saltwater mixing reservoir.

The new display is 72"w x 29d x 26"high

Outstanding work, spazz, and Dusty thanks for all the help. This is going to be SO cool when it's all up and running...

[thegrimreefer]

And, as always, MANY thanks to the wonderful, Lovely and Talented Mrs Thegrimreefer for tolerating all this...

[mtfatwork]

Cant wait to see it in action Ron!

[storrisch]

I love the overflow. The surface of the water should be crystal clear

[Soltaker]

I was wondering when you were going to get around to posting pics of the new baby :poke:

Congrats to you! :biggthumpup: Can't wait to see the progress. :dance:

[christensonjes]

125 gal frag tank? Nice!

[thegrimreefer]

Well, I installed a pair of Durso standpipes into the 125, and with all the plumbing in place, filled everything with tap water, and tried it out. After tightening a couple of connections, all was well.
Almost.
The Dursos worked just fine, but without an overflow, there was no surface skimming in the 125. That didn't sit well with me, so I glued my old "island to island 'Burns' overflow" back into the 125.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000099.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000100.jpg

In this pic, you can also see how I supported one corner of the shelf that holds my top-off RODI reservoir. Also the drains for the 125 meeting up, and the return from my new Dart.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000101.jpg

Here's the end of the sump, feeding the Dart, and the return headed up, and the 2" combined drain from the 125, headed back to the sump.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000102.jpg

The returns to the 220 go to 4 - 3/4" via 1 1/2" tees.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000103.jpg

[PLNelson]

Lookin' good Ron.

[thegrimreefer]

The twin 1 1/2" drains from the 220 are basically just stand pipes. I'm using some slotted pipe for now, seems to work just fine.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000104.jpg

The drains from the 220, and the combined drain from the 125, all dump into this section of the sump.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000105.jpg

From the front. Woodwork for the framing is not done yet.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000108.jpg

OKay, so just how big ARE these custom 220s? Well, if you're 5'10" tall, and around 190 lbs (and dropping, slowly...), it's about THIS big....
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000107.jpg

To light this thing, I'll have a couple VHOs, and 3x400W MH in AC ventilated Luminarc IIIs.
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/TCMASTheGrimReefer/P1000110.jpg

The RO/DI is now filling the 220. I predict sometime Wednesday it'll be full.
I have enough SW mixed to fill the 125 and the sump, and I'll start that running as the 220 fills.

It's getting there.

[mtfatwork]

Ron, it looks like it is coming together nicely :). LMK if you need any help with anything :)