Tropical Paradise on the Frozen Tundra; a little snowman that wanted to swim in the reef

[AKLiving]

It snowed last night so roads were icy but made it through Denali and the road is drying up. Over half way home. Nice weather now but the clouds are low enough you couldnt see Denali.

 

[Petcrazyson]

Really nice thread. I love your Water/Mixing Station! Loving that aquascape as well never a fan of dry rock but you made it look good. Following for more! What fish have you planned on adding?

 

[AKLiving]

Not bad for 36 hours of work.

After 29 hours thankfully my friend wasnt tired of me... yet. So stayed to help some.

Cabinet done. IKEA on steroids. There were 2,364 cam locks give or take.

Ooooh. In place and leveled. It took about 45 minutes because I knew it it wasn't EXACTLY level I'd stay up at night thinking I should have spent a little more time - just a 1/16 turn more aaaaand perfect.

Eyes getting old so I need light right away to see what I'm doing.

Done for the night. Buddy headed home so we can rest for church tomorrow. Pray for me that I can pay attention instead of my mind wandering to - aaahhhhh fishhh taaaank , what to do next.

 

[AKLiving]

Really nice thread. I love your Water/Mixing Station! Loving that aquascape as well never a fan of dry rock but you made it look good. Following for more! What fish have you planned on adding?

My first fish are what my wife wanted of course. 2 Bangaii Cardinals. I like the choice which helps. Beyond that the only fish I must have is my avitar. That was my favorite fish in the last tank I had. I probably will get it last though in case I happen to get a booger attitude.
The cardinals have been in quarantine so I'm sure they will be glad for a jailbreak though they are still pretty tiny.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Awesome arrived!! That looks so exciting, congrats!!

6 line wrasse in your pic?

 

[AKLiving]

Awesome arrived!! That looks so exciting, congrats!!

6 line wrasse in your pic?

Yep

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Love mine. So active, always present, never hides, zero sign of bad behaviors. Love it.

 

[AKLiving]

Quick pic before headed to church.
For anyone wondering if you can fit a Reefmat 500, skimmer, and OEM ATO tank on a Reefer 350 G2, you can. It'll take a little more work on plumbing but it will fit and still have the entire 3rd compartment open for chaeto, bio balls, etc.
I have a Bubble Magus curve 5. Tight are for adjusting the skimmer but doable. I made a 20 gallon ATO but while it's in the garage going through a leak test I figured I would try the RS ATO tank.

 

[AKLiving]

OK, I'm ready for the roasting. I determined at the outset of this build to document everything, even the blunders. I'll accept the criticism if it helps just one person avoid mistakes. And I would be a hypocrite if I only posted how awesome I am so contributing to others' fear of open conversation.

1. My acrylic skills are not what they use to be. And I remember why I didn't like working with opaque colors as much as transparent or translucent.
I either missed an area altogether or just didn't get capillary action. Since I like to apply thin Weld-On on the inside it was even harder to see. During a water leak test this area opened a gap 1/16" or so. I did apply ASI silicone for insurance and it paid off. No water leaks and with that long of a split I was shocked that the silicone held to the acrylic so well. This area has the most pressure and I think this is a testament to a good silicone. Just don't tell tenecor my blunder. I was going to buy one of their ATO tanks before making my own. I love theirs but I'm a DIY'er at heart so needed something more to do on this build. Sorry for not having an actual picture. Changed phones and lost the images.
Lesson learned: Practice, practice, practice. And if it isn't visually important some good silicone can help make sure you don't scrap some expensive cast acrylic.

2. I installed the cabinet hinge brackets backwards. Unfortunately I decided to hold off on putting the doors on so that I had unobstructed access and didn't have to worry about accidentally pushing the doors too far open and breaking something. These hinges are not designed to open past about 90 degrees. After spending a lot of time arranging and re-arranging the sump to see how I want to set it up (sorry again, I lost the final setup pics when I changed phones yesterday) I figured out the error so had to take almost everything out. The other 3 hinges are easy to get to. I like the big sump for a tank this size but it is shoehorned in there. Only about 1/2-3/4" gap on either side, no gap in the back, and a very, very slim space in front before it would keep the door from closing. That does also limit the places you can put items that use magnet mounts almost exclusively on the sides. It also makes it impossible to adjust the lower left hinge if needed to in the future. A design flaw or an acceptable tradeoff for a great sump - I believe the latter.

Lesson learned: Well, for anyone thinking of a Red Sea 350 make sure you put the cabinet doors on and adjust them before installing the sump even if you take them off for more working room.

 

[AKLiving]

I’m not impatient, really I’m not. I also pay close attention to details.
Enter the humbling experience.
Now after the first time having to take the sump out to get to the hinges you would think I knew 100% that the doors were perfect. Nope. So… disconnect everything, remove plumbing, take out the sump.
Ok, now the doors are level, even, and gently close all the way. Recheck, check again, 30 minutes later - am I missing some detail? Recheck again. Stand back and look for visual appeal of the fitting. Open and close the doors a bazillion times more. Yep, I learnt my lesson. I am not patient enough and I do miss details.
Sooo thankful to be reminded of shortcomings when the consequence isn’t 90 gallons of saltwater on the floor and a bunch of dead animals that didn’t have a part in my error.

The sump looks good and everything fits well.


Now I need help with ideas on electronics and wire management. Considering a false back to mount everything with plug/wire holes so bricks and excess wire live behind it. I’ve see photos of some I like but no details on what it looks like behind or how they decided to attach/mount the panel.
Suggestions, links, photos are all very welcome.
This is going to drive me nuts until cleaned up. However, I have fish giving me puppy dog eyes asking to get out of quarantine. I have to get them in the tank before spending the time in this part. “It’s for the children.”

 

[Petcrazyson]

I’m not impatient, really I’m not. I also pay close attention to details.
Enter the humbling experience.
Now after the first time having to take the sump out to get to the hinges you would think I knew 100% that the doors were perfect. Nope. So… disconnect everything, remove plumbing, take out the sump.
Ok, now the doors are level, even, and gently close all the way. Recheck, check again, 30 minutes later - am I missing some detail? Recheck again. Stand back and look for visual appeal of the fitting. Open and close the doors a bazillion times more. Yep, I learnt my lesson. I am not patient enough and I do miss details.
Sooo thankful to be reminded of shortcomings when the consequence isn’t 90 gallons of saltwater on the floor and a bunch of dead animals that didn’t have a part in my error.

The sump looks good and everything fits well.


Now I need help with ideas on electronics and wire management. Considering a false back to mount everything with plug/wire holes so bricks and excess wire live behind it. I’ve see photos of some I like but no details on what it looks like behind or how they decided to attach/mount the panel.
Suggestions, links, photos are all very welcome.
This is going to drive me nuts until cleaned up. However, I have fish giving me puppy dog eyes asking to get out of quarantine. I have to get them in the tank before spending the time in this part. “It’s for the children.”

I’m considering getting matching small black cabinet furniture on either side of the tank to hide all the wires, right now things are a mess for me as well. I‘ve been hiding them behind the tank for now.

 

[AKLiving]

I’m considering getting matching small black cabinet furniture on either side of the tank to hide all the wires, right now things are a mess for me as well. I‘ve been hiding them behind the tank for now.

I only have 5.5” on either side of the cabinet otherwise I would absolutely have an electronics cabinet which would also keep it from possible salt water splash.
Another idea I have is make a box just deep enough to house power bricks and fits on the side wall and slides so I can pull it out when needed for easier maintenance. The problem I see with the commercially available slide out mounts is they don’t deal with where to put the ever growing number of power bricks. Either that or install my own 24v power supply and get rid of the bricks.

 

[AKLiving]

Ahhhhhh. It’s up and running. And I’m about tapped out. Time for bed.

Enjoy the pics in the morning everyone.
I’ll try to update a morning post with what I didn’t think of in planning

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Really love the rock scape. Looking good!

 

[LeannaBanana]

Great thread! Following along as I'm currently setting up my 350, as well. I've started some cord management, but will be following along for more suggestions! Right now I'm keeping everything "bundled up" and using velcro ties for the wires and hanging them/tucking them on command hooks for now.

 

[AKLiving]

Great thread! Following along as I'm currently setting up my 350, as well. I've started some cord management, but will be following along for more suggestions! Right now I'm keeping everything "bundled up" and using velcro ties for the wires and hanging them/tucking them on command hooks for now.

Cord management - blaaaahhhh. I don't know anyone that loves that task. If you know any I'll fly them out to Alaska just to do mine! I think I'm going to build a 2" cabinet along the outside wall that can slide out if needing more room to work on it. I which I could use the inside wall but with my setup that would be a pain to fiddle with the controllers oriented that way. Thos durn hinges eat up valuable space though if I have to slide past them.

Looks like your timeline was similar to mine only waiting for the tank was my delay. Thankfully that allowed me to work on cyclying my rock since dry Marco is up to $8/lb ( I was able to get a bunch of leftovers much cheaper from someone).

 

[907_Reefer]

Cable "management", I just grab some velcro rolls, cut and strap some wires together and call it a day. Comes out half good even

Looking good though!

 

[Petcrazyson]

Cable "management", I just grab some velcro rolls, cut and strap some wires together and call it a day. Comes out half good even

Looking good though!

Watcha need Velcro for? Just stuff it behind the stand

 

[AKLiving]

Watcha need Velcro for? Just stuff it behind the stand

Better yet, I’m stuffing the wires behind the stand AFTER Velcro-ing into a blob.

 

[907_Reefer]

Mine is definitely, 6" of velcro, a few nice little wraps, then the other 10' is shoved behind the stand. They'll never know