mlreef 450 gallon mixed reef build
- Thread starter mlreef
- Start date
Tangency
New member
A vinegar soak works pretty well for cleaning equipment. I doubt you will need 3 days to get it looking brand new again.
That skimmer is massive!
mlreef
Active member
Hey Brett! I'm Glad to see that you finally joined Chicago Reefs!
soggy pocktets
New member
Interested to follow your build..just put up a 440 gal mainly fish, with some large leathers and other softies...
Good luck and hope all goes smooth!
Good luck and hope all goes smooth!
mlreef
Active member
Here's the update...
My buddy Tom and I opened up the ceiling in the basement to add additional joists. We ended up adding 6 LVL 12" x 2" x 16 foot long. The pics are of the beginning of the process.
As you can see we made a small hole first and tried keeping dust to minimum with the shop vac.
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I will add more pictures of the Joist process.
My buddy Tom and I opened up the ceiling in the basement to add additional joists. We ended up adding 6 LVL 12" x 2" x 16 foot long. The pics are of the beginning of the process.
As you can see we made a small hole first and tried keeping dust to minimum with the shop vac.
I will add more pictures of the Joist process.
mlreef
Active member
New Pictures Added
The next pictures that I wanted to show you guys are of the stand and canopy. I ended up going with a 2.5" square steel tube that is 10 gauge for the stand, and 1.5" 14 gauge steel tubing for the canopy.
The next step is to grind the welds and get them smooth and then to paint the stand and canopy white.
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The next pictures that I wanted to show you guys are of the stand and canopy. I ended up going with a 2.5" square steel tube that is 10 gauge for the stand, and 1.5" 14 gauge steel tubing for the canopy.
The next step is to grind the welds and get them smooth and then to paint the stand and canopy white.
mlreef
Active member
I plan on using a special marine metal paint. The color is called heavy machinery white. It's made by Benjamen Moore and is $189 a gallon. It will be spayed on. It will require two coats. It ends up being like an epoxy enamel.
RedDevil.258
Active member
WoW can't wait to see more pictures.
mlreef
Active member
I'm glad to see that you are enjoying the build. There will be more pictures added this weekend and on Monday.
Renegade Reefer
New member
Very awsome build !!! In my opinion I would have that stand as low as possible. From my experience climbing a 6ft. ladder everyday gets old real quick. I can't wait to make a steel powder coated stand alot lower than this wooden stand is. Will make a my life alot easier to enjoy this hobby a little more.
mlreef
Active member
I went with a taller stand because I needed to house everything underneath the display tank. I also choose to go taller because the aquarium is going in my family room which has 18 foot ceilings. As far as working on a taller tank I will be using a walk board.
For more information on the walk board you can see it on the link below.
http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.php/304-Tank-stands-wood-versus-steel
There is also a video on this as well.
The Walkboard - YouTube
mlreef
Active member
The joists were a very tight fit. the only thing that helped out is that the ceiling was dropped the height of 6" for some unknown reason. without that 6" we would have been dead in the water. I ended up going with underneath the tank. That way everything is right there. I also liked the idea of going to the mechanical room but in the end my wife said that she did not want to cut up the floors that we just had redone. Also my mechanical room is pretty cramped as it is right now.
RedDevil.258
Active member
Looks like you will be literlly "walking the plank"! LOL
mlreef
Active member
I wanted to add some pictures of the joists going in. This part was just a pain in the you know what for me. I'm not exactly the most handy of people but it turned out very well. As you can see from the pictures, I had to move 3 waterlines, 4 electrical runs and 3 heat ducts. But surprisingly the only that I had to do was cut some drywall and insulation out of the ceiling and a section of soffit that encase the main trunk line of my HVAC.
Any way I have 2 more LVL joist to put in, each one is 16' 6" long and weights about 90 Lbs. Here are some pics.
Enjoy.
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Any way I have 2 more LVL joist to put in, each one is 16' 6" long and weights about 90 Lbs. Here are some pics.
Enjoy.