The tank arrives...
Posted 09/17/2011 at 08:07 PM by Spaced Cowboy
Tags build
So, after a bit of a mix-up with the trucking company (who knew you had to call them to make an appointment to receive a delivery! Why don’t they call you ?), the tank arrived a day late.
[CENTER][IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/shapeimage_2.png[/IMG][/CENTER]
It was nicely packaged, strapped down onto a palette, with plenty of foam and wood surrounding it. Given that I’d ordered an acrylic sump as well as the tank itself, the packaging was over 5’ tall by just over 8’ long and 4' wide. The driver had a lift-gate on his (8' wide) truck, and a palette-lifting-thing to move it around. As far as I could see, there was no way we were going to get this off the truck...
The driver and I decided we would have to separate the tank and sump, to make it easier to get it off the truck - so we basically unpacked it in-situ, and carried the (lightweight) 75G sump off separately. That left just the tank, sitting on the palette. Even then, it was an 8' by 2' tank that had to get positioned onto an 8' by 2' lift-gate... Did I mention the truck was only 8' wide as well ?
Before we took it out of the truck, I had a good look at the seams and the panes to make sure there was no damage etc. It looks perfect, at least on first inspection: smooth siliconed seams without smearing or excess silicon, and (obviously) no cracks in the panes. The starfire glass looks clear as crystal as well - as compared to the (normal) glass on the back of the tank.
By variously rocking, shoving, manoeuvring the palette so it was half-hanging over the air then pushing it back at a different angle, we just about managed to get it onto the lift-gate without it falling off, but it looked really unsteady. The driver then got me to push the button to lower the gate while he steadied it on the way down; every time I pressed the button, the lift-gate jerked up, down, up and then started to lower itself. I was convinced at this point there was going to be an almighty crash, but it worked out ok. Now the tank was about 6” off the ground.
Enter the dolly - I’d made up an 8’ by 2’ dolly from plywood, 2x4’s, and 6 castors rated to 500 lbs each. We pushed and rocked the palette onto the dolly - it just about fit, and then it was just a matter of rolling the dolly up the driveway into the garage. The dolly worked fantastically. I was really pleased I’d taken the time to make it.
We also got the sump, which I had sent in a design loosely modelled on Melev’s model-F sump, with a couple of additional features...
[CENTER][IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/sump.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]
The inverted baffles are set to appropriate heights for the two input sections - respectively the skimmer (left) and refugium (right).
The siphon-drain and open channel drain from the tank will come down into the left (skimmer) section, and stay submerged. The Bean-style overflow ought to be completely silent, from what I’ve been reading. The pump will source water from the central section, and return over the top (on the left side of the tank) and via the return bulkhead (on the right side of the tank), as well as provide water to a manifold with five outlets, with the outlets positioned at various distances along the sump.
The UV filter (an Emperor Aquatics Smart HO UV Sterilizer) will take a feed from the manifold, and return water to the refugium into the corner box, from which it will overflow to the center partition and return eventually to the display tank. I'll be running the UV at about 250 gph, which ought to be sufficiently slow to kill off protozoa like ich.
You can also see the tank-moving vacuum handholds (the 6 red handles) in the sump, waiting for the eventual move of the tank to the stand when everything is in-place. I also took a snapshot of the schedule-80 bulkheads, a 1.5" and a 1" for each overflow.
[CENTER][IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/sumptank.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/bulkheads.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]
At the time, I wasn't sure, but now I think I'm going to run a DSB in a section of the sump, so I'll be adding some acrylic separators in the "refugium" area, and I'll have to re-baffle the corner box so the slots in the bottom don't get blocked up by the sand. I think if I just put another box around that box, joined to the base and not extending as high as the weir, that will prevent the slots from being blocked, then I can just extend one edge all the way towards the weir, and have a DSB at the front, and chaeto tumbling at the back.
[CENTER][IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/shapeimage_2.png[/IMG][/CENTER]
It was nicely packaged, strapped down onto a palette, with plenty of foam and wood surrounding it. Given that I’d ordered an acrylic sump as well as the tank itself, the packaging was over 5’ tall by just over 8’ long and 4' wide. The driver had a lift-gate on his (8' wide) truck, and a palette-lifting-thing to move it around. As far as I could see, there was no way we were going to get this off the truck...
The driver and I decided we would have to separate the tank and sump, to make it easier to get it off the truck - so we basically unpacked it in-situ, and carried the (lightweight) 75G sump off separately. That left just the tank, sitting on the palette. Even then, it was an 8' by 2' tank that had to get positioned onto an 8' by 2' lift-gate... Did I mention the truck was only 8' wide as well ?
Before we took it out of the truck, I had a good look at the seams and the panes to make sure there was no damage etc. It looks perfect, at least on first inspection: smooth siliconed seams without smearing or excess silicon, and (obviously) no cracks in the panes. The starfire glass looks clear as crystal as well - as compared to the (normal) glass on the back of the tank.
By variously rocking, shoving, manoeuvring the palette so it was half-hanging over the air then pushing it back at a different angle, we just about managed to get it onto the lift-gate without it falling off, but it looked really unsteady. The driver then got me to push the button to lower the gate while he steadied it on the way down; every time I pressed the button, the lift-gate jerked up, down, up and then started to lower itself. I was convinced at this point there was going to be an almighty crash, but it worked out ok. Now the tank was about 6” off the ground.
Enter the dolly - I’d made up an 8’ by 2’ dolly from plywood, 2x4’s, and 6 castors rated to 500 lbs each. We pushed and rocked the palette onto the dolly - it just about fit, and then it was just a matter of rolling the dolly up the driveway into the garage. The dolly worked fantastically. I was really pleased I’d taken the time to make it.
We also got the sump, which I had sent in a design loosely modelled on Melev’s model-F sump, with a couple of additional features...
[CENTER][IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/sump.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]
The inverted baffles are set to appropriate heights for the two input sections - respectively the skimmer (left) and refugium (right).
The siphon-drain and open channel drain from the tank will come down into the left (skimmer) section, and stay submerged. The Bean-style overflow ought to be completely silent, from what I’ve been reading. The pump will source water from the central section, and return over the top (on the left side of the tank) and via the return bulkhead (on the right side of the tank), as well as provide water to a manifold with five outlets, with the outlets positioned at various distances along the sump.
The UV filter (an Emperor Aquatics Smart HO UV Sterilizer) will take a feed from the manifold, and return water to the refugium into the corner box, from which it will overflow to the center partition and return eventually to the display tank. I'll be running the UV at about 250 gph, which ought to be sufficiently slow to kill off protozoa like ich.
You can also see the tank-moving vacuum handholds (the 6 red handles) in the sump, waiting for the eventual move of the tank to the stand when everything is in-place. I also took a snapshot of the schedule-80 bulkheads, a 1.5" and a 1" for each overflow.
[CENTER][IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/sumptank.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://tank-log.com/tank-log.com/Home/Entries/2010/11/24_The_tank_arrives..._files/bulkheads.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]
At the time, I wasn't sure, but now I think I'm going to run a DSB in a section of the sump, so I'll be adding some acrylic separators in the "refugium" area, and I'll have to re-baffle the corner box so the slots in the bottom don't get blocked up by the sand. I think if I just put another box around that box, joined to the base and not extending as high as the weir, that will prevent the slots from being blocked, then I can just extend one edge all the way towards the weir, and have a DSB at the front, and chaeto tumbling at the back.
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