melev

I like the Track-o better, but I bet its a LOT more to rent.

Marc -

I will try to research and find some specific data and load information but I wouldnt be worried about using leveling feet. Provided you design them properly they will actually hold a tremendous amount of weight. We have machines at work weighing many tons that are all leveled this way. One thing you will want to do is install a jam nut. I tried a quick search to find a design theory document but couldnt. I did find this PDF which shows a few things about leveling screws. Notice on the first page each 3/4" bolt has a 10,000lb capacity. The key is the jam nut though as it properly applies the load to the threads. With a lot of equipment on this stand you may also look at vibration mounts to reduce the vibration passed to the rest of your house. (Not saying its much vibration, but could it make the tank run even quieter to be completely isolated?)

http://www.ucc-udb.com/H14-H18-udb.PDF

I think that if you do set foundations so that they are all the same height and set the stand directly on them. If you are concerned about them not being exact using bolts in them tied to the steel and using washers as shims you would be able to get within about 1/16 of an inch of being perfectly level. I did something like that with twin 31' arch pipes though the bolts were used more to hold down and keep from shifting than to hold above the concrete they were embedded in.

The reason why I suggested the square holes is because you can rent a gas powered or electric concrete saw fairly cheap I don't know how much a drill with a 6 or 8 inch coring bit would run but I doubt it would be cheap or readily available. But if you can prove me wrong on that one by all means go for it, it may be easier and less dusty than dry sawing.

Oh and the drain line wouldn't be too big of a deal if you know where your sink is in the kitchen you can look and see if it drains straight down or into the wall. if it's into the wall and that wall is right next to your garage measure from the current door to the drain and make the same measurement in the garage. remove sheetrock and you should find your drain line.

My sink is on the opposite (outer) wall of the house, and it goes into the wall. There must be a sewer line from the bathrooms, and I do have a access point from the outside of the house (next to the garage). I could do some quick measuring to see where that lands in relation to the house, but it is guesswork without plans.

That's good to know about those threaded bolts. The jam nut sounds good.

I'll see what a concrete guy can tell me about making holes vs digging out a coffin.

It sounds like you are taking a lot of shortcuts. To do the job right you should really gut the interior of the house amd remove the slab. This will allow you to properly plumb the system and build the house around the display.

IMHO I would cut out the old concrete and pour a new slab with fiber in the concrete this is the best solution. And don't disturb the ground under the concrete or you take the chance of it settling on you. I am curious why you wouldn't use a closed loop for circulation instead of vortechs since you would be having the tank built to your specs? Would the vortechs energy efficiency beat that of any equally rated pump?

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of cutting out that pad. We are only talking about 7' x 3'. I called two companies today, but they didn't return the call.

Closed loop pumps pull a lot of power, and the plumbing eats up space. A few well-placed Vortechs give you both ebb and flow, and their maximum flow rate is between 28w and 32w if I recall correctly.

Yeah that is the thing with companies. . . something this size really has no profit in it for them. Cutting concrete can be tough but if you can get a good saw and a wetsaw blade you can keep the dust to a minimum and get a lot done. Then it's just down to brute force and a sledge hammer to break it out. Afterwards just make sure you compact the grade, add some crushed rock and then get your forms setup. You can get a hand tamper with a 6" by 6" foot to pack everything in good. The harder it is packed the less you have to worry about it settling, in fact a lot of foundation problems or cracked slabs comes from an improper grade compaction.

Marc, find a plumber with a SeeSnake, it's an optical pipe snake used to inspect the condition inside pipes, but it can be used to figure out their route under a slab too.

Custom Elos maybe?

It's great to see that you have something else going and I love the old school graphing paper... who needs Google Sketchup anyway. :-)

As much of a delay as it could be I would recommend doing everything you think you can afford to do. You have the rare opportunity to rebuild a tank in the same location. All the things you have thought, cussed at, or just plain hated you can fix.

P.S. I would like to change my recommendaion above about gutting the whole house. I think it would be better to just bulldoze it and start completely new! It would be the Reef Addicts house, we could deisgn it as a community. We could make it like that ED TV movie (I think that was the name). HA!

If yoou upgrade to the 400 gallon that Euroreef skimmers is going to be small, right? What equipment upgrades do you think you need out of this? I know you reuse as much as you can, but some stuff just wont want the a bigger tank!

I would keep the ER skimmer running and just supplement with another skimmer. Otherwise buying a skimmer for a 400 gallon tank would be in the 1500 -2000 dollar range for a recirc which I believe is what Marc has now?

Hey Marc are you thinking of aquascaping a bit of a peninsula coming out from the end where the overflows are? Seems like that would be pretty cool.

The skimmer is the right size for a bigger tank. It was originally rated for up to 800g, but I believe it is more likely rated that way for a lightly stocked tank - not the full blown reef I run. I'm sure it can handle the extra 100+ gallons. It is an in-sump skimmer, non-recirculating.

I picture the rockwork centered in the tank, with the Toadstool close to the overflow on the left and a bommie on the far right.

I'm scooping out the sand now. Not fun. Hopefully a few locals can come over tomorrow to take this tank outside.

Ewe, scooping sand is definitely not the funnest of things to do, wish I could be there to help you with the tank moving. Are you planning on reusing the sand? If so are you going to rinse most of it and keep 20-40 pounds live to reseed? Hopefully the corals and other livestock are still doing well in their storage bins? A "bommie" is a island so to speak to keep polyps on and to keep them form spreading? At least that is how I understood the term used before.

Originally Posted by waldend

P.S. I would like to change my recommendaion above about gutting the whole house. I think it would be better to just bulldoze it and start completely new! It would be the Reef Addicts house, we could deisgn it as a community. We could make it like that ED TV movie (I think that was the name). HA!

So are we going to start donating to a fund for Melevs Reef House? That way we can all driving him crazy by insisting he incorporate everyones ideas.

Reef by committee

If I build it, they will come, eh? lol

It was 7 salt buckets worth of sand. I have plenty of time to rinse it out before the next tank arrives - and yes I will be using it anew. I can seed it with a few cups from the refugium or from a few local tanks.

LOL, I know I will come see it at some point.

Wow, 7 Buckets????? It's going to really byte that you are going to have to cycle again too bad you couldn't rinse a little and keep it still live and viable. Without the sand in the system now are you noticing a lot of water parameters getting out of whack? I would almost expect a tank with the bioload you had to have a cycle of it's own with that much sand lost.