albertareef Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 Nice work. Sounds like you are well covered to take the weight - better safe than sorry in this case ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Nice work! Thanks for the update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjwatson Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Coming along nicely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share Posted July 23, 2017 alrighty. It's been a month since I posted, but lots of progress! A couple posts coming in succession just to keep it organized! finished insulation and added a vapor barrier. Connected the 6 mil sheets with tyvek house tape...not the prettiest of jobs but it will work. Figured out that when working with tyvek tape make sure you put it exactly where you want as that stuff STICKS! Figured out some stuff with drywall too! Score and snap that stuff. If you use a circular saw it will cover everything in a 100' radius is white dust. i used 5/8" green board just to make myself feel better about drywall in a humid area. Due to high humidity expectations I used stainless steel screws and then mud and taped it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share Posted July 23, 2017 I was originally going to paint the room but found this material called frp which I thought would work much better. it is Fiberglass reinforced plastic, waterproof, chemical resistant, non corrosive, won't flake off over time and gives the room an incredibly clean look. it was easy to cut with some metal shears and very easy to get on the walls. It was NOT easy to get on the ceiling. After cutting the FRP I used liquid nails to get it on the walls and a carpet roller to press it firmly against and get a good seal. The ceilings took a long time. I could not get the 7'x4' sheets to seal against the ceiling. They just kept falling down, very frustrating. I cut them down to 4x4 sheets that worked ok, still couldn't get them to seal well across the entire area and finally decided that fastening them with stainless steal screws and washers would work well. They went up fast after that. For the corners i put up plastic pices sealed with clear silicone. Same for the junction between the frp sheets. They are cheap and easy. after the frp was totally up I painted the floor with epoxy marine paint. 2 coats gave it a nice smooth finish that will be good for dragging tank stands over it. After that I sealed the space between the floor and the walls with a heavy coat of silicone sealant. to ensure the entire room is waterproof I put a si gel piece of rubber cove moulding around the base and sealed the top and bottom and the one seam with two heavy coats of silicone. The rooms floor itself can now hold nearly 200 gallons of water in case it spills. finally came the waterproof electrical covers. Now it's ready for some stands! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Lots of work and cute dogs! Looking good!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share Posted July 23, 2017 And for the final update so far! With this it's all caught up! after all the paint and silicone had dried I started on the stands. built the double 40 gallon tank stand for water changes. The top tank will be freshwater and the bottom will be salt. Both tanks have been drilled so I have to a valve to fill/empty the tanks. NO carrying water! the single 40 gallon stand will be for a quarantine system. It will be plumbed so I can add water from the main system and again turn a valve to pump it out into a drain. I hate carrying water. the frag/filtration tank stand is 7' on top and 9' on bottom. The frag tank will be 7'x3'x10" and the bottom will house two 4'x3'x20" tanks. The first filtration tank will be for bio filtration and the second will be for mechanical. ALMOST READY FOR TANKS! if you know anyone who has tanks of the dimensions above and want to sell them let me know! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 sweet build!! One word of caution.. and I realize this is a little late. You never, ever, never put fiberglass insulation against a concrete wall. Now you have the situation where warm and moist air will be drawn to your cold concrete walls.. and bang.. it condensates on the concrete wall and soaks the insulation. I don't mean to be a buzz kill or anything, I am trying to help. At this point, it would behoove you to pull the covers off your outlets and put spray foam in the openings where the wires come in. You need to make sure that the vapor barrier is as air tight as you can possible make it. Whats done is done but you know what they say.. an ounce of prevention. When I rebuilt my basement the former owner did the same thing and there were huge swaths of mold on the walls and insulation emanating from every outlet. If anyone wants to finish a basement fish room it goes.. basement wall, rigid foam with taped seams, then 2x4, insulation, and drywall. At any rate.. I'm excited to see this monster tank!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 Totally get what your saying! Thankfully I thought of that and have noninsulation against the concrete. I was worried of water or humidity would get back there it would mold and i would have to redo everything. Good call on the foam in the outlet gaps. I will definitely be doing that. Heres an update. QT system is up, rodi is up and I've got water going to to the hopefully short term sump and frag tank. my favorite part....I don't have to carry water anywhere! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 phew!! I saw the first pics and i had this feeling of dread. Its funny how the warm air seeks out the cold spots. well, not funny, its simple physics but people don't think about physics for the most part. The room looks dope as hell!! I'm envious. I have a huge man cave I just installed waterproof floors in but the wife wants the 200 gallon tank upstairs... I am so tempted to put it in the basement though. No carpeting, big mixing station, frag tanks, work station. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 Thanks! I'm very happy with how it's coming out, now I just need to get some salt in the system and clean up the 150 gallon to complete the system. Can you plumb the main tank and the sump/system together through the wall or floor? the pic below are the pipes doing just that. It took a bit of putty work to get the wall around them right after I cut out the access to put the pipes in, but not too bad! theres plenty of pumps that could get water to your tank on the main floor. I'm sure your wife wouldn't mind 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Looks amazing, so many quality decisions here and forethought. Hey one thing worth considering is this: The new AFCI breakers can be life savers. I almost had a fire, read more here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 I was looking for afci breakers while building! Couldn't find them at Home Depot nor lowes and online they seemed overly expensive.... i have gfci installed in all three circuits, would you and why would you reccomend the afci as well. I heard there were dual gfci/afci breakers coming out, but they were over $100 each! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 They are crazy expensive! I would not go combination AFCI GFCI for one simple reason. GFCIs trip allot in saltwater tanks. You want multiple GFCIs so that if one trips, you don't lose it all. I run one GFCI per apex outlet for that reason. one trip means one piece of equipment down, not all of them. The AFCI is one of those things you hope you never need, and never trips. The salty humidity and drips that cause resistance, which causes fires make it worth the extra $$ though in my book. Especially after watching an outlet erupt in flames right in front of my eyes.. Here is a copy paste from that thread. http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/SectionDisplay.jsp?section=61255 1) What is an arc-fault? The UL Standard for AFCIs defines an arc-fault as an unintentional arcing condition in a circuit (wiring). Arcing creates high intensity heat (may exceed 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit) resulting in burning particles that may over time ignite surrounding material such as wood framing or insulation. Samples of types of arcing that can occur: 2) What causes an arc-fault? There are a wide range of conditions that may cause arcing.Wire Degradation Natural degradation through age Humidity or heat Extended mechanical stress Extended voltage stress Physical Damage Animals chewing through insulation Nails, tacks from construction or picture hanging driven into a wall puncturing or damaging a wire(s) Extension or power supply cord damage from sharp bends or furniture pressing on or against cords General cord damage Poor wiring or connection at devices/j-boxes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMBush Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 I would only use GFIC around wet areas. Arc faults are really to sense faults like what you get when an electric blanket goes bad and gets a short that could cause a fire. Or poor wiring connections that are getting hot. Arc fault is not designed to save your life from electronic shock and the intervention isn't as quick as a GFIC. There is a reason arc faults are code for bedrooms and GFIC are for bath/kitchens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share Posted October 18, 2017 Ah! Need some acrylic advice. I got my system running and when filling the quarantine system I noticed there was a small leak coming from the base of my acrylic sump. If I run some acrylic welding solvent along the edge will that fill in the pinhole? Or better to just get a 40 breeder and use that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmas_one Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Get the 40b and call it a day. You fix that leak in the acrylic and another one springs up, no bueno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 36 minutes ago, Parzifal said: Ah! Need some acrylic advice. I got my system running and when filling the quarantine system I noticed there was a small leak coming from the base of my acrylic sump. If I run some acrylic welding solvent along the edge will that fill in the pinhole? Or better to just get a 40 breeder and use that? I resealed my acrylic refugium that way and it has been fine - just in case you don’t want to start over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardedsmurf Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Any photos of the current state of the fish room and the main tank? Would love to see the progress in the last month! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 Hi all! Sorry for the long delay! I took a new position and it’s certainly taken it’s toll on my free time. Pictures and detailed update coming later this week! do any of you have an apex base unit (new one with Wi-Fi capability) you would like to sell? I have the classic but would really like the Wi-Fi access without spending $800 for a bunch of redundant equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thatasianguy Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I was wondering how far has this project got too would like to see the final and current state of it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parzifal Posted September 9, 2018 Author Share Posted September 9, 2018 Well, its been months. The tanks are up and running, at least the temporary ones. I’m looking into getting either some acrylic tanks made or HDPE got some fish, got some rock, and building the cabinet that will hold the apex system. More to come in the next few weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 I see the pup managed to make it into at least one pic! Looks like you’ve been busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 any updates? how are you going to heat this beast?? Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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