upgrading to a 180 ongoing quetions & cost tally

[pipermurphy]

I have had my 75 gal reef for a few years now and in the pocess of remodeling our kitchen we decided to redo the whole living room and dining room.
This created a nice spot for a 180.

Problem 1 - The joists run north -> south, & the tank has to sit north -> south. So I went to a structural engineer and he is in the process of drawing up prints to support the load. Gonna add 8 or 10 2X4" downstairs on slab. This will cut into the living space, but by boxing it in it will give us a storage room. Cost for this $250. Does this sound about right?

 

[bound_for_obx]

$250 sounds like a great deal if you are talking about completely framing up the closet including drywall. If it is just for a short load bearing wall I think that it is a bit steep

 

[pipermurphy]

maybe I misspoke, the $250 was just for his blueprints, I will be doing all the work myself. The framing,crossbracing, sheetrock, etc.

 

[Ziggy953]

Wow! That is a bit high. If you are able to do this kind of work yourself I believe you would be able to come up with the "blueprints" yourself. I've done some similar things with my tanks and I've just overdone the bracing just to make sure. If I thought a 2x4 could hold the load I used a 2x6 just to make sure. I wouldn't spend $250 for someone to tell me what I could probably figure out myself. Just my thoughts. This is of course your house and tank. Good luck.

 

[loganj]

I kinda agree with Ziggy...if you know how to frame up a load bearing wall...and you know to cross brace the joists...then you may not need the blueprints? Of course, I don't know what building codes are there and perhaps you would want to have a set of prints available to prove to a potential buyer that the job was legit and done right...I don't know. If it were me, I'd build what I knew had to be there and not worry with buying the prints. $250 will buy several 2X4's.

 

[pipermurphy]

Thanks I will call him Monday and tell him not to bother, it has only been a couple of days I doubt he has really started. If we move it won't be for 10 yrs, we have done too much remodeling to get out anytime soon.

 

[pipermurphy]

Okay, I got him straightened out, thank on saving the $$$.
My LFS told me the custom stand is in, I'm gonna get it Sunday. He also got me a Berlin sump for 1/2 price.
:
When I set up the new tank(it'll be ready in a few weeks), I'm gonna use only sand as a substrate and get some base rock(won't have enough from the 75) and cycle the new tank. I plan on transferring all my stuff from my 75 over, when would be the time to transfer my sand & rock over? before or after the cycle?
Thanks

 

[pipermurphy]

Okay so you all don't want to answer my last question, doesn't matter. My LFS told me to transfer over all the LS, LR and inhabitants at once. After adding the new base rock and sand.

The question I have is that I am getting a new sump with the 180 which is about 40 gals, and I want to use my current sump, about 35 gals as my fuge. What is the best way to plumb this setup? As two seperate systems or integrated as one somehow?

Thanks

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree witht he LFS...the sand and rock from the other tank will jump start the cycle of the new tank. I have a few pics of what I did with 3 different tanks if you want to have a look. look at this link...http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=92973&highlight=

There are images of my sumps in this post.

HTH

 

[ellisz]

If you have the room, have the tank drain to the sump and then have a pump from the sump to supply the refugium. Elevate the refugium so that it can gravity feed back to the sump.

 

[pipermurphy]

Okay, after much wrangling I got my tank, it is not a 180, but a 240. WOW

The question I now have is on the plumbing.
The tank has dual overflows splitting the back of the tank into thirds. It came drilled with a 1.5" and 1" hole in each. I am reducing down the 1.5" to a 1.25" Durso overflow & one will go to the 50 gal sump, while the other is reduced down to 1" and into the fuge. I am going to elevate the fuge and have it drain into the sump. The pump is an external Little Giant 4MDXQ with 1" in & out. I will T off the line to each overflow and the furthest one away will be reduced down to .75".

My question is will this work? Any ideas or suggestions will be deeply appreciated.Thanks.

 

[Ziggy953]

How much flow does the little giant have? Sounds like a lot of complex plumbing! Wow....have you looked at www.melevsreef.com check out the link to his 280 and the plumbing he did there. It may help you out...I'm not so lucky to have a nice new 240 to deal with!!

Congrats on the new tank! I can't wait to see pics!!!!!