It's arrived!
It's an Aquariums4Life custom build. It's 72"(L)x27"(H)x24"(W), less sand and rock will be around 700L, plus a 4ft sump, which runs at about 200L, so 900L total (238 US Gallons).
I'm really happy with it.
The cabinetIt's solidly built. Steel frame, adjustable feet and white gloss acrylic faced cladding. No back to the cabinet to allow for air flow (hopefully not moisture build up), and easy access for electrics, etc.
The tankDouble layer base (which I didn't expect). Neat silicone, Soft close, push catch, magnetic doors, It's also got a "phantom base", which I'd never heard of. It's basically where you paint the bottom of the tank (in my case, black to match the back wall and weir). The idea is that if you decide to run with no substrate, it looks nicer. I'm going for a DSB, so wasted on me, but still nice when it comes for free
It has two braces, evenly spaced, so my three Razors can sit in between them, and the hood has braces in the same place as the glass. The hood rests on top too, so I can remove it if I ever need to (my previous tank had the hood siliconed in place).
The pipework2x 40mm drains. The emergency also has a durso fitted to quieten it - a nice touch I wasn't expecting.
25mm return. My only hesitation with the tank is with this. It's not how I specified I wanted it. I wanted to have PTFE tape in the last joints, so I could move the tip of the return to be barely under the waterline, to prevent water getting siphoned down to the sump if the return pump is switch off. This is especially important, as I have copied
@Mike 's sump design, which leaves just enough space to take a little from the top of the tank, down to the main drain in the weir, and nothing extra. Having the return submerged further, and the joints being glued in place, means I'm not certain if I will end up flooding the sump if the return is switched off. If that's the case, I will need to modify the return (not hard, but I shouldn't need to)
[Edit] See @Ian Dashfield comment below for rationale for why the joints are glued[/Edit]Unions on everything, so it can all come apart, and the sump can be removed if need be.
Overflow in the sump (thanks to
@Hai for the idea). The pipe pointing up needs trimming down, but it's loose, so a 2 min job. This feeds to a drain I drilled through the kitchen wall. The idea is, if the sump were ever to be about to overflow, this drain will take the water within a couple of mm from the top, and so it will never flood my kitchen. The drain currently just pours onto the grass down the side of my house, but I'm hoping to prove the gutter drain, is linked to the kitchen drain, in which case, I can feed this into the gutter drain and it all just disappears. I can also use this for water changes, and possibly for a skimmer overflow.
The customer serviceCommunication was great, right from initial questions, through to updates on the tank progress, and delivery arrangements. Lucy, thanks!
Customising the tank was no problem. I picked an unusual height, sump design, and then changed that to add the sump overflow part way through the build. I was warned the design couldn't be changed once I signed up, but they didn't have any issues doing so when I asked. They even challenged my sump design, and talked through it with me, to make sure I knew what I was doing - better safe, than sorry
Delivery and installationI saw a photo of them delivering another tank with a scissor trolley, and asked if they could do that for me. No problem. They even agreed to send two people (Ian, and his dad, Howard - who doesn't even work for them) who did a great job. I literally did nothing, as they brought everything in, levelled the tank (part of the delivery service), fitted the pipework (I paid extra for that, but well worth it for the hassle it saved me), and cleared up. I just made the tea
I suppose you'll want some pictures then?