[Ninong]

Originally Posted by john gallagher

Im glad its happening. its been a long time.

THANKS!

Yes, it's been a very long time.

[Poseidon]

Looking FANTASTIC

I really like the "converted China Cabinet" how deep is that, will it be enough for the plumbing or is all that fun stuff going to be in the basement?

Anyway great TANK!!!

mike

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Looking FANTASTIC !!!

I really like the "converted China Cabinet" how deep is that, will it be enough for the plumbing or is all that fun stuff going to be in the basement?

Anyway great TANK!!!

mike

THANKS!

Nope, no basement.

This is Louisiana! The house is on a concrete slab. We even bury the dead above ground so that the coffins don't float away. If there were a basement, it would fill up with water in no time and then alligators, too.

The equipment will have to fit inside the lower cabinet. The interior space is 51"L x 22"W x 31"H. The top of the stand is 56" x 24" but the opening between the "hutch" part is only 45", so I had the tank made exactly 44-15/16"L to fit inside that space.

Because the back of the tank is practically flush with the back wall, there is no space for any equipment, plumbing or wiring behind the tank. All of the plumbing and wiring are concealed on both sides of the tank inside the hutch area. Each side has a space that measures 4" x 11.5" that you can't see because I painted the back sides of the tank so that the plumbing and wiring would not be visible through the tank. But now it looks like I have to do something about the fact that the PVC standpipe and flex PVC return pipe are visible through the tinted front glass of the corner overflow compartment. I will either put a piece of black acrylic in there (very likely) or I will try to conceal it as much as possible with the rockwork on that side.

[Reefland]

Your tank looks really good! I love the white cabinet, I think it turned out great, even if you did lose the light fixture's suspension cables.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Yes, you can see through the corner overflow compartment... but... it's not indicoat mirror, it's graylite tinted glass. You can't see through indicoat mirror. The entire back of the tank, including the back of the overflow compartment, is indicoat mirror but the part that you can see through is just semi-translucent dark tinted glass.

When I go to Baton Rouge next week to have the acrylic rod cut, I might get the leftover piece of 1/4" black acrylic that they should still have from my last job. It measured 11" x 24" and all I need is about 9.75" x 24" to fit inside the front of the overflow compartment.

Sorry Ninong

My bad, I should've read more carefully your original thread about the tank.
Your idea about acrylic piece inside the front of it should work just dandy.
Do you have a plan on the PVC rack for the LR you'd like to share?

This is Louisiana, the house is on a concrete slab. We even bury the dead above ground so that the coffins don't float away. If there were a basement, it would fill up with water in no time and then alligators, too.

I have no basement either and housing all the equipment in the stand is a real PITA. I still didn't hook up my refugium becouse of the luck of space,FWIW. Working on it though

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Your tank looks really good! I love the white cabinet, I think it turned out great, even if you did lose the light fixture's suspension cables.

THANKS!

I didn't lose them, I put them in a safe place so that they wouldn't get lost.

Obviously it was a very good hiding place because no one has found them yet, including me.

I am sure that if I decide to break down and order a new set for $29.95 online, they will show up the day before the new ones arrive.

I'm looking up at my tank right now and I just realized that I could do a pretty good immitation of one of those Japanese lighting setups More Japanese tanks. by adding a couple of 25,000K spotlights, one on either side attached to the woodwork on swivel arms and aiming down through the open top of the tank in front of the Aquastarlight Future fixture. Cool. I'll have to look for some, but first I have to see what happens to the water temp without a chiller. That could be my next big headache and is another reason I am starting out with the lights so high above the water.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Do you have a plan on the PVC rack for the LR you'd like to share?

No, do you?

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

No, do you?

No, not me personally but I do remember seen a thread on RC with pics of Newkies designfor it.I'll go find it and post a link if you did not see it already.

Obviously it was a very good hiding place because no one has found them yet, including me.

You're killing me,Ninong I bet you'll find them as soon as you fill the tank and think that everything is done and you can sit back and relax

PS. Where would you look for those spotlights,Ninong? Sounds leke a good plan and looking at those Japanese tanks it works really well.

Edit: Here's link to the pic of newkies rack
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...68#post1413368

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

No, not me personally but I do remember seen a thread on RC with pics of Newkies designfor it.

I was just kidding about not having a plan and yes, I've seen Newkie's and several others similar to his. What I have in mind is something a little different. Instead of 1/2" PVC pipe, I will be using 3/4" cast acrylic rod. The 3/4" cast acrylic rod is just slightly smaller O.D. than the 1/2" PVC pipe.

I actually do have some ideas floating around in my head but I have to wait until I have my hands on all of the materials to see if I can make things work out the way I would like.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

I was just kidding about not having a plan and yes, I've seen Newkie's and several others similar to his. What I have in mind is something a little different. Instead of 1/2" PVC pipe, I will be using 3/4" cast acrylic rod. The 3/4" cast acrylic rod is just slightly smaller O.D. than the 1/2" PVC pipe.

I actually do have some ideas floating around in my head but I have to wait until I have my hands on all of the materials to see if I can make things work out the way I would like.

I got that part about acrylic rods. Just wonder how well the glue would hold it inside the fittings,but...I'm sure you've done your research and have a plan. I just want pics of it when you're done
BTW, I agree with Scott,the cabinet really looks great and when the tank is up and filled with the COLOR, the white should really provide the simplicity and calming contrast to the hopefully VIVID colors inside your tank- quite brilliant idea.

[hcp28]

Did you ever get the closet installed behind the aquarium like you wanted?

[kevinpo]

Very very nice! Your overflow box will quickly become encrusted with coralline algae inside and out so I wouldn't worry too much about the plumbing showing.

Regards,
Kevin
PS: Glad to see you able to progress on this project

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

I got that part about acrylic rods. Just wonder how well the glue would hold it inside the fittings,but...I'm sure you've done your research and have a plan.

That's why I said I want to wait until I get my hands on all the materials to see if I can make things work the way I would like. I also have lots of those little red Aquastik epoxy sticks that I got at 80% off when Petopia was going out of business. I may have to improvise a little, but I think it will work.

Originally Posted by zhenya

BTW, I agree with Scott,the cabinet really looks great and when the tank is up and filled with the COLOR, the white should really provide the simplicity and calming contrast to the hopefully VIVID colors inside your tank- quite brilliant idea.

The only reason it's white is because that's the way it was originally and it would have been virtually impossible to strip it and stain it, or whatever, because there is another identical one on the other side of my desk and they join up with heavy white crown molding all around the ceiling. This room was originally the dining room.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by hcp28

Did you ever get the closet installed behind the aquarium like you wanted?

Nope.

That was a different plan altogether. That was during the three weeks or so when we were planning to add a 900 sq. ft. addition to the house so that I would have more room. That idea didn't get past the subdivision's architectural review committee because it looked too much like a separate little house with its own front entrance, attached to the main house with an 8' long x 6' wide greenhouse breezeway that would enter through 6' wide French doors in the dining room where the window used to be... the one my desk sits up against right now. The only thing we could get approved was a slight expansion to a front bedroom on the other side of the house that my sister uses as her office right now and I didn't like those plans. I could always move upstairs into a spare bedroom there that is a little larger space but I really can't deal with the stairs.

So... the 120-gal Starphire tank is going in the spot it was originally designed for and my next tank will have to wait until we build a new house in the next three or four years. In the meantime I can continue collecting ideas for the dream tank of the future.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by kevinpo

Very very nice! Your overflow box will quickly become encrusted with coralline algae inside and out so I wouldn't worry too much about the plumbing showing.

True, and it's the coralline on the inside of the overflow compartment that had me hesitating about adding the piece of black acrylic. If I add it, I will have to permanently glue it to the graylite glass so that there is no gap between the acrylic and the glass. Which means that the acrylic will have to be slightly smaller than the glass it is up against because of the existing silicone in the corners. Will Weld-On #16 bond acrylic to glass?

The other possibility is to just try to have a tall rock construction in front of the overflow compartment.

[Ninong]

Ran into a little bit of a delay by the name of Tropical Storm Bill Monday, June 30th.

We lost our power for 6 hours but I didn't even have a tank running yet to worry about. I think we're going to get a generator. My shipment of weird PVC fittings (side outlet 90's) was delayed until Tuesday evening.

I spent all day Wednesday trying to figure out how to make the live rock structure work given the materials I had decided to use. Right away I realized I was going to have a problem sticking 0.75" cast acrylic rod into the 1/2" PVC fittings with their 0.84" I.D. The difference of 0.09" was a lot bigger than I imagined it would be. So I decided to use Aquastick epoxy putty instead of Weld-On #16 to glue the cast acrylic rod pieces into the PVC fittings. I had 6 sticks of that stuff (red, ugh!) that I got at 80% off a long time ago when Petopia was dumping all of their Two Little Fishies products.

I took my 8 acrylic rods (4' each) to the plastics place in Baton Rouge and paid the minimum $40 they charged me for 1 hour's labor and let them cut it for me into a zillion pieces. Took them about 20 minutes. Would have taken me forever. While I was there I had them make me a piece of 1/4" black acrylic sheet to put inside the front of my corner overflow compartment -- that cost only $8.97. That came out VERY nice! I used a little Weld-On #16 to glue the black acrylic to the graylite glass. That's the end of the very nice part of the update.

I had this idea that using 3/4" cast acrylic rods instead of 1/2" PVC pipe would be better because it was less conspicuous and because it wouldn't trap a lot of dead water. Trying to cement the acrylic rods into the PVC fittings was a big PITA. I used up all 6 sticks of epoxy putty I had and still had a couple of joints left to cement. I managed to glue them together using the Weld-On #16, which worked a lot better than I thought it would. I put a little in and waited for a few minutes for that to set and then just added some more. It was a lot neater than the putty sealed joints which look like they have mud sticking out of them. And don't ever go through 6 sticks of that putty stuff without using gloves. That stuff smells terrible and is almost impossible to wash off.

So anyway... I finished about 2 a.m. and it will have to do. I had to use PVC fittings on the tallest upright rods to attach them together at the top for stability. I was hoping to avoid that. I'll just have to hide that with live rock or else I might remove the top bars later on. That's just two that are attached together on each side of the tank against the wall. I made some rock support structures using 4-1/2" pieces of acrylic rod and 1/2" PVC side outlet 90's. They came out OK except for the fact that they are 5-3/4" tall, which is about 3/4" taller than I really wanted. So I guess I'll make the sand bed 6.5" deep instead of 5.5" deep.

I might post a picture later on this evening after I borrow the digital camera. Then I'm going to dump the Southdown in the tank to see how high it comes up. I already had 200-lbs of Southdown and I picked up 60 lbs. of Carib-Sea Aragamax sugar sized sand at the LFS ($24.99 per 30-lb bag ) because everybody down here who used to peddle Southdown out of their garages is out of it right now. I also plan on getting 52-lbs of Fiji live sand shipped in with the live rock. So that gives me 312 lbs total. May not be enough. I'll have to see how it looks before I get the live sand from Fiji. I want the sandbed to be 7.5" in the rear and 6.5" over most of the bottom sloping to 5.5" just in front of the glass. The black acrylic shields I put around the tank are only 5" high and will only conceal about 4" of the sandbed, so a lot of it will still show.

[Ninong]

I am thinking about removing the 3/4" Lockline that you see in the picture sticking out of the plumbed return through the side of the overflow compartment and plugging that bulkhead hole. The problem is that my return pump can't handle the two 3/4" Sea-Swirls plus the 3/4" Lockline outlet. Therefore I need to get rid of one of the outlets on the left side of the tank, either the Lockline or the Sea-Swirl and replace it with a Tunze Stream.

Right now I'm leaning towards dumping the Lockline and keeping the Sea-Swirl but that would mean that the Tunze Stream would have to be mounted on the top of the overflow compartment, which would be precarious... I think. Unless I can attach it over the back wall of the tank? There is only a 3/4" space behind the tank. I think the Stream would be better in the spot occupied by the left side Sea-Swirl but I hate to get rid of either Sea-Swirl and I don't like the looks of the Lockline outlet anyway. Opinions welcomed but I'll probably disregard them and do whatever looks best anyway.

So, if I get a Tunze Stream, which one do you think would be best for this size tank? Remember it's a weird shape: 45"L x 23"W x 27.5"H. I'm thinking the smallest one, 1600 gph, instead of the next size up, 2250 gph??? Does anybody know if these things add any heat to speak of to the water?

[zhenya]

I hope you realize that this whole post reads like a novel,Ninong?
I love it actually and will wait patiently for the next update and pics if you get that camera. I really like to see this structure made out of the acrylic and PVC,sounds like you had lots of fun with it
Glad that tropical storm had passed and you guys OK down there.
I just imagine those howling winds you had.... brrr.

Opinions welcomed but I'll probably disregard them and do whatever looks best anyway.

I'll vote for the removal of the lockline and geting the tunze with 1600gph output. What do you think of that wave2k thing?I know they have some problems with the belts but I think Eric had found a belt that is not breaking after few hours I just wonder if those tunze streams could be mounted on the inside of the overflow and then discharge through the bulkhead via pvc fitting or something like that.I'm not sure how big they are though,never seen one

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

I hope you realize that this whole post reads like a novel,Ninong?

More like a soap opera!

Originally Posted by zhenya

What do you think of that wave2k thing?

Not much. Too many problems. Reminds me of the guy who was selling the Silent Surge surge tanks for a few months before he went belly up. Everybody raved about them at first and then they started having some problems with them and then the guy went out of business.

Originally Posted by zhenya

I just wonder if those tunze streams could be mounted on the inside of the overflow and then discharge through the bulkhead via pvc fitting or something like that.I'm not sure how big they are though,never seen one

I don't think that would work but it is an interesting idea. They are rather large, 3.9" x 4.6" http://www.tunze.com/usa/index.html?lang=en-gb They have an outlet that is 2" O.D./1.8" I.D. The outlet would almost work with the 1.75" hole for the 1" bulkhead but that's the only thing that might work. I would have to redesign my drain standpipe to make room for the Tunze and it still wouldn't work because I don't have enough overflow capacity to be able to handle a powerhead inside the overflow compartment pumping water out. Maybe if the entire side of your tank or the entire back of your tank was an overflow compartment you could consider such a setup? Besides, you would probably have problems with it every time you had a power outage.

[Northman_with_reef]

Exellent Tank!!!!!

Can't wait to see it filled...

I have the a-b Aquaspace light 2x250, I hope you will like your as much as I Do..