Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > General Interest Forums > Do It Yourself
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 06/28/2010, 05:09 AM   #351
username in use
Sciencing Daily
 
username in use's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,560
Im loving the progress of this. The kids in the tank (although semi-cliche) give a nice sense of the actual size of the tank. This will be a great looking tank when all is said and done.

And Im a little dissapointed that you put in pictures without your signature face blockers.


__________________
Joshua


"With fronds like these, who needs anemones?" - Albert Einstein

Current Tank Info: multiple nano's sprinkled around the house
username in use is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/28/2010, 07:08 AM   #352
amcarrig
Allons-y!
 
amcarrig's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: CT
Posts: 2,909
Is that you in the shadows holding the baby?

Great pictures DWIZM. You must be getting excited about the tank now?


__________________
The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.
amcarrig is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/28/2010, 08:32 AM   #353
Sugar Magnolia
Registered Member
 
Sugar Magnolia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 17,691
Wooo! Progress! Got to love the little helpers. Very cute kids DWIZM!


__________________
Adrienne

The only thing to fear is fear itself....and spiders.
Sugar Magnolia is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 06/28/2010, 01:02 PM   #354
j-dizzle
Registered Member
 
j-dizzle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 198
Great build!! excited to see whats next!


__________________
Jesse
72g Bow,sps, 6 bulb TEK light, RKE, 2 part, 2x mp40w es
j-dizzle is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 06:54 AM   #355
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Quote:
Originally Posted by amcarrig View Post
Is that you in the shadows holding the baby?

Great pictures DWIZM. You must be getting excited about the tank now?
That's my wife! my elbow is on the edge of the reflection in that glass panel.

Excited? Yes, to the point of losing sleep. Sadly I have to pace myself as summer is a busy time around here.

I did manage to get the stand and hood finished and painted (the portions that will remain exposed, at least.) And the sump is in place. Started cutting pipe for the plumbing. I'm going to be at around 50' of pipe once this tank is plumbed. You know you're off your rocker when you start thinking of 1.5" PVC as "small" for a fish tank.




__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 07:02 AM   #356
amcarrig
Allons-y!
 
amcarrig's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: CT
Posts: 2,909
Quote:
Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht View Post
That's my wife!
DOH! Don't you dare tell her what I said then

I can't imagine how difficult it has been for you to pace yourself It's definitely coming along nicely though and I'm sure that you'll be happy that you took your time with it once it's all finished!


__________________
The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.
amcarrig is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 07:07 AM   #357
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
It's our secret.

Other progress - I put vinyl flooring down inside the stand. My first time, but I'm hooked. I don't think I'll build another tank without it. It went down in like 8 minutes, it was dirt cheap (I used about $7 worth of material) and it's waterproof.

Regarding painting the stand - next time, I would just pre-paint the lumber before building the stand. Getting in all the nooks and crannies without covering myself in paint was really awkward.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 08:34 AM   #358
Sugar Magnolia
Registered Member
 
Sugar Magnolia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 17,691
Coming along nicely! 50 feet of PVC. I can' even begin to fathom the extent of the plumbing you have going there.


__________________
Adrienne

The only thing to fear is fear itself....and spiders.
Sugar Magnolia is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 08:44 AM   #359
TheFishMan65
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 4,618
Looks great - can't wait to see the finished product.


TheFishMan65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 08:46 AM   #360
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia View Post
Coming along nicely! 50 feet of PVC. I can' even begin to fathom the extent of the plumbing you have going there.
Really, it's not that complicated. It's just that everything is far away from everything else, because the tank is so big, and so high off the floor.

Basically, the sump plumbing is as such:

1) Two 1.5" drains from overflow box to sump
2) A very short section of 2" from the sump to the return pump. Really, this is just a bulkhead and true union ball valve with bits of pipe to glue them together.
3) 1.5" out of the return pump, back above the sump, with two 1" lines T'd and valved off for equipment in the sump. Then the 1.5" continues up the side of the tank and over the top edge to return to the display.

The closed loop is as such:

1) 2" pipe, about 18" long, inside the tank with slots cut to act as an intake strainer
2) 2" pipe from the bulkhead down to the pump
3) 1.5" pipe from the pump to a T under the middle of the tank
4) Each side of the T feeds a closed loop return in each back corner of the tank, all 1.5" pipe

In addition, there are unions and ball valves at pretty much every pipe/equipment junction, to allow for flow control and disassembly.

Total count is something like:

40' of 1.5" pipe
~16 x 1.5" 90's
~6 x 1.5" T's
2 x 1.5" caps
4 x 1.5" bulkheads
5 x 1.5" union ball valves

10' of 2" pipe
2 x 2" 90's
2 x 2" bulkheads
2 x 2" union ball valves

~2' of 1" pipe
2 x 1" ball valves

I bet the plumbing has cost around $300, but I haven't actually kept track. It's been interesting to note that some costs don't really change much with a larger tank, but others do - including some you don't think about beforehand.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 10:32 AM   #361
Flanders
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 3,592
Quote:
Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht View Post
That's my wife! my elbow is on the edge of the reflection in that glass panel.

Excited? Yes, to the point of losing sleep. Sadly I have to pace myself as summer is a busy time around here.

I did manage to get the stand and hood finished and painted (the portions that will remain exposed, at least.) And the sump is in place. Started cutting pipe for the plumbing. I'm going to be at around 50' of pipe once this tank is plumbed. You know you're off your rocker when you start thinking of 1.5" PVC as "small" for a fish tank.

holy crap, that looks amazing. I love the white interior.


__________________
Insert witty phrase, followed by explosive laughter

Current Tank Info: 75 gallon reef, two 175-watt MH, two vho actinic
Flanders is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 10:35 AM   #362
TheFishMan65
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 4,618
I was thinking of doing vinyl also. So are the edges turned up? Or there a caulk bead? Or none of the above? Thanks. I have piece now, but it just sits there.


TheFishMan65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 10:52 AM   #363
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flanders View Post
holy crap, that looks amazing.
Thanks! When are we going to see your build? You probably remember what the 125 looked like there. This already feels much more "permanent" which is exactly what I wanted.

I love the white interior.[/QUOTE]

I feel like the white was one of my biggest "risks" but I'm glad I did it. It's different, and makes the tank feel brighter and more open, for sure. I dunno if you've seen it, but Kent did his 1000g plywood tank with a white interior and even though he feels it turned out kinda yellowish, I still think it looks really good.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFishMan65 View Post
I was thinking of doing vinyl also. So are the edges turned up? Or there a caulk bead? Or none of the above? Thanks. I have piece now, but it just sits there.
Edge is flush, I will be doing a silicone bead to seal it to the bottom plates in the stand "walls." The vinyl is directly over the OSB subfloor so it's not pretty at all and might not adhere well longterm but I don't really care. It'll be sealed around the edge and I'm not terribly concerned about bubbles or other "defects" if it starts to lift. $8 worth of vinyl and 20 minutes to install is much more reasonable than $20 - $30 in epoxy and a messy paint/pour process, for sure.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 11:12 AM   #364
TheFishMan65
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 4,618
No you weren't supposed to do anything! Then when the tank falls through you can turn the whole basement into a tank. Thanks for the info


TheFishMan65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 11:25 AM   #365
Flanders
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 3,592
Quote:
Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht View Post
Thanks! When are we going to see your build?
it's going to be a fall project. there's just no way I'll get it done this summer. the rock is still soaking in the yard and is about to get bleached, and the stand will likely go together this weekend.

but on some level I still worry that I like the idea of having a tank again more than actually having a tank again. if that makes any sense.


__________________
Insert witty phrase, followed by explosive laughter

Current Tank Info: 75 gallon reef, two 175-watt MH, two vho actinic
Flanders is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 11:36 AM   #366
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flanders View Post
but on some level I still worry that I like the idea of having a tank again more than actually having a tank again. if that makes any sense.
It makes total sense! That was part of the reason why I decided that if I WAS going to actually have a tank, it had better be a special one to make it worthwhile. No more compromises based on off the shelf components or what vendors think I need/want. Based on the plans you were telling me about your tank, it sounds like you have a similar approach.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 03:02 PM   #367
kcress
Registered Member
 
kcress's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Central California Coast.
Posts: 5,383
So you are doing something to keep any spill inside the box made by the stand base and the floor?


kcress is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 07:21 PM   #368
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
The floor will be sealed to the 2x4 bottom frame with silicone. Otherwise, nope. If more than 10 - 20 gallons gets in there, it'll spill out the door and onto the carpet. I'll have leak detector alarms, connected to the controller which will be networked, so in theory I'll know within minutes if a leak happens.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 10:01 PM   #369
nanonubey
Shogun
 
nanonubey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Illinois, Montgomery
Posts: 2,048
Very cool.


__________________
250 DD, Nanoseascreations custom sump and reactor with Seaslug bio pellets , (2) 400w MH Lumen max2 (20k Radium) and (2) 80w ATI aqua blue plus t-5's ,(2) Tunze 6105's w Tunze 7095, (2) Vortech mp40w es,ReefKeeper Elite, JBJ ATO, Reef octopus extreme 200, and Arctica 1/5 chiller.

RR 20l frag tank, Nova Extreme light with ATI bulbs, (12) bulb d.i.y. reefledlights.com , (1)Vortech MP10es.

" My girlfriend hates when I use the F word in any of it's various forms, fish, fish tank, fish store...."

" Ninja fish trips weekly"
nanonubey is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/13/2010, 10:30 PM   #370
kcress
Registered Member
 
kcress's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Central California Coast.
Posts: 5,383
Oh, that was all I meant. That would contain the typical drip that starts or the bonehead spill you initiate while working on the system.

You just don't want a gallon spill ending up under your flooring or soaking into your carpet.


kcress is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/14/2010, 06:31 AM   #371
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Definitely!

There are going to be at least a few "penetrations" through the floor for electrical and plumbing from the basement. I will probably cut them to fit tight around whatever conduit I use, then seal them with silicone, too.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/14/2010, 10:30 AM   #372
Rybren
Registered Member
 
Rybren's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 1,642
How about adding a drain to the under cabinet area? If you're already making a bunch of holes, what's one more?


__________________
120G Mixed Reef, 28G AIO zoa/pipefish tank
Rybren is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/14/2010, 10:44 AM   #373
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rybren View Post
How about adding a drain to the under cabinet area? If you're already making a bunch of holes, what's one more?
That's not a terrible idea. I'd rather have water draining into the damp unfinished basement than spilling onto the finished floor upstairs.


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/14/2010, 12:17 PM   #374
stugray
Premium Member
 
stugray's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Longmont, Co
Posts: 4,566
"That's not a terrible idea. I'd rather have water draining into the damp unfinished basement than spilling onto the finished floor upstairs."

Install a floor drain in the bottom to the basement, then run it over to the basement drain.

Then you have a place to dump water change water.

Stu


__________________
Some people think that I have Attention Deficit Disorder. They just dont understand that........ Hey! Look a chicken!

Well, We KNOW GOD exists, but for US to exist without a GOD is preposterous….Umm wait a minute…. Sounds a bit circular to me…

Current Tank Info: 125 Gal. display w/80 gal mud/caulerpa sump. Basement sump w/ LED Grow Light,Gravity fed Reeflo200 skimmer w/ ORCA Recirc, DIY calc reactor & kalk stirrer. Inline plumbed 75 Gal frag/settling tank.
stugray is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 07/14/2010, 12:28 PM   #375
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC Member
 
der_wille_zur_macht's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 17,749
My basement floor IS a floor drain. The whole thing. It's mostly dirt - water just seeps out through it. This house is 200 years old, the foundation is mostly dry-fit stone.

That said, I DO need to plumb some sort of gray-water drain for RO waste and water change waste. I see no reason to put all that water in my aging septic system. So I may implement a sump to run all those drain lines to, then use a sump pump to pump the water [i]somewhere[i/] - out in to the yard or something. . .


__________________
Inconveniencing marine life since 1992

"It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)
der_wille_zur_macht is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:04 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.