Tswifty's Custom 40g Rimless Build Thread

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Tswifty
The drain fix didn't do anything... still loud as ever... and now I have a hole in the pipe.

I also decided to finally hang the second pendant. I hate the way everything looks above the tank right now, but I'm still locked in an argument about hanging the canopy. I have VHO's to add as well, but won't be able to add them until I get the canopy over the tank... somehow...

Anyway... here are the pics...

really nice whole tank shots--stunning

[melev]

That last picture of your tank looks great - the coloration is rich. Does it not look like that to you in person, since you are talking about adding VHOs?

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by H.Veras
wow thats really beautiful.. i love it... hey TJ do you wanna change your tank with my? hahah

Haha... Thanks.

Originally posted by OwNeD162
Sucks to hear the drain fix didn't work TJ
Any other ideas to fix it?

I really like the two pendants above the tank look, looks really really good !
Just make sure you paint the second one to match

Yeah I was bummed that it didn't work as planned, but I have another trick up my sleeve. I'm just not sure if I'm up for hacking into the existing plumbing or not right now. We'll see.

Thanks... I really like how lit up the tank is now... especially toward the back. However, I really don't like being able to view all the wires, brackets, and hanging hardware.

Haha... they match. The picture I think you are referring to was taken with the room lights on, and with a flash... which bounced back off the end of the pendant on the left, giving it a lighter appearence.

Originally posted by capn_hylinur
really nice whole tank shots--stunning

Thanks Scott.

Originally posted by melev
That last picture of your tank looks great - the coloration is rich. Does it not look like that to you in person, since you are talking about adding VHOs?

Thanks Marc. Actually those pictures are pretty darn close to what the tank looks like in person. A tad less blue maybe. I would like to add the VHO's to get back to a dawn/dusk cycle, as well as see how some of my LPS and polyps respond with actinic supplementation.

[Electrobes]

I have to say I am very jealous of the amount of purple on your rocks... I have VHO's only can in all the years reefing my tanks have all refused coralline growth!

I'm sorry your pipe fix didn't work, but I say don't give up yet. Pipe noise will eat at you... until one day you start naming Zoo's after strippers and keep 203 cats - I haven't seen the actual pipe work, just your picture but if there a reason you can do a durso drain, beananimal drain, or something to that effect?

I tried looking at the earlier posts on your thread (It's early and I prob missed it) but what canopy designs were you considering? If you decided to leave the pendants hanging and bare, you could consider hard piping the wires from the pendants to the wall. You wouldn't need the chains or hanging pipe.. you would just see the pendants from the front view, and just pipe from the side (The wires would hide in there). I don't remember who did that, but Lordy it bugs me I can't find the picture of an example. Without question it looked like a real PITA to do, but it looked very nice IMO.

I also have to state I love how "clean" your tank is... it really makes the corals take center stage and pop.

[Tswifty]

Finally managed to snap a decent pic of the new Maxima. Looks Black & White straight on, Top Down, it has a hint of dark green in it as well.

[Tangweed]

Originally posted by Tswifty
The drain fix didn't do anything... still loud as ever... and now I have a hole in the pipe.

I also decided to finally hang the second pendant. I hate the way everything looks above the tank right now, but I'm still locked in an argument about hanging the canopy. I have VHO's to add as well, but won't be able to add them until I get the canopy over the tank... somehow...

Anyway... here are the pics...

It's what's inside that counts Tank looks great

[chrismunn]

what kind of canopy are you going to build? are you going to try to make something that will affix to the existing light rack or are you going to completely redo it all?

[Tswifty]

I have a canopy built, just need to get it hung over the tank.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by Electrobes
I have to say I am very jealous of the amount of purple on your rocks... I have VHO's only can in all the years reefing my tanks have all refused coralline growth!

I'm sorry your pipe fix didn't work, but I say don't give up yet. Pipe noise will eat at you... until one day you start naming Zoo's after strippers and keep 203 cats - I haven't seen the actual pipe work, just your picture but if there a reason you can do a durso drain, beananimal drain, or something to that effect?

I tried looking at the earlier posts on your thread (It's early and I prob missed it) but what canopy designs were you considering? If you decided to leave the pendants hanging and bare, you could consider hard piping the wires from the pendants to the wall. You wouldn't need the chains or hanging pipe.. you would just see the pendants from the front view, and just pipe from the side (The wires would hide in there). I don't remember who did that, but Lordy it bugs me I can't find the picture of an example. Without question it looked like a real PITA to do, but it looked very nice IMO.

I also have to state I love how "clean" your tank is... it really makes the corals take center stage and pop.

Thanks.

Yeah, I'm not sure what the deal is with the crazy coraline. The only thing I've done differently on this tank is monitor Magnesium and try to keep it over 1400 ppm.

As far as the drains go. The tank was built to use Bean's system, like I had on my 90g tank, but I made a last minute decision to change those plans, and have regretted it since. The problem is that a plumbing modification of that extent at this point in time would require pulling the tank away from the wall... aka... draining... buckets... temp tanks... etc.

I have a small conversion that I think will work, but need to decide if I want to go through with it.

The problem is that I'm not allowed to touch the walls. There are TONS of ways I could hang the canopy IF that restriction wasn't there. My current light rack won't work due to the arc in the 90 degree bend, and I wouldn't feel comfortable supporting all the weight on 1 piece of 3/4" conduit anyway. I have a few ideas of how it could be done, but each requires a LOT of work on my part for a restriction I feel makes no sense.

Originally posted by Tangweed
It's what's inside that counts Tank looks great

Thanks.

[Tswifty]

On a side note, tank temp went up to 83 today. I noticed, because that's when I have the AC3 programmed to shut off the MH lights. Turned on the sump fans, and that fixed it... but I need to get the 2nd dc8 hooked up and the fans programmed so I don't have to worry about doing it manually. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow.

I was hoping not to have to add any fans on the display, but I may need to add one of those sleek 4 or 6 fan units across the back that will blow across the surface of the water under the pendants if the increased temps continue.

[2frosty4u]

Originally posted by Tswifty
Finally managed to snap a decent pic of the new Maxima. Looks Black & White straight on, Top Down, it has a hint of dark green in it as well.

Thats a really nice looking clam. I've been looking for one lately but the local suppliers only have Crocea's at the moment...Oh well, they say good things come to those who wait.

Originally posted by Tswifty

The problem is that I'm not allowed to touch the walls. There are TONS of ways I could hang the canopy IF that restriction wasn't there. My current light rack won't work due to the arc in the 90 degree bend, and I wouldn't feel comfortable supporting all the weight on 1 piece of 3/4" conduit anyway. I have a few ideas of how it could be done, but each requires a LOT of work on my part for a restriction I feel makes no sense.

Thanks.

How big is the canopy footprint compared to the size of your cabinet? I have an idea rolling around in my head but it requires dimensions...lol

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by 2frosty4u
Thats a really nice looking clam. I've been looking for one lately but the local suppliers only have Crocea's at the moment...Oh well, they say good things come to those who wait.

Thanks... that was my impulse buy. On the way out the door, I saw something glowing in one of the LFS's tanks... and was forced to investigate.

Originally posted by 2frosty4u
How big is the canopy footprint compared to the size of your cabinet? I have an idea rolling around in my head but it requires dimensions...lol

The canopy has the same footprint as the tank.

[melev]

Can you make two conduits instead of one? If you drilled two holes in the back of the canopy, you could install both conduits with the 90 degree bend facing forward, and slide the canopy onto the two pipes, creating a good looking floater.

[H.Veras]

keep the pictures coming TJ looks great......

[BigJay]

Tswifty, how is your calcium reactor holding out?

Yesterday I finally received all the parts for mine. I replaced the entire threaded output with a threaded nipple -> Ball valve -> JG fitting as suggested in the Korallin post. The output valve looks like it's part of the reactor, and I can shut the whole thing off and remove it easier. I also added a Dennerle plastic CO2 check valve to replace the (second) brass one that stopped working.

Lastly, I put on the pinch valve you suggested, it's working out great so far. The effluent and reactor PH have been steady so far, I could get used to this. I'm crossing my fingers. Thanks for the advice on the pinch valve measurements.

Originally posted by Tswifty
Sorry to hear that. I agree though... the Korallin is a constant headache. My effluent rate has definitely slowed down some since I first added the pinch valve, but at least it seems to be steady now.

As soon as I can figure out a way to get some extra cash, I'm going to replace it.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by melev
Can you make two conduits instead of one? If you drilled two holes in the back of the canopy, you could install both conduits with the 90 degree bend facing forward, and slide the canopy onto the two pipes, creating a good looking floater.

That's what I was originally planning on doing, but due to my "restriction" I have to mount the rack to the stand. Which wouldn't be a problem, except my plumbing runs out the bottom of the overflow box, then out and even with the left side of the stand, so I can't run a piece of conduit on that side. I was thinking of potentially using two pieces of 1" conduit ran in the same fashion as the current light rack, but side by side and clamped together.

Originally posted by H.Veras
keep the pictures coming TJ looks great......

Thanks.

Originally posted by BigJay
Tswifty, how is your calcium reactor holding out?

Yesterday I finally received all the parts for mine. I replaced the entire threaded output with a threaded nipple -> Ball valve -> JG fitting as suggested in the Korallin post. The output valve looks like it's part of the reactor, and I can shut the whole thing off and remove it easier. I also added a Dennerle plastic CO2 check valve to replace the (second) brass one that stopped working.

Lastly, I put on the pinch valve you suggested, it's working out great so far. The effluent and reactor PH have been steady so far, I could get used to this. I'm crossing my fingers. Thanks for the advice on the pinch valve measurements.

Everything is still working fine, I may need to increase my output or bubble rate though, as it looks like my Alk has settled in around 9 dKH (I would like to have it at 10 dKH)... but adding the pinch valve (aka... controlling the reactor via the output instead of the input) seemed to solve my issues.

Like I mentioned. After initially adding the pinch valve, my effluent rate did slow down and change somewhat after a few days. However, since the initial "slow down" it has remained constant for quite some time now.

Keep me posted on how it works out.

[2frosty4u]

Originally posted by Tswifty
That's what I was originally planning on doing, but due to my "restriction" I have to mount the rack to the stand. Which wouldn't be a problem, except my plumbing runs out the bottom of the overflow box, then out and even with the left side of the stand, so I can't run a piece of conduit on that side. I was thinking of potentially using two pieces of 1" conduit ran in the same fashion as the current light rack, but side by side and clamped together.

The idea I was playing around with was to switch from conduit to 1/2" black pipe (gas pipe). Around here you can get black pipe cut and threaded at Home Depot and is fairly inexpensive and a whole lot stronger than conduit.
By using a threaded floor plate your mounting options become limitless. I was thinking for a clean look you could drill a hole with a hole saw through the top of the stand at the back on of both sides of the tank. you could mount the floor flange upside down on the inside of the stand under the hole so the pipe will thread into it once you slip it through the hole. Then with a tight 90 at what ever height you choose and another piece of pipe with a threaded cap, your done. The vertical pipe should end up entering the canopy just inside the sides of it. I cant remember the details of the internal braces you added to the canopy for mounting it, but I'm sure with your DIY skills you can fine tune this idea if it appeals to you.
You could mount the floor flange directly to the top of the stand....or the sides or...wherever. Throw a nice black paint job on the pipes for corrosion protection and you're all set.
These are some of the parts I'm talking about: P.S. (I'm sure you know what a piece of pipe looks like so I'm not posting that one.)


Floor Flange:



tight bend 90 elbow:

[Electrobes]

Sounds like a great idea.. get to it tswifty

You are definitely a role model for the 40G people.

[Taqpol]

Hey Tj, I have another question dating back to the 90g days. I just picked up a Powder Blue Tang from a LFS knowing that they are a species prone to ich and that you yourself had some initial problems with one while you were QTing it. Mine is currently in a 20g long QT doing fine, but I was wondering, if you had to add a new PBT to your tank all over again what would you do and would you do anything differently then last time? If it matters this particular fish was at the LFS for exactly four weeks when I picked him up, appears outwardly healthy, and was eating green nori of the tank wall.

[DaveG99]

what is under your return pump?

The tank is coming along nicely. Are you going to hang the canopy from the ceiling? Also have you thought of adding T5's instead of vho's? I have 2x39 wat T5 Blue+ bulbs along with a MH in my canopy and I love it.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by 2frosty4u
The idea I was playing around with was to switch from conduit to 1/2" black pipe (gas pipe). Around here you can get black pipe cut and threaded at Home Depot and is fairly inexpensive and a whole lot stronger than conduit.
By using a threaded floor plate your mounting options become limitless. I was thinking for a clean look you could drill a hole with a hole saw through the top of the stand at the back on of both sides of the tank. you could mount the floor flange upside down on the inside of the stand under the hole so the pipe will thread into it once you slip it through the hole. Then with a tight 90 at what ever height you choose and another piece of pipe with a threaded cap, your done. The vertical pipe should end up entering the canopy just inside the sides of it. I cant remember the details of the internal braces you added to the canopy for mounting it, but I'm sure with your DIY skills you can fine tune this idea if it appeals to you.
You could mount the floor flange directly to the top of the stand....or the sides or...wherever. Throw a nice black paint job on the pipes for corrosion protection and you're all set.
These are some of the parts I'm talking about: P.S. (I'm sure you know what a piece of pipe looks like so I'm not posting that one.)


Floor Flange:



tight bend 90 elbow:

Thanks for the tip Harold, something like that may work nice... also with threading the pipe rather than using the conduit clamps, I wouldn't have to worry about the fittings or pipe potentially spinning or twisting over time.

Originally posted by Electrobes
Sounds like a great idea.. get to it tswifty

You are definitely a role model for the 40G people.

I may have to pull out the graph paper tonight now.

Originally posted by Taqpol
Hey Tj, I have another question dating back to the 90g days. I just picked up a Powder Blue Tang from a LFS knowing that they are a species prone to ich and that you yourself had some initial problems with one while you were QTing it. Mine is currently in a 20g long QT doing fine, but I was wondering, if you had to add a new PBT to your tank all over again what would you do and would you do anything differently then last time? If it matters this particular fish was at the LFS for exactly four weeks when I picked him up, appears outwardly healthy, and was eating green nori of the tank wall.

I really wouldn't do anything different... after all the PBT ended up being extremely healthy after it's initial problems. The only thing I can recommend, is stocking supplies on hand so if the fish gets sick, you can react immediately. Also, I would recommend QT for a minimum of 4 weeks if you can swing it. The main things you need to worry about IMO are Black Ich, and Regular Ich. I treated the black ich with a series of pH buffered FW dips 3 days apart (then returned the fish to QT)... and regular ich... well there's lots of threads on that around here.

It's always a good sign if they're eating right off the bat though. My PBT didn't eat on a regular basis for almost 2 weeks.

Nice pick up, and good luck. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you run into any problems as well.

Originally posted by DaveG99
what is under your return pump?

The tank is coming along nicely. Are you going to hang the canopy from the ceiling? Also have you thought of adding T5's instead of vho's? I have 2x39 wat T5 Blue+ bulbs along with a MH in my canopy and I love it.

Thank you.

Under my return pump is a DIY pad I made out of Eggcrate and Silicone to reduce vibration.

As far as the lighting goes... I went with the URI Super Actinic VHO's, because they are supposed to have the best "pop" out of any bulb on the market, and they haven't been able to manufacture a T5 bulb that can match the way the corals flouresce under the Super Actinic VHO. Of course UV Lighting makes a Super Actinic T5 bulb, but if you talk to anyone who has used the VHO's as well as the T5's, they will tell you the T5 doesn't even compare to the VHO.

[Taqpol]

Originally posted by Tswifty
I really wouldn't do anything different... after all the PBT ended up being extremely healthy after it's initial problems. The only thing I can recommend, is stocking supplies on hand so if the fish gets sick, you can react immediately. Also, I would recommend QT for a minimum of 4 weeks if you can swing it. The main things you need to worry about IMO are Black Ich, and Regular Ich. I treated the black ich with a series of pH buffered FW dips 3 days apart (then returned the fish to QT)... and regular ich... well there's lots of threads on that around here.

It's always a good sign if they're eating right off the bat though. My PBT didn't eat on a regular basis for almost 2 weeks.

Nice pick up, and good luck. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you run into any problems as well.

Would you recommend doing prophylactic hyposalinity or fresh water dips, or just wait and see if he shows symptoms? I remember those fresh water dips you did, they looked gruesome.

And I'll be taking you up on the PM offer if something isn't going right. He ate an entire clip of brown Nori in the QT today, so i am hopeful.

[Tswifty]

Finally managed to get the 2nd DC8 up and running tonight. So far I've only programmed 2 items on it though (Return Pump & Sump Fans... (The 2nd Metal Halide was moved to the 1st DC8), but will hopefully be able to get the Protein Skimmer, Ca Reactor Recirc Pump, and FS inside the waste collection container added and programmed tomorrow.

I also noticed that if my Return Pump shuts off, and the Ca Reactor's recirculating pump is still on, it draws about 2 inches of air into the Ca Reactor. So I'll need to put a line of code in to address that, as well as a line which will shut off the CO2 Solenoid if the Return Pump is off. Even though my pH probe would shut it off automatically once it his 6.5 inside the reactor, I still think being proactive in this instance would be a good idea.

Here is the program at this point:

Timer Names:

DC8 #1

MH1$-A01
MH2$-A02
CO2&-A03
HT1%-A04
KLK#-A05
FUG$-A06
ATO%-A07
HT2%-A08

DC8 #2

RTN#-B04
FAN#-B05

I/O Box

FS1&-I11
FS2&-I12

Alarm

ALM&-A09

Program Statements:

If Time > 00:00 Then ALM OFF
If Time > 00:00 Then RTN ON

If Time > 13:30 Then MH1 ON
If Time > 21:30 Then MH1 OFF
If Time > 14:00 Then MH2 ON
If Time > 22:00 Then MH2 OFF
Max Change 015 M Then MH1 OFF
Max Change 015 M Then MH2 OFF
If Temp > 83.0 Then MH1 OFF
If Temp > 83.0 Then MH2 OFF
If Time > 22:00 Then FUG ON
If Time > 10:00 Then FUG OFF

If Temp < 79.8 Then HT1 ON
If Temp > 80.3 Then HT1 OFF
If Temp < 79.5 Then HT2 ON
If Temp > 80.0 Then HT2 OFF
If Temp < 50.0 Then HT1 OFF
If Temp < 50.0 Then HT2 OFF
If Temp > 83.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp < 76.0 Then ALM ON
If Temp > 82.0 Then FAN ON
If Temp < 81.0 Then FAN OFF

OSC 005/240 ON/OFF Then KLK ON

If pH2 > 06.80 Then CO2 ON
If pH2 < 06.50 Then CO2 OFF
If pH2 > 07.00 Then ALM ON

If Switch1 CLOSED Then FS1 OFF
If Switch1 CLOSED Then ATO OFF
If Switch1 OPEN Then FS1 ON
If Switch1 OPEN Then ATO ON
If Switch2 CLOSED Then FS2 OFF
If Switch2 OPEN Then FS2 ON
If Switch2 OPEN Then ATO OFF

If Power 000 Then ALM ON

[Padrino]

Good idea +1

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by BigJay
I also added a Dennerle plastic CO2 check valve to replace the (second) brass one that stopped working.

I forgot to ask... where did you purchase that check valve at?