Jake's First Reef Tank - Page 2

tripinpn01 · 06/12/2007, 01:06 PM

can i use the same rotary tool and drill bits to drill an acrylic tank?

xJake · 06/12/2007, 03:43 PM

tripinpn01: You could use the same rotary tool and drill bits on an acrylic tank but there would be no need. The only reason I used those cheap diamond bits is because diamond coated hole saws are expensive. You can use a standard hole saw drill bit on acrylic without worry, however, if you use a standard hole saw on glass the friction would cause the glass to heat up and shatter. I'd suggest picking up a standard sized drill bit (you can find some cheap yet good quality ones on ebay) that is the hole size you need and use some water (as I did) to keep the heat from friction to a minimum to keep the acrylic from melting and potentially warping.

tripinpn01 · 06/12/2007, 08:40 PM

ok ok sounds really good.that is what im going to do. thanks for the information and thanks for the "push" to drill my own tanks.

xJake · 06/12/2007, 08:52 PM

tipinpn01: No problem, it took me awhile to get the courage to try drilling a tank. I was seriously considering just doing a HOB siphon overflow, but I'm really glad I drilled.

Anyway everyone, here are some vids of the koralia 4 running in the tank with just tap water.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=000_0006.flv

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=000_0006.flv

Pics to come in a few minutes.

xJake · 06/12/2007, 10:05 PM

correction on the second link:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=000_0007.flv

I'll have the pics up in a bit my camera's batteries died when I was taking more pics and I need to recharge them before I can get the thing to upload.

xJake · 06/12/2007, 10:30 PM

Water test:

No Leaks:

Return plumbing finished off with some fittings from HD:

My heater's new home:

My temporary lighting (soon to be my refuge lighting):

Some various full tank shots (fooling around with the lighting a bit):

Yes that is a huge picture of a flower in the reflection.

On a side note, championlighting.com has taken almost a week just to SHIP my return pump. I don't think I'll be ordering from them again if they can't fill a 1-item order in a reasonable amount of time. I've sent them an email to see what the issue is.

xJake · 06/13/2007, 11:25 AM

So, today the Koralia started making a VERY loud grinding noise. I tried disassembling the pump and reassembling it several times and the grinding noise kept returning. Drs. Foster and Smith still hadn't returned my email so I gave them a call. They're going todrop ship me a new pump. Excellent customer service over there at DFS.

xJake · 06/15/2007, 10:11 PM

Quick update, I don't have the time to post pics as I'm leaving on vacation for a few days to go up to Mackinac Island and everything is pretty crazy.

I bought 20lbs of tuffa rock and some live rock rubble from my LFS. I put some eggcrate on the bottom of the tank and decided that I'll use a thin layer of sand for aesthetics and being able to keep a sand-sifting goby. I have the base rock in the tank with the live rock on top and some make-shift lighting using 3 spiral compact fluorescents on timers. I've also built a duplex refugium structure for my sump using eggcrate (watch a video about this sump design at www.reefvideos.com - second column, first row).

My return pump will be here tuesday as championlighting.com didn't ship the pump until yesterday (and I ordered it last Wednesday).

The tank is... cloudy to say the least. Once I get my return pump running and my drain going through a filter sock it'll all be nice and clear.

I'll post pics when I return. Hopefully to a somewhat clearer tank.

06/12/2007, 01:06 PM	#26
tripinpn01 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: oc Posts: 786	can i use the same rotary tool and drill bits to drill an acrylic tank?

06/12/2007, 03:43 PM	#27
xJake Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,385	tripinpn01: You could use the same rotary tool and drill bits on an acrylic tank but there would be no need. The only reason I used those cheap diamond bits is because diamond coated hole saws are expensive. You can use a standard hole saw drill bit on acrylic without worry, however, if you use a standard hole saw on glass the friction would cause the glass to heat up and shatter. I'd suggest picking up a standard sized drill bit (you can find some cheap yet good quality ones on ebay) that is the hole size you need and use some water (as I did) to keep the heat from friction to a minimum to keep the acrylic from melting and potentially warping.

06/12/2007, 08:40 PM	#28
tripinpn01 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: oc Posts: 786	ok ok sounds really good.that is what im going to do. thanks for the information and thanks for the "push" to drill my own tanks.

06/12/2007, 08:52 PM	#29
xJake Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,385	tipinpn01: No problem, it took me awhile to get the courage to try drilling a tank. I was seriously considering just doing a HOB siphon overflow, but I'm really glad I drilled. Anyway everyone, here are some vids of the koralia 4 running in the tank with just tap water. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=000_0006.flv http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=000_0006.flv Pics to come in a few minutes.

06/12/2007, 10:05 PM	#30
xJake Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,385	correction on the second link: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=000_0007.flv I'll have the pics up in a bit my camera's batteries died when I was taking more pics and I need to recharge them before I can get the thing to upload.

06/12/2007, 10:30 PM	#31
xJake Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,385	Water test: No Leaks: Return plumbing finished off with some fittings from HD: My heater's new home: My temporary lighting (soon to be my refuge lighting): Some various full tank shots (fooling around with the lighting a bit): Yes that is a huge picture of a flower in the reflection. On a side note, championlighting.com has taken almost a week just to SHIP my return pump. I don't think I'll be ordering from them again if they can't fill a 1-item order in a reasonable amount of time. I've sent them an email to see what the issue is.

06/13/2007, 11:25 AM	#32
xJake Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,385	So, today the Koralia started making a VERY loud grinding noise. I tried disassembling the pump and reassembling it several times and the grinding noise kept returning. Drs. Foster and Smith still hadn't returned my email so I gave them a call. They're going todrop ship me a new pump. Excellent customer service over there at DFS.

06/15/2007, 10:11 PM	#33
xJake Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,385	Quick update, I don't have the time to post pics as I'm leaving on vacation for a few days to go up to Mackinac Island and everything is pretty crazy. I bought 20lbs of tuffa rock and some live rock rubble from my LFS. I put some eggcrate on the bottom of the tank and decided that I'll use a thin layer of sand for aesthetics and being able to keep a sand-sifting goby. I have the base rock in the tank with the live rock on top and some make-shift lighting using 3 spiral compact fluorescents on timers. I've also built a duplex refugium structure for my sump using eggcrate (watch a video about this sump design at www.reefvideos.com - second column, first row). My return pump will be here tuesday as championlighting.com didn't ship the pump until yesterday (and I ordered it last Wednesday). The tank is... cloudy to say the least. Once I get my return pump running and my drain going through a filter sock it'll all be nice and clear. I'll post pics when I return. Hopefully to a somewhat clearer tank.