140 Gallon DSA Build

[RotaryGeek]

Could you post some more info about those lights? Where did you get them and what are they called?

[T Diddy]

The lights pictured are T5 fixtures made by Deluce. The fixture is 2 feet by 4 feet, and comes with hanging brackets. I think they are generally used for high bay lighting, as there is no shield protecting the bulbs. I bought two of them for $150 each. They came with bulbs rated at 4500 Kelvin, so I'll be needing to replace the bulbs. They are not the prettiest, but they aren't exactly going to be on display...

A close up of the reflectors:



light info and bracket:

[T Diddy]

Originally Posted by RotaryGeek

Could you post some more info about those lights? Where did you get them and what are they called?

Look in your local yellow pages for electrical supply shops...the kind of place where an electrician might go to get materials to complete a job, not HD or Lowes

[T Diddy]

I started cutting the egg crate for the foam/rock build, but the wife says that the basement has got to be in a finished state before I can play with the aquarium...

bedroom ready for carpet:

[autopro]

Did the new tank show up yet?

[T Diddy]

New tank showed up last Friday night. I have been busier than a one armed wall paper hanger, so not much got accomplished since then. I didn't take the crate apart, but there isn't any broken glass so I think I'm in good shape.




This is a pick of my recent egg crate fitting with an attached jungle gym in progress. The PVC will act as a sort of modified spray bar, as well as give additional support for rocks, and provide the framework for a few caves and what not. There are two separate lines that will be run by two separate powerheads on intermittent timers. I wanted to try and eliminate dead water spots and get a pseudo wavemaker effect. All of this will of course be covered by foam and rock. I plan on drilling holes through the PVC and foam...the rock wall will literally have water flowing from bunches of small directional holes. Whatever flow this ends up producing will be in addition to a mag 18 sump pump.

[T Diddy]

Here are a couple of recent pics of the completed rockwall plumbing. It is glued at all but 4 couplings so that I can separate the three pieces for removal/placement














Can't really tell the depth at this point. Now on to the rest of the egg crate scaffolding!

[T Diddy]

oops...

[adddo]

That looks great, looking forward to see how it turns out!

[T Diddy]

Thanks adddo, I sketched out a drawing of what I want the end result to look like, but the extra wide center brace required that I modify a little...it has to fit in the tank.

Starting the rock work:

[Pallobi]

glad to hear its being taken care of, your patience and attitude is a virtue... soon you will be on your way im sure

[T Diddy]

After having drilled som holes in the PVC, I wanted to see what the water flow would like like...I placed some scrap zip ties in the holes for illustration. When the rock and foam go on, I'll have straws or airline tubing in the holes to be removed after the foam dries.

Left pump:







Right pump:

[T Diddy]

Here is the middle section after just spraying the foam. I bought some salt for texturing, but the crystals are so small I think it would be a waste of time.


It is hard to see in this pic, but it turned out great...can't wait to get the others done and finished with resin/sand.

[T Diddy]

The foam grew, but I still have a few caves...nothing that a full grown tang will get through, but most reef fish would enjoy. It may be a few days before I can do anything else, trying to get the rest of the basement finished up and ready for carpet.

[QueenOfTheReef]

Could you post some more information about how you did the foam and what you used? That's a really great idea. I bet it will look awesome once it gets covered!

[T Diddy]

Originally Posted by QueenOfTheReef

Could you post some more information about how you did the foam and what you used? That's a really great idea. I bet it will look awesome once it gets covered!

Thanks Queen, I wish I could say it was my idea. There are several threads of foam builds. It isn't that tough to do, but I added a lot of extra work to it with the PVC and pumps


Materials List:

Deep Sea Aquatics 140 PRO (48L x 24D x 29H)
(3) pieces egg crate/ light diffuser
(100+) zip ties
1/4 inch airline tubing
1/2 inch PVC plus lots of different fittings (optional)
PVC glue
epoxy & sand (optional)
several cans expanding foam/Great Stuff
120 Lbs dry base rock
drill, 1/4 inch masonry bit, pvc bit
Aquarium silicone
small bucket of water

Procedure:

1. Cut and dry fit egg crate
2. Cut to fit a custom CLOSED PVC jungle gym (leave open pipe for water pump). A coupling of some sort will be required wherever pipes cross seams in the eggcrate. This step should be performed in the aquarium.
3. Glue all PVC fittings (T's, 90's, 45's, endcaps, etc.) except the couplings where different sections of eggcrate meet.
4. Zip tie PVC to eggcrate.
5. Drill holes in PVC for water flow. The size and number of holes ultimately depends on how much flow you want and what size pump you've got.
6. Remove from tank and reassemble.
7. Using masonry bit, drill (if necessary) a hole through each rock. Dip the rock and drill bit into the clean water often to keep them cool and preserve the bit. Do a few at a time, but much of this will be drilled on an as needed basis...It's kinda like a jigsaw puzzle.
8. Attach rock. Try not to lay rocks flat on the eggcrate. You want them drilled and zip tied in such a way that they jut out from the eggcrate (the foam may swallow them otherwise). Make sure you don't cover your drilled holes in the PVC.
9. Cut short lengths of the airline tubing and insert them into the holes in the PVC. This will keep the foam from covering them up. Leave them in for well beyond the curing time.
10. Spray foam wherever you see eggcrate. It isn't nevessary to cover it all in one pass. You may want to spray a little here and there, wait for it to cure, then touch up spots you missed. Once cured, you may need to trim, shape the foam.
11. Paint the foam with some sort of epoxy resin, and cover with sand, etc. while the resin is still wet.
12. Twist and pull the straws, they should come right out.
13. Insert structure into tank and attach to glass with aquarium silicone. If you have used enough rock and trimmed enough foam to counter its bouyancy, you may not need the silicone.

Lastly, fill the tank, connect powerhead(s), enjoy the show!



In my case I did the center section first, put the structure back in the tank, and layed saran wrap over the edges of the center section. That way I won't have any obvious seams when I spray the foam for the left and right sides...at least that is what I hope

[T Diddy]

The foam has been sprayed...for the most part. I'll have to go back and touch up a few spots that I couldn't reach in the tank. With any luck, I'll have the epoxy/resin and sand completed in the next couple of days. The best part of these foam builds is the amount of real estate for corals, as well as leaving the fish lots of room to swim. My wife hates tanks that look like a big pile of rocks without any room for fish.

[TCKelsey]

Looking good man, very interesting idea with the PVC and multiple water flows. Cant wait to see how it turns out!

Kelsey

[autopro]

Man you are moving right along, good job!

[T Diddy]

Thanks guys. It's been forever in the making, but I should have water in it soon enough. The sump still needs baffles, and the stand needs to be beefed up. One thing at a time I guess!

[T Diddy]

Here's a profile shot of the left overflow. There is still some touching up to do with the foam, but this angle shows the depth of the structure. The fish will have lots of little nooks and hiding spots.







I'll tinker with the resin/sand tonight and finish all three pieces tomorrow...then it's off to the pool to see if they float!! LOL

[T Diddy]

I started applying the epoxy/sand today. I am using Bondo fiberglass resin and harderner. It is cured within a couple of hours. I'll have to go back and stand the pieces up to make sure I can get the entire surface covered. All in all, it is a messy project, but I have a feeling it is going to be well worth all of the trouble and the wait.

Here are a couple of pics with the resin/sand curing:

[QueenOfTheReef]

Nice! I can't wait to see how it looks once all of the sand hardens onto the foam and it's back in the tank. Good job!

[Lyfey]

very cool build, I normally dont like foam walls, but if your able to pull it off with the included spraybars, I dig it.

I would suggest much larger pumps than maxijets though..

-Chris

[T Diddy]

Thanks guys! Lifey, I'm going to start with two 800 GPH powerheads...if that doesn't do what I'm looking for, I might have to add a couple elsewhere in the tank.

I finally got the tank on the stand and placed my finished rockwork in the tank. The pieces were much harder to put together inside the tank than outside, but I managed. In the future, I'd deffinitely try to make this a two person job.

Here are a few pics!!





...with the foam/rock wall...





...and from the side view...