Gabe and Casie's reef project! Pics!

[rossim]

Everything looks great so far! Can't wait to see next weeks update!

[Casie]

The lights arrived and Gabe took some days off so we got tons done!

First we got the second closed loop plumbed in. Its just a little Iwaki 20RXLT. It installed super easy.

It ran too hot to touch for the first few hours and I was freaking. But then it cooled right down. Now I can keep my hand on it now as long as I like... same as my other Iwakis. I don't know, maybe it had to break in.



We also added a LOA light kit to the sump. I hope its the right one. It says 6500k so its gotta be good. right?



Here, I took a pic of the box. I'll let you know when I get some chaeto in there if its any good. Home Depot had 4 different kits to choose from but this had the best bulb I think.

[Casie]

Now for the FUN part!



These are 4 sweet sweet 250 watt electronic ARO ballasts and a pair of 46.5" polished aluminum reflectors from HelloLights. Yay!



Being able to get the reflectors down for cleaning was very important to me. I also wanted to be able to raise and lower the lights easily. So we planned out a lifting system that uses spring clips and removable chain links so that every part (even a pully) can easily be replaced or cleaned.








You can see the ropes stop at the wood dowel on the beam in the ceiling. When its finished, it will tie off at a board on the back wall. Hopefully we will be able to easily raise the lights to any height wanted and clip it securely... hopefully!

[Casie]

Here are the ballasts mounted to a piece of 3/4 ply.



So now all we need to do is wire them up. I know what you are thinking. What if you want to take the reflector off for cleaning? Won't it be hard wired on? No problem! We are gonna use tow plugs!

These are made by Towpower. They are heavy duty and have a good water resistant seal. After all, they are made for riding under a truck!







It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to find some decent pullies. The ones at Home Depot say, "Not for overhead lifting". What? Why would anyone need a pully NOT for overhead lifting? Gabe ended up getting these pullies from Granger. It took some quick thinking to get them to sell to us. "Yep, these are absolutely for RJ's business account." Shhhhh, don't tell!

[Casie]

These are the CoralVue 250watt 20k bulbs I've been dying to see. They all fired!



But how does the tank look?

Whoa! Where did all those micro bubbles come from? Heh! We couldn't see em' with the tank dark! I was totally thinking that the tank looked clear. I guess not!



Ok, time to try those bubble trap thing that I saw here on RC.





But did it work? Ahhh, much better!



Full tank shots!

[Casie]

And this is the porthole view.







Its really been a fun couple days for us! The micro bubbles were hilarious when we turned the lights on for the first time! But everything is coming along and no major injuries!

Next we plan to finish up the light raising system. And I'm ready to trim the tank in some kind of moulding. I'm not really in love with anything I've seen at HD or Lowes. Maybe Victoria Lumber has something nifty.

[bassman57]

the tank looks really good with those lights on.

[cuthbert80]

I just loved reading through your thread!

Look forward to seeing it progress. Congratulations

[GSchiemer]

Everything looks great. My only concern would be the plumbing for the pumps. I didn't see a single true-union ball valve or other mechanism that will allow you to remove the pumps from service without draining the aquarium. How do you plan to clean the pump impellers or change out the pumps?

Greg

[bobherbertperry]

where did you find the DIY buble trap on rc?? I'm having a major problem with microbubbles in my tank, from the water crashing into my sump.

[easttn]

Casie,

My first tank had the pulleys too, I used boat cleats to tie the the rope off, kept the nautical theme going. Looks great. Not to detract, but Greg does have a point. My main pump siezed Sunday night, minor flood only. Point is, if I had not put in a flapper valve and a union valve after the pump and another union prior to the pump I would have been hosed.

There is a reefer down your way with a business called Adrians Reef, it is a web business I think. He has sold me some nice things in the past, give him a call.

Beautiful workmanship.

[Algae Blenny]

Wow. Looks really good, can't wait to see some livestock in it.

[Casie]

Hiya bobherbertperry

I have this habit of snagging DIY pics and stuffing them in a folder called GreatReefIdeas. Most of the time I change the name of the pic to include the owner's name but sometimes I forget to. And in this case I have no idea who to credit with this great DIY.

If you own this pic, my sincerest apologies for reposting it without giving you credit. Your pics are wonderful and the modification worked perfectly for me! Thanks! (I searched for the pic's owner for about an hour before posting this with no luck, but if anyone can ID it, I'd love to give props where they are due.)



Its pretty simple and does work!

easttn, I'd love to check out Adrian's Reef! Thanks for the heads up! You and Greg are right about the plumbing. I've pointed out the plumbing concerns to Gabe more than once, but he feels confident that the push-caps-into-the-bulkhead method will work. It sounds like you 2 are not crazy about that idea.

We'll talk about it some more. Even if its a pain to redo, its better now than later. And we both agree the goal of this project is a simple, easy to maintain and update system.

The Sequence pump has that drain plug on it. I think we are gonna test the push-caps-into-the-bulkhead method and see if it really will work.

[Kevhead]

Did you know Limestone releases its minerals into water. Im surprised you would use limestone in a saltwater environment.


Kevin

[Cody Ray]

Limestone is made of calcium right? I see no problem with that. Looks good!

[Kevhead]

Waters flowing through limestone typically have good buffering capacity. At times limestone does release calcium carbonate into the water at unpredictable levels...

Also,
Large pieces may be too dense and therefore have relatively low surface areas for colonization of bacteria.

[easttn]

Originally posted by Casie

easttn, I'd love to check out Adrian's Reef! Thanks for the heads up! You and Greg are right about the plumbing. I've pointed out the plumbing concerns to Gabe more than once, but he feels confident that the push-caps-into-the-bulkhead method will work. It sounds like you 2 are not crazy about that idea.

Its not the bulkheads you need to worry about:
[IMG][/IMG]

That was my Iwaki70 Impellor housing> It was a calcium build up, never thought it would do that. If you can't PM the pump, it will fail eventually.

Here is a link:
ART

Great job!
Charles

[socalreefer73]

I'm not a fan of random cudos in the threads, but the tank looks amazing. Although the only thing aethetically that I might have done different would be to make the porthole as large as possible. Is there any reason you chose that size of porthole?

Other than that, I'm very very impressed and can't wait till I can setup and maintain a tank like that.

I've been meaning to build a canopy and stand for my tank, but I'm not sure exactly where to get started. Well, I know it starts with power tools and I think I know what to get. I'm an engineer by trade so carpentry shouldn't be an issue (not to downplay the profession, somone is obviously a professional there.)

I'm looking at a 299$ ryobi table saw at Lowe's that has a place to attach a router. I know I will need a laminate blade(for acrylite ff) for both items (router/saw), as well as a blade for wood.

What I'm most concerned with is the design of the stand. I'm only working with a 29g right now as practice for the larger aquariums to come. The canopy should be a snap as I don't have to worry about loads. I will be putting in the fuge and sump and skimmer in the stand. I'm thinking I want the total height to be about 5-6' so I will have enough room for everything under the tank and about 4-6" deeper than the tank for added room for the fuge and sump and a bit more stability (can you say California, earthquake country?) LOL. hmm that reminds me.. I haven't felt one in years...

I know you must be very busy, but what I could really use at this point is advice on how to join the 2x4s and any other suggestions on framing. I got a book on cabinetry, but I'm afraid it doesn't have the techniques for the weight bearing cabinetry that is needed in this case.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated...

[GSchiemer]

Originally posted by Casie

Its pretty simple and does work!

easttn, I'd love to check out Adrian's Reef! Thanks for the heads up! You and Greg are right about the plumbing. I've pointed out the plumbing concerns to Gabe more than once, but he feels confident that the push-caps-into-the-bulkhead method will work. It sounds like you 2 are not crazy about that idea.

We'll talk about it some more. Even if its a pain to redo, its better now than later. And we both agree the goal of this project is a simple, easy to maintain and update system.

The Sequence pump has that drain plug on it. I think we are gonna test the push-caps-into-the-bulkhead method and see if it really will work. [/B]

The "push cap" idea is a bad one. They are not water tight and will be even less water tight as time goes by and crud builds up on the bulkhead fitting. And then there's the issue of the water inside the pipes. A plug on the inside of the aquarium won't stop that from spilling all over the floor. Lastly, do you really want to work in the tank and try to plug bulkheads everytime you have to do pump maintenance? I'd do the plumbing correctly now while you have the chance.

Greg

[Casie]

Hiya Kevhead

I'm not stressing the limestone at all. The base rock in my 9 year old 90 gallon is all limestone. Like you said, its dense and you can't depend on it for biological processing, but it makes a fine sturdy structure. Also I've literally had this rock for almost a year now. Its been rinsed and soaked so many times its silly! The sump is the same footprint as the tank (200gallons) and I plan on using a large section of it for refugia/live rock.

Whoa Charles!

What a pic! And thanks for the link!

And I totally know what you are saying, socalreefer73. I would have loved to have had the porthole bigger. It is hard to see in the pics but the large overflows determined the size. I enhanced a tank shot to point out the inconvenient overflow.



Then I discovered that views too close to the front panel of acrylic were not pleasing to the eye. It gives you that odd vertigo feeling. Heh! I hope that makes sence!

I actually taped a piece of black construction paper to the side of the tank for a little while and did minor placement/size adjustments until I was happy. Its a little closer to the overflow than to the front. Its closer to the top than the bottom. I'ts nine inches.



But bigger woulda been cool.

We liked the mostly open front of this stand plan but wanted to use doubled up 2x4s in place of the 4x4s.

Also because our tank is a little larger we had to add a leg.

You know whats fun to do? The next time you cruise through one of those Petco's or Critter Company's or what ever retail store you have near you, take a peek at the quality of thier stands! And try not to giggle. They hate that!

And remember to take a few pics as you build. I wanna see!

Greg, it looks like we will be plumbing again this weekend. I do feel a tiny bit bad cause I DID say "Any way you wanna get it there is fine with me." And now I'm like "Soooo, where do you wanna put the shut off valves?" But it'll be great when the modifications are done.

Hello, my name is Casie and I'm a plumbing-phobic.

[GSchiemer]

Originally posted by Casie

Greg, it looks like we will be plumbing again this weekend. I do feel a tiny bit bad cause I DID say "Any way you wanna get it there is fine with me." And now I'm like "Soooo, where do you wanna put the shut off valves?" But it'll be great when the modifications are done.

Hello, my name is Casie and I'm a plumbing-phobic. [/B]

Good decision. Trust me, it's worth the extra effort now. It looks like you're going to own that aquarium for a long time.

Greg

[Casie]

We got a BUNCH done on the tank and equipment room in the last 12 days! The plumbing is done. The sink is installed. There is chaeto growing in the fuge. The skimmer and doser are dialed in. Got the remote sand bed plumbed in. Still waiting on the rock to finish "cooking" in a Brute trashcan so I can dump it all in the sump though (2 weeks and counting).

I looked everywhere in this house but couldn't find any AA batteries so I've been slacking on the pics. Gonna grab some at HD when I'm there tomorrow to get another plastic vent cover thing.

Heres the pumps done!





Check out the few caps and fish we moved over last week!

I did NOT expect this peach cap and tricolor to come out in one peice! Gabe went to break a piece of the cap off and the entire thing broke off in his hand. Heh! I yelled, "Whoa! You got the whole thing!" And he was like, "Sooo... Am I still trying to frag this or what?!" Hahahaha! But, maybe you had to be there.





Heres a smaller green cap that made the move in one piece a day later.





And the last piece moved into the tank is this red cap.



The old tank was running nice new 175 10Ks with VHO actinics. I'm not sure if the 250 CV 20Ks on the new tank will make anything change color, but time will tell. All week I have been running the lights in thier highest position just to make sure I don't burn anything. I'm gonna move em down a little I think.

[Casie]

I found one more pic I took last week. Half tank shot!

[mgalyk]

Incredible!! Unbelievable setup. I thought I was doing good with my 55 and WOW! Someday I hope to have something similer.

[leonet]

simple but elegant, its simply amazing!

good job.