AJ`s Build Thread

Got the tank inside and on the stand tonight. Thanks for your help Casey! Then I mounted the ballasts (2 x IceCap 400 watt electronic and 1 Ice Cap 660). The 660 was kind of a pain because of the way that they connect the heatsink to the ballast. I drilled 4 holes in the heatsink, used 1" screws and 3/8" nuts to offset the stuff on the back so that I could mount it properly. Worked like a champ. I also mounted the DC 4 that my lights will connect to. Next, I need to mount the power strip for the "always on" devices like the Tunze powerheads, AquaSurf and LunarSim. Just going to get a cheap power strip for that. I also picked up some cable management stuff at Menards tonight. I was going to snap some pics of my progress, but the camera turned up missing. Oh well, I'll snap them when I find it.

--AJ

 

OK...so here's the pics.

First, the floor jacks. As I mentioned before, totally unnecessary, but they made my wife feel better about things.


Here is the tank as it sits now. Everything is all cleaned up...but the new bottom is not siliconed in.  The other tank and canopy were oak, but stained more like a cherry color.  This is walnut and actually matches our oak woodwork better than the oak stand and canopy did.


A close up of the tank where you can see the cutting board that's been trimmed to fit inside the glass lip. The marks that you see on the back are scratches on the acrylic that I'm not going to do anything about.  Hopefully they fade when underwater.


Two sheets of 4' x 2' expanded PVC - just showed up this morning.


The ballasts mounted inside the stand on the right rear panel


The DC4 mounted inside the stand on the left rear panel. You can also see some of the components of the Tunze pumps and the AquaSurf module


Tonight I'm going to try to get the new bottom siliconed in and the stand pipe and return pipe in place.

--AJ

 

It was cheap..like $15. I plan on having a seam in the middle of mine. With black silicone, it won't be noticeable. You could probably get two sheets of 2' x 4' x 1/4" for around $60 shipped. That's half the price of acrylic...maybe even less. Also, their order/delivery is really fast. I ordered on Friday afternoon around 4 PM. I got it this morning at 10 AM. Basically two full business days from order to delivery. I would definitely order from them again.

--AJ

 

I got the extension cords today and they are color coded. Looks like it will work out well. I'll get the plugs on the lights tonight. Should only take an hour or so to get them both done. I'll take pics of the progress and post them later.

I'll also get the stand pipe and return pipe put in and maybe get started on the plumbing...we'll see.

--AJ

 

So here's some pics of the first connection. It takes a bit longer than I expected, but it's turning out well.

The cord. I cut it in half and gave each plug about 9 inches or so of cord for me to work with.


The heat shrink tubing. I used about 9 inches.


I removed the outer covering to expose a consistent amount of wire on each side


I cut the wires at different lengths so that I could stagger the crimp connections to get the heat shrink tubing around the cord. I attached the crimp connectors one side at a time...all three to one cord, then all three to the other.


Fully connected. I was surprised the amount of heat that I needed to use in order to get the connector shrink wrap to shrink correctly. A hair dryer did not do the trick. I had to use a candle. The picture shows them before shrinking.


The final step with the heat shrink tubing over the connectors and shrunk.


Now to repeat this three more times for the rest of the connections.

--AJ

 

Just finished all 5 connections. It took longer than I expected, but I'm very happy with how well it turned out. There was one more connection on the VHOs that needed to be fixed up too.

As far as soldering them, I thought about soldering them, but I figured this would be just as good. I have a soldering iron, but it's kind of a piece. I've only used it once.

Here's a few more pics:

The lights (at least the MH) and reflectors are in place and all cabled up. There's a few bricks in there right now that were holding down the cutting board while the silicone set up. I need to get them out of there, but I'm lazy..hehe


A little cable management in the cabinet. Not perfect, but better than cables laying on the bottom of the cabinet. I also labeled things too...as inspired by the "Save your marriage" portion of Calfo's talk...haha


--AJ

 

Nope...no water yet. Got 10 people coming to stay a few days at Christmas and I needed to get a few things done around the house so I've been briefly side tracked.

I did get the bottom pieces cut tonight. It's acrylic (see pic below). The paper is still on, but they are cut to fit and ready to be siliconed in! Here's a new pic. Once this is done, the *tank* will be ready for water. The plumbing is still not connected.



--AJ

 

Nothing new during the holidays. I was going to run plumbing today, but never got around to it...family things. Maybe tomorrow I can run the plumbing and silicone in the acrylic. Most of the corals are doing fine. Some have improved, but the birdsnest was lost. I expected to loose some, so it's all good. The chalices have improved and so have the fish. That red hawkfish has quite the personality... Troy is keeping all of these for me until I get water in the tank.

--AJ

 

So no plumbing, but I did get to silicone the acrylic in. Both panels are siliconed in place, one with the silicone around the outside, one still yet to do. I'm using the black silicone out of the 3 oz tubes and it's a major PITA. I also got a stop block and magnetic latches installed on the stand. We have a lot of family over with small kids and I was always concerned that one of the kids would fall into one of those doors and break it off. The stop block and latches should resolve that concern.

--AJ

 

So I was asked recently how my build process is coming along, so I thought I would post an update and a few pics. I've been spending my "aquarium time" doing the plumbing for my main tank and setting up a new system that will eventually be my quarantine system. As for the plumbing, I had to re-route a sump pump line (home, not aquarium) because it interfered with where my aquarium plumbing needed to go. That's been moved and the in-stand plumbing is pretty much done. Most of it's hooked up and glued up to the point where the PVC goes into the hole in the floor. The majority of my time has been spent on the quarantine system. This will be a smaller, but totally independant system from my main tank system. Fish and corals will be quarantined here before going into the main tank. It currently consists of:

34 gallon bowfront tank, drilled
250 watt MH light (pendant, Blue Wave ballast, not sure what bulb)
AC3 with temp and pH probes & DC8
2 x BRS media reactor
JBJ ATO w/ aqualifter
EuroReef ES 5-3 skimmer
250 watt Jager heater
Mag 5 return pump
MegaFlow 3 Acrylic sump

The AC3 and media reactors are for my other system and will be moved over when it's set up. I'm not sure what I'll do for a reactor(s) on this system, but I will probably get a PX1000 to extend the capabilities of my AC3 to monitor both systems with the same AC3. In this location, my AC3 is right behind the wall from the gigabit switch that I use to hook up my HomeServer and XBox 360 to my home network, so with a small hole in the wall, I'm able to direct wire it to my home network. I also put up some particle board that I had sitting in the garage so that I could hang things on the walls.  It's worked out quite well.  Here's a few pics:


This shelf is to hold the ballast and other various supplies and is above the sump. The pink foam is a chunk of foam "noodle" from the pool and there to protect my head. I smacked my head on this shelf once already, hence the foam.


Below the shelf, is the rest of the wall mounted hardware. The GFCI powerstrip (yellow) provides power to everything, the AC3 below that, and the DC8 to the left of that. Below the DC8 are the reactors and hidden behind the left reactor is the JBJ ATO.


Here's the sump. Still tuning in the skimmer so the skimmate is light. What I like most about the plumbing is that the return pump powers the reactors, the water change pressure and the return of water back to the tank. This has worked out very well...plenty of pressure for this small system. It's also relatively energy efficient. With the heater and MH on, it takes under 590 watts. Turn them off, and it's under 90 watts (skimmer, return pump, AC3, etc.)


Here's the tank (there's your tank JB!).  A little rock, a couple of clarkii clowns, a few mushrooms and some GSP...just some things to tell me if the water is OK or not. Kind of my "canaries in the cave".

So that's what I've been doing. Hopefully the plumbing will be done on the tank soon and I'll get some water in that tank.

--AJ