AJ`s Build Thread

Dang....stop expecting perfection and just be happy that I post. LOL

--AJ

 

OK..so time for a few updates. I got the plumbing all done in the crawlspace of the house so now it's connected from the tank to some unions above the Rubbermaid sump. I know this sounds like a small task, but to get the slope of the drain pipe just right and everything, it took me a long time. What was especially difficult was right under where the pipes came thru the floor. Anyway, that's done...all future PVC work will not be done on my back laying on gravel. One thing that's noteworthy is that there's not a single 90 degree connector on the entire run and only a 1 foot section of spaflex on the drain side. The rest is all regular PVC.

The acrylic bottom is basically done. The last of the silicone was done tonight. I had done most of it before, but I wasn't satisfied with it, so I re-did some of it. I'll clean up the excess on the glass tomorrow, then it will be done.

I had to modify my return line to make for a single sided return instead of the double sided that I had hoped for due to the stand pipe and the lack of space.

I got some 120mm IceCap variable speed fans that I'm going to mount in the hood (awesome deal...two for $25!). One for blowing air in, and one for blowing air out. I got the holes made in the hood and now I just need to mount them.

I picked up a few Vortech powerheads (2xMP40w Gen 1) and send them to be upgraded to Gen 2...looking forward to getting some water into the tank just so I can see how they do. I have two Tunze 6100.10 pumps with magnets and a AquaSurf module for my AC3 but if I'm happy with just the Vortechs, I'm not going to use the Tunze pumps. They may show up on the buy sell board soon...we'll see.

And speaking of my AC3, I've been learning a lot of programming and stuff, but in the mean time, it's decided to go on the blink. It power cycles whenever the ethernet adapter is connected. I spent much of the day shooting e-mails back and forth to Curt at Neptune Systems troubleshooting it. I anticipate sending it in for repair later this week. :-( The problem with used stuff...no warranty!

I'm going to connect the plumbing to the Rubbermaid sump and get water in this thing later this week (that's the goal at this point)...can't wait!! That will start the tank cycling and I'll start building the stand for the glass sump/refugium. I've connected things with unions to make things modular so if I want to replace some plumbing, I just buy another union and use it to attach the old to the new.

I'm really looking forward to doing some aquascaping and getting the canopy and new in place. I think I'll use old bulbs while cycling, but switch them out as soon as I start adding corals.

I picked up a new blasto colony that's got around 50 heads on it...really love that new coral. It's not an exotic variety, but a nice size colony. My QT tank is full of corals and fish just waiting to get some room to swim around. I hope the cycle doesn't take long.

All in all, a lot of work has been done. I don't have pics now, but you can expect some by the end of the week....hopefully showing the tank with water in it!!

--AJ

 

Hahaha...you guys are funny. I'll see about getting some pics up tonight.

--AJ

 

I would imagine you would scare my wife more...haha

 

Still no pics...sorry. Got the silicone done..completely cleaned up and looks great. Got the acrylic overflow facade on along with the spray nozzles. The tank is ready for water. I filled up the Rubbermaid sump with about 60 gallons of saltwater tonight and I have 60 gallons more heating and mixing...and more RO/DI water being made. Once I get about 80 gallons in the sump, I'll pump 60 or so up to the tank, then make some more water. Doing a final rinse on the rock that's been cooking for months. I tried to cycle it...hopefully it's got nice bacteria on it and will reduce my initial cycle time. I also finished installing the fans in the canopy. Too much to do and not enough time...

--AJ

 

I filled the tank tonight!!! I have water going from the basement sump to the tank upstairs cycling thru. The sump in the basement is almost empty so I probably won't leave it running for long, but it works and no leaks! I'm getting really close to 500 GPH going thru the system (36 seconds to fill a 5 gallon bucket). I'll make more water tonight and fill up the sump...I got about 50 gallons of RO water going into the saltwater mixing tank now. I'll post pics in a bit.

--AJ

 

So here are some pics...this will catch the thread up.
First the mounting of the fans.  Two IceCap 120 mm fans...one blowing in, one blowing out.  The felt tabs are to keep the canopy from smashing the screens and to protect the canopy from being damaged by the screens.  When open, the lid covers the front 40% or so of the fans.
Hole made...getting ready to mount the fan

Right fan installed

All done.

Here's a pic of the inside of the stand.  The yellow outlet strip is my GFCI protection.  You can see the plumbing thru the stand and into the bottom of the cabinet.

Plumbing thru the crawl space....*yawn* boring

And finally out into the main basement area.  This was a couple of days ago before I put in the temporary plumbing that's connecting the sump and return pump to the tank.

Here's a pic after the acrylic panels were installed on the bottom.  Most of the excess silicone was cleaned up at this point....and when I mean cleaned up, I mean cleaned up off the glass.  You'll see a big pile of the stuff that I scraped off the glass right there inside the tank.  This is also before the black acrylic overflow facade and return spouts were installed too.

Here's a full tank shot...full of water...hooray!!  No lights in the canopy yet.  I just got the fans mounted in there and I took the lighting rack out while I was working on it.  I'll get them back in there tomorrow and turn some lights on.

Here's a shot of just the inside of the tank.  Solid black...just was I was looking for as the perfect backdrop for the stuff going inside.  Ought to be interesting to see how stuff looks in there.  The water is cloudy and there's a fair amount of pvc shavings floating around in there.  To be expected from 30 or 40 feet of new plumbing.

I forgot to get one of the sump downstairs...maybe tomorrow.
--AJ

 

I got the lights in...a few pics with lights.

Actinics only - dual 110 VHO - Super Actinic bulbs


Dual 400W with XM 20K bulbs


Both of these pics look very similar, but it's much brighter with just the halides on...not as blue when just the actinics are one.

--AJ