Reef Central Online Community - My 180 4sided viewable in-wall build

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- - My 180 4sided viewable in-wall build (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1698960)

We are all eagerly awaiting your progress here...

Great news! I heard that the tank will be finished this coming Friday!

13 holes in the tank, finished on friday the 13th.. whooooo... creepy...

This weekend I will re-enforce the floor with some jackposts and 2x6's and draw up the exact specs for the stand. I am debating on using 2" box steel for the stand mainly because it will take up slightly less space under the stand, and with all the plumbing that needs to be done, every inch might help.

I've got some of the plumbing and pumps etc at the LFS waiting pickup (and probably payment) so things are about to drive forward now... finally...

Sounds good this goona be gteat thread, tagging along

Major problem avoided!

I was working out the tank stand design today. Getting down to measurements, details, getting ready to order the steel (1.5" box steel) for the inside frame... anyhow... I realized that I cannot build the stand until after I get the tank into my house. I do not know where the holes are... not exactly... I sent my diagrams to the builder and said "you know, the holes should be around there... ish.."

I could have had a cross-member in the stand too close, or even over a hole!

The down-side is now I have to wait... The up side is the tank should be shipped this week, and arrive by the weekend... I'm going to open-up the wall later in the week, and get the floor re-enforced so I'm as ready as I can be to rock'n-roll...

I feel my tank-building-spider sense tingling... ;)

I also picked up new corals... a plating version of a super-man monti, some purple/blue staghorn (aust.) and a new acan piece to get into the collection I have... dark green with neon green eyes... maybe I'll do up some photos for ya all to look at something on this "build" thread.

Well, you were always great at waiting...and waiting some more :) Really looking forward to seeing this build as it moves forward and perhaps in person too (hint, hint).

J

That is ganna be one nice setup once its all said and done! Tagging along.

ill be tagging along

can't wait to see it finished.

Yes! The tank has arrived. (cheers, applaus, yeah, drinks all around)...

But there were issues with the tank. (sigh, aaahhh, booo)... I'm working with the builder to resolve the issues. Right now, we haven't had flexible and open conversations, though I'm sure we will.

I am missing one hole in the tank. There are 12, not 13. This was an oops on the tank builders part, they agree and have proposed an option to deal with it.

Also, the eurobracing is out of regular glass, not starfire. I did not specify, therefore I can admit this is no ones fault/my fault completely. The green/blue line around the top of the tank bothers me and I need to find a resoulution to that problem before proceeding.

I'm quite sure that the builder and I can come to an agreement, their customer service reputation is excellent.

I did not post this eariler because in no way do I want to imply that the builder has done anything wrong, nor do I want to turn this build thread into a rant on this, or any other tank builders. I am highly confident that the builder and I will reach an amicable resolution to these minor issues....

This tank is going to run for a number of years, lets hope 20+... and a delay of a few more weeks, though frustrating, is very minor in the grand scheme of things.

On the ++ side, I have the exact dimensions and will start the stand build, wall rip-down as soon as I can... It's hunting season in my area, and I'm a big White-Tail deer hunter / goose & duck hunter... so fitting in all my hobbies has been time consuming. (my wife still needs me to take out the garbage that I said I'd do two days ago... i'm going to get it for that... )

Update: Several emails have been exchanged between myself and the manufacture. There has been movement on both our parts to try to find a solution that we are both comfortable with, though none has been reached. As of right now, I'm not accepting delivery of the tank, which is more of an issue for the LFS who I ordered it thru than for the manufacture, however in the end, it's an issue for me as well because the show cannot exactly go on...

Flexibility is the key to conflict resolution... breath-in, breath-out...

THE ATI POWERMOUDLE ARRIVED! In all of it's 60 inches of GLORY and SEXYNESS. Here are some photos!

The box in my living room when it arrived... a big sucker for sure.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ermodule-1.jpg

Nice packing materials... This sucker was bomb-proof... I love quality packing, it usually means the MFG cares about their products.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ermodule-3.jpg

Pat & Trina (owners/operators of www.ottawainverts.com) Checking out the glory...
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ermodule-2.jpg

Do you see this thing... frigg'n awesomeness.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ermodule-7.jpg

Now that's some reflector-awesome... (All we did is pull the plexi out of the way, I didn't want to peel it until the day it's used.)
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ermodule-6.jpg

The final installation place... IMO it looks pretty darn good there... no?
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ermodule-8.jpg

The goofy little plug that runs the fans in the module... IMO this could be higher quality... it works, looks solid, but has no SEXY what so ever.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ermodule-4.jpg

Now that is something to talk about, amiright?

Tomorrows project will be to work on skinn'ing the tank-stand. I believe I have the parts I need but home Depot is open so I should be good either way.

The tank should be moved onto the stand next week/weekend and I will start the plumbing "trees" that will get covered in DIY cement right after.

Thanks for reading!

Today I completed the stand... only 1" too wide... so these are the before I fix it photos... ARGH! Yes, frustrated.. but it's not going to be that big of a deal to take the 1" out of the stand... and it'll look better, and I can use the extra space in my dining room.

Here are some photos.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...al/stand-2.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...al/stand-4.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...al/stand-7.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...al/stand-6.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...al/stand-5.jpg

amazing how much though has gone into this build.... def following its progress

Thank you. It's been a lot of planning, but even with the best-laid plans i know that there will be lots of interesting deviations along the way.

This week I should be focusing on the return/overflow prototypes, testing how "silent" I can get them.

Awesome tank setup!! nice

Wow! just found this build and I must say that your thought and all into this plan is incredible! I am looking forward to following your progress.

Thank you all for the comments. It's been a very long road so far, but things are moving forward again and I am very pleased with how things look so far.

-Tim

its gunna to look awesome

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seanile (Post 16318043)

its gunna to look awesome

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to getting this done, but do not want to start rushing now... Slow and steady, or just slow and planned wins the race.

Wow, that's already looking great in that space ....

Silent Overflows!

Well I spent some of the evening re-doing the stand to the correct size. That is done now and i'm ready for the tank. I'm hoping that i'll get people coordinated for a move as soon as tomorrow evening and have the tank on the stand at that time.

The rest of the evening I worked on the silent overflow, and it is silent! SUCCESS.

First, the parts list

4" to 2" reducer
2" to 1.5" reducer
1.5" PCV pipe - 3-4 inches
3" PVC cap

Tools

Dremel tool /w sander
Drill
Saw

Now keep in mind this is NOT the final version. The final version will be sexy and look pretty.. this was a proof of concept version, a hack-job, to ensure that it would work in principal before I started to make it pretty.

Here are the PVC parts
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...al/stand-1.jpg

The first job is to sand out the 2" to 1.5" reducer so that the 1.5" tube can fit in either end of it.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n.../stand-2-1.jpg

Once that is complete, attach the 1.5" length of pipe to the reducer. As shown, you'll need some holes or cuts in this pipe. The depth of these cuts cannot be bigger than the depth of the 3" end-cap. Be wary of what can get into the holes, and what can clog the holes. IMO more is better as you'll control volume with the return pump and close one of the two drain lines with a ball-valve later so more holes will give you extra flow when a snail gets into this system.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n.../stand-4-1.jpg

Insert the 2" to 1.5" reducer into the 4" to 2" reducer. Of course, if you can find a 4" to 1.5" directly then adapt (and PM me with where you got it). It should look as follows.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n.../stand-5-1.jpg

Drill a small hole in the top center of the 3" cap. I started with 1/16 inch and will go up from there as I adjust. the 1/16th worked, but wasn't letting enough air in. Place (and in the end product glue) the 3" cap over the cut 1.5" pipe. This forms a durso overflow but does it in a circular pattern.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n.../stand-6-1.jpg

The height of the internal 1.5" pipe was cut so that the 3" cap was about 1/8 inch below the overflow line. I did this for astetics, and btw, I do not want to glue the 1.5" pipe into the bottom of the overflow... i want to be able to take it out, throw it in the dishwasher, and put in a second one... this makes mainteance on these a frig'n joke... cost of building a second internal overflow is about $4.50... so I will have a third one built so each month I can change out one for a clean one, throw one into the dishwasher and do nothing with the other one. (sorry this is on its side)
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n.../stand-7-1.jpg

Thanks to everyone who's tagging along and reading. It's a real pleasure knowing you have an audience.

BTW this design is NOT mine, not at all. I've no idea who first did this so I'm not able to give credit, sorry and thank you to the unknown designer.