Our 375 Gallon project - Page 20

rpeeples · #**476** 02/19/2006, 10:06 PM

Sidewinder.....any recent pics of your main tank?

Pilot Fish · #**477** 02/20/2006, 03:24 PM

Have any of you guys had any proplems with that poly-foam breaking down after time in your tank? I want to use it I am just very leary of it degrading after time.

sidewinder770 · #**478** 02/21/2006, 09:40 AM

MSM - You are welcome to stop by any time you are in the area. Sounds like you guys got a good handle on the foam- the practice piece is a good idea and be sure to wear latex gloves- that stuff is a pain to get off your skin

. Hopefully I will be able to stop by and see some of the tanks you guys have set up down there- next time I'm down that way of course which could be a while.

chetm2- I'll see if I can find a picture for you- I think I may have one but it's not real obvious as the tank drain and return lines enter in the back corner of the tank and go through the wall so you really can't see them very well. I'll see what I can find though.

rpeeples- Full tank shots? I haven't taken any in the last month or so but if you look a few pages back I think there are some from December. Hopefully I'll have some more pics to put up soon.

Pilot Fish- If you read this whole thread that topic has been brought up several times- I've never had a problem with the foam and I have yet to hear from anyone who has.

Right now we are in the process of building the "skin" for the stand and cabinets that will go on each side of the tank. It will take us a few weeks but I will post some pictures as it progresses. We were hoping to have this done a while ago but after being jerked around by a few local cabinet makers we've taken the plunge and decided to make it ourselves- the good thing about that is I got to buy another tool to add to the collection....I nice DeWalt planer

. We decided on Hickory for the wood and we are still deciding on the stain color but in the end it will probably be a soft cherry color. Of course, once it's done, I'll be able to show some pictures of the elusive actuator

Corsec · #**479** 02/21/2006, 02:07 PM

Just wanted to say a quick thanks for posting about the foam. I used it today to cover the rack I am building for my LR to sit on and WOW! That stuff is very cool. Thanks for the Tip!

Corsec · #**480** 02/21/2006, 05:33 PM

Quick question about the foam. How long does it need to dry before going in the water? Thanks!

travismcgee · #**481** 02/21/2006, 07:34 PM

pilotfish, i got the foam all over a long sleeve t-shirt when applying and its still stuck on it after at least 25 wash/dry cycles and its not going anywhere either...sidewinder, had my stand made out of hickory as well, used natural stain,beautiful

MdM31 · #**482** 02/21/2006, 10:13 PM

sidewinder- what grain size is your sand?

-Mike

sarahdae · #**483** 02/22/2006, 03:04 AM

Scott--
I too am a latecomer and just discovered this thread AFTER I came to your house the other day to pick up some xenia. In fact I had no idea this tank had such a history. Very cool. I am fairly new to the hobby but have been lurking on RC for quite some time...long enough to know this is one of the best setups out there. I do apologize that I do not have much to offer in the way of expertise, experience or frags...but I can give compliments and thanks. Looking forward to seeing you both again!
(p.s. nice macro shots, and that's more up my alley...I'm a wedding photog)

House_64 · #**484** 02/22/2006, 03:38 AM

Scott, incredible set-up........ can we get a full tank pic? Want to see what the overall tank/stand/canopy looks like. Thanks for sharing.

sidewinder770 · #**485** 02/22/2006, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chetm2
Scott and/or Erin, do you have a picture of your sump? I wanted to see how your water from the tank enters your sump, I kinda remember from looking at it but a picture would be super! Thanks again and the pictures look amazing!

Here's what i was able to find- not a great picture but I think you get the idea. This was obviously taken several months ago before I had water in the systems- this was just wet testing the sump which is why the drain lines are turned up so no water would go down the pipes.

sidewinder770 · #**486** 02/22/2006, 09:41 AM

Corsec- Glad to hear the foam worked out for you. As for curing time- I think you'd be fine after 24 hours- maybe 48 if you really wanted to play it safe. I waited about a week on mine but that's only because the system wasn't ready for water yet.

travismcgee- I hear ya- I got some on a shirt as well- it's still there today- I think the shirt will fall apart before the foam comes off! Got any pics of your stand? Hopefully we will have the face frames and doors finished in the next week or so but we are still a little undecided on stain color and moulding- any pics or advise would be great.

MdM31- Not sure on the grain size- it's pure aragonite and southdown- a few hundred lbs of each but not sure on the exact size.

sarahdae- That Xenia grows like a weed- but I like having it- just have to keep it under control. The camera is definately far better than I am- I am still learning how to use it and I'll probably never quite figure it out. I've gotten fairly lucky that some of the pics I have taken have turned out so well. It was nice meeting you and I'm sure we'll see you again- it's a great local community of reefers and we get together for meetings all the time.

House_64- I'll see what I can do- I've kind of put off taking "whole room" shots till the skinning was done but maybe it would be good to have some before/after shots. I'll see what I can do.

tomkb · #**487** 02/22/2006, 10:30 AM

sidewinder770, I was wondering your thoughts on using or not using live sand?

chetm2 · #**488** 02/22/2006, 12:28 PM

So, it's pretty much just a tee with 2 open pieces of pvc on top and under?

Travis · #**489** 02/27/2006, 03:36 PM

Just finished the thread. I have to say you have done an amazing job on this setup. Excellent attention to detail. I also like some of the "original" ideas you have incorporated such as the actuator and the foam on the back wall. It looks like it didn't take you long to learn how to use that new camera. A month later and you were taking some amazing pics. Keep up the great work. I am excited to see this setup continue to evolve and mature.

I don't want to be nit-picky or anything, just stating my opinion here... If there was one thing I would do differently with your setup it would be to have ball valves with unions right at the intake and outputs of your CL pumps. After seeing the pictures you posted earlier in this thread it kept sticking in my mind how much pipe there is from the pumps to the valves. That is a great idea you have with using the drains for the pumps. I have Sequence 5800's on my CL's and I never even thought about using the drains. That will solve your water leekage issue when removing the pumps for servicing. But there will still be another issue to deal with. When I take my pumps off for servicing and then put them back on and open up the valves, I get some huge air bubbles burping out of the CL outlets in the tank. These are stressful to the corals above them and I wouldn't want these big bubbles hitting agains any type of LPS coral on their way to the surface. I don't know, maybe you can use those pump drains to bleed air out while slowly opening the ball valves to fill the pipes with water. That might be a possibility but I don't know as I haven't tried it.

random_ryan · #**490** 03/29/2006, 05:10 PM

.the biggest tank I have had was a 200. and I was going to weld a stand together. my wife needless to say told me he double L no. now she's abit upset becouse a buddy bought my tank. and he did a stand out of round steal pipe and the square pipe with dimond plate. I will have to go to his house and take pics of it. it came out exstreemly nice. Now I am looking into a 150 - 200 gall cube with a steel structure. I hope everything on your tank comes out good. really want to see this bad boy go up. I am excited for ya man.

random_ryan · #**491** 03/29/2006, 05:46 PM

how much is your electric bill ..... LOL

sidewinder770 · #**492** 03/29/2006, 09:56 PM

Sorry for not keeping the thread updated- I've been working my tail off on the stand skinning and only have one not so great photo of the process so far. Sorry everyone for not replying to the questions as well.

tomkb- As for live sand- I guess I would recommend seeding sand with live sand to get some life but to use all live sand seems like a waste of money to me. You may also have a lot of die-off from it that can cause problems as well. Just my thought.

chetm2- I think I get what you're saying and yes - pretty much. I'd be happy to show you next time you are over.

Travis- I definately see your point. I have had to remove the 4 way twice to clean it out and it does cause bubbles but they only come out the intakes which are located behind the rock structures and don't really hit anything on there way up. Considering I only do that once every few months I'm not to worried about the bubbles and as for the pipes I only get about 1 gallon of water that comes out of them which I drain first so it's pretty easy.

random_ryan- Sounds like a cool stand- I would say steel over wood any day! As for electric- last month my bill was $148.

OK- now for the pic- This is a bad pic of the first stage of the skinning process so it doesn't have much detail. The actuator is working perfectly now after some tweaking and I'm sure some locals can chime in with how cool it is

. I may have a video of it to show but if not I will try to show multiple pics of it in action- it is sooooooo cool!

Anyway- here ya go for now- I'll try to take some more as I get farther along.

shawk · #**493** 03/29/2006, 10:03 PM

Scott the skinning is looking great... and yes when i was there the actuator was very cool!!

Satori · #**494** 03/29/2006, 11:20 PM

Looks great Scott!

I hope you don't mind, but I will probably copy your stand design this weekend for my new 180.

Having said that, I thought I had great plans in my head for how I wanted to skin the wood, but after seeing this picture, I may have to re-think that too....

petedoc · #**495** 03/29/2006, 11:31 PM

Scott, What are we looking at in the photo? It looks as though you have another entire stand sitting behind your current tank waiting to be completed? What is that? Thanks Dave

lhoo · #**496** 03/30/2006, 12:36 AM

I've seen the actuator in action. It's very cool.

sidewinder770 · #**497** 03/30/2006, 09:56 AM

MSM- copy away! I think this thread has several posts of design thiefs

Heck- I wouldn't have posted pics and info if I minded- just be sure to post some pics of yours as well, in this thread or another- doesn't matter to me- I'd just like to see it. As for the wood- you should probably wait a few weeks till I'm done and make sure it turns out correctly before you copy it

lhoo- it is cool. I gotta come check out your tank soon as well. How's the 340 coming along? can't wait to see the beast up and running.

shawk- thanks for the compliment.

petedoc- Now that I look at it you're right- almost looks like I could put a seperate tank on each side of it huh? hmmm.....interesting idea

. Actually- the frames on each side of the display will be cabinets that match the cabinets on the tank. the middle section will be open to be able to view from the sides and are actually recessed from the front of the tank- they are only 14" from the wall where the tank is 32". Here's a side view to give you an idea-

Keep in mind that the "skin" is just a rough in and is not stained yet (actually the back sides of the lower section are and the back of the uppers are painted white to reflect light). I only have a few pieces of trim done on the front section but there will be the same on the side pieces to match as well as doors. I'll try to get some pics once I have a section up that has the stain color. The board on top of the front piece that looks like a 3" shelf is just sitting there- eventually there will be a small shelf around the front but it won't be quite that wide. Kind of hard to explain I guess but you'll get the idea once I have more completed.

melev · #**498** 03/30/2006, 01:52 PM

alien9168 · #**499** 03/30/2006, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev

I have the same reponse!

-alien

alien9168 · #**500** 03/30/2006, 06:58 PM

WHat is the steal cabinet frame for on the other side of the tank?

-alien