My new 100g set-up

[dazed]

Thanks Marc;
although the reservoir does cut down on space for my sump, I think it will be really nice to just be able to switch and clean out the 5g buckets of limewater whenever needed; updated sig as well..

[dazed]

Well I finally got some time to start on my canopy; not finished yet but I thought I would show some progress pictures. Still need to add some trim and such but this is how it looks right now. The fixture slides back and allows access to the tank from the top. Still have a lot of stuff to do....
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[melev]

I really like that. Anything that gives you access to work in the tank is a good idea. The only thing I tend to wonder is what we can spray on these to keep them from suffering from saltwater damage. Humidity and salt creep are real issues. I wish someone would test a few sprays to see how they affect livestock, like Pam vs WD-40.

[dazed]

Thanks Marc; yeah the way i have it set-up should also allow me to be able to take some pictures from the top down as well,(using a step ladder), the top of the canopy is open the fixture slides all the way back over the top of the external overflow box; I had thought about the issues with salt creep, etc. and until i get the tank running i guess i will not know how much of an issue it might be. You have an interesting idea with the pam vs wd40 effect on a tank i wonder if a light coat of petroleum jelly on the slides would help.

[melev]

Please do let me know what you come up with. I have a single roller over my prop section. Since it came with two rollers (per package), I'm about to swap out the old ugly pitted one with a nice clean 'new' one that has been in the closet for over a year.

[BeanAnimal]

I think I would opt for skateboard wheels and aluminum channel.

[dazed]

Originally posted by melev
Please do let me know what you come up with. I have a single roller over my prop section. Since it came with two rollers (per package), I'm about to swap out the old ugly pitted one with a nice clean 'new' one that has been in the closet for over a year.

i was looking at the rails again last night and started wondering if a piece of acrylic placed in front of them would help? Kind of like a splash shield?

[dazed]

Originally posted by BeanAnimal
I think I would opt for skateboard wheels and aluminum channel.

Not a bad thought at all

[melev]

Actually, it is a great idea. Get rid of all that metal, use acrylic on each end as the surface the wheels roll on, and just figure out a way to secure the wheels to the light fixture. If you had room on each end (which I don't think you do), that would be an easy install.

[dazed]

Yeah; I looked at it again and I just don't think there is enough room for something like that; as it is the carriage that i made to hold the fixture in place ends right where the t5 tubes start, not much wiggle room unless i block off part of the t5's, not really something i want to do. I think for now I'm just going to leave it as is and if i have to replace the tracks down the line then so be it.

Just waiting for my sump to ship and arrive so i can get started on the plumbing setup..

[dazed]

Well I finally found some time & courage to go ahead and try my hand at polishing out some of the scratches and such on the tank. While it did not come out perfect it is a used acrylic tank and will never be perfect I was able to fix some of the areas that needed some tlc.

Starting out:
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The stuff I used:

The result:

After that was completed I decided it was time to spray the back of the tank black to hide the plumbing lines that will go down to the sump and to give the tank a nice background to pop against, I used several coats of thin black Krylon fusion paint, basically I just sprayed a coat had a beer and repeated until I had this:




Again not perfect but much better than before

[moo0o]

looks good!

[melev]

It looks great. I would spray the back of the overflow (inside the overflow) so you can't see the drains themselves through a clear section of acrylic.

Or did you do that already? It is hard to be sure.

[mg426]

Man that is some pretty nice work !!

[dazed]

Thanks guys;
Marc I did spray the inside of the box as well so the drains will not be seen I know it's hard to tell from the picture, that was actually the hardest part of painting the back of the tank there was hardly any room to try and get the paint into the top corners of the box and I was afraid of getting any runs because you would be able to see them from the front.

From the front you can see the edge of where the overfow attaches to the back wall but I figure that by the time I get rock, etc. into the tank the back wall will hopefully be covered up with coraline anyways.

[uncleant]

looking really good

[dazed]

Well I just got the email that I have been waiting for all day today, my sump is done and is being packaged up to ship out today

On a side note 2 weeks ago I purchased what was listed as a "Pseudanthias Tuka" Purple Queen Anthia from my lfs; after 3 days of hiding and not seeming interested in food at all I got a second one to see if it would help to encourage the other one to come out and about a little more; well that idea did not work at all as the second one was even a bigger reclusive then the first; and disappeared from the tank 2 days after being introduced I found nothing in the tank at all, I monitored the water conditions and saw no spike in anything, I guess the clean up crew did it's job.

The surviving one does come out and swims around the tank all the time now; the only problem is I have still not seen her actually eat anything at all. I have tried to offer frozen food,cyclopese(sp),mysis, frozen brine, flake, pellet,etc. Still nothing seems to work but given the diet needs of the anthias she has to be eating something after 2 weeks time or I don't think she would be around anymore, she appears healthy no pinched in belly, etc. any suggestions on what to do?? Here are a couple of pics to confirm I have the correct species.
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[dazed]

Okay my sump should be here on Thursday; so I have turned my attention to setting up the plumbing for this tank. I plan to use 1" spa flex for the drains and 3/4" spa flex for the return line. Originally I was planning on using 3 unions coming out of the overflow box down to ball valves & unions, etc. into the sump but last night I got to thinking about it standing in my garage looking at the back of the tank and thinking about the placement once in the house. The back and left hand side of the tank (standing looking at it from the front) will be up against walls in my living room and would make accessing the back unions coming out of the overflow box almost impossible I would think.

So I guess my question at this point is; Does anyone think that I should install the unions coming out of the overflow box? Or should I just bring the lines out of the box and down to unions that would be accessible inside the stand? I'm thinking that there is no reason to add the unions and another point that could leak in the future if they are not really needed??

[dazed]

TTT

[melev]

I would use unions where they are useful. If you ever have to access the plumbing under your overflow inside the house, it'll be because something bad has occured, correct? In that scenario, you'll probably be dealing with tearing down the tank and moving it out. If you feel you'd have the ability to do anything even with the tank in place and full of livestock, add those unions if they benefit possible needs.

[dazed]

Yeah; that is pretty much my thought process as well; I think I'm going to go ahead and run the lines down out of the overflow box and just cut an access hole in the back of the tank stand and place the unions and ball valves there above the sump. That way i can do all of the plumbing and leak testing in my garage and just disconnect the unions when the time comes to move the tank into my house. thanks again for the help.

[dazed]

Well Friday my new custom sump was delivered by ups: Sump dimensions are 30"L x 14"W x 18"T=32 gallons roughly; (2) intake chambers; (1) for the skimmer area & (1) for the refugium area, return section is in the middle.

Sump was built by Sean at http://www.spaquatics.com/
I contacted Sean through email and sent a pdf file of the design that I was thinking of having built, We went back and forth with some different design options until we came up with what you see in the pictures here. The whole process & dealing with Sean was an excellent experience for me and would recommend him for anyone who is looking at having something custom made, Communication through email was very good with updates and such of the status of my order. The sump arrived with a couple of gashes to the outside box; .......thanks ups...... but was not an issue at all as the sump was well packaged and protected with layers of foam all around to make sure it got here in one nice looking piece. Anyway here it is let me know what you think.
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Leak testing over the weekend not a drop out of place
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and a shot of it's new home; fits like a glove
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[dazed]

Well now that the sump is here; I managed to find some time to get a start on the plumbing.
Drains, return and overflow teeth.
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overflow teeth being glued in place.
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Earlier in the week I got a chance to finish up my side panel to cover/connect the stand and canopy together the side piece is held in place with 3 magnets so it is removable to be able to take a peek at the plumbing & overflow box from the side. The cutout is for my Rk2 and will be mounted there when I make the tank switch. I also threw in my heaters just for fun to make sure that the 2 would be enough. So here are the pictures that show where I'm at so far.

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[chrissreef]

pretty! when can I come by to pick up my new tank? =P

[bchbum189]

looks great man, glad you like the sump. Your email scared me, all i saw at first was "gashes in the".... and my heart jumped