Isla Escondido - invincible569's Rimless 300g

[Leonardo's Reef]

That left part looks like my whole tank :P

Very nice, I'm curious about the supplemental MH, but I'll have to wait for that.
About the whole aquascape, when are we are gonna see that? I'm very curious!

Leonardo

[tanya72806]

lol still saying 400w radiums

[longhornreefer]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...hreadid=1023511

This tank in austin measures 8'x4'x30"tall, and uses 3-400w coralvue reef lux 12K in Luminarc IIIs with 2-6ft VHO actinics. The reeflux 10K are more crisp.

If you do go radium, i would definately go 400w, IMHO.

[makoJ]

Originally posted by invincible569
I cleaned the RC500 today and it seems to be foaming pretty good at 1.020 SG.

sweet thats some nice foam!

[makoJ]

Originally posted by invincible569
I have finished plumbing the sump and the overflow is now functional. My jaw dropped when I saw the finished rimless effect. Everything looks so clean & neat. For those who asked if you can add a wavebox, I would not do it. When I put my hand in to clean/rearrange, the water would move back and forth showing signs of overspill. You can probably get away with this with the overflow drainage being lower. But for my tank, this is perfect. It looks unreal!! I cant wait to get my light over it and let this tank cycle. For now, here are your teasers of the rimless effect!

WOW that is looking amazing!! more pictures asap

[Fliger]

Wow Edward looks great! But IMO that water is REALLY high. Mine is about 1.75" from the top last time I checked and after living with it for awhile, I think 1.5" would be about perfect. Its going to be a little bit of a pain if you keep it that high, any salt creep will go right over the side. Also when you're working in the tank you'll slosh water over the edge. It might be hard to use a magnet cleaner, it will slosh water over the sides. My favorite cleaning tool is the short Kent scraper to clean up the water line, but the magnet works great when you're busy. I've become a pro at folding a paper towel and running it just above the water line to keep it clean.

Can't wait to see what lighting you go for. I'm totally in limbo right now as well, but I did rule out all T5. I also don't really like 250W Radiums off HQI, its not the same light as 400W off HQI. 400W Radiums might be overkill, but you can probably raise them and get coverage (400W off HQI) and ditch the supplemental lighting. I'm so incredibly happy I went back to 10K MH with the 4xT5 flanking them. It gives the best combo of intensity and white/blue color.

OK back to lurking ....

[naka]

David, the water level is high b/c he plugged the overflow return. I'm sure the level will drop when Edward finishes his plumbing for his sump.

I totally agree w/ you in lighting. 10k w/ supplementation is way to go.

[Leonardo's Reef]

I also have a rimless tank, and the water is just 1" under the top. I have no isues with spashing water, of salt creep.
I do have to watch out with my magnet cleaner

Leonardo

[invincible569]

Actually my sump is already plumbed and my overflow is working. The water line is 1" just like Leonardo's.

Fliger, looks like we use the same technique's. I also use a paper towel on the rim and slide it across. Leaves it clean and clear. And I've also used the scraper recently to do what you just said.

Today, i bought about 100lbs more rock. These rocks are huge and so heavy but they fit perfect and have great designs. Im having such a hard time leaning in to get to the center. Creating the aquascape I wanted is harder than I thought. The problem is the width I have to deal with because I can only use one hand at a time while i try and balance with the other.

[robster]

Good point Fligger. I think I will call Glass Cages tomorrow to inquire about their standard overflow height in a 25" deep tank. I don't want water overflowing just by sticking my hand in the tank or moving the magnet around. Are you having that issue now invincible?

[robster]

Good point Fligger. I think I will call Glass Cages tomorrow to inquire about their standard overflow height in a 25" deep tank. I don't want water overflowing just by sticking my hand in the tank or moving the magnet around. Are you having that issue now invincible? Naka, how far from the rim is your water level?

[invincible569]

What do you all think so far? Sorry I have no light yet.. looks deepwater though. Im having trouble trying to create the top area like I want. I may take it down and rearrange it again. Remember these rocks are huge and heavy. The rock sitting on the very left by itself is 30-40lbs. Thats just to give you a better perception. You cant tell from this pic, but there is a ton of open space. The water is still cloudy.

[invincible569]

Here's what my plan was.. so hard to do!

[invincible569]

Originally posted by robster
Are you having that issue now invincible? Naka, how far from the rim is your water level?

Yes. I wait until the overflow drains to work on the tank. But even then it sloshes around.

[HotRod68Camaro]

I think that 'scape is going to be really cool. especially that ledge/overhang.

[Oldtimer]

Love the aquascpae Edward. That's quite an overhang on the shelf in your second sketch. How do you intend to create it without it falling apart? I imagine you could do it by joining rocks together with an internal brace (i.e., drill out a couple rocks and insert PVC or something similar to bond the rocks)...or just get a really long flat rock. In either case, just be sure it's anchored well so the cantilever effect doesn't make it all come tumbling down on you.

[gws294]

[Justin] If you are going with the pvc bottom, just tell them where and how many holes you want. They will drill it for you. Have you seen mako's tank with pvc bottom? the whole where cnc counter sunk. he used hayward sch 80 bulkheads with hexagonal tops.

[John] Ideally you would tell AGE where the holes for the closed loop would be located (as well as the type of bulkheads used) so they could sink the holes. It really isn't a huge deal to drill later though.


[Edward] Geoff, as John mentioned I did have them predrilled by AGE. You just tell them where you want them and they will confirm with you with the final design. As for the design, I used Visio to design out my aquascape. The 3D rock was easy to do.. all I did was import a picture and you could create what you want by distorting the image. Here's an example of the left side of my tank frontal view. I didnt want to show the entire image as it will give away my design.

Thanks guys... I did see makos CNC machined bulkhead holes. Really impressive! My problem is that I haven’t finalized the aquascaping plan just yet, and I am still tossing around the closed loops vs. powerhead question. I’m leaning towards CL because I don’t want to have a lot of equipment (”human stuff”) showing.

Ed, about the 3D thing, I was wondering if you tried to make 3D rocks in sketchup. When finished, you’d be able to do a “swim through” to get a real perspective. Either way, I love the planning you’ve been doing. This is going to be a killer tank. Thanks for sharing.

Geoff

[SunnyX]

Originally posted by invincible569
I have finished plumbing the sump and the overflow is now functional. My jaw dropped when I saw the finished rimless effect. Everything looks so clean & neat. For those who asked if you can add a wavebox, I would not do it. When I put my hand in to clean/rearrange, the water would move back and forth showing signs of overspill. You can probably get away with this with the overflow drainage being lower. But for my tank, this is perfect. It looks unreal!! I cant wait to get my light over it and let this tank cycle. For now, here are your teasers of the rimless effect!

Love the rimless look!!!

My next tank will be rimless!!!

[i2ik]

Edward, your tank is an inspiration!! I love it!

[Treg]

Edward- Man, Its been 3 days since you uploaded pics!!

Do you have any photos of the CL plumbing?

[makoJ]

Nice rock work man.

That is the hardest thing for me to do if my wife wasn't good at that we would be in bad shape. Every time I try to do rock work it looks like a pile of you know what lol So congrats on the work you've done!

[invincible569]

Oldtimer, just like you said. I bought acrylic rods for this. I havent used one yet. I need an engineer who can do some math calculations for me.

GWS, i could do that, but Im already close to completion. I have to think about how I am going to do this the right way.

SunnyX, thank you! I love your tank! I was looking at it a couple days ago. You should be proud of your success!

i2ik!, thank you so much! I see you are about to start one yourself.

Treg, Im suprised someone noticed. After doing more of the aquascape this Sunday, I have been tired. That wore me out just doing that. I wanted to take a quick break to enjoy what i have now. As for the plumbing, I need to redo the CL because I had temporary white piping. I recently got the rest of the gray pvc in, but havent put it in.

Brian, Thanks man! With the Tonga Fusion, it was easy to aquascape.

[invincible569]

Originally posted by Treg
Edward- Man, Its been 3 days since you uploaded pics!!

Treg.. all I have been doing is messing around with "Japanese Spotlighting". This is a 150w 20K PAR65 MH aimed from the right side into the tank at a 45 degree angle. I cant believe how bright it is. And I was thinking about getting 400's for the core.. sheez!

[Gilprado]

Wow great sunrise!!!!!

[Bax]

You could get some very cool lighting effects with a few of those!

The tanks looks fantastic with clear water!