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  #1  
Old 06/23/2007, 04:28 PM
Dudester Dudester is offline
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Location: Austin, TX
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Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef

After having a 30g tank for nearly 2 years, I feel like I'm ready to move up in size. I love the look of the European and Japanese open-topped tanks, and a little closer to home the tanks of Invincible and Naka. With that in mind, I decided to join Club Rimless with my next system.

Here's what's planned. Of course I need to give credit to John and Brian of Kingfish Aquarium for helping me design and acquire most of the equipment.

First, here's a cartoon sketch of the overall system.



I'm not sure if I'll mount the controller into the door or not, but it's drawn that way for now. The small box to the left of the system is just a decorative covering for the chiller if necessary. That is, if my wife doesn't like the appearance of the chiller itself.

The tank's dimensions are 60 x 30 x 26.



The tank is made of 3/4" Starphire glass on the front and 2 sides, and it was constructed by Aquarium and Glass Exhibits. The tank has a PVC bottom that has been predrilled (machined) for Hayward bulkheads to support the overflow drains and returns, as well as the closed loop. The overflow contains dual 1 and 1/2" drains, a 1" return from the sump, and a 3/4" return from the chiller. Adjacent to the overflow is a 1 and 1/2" drain for the closed loop, and this will return via an OceansMotions 4-way to the four 1" bulkheads toward the front.



The back will be covered with a black material for the background, to go along with the black acrylic overflow. As you can see in the picture above, the overflow does not go to the top of the tank. This is to accomodate the wave that will be created by the Tunze Wavebox. The overflow is centered to minimize any sloshing sound.

This image shows the machining process for the PVC bottom.


And here's the bottom, completed.


More to follow.
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  #2  
Old 06/23/2007, 04:46 PM
Dudester Dudester is offline
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The stand is constructed from steel, and I'll eventually skin it with a nice cabinet. There will be no canopy. Here's the stand, powdercoated and with leveling feet.



I chose steel so that I could optimize the amount of storage space inside the cabinet, since all of the equipment will need to be concealed within. Plumbing through walls or the floor is not an option in my current home. Here's a close-up of one of the leveling feet.



The sump inside the stand will sit upon a starboard bottom that will lay inside the steel shell.



This will cover about 2/3 of the length of the cabinet. The other 1/3 will be used for dry components, and to salvage a few extra inches of height I'm putting a pan in the bottom that recesses down to the floor instead of sitting on top of the bottom "shelf" of the stand. This will also serve a dual function in that small drips or spills will be directed into the pan instead of onto the floor.

Here's the pan.



I'll be using a rimless 3/4" acrylic sump to house most of the supporting equipment. The dimensions are 40 x 24 x 16. Here it is, without baffles and still at the shop.



3/4" plywood was cut to accomodate the plumbing from beneath the tank, and here's the system minus the most important part ... the actual tank.



Gotta run for now, but I'll update again later. Hope you enjoy what you've seen so far.
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  #3  
Old 06/23/2007, 05:01 PM
46bfinGA 46bfinGA is offline
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Nice setup! Is the stand going to be sitting on concrete? If not are you concerned about the leveling screws on the bottom of the stand messing up your floors when the tank is full? I love the plexiglass bottom with the machined cutouts for bulkheads,that is really cool. Great idea with the Pan on the bottom of the sump area,you will probably need that more times then youll care to admit.

I would vote keep the controller screen recessed into the cabinet,it gives it a custom built look to it. You pay so much $$$ for it might as well display it nicely.
  #4  
Old 06/23/2007, 05:08 PM
invincible569 invincible569 is offline
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Very nice!!! Another great tank in the creation. Im loving the rimless tanks Keep the pics coming!
  #5  
Old 06/23/2007, 05:40 PM
GSMguy GSMguy is offline
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fantastic,
interesting that you went with the japanese style wave design by lowering your overflow that should be very nice.

so what lights? The mockup looks like ati powermodule or stifolli which one?

here is a link to a good thread for those clowns we were talking about.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=833027
  #6  
Old 06/23/2007, 05:48 PM
hatfielj hatfielj is offline
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Thats cool you got to go watch your tank being manufactured. Looks like this is going to be another cool one to follow All you texas guys have the coolest set ups!
  #7  
Old 06/23/2007, 06:12 PM
Dudester Dudester is offline
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46bfinGA - Thanks for the comment! The stand is going to sit on travertine tile. With 8 leveling screws I figured the weight would be distributed fairly well and not risk harming the floor. Do you disagree? If you think this is unwise I could always put some material between the feet and the floor, as this will eventually be covered from view by the wood skin. Looking forward to your reply.

invincible569 - Glad you found this thread so quickly, Edward. Please keep up with it so you can impart the wisdom you've acquired with your beautiful rimless tank.

More pics you ask? OK, here's the tank still in the shop. Love that blue Starphire! The cutouts in the overflow are for a 3/4" Locline return (from the chiller) and a 1" Omniflex nozzle return (from the sump).





GSMguy - Thanks for the link, I'd like to have a pair of those clown for my office tank.

You nailed it with the lights - way to go Radar! I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a 48" 10-bulb 54W ATI PowerModul. None have been shipped to the U.S. thus far, so I'm in a holding pattern regarding the lights. This isn't all bad since it will encourage me to stock very slowly and allow things to mature. I'll be able to kick start the system with my 250W MH pendant until the light arrives, as I feel it will be worth it to wait for the PowerModul as opposed to getting something different. If I just can't stand it I could always go with a MH/T5 fixture like the Sfiligoi, but I prefer to use all T5's.

hatfielj - Thanks for the nice words, and glad you found this thread. Texas is a great reefing state.
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  #8  
Old 06/23/2007, 07:52 PM
46bfinGA 46bfinGA is offline
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Hmmm travertine tile should be ok,I guess theres only one way to find out.Probably wouldnt hurt to put some small pieces of 2"x2" metal plates or something to distribute the weight a bit.. I have travertine in my main bathroom and it seems like a pretty solid surface,but there are some areas of the tile I would be suspicious about..Maybe someone with more experience with travertine could chime in.Beautifull tank BTW
  #9  
Old 06/23/2007, 08:24 PM
bcordill bcordill is offline
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Very Nice!
Are you planning to use Deltec equipment like the office tank?
  #10  
Old 06/23/2007, 08:33 PM
GSMguy GSMguy is offline
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Location: Wooster Ohio /Clayton New York
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i think that for the lights you should wait and see about the ati it seems like it may never show up.
that stifolli is mighty sexy though

what did kingfish decide on for skimmer?

the tank is looking very good, and the wave action on a rimless tank should be fun to watch
  #11  
Old 06/23/2007, 08:52 PM
Snook65 Snook65 is offline
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Location: Sarasota, Florida
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Great looking setup. Let me warn you of one potential problem. The travertine floor, if it is true natural travertine stone, can be very weak in some areas. Travertine has a lot of voids in it, that it why it is usually sold as honed and filled, unless you wanted an unfilled or tumbled look. Although the surface may look solid it may not be underneath. On the other hand, if you have ceramic tile sold as a travertine look, then you should have no problems. Looking forward to following this thread. Good luck!
  #12  
Old 06/23/2007, 11:41 PM
cpreefguy cpreefguy is offline
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Awesome looking tank! 30" of depth is going to make for some sweet aquascaping
  #13  
Old 06/24/2007, 06:54 AM
LoneStarSA LoneStarSA is offline
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Nice stuff! I'll be following along for sure. I'll have to check it out someday when its all up and running.
  #14  
Old 06/24/2007, 08:00 AM
naka naka is offline
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Ahh, this is going to be another sweeeet setup. Congratulations Dudester!
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  #15  
Old 06/24/2007, 08:52 AM
Dudester Dudester is offline
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46bfinGA and Snook65 - Thanks for your expertise on this subject, guys. I'm pretty sure it's genuine travertine tile, but I'll have to confirm that with the wife (she'll know). This setup will be on the ground floor of the house, and I'm fairly certain that whatever the floor material is, it's sitting on top of the concrete foundation, so it should be pretty stable underneath the flooring tile/stone or whatever it is. Let's see, I'm guessing with water, rock and equipment the entire setup will weigh about 2000 pounds, give or take a few hundred. If that weight is distributed to 8 feet, then the load at each point, assuming it's level, would be around 250 pounds. That doesn't sound so bad, eh?

bcordill - Glad you asked. Why yes, I am using Deltec equipment. Since the tank is en route and hasn't yet arrived, I haven't fully unpacked my Deltec family, but once I do I'll post pics.

GSMguy - I actually picked out the skimmer (but with the support of Kingfish ). I was considering a Bubble King but instead decided on the Deltec AP851. We went with this due to its proven track record of excellent performance, and our complete inexperience with Bubble Kings. Regarding the lights, yeah, it's a tough one. I truly hope I can hold out for the 10-bulb PowerModul.

cpreefguy - Thanks, and you're right, the depth is gonna be fantastic. I have so many ideas in my head on how I'd like to aquascape the tank, but as I'm sure you know, it's hard to reproduce your thoughts as an actual rock structure. The tank will be a mixed reef, with probably ~70% SPS and 30% LPS. The closed loop will direct flow from front to back, and the 'scape will hide the return nozzles. I'll probably have some separate rock formations in the tank to break up the view a bit.

LoneStarSA - Yep, you should definitely drop by, but give me some time to make this presentable.

naka - Thanks for chiming in, and for helping me make several decisions regarding this system. Please keep the comments coming. I hope this tank will look as good as even a fraction of what you have created.
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  #16  
Old 06/24/2007, 09:11 AM
Conceyted Conceyted is offline
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looking nice. cant wait to see it finished
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  #17  
Old 06/24/2007, 04:22 PM
mrpet mrpet is offline
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looking good nice tank
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  #18  
Old 06/24/2007, 04:32 PM
GMFett GMFett is offline
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Dudester- I'm on board- on here and in real life. Can't wait to help you move this puppy and get some H20 in it! Gonna be awesome to watch this tank develop. The rimless look is absolutely incredible.

BTW- The office tank looks incredible. Thanks for the tour the other day! You have some amazing corals in there!
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  #19  
Old 06/24/2007, 08:47 PM
Dudester Dudester is offline
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Conceyted and mrpet - Thanks a lot!

GMFett - Thanks, Bro. I'll take you up on your offer to help move this tank, that way you'll be 2 for 2. Just let me know what your favorite beer is. As far as the office tank goes, it'll look a lot nicer once we start growing out some frags from your tank. It goes without saying, but you know you can have a piece of whatever is fraggable in there.
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  #20  
Old 06/24/2007, 09:53 PM
ReefDoctorMicromussas ReefDoctorMicromussas is offline
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Dudster WOW I had no idea! This is looking fantastic.. LOve the pics, keep them coming!
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  #21  
Old 06/24/2007, 09:53 PM
ReefDoctorMicromussas ReefDoctorMicromussas is offline
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Dudster WOW I had no idea! This is looking fantastic.. LOve the pics, keep them coming!
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  #22  
Old 06/24/2007, 10:23 PM
jnarowe jnarowe is offline
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I love that PVC bottom. Those are sweet. I am sure you have checked out invincible's rimless thread. He's doing a great job and makes a nice model to use.

not that it matters, but I think that sump will bow.
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  #23  
Old 06/25/2007, 01:02 AM
cbui2 cbui2 is offline
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omg another sweet creation. rimless is so popular nowadays and AGE sure built some nice tanks out there. any ideas on the equipments used? keep those pics coming.....
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  #24  
Old 06/25/2007, 08:22 AM
gkarshens gkarshens is offline
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Mike, it looks great. I can be there to help move it in too.

Jonathan, I seriously doubt the sump will bow. It is less than 4' long in 3/4" acrylic. Plus once the dividers and bubble trap are in it will have even more support. just my .02
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  #25  
Old 06/25/2007, 09:50 AM
jnarowe jnarowe is offline
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ah, it's 3/4"? I missed that. Yeah with baffles I am sure it will be fine. Ignore me, I am not too bright!
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