Fish's new tank build w/ pics

[EWC88]

what glue did you use to glue the power strip?

[ninjafish]

I used a product called gorilla glue from Lee Valley - just because it is the strongest glue that I have come across. I didn't let it set all the way when I first placed it in the stand and filled the sump up. I made the mistake of pulling the pump plug out and yanking the whole strip right off the tupperware. Since it was already upside down and I didn't want to empty my sump, I couldn't throw a 5lb weight on it while it dried. Instead, I used the little tire jack from my car to hold it up nice and tight for a couple days. I have pushed and pulled on it and now it's not going anywhere. The runs of glue down the sides of the strip probably contribute to the holding power.

- Chad

[sumyungviet]

Originally posted by ninjafish
Haha ya I knew when I was doing it that I was removing the rust protection - an excercise in form over funtion .
I have been watching to see what will happen and I dont think I am going to have a problem. The plumbing is all tight - no leaks or saltcreep, and the sides of the stand are baisically open so there is no humidity trapped in there (plus the cooling fan is constantly blowing air over the housing). I don't recommend that everyone go and do this, but in my particular setup I think it's going to be fine. If it tarnishes over time, I will just polish it up when I'm doing my motorcycle too .

Cheers,
- Chad

would puttin some clear coat on it help?

[TRITON1]

Just read the whole thing (then saw the nice little summary at the end ) Great work and quality craftmanship. I'll be tagging alone so I can see it stocked.

[Ocean In A Box]

Tagging along too...this is cool !

[nanorfj]

Originally posted by ninjafish
The pump is a diaphragm style chemical metering pump. This one is an 'A Series' made by Advantage Controls but some other big names are LMI Milton Roy, Pulsatron, and Prominent. They are not made for fishkeeping but are designed for lab work and industrial applications. The pump fires a piston which draws water in then pushes it down the line. The length of the stroke can be changed to adjust how much liquid is added each time and the frequency can be adjusted for how many times per minute (or hour on some models) the pump fires. With this model I am able to dose any amount from 0 - 0.63gph, I just checked it again and it is rated for up to 150psi!

Based on your previous projects, I'm using an LMI Milton Roy for top-off, and it works great on my 12" nano cube.

I went on a trip to the Caribbean, and the water level was dead on throughout the ten day trip. My top-off tank went from about 3.5 liters to about 0.5 liters during that time.

[CamBarr]

yo any updated fts

[ninjafish]

Thanks for sticking around everyone - this has to be the slowest moving tank thread ever!
The reason I don't have any more photos is because I still havent gotten any more LR. I have been getting slammed with night shifts and haven't made it out. I will find something to take a picture of tomorrow...
Mac, is enjoying his snails and hermit crabs, and takes frozen krill right out of my chopsticks.
I don't know if I mentioned it or not but my coralife pump (closed loop) crapped out after only 3-4 days running. I contacted the guy I bought it off and he told me that is was actually a return from another customer and he suspected they may have burnt it out (he sold it to me for a crazy cheap price). He was great to deal with and has gotten a brand new pump in and is crediting the money I paid towards the other one (and letting me keep the other one for parts!)

nanorfj,
Awesome, I'm glad it worked out for you!

- Chad

[jnarowe]

got lucky on that pump Chad!

[ninjafish]

You're right jnarowe,
Today I picked up another Coralife pump from the guy I bought my first from. He was really great to deal with. He not only credited the amount I paid for the old pump towards the new pump - he also let me keep the old pump for spare parts. After comparing the two, it looks like the only problem with the other pump was the impeller had fused to the shaft. I swapped the new impeller into the old housing and I still have a brand new pump that only needs an impeller. Who says good things don't happen to , uh... mediocre people.

Because I don't really have any other photos (still waiting for a day off to buy more LR), I took this one to show my topoff return line. The tubing comes up through one of the holes that I drilled for electrical cords and injects FW into the first chamber of my sump 8 times/ minute.







Cheers,

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Here are a couple zoanthid colonies that I picked up. The photos are under the T5HO actinics. With the daylight bulbs they don't look nearly as nice:









Hope you like,

- Chad

[Dacs]

outstanding chad! (as you can see by my number of posts, i watch by the sides, but this is GREAT!)

[ninjafish]

Thanks Dacs, I'm glad you like it!
And for the first year or so that I was on the board, I just checked stuff out too, so I know where you're coming from.

Cheers,

- Chad

[Jadams]

Great looking tank ninjafish! I love how all the hardware is hidin!

Awesome video production as well! CHEERS!

[Jadams]

PS...I know how the post thing goes as well Dacs. I just started posting again this week

[edwing206]

Looks like an awesome setup.

[TRITON1]

Nice work. I see you have a CSS (65 or 125). I own one also and was wondering if you did any of the mods to it (from the billon page CSS thread). If so what ones...... I am thinking about the fishing line mod for my CSS 125 soon.

[ninjafish]

Thanks Guys.
Triton, I have bookmarked that thread but I haven't actually gotten around to going through it yet. I would be really interested to hear your experience with it.

- Chad

[Steeltowndubber]

Looking good as always Chad. Nice zoa's.

Rich

[ninjafish]

Thanks Rich .

Well I added 20lbs of rock to the tank. You can't see it all in the photos because I put a big piece in the sump because it had some gsp on it. (After scraping off as much as I could, I am trying to kill the rest by keeping it in the dark for a while - just so it doesn't take over my rock-work).

Hope you enjoy:











- Chad

[TRITON1]

Looks good so far. I love the rimless look. A couple of question for you:
1. Have any opinions on T5 vs Metal Halide yet? (no shimmer ect)
2. I forget if I read it or not, but are you planning on going bare bottom or is this just temporary?
3. Hows Mac doing?

On another note, I tried the fishing line mod on the CSS 125. At first I thought it was an improvement, but I had doubts later. I used 14lb test line and some people say different gages and how many time you wrap it can change its performance. Anyway I took it off when I cleaned my pump. Im still trying to improve the efficiency of the skimmer so if you have any tips let me know (that CSS thread is huuuuuuuuuge)

Keep up the good work. Looking forward to see how it progresses.

[TRITON1]

Also, I remeber you saying you were going to have a living filter fuge with xenia and gsp. Just wondering why your are trying to kill the off, if you plan on using them later. It could save you some cash to let the grow out a little in the display first, then ban them to the sump once you have all the lighting setup. Then again, I like GSP.

[ninjafish]

Triton,
So far I am really happy with the T5HO. Using only 96watts of power it does an awesome job of lighting the tank. From my past experience with halide, I believe that even a 175watt mogul base halide would not be as bright and it would leave dark spots around the edges. The only thing that I miss about halide is the shimmer (as you mentioned). An ideal setup for some people might be two 70w de halides in the center of the hood with a T5HO bulb along each side. This would probably give you the coverage and the brightness I have now and it would give a nice shimmer too. The drawback would be almost twice as much power consumption and a lot more heat - I have done some reading on how T5HO par output drops off the hotter the bulbs are - so I'm not sure how effective they would be mixed with halide??? T5HO bulbs still get hot, but its like 'oh, I can only hold my fingers on there for 30 seconds hot', not like the halide '@#*%, I brushed against the bulb and now I have a blister hot'. The cost effectiveness is the same for me - I can by four T5HO bulbs at my LFS for the same amount that it costs to buy one halide bulb. Preliminary tests suggest that they should last just as long too. I like the efficiency, I like the ability to mix bulbs, and I really like how slim and pro the hood looks. Ah... if only I could have the shimmer too...

Thanks for the tip on the fishing line mod. I saw a guy that did it with plastic mesh. That would probably be the same effect eh?

As for the gsp, I really like it too but my philosophy on it is 'keep it off the rocks' because once it gets a foothold, it will take over. I cut off and salvaged as much as I could to seed the bare bottom of my display with, but I knew that the slivers that I missed would eventually regrow and spread over the rock. After reading your post though, I agree that it doesn't make sense to eradicate it if I am planning on putting it in the sump anyways. As a result, I have given up on that particular rock altogether and have added a small light to the sump so that the gsp will grow and spread. Thanks.

- Chad

[Steeltowndubber]

First off... Sorry about your Calgary Flames not making it to the second round... My Leafs didn't even make it in... lol...

Second... I like the idea of the GSP mat in the bottom of the display.. that will really look good... How are you going to keep it from eventually spreading back onto the rocks??

Rich

[mikey3165]

is that a 1969 honda 750 cuz that was the first bike my dad got and it is his favorite till now.