rc407093 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Hey folks. I'm finally making a tank thread for an acrylic tank that is coming to me in the mail as we speak. It's pictured below. Tank:18.7g Advance Acrylics (30x18x8) I'm going to make or have made a custom stand for the tank. I've had a 14g Biocube in the past but this will be my first tank that has an overflow/sump. I've done some creeping and reading around the forums to figure out the plumbing situation on a tank like this and was curious if ya'll had any tips/recommendations for particular plumbing pieces that I'll need to get this going. Also, if anyone has any recommendations for return pumps for a tank this size that would likely be atop a ~42" tall stand, then I'd love to hear them. Thanks in advance! Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I love the dimensions. ------------------------ Looks delicious! Gawdammit, Ballz.... Stop saying things look delicious... It's weird. Link to comment
siwelk Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I love the dimensions. ------------------------ Gawdammit, Ballz.... Stop saying things look delicious... It's weird. ^ what you said what I got: Ballz look delicious Link to comment
rc407093 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 I love the dimensions. ------------------------ Gawdammit, Ballz.... Stop saying things look delicious... It's weird. Thanks guys! Do you guys know of anyone on NR that has a tank with similar dimensions? I'm trying to get an idea of what kind of equipment I should be considering and how big of a DIY LED setup I'm going to be in for. Link to comment
iball1804 Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Gawdammit, Ballz....Stop saying things look delicious... It's weird. You'll live. It does look delicious tho. Link to comment
rc407093 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Nice tank! Thanks yall! It should be arriving Monday; I can't wait. Any recommendations for return pumps or anything? Link to comment
Pili Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Thanks yall! It should be arriving Monday; I can't wait. Any recommendations for return pumps or anything? Eheim if you can swing it. Link to comment
rc407093 Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 Eheim if you can swing it. Any particular particular model/GPH in mind that would be appropriate for this size tank? I know that I'll be having an MP10es going in there also. Link to comment
rc407093 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 I've got the tank in. Now I'm planning some lighting. I'm thinking of using my 20" NEP T5 and removing 2 of the T5 bulbs and replacing them with a whole mess of LEDs. Your thoughts? Link to comment
rc407093 Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Here is a long overdue and rather lengthy update of what's happening here: Note: All equipment and designs used here where chosen with the purpose of being reusable should I upgrade to a larger tank in the future. Lights: Getting this tank set up has been on the back burner until this past week; I'm a law student and just finished finals, thankfully. Anyways, I've been doing some thinking about the lighting for this tank and I have been torn between doing DIY with just LEDs or a DIY hybrid T5/LED fixture. I've decided to go with just LEDs for now, although I believe that my LED mix should be pretty neat in its own right. With respect to the LEDs, I've been watching some talk about the Rebel ES Royal Blues/Neutral Whites and their purported higher degree of efficiency. While that's obviously a good thing, I decided to add 6 Rebel ES Royal Blues merely because I'm curious about their sub-450nm spectrum. I've read that others find these troublesome because they have a tendency to cause the tank to have a purplish-cast that's difficult to get rid of without a stronger balance of other 450nm Royals or Cool Blues to counteract. Nevertheless, I'm interested in what they look like, so join me for the adventure that is sure to follow. Each panel is a 6"x9" drilled and taped heatsink from RapidLED with acrylic shield. Each heatsink will only have 16 out of 24 possible LEDs on it allowing me to expand if I so desire. LED amounts for each panel; this build will have 3 panels of: XP-G Warm White (x2) XP-G Neutral White (x2) (Note: using these because I already own them) XP-G Cool White (x2) XP-E Royal Blue (x2) (Note: using these because I already own them) Rebel ES Royal Blue (x2) (Note: from Steve's LEDs, represented on layout as RbS XT-E Royal Blue (x2) (Note: represented on layout as RB*) XP-E Cool Blue (x2) True Violet (x2) All 3 LED panels will be driven by 40w Inventronics drivers (of both the 700ma and 1050ma variety) and will be controlled via the highly-esteemed DIM4 controller. I'm looking forward to the insanity. Stand (see pictures below) Due to the uncommon size of this tank (30"x18"x8"), finding a decent and functional stand proved rather difficult. As a result, my dad and I built this one pictured here. My dad has built furniture and virtually everything else in the past so this was no big deal for him and I couldn't have done it without him. I'm a tall guy so having a taller stand sounded perfect to me, so we built this one to be 42" high. We built a sliding drawer inside on which I can house the MP10w control box and the DIM4 controller for the LED build. Also, the front doors are void of cabinet fixtures/handles/knobs as the doors slide open and close. Filtration (see pictures below) I've got the tank plumbed up totally. I did a DIY sump (just a 10g glass tank) with a single acrylic baffle siliconed in. The return pump (Rio 2100+) powering this is, to my understanding, way too powerful; it is rated at 692gph at 0ft! Therefore, I've included a gate valve where I can control the flow to the tank without unduly straining the pump. I'll be using a JNS Alpha 1 Biopellet Reactor in this sump. To get the tank started, I will be using a skimmer which I already own, SWC Mini HOT Skimmer. I might upgrade this to an insump skimmer in the future. Evaporation will be handled by a Avast Marine Works ATO device which I currently own. If anyone has any comments or suggestions on anything, please send them my way. Thanks for reading! Link to comment
Boboli Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Cool tank! I will be tagging along on your post! I have a very similar 8 high tank in the works! Looks good thanks for posting. Link to comment
rc407093 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 HELP Needed here! I made the mistake of letting the tank sit motionless with freshwater for about 3 weeks while I was in finals. I went to do some work on the tank today and saw this: It looks like the coloring from the PVC primer or the ink/dye used to print lettering on a PVC pipe has sort of disintegrated into the water and formed some sort of pink funk that floats atop the waterline. Does anyone has any experience with something like this or have any recommendations about how I should get rid of this so that I can get some rock and sand into this tank in order to get it started? Link to comment
Zer0 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 That's actually just bacterial film I believe. It happened to me when I was water testing my tank for a week, only mine was white, not pink. I don't think it's anything to worry about. Just drain the water, clean all that crap out and you should be fine. Everybody here uses PVC primer, and it's never caused any problems so I highly doubt it's that. Link to comment
Paigee Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I think it is just a sludge that builds up on water. i get that on areas of the water where the flow isn't great, mine is a reddish brown colour. I used a paper towel to get it off, it sticks to it. I don't think its a big deal. Link to comment
rc407093 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 Thanks for your help guys. I just drained it and wiped it all out. We're all clean now. I was worried sick that I was dealing with this guy: Got sand (Caribsea Reef Floor Special Grade), dry rock, BioPellets, refractometer (because I'm tired of the hydrometer), and some salt (Red Sea Coral Pro) today. DIM4 and one of the drivers should be here tomorrow. I'll most likely be ordering the remaining LEDs needed in the next couple of days. Does anyone have any input/comments/gripes/suggestions/unrelated recipes on this LED arrangement for the tank? Thanks! Link to comment
rc407093 Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 We now have rock, sand, and water! Now everyone excuse the fact that these pictures were taken with a potato. I went with only a couple of larger sized dry rock pieces from my LFS; surprisingly, their price was basically the same as what I would've paid had I ordered it online. I always liked the look of several big rock islands that I've seen from some members here. The rock has nice holes that would be perfect for fitting frag plugs into. Also, several of the rocks have nice curves across the bottom near the sand which seem like perfect homes for a goby/shrimp combo. While I'm sure that return pump has entirely too much flow which is contributing to this problem, but does anyone have any ideas for how to silence or lessen the gurgling noise coming from this overflow? Link to comment
jason777 Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I like the large rock look as well. Some people truly have an artistic talent with aquascaping, but if I start with a pile of rocks, then it turns out to look like it too. Link to comment
amjez Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Awesome tank! I made my own durso standpipe. It's really quiet. Link to comment
rc407093 Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 The LEDs are well under way and should be completed this week. In the meantime, here's some teasers... There will be 3 of these heatsinks all with LEDs similarly arranged as depicted above. Link to comment
21093r53 Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 guess youre not doing sps but thats a sweet tank Link to comment
rc407093 Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 guess youre not doing sps but thats a sweet tank Thanks! I'll be having a mixed SPS/LPS/anything that I fancy. The lighting is actually way overkill as the tank is only 8" tall and the fixture will have 54 LEDs (6 separate clusters of 9 LEDs evenly spread across 3 heatsinks). Link to comment
Isaac5981 Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Great dimensions. Craftsmanship of the tank looks killer. Aquascape looks to be off to a great start. Will be following along on this one. Isaac Link to comment
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