<--will still help.

You'll donate a peanut butter and crack sandwich?? That ctaully might speed up this process!!!

LOL! Thanks guys, I have enough work right now to keep me busy for a little while... Next expense will be to build the pendant. I have a ton of ideas in my head, but trying to figure out the best way to build it... If anyone has built a pendant and has pics of the build process please shoot me some links, I'm curious what worked and didn't work for you.

Thanks!

I went fairly cheap with my retro kit and just bought a thin board of wood (48"x2½"x3/4"), but it works fine and would only need a hanging kit to become an actual pendant. I cut the board lengthwise at the 12" and 24" mark, forming two 1 foot segments ("a") and one 2 foot segments ("b"). Then, I formed this simple setup with the T5 endcaps ("c") on the two ends:

I can't strees the importance of giving yourself a touch of wiggle room (slightly longer than the distance from endcap-to-endcap) per lamp and MAKE A TEMPLATE. I tried to just measure it all out, and it worked terribly the first time, and I only had 4 lamps to mount.

+1 to holdorf. The reflectors are usually the widest parts, so don't assume that the endcaps can be placed next to each other. It may help if you assemble two bulb+endcaps+reflector setups to physically see how much space you'll need. Also, don't forget to plan your wiring before screwing in the endcaps.

a pendent may be really cool and look sweet but i have one concern.
if people are in either room next to the tank trying to watch tv or something will the light shine in their eyes?

you should think about testing out one of the lights and sit in a chair or something next to the tank to see if it bothers you. if not, great. but it would be better to find out now rather then when your finished

Update time:

Closed Loop is water tested!!!



I'm impressed and suprised I don't have any plumbing leaks (yet)! I hope to drill the sumps soon and get the open loop tested as well but I have some small patch job that will require the tank to be drained first. The overflow has a tiny leak at bottom which if left as is will allow the entire tank to drain into the sump and onto the floor in the event of a long term power outage. I have my 42 gun loaned out right now, but will have it back by Saturday if I can get all the water out by then.

For those who didn't already see this on that other site, here is what will be in the works before too long...

Looks great Calvin.........if you need a suggestion for your T5 bulb combo just ask , I have the perfect four bulb combo to give the look of a 14k Phonix MH , unless thats too blue for you . John

Nice closed loop system.

IMO this is by far the most interesting thread running. This thing is going to be outstanding once it's complete. It's looking amazing so far, you've got your work cut out for you though. You're going to have to really step up to the plate in the livestock department to keep up the standards of such an awesome tank.

I'll be watching with much anticipation.

Thanks! Sure, if you want to post it, I already have a bunch of bulbs from the setups I bought, but will be looking to replace bulbs as I see fit. I planned on using Giesemann's down the road.



Thanks!



Thanks bud! Funds continue to remain tight, especially with Christmas approaching with 2 boys and a 3rd due in March, but I will do the best I can.

needs moar water!

seriously, awesome work calvin

Here is the line up I use to get the same color tone as my 14k Phoenix MH's .
FRONT
ATI-Aqua Blue Special
ATI-Blue Plus
UVL-Aquasun
ATI-Blue Plus
BACK

glennr1978 pm'ed me about this bulb setup , so hopefully he will post his thoughts on it.

Wow....this just keeps getting better.

Forget frags, next time i'm buying a tank from you!!

I will, but it will be a little while. I haven't even added water to the tank yet, and have yet to recieve the light fixture (should've been here yesterday though...).




No kidding!!! I'm sure Calvin could bust out a few custom tanks for people and use the money earned to fund the remainder of this build.

LOL! Yeah I know, more water coming. Thanks!




Cool, Thanks!



Thanks! I wish I had time to build anything right now...



Maybe if it was small and worth it ($) I'd do some...

I really think you would get a few takers if you decided to go through with building a couple of tanks. Your work speaks for itself. All a potential buyer would need to do is skim through this thread if they had any doubts what so ever.

I'd be your first customer

told ya .

As long as it's small... What do you want built?

Calvin, you are truly talented at building tanks and remodeling (I bet ya get tired of hearing this huh? ). I have followed this thread closely and recently saw your 10g super-long build, along with the tank you did at your parent's house, and numerous others I'm sure. I'm just in awe, absolutely amazing man. You have inspired me to build my own tank. I'm sure it won't be perfect by far, but its a start. I'll be starting sometime after New Year's when we move into our house (congratulations to me ). I apologize in advance for the many PM's I will be sending you regarding the building of my tank when the project gets started

LOL! Thanks. Ask away, I get a lot of PM for suggestions so please don't be afraid to ask. Best advise I can give you is to practice your welds, don't go cheap on materials, get the right tools for the job and be patient. The first tank I built, I tried to do it all in an hour; need less to say it looked terrible and couldn't hold water to save my life. Second and Third ones weren't much better, they held water but one eventually let go and spilled all over my computer desk (only 2.5 gallons luckily)... I was about to give up when I discovered the pin method, my next tank turn out perfect and I haven't looked back since.

Glad to see its got some water in it!

Nice! Great work.

Define small.......I really want a custom 70-90 shallow reef. I have the stand built. 4.5feet long, over 2 feet deep, could be a decent sized shallow boy for SPS/LPS/clams, maybe even shallow enough for 150w MH. What d'ya say???

That'd be a ##### to ship. You may have to drive it up....

Yeah, I was thinking nano size (under 29 gallons). Shipping would really suck on something that large.

Update time...

I took the day off from work today to finish the detail work in the basement, I think it's all done now... I also took the time to polish the tank, clean it up as well as water test the sumps (so far so good, they are sitting out side full of water).

Oh, and I took some pics for everyone.

Please give me your thoughts on the trim? It matches the rest of the basement to help keep it consistent, but I'll be going to HD soon to find some longer pieces... For reference, the piece of trim in the pics is 10'.

This tank looks real nice. Wish i had a place to build something like this.

Adolfo

Looks absolutely awesome!

Thanks folks!

i love this tank man.
i think that trim is great! however what are you gonna do for the lighting? just hanging lighting right?

it wuuda been cool if u extended one of the lips to make like a bar table kinda thing though.

maybe you should go with a lip that is gonna match the light color?

a bar table tank would seriously rock!!, i dunno if it would fit but the smooth edges would look mmmmmmm:D

the trim looks a little outta place becuase it's not a normal right agale transition, but I think it still looks good (and you gotta do something to hide you leveling materials right)

Your tank unfilled win billy badazz tank of the year award, I can't wait to see it thriving

Looks perfect!!! Keep it up! Just hurry it up!

I love the trim, and although a bar top tank woulda been killer, this set-up is perfect as is. Now add water, salt of your choice, and let the cycling begin!

its looking great. have you gotten any work done on the lights?

Here's the plan for the light, not positive on the color, but I'm leaning towards black.






It would, but not enough room. I'll have doors on the other side and this side will have a couch against it.



LOL! Thanks!



I know, I know, just waiting on funds... My wife snagged the money I got from the frags and sent it to the hitman Amex sent so I'm once again broke. I'm still working on getting the cabinet doors installed, and will hook up the sump so I can fill it soon... With Christmas, two birthdays and a new baby all in the next 4 months, I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to afford. I will get it done as soon as I can, but please be patient with me.

J/K about the hitman, but the money did go to Amex...



Just waiting on funds for wire and fiberglass...

that stinks about the funds. don't worry most of us have the same problem.
inculding myself.(want to get some t5 actinics)

tell your wife this is the christmas present for everyone in the family... a frag for you and you and you

that would probably solve your fundage problem

i actually never thought of a bar top tank, if i ever get rich enough and setup a 20 000 gallon, it will have a recession just before the tank so you can sit and the substrate would be 2 feet below eye level, that would rock
now fill the damn thing, im really interested to see what it will look like!!!:D

wow man get off his back, hes done an amazing job so far probably because he isnt rushing everything. i think that the trim there looks a little odd to, can you just get a round bead or something and paint it white for its place. are you going BB with this tank or are you having sand? if your having sand how are you going to keep the sand out of those drains for the CL??

That set up really looks nice! I think the trim looks fine. But then, I'm just a girl. What do I know? Any way you look at it, I think so many people will be looking at the tank, no one will even notice the trim to have an opinion one way or the other. You still get the

I think you should make the trim at the base match the color of the light fixture above the tank so that it will appear visually balanced.

If you go black on the lighting above the tank, then I would go black on the trim below the tank. That way the trim and lighting will not draw attention to themselves and almost disappear in contrast to the pretty things this tank is going to be filled with.

I would also consider going with white trim below and painting the lighting fixture above white as well. You have so many nice white architectual details in your basement (e.g. the mouldings, etc.) that the white accents at the base of and above your tank would make the whole aquarium match its surroundings much better and look as though it was designed that way from the beginning, instead of placed there at a later time.

Whatever you decide, I think your light fixture's color should match the molding at the base, but thats just my 2¢. Not matter what, I'm sure it will look wonderful when you're done.

I agree 100% (except the girl part ) This is amazing! Just read through the entire thread. Great work!!!

I told my wife that, she laughed... Then reminded me that we still have to buy a new tree this year (we threw out the old one last year), might be a tree less Christmas this year, but hey we'll have water in the tank. LOL!



Workin on it...



LOL! Issue is the trim has to cover such a tall area from all the layers. Round bead would have to be 2" and don't think that would look good. I will be going with sand, the CL intakes will be connected to a piece of PVC that will be drilled with lots of holes (above sand level).



LOL!!!! As a girl you should know taste, the trim was my wifes idea. Thanks for the Sponge Bob Award.



I'll see what I can do... The trim will be white, but the canopy color is still up in the air. I agree with with the idea, but not sure how well I like the thought of a white canopy.



LOL! Thanks for taking the time.



Well I decided to take some money back from Amex as I went to Home Depot and picked up styro for under the sumps, and the trim. I also was able to finish the router work on the sumps, polished , drilled and uniseals installed. If you didn't see before, the openings to the stand are only 36" wide so I have to build 2 sumps (36 Long each) and then plumb them together. I still need to drill for the bulkhead to connect the return pump, but I'll have to figure out where I want that. I'll post more pics as soon as I get everything installed.

LOL

Today was a sick day, I woke up this morning about 2am with a headache and didn't get back to sleep. Called in sick with work and tried to sleep today...

I did make a little progress tonight:

Installed the trim around the tank, put a bead of silicone on the back side of the trim to try to keep any water from getting under the tank.



I installed styrofoam on top of the concrete followed by a shower plan liner (PVC Sheet) to catch any drips or leaks. Then put in the sumps:



I sprayed foam all over the electrical box the building inspector made me install to keep any salt out of it (nothing getting through that), and drilled the sump for the return pump. I started on the return plumbing, but still have to wait on a bulkhead to drill the end of the tank and the end of the stand.



Let's see... I also finished the frame for the cabinet doors to mount to. My wife finished painting the doors this morning and I have the hardware installed, just have to paint the frame and then install it. Sorry no pics of this, but I will once it's installed this week.

I still need to locate a lock for the doors to keep the little ones out, but I haven't looked at all yet.



I also went ahead a just bought a spool of 14ga wire from Lowes instead of spending more for 18ga. A friend said he uses it on all his T5's so as long as I can get it in the endcap, I'll give it a shot (also rated at 600v).

Awesome! Simply awesome. Still.

thiss keeepsh gettin bbbetter!!!

Click to view attachment

dang!

Liking the progress... I can almost see the finish line. At the rate you are going a few weeks from now we will all see water in this tank.


Adolfo

whats the stocking list like, btw? any ideas yet?

Wow, great progress! Looks like the basement turned out very nice. That wood looks good with the wall color.