Ajmckay's contest thread - w/Water!

[seabass]

I wouldn't trade with you, but that stand is hot. Nice job!

[ajmckay]

Thanks for the kind words & encouragement! I'm sooo ready to finish this...

[seabass]

Thanks for the kind words & encouragement! I'm sooo ready to finish this...

[animalmaster6]

Love the stand!

[bwoodward0012]

looking good so far... workin on a stand for my 40 breeder as well. for the backing you could use 1/4" utility ply (i think its actually 3/16"). it's smoother and has a nicer finished look than normal plywood (no knots) and is around $10 a sheet (at least at my local hardware stores like lowes). whatever you decide to use im sure it will look good if the rest of the stand's current appearance is any indication.

[SpringFever]

would you get this thing wet already?!?!

 

Everything looks great. Want to se some life in there.

[bitts]

slow is better. rushing is well for those with an IQ below 64.

[SpringFever]

rushing is well for those with an IQ below 64.

 

Having a bad day, Bitts?

[seabass]

I'm going to be , if Ajmckay gets water in his tank before me.

[bitts]

Having a bad day, Bitts?

 

maybe hard for me to tell my own mental state really, think its more that I spend to much time in AM's thread & I'm tired of the winers in there.

 

 

I'm going to be , if Ajmckay gets water in his tank before me.

 

watch out AJ, you may be in for a beat down.

[B.C.]

Aj where you at man?? ,

you havent stopped by

 

The slate on the stand sets it off.

Nice job.

[bitts]

Merry C-Mas AJ.

[ajmckay]

Wow, people still actually check this thread ?!

 

Water going in probably Wednesday! I'm returning home from the holidays tomorrow, and I have off work so I'll be working to finish the painting and really the last thing I need to do is finish levelling the stand. Instead of using the levelling feet I'm just cutting up some oak "shims" with the tablesaw and hopefully I can get it relatively level. The 2 shelves are about 1/16" off level front to back, so I'm levelling it to the top and the sump will be slightly off.

 

Okay, on to the pictures:

 

Here's my makeshift paint booth (the back of the tank is now painted)

 

Here's the stand in it's final resting place, I need to move over the old tank before painting behind it...

 

Here's a closer pic of the stand

 

Oh, and I've got a surprise for the light fixture.... I'm not telling what it is though until it's up! Muahaha!

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

[bitts]

tease.

[ajmckay]

Okay, one more issue... I still haven't finished the overflow. Originally I was thinking of making a 3-sided overflow in the upper left corner of the tank (where I drilled the holes). but I only have clear glass and I'm not sure about how to paint and silicone, so I'm considering purchasing some 1/4" black acrylic and making an overflow similar to the glass-holes one.

 

Now here's my question... The glass-holes ones look like a box, with a hole drilled out the back to slide the bulkhead through. Like THIS. Now if I make an overflow box like the glass-holes one, how should I install it? Since the bulkhead only comes with one seal, that means that if I install it with the seal on the inside that it will leak since there will be no seal between the glass. I suppose the simple solution is to insert an extra seal between the overflow and the glass, but that would make it so that the overflow isn't perfectly flat against the glass... I suppose that's not a huge deal though...

 

What do y'all think of my plans?

[bitts]

yep the glass holes style needs two seals.

[animalmaster6]

Yay! Water

[ajmckay]

Am I correct also in saying that they choose to reverse the bulkhead?

 

That is, the "nut" goes on the inside of the overflow box and the smooth rounded part goes outside.

 

IMO this would be ideal for me... I chose slip bulkheads (requiring solvent welding) to prevent leaks, so if I reverse the design then that would allow me to be able to remove the bulkheads should I ever need to!

[gutterguy]

I have the 700gph and the nut is on the inside of the box

[bitts]

yep nut goes on the inside to minimize the boxes size.

[ajmckay]

yep nut goes on the inside to minimize the boxes size.

 

 

Which is awesome... I'm totally doing this. I can trim off an inch of the threaded part and decrease the thickness of my overflow box.

[bitts]

just remember that it needs to be big enough to get stuff back out of. that was the design flaw on my ten.

[ajmckay]

Okay,

 

Time for an update. I really really wanted to get water in this thing tonight, but it's 2am and that isn't going to happen... I did, however, complete the plumbing, and most of the light fixture.

 

All I need to do tomorrow is level the stand and fill 'er up! I also need to make the overflow too, but I can do that anytime... On to the pics.

 

pic of the plumbing in the back of the tank

closeup of the "anti-siphon" system.

Took the tanks off to move it back against the wall and level it...

[bitts]

Damn AJ, that looks really good.

[jerzsky]

wow! amazing build so far!!! this is gonna be a verrrrrrrrry nice setup! great job!!!!!

 

one thing that concerns me is the use of copper for your lighting, knowing this from my plumbing and/hvac expierience if you dont support those horizontal sections of pipe that your light will hang from, the copper elbows and pipe will begin to stretch and sag....

 

otherwise, awesome job!