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Dubber's In-Wall 29 Gallon


iadubber

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Well, I've been out of this game for about a year and a half. I am getting back in doing a 20 gallon long in the wall of my basement office.

  • Equipment
    • Standard 29 Gallon
      • Re-siliconed to black
      • Drilled for Glass Holes Condientes Overflow
      • Drilled for 1/2" locline return
    • Standard 20 Gallon Long with Black back and sides
    • 10 Gallon two chamber sump
    • Tunze Osomolator ATO
    • MarcoRocks Reef Sand CaribSea Hawaiian Black
    • Vortech MP10WES
    • Jabao Power Heads
    • Current Orbit Marine LED
    • AC70 with mediabasket for eventual chemical filtration or possibly fuge
    • BRS 4 stage RODI with auto shutoff
    • Dual 100w heaters
    • CPR Bak Pak 2
    • SCA-301 skimmer
    • Apex Jr w VDM and WXM
    • Eshopps HOB Overflow w
    • Eheim 1000 return
  • LIvestock
    • One Clown

 

FTS: 01/19/2017

31598126583_da4dfe212a_b.jpgimage by Chad Harwick, on Flickr

IMG_5643 by iadubber, on Flickr

Here's the wall in which it will be going.

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Nice! I love having my tank in my office so I can stare at it all day as I work.

 

Pair up the clowns! I love clown pairs. Maybe a tailspot blenny.

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Started the hole in the wall. Mocked up with my old 20 Long. I have a new one waiting for this project.

 

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Yes, my desk is not level, the tank is :)

 

Gluing and screwing the stand. Needs a few more bracing. I also need to pick up a couple GFCI outlets.

 

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Very nice! Remember, you only need one GFCI on a circuit so if those two outlets are on the same breaker install one GFCI where there is a pass through (can't think if the correct terminology) and it will support the entire breaker. Can save ya $10-$15 and about 30 minutes labor. My one GFCI protects my tank outlet and the other three outlets in the same room. Nice project. Following!

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Ooops - let me clarify: if the outlets are wired in a "series" one GFCI will protect all those after the GFCI. EX: circuit breaker -> outlet 1 -> outlet 2 -> outlet 3. If you place the GFCI on outlet 1 it will protect outlets 1, 2 and 3. If placed on outlet 2 it will protect outlets 2 and 3 but not outlet 1 ... and so forth.

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Ooops - let me clarify: if the outlets are wired in a "series" one GFCI will protect all those after the GFCI. EX: circuit breaker -> outlet 1 -> outlet 2 -> outlet 3. If you place the GFCI on outlet 1 it will protect outlets 1, 2 and 3. If placed on outlet 2 it will protect outlets 2 and 3 but not outlet 1 ... and so forth.

 

Awesome I didn't think of that. I'll just go with the one.

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And the goodies start arriving.....

 

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And we have water

 

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274ppm coming in

 

 

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Starting to play with the aquascape. Not sure I like where I am going.

 

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I sealed the stand with Kilz sealer tonight. The MP10, heater and sand also arrived today. It's like Christmas. I'll hopefully be painting the back of the new tank tomorrow in hopes to mix some saltwater Wednesday when my salt comes.

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Wow. This is going to be slick. I just noticed you've ordered the BML 14k fixture, too. I *really* like mine. I had noticed a slight disco-ball effect when dimmed to 25% or below (it's analog so will go down to 10%) while it was tank-mounted but last night I finally was able to mount it from a shelf about 8" above the water ... the disco-balls are completely gone now. YaY! As far as the light: it is intense and my birdsnest absolutely loves it. I also picked up a few TrueLumen 450nm lunar LEDs ... they work fantastic with the setup. I think you'll appreciate the BML fixture.

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Thanks, I have followed your thread as well. I almost went with black sand but decided I'd stick with white. I don't know if I will regret it or not yet.

 

I did order the tank mount kit but I have a lot of option to mount higher if need be where I'm at.

 

I plan to do some door casing around the tank frame and opening, probably in black to match the tank trim.

 

I do like moonlights and have had them in all my tanks prior, did you go with the strips?

 

http://www.amazon.com/TrueLumen-Aquatic-10-Inch-4-453nm-LED/dp/B003XXAE84

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Thanks, I have followed your thread as well. I almost went with black sand but decided I'd stick with white. I don't know if I will regret it or not yet.

 

I did order the tank mount kit but I have a lot of option to mount higher if need be where I'm at.

 

I plan to do some door casing around the tank frame and opening, probably in black to match the tank trim.

 

I do like moonlights and have had them in all my tanks prior, did you go with the strips?

 

http://www.amazon.com/TrueLumen-Aquatic-10-Inch-4-453nm-LED/dp/B003XXAE84

 

The sand is definitely a preference - it was a toss-up for me, too. No, due to the smaller size of my tank and the shape of my rockwork, I went with the individual modules (like these) so that I could mount them to strategically focus the light. I almost went with the strip ... but ultimately chose the module route. I figure if they work out then I could possibly add one or two of the whites and perhaps even a set of the reds with each colour set on their own dimmer for a custom lunar atmosphere or in the case of red, for spying on the tank inhabitants.

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Had a couple issues lastnight.

 

the Plastidip was looking awesome on the back glass until I started to take the tape off so I could dip the end panels as well. I didn't think about scoring the edge first and it pulled up a corner when I removed the couple pieces of tape I had to protect the inside of the tank. I tried patching it but it just didn't look right from the front. So I tore it all off and broke out the good old black spray paint. I didn't clean the glass prior to painting (my fault) so it got really blotchy. I think after 4 coats it's going to look ok. Amateur painting mistakes.

 

I had a blue tub ready for RODI water. I decided to go to Lowes to get a clear one to easily see the level. I drilled it for the float and turned on the water. I came back down an hour later and water was all over. There was a barely visible crack all along the bottom of the tote and was letting the RO water flow onto the floor. Luckily it's concrete and very near to a floor drain so no damage anywhere.

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Busy day today.

 

Here's a back of the tank shot. The black needs to be touched up. I plan to just get some black in a can and rolling on another couple coats.

 

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That shows the AC70 that I'll have doing mechanical filtration until I get livestock in there. Then I'll get some chaeto and a lamp to make it a fuge and run carbon as well.

 

If you see above the tank I am making a shelf for the RODI water tank and salt tank. This will also allow me alternative options to hanging a light instead of having it on the tank itself. I plan to put chains and eye bolts to hold the front of the shelf up before I start using it for water storage. The back is already lagged to the three wall studs. I hope to make a plumbing setup on the shelf where I can just pump rodi water to my salt mixing tub then use gravity to to my water change top off. I will just build a simple removable 1/2" PVC tube with many holes to spread out the rush of water.

 

Here is a front shot from my office. Don't mind the still wet filler putty. I don't claim to be a wood worker, the miters sucked, but will do the job for now.

 

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I will do some caulking in the inside edges to block as much light leak as I can from the light.

 

My salt is out for delivery so I'll be filling tonight hopefully. I'm also rinsing the sand a bit in RODI water. I will be removing the MP10 prior to filling and just use my cheap aqeon power head until the dust settles.

 

I got an email from buildmyled.com that my light will be finshed and shipped by November 4th.

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Remarkable progress! Looking very nice. When I eventually purchase a home (within the next 5 years) this is definitely what I'll be doing. I like the idea if having salt and RODI water above the tank and using gravity-assist for some of the flow - fewer chances of mechanical failure.

 

Watching closely and taking notes ;)

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I am absolutely hating the marcorocks sand. I filled it thursday and i still can barely just see the front of my rockwork now. Should I leave the powerhead off for awhile?

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I've been running my AC70 packed full of floss and rinsing the floss and cleaning the AC70 daily. Still looks like milk. I've been reading that it's so fine it could take weeks to settle out.

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