Robster's BC29

[TEALCOBRA]

Looking good Robster, now youre making me mad that I put water in my tank.

[POSSUM]

Nice job Robster! I had thought about adding more vents.That tunze is looking stealthy. With no dremel and a tank full of water like Teal, its a tough venture. I can't wait to see what your tank will look like when you stock your tank. Any idea where you will order from?

[Robster]

Looking good Robster, now youre making me mad that I put water in my tank.

 

 

Teal- Thanks! Look on the bright side you have fish, anenome and good stuff!!....the only thing inhabiting my tank is soggy plastic shavings from cutting and sanding and some nasty residue fromt the freshwater and pecans

 

Besides I needed half of your inventions to make mine work

 

 

Nice job Robster! I had thought about adding more vents.That tunze is looking stealthy. With no dremel and a tank full of water like Teal, its a tough venture. I can't wait to see what your tank will look like when you stock your tank. Any idea where you will order from?

 

Possum- Thanks.. its coming slowly together. With the covert tunze....more space for rock!!! (and my little diffuser thangy magig). For goodies...I need to do a little more investigation around my area, have not found any LFS that I like; there has to be some rockin LFS near LAX. Problem I find is most fish stores are not computer savy...now that I think about it maybe I should look in the yellow pages thats pretty low-tech...

 

Side note: ANY ONE KNOW GOOD PLACES NEAR LAX??????

 

So barring finding something local, I'll have to drive alllll the way to the valley to see Dave & Kyle at Vivid Aquariums...They usually have really great looking stuff, and they like what they do. Their tanks look good and clean and well taken care of. They are pretty informative too. I for sure want to pick out the rocks myself, and when I finally get to the fish etc... I want to be able to see them in action before selecting them, to get ones with great personalities (like Teal's cleaner shrimp) I don't want to buy things, and be wondering if they died cause I never get to see them, ya know what I mean.

 

-R

[Robster]

Ok More dry-tank syndrome

 

Fuge: what is it missing.....Ability to use MUD!!!!!! hmmm....let see

 

After some reading, that Miracle Mud sounds pretty fun. So 1st things 1st. had to close off the existing flow from chamber 2 to chamber 3... A little sheet of acrylic and the table saw (and a slide rule)!!! Siliconed into place (a little challengeing since not quite straight, and extremely difficult to get a dremel or anything down there. So, a little bit of air gaps between the wall and the acrylic, but the chamber3 side is not blocked, so no worries of preasure buildup and seem failure. here's pic:

 

 

Next challenge flow of the Fuge. If I end up with the mud as expected, I can't really have hard flow comming straight down on it, that would cause it to stir up and push a bunch of mud into the main pump and display. then there's the output also. again to the acrylic and silicone.

 

 

perfect. inflow (just shy of 1" deep) large enough to allow easy placement of filter floss and/or Purgen etc... and moves the flow 3/4 of the way down into the fuge!! (had to notch the ridge that originally held the top grate... might still use it on top to block out light....we'll see

 

 

Now the outlet... I wanted to ensure a good volume of water in the fuge, so I used a similar acrylic except only 1/2" deep, since don't want to impede any of the little cope-pods etc... to get into the display for fish munch'in. Cut new outlet holes a bit higher than the original ones and placed the outlet piece in with more silicone. I used a few spacers in them (the little pieces sticking up in the field) to help ensure any difference in preasure would not cause them to colapse. Here's the outlet: (added "fingers" to it so like the surface skimmer to help keep flow incase chaeto overgrowth etc... (also seemed to see that on a bunch of larger fuges)

 

 

finally added the light for the fuge that had finished earlier:

 

 

Then the whole thing together:

 

 

I think that will just about wrap it up for the tank mods (I don't think there's anything left to touch. ...just the electric section....(still working)).

 

Cheers!

-R

[POSSUM]

Very nice- It all looks well thought out. I'm sure it will all work great.

 

Sorry- Can't help with the LFS suggestion, Minneapolis is a long way from LAX.

I'm sure someone on these forums can help. It seems like most of the classifieds are from that area.

[Robster]

Very nice- It all looks well thought out. I'm sure it will all work great.

 

Sorry- Can't help with the LFS suggestion, Minneapolis is a long way from LAX.

I'm sure someone on these forums can help. It seems like most of the classifieds are from that area.

 

 

Thanks Possum... down side is I'll have to fill again with freshwater to verify all flows etc...

 

Minneapolis??? well maybe some one will know a few around here

 

-R

[POSSUM]

I'm sure if you posted in general disscusion you'd find plenty of info.

[TEALCOBRA]

http://zoyzoy.com/aquarium/aquariumstoresm...10&Size=800

 

Try that link, then on the bottom just enter los angeles as your location and a TON of stores should pop up. Its set on chicago right now for me though.

 

Looking good on the fuge mods... I likey. If I cant ever get these skimmer sorted out, I will probably be flipping over to the fuge myself.... Just thought a skimmer to be easier.

[Robster]

http://zoyzoy.com/aquarium/aquariumstoresm...10&Size=800

 

Try that link, then on the bottom just enter los angeles as your location and a TON of stores should pop up. Its set on chicago right now for me though.

 

Looking good on the fuge mods... I likey. If I cant ever get these skimmer sorted out, I will probably be flipping over to the fuge myself.... Just thought a skimmer to be easier.

 

 

Teal-

thanks for the link, I'll check that out some more. looks pretty complete from first glance!!

 

I know what you mean about the fuge/skimmer thing. I went through the same debate myself. I lean toward the fuge for less money (not buying skimmer, or electricity 24/7 for it) and less noise. my latest mod to that section should boost the overall water capacity of the tank by a few gallons since it will force water level in second chamber upto almost where the original top grate is!!! I figure more water will give me a little more time to react to problems (which is half the reason I wanted to start with the 29gal.

 

-R

[TEALCOBRA]

Make sure to take a few pics and possibly a movie once you get some water in there so I can see how the flow and everything works out.... I am really interested in the setup.

[Robster]

Make sure to take a few pics and possibly a movie once you get some water in there so I can see how the flow and everything works out.... I am really interested in the setup.

 

Sure!! Since I am going to have to do freshwater again.... way to many changes to flow to not double check.!! (I also lowered the chamber wall going into chamber 2 to help compensate for the Tunze. I'm hoping that it'll be smoooooth first out, but I might need to open more of the slits in the surface skimmer going into chmber 3, unless the flow forces the level higher than it, which wouldn't make me grouchy at all... more water!!!!

 

p.s. any luck on the rods??

 

cheers-

R

[TEALCOBRA]

Just talked to my mom.... (Yes I use my mom for my shipping... ) and they should be going out first thing in the morning.

 

Man does that make me feel weird typing that since im 31.

[Robster]

Just talked to my mom.... (Yes I use my mom for my shipping... ) and they should be going out first thing in the morning.

 

Man does that make me feel weird typing that since im 31.

 

 

Sweetness... I'll see if I can get my mom to send a thankyou note

 

Hmmm. after typing that, I see what you mean.....push'in 34 how did I get sooo old

-R

[Robster]

First round of testing....

 

mixed results:

 

1. water amount: Fabulous!! chamber 3 at about the top edge of the "side window" for checking levels....way above max, about 3" down from bulkhead.

 

2. water level chamber 2 a bit higher than expected...running upto the original top grate!!! great and bad same time.

 

3. water flow into chamber 2 from chamber 1.....too much ; but the flow inside chamber 2 is very gentle The elevated water level from the Tunze being in chamber 1 pushes the level in chamber 1 about to the top of the surface skimmer on the bulk head. nice and fat. first glance flow in the display looks great.

 

4. Display water level does not move up the 3/4" approx. that I experienced before (as the Rio would push through the bulk of the water in 2 & 3rd chambers, it would push it out into the display and push the display level up. then with pumps off, the 2&3rd chambers would fill with water and display level would drop. Now, when running and at rest levels are nearly the same (within >1/8").

 

Next steps:

 

A. adding about 2 1/2" to the outlet on the chamber 2. when tunze is shut down, water level in chamber 1 also diminishes, providing less flow to 2 & 3; when level falls to existing outlet grate, pushes too much water into the display and start running into a little overspill across the bulkhead into chamber 2&3. by increasing that minimum level, it will force more water to occupy chamber 2 at all times (good thing) and thus keep same display level regardless of nanostream being on or off.

 

B. Lowering the intake into chamber 2, seems to have worked, but too good. the flow is so great that there is no aeration occuring during the filter section (plus I don't mind the lite babbling brook sound) So that means raising the level and another surface skimmer type device for the flow into chamber 2. did some testing with a spare piece of acrylic while tank was running....looked perfect. Nice saturation of bubbles in chamber 2 to aid with oxygenation (as I understand it, one of the benefits of a protien skimmer is all the air it forces into the water that helps with the oxygenation of it...sometimes too much though and then a plethora of micro bubbles ) so with all the little bubbles added into the 2nd chamber, seems to be perfect, as by the time the water gets pumped back into the display, the pump is NOT pushing bubbles into the display

 

C. Original plans of being able to put filter floss/purgen etc... into the acrylic guide into chamber 2 have proven to be not good The presure "squished" the filter floss, causing reduction in flow, and over the bulk head again. Though It appears the entire top area of chamber 1 could handle a great big wad of filter floss. so, I think I'll be setting some new stops on the inside edges, and "re-installing the false floor (a bit higher than original though). Have not decided about the stock filter/carbon thing, so I'll adjust the false floor to allow for it (just in case) Then Chamber 3 is lookin real good for purgen etc... Also with the great water level in chamber 2, the heater will fit real nice right there. and viola! expecting evey thing will go together good, and the entire (except for the little lockline Y/ 2 flares, and the 1/4" protrusion of the nanostream)...oh...the entire display area will be clear of any unsightly objects/cords etc... (just what ever ugly algae problems I'm sure I'll be fighting with or something that will cause tumult.

 

-R

[Robster]

Ok!!!

 

the slight adjustments are in and the silcone is setting!!! I figured it was only about 9:30pm not tooo terribly late to fire up the table saw....hope the neighbors didn't mind (no HOA to deal with so...ehh, what the heck)

 

had to add the new height for the intake and make kinda skimmer like....my 40tooth blade isn't quite as smooth as I desired....took out a few extra nibbles...I went for a HIGH/LOW alteration in cuts due to the slightly different heights when the Tunze is on and off.:

 

 

The outlet was a bit more difficult...thankfully I still had the left-over piece from cutting it down the first time, so trimmed it a bit more, and made a "patch" to cover the seem between old top and bottom of new piece....It's pretty ugly I know,...but it was late, etc..etc...excuse excuse... The High/Low cuts did better on this one...not sure why but hey what can ya do

 

 

The silicone should be strong enough for the testing, but I think I want to grab some heavy duty marine/aquarium grade silicone to lock it in prior to finalization...

 

any recommendations on brand & where to get?

 

Cheers

-R

[Robster]

Success!! Happiness does exist!!!!

 

It only took about 3 hours of taking out about 5 gals water, make adjustment replace the 5gal water test. over and over and well you get the idea.

 

obstacles had to over come....had some cheap homedepot 5/8 tube when I made it bend the corner, it made a kink in it...didn't realize that yesterday when testing heights. solution...installed the ball valve and tweeked around with it to get balance just right. Also had to tweek the heights of the intake outlet for the fuge a bit too. And final one was, I had to increase the height of the surface skimmer on the front bulkhead, as water flow with both pumps running puts water level at the very top edge of the bulkhead!!!! so it was droning the surface skimmer and the little pieces floating on top of water were not getting sucked in. and voila!! working balanced and aeration too!!

 

here's a link for some video I shot...it's pretty clumsy, and I have not learned how to use the "editing" software it came with. so appologies in advance.

 

first part is showing the surface agitation and water level (at the very top of bulkhead, but not going over!!) and you can see the expanded surface skimming ports. both pumps running. then a little move to see the workings of the fuge in/out and aeration. tried to get a little look at the water level in chamber 3...didn't pan out so well real dark can't see anything really. then finally a view of the tank level with just the main pump running (the way it will be at night (my current plan)) and then another peek at the fuge action with the slower flow. (the display level only drops a little less than 1/8" and with both pumps off about another 1/8". Much less than it did originally whith just the opening of chamber 1 to chamber 2. (couldn't find the stock filter I'll have to go on a scavenger hunt, or buy a new one to make sure all the levels still work with that little fella in place. again appologies for the crudeness of video:

 

http://ravenms.razorstream.com:80/mediaser...XHiCw%3D%3D.wmv

 

 

looks good to go. Just need to double check with that other filter in there, then empty and make sure all new joints are solid (one is leaking just a little).

 

That's all I got for now

Cheers

-R

[TEALCOBRA]

Looking good Rob...

 

BTW, the rods are on their way.

[Robster]

Looking good Rob...

 

BTW, the rods are on their way.

 

 

Greatly appreciated!

 

How is that skimmer working out?

 

-R

[TEALCOBRA]

Still waiting for the replacement pump.... once it gets here hopefully I can get everything sorted out....

 

On a side note, have you noticed any "stagnant" water in the third chamber Rob ?!?!?!? I just looked in there today and the surface of the water looks kinda gross... I think Im going to have to find a way to move the water around in there a little bit.

[Robster]

Still waiting for the replacement pump.... once it gets here hopefully I can get everything sorted out....

 

On a side note, have you noticed any "stagnant" water in the third chamber Rob ?!?!?!? I just looked in there today and the surface of the water looks kinda gross... I think Im going to have to find a way to move the water around in there a little bit.

 

I'm SO glad you brought that up....I noticed as I was working last night that anything that slipped into chamber 3 (little plastic shavings) just kinda hung out on the top of the water in the chamber. I have been pondering how and if I should try to do something in that area, since with the higher level of water, exactly what you are saying. So that kinda confirms my suspicion. I have to put my brain to the grindstone and start formulating some ideas to rectify that issue. maybe re-create something like how chamber 2 flow is??? bring the water back up to a little height, then run over a little grate through a secondary filter/filterfloss and have it drop down to the area where pump is????

 

any thoughts??

-R

[TEALCOBRA]

I was thinking the same thing...... some sort of way to get the water from the second chamber to "mix" over the top of the third.... The only problem with trying to create another "tray" for it is the tubing coming up for the return... HMMM.... Decisions decisions....

 

It kinda sucks im finding all this stuff out with water already in the tank, cause its kinda hard to do chamber one or two mods with the damn things full of water.

[Robster]

It kinda sucks im finding all this stuff out with water already in the tank, cause its kinda hard to do chamber one or two mods with the damn things full of water.

 

 

if you plug the bulk head....then syphone from the back, stick one of those flat sink stoppers over the inlets on chamber 1 and presto!!!! access to rear chambers!!!!!! I had to empty chamber 2 about 10 times last night when I was trimming down the oultet spot

 

-R

[TEALCOBRA]

That would work out great if it werent for the whole fact that im a lazy ass.

 

I actually might have a new project soon, a local reefer is selling his Nanocube 24 and stand for a price that may be too good to pass up..... GREAT another project tank.

 

For chamber three, maybe we could fit a Tunze 6025 back there to stir the third chamber water. HAHAHAHA

[Robster]

That would work out great if it werent for the whole fact that im a lazy ass.

 

I actually might have a new project soon, a local reefer is selling his Nanocube 24 and stand for a price that may be too good to pass up..... GREAT another project tank.

 

For chamber three, maybe we could fit a Tunze 6025 back there to stir the third chamber water. HAHAHAHA

 

 

Say it isn't so!!! you lazy....hmmm I think the snow is fallen deep over there, cause that sounds like a "snow job" to me

 

now you're making me jealous...a quarantine tank??? double the pleasure, double the fun???

 

and nah, the tunze would bleed that chamber dry...maybe one of the half chewed bio balls you have might work????

-R

[TEALCOBRA]

Perfect place to put a damsel.