jonny roks Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 SPECS: Display Tanks: Ada 60F 24" x 12" x 7" Ada 30C 12" x 12x x 12" Lighting: 4 Evil Par 38's [20k] Rock: Foamed waterfall [bRS rock] Substrate: 1 inch of fine sand Filtration: 20 Gallon Custom Sump (24 x 12 x 17) Circulation: EcoTech MP10W Vortech [shallow] EcoTech MP10 [blue box, will upgrade soon. Heating: Jager 150 watt heater 04-21-2011 Well, I'm at it again with two brand new ADA tanks and a new idea. I picked up both an ADA 60-F & ADA 30-C My idea is too place the two tanks side by side with a centralized sump underneath. The 60-f on the left and 30c on the right and form a waterfall. I plan to have the water volume at around 25 Gallons between the 2 tanks/sump and additional refugium I will be adding. Going to be a journey but i think its going to come out really nice with a little planning. More updates to follow Link to comment
malibukay Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 So i picked up both a ADA 60-F & a 30-c - DIY LED Mp10w SWC120 Cone SUMP I would like to tie the two together with a sump. I spoke with ADA and i know they are drillable. Do you think its going to be super risky to drill both aquariums? I could either have a friend drill it or a glass shop locally [if i can find one that is willing to do it] I really want to add a sump so i can get the water volume to around 25 Gallons between the 2 tanks and sump. ANY suggestions? haha nice i dont think it is risky to drill at all, its actually pretty easy if done correctly without rushing. ill be following the build Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 How the heck is this a pico? The ADAs should be fine to drill afaik... Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 somehow it ended up in this forum, ill blame it on the lack of sleep. Sorry. A friend of mine has some Glass-Hole bits so i would probably be able to use them if need be. any advice? Link to comment
malibukay Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 somehow it ended up in this forum, ill blame it on the lack of sleep. Sorry. A friend of mine has some Glass-Hole bits so i would probably be able to use them if need be. any advice? make sure not to put any force onto the glass by pushing, just let the weight of the drill push the bit, start the bit off at any angle just to fixate it, then evenly start drilling, make sure to have plenty of water to cool it, either run it from a hose or create a little puddle by using some type of putty Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 make sure not to put any force onto the glass by pushing, just let the weight of the drill push the bit, start the bit off at any angle just to fixate it, then evenly start drilling, make sure to have plenty of water to cool it, either run it from a hose or create a little puddle by using some type of putty Would using a drill press be the better option if i could gain access to one? or is it better to drill it with a handheld drill? i could vice grip the tank and come straight down without much pressure Is the thinness of the glass a bad or a good thing? I know that even when the tank is drilled i will have to be very careful with the bulkhead itself and plumbing. maybe someone who has done an ada can chime in? Link to comment
malibukay Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Would using a drill press be the better option if i could gain access to one? or is it better to drill it with a handheld drill? Is the thinness of the glass a bad or a good thing? I know that even when the tank is drilled i will have to be very careful with the bulkhead itself and plumbing. maybe someone who has done an ada can chime in? a drill press is always easier because it basically does most of the work for you as far as keeping it steady. i havent drilled an ADA, so maybe someone else can help with that specifically. Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 So heres a little photoshop sketchup i put together. I drew it out much better but dont have a scanner to upload it. The rockwork is going to be a little difficult and definitely need a lot of planning, i will be attempting too go up the side of the 30c forming a waterfall. I will have to make sure to make the structure strong and not have any weight on the bulkhead that could possibly cause the tank to crack. it will be created with a mix of dry rock,epoxy,zipties,acrylic rods and foam. I will need to make sure it doesn't cause abrupt splashing. I am probably going to use a nano overflow kit from glass-holes. i just tossed in some rock images to give an idea of what im planning to do. Link to comment
Lalani Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Moved this thread to the Members Aquariums for ya. Watching this one! Link to comment
TheUnfocusedOne Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Lighting will probably be a AI sol Blu on the left and a single par38 on the right tank. Best sketchup ever imo Link to comment
jbb Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 my concern is salt creep from the water fall. Also you may have addressed this but you may want to silicone the tanks together to prevent water from ending up between them and damaging your stand. just a couple of thought that crossed my mind when reading . interested to see how this turns out. Good luck Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Update: Ada 60-F is drilled. I'll post some photos when I get home from work. The 30c was backordered but they said they were expecting a delivery to the states today. hopefully it will ship this week. The more input the better! Link to comment
bensanders Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Best sketchup ever imo Totally agree. my concern is salt creep from the water fall. My concern as well. I think at least siliconing the top seam between the two tanks is mandatory, an even seal all around would be ideal. Salt creep will be your worst enemy with this type of waterfall set-up. Don't let it worry you though, forge ahead! Link to comment
Drift Monkey Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Update: Ada 60-p is drilled. I'll post some photos when I get home from work. The 30c was backordered but they said they were expecting a delivery to the states today. hopefully it will ship this week. The more input the better! 60-p or 60-f? Yup, ship gets into the port of Houston today, but they won't have them in their possession 'till the end of next week. Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 60-p or 60-f? Yup, ship gets into the port of Houston today, but they won't have them in their possession 'till the end of next week. Sorry was a typo - 60-f (24x12x7) shallow Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 04-22-2011 Heres a photo of the 60-F Drilled. I used a 1 3/4" bit and a 1" Schedule 40 Bulkhead from Glass-Holes. [A friend let me borrow her Glass-Holes kit so i could trace and drill the hole in the right spot to accommodate the nano overflow box] [tanks just on a chest i have in the basement, till i get my stand] Ordered BRS ECO rock. Link to comment
bensanders Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I loved my order of BRS eco rock. Check my sig for some pictures of the rock they sent me and how I was able to dry stack it without epoxy. It's rock solid! Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 This is a really cool idea. I hope it works out well. Link to comment
reefrook Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 i agree with zook…very cool. what are your plans on lighting? 2 fixtures or just 1? Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Thanks, I just ordered 30lbs of eco rock from brs. Looks good to me and the reviews are great. Im also thinking about making a replica of my tanks out of acrylic/cardboard so I can construct this without scratching or cracking my Tanks in the process of making the waterfall For lighting: I have a few options. I could probably use my 24" solaris i5 led.. I have it mounted 15" above the waterline on my current tank -36x18x12 and it covers it totally. SOLD I also considered doing 1 AI on the left and a single par 38 over the cube 3 par 38's [2 par 38s on the left and 1 over cube] Going with this Going to mock up some drawings when I get home. For the stand I have decided on the deep blue professional series 2 stand 36x18 w/ a Granite top Link to comment
jonny roks Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 Im glad i caught some attention. I intend to get this going within the month. I also just ordered my Granite top, I went with a Light white St. Cecilia w/ Pencil edges and 2, 2" holes drilled. Pickup is set for Tuesday. So many colors to choose from. Its mainly a white stone with greys and purple running through it. Hopefully i made a good choice. ADA cube is still stuck in customs. Rock was delivered, i got the eco saver dry rock from BRS, Fast shipping. I liked around 50% of the rock shapes. The other i have been chopping up and re epoxying to get the shapes i want. They sent me an extra 5-7 lbs. If anyone is wondering I used an epoxy from Home depot called [JB] Water weld, Its a food grade, Fast drying/curing & drinking safe. I created a base and a piece coming out from the base for corals. Really really happy how its coming out. [zip ties are there until the epoxy drys] Hit a bunch of speed-bumps, in the photo you will see the eggcrate I put there too illustrate how high the other tank will be. I really wish the cube would be another 4-5 inches higher. The waterfall isnt going to be too tall but its going to help with the functionality and im going to make it look really good.... I also fooled around with the Great stuff pond and fish foam i bought early last year. Didnt realize the stuff was going to be black. Trying to really get a hang of how much i need to use to avoid it looking stupid even though i can always trim it away. heres a teaser: the structure has around 8 or so pieces and i need to add a lot more rock. the rock too the left was just there for size reference of the piece i will use. advice welcomed! Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Great idea man! I can't wait to see this up and running. Any updates? Link to comment
gabe3eb Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Cool concept, I imagine the waterfall is going to be pretty loud though? It also seems that the flow rate coming out of the 30C into the 60F has the potential to be higher than the overflow kit itself. All I think this will affect is the water column height in the 30C. That makes the hole placement and size on the 30C really important. Not that I know what the right answer will be! Good luck. Link to comment
jonny roks Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 After fooling around for a few days it started to come together. There was a lot of trial and error but i finally got something going. The structure is one piece now and was created with egg crate, rock, and foam and an exacto knife. It still needs another few days of work. Epoxy Used: Bob smith Industries 2 part [20min] When working with this foam it is very hard to judge how much it is going to expand. This made it very hard to keep this low profile and its hard to come out and say im 100% with the overall design. I figure once its running and colors up a bit that it will definitely slim it down with the contrasting colors. I also decided that the 30c will use a 1/2" bulkhead/elbow combo instead of the 1" too reduce the flow. No word from ADA yet, Guessing the cube is still stuck in customs. Hopefully they can get it out this week because i would really like to get this rolling along. [i ran out of the pond foam so im working with some regular foam for the finishing touches] Their is some freshly sprayed foam in the photo because im working on blending this all together. i plan to make the cubes rock work too go hand and hand with this to make it all mesh together right. Link to comment
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