HalfPint's 40 Breeder

[halfpint]

I have finally gotten around to painting the stand. I have to put a couple more coats on the doors, and then I can hang them. The yellow and black wires hanging down is the harness for the other three fans. I currently plan to mount two on the fuge, to blow air across the water's surface. I'm not sure if I'll use the fifth fan plug. I may use it for the fuge light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made a screen top, and egg crate bottom. The overflow is not siliconed in yet. I'll do that after I drill the tank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closeup of the wire channel I used to hide the wires:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the fan controller's power supply, and ball of wrapped up temperature probes:

 

 

 

It's difficult to see, but I put a small piece of silicone airline tubing on the back of the power supply, so it is held away from the stand. I did this to allow the circuit to stay cool, and minimize the risk of burning the paint or catching fire.

 

I plan to shorten all the wires I have tied up, to make things look a lot cleaner.

 

 

 

Here's a short list of the major things I plan to do next:

 

• Drill the display
  Silicone the overflow in
  Paint the tank's back
  Build ATO reservoir
  Install fuge baffles
  Build fuge cooling fan brackets
  Plumb display's drain and return lines
  Leak test system
  

 

 

I have decided to buy two of the Kessil A150W Ocean Blue lamps for the display.

 

I have not decided on a fuge light yet. I'm open to suggestions for LED fuge lights.

[BKtomodachi]

Classy as ####. Can't wait to see more.

[jimbro]

lookin pretty slick hp

[eddiecorrea]

Dude this tank is gonna be awesome! I really like the stand too. That is extremely impressive craftsmanship.

 

If you want a cheap fuge light I've got a pretty nice little LED light that came with my CADlights 8gal mini series. It would be more then sufficient for a fuge and puts off virtually no heat. LINK.

[Lalani]

Nice!

[halfpint]

Thanks, guys and gal!

 

 

Eddie, I'm going to pass on the light you have. The color temp is bluer than I want for a fuge light. Thanks though.

[Deleted User 4]

Subscribed, amazing on the work you've done on that stand..nice equips too.

[Paigee]

More please

[Spirofucci]

That is one clean build! Gonna look good with those K lights!

[TMG]

Awesome work on the stand, Sir, well done! Tagging along on this one, 'cause it's looks like it's gonna be great!

[boxboy]

This build so far is hella NICE! what are you using to power the computer screen thing. I take it that will be for tenp and fans.

[castiel]

I love that this update came on the 1 year anniversary of starting this build. Glad to see a build slower than my own =0)

 

(stand and set up looks awesome, really hope you get your ass on gear and fill it before May 28 2013)

[Mudfish]

Very sweet!

[Deleted User 4]

Hey why not go with 10k kessils a150w??? or Have you checked out the new kessils a350w??? The new ones are much stronger and can be dimmable for emitting just actinic, daylight, or both combined.

[Detritus07]

I've never heard of egg crate on the bottom. What's that about?

[JR!]

sick build!! cant wait for more.

[halfpint]

Thanks everyone for the kind words! It feels good to see someone else likes the way I'm doing this build.

 

Drilled the tank yesterday before work. I was a bit nervous, considering this was the first time I have drilled glass. My smaller drill bit walked a bit on me, so now I have to make a small notch on the bottom of the overflow, to accomodate the bulkhead. No biggie. That's what silicone is for! (My post preview is showing the photobucket "The image has been deleted" pic. If ya'll are seeing it, I'll re-upload them. I double-checked the links, and they are good on my end.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what are you using to power the computer screen thing. I take it that will be for tenp and fans.

I'm using THIS small PC power supply I found on Newegg. The fan controller will control the fans in the stand, and the ones blowing over the water's surface. Fan controller link.

 

 

I love that this update came on the 1 year anniversary of starting this build. Glad to see a build slower than my own =0)

 

(stand and set up looks awesome, really hope you get your ass on gear and fill it before May 28 2013)

Yeah, I let a lot of things in life slow me down. As for getting salt and sand in here before 2013, I can't make any promises.

 

 

Hey why not go with 10k kessils a150w??? or Have you checked out the new kessils a350w??? The new ones are much stronger and can be dimmable for emitting just actinic, daylight, or both combined.

After looking at the videos of the 10k Kessil lamps, I feel I would like the bluer tint better. I heard the A350W lamps were on the way. I'll have to look them up, to see how I like them, and how the price will be.

 

 

I've never heard of egg crate on the bottom. What's that about?

I used egg crate on my 26g bowfront, after seeing someone on here use it. I use it to prevent rock slides, keep fish from burrowing under rocks, and to reduce my sand bed's depth.

 

The sand is just a hare deeper than the egg crate, which means I have pretty much no anaerobic bacteria in the bed. I see this as a benefit because I don't have to worry about fish going ape sheet and disturbing the bacteria, potentially causing a tank crash from a spike in Ammonia.

 

I also don't have a problem with my high water flow blowing the sand down to a bare bottom in high flow areas, because the egg crate breaks up the flow. The sand may be down to the egg crate when I get a small sandstorm, but a little egg crate showing isn't as ugly as a window to my sump.

 

If I want to vacuum the sand bed, or want to put some fresh sugar sand in the tank, I can easily do it without releasing nutrients into the water column.

[NewZealandReefie]

Looks fantastic halfie. Nice to see some progress shots

[spanko]

WAIT WHAT! Lounge rats have tanks???????????

 

Nicely done so far!

[halfpint]

Looks fantastic halfie. Nice to see some progress shots

Thanks! Wanna do my scape for me? I envied you Leviathan scape.

 

 

WAIT WHAT! Lounge rats have tanks???????????

 

Nicely done so far!

This one has yet to be without a tank.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

[NewZealandReefie]

Thanks! Wanna do my scape for me? I envied you Leviathan scape.

 

In terms of moving rocks around, Ciedre actually did most of the scape. I watched from the front of the tank and told him when it looked like ####. One of the annoying things about a fairly large tall tank. Yours will be easier...

[MedRed]

I'm anxious to see your scape. You better do that sexy tank and stand justice!

[eddiecorrea]

I'm about to buy a 10k Kessil. I'm super excited. I feel like the 15k is too blue. People have said it is more like a 18k bulb. They say the 10k is closer to a 12 or 13k. When are you gonna order them? I'd love to see a pic or two of them on.

[halfpint]

In terms of moving rocks around, Ciedre actually did most of the scape. I watched from the front of the tank and told him when it looked like ####. One of the annoying things about a fairly large tall tank. Yours will be easier...

Ah, gotcha. I usually do my scape before adding most of the water, that way I can actually see the rock before it gets murky.

 

 

I'm anxious to see your scape. You better do that sexy tank and stand justice!

I hope I haven't set the bar too high by going all out on the stand. haha

 

 

I'm about to buy a 10k Kessil. I'm super excited. I feel like the 15k is too blue. People have said it is more like a 18k bulb. They say the 10k is closer to a 12 or 13k. When are you gonna order them? I'd love to see a pic or two of them on.

I'll be ordering them when I get the money saved up. Gotta stick to the tight budget I have while building this tank.

[halfpint]

Hey why not go with 10k kessils a150w??? or Have you checked out the new kessils a350w??? The new ones are much stronger and can be dimmable for emitting just actinic, daylight, or both combined.

Just looked up the info on the a350w. I think I'll just get one of them. That thing is pretty cool!

 

EDIT: I meant a350w. My post originally said a150w.