godfathernikki Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Great tank and awesome work on the sump! What did you use to cut the acrylic? Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Thank you They cut it for me at lowes for free. But they didnt cut it like i thought they would. They scored it and broke it like glass. Wasnt expecting that but it worked. Link to comment
godfathernikki Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Thank you They cut it for me at lowes for free. But they didnt cut it like i thought they would. They scored it and broke it like glass. Wasnt expecting that but it worked. Really? And that gave you a clean enough edge to seal? I'm surprised. I used to work for a picture framing company and cut acrylic like that all the time, but the edges were alway kind of rough. They were clean and straight enough for picture frame, but I would have guessed you'd need something like a table saw for a sump. Well it looks like it worked anyway! I always liked scoring acrylic on a wall cutter, it sounded like a giant zipper lol. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 Thats exactly what they used. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Ty Saw this in red lobster. I want it. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Ok so the sump is plumbed! Unfortunately i havent recieved my fuge light, and skimmer yet. But everything else is done. I wanted to wait until i had all my equipment to take pictures but i got excited so heres what i have so far. Home made acrilic sump/fuge soft plumbed with eshoppes 300 overflow. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING Link to comment
godfathernikki Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Lookin good man! Just a quick tip on those HOB return's - if you haven't done so yet, you might want to drill out a little hole at the water level to make sure the siphon breaks when your return pump is turned off. If you look closely at the return on the left you can see what I mean. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 I already did godfather, but thanks for the tip. I did a fuge on a 20 gallon one time and that was the real learning curve for me. This time i had more confidence and a direction i wanted to take the build. I plumbed it last night added the hole in the return and tested it for power outages over and over. It went well enough that im spending the night out of town tonight. Fingers crossed. Link to comment
albertthiel Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Very very nice looking indeed. Wow ! Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 Well i made it back home and i am very satisfied with how well the system performed. The only tiny issue i could find is there is a little salt creep forming around the bulkhead i used on the overflow box. It isnt dripping, but im going to rub a beed of silicone around it anyways. I cant wait to get my skimmer and fuge light in. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Got home from work today and my yellow tang was being devoured by hermits . It had been acting lethargic for a couple of days now so it wasnt a big shock but it still sucks. I guess another large water change is in order Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 Fuge light is in. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 The storm is moving in and my power has been off for a few hours now, so my tank is running on petroll Link to comment
brad908 Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Any reason why you went with the eshopps hob overflow over a lifereef? Link to comment
metrokat Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 James, I'm curious why you opted to tie the filter sock on the inlet instead of having it in a holder? What happens when the sock is clogged? Link to comment
jerzsky Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 first, glad to see yall are safe after the storm! good thing for petrol too! lol anyway, awesome tank! love the scape and coral selection! awesome sump/fuge build, looks very well constructed!! have you considered changing one of thew t5 daylight bulbs for something else? possibly a aqua blue or a geisseman actinic? think it would give you a little less white, and a lil more pop! anyway, good luck!! looks great!! Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 Brad and Kat, I went with eshoppes because of the $. I know I blasted the eshoppes nano that I had but this one has been performing flawlessly. As for the sock, I've been planning on making a sock holder and frag rack out of some spare acrylic I have. I have just been too busy. Jerzsky, Thank you for your compliments I don't know what my OP says now but my current bulb combo is 420 460 10000 420 10000 420 Next bulb change I'm going to swap a 10000 with another 460 I'm also battin around the idea of a DIY retro led/t5HO canopy Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Power came back on this morning. everything worked out great. Heat got a little high because there was no AC, which caused my soft corals to close up. But Everything is still in one piece. Can't say the same for the fence in my backyard Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Night time fun during the power outage last night. Link to comment
Mr Pants Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 A power outage is what I most fear with my tank. Our AC went out early this summer and I lost my favorite fish, a long nosed hawkfish. I was floating bags of ice in the tank to keep it below 82C and I think the bag must have moved suddenly when melting and scared him into jumping. He found a gap in the 1/4" screen. He was still wet when I found him but definitely dead. If we lose power it will likely be in the winter so I've been looking into buying a generator before January. I was hoping you could fill us in on your generator and what you were able to run with it. I'm most concerned by refilling them since so many seem to only last a few hours and I'd want something that could keep the tank going through the night and through a normal work day. I've read a few articles, but would love to know more how it actually worked for you irl. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Its a craftsman 10hp 5600 watt. Its a beast. I use it in a power outage to run my entire tank, tv, dvd player, two box fans, and several phone and laptop chargers. I use it at work to run ridiculously large powertools. Im pretty sure it could run some small window unit air conditioners but didnt want to risk it. Its pretty damn loud but it is worth its weight in gold. It ran for 18 straight hours on roughly a tank and a half. Cost me about $30 in gas. And my tank is fine. The only issue here was heat. I had to open my cabinet doors and turned off both heaters. I wouldnt have a reef right now if it wasnt for this genorator. Link to comment
JamesHL88 Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Skimmer is in. The ETSS wouldnt fit so cheap chinese needlewheel for now Link to comment
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