jdantunes Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Hello old NR members - Welcome new ones! I got to say that even that I have not posted a thread in this website for well over a year, I'm glad to be back. This forum is where my love for this addictive hobby started, tons of research hours throughout others members posts, learning from their own experiences. I meet good people along the way, people that will share their mind and pick into yours. Lol. Here is where all started.... I rocked a stock BioCube 14 for almost 2.5 years before I started to plan this upgrade. And this was the last picture I took before I moved everything.... Into my new tank Link to comment
fewskillz Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 That is a beautiful biocube. Can't wait to see what you do with the 75. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 That is a beautiful biocube. Can't wait to see what you do with the 75. Thanks. I can see in your signature that you are also highly addicted to this hobby. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Thanks. I can see in your signature that you are also highly addicted to this hobby.Holla!! Glad to see you back on NR. I had that 75 it was a great tank. I am following this new build. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 I looked at manufactured stands, but I had something different in mind. This tank is going to be in our dining room area. So I jumped to the boards and draw a stand that will blend with my current home furniture, I wanted access to all sides and had an idea to install a box to help me concealed all my electronic gadgets and minimize the spiderweb of wires. After I was done with my drawing, I show them to a furniture carpenter as he took on the project. Here are some pictures while my stand was build. Instead of painting, decided to use white formica to cover the interior mainly for ease of cleaning and help protect the wood from water spills. Access all sides as mentioned with a removable back board. All it needed was some nice trim and red stain... And just like magic.... My daughter overlooking the project Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 20, 2013 Author Share Posted April 20, 2013 For this build I choose to use dry rock, which later I seeded using the rocks left from my Biocube. I cut a piece of styrofoam with the same dimensions of my tank interior, this gave me a perspective of the space available for my aquascape structure.. Im into the minimalist look. Prior, I ordered a couple of nylon rods, washers and nuts from amazon. Using them and a few zip ties, I was able to create my aquascape. No use of epoxy required. Left side Right side From top Link to comment
Lawnman Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I looked at manufactured stands, but I had something different in mind. This tank is going to be in our dining room area. So I jumped to the boards and draw a stand that will blend with my current home furniture, I wanted access to all sides and had an idea to install a box to help me concealed all my electronic gadgets and minimize the spiderweb of wires. After I was done with my drawing, I show them to a furniture carpenter as he took on the project. Here are some pictures while my stand was build. Instead of painting, decided to use white formica to cover the interior mainly for ease of cleaning and help protect the wood from water spills. Access all sides as mentioned with a removable back board. All it needed was some nice trim and red stain... And just like magic.... My daughter overlooking the project What kind of car is under that cover? Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 Man... You got detective eyes... It's a 1920 Ford Model A. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Man... You got detective eyes... It's a 1920 Ford Model A. You know what I will ask next. pictures ? Link to comment
Toomin Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I am getting excited about this thread. Cant wait to see more photos! Link to comment
Marteen Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Very nice looking tank and scape you got going there. Link to comment
Chadf Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Everything looks amazing so far! You should be proud of that stand and scape. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 You know what I will ask next. pictures ? Sure, I'll post some of the pictures soon. I am getting excited about this thread. Cant wait to see more photos! Thanks... Stay tuned, I promise lots of good pictures. Welcome to the club Thank you. But which club is that I'm a new member of? Very nice looking tank and scape you got going there. Thank you. I really have archived the look of what I was shooting for. I tried to stay with the minimalist look, but there's so many beautiful corals that is difficult to stay put. Everything looks amazing so far! You should be proud of that stand and scape. Thank you. I appreciate your comment. I hope that I can inspire ideas as much as other threads have inspire me. Link to comment
Psychosis Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 You've inspired me to lament the current state my stand is in. Thanks for that, jerk. Seriously though, it looks good. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 I choose the tank to be located in our dining room. It can be view from any side of our living area and it could be a good conversation point while entertaining guest during dinner. Because I live in FL and I had experience being without power for days during hurricane season. I choose to wire a dedicated 20 Amp circuit for the tank. In the case that we get hit by a storm, I can still run my tank from our main power generator. Also decided to run a Cat5 wire for LAN connectivity. But of course, while trying to fish the wires down the wall, I hit a stud and had to open a hole in the drywall to pass the wires thru. I patched the wall and prepared it to be re painted. While the wall dry, I started to lay the equipment and plan the installation... I ordered a Trigger Systems Ruby 30 Elite Sump, Eheim 1260, Finnex refugium fixture and lots of plumbing goods. I didn't use any flex hoses. Everything was plumb using rigid PVC. 1" for drain and 3/4" for the return. Another aspect of my design was use the Eheim pump externally and ease the access for maintenance. To accomplish this I used a couple of +GF+ union ball valves that I ordered from US Plastics. One in the suction side and another one in the pressure side. I can loose those up and take the pump out for service without cutting the plumbing or getting wet. I made little adjustments but this is how it looks... Also marked and drilled the hole in the return area of my sump to install the pump later. Done for today and ready to sit down and relax for a while.... Link to comment
Lawnman Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Is this tank already running and you are taking us through the process? What happened to that Tech tank you bought awhile back? Steeley was welcoming you to the Deep Blue 75 club. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Is this tank already running and you are taking us through the process? What happened to that Tech tank you bought awhile back? Steeley was welcoming you to the Deep Blue 75 club. Yes. This tank has been running for a year and a half but still not fully completed. I have taken pictures and I wanted to share what worked on it and what didn't. The tech tank never got wet and after a few months of being in my garage I sold it to a guy from Orlando. I'll be a proud member of Deep Blue 75 Club! Thanks.... Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 After the wall dried, I moved the tank into place and hanged the light fixture over it. I'm using an Elos AquaPlanet II. Great and compact fixture. I tinted the back glass using privacy glass tint. I know that most of people paint the back but I copied this idea from Oceanic's Tech tank lineup. Now was time to start plumbing the equipment. I moved the tank away from the wall and removed the back panel of the stand. First, I installed bulkhead in the hole that I previously drilled in the sump return area and plumbed the 1" ball valve. I started to run the pipes down from the tank's overflow to figure the best way to plumb the system. You can also see in this picture, the box I installed in the top front of the stand. Inside this box I concealed all the wires and Power Bars for the Aquacontroller. I drilled holes to run wires in and out from the box. This is how it looks inside the box... And outside... I choose to feed my refugium using the drain line. I installed a gate valve to divert the water flow that will go to the refugium and the rest will go to the filter sock in the skimmer area of my sump. This is how it looks facing the tank. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Damn man that sump area is super clean. I knew you wouldn't disappoint. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 Well to keep happy my one follower... Here's what's next I finished plumbing my return pump using the union ball valves. The T fitting after the valve I used to plumb the reactor to it. Then with the following gate valve, I can dial how much water will flow into the reactor and how much to the display. With all the plumbing done it was time to get the RO/DI in the tank and test for leaks. (Note: I tested the tank for leaks previously using tap water) After the tank got filled using just RO/DI water. I primed the pump and tested for leaks. I found nothing mayor, just a small pressure leak in the pump return. I solved this just tightening the union. But the biggest issue was not a water leak, it was the drain noise. Water was splashing inside the pipes making it loud. I started looking for answers and found out what was it. I maintain and repair swimming pool system for living, all my plumbing experience is around pressure plumbing... not gravity drains. That where the problem was... My lines were too straight. I had to give it more of an angle. Cutted the plumbing out and using 45's instead 90's I was able to fixed this problem. Before After With all the issues out of the way. It was time to get this a little salty... Link to comment
fattail95 Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 What an awesome tank! Will be watching closely! Link to comment
jdantunes Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 What an awesome tank! Will be watching closely! Thank you. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Ok, let's continue with this thread... After I got my salinity raise to 1.026. Unpacked the sand that I choose "CaribSea Fiji Pink live aragonite" Tank got really cloudy after I added the sand and took almost four days to clear up. Lesson learned for future builds... Add sand on an empty tank and then fill up with saltwater slowly. Once the tank got cleared, it was time to recreate my aquascaping. After I disassemble the rock work, I soak them in RO/DI water for three weeks, monitoring the phosphate level and doing small water changes every three or four days. I used pictures that I printed out to help me recreated the rock structure. Once in my tank. I decided to add another piece of rock to right side, preserving same open aquascape feel that I was looking for... Link to comment
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