deathbyart Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Damn. You are killing it with the DIY aspects. That stand is so gorgeous. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Finished the light, details in my light build thread (link in my sig). Have to take it apart one more time & add some diffuser material to the inside splash shield. image.jpg Now on to the tank plumbing. Not sure if I need a mat underneath the tank or not. 3/8" glass was a little overkill so maybe I can get away without it? Any suggestions? Also ordered a Marine Color dosing pump. Debated on a Bubble Magus, but decided to give this a try after reading positive reviews on it & good customer service. I wanted 3 heads with controls on the front, so we'll see if it holds up. If not I'll just sell it to Harry! Lol image.jpg That's about it until I start the plumbing prob this weekend; appreciate any feedback on the mat under the tank I got the same dosing pump, saving it for my next upgrade. Let me know how it does when you get a chance to get it up and running. Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Well, because of space issues with my return pump, I'm going to have to leave out one of the baffles on the MrReefer sump kit to accommodate a bigger fuge area. Not that big of a deal, it's how I run my current sump, just an over & under bubble trap. A lot of commercial sumps are made this way, Trigger being one & I patterned my current cube sump from theirs. The Jebao return pump was quite a bit larger than I thought, even tho I had the dimensions! Lol. Oh well, I wanted something oversized & controllable & the DCT6000 has 10 flow levels & soft start. image.jpg Dang man, thats huge pump, i bought a DC2000 i guess thats too low of a flow? The reason for that last baffle is not entirely for bubble trap but to reduce organic film surface build up in the return chamber, i'll be interested to hear how it turn out when you have your sump running a year later. 1 Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Also ordered a Marine Color dosing pump. Debated on a Bubble Magus, but decided to give this a try after reading positive reviews on it & good customer service. I wanted 3 heads with controls on the front, so we'll see if it holds up. If not I'll just sell it to Harry! Lol ? ? 1 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 ? ? Hahahaha, figured you'd catch that! lol Dang man, thats huge pump, i bought a DC2000 i guess thats too low of a flow? The reason for that last baffle is not entirely for bubble trap but to reduce organic film surface build up in the return chamber, i'll be interested to hear how it turn out when you have your sump running a year later. Yeah, I get a little of that now with my current setup, but have my ATO dump in there to break it up some, works ok, gonna have to work ok in the new setup too. The reason I went with the bigger pump is I'm running a SCWD & that takes a HUGE hit on the pump output, like 40% or something crazy like that. 1 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 Damn. You are killing it with the DIY aspects. That stand is so gorgeous. Thanks! It was cheap too! Hope the sum of all the parts come together just as nice! Quote Link to comment
Muraki Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Still following along! When do you plan to have water in the tank? Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 gonna work on the plumbing some this weekend, had to get a few more CPVC 90's for the returns. Prob still a few weeks out on that yet. Between working out of town and spending time with the fam, I only get a couple hours here & there to work on it. My other tank is still running, so not urgent to get something going, plus I want everything in place & ready to go. Hopefully I can do a full transfer & take down the other tank @ the same time. My son is 10 mnths old (24lbs & strong!) & we are afraid he will tip the other setup over with the crappy store bought particle board stand. It's not very stable, hence the need to upgrade . We have the recliner pushed up in front of the current tank so he can't get to it, lol. It's coming along tho........stay tuned.... Quote Link to comment
Muraki Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 I'm grabbing the bunny ears and tuning in 1 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 Got some of the plumbing in place for the drains & made up all th CPVC returns & painted them. Need some more 1/2" black tubing for the returns, had some extra, but it's thick & I don't like to use it for long runs (> 1ft). MarineDepot has the stuff I need. Also needed to order a couple eshopps flex drains, too much hard piping here, gonna cut the horizontal pipes back about a foot or so each & attach the flex so it's easier to move. Also added a little 1/2" out at the lower elbow to add a little trickle into the return chamber of the sump to keep it stirred up if needed cause MrReefer was giving me shit about not using his last baffle! Lol On another note, the EL wire that I ordered came in, don't know if I'm gonna use it or not to add some bling to my light. Figured I have it come on with the ramp up in the morning, then off at night. Jury's still out on whether I like it or not, it's not really as bright as the pic, kinda like a dull neon. Oh well it was only $3.00 for 3ft, so not the end of the world if I don't use it. Here's a pic with it double stranded around the base. I could go single strand as well. Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 Got water in the tank for leak/flow test. Everything looks good. No plumbing leaks. I'm glad I got the bigger Jebao pump, you can see the water level on the drains & that's full bore on the pump! The SCWD really takes a hit on the pump. I can dial one of the drains back to tune it if I need, they're pretty loud right now into the sump, but that's just temporary till I figure out sump level. Gonna make a filter pad tray, then work on quieting them down. So far pretty impressed with the soft start on the Jebao pump & it's nice & quiet. Pretty good bang for the buck. If I had to do it over I'd even go another size up! I've got a lot of 90's on the returns too, which doesn't help, but overall it should work out good. 3 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Been working on the stand some. Ditched the flex hose idea for the drains, that eshopps stuff only comes in min. 2ft sections & I only wanted a foot. Oh well better PVC all the way anyway. Here's my cabinet LED strip lights, along with a small $1 switch that will activate them when I open the left door in front of the sump. I found on my current tank that I always had to go into Fusion & turn the Fuge light on whenever I wanted to go in there for anything(fill ATO, etc.). Not anymore! Also the red fans are 120mm & are for cabinet exhaust & the white are 80mm and will be placed over the waterfall in the fuge for cooling. I also siliconed the baffles in the fuge, mounted the Led's & door switch, added a DJ power strip and cut one hole for the 120mm exhaust fan. I was going to use both fans, one blowing in & one exhausting out, but hoping that I can get away with just the one exhausting out. I have gaps around the cabinet doors and also in the back where the plumbing & main power cords come thru. Should I have it blow in or exhaust out, or add the other fan and have one in & one out? If I add the other one, I'll have to get a little creative, cause the doser needs to go in the spot I had picked out for it (same height, right side). Two strips across of those LED waterproof strip lights is plenty bright! Lol I also ditched the idea of the shelf that I made to put the Apex stuff & power bar, just not enuf room for it. I have too much going on & need to be able to see in the top long door. 2 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Looking good Sir. A little jealous of you DIY skillz 1 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Looking good Sir. A little jealous of you DIY skillz Thanks, appreciate it! I'll have this tank around for a long time, so figured I'd take my time & add all the little things that've been bugging me over the years! Lol. Haven't bought a tank in 10 years, so I tend to keep them for a while. 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Looking great- Mr. DIY? 1 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Looking great- Mr. DIY? Thanks man! How's the ribs? Bout time to make a pool in the back yard & get one of these? Lolol 1 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Dosing shelf supports glued on and the containers I'm going to use for 2 part. I'm going to suspend the containers so that I just have to screw the bottom jug off, refill, then screw back on. Still working out the logistics of that, but I have a leftover sheet of black acrylic, so mabe ill just use that to attach the lids to. Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Thanks man! How's the ribs? Bout time to make a pool in the back yard & get one of these? Lolol image.jpg Hahaha- for sure- some crazy people even fill them with water- sounds dangerous! Ribs are getting better- thought about taking some cruiser runs but probably shouldn't- been digging a new section to pour? 1 Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 LOL I love the crazy straws in the dosing containers! 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Been working on the stand some. Ditched the flex hose idea for the drains, that eshopps stuff only comes in min. 2ft sections & I only wanted a foot. Oh well better PVC all the way anyway. Here's my cabinet LED strip lights, along with a small $1 switch that will activate them when I open the left door in front of the sump. I found on my current tank that I always had to go into Fusion & turn the Fuge light on whenever I wanted to go in there for anything(fill ATO, etc.). Not anymore! Also the red fans are 120mm & are for cabinet exhaust & the white are 80mm and will be placed over the waterfall in the fuge for cooling. image.jpg I also siliconed the baffles in the fuge, mounted the Led's & door switch, added a DJ power strip and cut one hole for the 120mm exhaust fan. I was going to use both fans, one blowing in & one exhausting out, but hoping that I can get away with just the one exhausting out. I have gaps around the cabinet doors and also in the back where the plumbing & main power cords come thru. Should I have it blow in or exhaust out, or add the other fan and have one in & one out? If I add the other one, I'll have to get a little creative, cause the doser needs to go in the spot I had picked out for it (same height, right side). image.jpg image.jpg Two strips across of those LED waterproof strip lights is plenty bright! Lol I also ditched the idea of the shelf that I made to put the Apex stuff & power bar, just not enuf room for it. I have too much going on & need to be able to see in the top long door. Looking awesome!!! You got DIY skills I'm going to assumed you have a souped up PC? It's starting to feel like a PC build...lol 2 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Looking awesome!!! You got DIY skills I'm going to assumed you have a souped up PC? It's starting to feel like a PC build...lol Haha, no way man! I'm not a computer geek! Lol. Six year old laptop that I hardly use & my iPad. I'm more of the Jack-of-All-Trades, Master-of-None type of guy. Which is evident by all the help Ben gave me with those damn fans & the Bluefish that I couldn't wrap my head around & never did get working the way I wanted! Lol 1 Quote Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 Well, got some more work done on the stand. Got the dosing pump shelf installed, as well as dosing containers with their own acrylic shelf. I added a 3 led strip to the top of each container because the black acrylic was a little dark; shows good now, should be no problem seeing level and turns on with the rest of the cabinet lighting when i open the left door. I also went ahead & drilled out a hole for the other 120mm cabinet fan, so now i have one blowing in top right (where all the plugs are) and one exhausting out (bottom left). Debated putting the the top right one in, but i had it & figured couldn't hurt to have the fresh air blowing at the power strips. I also added some wire management raceways around the outside (the gray strips), to hold the multitude of crap i have going on! Lol Pics.... Next up, get water back in & test for drain noise & tune. Need it pretty quiet, hopefully. Also need to finish lid for sump & attach fans and work on ATO container. I have a clear acrylic container(just to the right of sump) that holds about 2 gal. Gonna try that first, but may need something bigger with an open top ~ 4-5 gal. I only go thru about a gallon a week on my current setup, but its all enclosed. Getting closer to tank transfer, i can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!! 2 Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Lordy, that's some setup! Great DIY skills 1 Quote Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Awesome build, following along. Very nice job on the stand as well. 1 Quote Link to comment
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