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Teenyreef's 20g Study-kept Dustmite Biotope: IM10 Transfer


teenyreef

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11 hours ago, teenyreef said:

1. Cut the vertical light bar shorter so that it ends before it hits the top of the overflow box. That will be ugly because the cord coming out the bottom of the bar/tube will be visible right above the overflow.

Would you even be able to see the cable? Wouldn't the tank hide it?

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4 hours ago, da1001 said:

I'm always for the cheap, easy option so if you are taking votes I choose #4.  I think it would look cool, too.

Yeah, I'm definitely leaning that way. The only thing I don't like about hanging lights from the ceiling is that there's no way to adjust the position once you've mounted the cables in the ceiling. Miss it by half an inch and your only option are to move the tank or remount the wires. Also, with the long wires, it's really easy for the power cable to pull the light out of position.

12 minutes ago, mipster said:

Would you even be able to see the cable? Wouldn't the tank hide it?

You'd definitely be able to see the cable. The top of the overflow less than an inch below the rim of the tank, so the cables would exit the tube probably about an inch above the rim.

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Cannedfish

Can you bend the bar at all in to a slight "s" curve to go around the overflow? Like a tiny chicane? See awesome MS Paint skillz (with a "z") below.

 

image.png.3215f27de643f40241a2a711dcfb655a.png

 

Or slightly bend it into to the wall? If you move the tank you're going to have to do wall repair anyways... what's a little more (says the guy, not having to do the wall repair)?

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second_decimal
13 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Yeah, I'm definitely leaning that way. The only thing I don't like about hanging lights from the ceiling is that there's no way to adjust the position once you've mounted the cables in the ceiling. Miss it by half an inch and your only option are to move the tank or remount the wires. Also, with the long wires, it's really easy for the power cable to pull the light out of position.

You'd definitely be able to see the cable. The top of the overflow less than an inch below the rim of the tank, so the cables would exit the tube probably about an inch above the rim.


How would you do that? plumbob?

 

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17 hours ago, second_decimal said:


How would you do that? plumbob?

 

Yep, that's how I did it on the 30g tank. It was a huge pain 🙄

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On 6/9/2020 at 12:37 PM, Cannedfish said:

Can you bend the bar at all in to a slight "s" curve to go around the overflow? Like a tiny chicane? See awesome MS Paint skillz (with a "z") below.

 

image.png.3215f27de643f40241a2a711dcfb655a.png

 

Or slightly bend it into to the wall? If you move the tank you're going to have to do wall repair anyways... what's a little more (says the guy, not having to do the wall repair)?

You have mad mspaint skillz! :owned:

 

But I decided to go a different way and just mounted the horizontal bar to the bottom of the shelf. The shelf sags a tiny bit but it's pretty stiff so I think it will be fine.

20200612_175403.jpg

 

This was the easiest and cleanest approach, especially once I realized I didn't have to route the power cable up and through the horizontal bar. I just ran it down and behind the tank.

20200612_175416.jpg

 

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Now I still have to do a little fine tuning with the plumbing plan. The schedule 80 bulkhead fitting is pretty large, and extends from the back of the tank by about 2 1/2". And the schedule 80 90 degree ell connector is a female threaded connector. So I have to use a short threaded connector, since the bulkhead fitting is female too. The problem is that when all that gets connected, it all sticks out the back too much, and the edge of the tank hangs over the front of the desk. Again.

 

I searched all over the internet but couldn't find a schedule 80 bulkhead with a male thread, or even with a slip connector on the back side (which would avoid the extra length from the threaded connector). Finally, I did find a male threaded street 90 degree ell which will screw straight into the bulkhead and take up less space. It's not a commonly sold part but I did find an online distributor that sells it without a huge markup. Still waiting for it to ship, though 😞

 

Here's what the current plumbing setup looks like so you can see what I'm talking about. Replacing these two parts with a street ell will probably shorten the whole thing by about an inch.

 

20200612_210015.jpg

 

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7 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

I love it,I think it should be fine. I'm excited to see how this goes. 

Me too!

6 minutes ago, mipster said:

That'll work! We're getting closer!! 🥳

Yep! While I'm waiting on the plumbing parts, I'm going to start playing with scape ideas with the Stax rocks that just showed up. omgomgomg

20200612_210707.jpg

 

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On 6/9/2020 at 7:52 AM, da1001 said:

I'm always for the cheap, easy option so if you are taking votes I choose #4.  I think it would look cool, too.

I was almost convinced this was the way to go. But then I realized that for the light to be centered over the tank. the wire closest to the shelf would be right on the edge of the shelf. Or maybe even be blocked by the shelf. 

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mitten_reef
18 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Me too!

Yep! While I'm waiting on the plumbing parts, I'm going to start playing with scape ideas with the Stax rocks that just showed up. omgomgomg

20200612_210707.jpg

 

Is that the 20 or the 40 #s box?  Debating using some in my new build as well. 

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1 minute ago, mitten_reef said:

Is that the 20 or the 40 #s box?  Debating using some in my new build as well. 

That's the 20 pound box. 40 would definitely be overkill in this tank. I doubt I'll even use all of the 20 pounds. 

 

I'll be sure to let you know how I like it!

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29 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Now I still have to do a little fine tuning with the plumbing plan. The schedule 80 bulkhead fitting is pretty large, and extends from the back of the tank by about 2 1/2". And the schedule 80 90 degree ell connector is a female threaded connector. So I have to use a short threaded connector, since the bulkhead fitting is female too. The problem is that when all that gets connected, it all sticks out the back too much, and the edge of the tank hangs over the front of the desk. Again.

 

I searched all over the internet but couldn't find a schedule 80 bulkhead with a male thread, or even with a slip connector on the back side (which would avoid the extra length from the threaded connector). Finally, I did find a male threaded street 90 degree ell which will screw straight into the bulkhead and take up less space. It's not a commonly sold part but I did find an online distributor that sells it without a huge markup. Still waiting for it to ship, though 😞

 

Here's what the current plumbing setup looks like so you can see what I'm talking about. Replacing these two parts with a street ell will probably shorten the whole thing by about an inch.

 

20200612_210015.jpg

 

Down yonder in Loosyana, we dun just use sum duck tape and elba greese... fix err up right good...

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1 hour ago, Cannedfish said:

Down yonder in Loosyana, we dun just use sum duck tape and elba greese... fix err up right good...

I thought about that too but it just didn't seem to quite go with the look I'm shooting for with this tank :lol:

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I did make a little more progress tonight. I unboxed the Skimz Sumpro 18 sump:

20200612_215951.jpg

 

Then I semi-cleaned up some of the wires and cables and tubes in the cabinet, and moved the ATO container to the floor under the back of the desk next to the cabinet. Good news - the sump fits in the cabinet 🙂

 

20200612_222612.jpg

 

Don't mind the dosing containers sitting in the return pump section. The tubing going to the dosing pumps isn't long enough to put them anywhere else tonight.

Long-term, I'll either move them to sit just in front of the sump, or build a little shelf above the sump on the right side for them.

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One last update for the night: the Klir roller filter doesn't even come close to fitting in the sump. It's just too big to go through the filter sock hole, even though the sump has 4" filter socks and the Klir is sold as a 4" size. Oh well... 

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Well, here goes my "third trip for plumbing supplies." Hopefully the three trips for supplies for every plumbing project will apply and I won't have to get anything else!

 

I realized the return pipe in the sump is 1", and I'm doing everything with 3/4". So I needed the reducing bushing. Then I realized I needed barb fittings to connect the silicone tubing between the pump and the return pipe. And then I realized I needed a few 90 degree ells in addition to the 45 degree ells I ordered last time. Whew...

 

Items in your order Qty Price

3/4” Schedule 80 90° Elbow Slip x Slip

SKU: 202470

4 $7.16

3/4” Schedule 80 90° Elbow Slip x Spigot (Street)

SKU: 202474

4 $7.96

3/4" Pipe Adapter Spigot x Barb

SKU: 207926

1 $4.99

3/4” Schedule 80 Straight Barb x Female Thread

SKU: 202666

1 $3.99

3/4” Schedule 80 Coupler Slip X Slip

SKU: 202560

1 $2.49

Schedule 80 Reducing Bushing 1” Spigot x 3/4” Slip

SKU: 202600

1 $1.99
Subtotal $28.58
Shipping & Handling $7.99
Tax/Fee $1.71
Grand Total

$38.28

 

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21 hours ago, dropped said:

Oh keen to see what you do with the stax rox, there is another cool reefer that used them as well.....🤣

I agree! 🙂

 

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If you want some dual union check valves,Aquarium Specialty has some. I just grabbed 2. AS and Coralvue both have dual union ball valves for decent prices. But check HD and Lowes too. I got 2 .5" union bv's for $10.  

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RedTheReefer
On 6/12/2020 at 9:10 PM, teenyreef said:

Me too!

Yep! While I'm waiting on the plumbing parts, I'm going to start playing with scape ideas with the Stax rocks that just showed up. omgomgomg

20200612_210707.jpg

 

I was also eyeing these rocks for my new build. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

How come you decided to go the X30 over the XR15? Isn't the XR30 overkill? :eek:

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On 6/12/2020 at 9:18 PM, teenyreef said:

One last update for the night: the Klir roller filter doesn't even come close to fitting in the sump. It's just too big to go through the filter sock hole, even though the sump has 4" filter socks and the Klir is sold as a 4" size. Oh well... 

i got the fiji cube 12 sump. the klir di-4 fits perfectly

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