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[Custom] distantfire


distantfire

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I guess I turned up the heat a little to much and scared everybody away LOL. I thought for sure there would be at least 20 people signed up for this custom class event already. This is just a little 3 tank project that I've had in mind for a while. I know it's not a straight off the shelf 10gal. AGA tank. But all 3 of these tank's put together hold at least 10gals. of water. And that's what's going to make this fun.

 

Here's what I got in mind.

Lighting - for the 5.5 is going to be 70watt MH

Lighting - for one of the 2.5's which will also be a fuge. I'm going to use submersible lights. Because I want to keep the fuge covered as much as possible.

The second 2.5 is going to be for chemical filtration / heater and the return pump with a Squid.

 

The 5.5 is going to have a overflow and durso which drain's into the fuge. The fuge will have a cover to help keep evaporation low. And a seperate overflow box and durso that drain's into the return tank. Thus completing the full cycle. I hope you all like it when I get it finished.

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Tinyreef Here's a little sketch of what I have in mind. I would like the fuge tank to be on a raised platform. So that I can keep the drop from tank to tank real short. I plan on making a bonsai tree for the fuge out of some chaeto that I have. I figure since I have to trim the chaeto back anyway. I might as well have something else nice to look at. And a small submerisble light will be able to keep it well lit at night. The last tank will have dividers for chemical media, return pump with squid and a small heater.

 

For the 70watt MH I'm going to screw sections of pipe together. Then slid those sections of pipe over a thick dowl rod. So that I can raise or lower the light fixture by adding or removing a section of pipe. Then by leaving the wires to the ballast long enough. I should be able to turn the light fixture out of my way for doing maintance. I'm moving next summer and I don't want to suspend the light fixture from the ceiling here. Hope this help's to answer your question's.

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The picture turned out very nice Aquakevem. It explain's pretty much of what I have in mind. Good job

 

Irishtexan I won't keep you in the dark. Here's how I plan to put together the bonsai tree. Because the tank is small just 2.5gal's. I'm going to take a length of PVC pipe. Heat the pipe up with a torch so that I can get a nice bend to it. The bent PVC pipe will form the trunk of the tree. I have some left over CPVC pipe that I can use to make a branch for the tree trunk. When I get it put together I will give it light coat's of of Krylon Fusion. Just so that it look's more like a real tree trunk with a branch. After that I'm going to attach something like eggcrate to one end of the pipe. And also the very end of the branch. And then melt the base of the tree trunk to the bottom of tank. Next using a sewing needle and some monofiliment fishing line. I'm going to attach the chaeto to the eggcrate and let it grow out from there. The submersible light's should give it a nice glow when viewed at night.

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That is going to be awesome! To go along with the whole bonsai thing you could add a little wood rake. Then it could be like one of those gardens! lol

 

 

texx

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Here's a preview of what I had in mind. I picked these up this afternoon from Menards. To stay with the raised platform idea and to keep the drop short. It's late and it's raining so I'm done for today.

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I got a little bit more work done today. So here's a update of where I'm at for you.

I decided to build the external overflow and durso. On the back of the 2.5gal. fuge tank instead of hanging off the right end. Because having it on the back will give the fuge tank a cleaner over all look.

 

I got the top turned upside down in the picture. That's why you see the hole in the bottom board. I'm waiting for the dowl rods and wood glue to dry on the long spindels. I should be able to get more done latter this week.

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wow, that looks awesome!

 

i'm feeling distincly outclassed by all these guys, me going with just my 10g frameless. :-(

 

all of these great ideas!!! i'll have to hit the thinking chair tonight and come up with something.

 

great job distant!!! i can't wait to see this running!

 

i guess half the fun of this contest is seeing what everyone else does, eh?

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I'm glad you like it so far Charlie. Last night I was thinking about making a turn table. So that all 3 tank's could be turned about 180deg. at the same time. To make it easier to work on the plumbing in the future. But the weight of all 3 tank's fully loaded would be to much for that. And I would hate to lose anything in the event of a accident. So now I'm planing to put all 3 tank's on top of a small dresser. I just have to make one. Or find one that is the right height for viewing.

 

Don't let yourself get discouraged or feel outclassed by anybody. Your 10gal. frameless tank looked just fine to me. In fact I haven't looked at anybody else's custom tank thread yet. I saw your name come up under the custom class. And you mentioned that you were going to wait until you got home to post. So I wanted to see what you had to say about this contest. Because I never entered a contest like this before. But now I'm waiting until after the contest is over. To read about what everybody else in this contest did. I think that is the only fair way to do it. Because I don't want the other people in this contest. To think that I took any of there idea's.

 

I entered this contest for 4 reason's. Number 1 Is watching the coral growth over the time period of this contest. Number 2 Is trying my seperate fuge and chemical media tank's idea. Number 3 Learning from this experiance so that it can make a better reefer. And Number 4 Hopefully inspire other people to buy some AGA tank's a dremel tool. And give nano reefing a try.

 

So don't let yourself get discouraged just do the best that you can do. It's your aquarium and your idea's.

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Well for everybody following along on this salt water adventure. I didn't get much done today except making the spindels for the fuge tank platform even. So that now the platform dosen't wobble anymore. Of course I will be using a differnt material to set the tanks on when it's finished. But for right now the MDF and particle board. Has been doing a fine job of helping me layout the final postion's for everything.

The taller spindels are just 24" long. The top MDF board is 22" x 14" I wanted to leave some room behind the 5.5 for a small MH stand. So I thought 4 extra inches wider than the 5.5 would be ok.

 

I also spent a while taking pictures from differnt angles this afternoon. Because I've been thinking about adding a small water fall. The water fall would be built on the very top back corner of the fuge tank to go along with the bonsai tree theme. I'm not sure which top corner I will build the water fall on yet. Of course the pump for the water fall would have to be very small. But I should be able to find one that is tiny enough to fit inside a external overflow box.

 

Here's a couple pic's I took this afternoon. With the fuge platform brought out a little farther from underneath the display tank. It give's me a little more room to work on the inside of the tank. And it would give me a little more room to work on the water fall. From the top of the fuge tank to the bottom of the MDF there is about 4 inches of clearance. Again I don't know if my water fall will work it's still just a idea at this point.

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This looks like it will be a really neat project. I've always liked the "stacked tanks" idea.

 

I'm a little confused though on one point. Don't the rules for the custom category say your display tank needs to be between 7 and 12 gallons? How did you get around this? Did the admins let you count one of your 2.5s as display volume?

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Your right Rene the rule doe's state that the display tank need's to be between 7 to 12 gallon's. I also belive that the total system volume can not be more than 22 gallons.

 

I didn't get around anything. I just bought 3 tank's with a total system volume of 10 1/2 gals. When there viewed together as a completed display then that's what you have. Plus about a half gallon extra for the external overflow that's needed. So it put's this systems total volume closer to 11gals. The admins haven't said anything to me yet. And I have never talked to them directly so I really don't know.

 

I belive the spirit of this contest. Was to see what people from all over the world can do with 10gals. of water. And then using a limited amount of light document there coral's growth over a period of a few months.

 

And trying to keep this contest fair. I haven't seen what anybody else has been doing. Except for the few min's. that I saw charlie97L tank on his first post. And the only thing's from my tank's that I plan on using is the chaeto needed to make the bonsai tree. And my refactometer.

 

I'm not using a skimmer. Or a RO/DI unit just the bottled water from Walmart for everything. And I'm not using any of my corals or aquacultured corals. Because I want the challenge of taking care of the corals that average people buy everyday. And I think other people want to see what's going to happen. When I get this system up and running also.

 

So if you or someone that you know is planing to enter this event. And you think what I've done so far. Dosen't qualify me for this custom class event let me know.

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I'm asking because I just don't know. It seems like an interpretation of the rules issue to me. If all three tanks are meant to be displayed and viewed, then that's more than enough volume, I would think. But there's nothing in the rules about split tanks, and Chris just said no to someone else's question about using a 5 gal. in the custom category.

 

What you are shooting for, for your enjoyment and to show others what can be done, is great. But it would be really harsh to see you disqualified close to the end of the competition over a technicality that could have been so easily resolved in the first few days.

 

If I were you, I would ask Chris just to make sure you're on the right track. It's probably nothing, but you never know. The competition is only a few days old and you don't have water in the tanks yet. It would be easy to switch to a slightly bigger tank at this stage if you had to and avoid the hassel later.

 

Just my $0.02 B) Better safe than sorry.

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Thank's Rene I don't know everything about all the rules ether. And it seems like the rules keep changing from day to day. I have never been in one of these contests before. And so far it's been a real learning experiance.

All 3 of these tanks put on raised platforms. Were meant to be viewed as one complete display. With a total system volume of more than 10gals. of water.

I think this type of setup should be allowed. Because there is alway's the possibility that it won't work. And in the rules it stated that if the system crashes for any reason than you where done. But of course that's just my interpretation of the rules and I could be wrong.

Thank's again Rene for the help. I will check with Chris to make sure that what I'm doing is ok.

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Sure thing! You still have plenty of time to run out and get a 7 minibow, for instance. The footprint is pretty similar to the 5.5 you were working with.

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Sorry I can't do that because this contest started Oct. 1 And the other players I'm sure would feel cheated. If I ran out today bought a new tank or found a old tank. Then entered that tank in this contest and won something. I'm sure you can understand where the other players would feel that wasn't fair. Because we all entered this contest within the first day of the start of it.

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