DBurr's betterlatethannever build thread

[Dburr1014]

Just got back from a mini vacation. We went to Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.
I just love the beaches.



One thing being a hobbiest that makes me really sad is the souvenir shops. I won't list the name or where it was but the wife wanted some souvenirs for the grandkids and we popped into one and found this:

It's really sad to know we humans are killing animals and the world we live on. We have no other place to go.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Just got back from a mini vacation. We went to Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.
I just love the beaches.



One thing being a hobbiest that makes me really sad is the souvenir shops. I won't list the name or where it was but the wife wanted some souvenirs for the grandkids and we popped into one and found this:

It's really sad to know we humans are killing animals and the world we live on. We have no other place to go.

the beach looks like a good time, im looking forward to seeing your new tank set up! I live and work on the beach in FL, one of the marinas I work at has the boats that come in with all that stuff (pretty sure the coral is from somewhere else), they dredge for sand dollars and shells, at the end of the day they have thousands they seperate by size. all the shells and sand dollars get dried out and shipped off to all those stores, it's a little sad...

Any way good luck with the new tank and good move changing the plumbing now (better now than regretting it the whole time)

 

[Dburr1014]

Well, I painted the inside of the canopy.



Sorry for the bad pic.
I bought it inside to start working on the lighting. Man does it stink! Needless to say, I put it on my screened-in porch instead to air out for a couple of more days. I'm hoping it smells less by Wednesday.

Almost finished with my plumbing.
I decided that because it's really hard to reach the external overflow box if I had any problems, I will use the center bulkhead as the emergency. I had to come up with a different approach with piping it. The center of the box is braced I used 2 45°'s to kick it to the side. Now I can reach the syphone and open channel at least.

 

[JGT]

Well, I painted the inside of the canopy.



Sorry for the bad pic.
I bought it inside to start working on the lighting. Man does it stink! Needless to say, I put it on my screened-in porch instead to air out for a couple of more days. I'm hoping it smells less by Wednesday.

Almost finished with my plumbing.
I decided that because it's really hard to reach the external overflow box if I had any problems, I will use the center bulkhead as the emergency. I had to come up with a different approach with piping it. The center of the box is braced I used 2 45°'s to kick it to the side. Now I can reach the syphone and open channel at least.

Looks good. Good choice.

 

[Dburr1014]

Continuing with the canopy.



I think I got it laid out as to how I'd want it. Now to make this mess a reality.

I started by using the sheet metal ends that were on the fixture holding the reflectors. I drilled them and screwed them for support.

Then screwed the reflectors to the canopy after checking the fit.

Now I need some wire management.
I really wanted to have each ballast run one bulb on each side(front and back) of the canopy but the piano hinge made this kinda hard. That's a lot of wire stretching as the canopy opens. So I opted to just have front ballast/rear ballast. I had to tuck the front under the reflector. The rear will be over the reefbreeders fixture.

I moved this back outside because it still stinks! How long before it stops? It's been a week and a half since I painted it. I'm just going to run it and maybe the light will cure it with the heat.. I hope. These are just shop lights for now.

 

[JGT]

What paint did you use? Looks like you got a little more room in there for some additional lighting.

 

[Dburr1014]

What paint did you use? Looks like you got a little more room in there for some additional lighting.

Paint/primer oil based.
My reef breeders LED fixtures going in there. It's like 43 in x 9 inches.

 

[JGT]

Paint/primer oil based.
My reef breeders LED fixtures going in there. It's like 43 in x 9 inches.

Yeah oil stinks for a long time. Supposed to be nice over weekend . Take it outside and put into thesun. That should air it out good.

 

[Dburr1014]

Yeah oil stinks for a long time. Supposed to be nice over weekend . Take it outside and put into thesun. That should air it out good.

I have it outside with the lights on, I'm hoping that cures it a little bit more. LOL

 

[Dburr1014]

Plumbing is finally done from tank Drains to sump. My wife hair dryer really put to good use. I'm bald and never thought I'd say that.

The only connections to be done are pump to tank. It's 3/4 finished but I'm going to use some pipe in the run so I can't really finish until I ready to start it up. I wanted to get this far before we leave Friday for Bogota so all good.
I got the hood out in the sun yesterday and today. We'll see if that helps the stink.



Some finished plumping. Out of 4 joists below my tank, 3 have duct work. So I'm limited to 1 pocket for water and electricity. Thank you for no leaks!

 

[JGT]

Isn’t that flexible PVC nice to work with?

 

[Dburr1014]

Isn’t that flexible PVC nice to work with?

Yes, not bad when you heat it up some. At first I was trying to wrestle with it and not getting very far. LOL
One connection on my emergency though slipped right in. I hope it sealed good. I glued it after I heated it and it cooled off, I hope it didn't shrink the tube. I guess we'll find out when the Emergency Drain kicks in, LOL.

 

[Dburr1014]

Bogota tomorrow!
Double checked the tank, lights, ato, food, ect. When I come back she gunna get wet!

 

[Dburr1014]

Yeah oil stinks for a long time. Supposed to be nice over weekend . Take it outside and put into thesun. That should air it out good.

Yes it did! Thank you!
2 days in full sun got the smell out.

 

[Dburr1014]

I'm still in Bogota but I thought I'd post a pic why we came here.



She is such a good baby. Hardly cries.
Going to be hard to leave Friday.

 

[Dburr1014]

Went site seeing today. We went to a outside market at the capital building and a big church. (I don't know the name)
I found an addition to decorate the tank.
A handmade shark!



Here are some pics of today.

 

[Dburr1014]

Well, back home. I had left a rock nem in an acclimation box cuz I didn't want him on a rock of the rock was being moved. I left the top open but it closed while I was away and it smelled funky when I check on it. So out of went, poor guy.
This week I'm getting to work on getting this tank wet already.

 

[Nano_Man]

You tank looks really nice . Thanks for sharing you’ve been busy. Also some great photos

 

[Dburr1014]

Seeing as I didn't get the external overflow parts from planet, I had to make my own.
This will be my open channel. Give me a file and I can make interesting stuff, lol.



I drilled the top plug. If the water goes past the plug it cuts off the air making it a full syphone.
This is my first time doing a 3 drain system so I'm not sure how far apart the open and emergency should be. I think now they are about a 1/2" apart. When the system starts we may need to adjust.
This view is the emergency I had to kick to the side.

This view is the difference of the emergency to the open channel.
I have been hearing planet has some loud external overflow with the tideline series so I wanted to make sure it completly submerged the 2 bulkheads from tank to external overflow.
If that emergency kicks in, it's going to be tight.

 

[Dburr1014]

I measured the canopy and the black rim of the tank. I need all the height I can get for spread on my lights, at least until I can upgrade. There's a 1/2" of canopy hanging past the rim. So I found some nylon 1/2"x1/2" strips to fill that gap. It should slide nice on that aluminum and I won't have to worry about paint getting in the tank.



I made a lead on the ends so they don't catch when sliding. Drilled and recessed for screws. I'll have to add a photo installed when I get home from work.

Here is a pic installed on the canopy.
I have the screws recessed a bit so the won't dig into the rim.