Fish building/man cave build!

[dantimdad]

I ran into the same issue with not having enough space in the compartment as am running the same skimmer as well! Holy crap our entire sump area is the same I couldn't figure out how to fit it into the sump. I figured I was going to have to drill a hole in the wall and have the pump on one side and the skimmer body on the other.

That’s strange but cool.

I’ll know tomorrow if my plan works or not.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

@Lowell Lemon Do you think it would be ok to machine the lid down by an 1/8" just on side of it so it fits?

I was going to expose a 3/4" router bit in the table 1/16" make a pass, move the fence back 1/4" make a pass....
Then, raise to 1/8" and repeat. This would make a rabbet in the top 1/8"deep and about 3" of the lid wide.

Tell me I am not nuts for trying this.

The other possibility is to remove the skimmer, cover the sump and notch the 2x6. I don't think it will effect the structural integrity but, it'll scare the $%^& out of the fish!

Not sure the lid will not warp. What about a 3d print lid? Do you have some plastics that might resist warping? You could machine a lid out of polycarbonate and it might resist warping better. Just thoughts since I don't know what your lid is made out of.

 

[dantimdad]

Not sure the lid will not warp. What about a 3d print lid? Do you have some plastics that might resist warping? You could machine a lid out of polycarbonate and it might resist warping better. Just thoughts since I don't know what your lid is made out of.

The 3d print did cross my mind. I can print polycarbonate.

In the end, it takes less work and is a better long term solution to just notch the beam.

 

[dantimdad]

The 12 footer is running on the sump with the 187 and quiet as a church mouse.

I was afraid it was going to be very loud given the long horizontal runs of pipe. But, its isn't at all.

I am getting a ton of microbubbles coming out of the skimmer because the water level is too high. I will drain off some water out of the sump in a bit.

BTW, the 12 foot tank is about 1/4" off level

 

[dantimdad]

 

[dantimdad]

 

[dantimdad]

I still have some cord cleanup to do and finish the auto topoff setup.

 

[dantimdad]

The fuge/mangrove tank has water in it and waiting on the plumbing to cure for a couple days.

I fired it up today and it's quiet and ready for light.

It has 10 pounds of miracle mud and 20 pounds of aragonite and 2 mangroves so far. Hoping to get some nice looking macros soon.

Next up is gluing up the manifold and plumbing in the UV sterilizer.

 

[dantimdad]

Got the light on the Fuge and an alexa outlet setup to put them on a timer.

There's a reason the lights aren't centered. It's so I can get my fat hands in there easier when I need to.

As you can tell, the doesn't effect the coverage at all.

 

[dantimdad]

The workbench is done.

And not a moment too soon! The new board for the ender 3 max came in today. Just need to clean up the mess around it and get to work.

 

[dantimdad]

The discus shelves are in and all trimmed out with aluminum. I really like the look.

The uglies have hit the sand bed in the 187 and the mangrove tank. YUCK!

 

[dantimdad]

I picked up two albino bristlenose plecos and twelve golden rummy nose tetras for the discus tank.

lot more going on in there now.

 

[dantimdad]

Didn’t get much done today except expanding my desk some and switching out computers.

spent the rest of the day cleaning in the house and took my wife to the Japanese place.

My todo list for this week is growing!

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Didn’t get much done today except expanding my desk some and switching out computers.

spent the rest of the day cleaning in the house and took my wife to the Japanese place.

My todo list for this week is growing!

Spent the whole day with my two sons trying to catch Salmon or Steelhead. Time well spent but no fish!

 

[dantimdad]

Spent the whole day with my two sons trying to catch Salmon or Steelhead. Time well spent but no fish!

I would love to come up there and fish with you. One of the few states I haven't been to or fished.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I would love to come up there and fish with you. One of the few states I haven't been to or fished.

Always welcome! Just not the best fisherman hahaha! Definitely not a guide!

 

[dantimdad]

Quick update: I hate smelly fish rooms and stores! I pride myself on not allowing that to happen so when my wife said my room was starting to smell like "an old aquariums shop" I knew I had to do something.

I haven't been running any carbon* and I totally forgot to install an exhaust fan.

The new exhaust fan that will evacuate the room in 12 minutes at 38db will be here tomorrow.

I am hooking up the reactor today. Oddly enough, it's not the freshwater systems smelling. I usually don't have an issue with marine systems but they are the culprit in this room.

Hopefully, in a few days, the room will be back to it's fresh smelling self and my wife won't scrunch up her nose when she walks in. After all, she likes cleaning the glass so I have to make her comfortable in here.






*I really don't like running carbon because, I believe it removes necessary minerals in both fresh and saltwater and I also believe it can, long term, contribute to lateral line erosion in tangs. I will only run it a few days at a time, twice a month starting today.

 

[dantimdad]

It's insane how quickly carbon works.

Walked in the room this morning and barely can detect any smell.

I will run it a couple more days, take it off and see how long this works before running it again.

 

[dantimdad]

So, a buddy of mine did a video of the fish room and interviewed me for his youtube channel today.

It was kinda uncomfortable and I am nervous to see it. I will post a link to it after he is done editing.

 

[dantimdad]

Well the skimmer I bought died today. not sure if it's the controller or pump.

I will call into coralvue tomorrow and see if they can tell.

If it's a new controller, I will get one. A new pump.... no way, no how I am paying that much.


I am probably going to try and adapt a different brand of pump to it and see what happens