Fish76's Long Time Coming 120XH Build
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Fish76
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My 65gal tank I had previously developed a leak so I decided to cannibalize the glass from that tank and use it for the baffles on the new sump. I thought I could just manhandle the trim off of it but that thing was on their pretty good. I ended up having to dremel the trim, piece by piece. I used a plastic shim and dead blow hammer to get under the trim and slowly pry it off. It took a while but all the trim eventually came off. From there, I just used a razor blade and eventually the silicone separated and the glass came apart. It was a PIA but I got free glass from it!
Dremeled the trim
Trim off on the top
All the non-tempered glass
Dremeled the trim
Trim off on the top
All the non-tempered glass
SantaMonicaHelp
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Very cool pictures :bigsmile:
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Fish76
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Here's some pics of the stand and canopy being sprayed. I've never used a paint spray gun before but have to say it was actually pretty fun. I used Rustoleum High Gloss black from Lowe's. It was very tacky after it was sprayed, I assume because of the high gloss. But after about a day, the tackyness went away. I wouldn't say the finish is a high gloss, more like a semi-gloss which is exactly what I wanted. It's nice cause it's very easy to clean the surface since it does have some slickness to it.
About to get it's spray on!
Stand all done, now on to the doors and canopy...
Doors all done
Everything painted! Next step, put it all together :bigsmile:
About to get it's spray on!
Stand all done, now on to the doors and canopy...
Doors all done
Everything painted! Next step, put it all together :bigsmile:
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Fish76
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Here's the doors installed onto the stand. I originally was going to do 4 doors but went with 3 instead, less work for me :smile:. I went with a single door and a bi-fold door cause where the stand will be going, there's less room on the left side than the right, plus I don't have a center support to mount the 3rd door cause I went with a 2x6 header to to avoid having to install a center support. Makes it easier to access under the stand and get equipment in and out.
Great idea for the door. The stand looks absolutely astonishing. Kudos to the builder.
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Fish76
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So I kinda went extreme on the canopy fan system. When I built my 65gal canopy, I basically had a couple fans inside randomly blowing air around and just one that exhausted out. Over time, dust bunnies would collect everywhere around the fans and canopy since it was just taking suction from wherever the openings were. This time, I kinda went crazy. I designed it so I have 3 large blower intake fans and 3 smaller exhaust fans. The intake fans have a mesh filter to minimize the dust and by having larger intake fans, the canopy has positive pressure so air that's not exhausted out of the smaller fans will exhaust out of whatever openings there are (gaps between the canopy/tank, etc.). This way everything coming in is filtered thru the mesh. Yes, I know, pretty extreme :crazy:.
What I also had to do is install a relay to trigger a 12v to 6v converter cause with all six fans going, it was louder than I liked. So, my Apex will trigger the relay once a certain high temp is reached (have a temp probe in the canopy) and run 12v to the fans. Otherwise, the fans will run at 6v (@6v, the fans are barely even audible).
Placement of the fans. Exhaust fans on the left, intake on the right.
All painted and fans installed permanently. That little spring board piece of wood on the bottom left is where my Apex AFS feeder will go. All electrical connections will come in at the back left where all the thru holes are.
Intake fan (without the mesh filter mounted)
Top fans are the intake w/o the mesh filters, bottom square cutouts are the exhaust ports
What I also had to do is install a relay to trigger a 12v to 6v converter cause with all six fans going, it was louder than I liked. So, my Apex will trigger the relay once a certain high temp is reached (have a temp probe in the canopy) and run 12v to the fans. Otherwise, the fans will run at 6v (@6v, the fans are barely even audible).
Placement of the fans. Exhaust fans on the left, intake on the right.
All painted and fans installed permanently. That little spring board piece of wood on the bottom left is where my Apex AFS feeder will go. All electrical connections will come in at the back left where all the thru holes are.
Intake fan (without the mesh filter mounted)
Top fans are the intake w/o the mesh filters, bottom square cutouts are the exhaust ports
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Fish76
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Here's a pic of the electrical connections of the canopy. The two small open thru holes will have an amphenol connector in each for easy electrical connect/disconnect from the canopy (mainly for DIY LED's and switches). USB connector for the Apex AFS feeder is next to it. I used an extra bulkhead fitting I had laying around for thru wires for power to the Kessil light and for the temp probe. The Kessil power wires can be disconnecting at the bulkhead fitting. I didn't want to splice the power cable (wasn't sure about modifying it) and connect it to an amphenol connector, so just left it how it's suppose to connect to the Kessil. I have a contact switch shown next to the bracket so when the canopy is opened, the Apex will turn off the fans.
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Fish76
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Here's pics of my aquarium in its final resting place! This was a long time coming. I started the actual build process in May, but started collecting equipment for this build almost 2yrs ago. I don't have very much time on this build so it's taking longer than normal. Reaching this milestone felt great!
Spot all cleared up for the tank!
Stand in place!
Finally In!!
Spot all cleared up for the tank!
Stand in place!
Finally In!!
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Fish76
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NOOOOOO! Hahaha, j/k, it looks closer than it really is. I'll probably let the algae build up on that side anyway to cover up all the piping on the outside. Since the window is recessed in it also gives a couple inches. There's about 7" or so of clearance. Remember all the piping is on that side too so I needed to make sure I had enough room for access.
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Fish76
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I had to shim the front of the tank stand since my tile was not completely even. I did a freshwater leak test which I was sweating some bullets during the process. I know it was stupid, but when I got the tank back in May, I never tested it to make sure there weren't any leaks. I did all this work to the tank hoping the tank would be all right. Thank goodness when I did the test, I got no leaks. I left water in there for a couple days to make sure before emptying it.
Floor tile was a little uneven so I had to shim the front of the stand a bit.
Tank tested for leaks, lucky there were none :bigsmile: !
Everything mounted in the canopy. Can't really see it but behind the c-channel mount for the Kessils is another c-channel which has my DIY 9 Cree LED's and my DIY moonlights. AFS feeder is on the right side.
Floor tile was a little uneven so I had to shim the front of the stand a bit.
Tank tested for leaks, lucky there were none :bigsmile: !
Everything mounted in the canopy. Can't really see it but behind the c-channel mount for the Kessils is another c-channel which has my DIY 9 Cree LED's and my DIY moonlights. AFS feeder is on the right side.
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Fish76
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Thanks!!
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Some pics of the plumbing......
Bulkhead fittings and piping
Reef Octopus Auto Neck Cleaner
Return and Drain Valves
I'm not sure if I should keep that sock filter.....
Sump setup. Don't mind the middle chamber with the BRS reactor, haha, it'll get mounted up top to the right of the sump. I'm planning on putting the skimmer in the middle chamber.
Bulkhead fittings and piping
Reef Octopus Auto Neck Cleaner
Return and Drain Valves
I'm not sure if I should keep that sock filter.....
Sump setup. Don't mind the middle chamber with the BRS reactor, haha, it'll get mounted up top to the right of the sump. I'm planning on putting the skimmer in the middle chamber.
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Fish76
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This is my Apex board. I kinda went geeky and painted it to match the Apex colors :lol:. The right side of my stand is where most of the electrical will reside. Once everything is in place, I'll install a plexiglass in front of the Apex board to make that section somewhat water resistant.
Apex board is modular so I can take out the control board and mod it in the future if needed. The empty space in the middle will be where my 3 Vortech pump controllers will go.
Plexiglass will be placed in front of it where that bottom & top 1x4 is mounted. That section will be water resistant from the top and front.
Apex board is modular so I can take out the control board and mod it in the future if needed. The empty space in the middle will be where my 3 Vortech pump controllers will go.
Plexiglass will be placed in front of it where that bottom & top 1x4 is mounted. That section will be water resistant from the top and front.
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Fish76
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More shots of my sump. Got my Avast Marine skimmate locker and the MR5 bio-pellet reactor. Placed my skimmer in the middle and mounted my BRS deluxe reactors finally.
Avast Marine Davys Skimmate Locker, size Med; Avast Marine MR5 Reactor
Sump, finally installed with the BRS reactors!
Shot of my electrical rats nest. Installed the plexiglass also.
Avast Marine Davys Skimmate Locker, size Med; Avast Marine MR5 Reactor
Sump, finally installed with the BRS reactors!
Shot of my electrical rats nest. Installed the plexiglass also.
