Ken's 215G Build

[kenchilada]

Looks awesome. Need a video of the light elevator. Is the canopy mounted to the wall or resting on the tank?

I’m still working out how to adjust the motor and I’ll get a video. You have to program the open/close limits and its giving me a hard time.

Canopy sits on the tank frame. There’s an inner frame behind the skin that supports all the weight, and the skin/trim/doors just hang off that.

 

[kenchilada]

 

[kenchilada]

Im liking it. With it all the way up I’m able to reach all the way to the back of the 30” deep display.

@JGT

 

[JGT]

Wow, that’s fast! I was envisioning something much slower. You must have the turbo model. Looks great. When it comes back down and stops, I presume that’s the end of the cable? Does the spooler motor know to stop when it reaches the end of the cable.

 

[kenchilada]

Wow, that’s fast! I was envisioning something much slower. You must have the turbo model. Looks great. When it comes back down and stops, I presume that’s the end of the cable? Does the spooler motor know to stop when it reaches the end of the cable.

It is fast... maybe because the rod is 2.5” diameter. Curtains on this thing would be pretty funny.

There’s plenty more cable, but there are two screws you use to adjust where the up/down limits are. You could have it raise 20 feet up if you wanted.

 

[JGT]

It is fast... maybe because the rod is 2.5” diameter. Curtains on this thing would be pretty funny.

There’s plenty more cable, but there are two screws you use to adjust where the up/down limits are. You could have it raise 20 feet up if you wanted.

Cool. That allows for more vertical flexibility which is good.

 

[sdreef]

Im liking it. With it all the way up I’m able to reach all the way to the back of the 30” display.

@JGT

Is the braided cable spooling well on the take up reel? Any issues with the cable being taken up evenly?

 

[bdare]

Hey Nice! That's the same tank I have!

 

[kenchilada]

Is the braided cable spooling well on the take up reel? Any issues with the cable being taken up evenly?

It spools great! The weight of the light keeps in the track really well. The light stays perfectly level throughout the range of travel.

The cable makes a sort of crunch sound as it moves through the pulley, I thought about using flexdip or something on it but it’s really so minor I’m splitting hairs at this point.

 

[kenchilada]

Tank full. Both the return bulkheads are leaking pretty badly. Tried adjusting them, loosening, tightening. Seems they are just crap bulkheads. Trying to decide if I will silicone them in or cut them out and get new ones.

The good news is I didn’t see any leaks in the plumbing or the drain bulkheads. The returns are easy to get to.

 

[kenchilada]

Well the decision was made for me...

I heard it crack as was hand tightening it. I got these from saltwateraquarium.com .. not impressed.

 

[JGT]

You beast!

 

[panic]

I saw that they have some on BRS that are supposed to be 4x the strength of those. Did you look at those yet? I've broken those in your photo also tightening them down, and had one break on a full tank several years after it was installed/

 

[kenchilada]

I saw that they have some on BRS that are supposed to be 4x the strength of those. Did you look at those yet? I've broken those in your photo also tightening them down, and had one break on a full tank several years after it was installed/

I didn’t see those, which ones? I know they have schedule 80 but they need a bigger hole size.

Back in the day we used to put Vaseline on the gaskets. I’m sure the internet will tell me how horribly wrong that is but I swear I never had an issue. Amazing how much things have changed in 30 years. Back then we all just did what other local reefers told us worked.

 

[panic]

I didn’t see those, which ones? I know they have schedule 80 but they need a bigger hole size.

There are only those 2 kinds. I didn’t look to see if there was a different hole size. Good thing you mentioned it.

 

[JGT]

What size do you need? Amazon has some good ones I just bought. They are made by Lifegard Aquatics. I got a bunch in like 3 different sizes and all are nicely made and I didn’t bust them with my bare hands.

 

[kenchilada]

What size do you need? Amazon has some good ones I just bought. They are made by Lifegard Aquatics. I got a bunch in like 3 different sizes and all are nicely made and I didn’t bust them with my bare hands.

3/4”. I actually ordered two of those Lifegard bulkheads Monday but I won’t get them till Thursday. What happened to guaranteed 2-day shipping anyway? I fixed one of the overflows today but the other is still slow dripping.

 

[JGT]

You’ll like them. COVID has screwed up Prime as well. Although when I ordered mine they came the next day so maybe you’ll get lucky.

 

[kenchilada]

I got my Tideline overflow dialed in and it is dead silent. Like totally silent. These have a reputation for being hard to silence. I followed some advice I saw from @robby2782 months ago.

The primary drain is just a street elbow and a regular elbow about half inch off the bottom.

The secondary drain is a 6” tall straight pipe.

The emergency drain is a 6.5” straight pipe. The top is about 1/4” below the rim of the box.

I closed the primary gate valve until the water level was just barely rising in the box and spilled over into the secondary drain. Then I closed the secondary valve until it was quiet. That’s it. Really happy with it.

Im running my Varios 6 at speed 4. No noise from the weir, drains, sump. Really shocked how easy this was because I know most people are chucking these for another brand overflow.

 

[kenchilada]

Got the new bulkhead a day early. All fixed now. The Lifegard Aquativs bulkheads are much better. The nut is a heavier material with a different texture. Much better gasket too.

Also picked up these. Going to sell the inkbird I bought previously.