Wrasse Retreat 2.0: Evolved's 270g Peninsula

evolved · Aug 29, 2016

fragit said:
That sounds like an awesome idea Hunter!!! I used to be a custom cabinet maker and historic wood worker. There are a few builds here that really spark my interest from that point of view. Love the reclaimed wood, it looks fantastic. Love working with old wood too, there is just nothing like it. I'm a geek on so many levels....

I hope I don't disappoint with the final product then!
It is my first time working with reclaimed wood; really my first "real" wood working project. I made due with an entry level table saw and miter saw. Although I've never worked with a table saw before, things with moving parts tend to be second nature for me and not something that intimidate me. I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved here so far, albeit it's not perfect but good enough to pacify my general anal retentiveness. But that's a bit of the beauty in the reclaimed product; it can't be perfect nor does it need to be.

RamsReef · Aug 29, 2016

evolved said:
With total confidence, what you see there is about the minimum I'd use on dimensions like this. You could maybe go 3' between supports on the sides as well (instead of ~2' as I did), but that is about the limit before things might get "interesting" over time with the tank seals.

Patience grasshopper. Nothing good happens fast in reef land.

Thanks, I think.

Thanks Kevin!

Thanks Steve!

Thank you.

Thanks Mel!

Thanks Jesse.
Of course there's a plan. See half a hinge on the stand back there? There will be a piece of the same reclaimed wood back there, floor to the top of the tank on hinges. A mini-skinny door, basically, to still allow access there but cover up everything. I have the boards for that in the garage, but have waited to cut them to size until everything is set.

Yes, I want to see the minimum you can do before you can't feed to much food and the tank will collapse.

evolved · Aug 29, 2016

Ramasule said:
Yes, I want to see the minimum you can do before you can't feed to much food and the tank will collapse.

If you really want to "see" that, I might suggest you experiment in your living room.

RamsReef · Aug 29, 2016

evolved said:
If you really want to "see" that, I might suggest you experiment in your living room.

I was interested from the engineering point of view, as you are an engineer, and you have the software, that's all I was hoping for. I want to see the simulation.

evolved · Aug 30, 2016

How about some early morning, lots of glare, dirty glass, no lights, as-I-run-out-the-door cell shots?

Wet side of the stand, left side

Wet side, right side
View attachment 20160830_080424.jpg

Front panel; dry side power compartment.
View attachment 20160830_075146.jpg

evolved · Aug 30, 2016

You might notice in that last shot they are some Vortech driver mounts, with no vortechs... lol

The drivers are in there, behind that panel the pretty things are mounted to, but as the case may be, the cords are about 3' too short (of course).
Ecotech used to make extension cables a few years back, but since the connectors were not waterproof they stopped due to liability. They'll extend your cords now, if you send in the whole dry side. For $35 a piece, they extend the wire and make a heat shrink/hot glue blob at the junction...

Or you could just build your own extensions, like this:

I could care less about waterproof-ness, as the extension connector is already on the dry side.

evolved · Aug 30, 2016

Here's some equally junky photos of the reactor, but I know many of you are interested in seeing more about this.

Assembled; a common feed with independent ball valves to adjust flow. It is an up-flow design.

Here's the opposite side; the dump tubes gravity fed back down into the sump.

One quarter turn of the lid, and off the lid comes. Then you can pull the media tube straight out of it's chamber and go dump it out in the trash. A quick fill with new media that you can rinse right out in the media tube, and back in it goes. All while leaving the pump to the reactor running; no need to shut that off.

revhtree · Aug 30, 2016

Oh bro I love that stand! This tank is looking awesome already!

kschweer · Aug 30, 2016

The stand looks great!!! Nice job with the vortec extension cable as well! I'm really liking that reactor. Is it something you made?

evolved · Aug 30, 2016

revhtree said:
Oh bro I love that stand! This tank is looking awesome already!

Thanks Rev

kschweer said:
I'm really liking that reactor. Is it something you made?

The reactor is a prototype from Titan Aquatic.

kschweer · Aug 30, 2016

evolved said:
Thanks Rev

The reactor is a prototype from Titan Aquatic.

Hopefully it comes to market. Seems like a great design. I'm looking forward to hearing how it works out.

bknapp · Aug 30, 2016

Awesome! That stand is sweet!

Wrasses are the best!

reefknight · Aug 30, 2016

evolved said:
You might notice in that last shot they are some Vortech driver mounts, with no vortechs... lol

The drivers are in there, behind that panel the pretty things are mounted to, but as the case may be, the cords are about 3' too short (of course).
Ecotech used to make extension cables a few years back, but since the connectors were not waterproof they stopped due to liability. They'll extend your cords now, if you send in the whole dry side. For $35 a piece, they extend the wire and make a heat shrink/hot glue blob at the junction...

Or you could just build your own extensions, like this:

I could care less about waterproof-ness, as the extension connector is already on the dry side.

Congrats on the new house and the new tank. Both look amazing! Love the 80/20 stand and barn wood combo.

Do you have the pin out assignment that you used to make these extension cords? I need to do the same with two of mine, so the drivers can teach the dry portion of my stand. Also what Molex connectors did you use?

Thanks!

JakeK · Aug 30, 2016

Wow! Love the tank and stand. Taking lots of notes for my eventual upgrade.

Bcash616 · Aug 31, 2016

Wow!!! Great and Beautiful build!

evolved · Aug 31, 2016

kschweer said:
Hopefully it comes to market. Seems like a great design. I'm looking forward to hearing how it works out.

And I'm looking forward to playing with it! It's still a bit rough on some of the edges (you'll even see some cracks in the acrylic tube around the uniseals on the outputs - just cosmetic but not something that would be acceptable for production), but I am pretty confident it will work as nice as it seems.

bknapp said:
Awesome! That stand is sweet!

Wrasses are the best!

Thanks! And I agree.

reefknight said:
Congrats on the new house and the new tank. Both look amazing! Love the 80/20 stand and barn wood combo.

Thank you, and thank you.

reefknight said:
Do you have the pin out assignment that you used to make these extension cords? I need to do the same with two of mine, so the drivers can teach the dry portion of my stand. Also what Molex connectors did you use?

Pin assignment? I have no idea.

But as an extension cable, the pin assignment does not matter - provided you are consistent and mirror the opposite end of the extension cable.
I ordered everything from digikey.
Male connector: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=WM23704-ND
Pins for that end: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=WM2501CT-ND
Female connector: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=WM24064-ND
Pins for that end: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=WM2822CT-ND
Cable: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=W510-50-ND