8Ball_99s 310 upgrade

[8BALL_99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13588818#post13588818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chrisrush
Looks great 8ball. Is that the farthest that the tubes are going to go into the canopy? Before I watched the video, I was wondering why you lifted the canopy, since I thought the tubes went farther down into the canopy.

Well my plan is to add some funnel shaped reflectors to the ends of the tubes to help direct the light down, So the tubes will probably stick down about 3 more inches with those on them. I've already made a template for them I just need to pick up some reflective metal to make them out of.. I haven't had much luck finding it online though. If anyone knows of a good sight for rolls/sheets of reflective metal I'd love some help!

BTW it looks like I'm going to be able to move the tank in tomorrow!!

Will

 

[8BALL_99]

Moving Day Got the tank moved in today!! Everything went pretty good except we couldn't get it in through the equipment room like I had planed. It was just to wide to flip once it was in the room, so we ended up just going through the house with it. Not a big deal just was a little more trouble. Took a few pictures. Not of the move mind you since I was a little busy haha.

Will

 

[ReefnAv]

Yeah! Water!!!

 

[8BALL_99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13602035#post13602035 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefnAv
Yeah! Water!!!

More like pea soup right now But Its getting there! I've got all my sand in plus another 60Lbs I picked up at the LFS today.. I also stuck about half my LR in there. The water should be clear enough by tomorrow to put the rest of it in and start aquascaping.

 

[ReefnAv]

8Ball -

I know that you have talked about it a little before., but where did you get the lifts and how difficult is it for an electrical idiot like myself?

I love the concept and would love to learn more about the schematics of it all...

 

[TandN]

SImply amazing just like your other tanks

 

[8BALL_99]

Its really pretty easy. I used Linear Actuators from www.firgelliauto.com. They run off 12V DC so they are very simple to wire up. My setup is a little complicated because I have a 12V UPS I made from a Deep Cycle battery, Inverter and relay.. its connected to two solar panels on the roof above my fish room. So my Lifts run off my UPS and during the day the UPS is charged.. It also runs my Returns in a power outage.. But you could just as easy use a 12V transformer. Like what you charge your cell phone or laptop with.. It just has to be able to handle the load of the Actuators. The Actuators I have are rated 4amps @ full load.. They can handle 400Lbs each. I also have tracks on the wall to help guide the canopy. The tracks are just heavy duty slides from homedepot. I don't really have any drawings or anything of my setup. To tell you the truth I don't really plan it out that well. I just figure what I want in my head and then make it work. Even with the new setup with 4 pulleys and 2 cables. I just went up in the attic and looked at it and figured out the easiest way to do it. Took me a Saturday and a trip to HomeDepot I will give you one piece of advice that's made things a little easier for me. When I'm working out the details and while I'm first installing the canopy. I always build a wood frame the same size as the tank.. Nothing fancy or heavy duty.. Just a box with the same outside dimensions as the tank.. That way I can install the lift and test it work any bugs out ect without the risk of the canopy falling on the tank or something.. HTH

Will

 

[8BALL_99]

Btw I added another 40 Gallons to the tank! I also got my Mh lights installed for Night time viewing. I haven't added the rest of my Live rock cause the water was still a little cloudy today cause I added another 20# of sand

 

[asnatlas]

Looking good

 

[ReefnAv]

That was some good info Will. Thank you...

Maybe I need to fly you to NorCal for a weekend, you make it sound so easy!

 

[Elliott]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13609293#post13609293 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
Its really pretty easy. I used Linear Actuators from www.firgelliauto.com. They run off 12V DC so they are very simple to wire up. My setup is a little complicated because I have a 12V UPS I made from a Deep Cycle battery, Inverter and relay.. its connected to two solar panels on the roof above my fish room. So my Lifts run off my UPS and during the day the UPS is charged.. It also runs my Returns in a power outage.. But you could just as easy use a 12V transformer. Like what you charge your cell phone or laptop with.. It just has to be able to handle the load of the Actuators. The Actuators I have are rated 4amps @ full load.. They can handle 400Lbs each. I also have tracks on the wall to help guide the canopy. The tracks are just heavy duty slides from homedepot. I don't really have any drawings or anything of my setup. To tell you the truth I don't really plan it out that well. I just figure what I want in my head and then make it work. Even with the new setup with 4 pulleys and 2 cables. I just went up in the attic and looked at it and figured out the easiest way to do it. Took me a Saturday and a trip to HomeDepot I will give you one piece of advice that's made things a little easier for me. When I'm working out the details and while I'm first installing the canopy. I always build a wood frame the same size as the tank.. Nothing fancy or heavy duty.. Just a box with the same outside dimensions as the tank.. That way I can install the lift and test it work any bugs out ect without the risk of the canopy falling on the tank or something.. HTH

Will

great idea for a battery backup, I like the solar panels that always keep it charged in the event of a power failure, I'm going to implement that, thanks!

where do you mount the linear actuator on the canopy?

 

[8BALL_99]

Thanks I've used the Ups for a couple years. I've been very happy with it.. It runs 3 return pumps for a long time.. So far I've used it up to about 5-6 hours.. It still was working, I just haven't needed it for a longer time since I built it.. I do have a generator for long outages also.. But really since the UPS I don't even hook it to the tanks.. We use it to run the TV and fridge lol. If needed I can connect it to the circuit the UPS is on and charge the UPS while running the Pumps. The solar panels are something I added about 6 months ago.. I needed a light in my barn and it was just cheaper and eaiser to use a solar panel then run wire 200 yards. So I bought a 4 pack and used two over the fish room. Before that I had just a smart trickle charger that would charge the UPS from the wall while the power was on.. Power went off Ups kicked in.. Once it came back on the charger would start charging the battery.. So it worked the same way. Only now I use Free power to charge it so I run my lifts off it.

Well really I run mine like they were cable winches. When I first got them I had the idea of the metal arm coming through the ceiling and attatching to the top of the canopy.. But My wife took one look at the chrome arm and said Nope. So I ended up hooking them to steel cables. But really they still are a good choice even for that kind of use.. They have set stop points and they can hold weight at any point.. So you can raise them up 2inches and stop. Infact on my other tanks when I would change out my bulbs I would just raise the canopies up about 5"s or so and lower them a inch every other day. I have blocks of wood cut for the differen't heights for a couple of reasons, one the actuators aren't holding the weight the whole time, two that way I can open and close the canopy and keep the exact same gap.

 

[Elliott]

very clever, can you explain where the linear actuator and cables are mounted to the wall and canopy? many thanks

 

[8BALL_99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13611277#post13611277 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Elliott
very clever, can you explain where the linear actuator and cables are mounted to the wall and canopy? many thanks

Picture is worth a thousand words! if you look at the pics posted earlier in the thread I posted pics of the Actuator in the attic along with the Cables and pulleys that connect them all. You can also see pics of the inside of the canopy that show how I attached the cables to it.

 

[8BALL_99]

Here is a couple pics. One is of the upper canopy that show the Mh pendants. Think I still have a couple more inches of empty space up there The other is a pic of the tank with some more of the LR added. No aquascaping yet really.. I just tossed it in I did work on one side a little. I've still got some more rock to add. Figured I'd wait to start placing it till I get all the pieces in.

 

[Elliott]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13615290#post13615290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
Picture is worth a thousand words! if you look at the pics posted earlier in the thread I posted pics of the Actuator in the attic along with the Cables and pulleys that connect them all. You can also see pics of the inside of the canopy that show how I attached the cables to it.

ahh, I see now, thanks, great job

 

[Lunchbucket]

Great thread I'm along for the ride

Lunchbucket

 

[8BALL_99]

Ok few new pics. Still have a few things to do, but its getting there. I just haven't had much time to work on it past couple days. I've had the sump running since sunday. Since my skimmer is external the sump seems Huge lol. I'm almost thinking about using the intake section as a frag tank and doing away with one of my 40s That or just keep the 40 going for a quratine tank.

 

[8BALL_99]

Ok few new pics.
Here is a shot of the tank with the Tubes only. Taken around 12am

Tubes Plus T5s Pic taken around 2:15pm

I'm pretty sure this one is with T5s And Mh. The tubes are probably still putting out pretty good bit of light since the Pic is around 5pm

Like I said above the 92 in the corner has a 20k 400 watt Mh over it to give you something to compare the color and general brightness. I can tell you right now that in person it makes the 92 look very dim.. So much so I'm already thinking of changing the lighting.

 

[8BALL_99]

Last Here is the tank lastnight with the rock work done and all the Maxi jets off the back wall