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[customcolor]

whell i got all the painting don and it looks just the perfect finish to match our coffee table. i used a high temp bar-b-q black even though i dont need it to be high temp it was the finish i was looking for. the paint was rust o leum oil base paint and was thin enough to spray though my sata spray gun. that is how i got it to lay flat. plus all the filler primer (the filler primer is called slick sand, its the same stuff i use on the cars i paint) plus alittle light weight body fillerhelped alot too. whell here is some more pics for your computer to download so u can see (sorry i do have lots of pics)<BR>the stand its self<BR>

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the canopy(i took the pic upside down so u can see it right side up)<BR>

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inside the canopy the holes are cut for two computer fans pushing air out wile i have 2 computer fans pushing air up into the canopy from the cooler basement behind the stand pumped up to the canopy. i figured this would help cool the tank off easyer. the holes are over where the 175 halides will be so i shouldnt have any light escape neather.<BR>

 

[boviac]

Looks great! I would like to see how you plan to attach the 175MH such that light will not escape. Though I do very much encourage heat escape out the top.

Also, I find it interesting that you're said you were going to push air up from the basement. Are you going to channel that up to your canopy or just let it work its way up from the floor. Heat tends to rise and cooler air tends to sink. I think you might want to channel that air from the basement via ducting or even say something like dryer ducting based upon the use of computer fans. Otherwise I don't see that the cool basement air won't get much passed the back side of the open stand.

Also, my house tends to provide enough dust to coat the canopy supply fans often (I push air in and let it out the open back). I don't know what your basement is like but it's probably vented from outside. I might consider putting some sort of filter in front of the basement (supply) fans to minimize dust.

Where are you planning on placing your MH ballasts?

I've got an oceanic 125 out in my garage so I'm taking in all the planning tips I can.

 

[Dave12678]

looking very good

 

[customcolor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10310881#post10310881 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boviac
Looks great! I would like to see how you plan to attach the 175MH such that light will not escape. Though I do very much encourage heat escape out the top.

Also, I find it interesting that you're said you were going to push air up from the basement. Are you going to channel that up to your canopy or just let it work its way up from the floor. Heat tends to rise and cooler air tends to sink. I think you might want to channel that air from the basement via ducting or even say something like dryer ducting based upon the use of computer fans. Otherwise I don't see that the cool basement air won't get much passed the back side of the open stand.

Also, my house tends to provide enough dust to coat the canopy supply fans often (I push air in and let it out the open back). I don't know what your basement is like but it's probably vented from outside. I might consider putting some sort of filter in front of the basement (supply) fans to minimize dust.

Where are you planning on placing your MH ballasts?

I've got an oceanic 125 out in my garage so I'm taking in all the planning tips I can.

<BR>
the halide reflectors will be right under the holes so the light that may, if any will be very little.
yes i was planing on using ducting to channel the cool air from the basement floor to the back of the canopy. that should give me a good edge on the heat, well atleast more of an edge than most.
i didnt think of putting a filter pad infront of the fan. great idea i will have to do that. clean air is healty air.
last questions answer will have to be the basement also. my thought is to try to keep most of the heat produsing items in the basement if i can. i think i can run 4-6 feet of wire to the halides from the ballests with out a problem.

 

[MSU Fan]

Looking good, Dave! Love that finish on the canopy!

 

[boviac]

Great! You might consider some quick disconnnects on the wires for the ballasts - From what I can tell there are usually three wires per ballast. That way it would make it easier if/when anything needed to be moved and disconnected. Hellolights just got some more three wire connectors when I checked the other day. They seem to be on top of things there. I had a T5 retro set on one line item and then a MH retro on another. Checked back a day or so later and sure enough they had a T5/MH combo that actually worked out to be about $15 cheaper per set. I'm just trying to figure how I'm going to finance the $760+ there and $650 at MD and who knows where else for all the other things like ATO, wood, piping, misc. Ouch... A local reefer in Sac has the best RC call name I can think of 'BudgetYourself"...

Keep up the good work! I agree canopy looks great but I was totally expecting you to live up to your call name with some cool color options like the car near the top.

What a canopy without flames?

 

[customcolor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10315004#post10315004 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MSU Fan
Looking good, Dave! Love that finish on the canopy!

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thanks im glad u like your old tank so far!<BR>

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10315004#post10315004 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boviac
Great! You might consider some quick disconnnects on the wires for the ballasts - From what I can tell there are usually three wires per ballast. That way it would make it easier if/when anything needed to be moved and disconnected. Hellolights just got some more three wire connectors when I checked the other day. They seem to be on top of things there. I had a T5 retro set on one line item and then a MH retro on another. Checked back a day or so later and sure enough they had a T5/MH combo that actually worked out to be about $15 cheaper per set. I'm just trying to figure how I'm going to finance the $760+ there and $650 at MD and who knows where else for all the other things like ATO, wood, piping, misc. Ouch... A local reefer in Sac has the best RC call name I can think of 'BudgetYourself"...

Keep up the good work! I agree canopy looks great but I was totally expecting you to live up to your call name with some cool color options like the car near the top.

What a canopy without flames?

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well i dont have a choice since the duel balest and the single balest that i do have the guy i got them from cut all the cords. its sucked but i payed 200 for both with 3 175watt 14k's. so i still made out good. i hate to say it but i will first try to make my own refectors for the halides. ill start with one and if it works i will 2 more.<BR>

i see you are looking at a auto top off, well i have a good way of doing it, but u and everyone else will have to wait till i get down to the basement go put it together. i think it will be for under $40 even. i too am on a budget and its tight but i have almost every thing for it that i have ben gathering for about 6mths now. its was a long wait.<BR>
and thank you for the complament on the stand, and sorry my wife said "no flames! i dont care if it would look cool! no flames!"

 

[customcolor]

well here it is my new sump<BR>

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i decided not to drill the 55gal i had for a sump cuz i read so many posts on drilling tanks and alot of the shatered tanks where 55gal tanks. i didnt want to replace or take a chance on replacing a panel on a good 55. i think a sheet of glass would have ben like 40-50 bucks. this 100gal rubbermaid stock tank cost me only like $72. now i will have more water volume and more room for live rock for filtering and soforth. this thing barly fit trough my back door! and the door to the back room of our basement was about 4 inches smaller than this tank. thank god for plastic that bends!
the sump will sit on a stand about 2-3 feet in the air so that i may get it level and get more ghp out of the mak4. i dont want to get it much more higher do to the ceiling in the basement being about 6 feet. dont want to much water problems on the floor above.

 

[specsirl]

custom...sent you a pm or an email...forgot which one! lol

 

[customcolor]

i got it and sent u the same (by the way it was a pm..... )

 

[customcolor]

well as u will see i have ben busy with the tank. first off was the fun part DRILLING THE TANK! i did change my mind on how many inlets for the closed loop after i took the pic. i think 1 will doo just fine. i did 2 1" for the calflo and 1 1.5" for the closed loop ran by an amp master. these where my first holes to ever drill and it was alittle nerve racking on the first one but got easyer. here is the layout<BR>

<BR> sorry i forgot to take pics after i drilled the holes but i think you all know what they look like after drilling is done.<br>
next on the list after dtilling was the calflo. i made it out of 1/8 glass. i did dbl up the bottom so it will give the tank better suport withe the holes drilled in it. since the front was 1/8 i used 1/8 glass cross braces to keep the 3' of 1/8 glass from flexing. it worked realy well! the dementions of it is 5" top to bottom, 3.5" to the back and 3'long. i made it so deep so i can get the bulk heads in and put in 1" 90s in or out when i want to. sorry again for not taking a pic after i put it on but in the second pic from now u will see it. <BR>
i wanted to hide it because it is kinda unsightly. so what i did is stir up some diy live rock and had fun building 2 towers to go up to the calflo and also to kinda hide the closed loop inlet. after i did that i took some black pond foam and went along the calflo to tie the 2 towers togeather to creat a cave efect. i have read many people doing this but i dont ever recall reading that they put crystal salt on it befor it expands so it will give live rock texture. so i tryed it and it turned out realy nice!i used a garbage bag under the calflo rolled up so i could put some pond foam driping down twards the bottom of the tank to get a better cave efect(tank was on its back at this time).
i did have 2 problems with this though. problem 1: the cement mix stuck to the glass (note to self put plastic wrap down first!) the easy fix was to just leave it there and cycle it in the tank for a month wile i work on other things for the setup. problem 2: not as bad but i guess i didnt clean the glass good enough cuz the foam didnt cling to it like i was thinking it woud. it pulled away about 1/2 in some spots so i stuck more in those spots and it pulled again but only 1/8" so i just put some black sylocone in the crack and good as new. now on to the pics!<BR>
this is of the salt on the foam befor water hit it.<BR>

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heres the calflo. i need to trim some of the foam and put more sylocone down to smooth it so i get abetter skim off the top<BR>

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here it is with some water in the tank<BR>

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ill get a good close up of the foam tommorrow. the tank got cloudy when i thought of taking a pic of the foam.
<BR> when here is the amp master running a teporary closed loop. boy these things are quite! barly here the thing pushing about 2000 ghp<BR>

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i will have a om super sqirt running the closed loop with some blow off returns below the squirt for some steady flow from the closed loop. i have something inmind for that too so just stay tuned in the next few days. plus you will find out why i left some of the back of the tank not painted soon also(u can see it next to the closed loop return pic.)

 

[boviac]

Looking good. I understand I'm trying to take pics to begin my thread but it's slow going and I keep forgetting to take some pics myself.

Looking good!!! I was planning on installing either my own internal or external overflow glass boxes and was curious as to how to hide them. I'd like to see that when it has water in it too.

 

[AmosUSA]

That whole tanks set up the black faom the tank stand and how you did the canopy with the shocks. Vary impressive great workmanship you have given me some ideas for my future tank. you got skills good job ! Can't wait to see it completed with the tank full of water

 

[zachtos]

Neat, subscribed. I love your background. I made one similar on my new 240G reef, click the lil house to see. Are you going to use enductors on your closed loop?

 

[Solitaryensis]

Nice setup. If the tank isnt in its final resting place, i would suggest moving that pump up a bit. It looks like the stand extends far enough back that you could build a little "stand" right by the inlet of your CL. You wouldnt think it, but that short distance will make a noticeable difference.

 

[hahnmeister]

Awwww.... man. If someone did that to my car I might have to kill 'em...lol. The tank looks cool though.

 

[customcolor]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10405023#post10405023 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zachtos
Neat, subscribed. I love your background. I made one similar on my new 240G reef, click the lil house to see. Are you going to use enductors on your closed loop?

sorry but no enductors going in the tank i have something that i make that will be goning on most of the fittings to spread the flow.<BR>

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10405658#post10405658 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Solitaryensis
Nice setup. If the tank isnt in its final resting place, i would suggest moving that pump up a bit. It looks like the stand extends far enough back that you could build a little "stand" right by the inlet of your CL. You wouldnt think it, but that short distance will make a noticeable difference.

<BR>
there is only 6" behind the tank and the pump is 7" plus the tank is going up aganst some curtans so i only have like 3" to spare for the plumming, but if i where to do it again i would make the 6" to 10" just for that reson to put the pump right off the tank. right now the tank is still in the garage for the diy rock to cure. it gives me more time to do other things for the tank like the sump and ato

 

[Lucky Strike]

to each their own, hahn.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

now if you can only put a stering and breaks on the fish tank ...........

 

[customcolor]

like i promised here are some nice pics of the foam after the salt melted away.<BR>
just foam<BR>

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foam and diy live rock.i think its hard to tell the differance, what do u guys think?<BR>

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and the other side<BR>