. . . da RC Artsy-Cube project - - - Picture Intense

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12421886#post12421886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cerreta
I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you suggesting a lid for the sump that fits over that region like a lid on a toilet bowl? A one piece lid with a 1/2" curved edge downward on all four sides? The tank kinda looks like that too, Maybe I should put a flusher handle on the side, to represent all the money I flushed into this tank. hehehehehehe!

In that picture, you can see the cut edge when the two parts are bonded. The vertical piece should be solid, with the horizontal piece butting into the back of the front piece. The cut edge would be facing up rather than front. The light you are using won't hide the entire cover, so I would prefer to do it that way.

Or make it out of one piece that you bend with a propane torch. Don't leave the flame in one spot nor overheat it by rushing the task. Just run the flame across the material where the bend will be, then run it across the back. Do this over and over and over until it gets hot enough to bend. If you heat it up quickly, it will bubble and ruin the surface, so take your time and make multiple passes. You could practice with clear acrylic since it is cheaper. Once it is nice and flexible, you could make the bend over a nice sharp edge. Don't force it - if it needs a little more heat, apply it on the side away from the bend because that is the side that is resisting (too cool to give adequately). Once you have the shape you like, hold it carefully and either wait or run it under cool water. Hold it because it will try to contract as it cools, which you can fix with more heat if necessary.

 

[cerreta]

The tank is now at work with water in it. . . woohoo :thumbsup:

I'm not sure about the sand. It is sugar-fine and seems to be getting blown all over the place. Does anyone sell coarser black sand.

I was tempted to hijack some black sand from a beach on the Big Island of Hawaii a few weeks back, but that would have cost much more than $20 if I got caught. That black volcanic beach was very cool indeed!


Here are some photos:


Tank is resting on a filing cabinet with the edge hanging off the back side.

Looks like a turd. Some of the foam continued oozing today. This is the result from pressing out all the air pockets last night during application.

The Solana Orb fixture is very cool looking. Not to mention that LUX output is nearly twice that of a PFO mini pendant. I was considering upgrading to a 250 watt setup, but with this pendant there is no reason. In the future I will upgrade the other tank with a better pendant.

Mounting of the power bar and Solana

Sand is in the tank. It is a sugar-fine grain and this worries me. It might get blown all over the place.

Top view

 

[cerreta]

Sump section

Tank is full of water and very cloudy indeed.

I swaped out that crappy 14K lamp that came with the Solana and replaced it with a Phoenix 14K. This lamp is amazing!

Side view

 

[cerreta]

. . . da Artsy-Cylinder Stand


The top and bottom plates are boxes: 14x14x5 inches.

The Top Box will receive all electrical from the tank by a hole in the back of the box. A black ABS elbow and pipe will seamlessly join the bulkhead from the sump to the Top Box. A 6¡¨ hole on the bottom of the Top Box will permit electrical wires to pass into the Center Half Cylinder.

The Bottom Box will have a hole in the back for a single power cord to run to an AC outlet. A 3¡¨ hole in the top of the Bottom Box will allow the one cord to pass into the Center Half Cylinder.

The Center Half Cylinder will be an 8¡¨ metal pipe halfed longitudinally. It will be aprox 24¡¨ long. It will be welded to the Top and Bottom Boxes. Several metal shelves will be welded into the Half Cylinder. The back of each shelf will have a 2¡¨ semi-circle cut into the shelf. This permits electrical wiring to run through the cylinder and keeps everything nice a tidy.

The Rolling Half Cylinder Door (this is the magical artsy piece!!!) will be a 10¡¨ metal pipe halfed longitudinally. It will be aprox 24¡¨ long. It will be welded to a bearing at the Top and Bottom Box. This bearing is a 12¡¨ bearing plate that can be welded to two surfaces, the Box and the Rolling Door. The bearing is shaped like a ring and fits around the 8¡¨ fixed Center Half Cylinder. This bearing is frequently used for building swivel TV stands and a Lazy Susan. So if you can image these devices, this is the bearing I will use. The Rolling Door will be able to roll 360 degrees unobstructed. This is the reason why the Top and Bottom Boxes are necessary. These keep all wiring inside the stand so that the Rolling Door can spin freely.

So, when I need to access some fish food, I just roll the door open, grab what I need and roll it shut when done. Æ'º

Adding to the Artsy theme, I continue to incorporate vertical lines and square shapes with the boxes offset with a round cylinder in the center. Of course this will all be black and I will likely not have a handle on the Rolling Door. However, if I choose to use one, it will be a brushed aluminum ball handle mounted dead center in the Rolling Door.

 

[melev]

It looks really nice. For some reason, I thought the front plate was removable and part of the top piece.

How will you seed the sand to get the bacteria started? Place some LR in there temporarily? Cycle it with dead shrimp?

 

[cerreta]

This is the link to view the sketchup model of the stand. Hope it works.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=396b33d7be760f806e8a10e5095f9ab6

 

[cerreta]

Oh nope. The front piece is siliconed to the sump pieces. The lid is just a rectangle.

I have some Probidio Bio Tim and Bio Digest. I seeded with that tonight. I will probably do a 6 week regime of the stuff and then back off.

 

[cerreta]

In the sketchup model, it is the best I could do, so it is certainly not perfect. The Green section is the Rolling Front Door. The shelves are pink. I cut the top of the Top Box off so you can see into the cylinder.

 

[McCrary]

Dude, I'm not a big fan of the black sand, maybe try some aragonite, the seafloor grade stuff is good and shouldn't move as much. I also think that it will help balance pH, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Egres]

you could maybe but some live rock in the sump!!!

nice looking tank cant wait for the coral to be in there!!!

 

[cerreta]

Good idea Egres, I might do that.

Well Matt, the test will be this morning when I go to work, hopefully the cloudiness will be gone. If not, then I might have to replace that sand.
Cheers

 

[melev]

Scott, as far as I know, any cloudiness will go away over time as bacteria takes hold. I don't think the color of the sand is the factor, unless you have some very odd media in there.

LR makes the cloudiness go away sooner. If you were setting it up with 1lb of LR per gallon, it would be clear in about 12 hours or so. Wihtout LR, it'll take longer as the sand gets 'heavy' with bacteria and the skimmer (you do have a skimmer right?) pulls out the floating particulates.

 

[cerreta]

No skimmer. I have room to add one in the future, but i would prefer to rely on water changes.

The cloudiness I am concerned with is from sand granules free-floating in the water column. That is precisely what I saw this am. The water is as clear as one could expect, but I have several issue.

That foam is separating from the back wall, so that worries me.

The black sand is a sugar-fine consistency and has been shifted all over te tank. You can see grains flying through the water column with new particles being lifted off the floor.

So I bought a coarse grain black sand today. We shall see how that fares. However, I am concerned with the foam. When I drain the tank tonight, I may squeeze some black silicone back there. This wil lput me out of commission for 24 hours to allow the silicone to dry.

Cheers

 

[McCrary]

Every good tank has its set backs and this one doesn't seem to be the exception. Hopefully the new sand will eliminate the particles flying everywhere.

 

[melev]

I'm surprised the foam is separating. Your idea that pressing out the air would create a better bond made sense to me.

New sand blows around. That is unavaoidable. It takes time for the tank to build up enough bacteria to hold it down. This isn't really something you can rush.

 

[nanO352]

I can't wait to see this tank if full throttle!!!

 

[cerreta]

NanO, me either.

Thanks for the tip Marc. I still think the sand is just to fine for this flow. Matt has a white sugar sand and he blows his around every day. His tank is been up for over a year.

The weird thing with the foam is that it kept erupting. It may have been a bad can. I had huge troubles with dispensing it. I had to pull off the nozzle and jab the spout with a nail to get it to work. In only worked marginally after that. I have not had this problem before, but have heard of others that complained about the foam not dispensing.

I have some photos to share later with the foam problem. It continued to get worse by days end.

 

[cerreta]

Update:

The tank is totally empty again

The fine grain sand was every where. As you can see in the pictures, the flow is too mcuh, and I aonly had one power head running throug the night.

Marc, I do agree that things will settle after bacterial colonies are established. However, do you think this is a result of too much flow? and it got worse as the day went on.

Here is a picture from the front this morning.

The foam is begining to separate.

I bought coarse black sand today and planned to change it out, but that foam was driving me crazy. I decided to buy some black silicone and fix the upper peeled off portions to the glass.

After draining the tank, I inspected the foam and there were air pockets everywhere. I'm not sure why it is not sticking. So I pried a bit and the entire wall gave easily. Since I was going to silicone it anyways it would be out of commish for 24 hours anyhow, so I decided to just remove it for better inspection.

I'm glad I did. If I just siliconed the top, I would have regretted it in a few days when the bottom released and began to float.

On the back, you can see several volcanic eruptions where the foam continued to ooze towards teh back wall, thus pushing the rest of the cured foam further away.

 

[cerreta]

Back Wall without foam

I cut the eruptions away and the wall is flat again. You can see the foam cuttings at the top of the photo.

I applied silicone to the wall and stuck it back up to the tank. This should do the trick. Black duct tape (staying within the color scheme ) holds the foam in place.

I took this picture the other day because it looked cool, but this is eveidence to what has been happening behind the foam. This was a eruption that looks like a turd.

I think flatteneing the foam and sqeezing all the air pockets away had a detrimental effect. The foam should have been cured in 14 hours, but I think in this case it took longer because all the air was released and the foam was not finished expanding. I think the eruptions were the result.

Look a turd

I will put coarse sand and water back in the tank tomorrow after noon.
Cheers

 

[melev]

That could be it Scott. A lack of air slowed the cure time significantly. Perhaps it had to cure for a week instead of a day.

Heavier sand could help. It looks like the powerheads plus the diamond center upright are putting the flow into the front corners, thus the movement. If you can't adjust the way the powerheads point somewhat, I'm not sure that you can prevent it. The heavier sand may be more prone to stay in place.