DIY Rimless Starphire and Stainless Kiddy Pool (PICS!)

[liveforphysics]

This is the piviot for the frame which holds my lighting.

This is how the lights sit over the tank.

Here is how they rotate off to the side and out of the way.

When the lights are all the way over to the side, I can squeeze between the tank and the lights to give me access to this side of the tank.

My poor tank has "new tank syndrome" so badly right now that it breaks my heart to look inside. I had so many RTN'd skeletons after the move, I filled my fuge and Ca Reactor with them. This is the second time a move has hammered my SPS population...

 

[liveforphysics]

This is a shot from the side of the inlet for my VFD wave making closed loop. I wanted a large enough inlet area that sucking fish or animals into it would not be a concern. It's allready been tested by an RTBA who walked right across it while running and had no issues getting sucked against it.

When I finish the rockwork it will be better covered.

Shot from the top.

Shot from the side looking in.

It took quite a bit of tuning things, but I've got the tank to meet my noise goals of whisper quiet.

With the doors closed on the stand, you have to really listen hard to hear a gentle tinkle of water moving in the sump. The entire closed loop VFD wave system is entirely silent.

 

[liveforphysics]

Thank you for all the kind words and feedback!

If anyone has any questions or desires pictures of specific parts, let me know and I will take them.

Best Wishes to All,
-Luke

 

[sanosuke]

NIce setup? Where did you get the glass from?

 

[liveforphysics]

I called around to local glass shops. I quickly found that they all just ordered it pre-cut with ground and polished edge from the same wholesale shop, so I went with the cheapest shop. I paid something like $225 per long side, $150 for the front piece, and $70 for the back pannel to be cut from non-starphire glass.

The starphire was certianly worth it to me. After cleaning the glass, I actually bump my hand or face into it when I'm looking closely into the tank. It give the illusion the fish are floating in the living room I've never had the same feeling from my acrylic tanks.

Sadly, I put a pretty deep scratch into it while moving the tank down the steps outside... Can't just be polished out like acrylic could be Fortunately, if found it seems really difficult to scratch from normal tank related work.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Thank you for all of the info. You have done a wonderful job. I know I speak for others when I say that my small 75G display is starting to make me feel like I need to upgrade. Alas, I was lucky enough to be "allowed" to build thatinto the wall and do not see any chance of further upgrades.

 

[liveforphysics]

Thank you for the kind words BeanAnimal, it feels good to hear

 

[chwcdw]

Man, that is one amazing set up! I dont think the plumbing on the space shuttle is as complex!

I really dig the swing away canopy that you made for it. Mine is a really nice furniture grade piece of woodwork, but a royal PIA to work around.

Nice Job! I definitely have a case of tank envy!

 

[ReefingBuddha]

wow... nicely done.

 

[stugray]

How did you determine which "frame size" of baldor motor fits the Sequence wet head?

I see other 3 phase Baldor motors on ebay, but not the JM3458.

Would the VNM3538 motor fit? The VM shows a frame size of 56C while the JM is a 56J.

Bean?

Stu

 

[BeanAnimal]

Your looking at the NEMA frame sizes.

All 56 frame motors will have the same bolt pattern.

The suffix (in this case) refers to the shaft type:

56J is theaded 5/8" shaft
56C is keyed 5/8" shaft

56Y is square flanged motor

The smaller wet ends may be 48 frames. I suppose somebody from MDM could provide the details.

 

[Famous]

Seriously...That tank is awesome! Great Job. Cant wait for more updates!

 

[wolf pup]

Great Tank! - Shame you lost so much with the move - I really like the wide/shallow combination - It gives it a open ocean look rather than an "edge of a cliff" look.

 

[liveforphysics]

56J "pump motor" is what to look for. I bought mine from electricmotorwholesale.com for something under $300 if I remember correctly.

The pump conversion went really smoothly. Took about 15mins to swap motors, and everything lined up perfectly.

I'm actually going to be removing the internal fan on the back of the motor and replacing it with a small fan on a thermal switch blowing in the back of the motor when it gets warm.

I don't think I mentioned it, but when the tank enters night mode, I have the waves set to be only about 30% as powerful so the fish can stay in their little nooks/beds without so much struggling. The flowrate is really something that just needs to be seen to be believed.

 

[stugray]

Sorry to go on about the pump when there is so much to say about the rest of the tank....

Cant help it, I'm a gadget freak too....

Was the VFD the 100 or 200 watt version?

I have found all the parts to upgrade my CL just like yours, just trying to finalize the parts.

Stu

Thanks Bean too for the pump shaft clarification!

 

[kysard1]

A Varible Frequency Drive is a great idea for wave control. Care to share that circuit diagram?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Circuit diagram...

It is an off the shelf VFD that runs a 3-Phase motor from a Single-Phase source. It has control logic built in. Plug it into the wall and the pump into it. If the motor runs in reverse, flop any (2) leads and it will run the other direction.

There are dozens of manufacturers of such drives. The biggest problem is finding a 3-Phase pump duty motor that is smaller than 1/3HP (pretty darn large).

 

[kysard1]

You mean you didn't build it? . I kicked around the idea of building a PWM for my vortec. What mfg/model # is the VFD ?

I really think VFD's will become popular wave controllers in the next few years. You are leading the way.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

This is an incredible build, both technically and aesthetically.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Building a reliable and quite VFD is rather complicated. They also work best with 3-phase. Single phase motors can be speed controlled, but they tend to be problematic. 3-Phase motors have several sets of windings and that helps with speed control.