Geeks DYI 29G tank build

[geekengineer]

Ok well I hope this will be better this got a bit more complicated than I should have made it. lol

Then I should have compensated for the flow I needed for the fuge so I have to get a bigger pump but I probably need one for a QT or for mixing more saltwater I suppose anyways..

I need to get shorter socks.. lol I wonder how much 52 costs bulk discount?

Have to work on the HOB silencer of course. Temporary fix is working great who thing is working pretty quiet just some motor and water sounds that aren't too bad.

I appreciate the feedback but I want to do my best to have some boundaries with what I feel comfortable with or not. Of course you can tell me you told me so if I fails lol. oh well..

 

[geekengineer]

Ok so some more experiments.. I tried a few different things. The main one here I was thinking about something that would be narrow so it would at least leave a natural background but not use up too much space. etc. I just put up a bunch of small rocks and then fill with foam for instance. I just trying to get how it will look in my head I suppose. lol I don't want to waist the rock yet.

 

[WerezMiePie]

I wonder if any one has tried making a mold then filling it...? Like using one of those machines that plastic objects at the store.

 

[geekengineer]

lol yeah wouldn't that be nice. hehe.. I not sure I guess you have to have something to start with you like. I suppose you could take a bunch of corals and make a plaster mold with them then fill it with foam. I not sure how you keep it from floating tho. have to really silicon backing to the glass or add some sort of reef safe weighting to it. Lead probably doesn't work. hehe..

 

[geekengineer]

Well this is with the plexi backer experiment in blue. I like the color I don't know how it going to look with reef light and all the rock etc. I sort of like the idea of being able to change it out if I want to go with a different color. The plexiglas really latches on to the glass so far I almost wouldn't need tape. I leave the painted side out so its just the unpainted side touching the glass and I think its the static charge holding it together.

 

[geekengineer]

Planning on doing something like this too. It looks like a good idea for anyone with single pipe return system (maybe small one that get clogged easy) or me with siphon overflow.. Got an IR sensor ordered from ebay only had one left I could find that came with the digital IF board.. I like to see how they are doing it first before I order more of just the sensors. I debating on ordering a digital one from digikey but lot more expensive.

http://hackaday.com/2011/04/15/aquarium-overflow-sensor-saves-your-fish-and-your-floors/

 

[kinnadian]

Hmm why not try using foam + coral rubble? You could build it very thin and still have some unique shapes, just build it up into a few nooks and crannies etc, building layer on layer.

 

[geekengineer]

Lol, I not sure if that was what I was trying to do with the foam and things got confused, cause I thought you didn't think that was a good idea. Maybe you thought I was trying to do big rocks and thin rock wall idea was ok.

I really not totally sure what I want and I suppose that is part of my problem I sort of experimenting with different things. It does seem like all the fancy tanks don't do back walls, but they do a darker back color so maybe I should change it to black or dark blue.

 

[kinnadian]

Yeah you don't see many tanks with a rock back wall.

Black, if kept clean, makes all of the colors in your tank pop a lot more and also adds a sort of deeper depth to the tank.

Most people let it get covered in coraline or other algae in which case it is only hiding your wires and pipes.

 

[geekengineer]

Well. I going to try to put my further build stuff in this thread cause things sort of got forked unintentionally.. lol. So i bought some fiberglass rod I don't know if that work for support and be reef safe? but it was rod for marking at lowes? I take the labels off of course. It was cheap so what the heck.

I also working on painting the back panel a darker blue that I had for the inside of the sump I see how that looks for curiosity. I can do a black panel when I have more time.

So anyways I got tricky and actually got these to stick together no glue hehe..

 

[geekengineer]

Well finally got some more rock!!!

So this is my first crack at it.. I hate to start messing again till I get some feed back cause I like how this arch worked out but not sure if look good or not..

Look mom no glue.. :rollface:

 

[kinnadian]

Looks really good.

It also looks really unstable, while you put it together now with no putty I would definitely look to get it epoxy putty'd before you put it in your tank.

All it will take is a truck driving past and the thing will collapse and kill your coral with it.

 

[geekengineer]

LOL.. Yeah I would glue it or something. I just put it together without it so I could change it if I want. I might tweak it a bit but the general idea is there.

So do you think I can do this I got some acrylic rod but it seem like it might be a waist to try to drill and put it through the whole thing. Would it be possible just to drill out a few inches of hole on each end of each rock and take a piece of the rod and use maybe some gorilla glue and stick it together. Then maybe use reef epoxy to further stick them together as needed or add little chunks to hide the connections? I hope that makes sense.

 

[geekengineer]

Well I hope this isn't honorably bad cause I couldn't figure out how to put my rock back together the same way twice and I just winged it as I went. lol. I lucky I got it back together at all. I blew a whole stick of aquarium epoxy on screw up as it was and had to rip some of it apart and start over cause it didn't stick right on part of it. So I pretty much out of epoxy now and couldn't find anymore of the aquarium stuff.

I guess been pointed out I can use JB water weld also I just didn't want to take the chance on something I wasn't sure about but I'm so close and I don't need too much more just want to shore up the arch to make sure it doesn't fall over etc. I just hope it works OK. I thought folks said it was OK to use gorilla glue so I was planing on using that to put small pieces to hide the epoxy.

 

[geekengineer]

:headwally: Ah crap.. I noticed my sound board experiment failed it was turning into goo. I was hoping the paint would protect it, but didn't work. ( OK I know you told me so...) Now I getting some plywood for the back to fix that.. I just worried its going to be louder now.. Maybe I could use sound foam. :/

 

[geekengineer]

OK.. So stand mess hopefully better now looking at a few things I could tweak maybe tomorrow with the plumbing cause I gave myself a bit more room in the back with a thinner board anyways..

 

[geekengineer]

Ok so I couldn't stop the urge to re-plumb the output stage once again after the partial rip up on the stand. The guy at the LFS said that 45 degree angles would be better for flow on the pump. I also needed to add a port for extras for later. Don't know if it really makes a big difference but it can't hurt and the things weren't quite right with the back wall further back anyhow.

Then the rock is hopefully going ok. I shored up the arch with small rocks so it won't fall over but it can be moved out if need be.

 

[geekengineer]

I also thought I sneak a pic of my 10 gallon tank in here I just bought a new button coral. I put it up there on top of the rock.

 

[geekengineer]

Finally got the water filled again for a test and I seem to never be able to clean that sand stuff out enough its still pretty cloudy. I figure some of that is to be expected. I just letting it clear out with freshwater and my filter sock for now then I not sure what I do next. I not sure if I should go ahead and get ATO and some dosing stuff going first before I go any further with stocking the tank or not.

I'm very happy so far with the Tunze pump it seems very quiet and I'm not sure if its even quieter than the Sicce I bought which was smaller.

 

[geekengineer]

All seems to be working OK so far I got some silicone tubing to put on the return pump outlet cause I thought that might give a bit more noise reduction so it wouldn't vibe the output plumbing as much. Seemed like it help some I also put some foam on the bracket mounting that that helped also.

I got some of the control system going using doyboy's controller.. Its probably overkill for a small tank, but its the fun part for me at the moment that I like and it make it so I can leave it for a bit unattended for a while if I need to and less maintenance issues I hope.