Ivan's terribly slow 225 build

Does the bottom trim go under the tank similar to plastic trim or is it just around the outside?

Building my stand and need to know if the tank needs to be supported at the edges or completely supported underneath. I assume completely supported, but I wanted to verify.
 
gear*guru said:
Does the bottom trim go under the tank similar to plastic trim or is it just around the outside?

Building my stand and need to know if the tank needs to be supported at the edges or completely supported underneath. I assume completely supported, but I wanted to verify.
Click to expand...

The trim goes underneath. When I talked with them, they recommended a flat top on the stand and the support pad. That seems counter-intuitive to me. I would think that only the trim would need to be supported, but they are the manufacturer, so I plan to do what they suggest.

-Ivan
 
OK, small update. Things are moving along, but there isn't much to show. I moved a light fixture to a different portion of the room since it was directly in the center of the new wall I'm going to build (go figure). I also installed the exhaust fan, which will exhaust the air into the living area. I would really prefer to send the moist air outside, but this portion of my basement is below grade so that was going to be difficult and ultimately didn't seem to be worth it. I have 6 recessed lights along one of the walls in the basement. One of those will be in the fish room, so I split it from the others, moved it to a different circuit, and added a switch (which will be a motion sensor at some point in the future). I love those things. The females in my house can't seem to understand that light switches go up AND down, so I've been installing them everywhere. When I finished the basement, I used 12-2 wire knowing that some day I might want to switch to 20A outlets. Well today is that day, so I switched the outlets over to 20A, changed the breaker, and added a GFI outlet. The 20A circuit will only be for the tank, the lights, exhaust fan, and an outlet in the ceiling are on a separate circuit. Tonight I painted the back of the tank black and painted 3 sides and bottom of the sump white.

QUESTION: How many outlets (if any) should I install in the sump area of the stand and/or over the tank? Any particular locations for these outlets?

-Ivan
 
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So, the tank is finally in place. I'm still considering a couple of different options for the final touches, and figured it would be easier to visualize everything with the tank in place. One thing I've been considering is placing blinds above the visible panes. They would be motorized and hooked to the Apex. That way, they would automatically go down when the lights go out and come up when the lights come on. We frequently walk through the basement and the lights are constantly going on and off. The blinds should cut down on the number of times the fish are startled, which happens frequently in my current tank. The stand is pretty high, so the blinds should be noticeable to most people, but I would lose ~4" above the tank, which would hurt accessibility from the front. I'm still debating on this, any opinions would be appreciated.

-Ivan

rgKGLzk.jpg
 
I'm almost done with the wiring (need one more piece for the exhaust fan/humidistat), with the exception of outlets that will be installed above the tank and in the sump area. Nothing picture worthy to show, but I thought I would share some lessons learned for all of you DIYers out there.

  1. No matter how much wire you buy, you will always be 1 foot short and have to go back to the hardware store.
  2. When you cut through a live wire, your favorite wire cutters become your favorite wire strippers.:bigeyes:
  3. Sometimes the way your grandfather taught you is wrong and there is a better way to do things.
  4. Sometimes your grandfather was right and if you don't do it his way, you have to do it twice.
  5. There is no way to guess when your grandfather was right/wrong, so you will do everything twice.
  6. Friends don't return tools after borrowing them. By the time you need them, you can't remember who borrowed them.
  7. The frame from a BRS screen top can be used to fish wire through an existing wall. They make a tool for that, but apparently it's popular with my friends.
  8. Don't argue with your wife right before she goes on a shopping trip with her friends.
  9. My garbage man won't pick up a garbage bag 1/2 full of drywall scraps because they are "construction material" but will pick up an unlimited number of 2x4 scraps.

-Ivan
 
frankabagnale said:
Let's see what you did over the weekend!
Click to expand...

Mostly I chauffeured my kids around and helped my oldest with a science fair project. However, I did make a little progress on the framing of the walls.

YzJX07i.jpg


I also cleaned the glass inside and out and wrapped it in cling wrap. Hopefully, the cling wrap will keep most of the construction dust out of the tank. At this point cleaning the glass served no real purpose, but it made the tank look nice and got me even more excited to see this thing completed. I stood there looking into the tank at my imaginary reef for a few minutes. I'm glad my family didn't catch me, that would have been tough to explain.

I'm not done with the top framing yet. I plan to put in one or two access panels so that I can reach the front of the tank. I was planning to do this anyway, but cleaning the glass confirmed that without some sort of front access I won't be reaching the front of the tank without getting wet. Once I figure out how I want to configure the access and how big the doors will be, I'll finish the framing and the electrical above the tank.

I've decided against the powered blinds. I think they would be really cool, but I just can't justify the expense. There are a lot of other things I'd rather buy. If I change my mind in the future, it won't be that hard to redo the walls and add them in. With that option off the table, I have to figure out how I'm going to finish everything. I don't want any of the tank frame to be visible. I'm also not a fan of the picture frame look, so I don't plan to put trim around it. No offense to anyone who has a tank finished like that, it's just not the look for me. Right now, I'm thinking of putting tile down on the lower sections and finishing the upper portion with drywall and a J-channel. I'm not really sold on this idea though, especially the plain drywall above the tank. I just think it will look a little too plain. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. The post on the left side of the tank will be covered in drywall.

Tonight I painted the inside of the stand with a high gloss white interior/exterior paint. I need to paint it before I finish the electrical in the stand. I'll give it another coat or two tomorrow. I'm still not sure how many outlets I'll need in the sump area. The current plan is to have 5 - 2 on each end near the front, 2 on each end near the back, and one in the middle. Combined with an Apex EB8 or two, I think this should be enough. Any opinions??

Finally, I've been watching the readings on my humidistat. It consistently reads between 50-55%, which seems high to me. I have no way to know if it is reading accurately. I suppose it is possible that at some time along it's path to my door (slapped together in a factory, shipped across the Pacific, shipped to a warehouse somewhere, and then shipped to me in Pennsylvania) proper calibration was lost :D. But, I'm not sure that I care. Does it really matter if it consistently reads 50-55% or 20-25% or 80-85%? What seems to be important to me is that the fish room isn't significantly more humid than the rest of my house. Since I'll be exhausting air into my basement and pulling fresh air in from a different part of the basement, the only thing that is important is the relative difference between the two rooms. This assumes three things:

1) I'm not having humidity issues now (I'm not. In fact we have discussed adding a humidifier to the HVAC system to combat static electricity from the dry air in the winter.).
2) The extra humidity added by the tank won't be enough to cause issues in the house. If it does, we will need to add a dehumidifier somewhere and/or pull fresh air in from the outside (assuming it is less humid than the air in the house).
3) The humidistat reads changes in humidity accurately even if it is significantly off on the overall magnitude value.

Am I missing something here? Does it really matter if the humidistat reading is off by 10 or 20 percent, as long as it reads changes in humidity accurately? Based on my line of thinking, I'm planning to have the exhaust fan come on at 60% humidity and turn off at 55%. Any thoughts on these settings?

BLhFraM.jpg


-Ivan
 
For the size of the front access panels, figure that you will want enough room to get your arms, shoulders and head in and out easily without whacking anything unnecessarily. Figure about 24".

For the finish, you probably don't want anything that will detract or distract from the tank. Plain drywall isn't so bad.

For the humidity, you had better plan on venting both above and below the tank (sump) directly out of the house. That's how much humidity it will generate. If you keep all of that moisture in the house, especially in the basement, expect progressive issues with rust and mold. Look at other recent build threads in this forum to see how others are dealing with this high source of humidity issue in their homes.

Dave.M
 
dave.m said:
For the size of the front access panels, figure that you will want enough room to get your arms, shoulders and head in and out easily without whacking anything unnecessarily. Figure about 24".

For the finish, you probably don't want anything that will detract or distract from the tank. Plain drywall isn't so bad.

For the humidity, you had better plan on venting both above and below the tank (sump) directly out of the house. That's how much humidity it will generate. If you keep all of that moisture in the house, especially in the basement, expect progressive issues with rust and mold. Look at other recent build threads in this forum to see how others are dealing with this high source of humidity issue in their homes.

Dave.M
Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestions. 24" won't be enough to get my big head and shoulders through, so I'll probably go with something a little bigger.

I'm aware of the issues humidity can cause, but won't be able to vent directly outside from the tank area. If necessary, I'll add a dehumidifier or an outside vent in a different part of the basement.

Is there a good way to check the calibration/accuracy of a humidistat?

Thanks,
Ivan
 
I don't know how you would test it except to have more than one humidistat to measure against each other. I'm not sure accuracy is necessary, as long as you can find a suitable position to manage your situation.

Dave.M
 
Not sure if this will help, but to calibrate a Hydrometer for a cigar humidor, we place it in an airtight container with a small dish containing salt moistened with DI H2O. The humidity should stabilize at 70%.

It's been a while, so before you believe me, you should verify by google.
 
IvanTheTerrible said:
I'm almost done with the wiring (need one more piece for the exhaust fan/humidistat), with the exception of outlets that will be installed above the tank and in the sump area. Nothing picture worthy to show, but I thought I would share some lessons learned for all of you DIYers out there.

  1. No matter how much wire you buy, you will always be 1 foot short and have to go back to the hardware store.
  2. When you cut through a live wire, your favorite wire cutters become your favorite wire strippers.:bigeyes:
  3. Sometimes the way your grandfather taught you is wrong and there is a better way to do things.
  4. Sometimes your grandfather was right and if you don't do it his way, you have to do it twice.
  5. There is no way to guess when your grandfather was right/wrong, so you will do everything twice.
  6. Friends don't return tools after borrowing them. By the time you need them, you can't remember who borrowed them.
  7. The frame from a BRS screen top can be used to fish wire through an existing wall. They make a tool for that, but apparently it's popular with my friends.
  8. Don't argue with your wife right before she goes on a shopping trip with her friends.
  9. My garbage man won't pick up a garbage bag 1/2 full of drywall scraps because they are "construction material" but will pick up an unlimited number of 2x4 scraps.

-Ivan
Click to expand...

Isn't that the truth!! I just put mine in a black bag now, sometimes if it's real heavy it gets two bags :lolspin:
 
oldbones said:
Not sure if this will help, but to calibrate a Hydrometer for a cigar humidor, we place it in an airtight container with a small dish containing salt moistened with DI H2O. The humidity should stabilize at 70%.

It's been a while, so before you believe me, you should verify by google.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I found a few sites that said 75% after ~6 hours with the salt solution. I guess I should have tried Google first. I'll have to give it a try.

-Ivan
 
OK, update time. It's been a busy week/weekend. First, I wired the outlets inside the stand.

vchkdo5.jpg


v5zPLDD.jpg


You can never have too many outlets.

I also put up the drywall where my RODI system used to be. I have a couple of small pieces to put yet, but the hard part is done.

NuxRhwk.jpg


Q5SLkeM.jpg


Unfortunately, I didn't take the floor paint quite far enough in one spot.

R2kSL5R.jpg


It's in the small triangular area on the right side of the tank (when looking from the front). No one will ever see it, even if they are in the fish room, but I'll know it is there. Most of it will be covered by the baseboard, but I don't think it will cover all of it.

I decided to use tile to trim around the tank. My wife and I are going to pick it out tile in the next couple of days. I'm a little colorblind, so I usually have her help when it comes to picking colors. Once we get the tile picked out and I know the actual thickness, I can finish framing the walls.

Ivan
 
Small update. Things are continuing to progress slowly. Friday is my normal water change day and I was out of RODI and saltwater. So, since I had to make about 30 gallons of product water I sent the waste water into the tank instead of sending it down the drain.

XxH5sqS.jpg


This allowed me to do a final check to make sure everything is level. I had to make a couple of very minor adjustments, and everything looks perfect now.

Since I had the camera handy, I took a shot down the length of the tank. I thought the bubbles looked cool in a geeky Star Wars kind of way. :strooper:

8DsUA3d.jpg


I also finished most of the framing and sat the door in place. I'll install it permanently tomorrow.

KAubkPK.jpg


I'm really excited that I finally have all of the walls in place. I didn't frame above the tank yet, because I'm still debating on what to do there. A guy I know started a company that sells blinds, so the powered blind option is back on the table.

Now that the walls are up, I can install the ceiling, finish the drywall, paint, and start moving things into the fish room (and get my basement back!!!). I recently finished up an online course I was taking, so I may actually have more time to work on the room. Events for my kids are also starting, so that may be more dream than reality.

I ordered the tile that will go along the front of the tank. It's back-ordered until May, but that won't be a problem.

-Ivan
 
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