gary faulkner
New member
Good luck, looking forward to seeing it up and running.
Kelley's 37 gal system. from the start
- Thread starter kelley_mc
- Start date
kelley_mc
Active member
I got some work done today... I mounted the Sunpod, built the jump guard, mounted the lower light, lower fan and the power station with an acrylic splash guard.
Here is a full front image:
Here is a close up of the top of the tank:
Here is an full image from the rear:
And finally a closeup of the rear top of the tank:
Next I am onto making my bank of fans to keep the hood cooler and then I guess onto getting the plumbing figured out.
Here is a full front image:
Here is a close up of the top of the tank:
Here is an full image from the rear:
And finally a closeup of the rear top of the tank:
Next I am onto making my bank of fans to keep the hood cooler and then I guess onto getting the plumbing figured out.
IndoorOcean
Premium Member
Nice to finally see some updates on this build. 
Things are looking good!
Things are looking good!
kelley_mc
Active member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11393088#post11393088 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IndoorOcean
Nice to finally see some updates on this build.
Yeah, it's been a while....
But now that I am indoors, I am working away and trying to get it done. No more long breaks. 
Rustylugnuts
Powdered Toast Man
Great build kelley_mc! Threads like these provide a lot of encouragement for me to finish my 40g (which is taking forever on a students budget). Your posts have helped my planning a lot ( especially re the calfo style overflow). After winter break its on to baffle the sump, skin the canopy, and tackle the plumbing (the 39w T-5's look pretty ghetto hangin over the edges of the lid on my 29).
Rustylugnuts
Powdered Toast Man
I got pieces of the build (literally after tryin to drill what turned out to be a tempered back pane) on my homepage. Need to make a few updates.
kelley_mc
Active member
Not too much work today, I did get my hood fans installed. Here is an image:
They are nice and quiet and move a lot of air. I pointed them both in to move the colder air into the hood. The other reason I did this was to blow any salt spray away from the fans instead of into them. I used a Radio Shack universal adapter with adjustable voltage. I can adjust the speed of the fans very easily just by sliding the adjustment tab.
The other cool thing I did was added a wiring breakaway so I can disconnect the wire and remove the jump guard without any tools.
They are nice and quiet and move a lot of air. I pointed them both in to move the colder air into the hood. The other reason I did this was to blow any salt spray away from the fans instead of into them. I used a Radio Shack universal adapter with adjustable voltage. I can adjust the speed of the fans very easily just by sliding the adjustment tab.
The other cool thing I did was added a wiring breakaway so I can disconnect the wire and remove the jump guard without any tools.
kelley_mc
Active member
I wanted to note that I painted the inside of the hood and stand with 2 coats of heavy primer and then a coat of Rustoleum Epoxy Appliance paint. It dries to a very hard and smooth finish. I think this is a great choice because the paint is washable and durable. I also sealed the bottom of my stand with silicon. That way, if I have any leaks or water spills, it will just sit in the bottom of the stand for me to clean up. This won't prevent a flood, but with spills the water can't seep under the stand.
kelley_mc
Active member
Tank is full of water and I am wet testing it. It's been running for a couple days and so far I am OK with it. I would like it quieter so I am still playing with the drain plumbing to try to get it just right... I'm still hoping to have it done for the New Year's weekend but unless I get this plumbing figured out it may be after. 
Besides the plumbing, I only have small projects left on the tank like installing doors, moving the sump light (it's in the way of the skimmer), final gluing of the pvc drain pipes and installing the back cover of the tank. I'm getting there and I look forward to getting it stocked.
Besides the plumbing, I only have small projects left on the tank like installing doors, moving the sump light (it's in the way of the skimmer), final gluing of the pvc drain pipes and installing the back cover of the tank. I'm getting there and I look forward to getting it stocked.
kelley_mc
Active member
Success!!!! I used a similiar method to what Herbie used here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=344892.
Here is what I did:
First I turned one of the elbows in the overflow box up and the other I left down.
Next I put a ball valve on the drain tube with the elbow that is facing down.
Finally, I adjusted the water level using the ball valve so the water drains down the plumbing with the elbow facing down.
I also blocked the air hole on the durso on the back of the tank so no air was entering the system.
Viola! All the water drains out one drain and it is DEAD silent. I am amazed at how quiet this is. My HOB filter on my freshwater tank makes more noise than this.
The beauty of this system is that if the water level raised up for some reason, the other drain kicks in and prevents the system from flooding. I have some more final testing to do but WOW and I impressed. You can see in this image (kind of) that water is only flowing down one of the drains.
Here is what I did:
First I turned one of the elbows in the overflow box up and the other I left down.
Next I put a ball valve on the drain tube with the elbow that is facing down.
Finally, I adjusted the water level using the ball valve so the water drains down the plumbing with the elbow facing down.
I also blocked the air hole on the durso on the back of the tank so no air was entering the system.
Viola! All the water drains out one drain and it is DEAD silent. I am amazed at how quiet this is. My HOB filter on my freshwater tank makes more noise than this.
The beauty of this system is that if the water level raised up for some reason, the other drain kicks in and prevents the system from flooding. I have some more final testing to do but WOW and I impressed. You can see in this image (kind of) that water is only flowing down one of the drains.
kelley_mc
Active member
Not much work so far this weekend. I did complete the removal of the old cross support of my tank and replaced it with acrylic. Here is an image of the completed job:
All I did was cut the acrylic to the correct size on my table saw and drilled the correct sized holes for my nylon bolts. I broke the first piece I tried to make because the drill caught on the way out the other side. The second time around, I started with a smaller bit then changed to the correct size. I think this worked much better. Also, use very little pressure when drilled.
All I did was cut the acrylic to the correct size on my table saw and drilled the correct sized holes for my nylon bolts. I broke the first piece I tried to make because the drill caught on the way out the other side. The second time around, I started with a smaller bit then changed to the correct size. I think this worked much better. Also, use very little pressure when drilled.
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