cherubfish pair
New member
Very detailed diagram, it must have taken awhile. 
looky looky what i found in granny's cabinet
- Thread starter NanoReefWanabe
- Start date
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
hehe...i started my tank over two years ago as noted on the first post of this thread...broke it and got a new one many months ago...i dont think i stole the idea...perhaps you saw my original thread two years ago and stole the idea from me...
as for ABS...most of your submersible pump casings are ABS..i have no worries..if it does present a problem i will just change the plumbing for PVC...
i am not worried about blocking any light the LEDS will be above the tank about a foot and over the centre of the tank and the overflow pipe is to teh backside, i figured it would look far cleaner to not have any wires or plumbing sticking out of tank so it can basically be viewed from 360* (well closer to 350)
the head pressure on this tank will be just over 2' so i should have plenty of flow, i hope...if not i have a plan to hide a power head too.
i too was thinking about ordering 60 or 80* optics...unfortunately for these leds they are only available in 4,16,25*, not sure the crees optics will fit on them..
lol it took me longer to paste this response together, only about 5-10 minutes to get the drawing done..
That is going to look so awesome once it's up an running!! Can't wait to see it wet.
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
me neither...hopefully i can get the stand built this weekend, if not they are calling for a lot of rain next week...should be two fold can wet test the tank and build the stand..
cherubfish pair
New member
I might have missed it, where did you get a vase like that?
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
i got it at Home Sense....not sure if you guys have them down there or not...i sometimes see them at Winners too..
cherubfish pair
New member
Not around here anyway. What's the dimensions?
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
12" diameter 14" tall
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
finally an update...
finally an update...
well finally got a chance to get the stand built...i havent skinned it yet...still have to go pick up the ply for that....just going to use G1S fir or poplar, not sure it is going to be painted anyway...top and shelf are 3/4" G1S fir, legs and framing are finger jointed 2x2 everything is screwed and glued..
the stand measures 17-9/16 as it stands square and 25-1/2" tall, when finished the overalls will be 18" square plus trim thickness and 26" tall...
from the front:
from the side:
front again with the return line roughed in..:
and here is the armature i have made to hold my LED array...it is 1/2" aluminum pipe that i had to thread the ends of and a piece of 1.25" bar that i cut and drilled and tapped to accept the 1/2" rod...i will be fishing the wires up the inside of the pipe it is only three small 12V wires so it souldnt be too bad...there is close to 3/8" inside the pipe..
side view of it...the short end of it will attach to the LED's the other to the stand...the short side will be cut to length once i figure out what i am using to hold the LED's in place
the threading i did by hand:
and the hollow end of it:
so all that is left is a little bit of plywood skinning, a little bit of plumbing and t should be up and running, the trim work is going to be very plain as can be seen in the original sketch...both the sump and the display passed the wet test today...pretty excited about that...was having a real pain getting the bulkhead to seat nicely...finally i siliconed it in place and loosely tightened it, allowed the silicon to cure then i pulled the bulkhead out cleaned it up a bit and reinstalled it...nice tight custom gasket...
finally an update...
well finally got a chance to get the stand built...i havent skinned it yet...still have to go pick up the ply for that....just going to use G1S fir or poplar, not sure it is going to be painted anyway...top and shelf are 3/4" G1S fir, legs and framing are finger jointed 2x2 everything is screwed and glued..
the stand measures 17-9/16 as it stands square and 25-1/2" tall, when finished the overalls will be 18" square plus trim thickness and 26" tall...
from the front:
from the side:
front again with the return line roughed in..:
and here is the armature i have made to hold my LED array...it is 1/2" aluminum pipe that i had to thread the ends of and a piece of 1.25" bar that i cut and drilled and tapped to accept the 1/2" rod...i will be fishing the wires up the inside of the pipe it is only three small 12V wires so it souldnt be too bad...there is close to 3/8" inside the pipe..
side view of it...the short end of it will attach to the LED's the other to the stand...the short side will be cut to length once i figure out what i am using to hold the LED's in place
the threading i did by hand:
and the hollow end of it:
so all that is left is a little bit of plywood skinning, a little bit of plumbing and t should be up and running, the trim work is going to be very plain as can be seen in the original sketch...both the sump and the display passed the wet test today...pretty excited about that...was having a real pain getting the bulkhead to seat nicely...finally i siliconed it in place and loosely tightened it, allowed the silicon to cure then i pulled the bulkhead out cleaned it up a bit and reinstalled it...nice tight custom gasket...
Last edited:
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
okay got the plywood on today...no camera to take pics though...wifey gone for the weekend...took the camera with her...ended up using G1S fir 1/4", all i have left is the trim and a door...only problem is i dont have any router bits to properly make the door...gonna have to fudge it...hopefully i dont lose an eye or finger(s)
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
Update
Update
so here's where it is at now:
got the trimming and plywood all done now, just need to build the door and paint it all...then figure out what i am going to do for wires...now that it is skinned it is a lot smaller in there then i was hoping...
was pretty nerve wracking drilling the hole in the marble...but it is done and everything sits nice and flat now...not sure if i am going to put some sort of trim around the bottom of the tank and glue it to the marble or not...i am a little worried about little ones pulling the tank off...i will see what i can come up with for that...for now it will be that sticky rubber stuff you put under a floor mat or in your tool box, to hold it in place. excuse the frosty tank...it is pretty dang cold out, and this is all being kept in the garage...only inside for the glue to dry...then back out she goes...
Update
so here's where it is at now:
got the trimming and plywood all done now, just need to build the door and paint it all...then figure out what i am going to do for wires...now that it is skinned it is a lot smaller in there then i was hoping...
was pretty nerve wracking drilling the hole in the marble...but it is done and everything sits nice and flat now...not sure if i am going to put some sort of trim around the bottom of the tank and glue it to the marble or not...i am a little worried about little ones pulling the tank off...i will see what i can come up with for that...for now it will be that sticky rubber stuff you put under a floor mat or in your tool box, to hold it in place. excuse the frosty tank...it is pretty dang cold out, and this is all being kept in the garage...only inside for the glue to dry...then back out she goes...
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
thankyou...
LOL it has been a very long time coming, i cant wait to see something in it either..stocking is still up in the air, was thinking seahorses, but that seems like too much work now...likely going with a couple sexy shrimp or pompom crabs (or both) possibly a citron goby, not sure about doing fish though..i am also thinking a bunch of interesting macros, and now thinking i will only do a zoa garden for coral and possibly some purple/blue cespularia. but i might throw in the the odd SPS too...
i should be able to get it all primed with KILZ 2 tomorrow..
pretty sure the outside is gonna be painted a black brown colour, if not just black, and the inside will just be left white with semigloss trim paint..
copy away Aaron
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
two coats of Kilz2...
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
yeah at this point seeing how this tank is turning out i am kinda glad i broke my 3G cookie jar tank..
ouch good and sad to know...those little fellas are super perty...dammit
thanks a lot...LOL back the stocking drawing board then...maybe just the pompoms and small goby then...maybe a cleaner shrimp then...i really like the flashes of colour...
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
some more stuff done...
some more stuff done...
so today i had a chance to tinker with the electrical portion of the build...
here's what i started with:
and here's how it ended, after another trip to the store to get better wire..
2 circuits, 8 outlets all individually switched
and i also got the light put together, got myself a 6" PVC cap to use as the enclosure....here it is assembled with the armature..
and with all the guts put in...there is a fan mounted under the heatsinking too...and the POT is sticking out the side for easy adjustments..i had to cut 1" SCH80 PVC pipe in half then into little chunks and cook it in the oven so i could flatten it out to thicken the walls of the cap for all the hardware mounting ...i am really starting to think the 1/2" aluminum pipe isnt going to be thick enough to hold the light, i may get a piece of black iron (gas pipe) and bend it instead..
some more stuff done...
so today i had a chance to tinker with the electrical portion of the build...
here's what i started with:
and here's how it ended, after another trip to the store to get better wire..
2 circuits, 8 outlets all individually switched
and i also got the light put together, got myself a 6" PVC cap to use as the enclosure....here it is assembled with the armature..
and with all the guts put in...there is a fan mounted under the heatsinking too...and the POT is sticking out the side for easy adjustments..i had to cut 1" SCH80 PVC pipe in half then into little chunks and cook it in the oven so i could flatten it out to thicken the walls of the cap for all the hardware mounting ...i am really starting to think the 1/2" aluminum pipe isnt going to be thick enough to hold the light, i may get a piece of black iron (gas pipe) and bend it instead..
