Lunchbucket's 48"x48"x20" Reef

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Hoods Came Today!!

Hoods Came Today!!

Look what showed up at my work!

hoods1.JPG


hoods2.JPG



AWESOME! One step closer. Pretty much need dry base rock 25-50lbs, sub panel, plumbing parts, salt, and a room for it. Getting closer :D

Only question I have is those hoods are 24" wide and the tank is 48" wide so two side by side will fit perfect. That means that the bulbs will sit at 12" in from each side. Is that optimum? The edges of the reflectors will be on the edges of the tank and will spread light past the tank. Wonder if I should place them both in the middle in a line front to back so they hit the middle of the tank or would it be better to go side by side.

I guess I just don't want to waste light or get too much on the acrylic for UV damage or heat on it. I will have fans running to get the heat away from the tank. I will have a decent sided fan sucking the hot air out of the reflectors.

I looked at Lowes for aluminum angle pieces to make a rack to mount my hoods and my 4 VHO's on. I saw 1/16" 1.5"x 8' for about 20bucks/stick. Should I get 1.5" wide o 1"? What did everyone else use? Any pics of your racks?

Lunchbucket
 
hey lunch I would have put a 3 baffle bubble trap at each end in your sump. Didn't seem like you designed in any bubble traps? Maybe with lower flow you wont need them? hoods look sweet! The bulbs sitting 12" in shouldn't pose a problem with the reflectors. What bulbs are you planning to put in them or did I miss that somewhere?
 
I'm thinking I might tip the reflectors to point towards the middle a little bit so that more light is centered and less spread out to the sides were I won't need it? Maybe just a thought.

I'll probably use 10ks and run 4 VHO actinics. I really like 20k's better but I think it might be better to run 10ks for colors and growth

Lunchbucket
 
I got bored w/ the NE and SD game so I went down and got the wild hair to do some CL plumbing! So here are some pics. All 1 1/2" even though the Sched 80 bulkheads are 1 1/4". Just used a 1 1/4" Male x slip 1 1/2" fitting.

I found out a bummer :( 5 of my bulkheads are 1 1/2" instead of 1 1/4" like I ordered. I emailed Savko last week and heard nothing so I called them Friday I hope they get me the 1 1/4"ers soon.

Before I started
start.JPG


Everything is only dry fit right now. Will glue when I finally set the tank in its resting place

Intake done!
intake.JPG


Here is the progress as far as I could go. Ran out of pipe and I ran out of bulkheads due to getting the wrong ones. The left side is all done
progress1.JPG


Closer look at the left
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More of a side angle on the left plumbing
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I'm wondering if I should use one short piece of Spa Flex in one of the connections on each pipe to help limit vibrations. Any thoughts?

Anything that I forgot about?

Lunchbucket
 
Yes, I would use Spaflex on all of those coming out of the OM device, as well as the part going into the pump.

Your Y connection isn't designed for this kind of plumbing, and really should be replaced with one that has the ability to slide PVC 1" to 1.5" into the fitting. Those Y's are designed for drainage rather than pressurized plumbing, and I'd hate to see it pull apart one day. Savko has the right one.

Just two more weeks, right? ("The Money Pit")
 
I was going to mention that most of the fittings look like drainage fittings and probably will not hold up tio the vibration. Because the pipe pieces are so short, I am not sure how much you will benefit from the spa-flex, but it wouldn't hurt to use it. Just make sure you have the real flexible PVC and not the blend.
 
Marc and jnarowe - When I grabbed all those fittings at Lowes I looked twice as they were below by the drainage stuff but that is all the fittings they had in 1.5". They carried very little in 1.5" stuff. I did a double take but they said PVC so I thought they would work. I guess they didn't say Sched 40. They seemed pretty shallow on the slip end, can't sink the pipe as deep in the fitting.

CRAP....so now I need to take all these fittings back. I thought that most people got their stuff from Lowes or HD? or did they grab different things?

Thanks
Lunchbucket
 
Many people do, but that doesn't mean they'll last too long. You might as well get the right ones from Savko instead, delivered to your door.
 
They do have 1.5" fittings and whatever you can't get you should be able to get from SAVKO, local plumbing supply, or even HD. The sched. 80 selection is better at Lowe's though. They have plenty of sched. 40 1.5" elbows, T's, etc. but probably not any sweeps like we see in your pics.
 
they run out of stock on a lot of odds and ends. I put a thread insert in a bulk head that didn't have as many threads as most of my fittings. When I pried the pipe I got a little leak. I had to drain the nano and get the right connector. It is sweet when you get most of what you need from Savko.
 
Well thanks for saving my butt. Surprised more people grab that stuff to.

jnarowe - I did see some 1.5" fittings on the other side by the "normal" sched 40 stuff. I'll grabe from there. Do they make a 90 sweep in sched 40 or will I have to use sharp 90's that change direction abruptly or use two 45's together?

Thanks
Lunchbucket
 
And if you use SpaFlex only, order it online as it is 50% cheaper. I paid $2.17 per foot at Home Depot, while a friend of mine got his for about $1 per foot from Savko.
 
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