Mountains of sawdust (360g plywood, LED, Arduino build)

[dublo8]

nice build. Cant wait to see more of it. I'm intriqued by these "woody" tanks. As far as sound deadening is concerned, I used left over automotive sound deadener mat, such as dynamat in my tank stand. worked like a charm. I put a peice of this on one of my buddy's external pumps and it literally killed 95% of the humm he was getting from the pump. I think he almost cried when i did that for him. You can also get some of the el cheapo spray in type deadener from an automotive store. Also, vehicle undercoat works well and so does bedliner type spray material. :beer:

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Here's my noise insulation plan so far:

1) Swap the open frame fabric doors on the stand for plywood covered in fabric (should give the same appearance, but much quieter.)
2) Re-plumb the return pump. Currently, there is nothing but a 2" TUBV between the pump and the sump, and I get the feeling this is where 90% of the sound is coming from - the sump is acting like a loudspeaker for the pump noise. If I put my head right next to the pump, it's very quiet. if I put my head down in the sump (picture that), it's much louder. I'm planning on replacing the TUBV with a short length of soft hose. Yes, I know people will yell and scream about not having a TUBV on the pump's intake, but I'll have the same functionality - stick a plug in the bulkhead and undo the hose and the pump comes out.
3) Add better sound-deadening to the pump "stands." I'm planning on building a small plywood box and filling it with sand (for density).

If that doesn't work, I'll try some of that dynamat material, applied strategically. That's the sorta stuff I was talking about above when I mentioned extreme prices. A license-plate sized piece is like eight bucks. Ten square feet is like $25 - $30. If I were to cover the whole inside of the stand area with that stuff, the cost would be pretty stupid - the stand would then have more money in it than the tank does.

 

[stugray]

Check out mcmaster carr. Search for "sound proofing"

and you will find a ton of stuff like:Acoustical Foam Absorbers & Flexible Egg-Carton Polyurethane.

How many square feet do you need? I have a roll at home.
It even has adhesive on one side.

Stu

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Stu, will send you a PM. I have a few other questions.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Well I think my insulation attempts worked very well. Over the weekend I put solid doors on the sump area (just 1/2" plywood for now, to "test" the impact) and replaced the TUBV on the return pump with a short rubber coupling. It's certainly not DEAD silent, but unless you're close to the tank and there's no noise in the house, you can no longer hear it.

And the solid doors did a good job of thermal insulation, too. I haven't had them on long enough to notice a difference in heater duty cycle, but the air in the sump area is noticeably warmer than the air in the house - when you open the doors you can feel a difference of a few degrees.

I think I said this on the last page but the "temporary" lights for the ATS are now finished and in place, too. Just have to plumb it in, but first I need to get my hands on some of that plastic mesh people use for growing screens. . .

 

[digitalchrisg]

I wish I had your problem, I am constantly trying to figure out how I can get my temps down without moving to a chiller. It will be another two months before my heaters are even put back in. I am in Florida though, so I guess that makes a world of difference. Next summer I may have to break down and go the chiller route.

Great build!

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Besides the differences in environment, my "problem" is at least partially due to "energy density" on the tank - when fully loaded, this tank will have about the same energy consumption as the 125g that used to sit in this spot.

Though even that tank didn't need a chiller - I was able to cool it effectively with ventilation and air movement, despite the 400w MH lamps it had.

 

[XSiVE]

Dwzm; there is something that Drummerreef used underneath his return pump that I think you might want to look into. I believe it was called "horse mat"?? Probably similar to dynamat but it's sold at places like Grainger for covering the floors of horse trailers.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Weird, I thought I replied to your post but it's not here. Glitch in the matrix I guess.

I'll have to check that stuff out, thanks for the tip.

Unrelated - starting to think about a stock list. Thinking in very generic terms right now, i.e. identifying "niches" I want to fill. Then I'll try to work out a list of potential species for each niche, and then slowly fill the tank (I'm not one of those "order 2 dozen fish the instant the tank is ready" people).

I'm going to try for captive bred fish where possible, but that will only fulfill a small number of the niches I'm after. I'm also interested in having a suitable mix of both "flashy" fish and fish with a more subdued beauty. In other words, I will purposefully select "drab" fish. I want this to look like a natural reef, not a showy display of clowns or a tank full of "popular" fish.

Also, out of a matter of principle, I'm not going to buy any fad-induced fish, i.e. weird artificial clown variants or the latest "I'm the only one who has one" angel or butterfly.

I'm also planning on keeping the overall stock list relatively short! I'm trying to stock this like a 180 or 240.

Here's my tentative list:

• Three to five large fast-moving fish. Ctenochaetus or Zebramosa tangs, Xanthichthys triggers, Genicanthus angels, and so on. These will be the "centerpieces" to add color and movement in the water column.
• At least one pair of a peaceful species of clowns. Probably cinnamon.
• A suitable number of small, plain-looking schooling (or at least "can exist in a large group") fish, i.e. Apogon cardinals. These will be to add movement without being as in-your-face as the big fish.
• A suitable number of varied small "up in the water column but sticks near the rocks" fish to add movement and color in a more subtle manner closer to the rocks. Haven't really picked out anything for this niche yet. Maybe pajama cardinals, basslets, and things like that - to stick with the "can be captive bred" theme.
• A small number of "fish you'll never see again in such a big tank." i.e. shrimp gobies, blennies, and so on - fish that hide in caves. Fish I'll only see once or twice a month in a tank this big. I want surprises from time to time.

Also starting to theorize the coral stock list, though of course that's at least several months off at this point. I can tell you one thing - this won't be an Acropora dominated reef.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Oh and last night I had the real camera out so I took a photo of one of my favorite features. The water level is maybe 1/4" above the bottom edge of the eurobrace, so the bottom surface of the brace is essentially (barely) underwater. So if you nestle up close to the viewing panels and look straight up, you can see the bottom of the brace.

I doubt anyone remembers, but I chose to not use any dye in the epoxy when I coated the bottom of the brace, so the wood shows through:

It's a nice little hidden feature reminding me what they tank is made of.

 

[kcress]

Glad that was covered in clear.. I was thinking, OH NO!!!

 

[username in use]

Hey dwiz, I know it will be months down the line, but when you get ready for some height and movement, I have a great photosynthetic gorgonian that it would be my pleasure to frag for you and mail up your way. I just really love your build and your theories and would love to contribute, especially since it won't be a acro dominated tank.

This is an old photo, its way bigger now. Its also much more tan in person than the photo, but very pretty in its movement. Anyways, love the build, and I am really excited to see this tank progress, and couldn't agree more with your stocking ideas. :thumbsup:

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

[*]A suitable number of varied small "up in the water column but sticks near the rocks" fish to add movement and color in a more subtle manner closer to the rocks. Haven't really picked out anything for this niche yet. Maybe pajama cardinals, basslets, and things like that - to stick with the "can be captive bred" theme.

How about a few chalk bass? Those little guys are hghly underrated IMO. Their colors are beautiful - the blue really pops.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Glad that was covered in clear.. I was thinking, OH NO!!!

:lol:

Hey dwiz, I know it will be months down the line, but when you get ready for some height and movement, I have a great photosynthetic gorgonian that it would be my pleasure to frag for you and mail up your way.

I appreciate the offer. I'm a big fan of gorgs.

How about a few chalk bass? Those little guys are hghly underrated IMO. Their colors are beautiful - the blue really pops.

Wow, that's a fish I've never paid attention to before. It looks really pretty and appears to be reasonbly priced. I'll have to do some research.

 

[Taqpol]

I LOVE my trio of chalk bass! They are great fish and I think a pair of them are even displaying breeding behaviors in my tank.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I LOVE my trio of chalk bass! They are great fish and I think a pair of them are even displaying breeding behaviors in my tank.

Ok, I'm sold. I love fish that do good in groups or multiples, and fish that can be captive bred or at least exhibit breeding behavior line up well with my goals.

How do they do with your other livestock? Ever find them to bother smaller fish or eat shrimp?

 

[Beaun]

Ok, I'm sold. I love fish that do good in groups or multiples, and fish that can be captive bred or at least exhibit breeding behavior line up well with my goals.

How do they do with your other livestock? Ever find them to bother smaller fish or eat shrimp?

Here is my chalk bass pair, they are simultaneous hermaphrodites so if you have two, you have a pair. From what I have read people have had issues keep groups of them in smaller tanks. It might be worth trying a small group in anything over 300 gallons though. They get along fine with everything in the tank. The one i had was the top dog in the tank till I added my C. argi dwarf angel. So I would put them on the very low end of semi aggressive. They never look twice at anything I have; goby, possum wrassse, oc. clowns, blenny, lemon meringue wrasse, argi angel...it never really showed much aggression to the smaller chalk bass after I added it much later. After about a day or two of "chasing" when they got too close they are now always side by side.

According to MOFIB no one has raised any chalk bass, probably because they are so cheap at wholesale. Might be worth trying if you have any experience with easier fish. Aparently this should be one of the easier pelagic spawners to raise.

They are easy to keep fat and eat anything and everything.

 

[Taqpol]

Every once in awhile the male (I assume) of the pair chases the other male around the tank, but they have never come close to hurting each other. Even with that, all three of them tend to stick right next to each other which in my tank means they shoal better then Anthias... I've kept them with a few small fish and inverts: watchman goby, tailspot blenny, cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, and I've never once seen a chalk bass even harass any of the above mentioned creatures. I have heard that if they are to go after shrimp its normally the really small ones like sexy shrimp.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

That is a really beautiful photo. Thanks for the info everyone, and the initial mention from Sugar, this fish is definitely on my list in a small group.

Now, someone please suggest equally appealing fish for my other niches. :lol:

In other news, the mailperson just delivered a box full of snails and hermits.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Beautiful!!