der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Plumbing: check.
Electrical: check.
Making RO/DI as fast as my little 75gpd unit can manage: check.
Electrical: check.
Making RO/DI as fast as my little 75gpd unit can manage: check.
Mountains of sawdust (360g plywood, LED, Arduino build)
- Thread starter der_wille_zur_macht
- Start date
randomworker
New member
And for everything else in this hobby, there's Mastercard. :lolspin:
fstar25
Getting there
DIYnitemare
New member
still looking great
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Unfortunately progress is going to be slow for a while. What began as an innocent little home improvement project (fix the condensation problem in the attic) has blossomed into a major renovation (new roof, siding, and windows, new front porch, re-frame half the garage). I spent ~22 hours on my roof this past weekend and this morning I can barely push my mouse around the desk.
Will you at least be able to save yourself some money by doing all of the renovations yourself?
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Some of it myself, and the rest by contractors I'm related to. Doing some of it myself is good for the cost-savings, but it's hard work for someone like me who's used to sitting at a desk all day. :lol: It's just unfortunate from the time perspective. Sure, it's August now, but we want to get these changes all buttoned up before the snow flies, which isn't THAT far off. Plus, the house will look great when this is all done.
I may still "finish" the tank and fill it with water soon, but then just let it sit for a few months more or less empty and on auto pilot. Call it a super long cycle.
I may still "finish" the tank and fill it with water soon, but then just let it sit for a few months more or less empty and on auto pilot. Call it a super long cycle.
Notihng wrong with a super long cycle. Toss a few hermits in there to entertain the kiddies.
Sorry to hear about the house renovations. Been there, done that. Why is it that a seemingly straight forward home improvement project ends up being a huge ordeal?
Sorry to hear about the house renovations. Been there, done that. Why is it that a seemingly straight forward home improvement project ends up being a huge ordeal?
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
I must say it is very difficult to convey the scale of a tank this size in a photograph on a forum. For reference, it's currently holding about as much water as my last system (the 125g) did when it was full.
And of course the rockwork is impossible to photograph well - I shot about a dozen photos but none of them showed it off well.
In between working my job plus about 30 hours a week on the house, I've managed to do the following since I last posted:
-Finished plumbing, correct leaks. Lemme just say that everybody should triple check all their plumbing. I had four leaks - three of them were due to bulkheads or unions not being tight (d'oh!) The fourth was a legitimate leak on a glued joint that I had to repair. To do that, I had to drain about 4 inches of water our of the tank yesterday after I'd already started filling. I used a 1/2" hose to siphon the water out - 4" took nearly half an hour! I think I described the plumbing already, but I left three 1" valves with unions on the return line to make use of extra flow.
-Finished electrical. I went with three 15a circuits: One in the basement, one in the outside end of the stand, and one in the overflow end of the stand. All three got GFCI and conventional outlets. The basement circuit also got a GFCI outlet on a switch for the mixing pump in the water mixing station, so I can just flick it on and off instead of having to plug/unplug it.
-Finished drywall. I ALMOST posted shots of the drywall before it was finished but I'm both OCD about drywall finishing and bad at it, so I'm never happy enough to share photos at that stage.
-Built a little protected shelf up above the tank in the "nook" at the overflow end. You can see this in the photo above. This shelf will be for electronics that I want close to the top of the tank but not exposed to the humid environment up there (LED drivers, etc.) I will put a fan and a vent on the shelf such that it's always seeing fresh air from outside the stand and supplying it's exhaust into the space above the tank. There will be more vents at the opposite end of the tank to let the hot moist air back into the room. Plus, the doors (not built yet) will essentially be "breathable" so that will aid in ventilation.
I still have a lot of work to finish it, but it should be livestock-ready within the next week. It will be going up with temporary lighting until the work on the house is done, at which point I'll have the time to finish the LED build and install it. But the temporary lighting will be plenty to get the liverock seeded and keep the tank going for a month or two.
And yes it's just primed right now, the finish paint is waiting until we can repaint the livingroom at the same time so it'll all match. And instead of trying to blend into the existing sand texture on the ceiling, I'm just going to put crown molding up, hence the unfinished joint up there.
And of course the rockwork is impossible to photograph well - I shot about a dozen photos but none of them showed it off well.
In between working my job plus about 30 hours a week on the house, I've managed to do the following since I last posted:
-Finished plumbing, correct leaks. Lemme just say that everybody should triple check all their plumbing. I had four leaks - three of them were due to bulkheads or unions not being tight (d'oh!) The fourth was a legitimate leak on a glued joint that I had to repair. To do that, I had to drain about 4 inches of water our of the tank yesterday after I'd already started filling. I used a 1/2" hose to siphon the water out - 4" took nearly half an hour! I think I described the plumbing already, but I left three 1" valves with unions on the return line to make use of extra flow.
-Finished electrical. I went with three 15a circuits: One in the basement, one in the outside end of the stand, and one in the overflow end of the stand. All three got GFCI and conventional outlets. The basement circuit also got a GFCI outlet on a switch for the mixing pump in the water mixing station, so I can just flick it on and off instead of having to plug/unplug it.
-Finished drywall. I ALMOST posted shots of the drywall before it was finished but I'm both OCD about drywall finishing and bad at it, so I'm never happy enough to share photos at that stage.
-Built a little protected shelf up above the tank in the "nook" at the overflow end. You can see this in the photo above. This shelf will be for electronics that I want close to the top of the tank but not exposed to the humid environment up there (LED drivers, etc.) I will put a fan and a vent on the shelf such that it's always seeing fresh air from outside the stand and supplying it's exhaust into the space above the tank. There will be more vents at the opposite end of the tank to let the hot moist air back into the room. Plus, the doors (not built yet) will essentially be "breathable" so that will aid in ventilation.
I still have a lot of work to finish it, but it should be livestock-ready within the next week. It will be going up with temporary lighting until the work on the house is done, at which point I'll have the time to finish the LED build and install it. But the temporary lighting will be plenty to get the liverock seeded and keep the tank going for a month or two.
And yes it's just primed right now, the finish paint is waiting until we can repaint the livingroom at the same time so it'll all match. And instead of trying to blend into the existing sand texture on the ceiling, I'm just going to put crown molding up, hence the unfinished joint up there.
TheFishMan65
New member
Looks great, can't wait to see more pictures!
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Thanks.
I took at least a dozen other shots but I'm really struggling to photograph this thing effectively - it's too big for my camera's field of view, and since it's only partially full right now, you get all sorts of weird interference/reflections at the air/water boundary.
So I guess what I'm saying is that you'll all just have to come on over and see it in person.
I took at least a dozen other shots but I'm really struggling to photograph this thing effectively - it's too big for my camera's field of view, and since it's only partially full right now, you get all sorts of weird interference/reflections at the air/water boundary.
So I guess what I'm saying is that you'll all just have to come on over and see it in person.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Access underneath is great. The stand is tall enough that I can practically crawl into the stand above the sump. Access above - well, it's a wide tank, high off the ground. The top of the glass on the main viewing panel is right at my eye level. Without a step ladder or chair there pretty much isn't access other than for simple things like feeding. Though, I really am not bothered by this - it's worth it for the height, and I can keep a folded step ladder in the closet right behind the aquarium. I had to do this for my 125g which was a tallish tank on a tallish stand, so I'm used to it.
On the top step of a standard 3' stepladder I can basically lean my torso on the rim of the tank and reach almost to the other side. As far as reaching down, I can BARELY reach to the bottom near the middle. I'm really going to need long gloves and/or a "grabber" of some sort to do most tasks in the water. Plus a mask and snorkel so I can see what I'm doing. Honestly though, I'm going to try and take a "hands off" approach to this tank - put the livestock in and let nature rule. I'd rather watch corals battle for territory than spend time fiddling.
I made the doors above the tank full height - right up to the ceiling - to keep it easy to work on lighting or other things I rig above the tank.
On the top step of a standard 3' stepladder I can basically lean my torso on the rim of the tank and reach almost to the other side. As far as reaching down, I can BARELY reach to the bottom near the middle. I'm really going to need long gloves and/or a "grabber" of some sort to do most tasks in the water. Plus a mask and snorkel so I can see what I'm doing.
Honestly though, I'm going to try and take a "hands off" approach to this tank - put the livestock in and let nature rule. I'd rather watch corals battle for territory than spend time fiddling.I made the doors above the tank full height - right up to the ceiling - to keep it easy to work on lighting or other things I rig above the tank.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
looks great. For size/scale reference- is that your fridge on the right side of the photo?
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Thanks for the nice comments, folks.
Yep, that's the fridge, and it's a big fridge. I'll try to put a prop in the next photo to help capture the sense of scale.
Nope, not a 50 gallon. :lol:
Yep, that's the fridge, and it's a big fridge. I'll try to put a prop in the next photo to help capture the sense of scale.
Nope, not a 50 gallon. :lol:
