my 200 to 500gal upgrade.....help needed..

[troylee]

well after a break for the week end.... i hit it hard again today and got all my material cut out, and the first of 4 d.i.y. lumenarcs done.....

 

[Lightsluvr]

Going where no man has gone before...

Going where no man has gone before...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15165199#post15165199 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by troylee
Hopefully it works as good as they say... I will find out in a couple weeks...

I'll let you pave the way...let me know if the overflows are quiet and surge-free...

I'll have to make three of them along with that "emergency" fourth one...

LL

 

[KEEPERZ]

trim that goat up Lee-=)- the DIY reflectors should work great for you, it would be nice to hem the bottom edge if possible on the last 3- looks raw in the pic or am I wrong?

 

[troylee]

There hemmed up buddy......I have got plenty of cuts and scrapes from raw edges.....plus its nice to have the extra strength since I used a real thin metal.....its a polished stainless coated over brass, called chem metal you prolly know what it is but its really thin .028 its a little less than .032 aluminum....

 

[troylee]

Oh I see what your talking about....ya the pieces on the flat aren't broke up yet...lol...but they will be all hemed... tomorrow I am rhino lining the stand and hope to get more done on the reflectors.....

 

[troylee]

ok the lumenarcs are done the frame is rhino lined and the power/breaker box is wired and ready for install......my darn labeler ran out so not all the switches and plugs are labeled but they will be please forgive me.....lol.....i got five 20amp gfi plugs all wired ind. with a switch to kill each one and a master switch that will kill all 5 if your wandering why there is 6 switches and 5 plugs........
QUICK RECAPP......
diy tank
diy sump
diy stand
diy rhino line on stand...
diy lumenarcs
diy breaker box.....
all thats left is the wood for the frame and canopy but thats later after shes up and running.....

 

[46bfinGA]

Looks great Man!!! I will suggest adding another cord into your Electrical distribution box and spread some of the electrical load onto another circuit if you have one available... Having two or three circuits will pay off in the end. Trust me....

 

[46bfinGA]

Ohh yeah, what material did you use on the stand? DIY Rhino Lining?? You mean Herculiner or something or actual Rhino Lining?

 

[troylee]

Ya I used the hercaliner....auto zone special lol....ya after I posted the pics of the electrical box and got a little feed back I think I will......I think the master switch I will swap out with a double pole switch and run 2 circuts in case the breaker blows at the panel it won't shut the whole tank off......

 

[troylee]

im only gonna run 3 mh to start since i dont really have alot of corals i could fit everything under one if i wanted to, but here is my diy ballast box which contains 3 magnatek m58 ballast.... i wired all them together with cooling fans and such in a single diy aluminum box......the box also has a plug socket on one end for the fans up in the canopy on the mh's....with this box comes out a single pig tail so i can plug the entire set up into a single timer....and has all quick disconnects for the lamps...it works great and really kicks with the xm20k's i run according sanjay's graphs almost as good as the ice cap ballast....i know there old school but they were free.....

 

[troylee]

ok here is my current display im gonna be draining next friday or sat. at the latest to fill the new monster.........so anyone got any suggestions on making the move????it's only next door lol.....the new tank will be about 50ft from my current one lol......but it's a new house.....the new system will hold about 450 gal at running capacity....my current display and sumps are about 200gal....and i got 120gal of fresh seawater already made in the garage....the new tank will have all new substrate in it.....SO HOW MUCH WATER DO I TAKE FROM MY CURRENT DISPLAY AND ADD TO THE NEW tank????....

 

[troylee]

well the sump is pretty much done besides baffeling off a refugium...not sure yet how big to make it....still researching.......
anywho here are some pics....i got the fan rack made it is completly removable if need be....it houses 2 dayton 110v 239cfm fans should cool the tank like a champ.. the reactors are not done yet just there for refrence....and the dart is in place just need to drill for the bulkhead which im waiting on...arr..... tank should start going together tomorrow if the rest of my plumbing shows up.... waiting on the tank jets for the return i cant set it up till they come hopefully today!!!!!!!p.s. if your wandering what the 3 pieces of plastic on the walls are in the first bay of the sump it's where my drawers used to sit, i took them out and changed plans from the intial set up in the beg. of the thread...

 

[troylee]

ok sump is done besides drilling for the 2" bulkhead on the dart.....
the first pic is the 30gal refugium i put inside the sump it is raised up 1" above the sump level so the only thing feeding it will be my skimmer drain at 600 to 800gph....there is a a half baffle in the fuge to keep the chateo on the left side so the rest i can use a frag rack or what ever i need... enjoy!!!.....
second pic is a horizontal baffle that my skimmer drain will fall on creating the water in the fuge to run recirc and make the chateo spin for better growth...
the third pic. is the probe holder.....
the fourth pic is some removable arms i made to my fuge light over the fuge......they just lift off for easy acsess...
and the last couple are full shots of the sump from different angles....

 

[troylee]

well im still at work and got a call from the wife screaming that i spent more money on my fish tank lol..means my plumbing must have showed up....the sump is done and ready to be loaded first thing in the morning. tomorrow night or early sat. morning is time to fill her up!!!!!!

 

[troylee]

my plumbing did arrive .........got the tank drilled and put all 1.5" tank jets in and made the manifold across the back for the return........all thats left is put it on the stand and plumb it to the sump.... hey look it even has saltwater in all ready lol.........

 

[leslie hempel]

very neat build indeed..

 

[FuzzyZipperbaum]

So it will only take me 15 years of fabricating to be able to build all that stuff? Hmm. quit my job today.... find a job in the next 3 months.... all custom tank in 183 months!

Water change.... you may get different opinions on this but the move will put everything in shock. I would move 85% of the current water but be ready to do a bunch of small water changes over the next few weeks...

 

[troylee]

thanks guys.hopefully tonight she sees water...if not tomorrow for sure....as for 15yrs exp. nah...i have only been building fish stuff for like 8 months..like they say a pic is worth a thousand words.....i just read, and read and look at pics. all day and then go for it!!!!take a little from everywhere and make my own....

 

[troylee]

well the plan changed on where the tank was gonna go........it's rite in front of a window which kinda sucks but the black ground should take care of any problems...and the acrylic is 1" thick so the temp. wont change.....good part is now i can open the window and go outside and service the overflow real easy. here are a few pics
#1 the home for the tank
#2 the dart blasting out the three 1.5" tank jets...
#3 and getting the cycle going.........
back to work more later..

 

[troylee]

ok here are some pics from the move till now.......i just set all the stuff in the tank to busy to aquascape rite now im still not done moving..... but enjoy....i will give more info about everything later.....also running my old light fixture untill i get the canopy done for this one.....

added the sand...

starting the cycle.running a cannister with a bunch of carbon untill i get the reactors online.....

all my corals is a 40 gal sump untill the tank was ready.

the old tank.....what a mess.

the old tank cleaned........