My 220 reef (take 2)

N

nylogger

New member
This is my second attempt at a large reef build. Last year I was amoung those that got screwed by Aquariums For You when they took the money and ran. I was lucky enough to have VISA return most of the money I had paid. After taking time to re-group and research a new builder I decided to make a couple changes and go with My Reef Creations. I just recently placed my order and will now patiently wait for my tank and sump while I prepare the stand, QT, and gather supplies. Here is what I have so far.

Tank: Acrylic 72"x30"x26, 3/4" thick. It will have a 48" external overflow w 3 drains. A closed loop powered by a Hammerhead pump and distributed by (2) OM 4 ways.

Protein Skimmer is the Reef Flo 250

Lights: Giesemann fixture w (3) 250 watt MH and T5 combo

Rock: Approx 250 pounds of Marco Rocks that will be seeded by another 50 pounds or so of live rock.

I am in the process of building a stand and have found the rough work is easy, its the skins that are tough!

Here is my first question. I would like to build a hood that could be hoisted mechanically, so I can get in there and do whatever. I need to find a small electric AC motor that can like 50 -75 lbs vertically. This motor needs to be slow, relatively quiet and reliable. Basically I am creating a small winch, any ideas?

My plan is once the take and sump arrive and I get the plumbing done, I will aquascape and cure the rock in the tank. Since this is a start up, and I have time on my side, I thought it easier to build my structures dry ahead of time. My fear being a falling rock scratching the tank.

I welcome any thoughts or questions anyone may have. Thanks in advance.
 
Re: My 220 reef (take 2)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14183129#post14183129 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nylogger




Here is my first question. I would like to build a hood that could be hoisted mechanically, so I can get in there and do whatever. I need to find a small electric AC motor that can like 50 -75 lbs vertically. This motor needs to be slow, relatively quiet and reliable. Basically I am creating a small winch, any ideas?

. [/B]
Click to expand...
here some info on a hood lift

aztb's 180g "all-built" thread
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1480817


good luck
 
I am setting up a hood just using pulleys and wire rope. The weight will not be a factor due the gear effect of the pulley, it should be cheap, easy and effect.

It will have 3 positions ie normal clear of tank for work etc. on both sides.
 
Wire rope and pulleys and something as simple as a loop and a cleat mounted to the wall is what my plan started with. I just thought it would be kind of cool to have it controlled by a toggle switch if possible. I spent a couple hours last night looking into that and the best "product" I found is a winch that runs off 12 volt meant to pull a small boat onto a trailer. Now if I could find a used one or just the motor I would be in business. To buy it new would cost about 150 (or 2 dead fish) :p.

I did see a thread last year where the top rose up on those actuators (I think thats what they are called) The shocks that hold your hood up?

Let me know how you make out and I will do the same.
 
Heard from My Reef Creations today, my tank has been assembled! Time for me to get moving on the dozens of little projects I need to do around the house!
 
http://www.firgelliauto.com/
Click to expand...

I recently received an a 250 lb., 24 inch stroke actuator from this site along with the wiring kit and momentary switch. Everything was packaged great; however, the first actuator had a significant dent in it. I emailed the company and they sent me a second actuator within a week. I was very please with the customer service.

After receiving the new actuator a couple weeks ago, I had a guy build a DC power supply at work and I wired it all up to test it and to see how loud it is. It runs fairly quite, just the hum of the motor which is a little louder than an old electric razor and makes a similar sound. The actuator goes pretty slow... takes about 25-30 seconds to raise it the full 24". This is a pretty economical way to have an automated hood lift. It could be used to simply lift the canopy on some heavy duty rail guides or you could attatch it the pulley system if you wanted to go that route. I would say the whole thing is going to cost me slightly under 200.00 for the heavy duty actuator and all components that I need.
 
zlwags85: I was looking into it last night; my first thought was to have it lift the entire hood vertically sort of like the tv lift they show on the website. But with the hood being made of wood roughly 6' x 3' plus the weight of the light fixture, I think I would have a catastrophic failure waiting to happen (too much weight, too far forward. But if I were to rig the hood as if to be suspended by wire, attach one maybe two pulleys, I could use a 24" actuactor to raise it. I am not too concerned with rate of ascent or noise (within reason), seeing this is mainly for maintenence. This project definately falls into the "frills" catagory and will have to take a backseat the the main part of the build, but I do believe it will happen!
 
I've had a couple buddies with engineering and physics degrees look at it for me and they believe the torque created by the hood won't be a problem with proper guide rails mounted to the studs. If it was simply anchored to drywall, I would agree. My hood is 96" X 30" and aproximately 14" tall and is solid oak. I plan on only using the atuator to begin with and if there are problems I might add a coupld of springs to the corners to help hold the weight. I will hopefully have my basement done and begin working on this portion of my project in the next month or so. I will let you know how it goes if I remember.... I'm sure it will be on my build thread when I really start posting on it.
 
I'll have to build a crash test for that one! I believe the actuator can handle it, I think the wall can, its the canopy its self that is at a major disadvantage. I couple gas shocks coming down from the ceiling to the front corners could releive alot of that weight.
 
Well, today the tank and sump arrived! Only had 2 slight problems with the condition of the tank. 1) The pallet was in really bad condition, 2 of the support joists were rotted, one broken so the driver and I pretty much re-built the skid on the truck. I found out later that My Reef Creations will try to "recycle" pallets to keep costs down. While I don't want to pay more than I have too, an extra hundred bucks to protect a 3K product may be well worth it.

2) the sump and tank are missing one hole I asked for. So, I am going to drill it myself. If anyone can give a bit of experienced backed advice I would appreciate it.

Over-all I am happy with the product and will find a couple volunteers to help me bring it in the house.
 
I'll work on getting a couple pics up soon. The tank has made it onto the stand. I am still finishing the skins and acquiring parts to start plumbing.

Are there any special tricks to glueing spa-flex? I noticed how tight it fits and wondered if it would be difficult to seat it, before the glue sets.
 
As I posted earlier, the sump I had built by MRC came with out a 2" BH I requested for the return pump. Shipping it back is not an option, so i am left with the question "to drill or not to drill". I have never drilled acrylic and a little leary of just taking a swag at it. Any ideas?
 
I have never drilled or worked with acrylic either; however, everything I have read makes it sound pretty easy with the right tools. It might be worth a few dollars to pick up a small sheet of acrylic to practice on if you are uncomfortable giving your first attempt to your sump. Just a thought. There are plenty of good resources online and even in the DIY forum. Best of luck!
 
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