Jens Kallmeyer
New member
HI
Finally I managed to get some work done on the tank. The bottom is now completely covered with concrete, the only things that were sticking out were the bulkheads for the closed loop system. My intention is to have a system without visible technical equipment. So the bulkheads had to go into hiding…..
I did not want to cover them with concrete directly, as this would have prevented me from access to the seal. Also the 45° elbows had to be fixed in a way that I can still turn them to adjust the direction of the flow. In the end I decided on a two-piece construction, with a removable donut-shaped cover for the bulkhead and concrete covered 45° elbow.
I covered the bulkhead with Clingfilm and put a rather stiff concrete mix around it. Small pieces of Ceramic were stuck into the sides. After the concrete was hardened I could remove the whole Donut and peel off the Clingfilm. The donut sits tighly around the bulkhead and can be removed if necessary.
The concrete does not stick to the PVC directly, therefore I glued small pieces of ceramic on the elbow first. After the glue had hardened the whole thing was covered in concrete.
Everything mounted together looks like this. I will try to grow some Xenias or Polyps around the whole unit.
Finally I could also do the final work on the overflow boxes. On the side of the filter Overflow, the ceramic back plate ends right below the screen, on the side of the closed look overflow the back plate is bent forward a bit. On this ledge I built a very open framework of smaller rocks, leaving lots of small channels for the water to go through but not allowing a direct sight of the 6” high overflow screen.
The pictures don’t show how open the structure is, but getting 5000 gal/h through it won’t be much of a problem.
Looking at closed loop overflow from the sofa it looks like this
When looking into the tank through the front panel, the large overflow screen can be seen through a few holes, but I can live with that. I may put some SPS corals there in the future.
The Parapan Panels for the cabinet have finally arrived, over Christmas I will try to get them fixed.
Merry Christmas to all of you
Jens
Finally I managed to get some work done on the tank. The bottom is now completely covered with concrete, the only things that were sticking out were the bulkheads for the closed loop system. My intention is to have a system without visible technical equipment. So the bulkheads had to go into hiding…..
I did not want to cover them with concrete directly, as this would have prevented me from access to the seal. Also the 45° elbows had to be fixed in a way that I can still turn them to adjust the direction of the flow. In the end I decided on a two-piece construction, with a removable donut-shaped cover for the bulkhead and concrete covered 45° elbow.
I covered the bulkhead with Clingfilm and put a rather stiff concrete mix around it. Small pieces of Ceramic were stuck into the sides. After the concrete was hardened I could remove the whole Donut and peel off the Clingfilm. The donut sits tighly around the bulkhead and can be removed if necessary.
The concrete does not stick to the PVC directly, therefore I glued small pieces of ceramic on the elbow first. After the glue had hardened the whole thing was covered in concrete.
Everything mounted together looks like this. I will try to grow some Xenias or Polyps around the whole unit.
Finally I could also do the final work on the overflow boxes. On the side of the filter Overflow, the ceramic back plate ends right below the screen, on the side of the closed look overflow the back plate is bent forward a bit. On this ledge I built a very open framework of smaller rocks, leaving lots of small channels for the water to go through but not allowing a direct sight of the 6” high overflow screen.
The pictures don’t show how open the structure is, but getting 5000 gal/h through it won’t be much of a problem.
Looking at closed loop overflow from the sofa it looks like this
When looking into the tank through the front panel, the large overflow screen can be seen through a few holes, but I can live with that. I may put some SPS corals there in the future.
The Parapan Panels for the cabinet have finally arrived, over Christmas I will try to get them fixed.
Merry Christmas to all of you
Jens
