New Aquarium for St Jude Children's Hospital (800+G)
- Thread starter bshumake
- Start date
melev
Well-known member
This is a great thread. What you've done is incredible.
2" thick acrylic - wow. How did the CNC cut through such thick material? Does it use a huge bit, or does it cut down and down and down?
In the videos, the water tests are all being done with freshwater, correct?
When mixing the saltwater, you stated you'll dump in a bucket in the acrylic tank, and then that will mix and move up to the upper storage vessels. Having all the salt dumped into a smaller volume of water would cause hyper-salinity, wouldn't it? I'm wondering if precipitation would occur.
Please keep updating the thread.
Looking foward to the webcam option mentioned in that article.
2" thick acrylic - wow. How did the CNC cut through such thick material? Does it use a huge bit, or does it cut down and down and down?
In the videos, the water tests are all being done with freshwater, correct?
When mixing the saltwater, you stated you'll dump in a bucket in the acrylic tank, and then that will mix and move up to the upper storage vessels. Having all the salt dumped into a smaller volume of water would cause hyper-salinity, wouldn't it? I'm wondering if precipitation would occur.
Please keep updating the thread.
Looking foward to the webcam option mentioned in that article.
bshumake
New member
Nice to hear from you Marc! How's the businesses?
The tests are all freshwater. We ran it fresh to clean all the garbage out of the pipes and systems.
The way Scott's got it worked out, there is a smaller tank at ground level plumbed into the 100G tank above. The water drains into the mixing tank and pumps back up into the holding tank above. All I have to do is pour the salt in once its running (not all the salt at once mind you) and the mixing will take care of itself.
The tests are all freshwater. We ran it fresh to clean all the garbage out of the pipes and systems.
The way Scott's got it worked out, there is a smaller tank at ground level plumbed into the 100G tank above. The water drains into the mixing tank and pumps back up into the holding tank above. All I have to do is pour the salt in once its running (not all the salt at once mind you) and the mixing will take care of itself.
spazz
New member
this was not like anything i have ever cut before. the top with its 8 cutouts took 14 hours to cut. you have to cut each hole in layers. i would cut 1/4" each pass for a total if 8 passes per hole. the bit was a very specil bit that was designed and made just for this project. a company called accurate cutters has cnc machines that grind carbide bits. i told them what i needed and they were able to design a special 3 flute cutter just for this project. it was alot of fun building this tank because of its design.
melev
Well-known member
That is what I was thinking - not only is it a sharp bit, but it has to have a long shank and cutting area to handle that depth. Did you have to swap out the bits during that 14 hour process? Heat was surely a factor. That's really impressive in itself.
Nice job on the flush-mounted bulkheads.
Nice job on the flush-mounted bulkheads.
spazz
New member
no i just used forced air to cool the bit down while cutting some of the top out. i also stopped the program inbetween holes so the bit could cool. the big thing was having an ultra sharp bit so it didnt bind and creat excess heat. the bit never got above a tempature that you couldnt hold the bit in your hand and have discomfort.
spazz
New member
well im back down in memphis to do the final set up and tweaking of the system with barrott. the back wall is being built and should be in the tank very soon. this back wall will be the first of its kind in the world that i know of.
here is the base concept of this back wall. i was given the task of designing a back wall for this tank that was alot more than just a black back or blue back with out breaking the bank. so barrott and i started throwing ideas back and forth for different ways to make a fancy back wall. we wanted to use ceramic pannels to cover the back and side of the tank. after looking at what was available on line we decised that was not going to work. so then we next looked into having a ceramic shop build them or us to our specs. that didnt work either because of the sizes of the pannels. when they were fired they warped and some exploded.
so the final design we came up with is a real live rock wall. we got some 1/2" cast acrylic sheets and had them cut down to fit in the top holes of the tank. next barrott selected special pieces of live rock and mached them up on the sheets so they will not completly fill in the back but will break up the flat look of the back of the tank. he then numbered the rocks and where they will be placed on the sheet for the final fitting of the rocks. then the sheets were removed and the overflow teeth were cut into the sheets so they match the full back of the tank and part of the 1 side.
the next step in this process will be to attach the rocs to the wall. this will be done by drilling holes in the sheets and gluing cast acrylic rods into the backs of the sheets to peg the rocks to. then the rocks will be drilled to fit over the pins. then the rocks will be zip tied and glued to the sheets. in the ned the pannles should look like a real rock wall. there will also be a couple of pvc stands that resmeble live rock but will be build with great foam and agagonite sand. when the rock ages it should look just like a moutain of rock. but under it will be a dark area for fisn to hide and rest. we may have to place a couple of maxi mod pumps under the rocks to keep the detritus from building up and poluting the tank.
here we are stocking up alot or ro/di water to fill the system with. there will be about 800 gallons to start the system with. we may have to have another 300-400 gallons to finnish the system but for now it will be enough to get the tank wet and start the system.
here is the base concept of this back wall. i was given the task of designing a back wall for this tank that was alot more than just a black back or blue back with out breaking the bank. so barrott and i started throwing ideas back and forth for different ways to make a fancy back wall. we wanted to use ceramic pannels to cover the back and side of the tank. after looking at what was available on line we decised that was not going to work. so then we next looked into having a ceramic shop build them or us to our specs. that didnt work either because of the sizes of the pannels. when they were fired they warped and some exploded.
so the final design we came up with is a real live rock wall. we got some 1/2" cast acrylic sheets and had them cut down to fit in the top holes of the tank. next barrott selected special pieces of live rock and mached them up on the sheets so they will not completly fill in the back but will break up the flat look of the back of the tank. he then numbered the rocks and where they will be placed on the sheet for the final fitting of the rocks. then the sheets were removed and the overflow teeth were cut into the sheets so they match the full back of the tank and part of the 1 side.
the next step in this process will be to attach the rocs to the wall. this will be done by drilling holes in the sheets and gluing cast acrylic rods into the backs of the sheets to peg the rocks to. then the rocks will be drilled to fit over the pins. then the rocks will be zip tied and glued to the sheets. in the ned the pannles should look like a real rock wall. there will also be a couple of pvc stands that resmeble live rock but will be build with great foam and agagonite sand. when the rock ages it should look just like a moutain of rock. but under it will be a dark area for fisn to hide and rest. we may have to place a couple of maxi mod pumps under the rocks to keep the detritus from building up and poluting the tank.
here we are stocking up alot or ro/di water to fill the system with. there will be about 800 gallons to start the system with. we may have to have another 300-400 gallons to finnish the system but for now it will be enough to get the tank wet and start the system.
spazz
New member
here is the lighting system being installed. once it is done barrott will be able to raise and lower the lights with a flick of a switch. there will be 8 400 watt halides with 20 k xm bulbs driven by 277 volt HQI ballasts that were custom built by pfo and lumenarc 3 reflectors. there will also be 5 sets of LED moon lights to set off the tank during the night time.
the other interestingthis that will be available down the road is a high resiloution web cam in the tank. yes in the tank. we have not figured out of it will pan back and forth yet or if it will be stationary. this will be viewable through the st judes website in thefuture. so if you decide you need o see a tank while your at work you can log on and have a view of a reef on your computer.
this last pic is of the mess we have going on in the fish room right now. its getting smaller and smaller in there now that they have the stainless steel sink in there.
the funny thing is they installed one of those electronic faucet valves that sence motion and turn on the faucet. every time we walk by the sink it turn on. ha ha ha ha.
the other interestingthis that will be available down the road is a high resiloution web cam in the tank. yes in the tank. we have not figured out of it will pan back and forth yet or if it will be stationary. this will be viewable through the st judes website in thefuture. so if you decide you need o see a tank while your at work you can log on and have a view of a reef on your computer.
this last pic is of the mess we have going on in the fish room right now. its getting smaller and smaller in there now that they have the stainless steel sink in there.
the funny thing is they installed one of those electronic faucet valves that sence motion and turn on the faucet. every time we walk by the sink it turn on. ha ha ha ha.
ReefingBuddha
New member
hahaha.... should I... I should.... Spazz should contact the discovery channel and pitch "Pimp my Tank" or "Reef Overhaulin'"
