New In-wall Project Begins

[dougchambers]

I'm thinking you'll only need one lumenarc on that with a 3'x3' cover area. Just my opinion. Fuge doesn't need to much light.

The Luminarcs will be over the main tank. I drew the outline of the tank on the Formica top and put the reflectors up there to mock up the spacing. I haven't decided what I'm going to use over the refugium. We have an extra Icecap 660 and endcaps so I may put some 50/50s over the fuge or stick with the daylight bulbs we use now.

wow, doug, its really coming together! i must say, that tank is beautiful!

Thanks! I think I've lost my mind... We could have had the whole place landscaped and furnished for what we have in the system so far. I need to sell my 75g system to recover some of the cost...

-Doug

 

[Detritivore]

i was wondering, do you have any idea how many gallons the external overflow holds?

 

[Bigred]

The Luminarcs will be over the main tank. I drew the outline of the tank on the Formica top and put the reflectors up there to mock up the spacing. I haven't decided what I'm going to use over the refugium. We have an extra Icecap 660 and endcaps so I may put some 50/50s over the fuge or stick with the daylight bulbs we use now.

-Doug

OK, in the picture it looked liked you were going to run the lumenarcs on the sump/fuge LOL.

Steve

 

[NOLACLS]

That would be a bright fuge huh lol

I got 3 that are going on my 72x36x25 and im thinking 400 e ballast high off the water to start. Maybe two would be enough and I could put the extra lum3 on my fuge/prop/growout rig-up I want to try to cram in my stand. I wouldnt use 400 on the fuge...I would go to 250 or maybe less.

 

[dougchambers]

i was wondering, do you have any idea how many gallons the external overflow holds?

With 18" of water, the overflow could have ~16-18 gallons. However, we will have the dursos and a return line in there that will displace a bit of water.


BigRed: Sorry Steve... The picture was a bit confusing.


Nolacls: Ideally I'd like to throw a a 250W MH over the fuge, but the power meter is going to be spinning enough already. It kind of depends on what I end up putting in there but the daylight bulbs have been working well so far.


I ordered up the dual end VHO endcaps last night. I have the single ended ones, but mounting the duals will be easier for this setup. The plan is to build an overhead cradle system that will allow me to raise and lower the whole lighting rack. That way we can pull the rack out of the way or raise it up when acclimating new bulbs. Sounds easy right?

-Doug

 

[NOLACLS]

The plan is to build an overhead cradle system that will allow me to raise and lower the whole lighting rack. That way we can pull the rack out of the way or raise it up when acclimating new bulbs. Sounds easy right?

-Doug

That is exactly what I am going to do to...Since the lum3's are square it will make that easy to do. Also on here I saw some sort of pulley type system they sell that would work perfect of the cradle. I cant remember what it was called tho...useless I know :lol:

 

[dougchambers]

I haven't seen a pulley system for sale. Let me know if you find it. I'd be interested to look at the design. I planned on hitting HD or Lowe's and putting the pieces together. Shouldn't be that tough relative to everything else.

-Doug

 

[NOLACLS]

Shoot I cant believe I didnt bookmark it or something. It was on here. Like some cord type thing that you could pull down and up. It had like a retracting wheel in it or something. Where was it arrrgghhhh :lol:

 

[matt & pam]

Do you mean a pulley system like this?

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=2268&subcategory_ID=6600

 

[NOLACLS]

I dont think it was something you had to pull a line to move it up and down. I saw it on here a while ago...guess I didnt bookmark it and I dont remember how I saw that thread. I came across it on one of the many many searches I have done and read through....theres no telling

Someone on here had it on a pendant setup I believe.

This is going to drive me buggy thinking about it.

 

[dougchambers]

Matt & Pam -

That's not the one I saw before, but might work even better. The one I saw had two separate ropes which would be problematic.

Decent price too... I doubt I can get all the parts from HD for that.

Thanks!

Doug

 

[dougchambers]

Along the same lines, here is another one;

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?...rand=&sku=8004&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

-Doug

 

[NOLACLS]

I found it I found it:bounce1: :dance: :bounce2:

CLICK ME

bookmarked now

Just scroll down some.

 

[NOLACLS]

With a little google search http://dansgardenshop.com/suliha.html

This is what I am going to try out I think

 

[dougchambers]

Nolacls - Thanks for the link! We use some retractable tool hangers that are similar. I actually like the pulley method better because there is less chance of failure. I've seen simiar coil springs fail and drop tools or start to sag over time. The Sunlift hangers might work better than the ones I've seen.

Let me know how it turns out...

-Doug

 

[NOLACLS]

I would think that since you can tighten them with that wingnut you can tighten them if they loosen up over time. I PM'ed he guy who has these. He said so far so good and he loves them. It said its so easy to move the lights up and down. I am going to try them...4 of them can hold 44 lbs!! I think thats plenty for 3 reflectors and some vho's.

 

[dougchambers]

Another thought I had at dinner... Regardless of the lift system used, put a dead-man chain on each end of the light rack. If the pulley or hanger failed, the dead-man chains would catch the rack before it hit the tank and water.

-Doug

 

[NOLACLS]

Exactly what I was thinking just now as well My out door speakers are like that...backups good!

 

[dougchambers]

The first of many long awaited days is here. Miracles called last Friday and said the tank would be here today (Tuesday). How did that happen I asked. I thought we were looking at 4 weeks??? It would seem they caught a hot truck headed to the West coast and our tank got an expedite by default. My shipping department called yesterday (Monday) and said the crate was already here as of 3:30pm.

I stopped by to check the crate and pallet but couldn't get in to see the tank yet. I'll load it onto the trailer this afternoon and try for some pictures later tonight if I get home at a decent hour.

Now.... Where to put it for 7 weeks??? At 375lb, I don't want to move it too many times. It might have to live in the crate covered with a tarp on the trailer until the house is ready.

Pictures to follow! - Doug

 

[APorter]

Doug, what happened to the pictures of the tank? Hope everything is still on schedule with the house.