ReefWaters' 220 Sun Room Reef

Also, does anyone know where to find GM Silicone I in black? All I can find at my HD is Silicone I in clear and Silicone II in black. But from what I can tell, Silicone II is not a great idea for glass to glass. Has anyone heard this?
 
I have some of that same track and it is good stuff. If you really want to save money, get creative. The Great Dahn Nguyen built light racks & rails for his tank out of wood and just greased it up. :)
 
"Greased up wood"??? Nice! :lol:

I want to make smart purchasing decisions, but at the same time, I am more than willing to spend an extra $50 or so if its going to save me a bunch of maintenance hassle in the long run and/or be easy to use over the long run.

What are you using that track for? Your lights? Do you have any pics you can post?
 
Another track that might work for you is the same track they use for sliding mirror doors. I have a huge 12' long closet, and I use 2 6' tracks that are aligned & butted together and it has worked great for the past 7 years.

The aluminum is in the tools department, very close to where they have their mailboxes. It will be standing up in a rack, and odds are the longest they sell is 6'. Maaaaybe 8'.

The shelf brackets are on the same aisle as drawer pulls, hinges, sliders, etc. The ones I have are pretty tough and can handle quite a bit of weight, but at 3.5 years they are starting to rust. I'm planning to redo my lighting setup and when I do these will be removed.

This company sells Dow Corning 795 silicone; you could call to see if they have black:
Silicone Specialties Inc
2367 Glenda Lane
Dallas, Tx 75229-3318
972 243 0676
 
If the space above the tank is not being used, what about a block and tackle system?

Nice build - been following from the start. Sorry to hear about your lost corals!
 
Thanks again for all the info Marc. But I have to ask...what do you mean by "I'm planning to redo my lighting setup"? :p Are you saying I'm not going to like a sliding aluminum rack after 3 years? :D

miwoodar..... thanks. I think I've finally figured out what's causing the coral deaths. Dont tell anyone, but I havent run any tests in probably a year. Yep, thats right. I admit it. And I'm kicking myself ever day now because of it. I started running a whole slue of test the other night and found that my Ca is terribly low. My salinity is a lot lower than I would like as well. I'm buying a new Magnesium test kit tonight so I should know if that is the cause of the depressed Ca, as my reactor and Kalk reactor seem to be doing fine. I'll keep the 50 gallon cube thread up to date on that.

As for a block and tackle system, that was my first thought. And I may go back to that after I get a feel for the aluminum angle iron at HD. I like the idea of the sliding rack though, because I will have a TON more room to get my body over the tank than I will with a block and tackle system. I also worry about how easy it will be to get the rack to raise and lower easily with pulleys. Any thoughts on that?
 
I don't like the block and tackle deal. Here's an old pic from my construction phase:

final%20lamps.jpg


This shows the center dish on that track and the end reflectors on Light Rail 3.5 track. Those are light movers. I used the track linked to above but ran it out well beyond the tank so I can pull the reflector off the top to do tank cleaning etc. and also to make it easier to clean the reflector and change the lamp.

I used the three track system so that I could move the light off 1/3 of the tank at a time. That way I can work on one section with mush less impact on the reef and also still have light. In teh case of full moving light racks, once you move it, you still need light to work on the tank.
 
That is a very good point that I never thought about....

If you move ALL of the light, then it will be much harder to see in the tank!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11678603#post11678603 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefWaters
Thanks again for all the info Marc. But I have to ask...what do you mean by "I'm planning to redo my lighting setup"? :p Are you saying I'm not going to like a sliding aluminum rack after 3 years? :D
Click to expand...

I want to use Luminarc III or LuminBright reflectors, and they are so big that I'd have no room to work. I've got plans to mount them higher, without the rack, and make a rolling VHO fixture with roller blade wheels that travel back and forth on the euro-bracing. ;)
 
see, and I would like to design and build a catwalk that rolls across my bracing on roller blade wheels. :D
 
Man! Decisions Decisions. This is why it has taken me so long to get anything done. I think too much! :D


The block and tackle system would probably be a little easier to build. Maybe a little cheaper, depending on the pulleys I bought. But I think it would be more fragile, more prone to BAD THINGS happening - rope rotting and lights falling onto tank, rope slipping out of hands and falling onto tank, etc. The lights would be very hot when you stick your head under them to work on the tank. But you would have a lot of light. It would also be much more difficult to work on wiring, clean bulbs and reflectors, etc, etc.

The rail system would be more stable. Stronger. A little harder to put up. A little more expensive. But it would be a lot easier to get into the tank when its moved and a lot easier to clean everything. Theres also no worries about anything falling.

I'm not concerned about having enough "working" light when the rack is moved off the tank. I don't know if I put a good enough picture up, but there is a ceiling fan with 3 x 100 watt bulbs over the corner of the tank. There should be plenty of light and if not, I can always change the fan light fixture to get more light directed on the tank.

I know I know, how am I going to hang a light rack with a fan over 1/4 of the tank. :smokin: Magic! No really, I'm going to have to hang the rails from the ceiling by about a foot or so to get the rail under the fan blades. And if I go with a pulley system, I just have to make one of the pieces of the angle iron a lot longer than the other to clear the fan blades.

:rollface:
 
I don't know if this will help you, but my light rack also has to clear a light fixture when it is moved away from the tank. I've also posted a picture of the pocket door rail. I choose this type of rail because it completely captures the rollers. It is very easy to mount and unmount the rack using the quick release on the roller assembly, although it still takes two people to do so. You could also suspend your track from the ceiling similar to the way garage door track is hung.

6247320080120_3-med.jpg


62473InWall_037-med.jpg
 
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The second picture is borrowed from another's build thread, I hope he doesn't mind me using it. I purchased the aluminum angle from a local company that buys surplus metals from our local aircraft manufacturers. They sell by the pound so it ended up being around 50% less than it would have cost me at HD. Bolts, track, and aluminum came to around $170. Here is a link for the pocket door track and a link to the manufacturer's site.

http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/6109649

http://www.johnsonhardware.com/pdindex.htm
 
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Thanks for the info guys. I just placed an order with Johnson Hardware for two 80 lb Pocket Door kits. The total with shipping came out under $65. I figured it was worth a try to save almost $200 versus the I beam rails. I think they will work great. I also ordered the Luminarc III reflectors. Once these parts come in, I should be able to start putting the light rack together.
 
Alright! The Luminarcs, 2 PanWorld pumps, light rails, endcaps, etc, etc, have all come in. I dont believe I need anything else that has to be shipped. I do have a few things to pick up locally like the silicone, angle iron, and plumbing parts.

Now would be a great time to start sending those annoying, "Any Updates?," and "How bout some pics?" comments. :D I need all the motivation I can get to get this thing done in a timely manner. :lol:


Oh yeah, any suggestions on gluing up the base molding? I got a tube of the correct adhesive. I had purchased the molding that aready has the adhesive applied. Kind of like tape. It didnt work so well...... :rolleyes:
 
yeah, how about some updates :lol:

It's been like 10 hours...you should have all of this done by now, right? :lol::D:lol:
 
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