Sinistard's 68.8 Acrylic Tank Journal [Photo Intense]

Personally I'd build the light frame out of aluminum angle instead of wood. I'd be concerned about the wood warping and/or burning over time.

Also, I didn't see a ball valve on the return side of the Dart pump. The flow should always be controlled on the return side of a pump or else you'll experience cavitation and micro-bubbles in the aquarium. A true-union ball valve on the return side will also help when it comes time to take the pump out of service for maintenance or repair.

Greg
 
Yeah you are going to want a ball valve down there by the pump! You'll need to take it off sooner or later. How big are the bulkheads feeding the CL? It seems like the way it is set up right now you will have more flow resistance on the intake side of the pump than on the output side. Not sure though. If you could run 1.5" instead it might be a good idea...
 
Thanks for the info. Any suggestions on where to get some aluminum angle?

There are ball valves under the tank to control flow. If I want to take off the closed loop pump I just need to close the ones upstairs then I can drain the water out of the lines below (around 2 gallons) into a bucket. I have had to do it several times already. I may go ahead and stick a true union ball valve on there to make it a bit easier to take out the pump for maintenance.

As far as the intakes for the CL goes I have 2 1" intakes one on each side of the tank that combine in the 2" Y fitting in the basement. I don't know if this is ideal but I don't know how easy it would be to increase the size of the intakes to 1.5"

I talked to the manufacturer and they seemed to think this would be ok, not ideal but ok. If you think it will be a problem let me know and I'll look into changing it.

Again thanks for the ideas
 
You can get angled aluminum at Home Depot in the hardware section near the mail boxes and signs. I used it for the light rack over my tank.
 
I picked up some aluminum from Lowes today, thanks for the ideas everyone. I am in the process of building my "hood".

It will be attached to the wall with a hinge and then the front will be supported with cables running back to the wall allowing me to lift the front up when I work in the tank.

I have not decided which way to put on my crown molding. Here are 2 pictures I photoshopped what do you all think.

The first option is with the crown on the bottom of the hood facing down, this makes it look more like a "pendent" and I like it because I think it will draw the eye more toward the tank.

top1.jpg


The second option is with the crown at the top facing up. With it on top I think it looks more like a piece of furniture, after all it's crown molding it goes on top.

top2.jpg


I like both ways for different reasons, let me know what you think.
 
Well call me crazy but I think I like it better with the crown opening toward the tank :D

EDIT - bad idea erased :b
 
To me the first photo looks like a light fixture and the second looks like the top of a piece of furniture with a section under it missing... Either way works for me though ;)
 
first photo looks like a pendant, 2nd photo looks like a hood

so if it's gonna rest on the tank then I'd go for the 2nd, but if it's gonna be hung above the tank, then I like the first.

make 2 hoods and swap it back and forth. LOL
 
It looks like the first picture is winning the race. I am kind of leaning more that way now. It is going to be kind of like a pendant since it does not set on the tank so I guess I should go with the pendent look.

If I make it and hate it, it will not be all that hard to make a new one. I will just have to rip off the crown molding and stick on some new molding on the other side.

Well I am almost done with the plumbing in my basement, I will post some pictures later.
 
I have most of the plumbing done in the basement. The only thing left is to run the overflow line into the refugium. I did not have the parts I needed to finish. I may end up changing several things about the overflow down the road depending on how well it works as is.

I ended up adding a true union ball valve to the output of the closed loop pump and while I was at it I raised the pump up around a foot and shortened the return line. I hope this will lessen the head pressure a bit.

I got a 100 gallon rubbermaid poly tub to use as my sump. I added a schedule 80 bulkhead to replace the crappy one that came with the tub. Thanks RokleM and asnatlas for the recommendation to change it, I'm sure this will save some headaches.

fishroom4.jpg


Here is a picture of the overall area.
fishroom3.jpg


Here is the pan world pump that I am using as my return line.
fishroom2.jpg


Here is a reverse view. As you can see I added the trigger systems fuge to the system. Do I need to put foam under the acrylic fuge?
fishroom1.jpg


Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
 
Looking really good! I hate seeing these threads of people's basements!!!!! I need a basement !!!!!

You don't have to worry too much about head pressure on the CL pump. There really isn't any "static" head pressure since the input and output water surfaces are the same (display tank water surface). The only head loss is due to the plumbing. So in general the biggest improvements you could make are bigger diameter pipes and less sharp turns... (not that these are a problem in your particular setup).
 
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