TheDoogan's shallow rimless tank.

[thedoogan]

This and d2minis old cube tank are easily my favorites.

Wow thanks. d2mini's cube is maybe my favorite tank i've seen, it's incredible.

Simply awesome looking tank.
Fish/coral stocking list
Corey

Thanks. Stocking list is still up in the air, I know I want to take the SPS challenge with this small system.

So did you have to sand down that alum to get rid of any visual defects for that light mount? or did it cool the same as it started? I can not get over how clean your tank is, awesome lines, the modern look of the white and aluminum... bravo...

the heating of the aluminum left no visible marks, the bending however did. I don't have the proper tools for bending and ended up wedging it in my balcony railing :hammer: which left some scratches and scrapes. I plan on buffing these out after I get some of the more important things with the tank figured out.

nice mtb pics! we share two great hobbies although i dont take it as rough downhill as you seem to.

greetings from austria

Awesome! what kind of stuff are you riding over there in Austria?

this is one clean shallow reef build love how big the sump is awesome

Thanks!

great looking tank, love the attention to detail.. looks really clean

Thank you! clean for now, until the coralline hopefully takes over.

 

[swine]

Holy crap. this is awesome.

 

[mfinn]

WOW!!!
This is nice. Very nice.

 

[mfinn]

Can you go into detail on your light hanger?
I just picked up a Radion and am looking for just the right way to hang it.

 

[thedoogan]

Thank you. I build the radion mount myself after having metal fabricators in Vancouver quote me up to $375. I did it myself for $40 in raw materials and a $14 propane torch.

It's made from 6061T6 grade flat bar aluminum 2 X 0.375 I beleive.
It must be heated to the correct temperature to be bent. To hot and the bar will crack when bent. Sharpie marker will burn off at the correct temperature for 6016T6 aluminum so draw some lines where you are heating the bend area. When the sharpie fades let the metal air cool or pour some water on it to let it cool and bend. I'm by no means an expert in metals, this is just the trick I found snooping aircraft mechanic forums. It seemed to work well for me though.
The other two bars are 1 X 0.25

The aluminum flat bars I picked up for $40 were from metalsupermarkets.

There are two big bolts drilled through it and the 2x4's of the frame on the back which hold it in place. There are holes down the mount equally spaced so the light can easily be adjusted up or down.

The bolts that mount into the Radion are 10-32 x 2"

 

[thedoogan]

I'm going to try starting the Radion off at 30% with my metallic green torch

on at 9am - cycle through 20k, 18, 14k till 10k at 3pm and then cycle back down again till 9pm

Here is a macro of it take a poop @1080p :lol:

 

[mfinn]

The aluminum flat bars I picked up for $40 were from metalsupermarkets.

There are two big bolts drilled through it and the 2x4's of the frame on the back which hold it in place. There are holes down the mount equally spaced so the light can easily be adjusted up or down.

The bolts that mount into the Radion are 10-32 x 2"

Thanks for reposting.
I missed it the first time.
With all the details I may have to reread everything a couple times to fully get everything.

 

[drock59]

Fantastic tank! How much weight do you think that aluminum mount will hold? I have two sols, soon to be 4 that I would like to mount in a similar fashion.

 

[Dodger745]

If you dont mind me asking, how is your Auto-topoff setup? I am trying to compare ideas and develop a plan for mine. I have no space left under my stand and Im trying to hide it somewhere near my tank, lol

 

[joe_himself]

Very nice setups

 

[thedoogan]

Fantastic tank! How much weight do you think that aluminum mount will hold? I have two sols, soon to be 4 that I would like to mount in a similar fashion.

Thanks.
Well mine is holding the radion comfortably with very minimal flex.
The bar is 3/8th inch thick and only extends about 16" out horizontally.
The Radion weighs 3.2 lbs and I'm guessing this mount would easily hold 2 of these without much bending. You would possibly have to compensate by leaving the bend slightly angled up so it flexes level.

How many sols are you planning on holding per mount? Maybe a wider bar or thicker. I'm not sure how difficult 1/2 inch bar would be to bend though.

A lot of people have taken a liking to this light mount, can it now be known as a Doogan style mount? :lol:

 

[thedoogan]

If you dont mind me asking, how is your Auto-topoff setup? I am trying to compare ideas and develop a plan for mine. I have no space left under my stand and Im trying to hide it somewhere near my tank, lol

I have two float switches wired to the breakoutbox of the Apex, regular water level and high level to shut off the ATO if for some reason it sticks on. I'm using an aqualifter pump and the reservoir is on the other side of the couch behind a plant about 8 feet away. The water line runs behind the couch and into the back of the stand. I've seen some people hide top off containers in decorative baskets or fake Ikea plants where the potter is actually a basket.

 

[Dodger745]

cool deal. what type of container are you using? Im trying to find something that will blend in easily. a 5 gallon bucket is hard to hide! lol

 

[joec]

Thanks for detailing out so much of your build, I love hearing the process - that's half the fun!!

Curious, what kind of camera are you using for your shots? They looks great...

 

[miatawnt2b]

The mounting of that light is KILLER! Super simple, looks fantastic. I'm stealing that idea.
-J

 

[markster33139]

very impressive great attention to detail

 

[thedoogan]

cool deal. what type of container are you using? Im trying to find something that will blend in easily. a 5 gallon bucket is hard to hide! lol

I'm just using a smaller 2.5 gallon drinking water container rightnow.

Maybe try a camping water storage cotainer, lower and wider. Then cover it with an Ikea type basket like one of these. I think there are some with lids. Throw some magazines on top (redfish and coral magazine of course) and call it a day.

 

[thedoogan]

Thanks for detailing out so much of your build, I love hearing the process - that's half the fun!!

Curious, what kind of camera are you using for your shots? They looks great...

Thanks, I'm using a Canon rebel T2i with stock lens and a 50mm 1.4 with Kenko extension tubes for macro stuff

 

[thedoogan]

The mounting of that light is KILLER! Super simple, looks fantastic. I'm stealing that idea.
-J

Thanks
go for it just be sure to call it a Doogan mount :lol:

 

[thedoogan]

very impressive great attention to detail

Thank you!