Tinman's past, present and future....

[T Man]

Howdy everyone! It's been a long time coming that I start my build thread, I'd also like to share how I arrived at my method of natural filtration.
As you'll see I'm a bit of a mangrove nut, mangroves caught my eye about ten years ago when I decided that my first sump would somehow have them.
Building my first sump was a snap, I had an old 40 gallon tall that I laid on it's side and marked out where the baffles would be with a sharpie then measured those lines
for their lengths. Then I measured the inside width of the tank for an I.D. (inside diameter) fit ...... you need to subtract an 1/8 to 3/16 inch from this measurement so the glass won't bind.
I then took these measurements to my trusty neighborhood Ace hardware and had some 1/8 inch glass cut to order.......a whole twelve bucks for four pieces
I also picked up a tube of 100% silicone to hold the baffles in place. Back home I had the lines marked out on the tank, I grabbed my caulking gun and a half hour later "the mangrove's in the mud" sump was born.
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This picture gives me a big smile everytime I see it, the 125 gallon back in the day....I remember that one of the dogs used to come inside and plop down right next to it bumping the glass...I really needed a stand.

I sat down with my sketch book and drew something up...this stand is made of 1/8 inch black iron diamondplate sheet metal, it has welded corners and painted with truck bed liner...I call it my reefperch

Back inside it's the big drain, I drained it all on the front yard....I asked around and was told that it wouldn't hurt so I did and the Phoenix heat burned the lawn completely white within two days....
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nOT ReAllY!!!! It was fine....

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Here it is atop it's spankin' new perch.....boy my imagination was on fire that day.

Keep On Reefin' On!!!

 

[iap]

No pics?

 

[T Man]

The 125 with the "mangroves in the mud" sump

The 125 with the "mangroves in the mud" sump

The 125 was on it's perch and now it was time for the sump. I used a 4 inch diameter hole saw to cut through about 3/4 inches of plaster.....if you do this, hold on to the drillmotor as hard as you can because it can break your wrists....see the pods?

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This is the sump in the room behind the tank....

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And here she is in all her splendor, that goniopora was spectacular! I had it for seven years until the RTN took her from me

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This is the mangroves in the mud sump, this picture had almost 900 views in the old Reef Central picture galleries....which by the way is sorely missed by the whole community. It was a wealth on visual information and ideas that I spent a majority of my time browsing. This picture is also posted on the website where I buy my mogul and DE lamps

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The 125 was a success! the wall to left between the master bedroom and the living room was looking more and more like it needed a big hole there:

Keep On Reefin' On!!!

 

[T Man]

more plaster...the wall

more plaster...the wall

Okay, I'm not much for posting pictures of myself but this ones a must!

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My old truck hauled three loads of plaster and lathe to the dump during the demo.....

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some demolition fun.....

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I had to have something to put in the hole so I went with the undrilled 210 All Glass Aquarium

Keep On Reefin' On!!!

 

[iap]

Awesome! Hope you used a hammer and not your head to put that hole in there

 

[T Man]

forward to the room divider and beyond.....

forward to the room divider and beyond.....

The 210 was now in the wall sitting on a 4 by 4 stand made of pressure treated wood.
Here is the living room side shortly after the move.

...and another of the bedroom side, finishing the bedroom side was quite the task. To be honest with you, I never liked the way I finished it the first time

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The 125 was broke down but the sump was carefully relocated into the equipment room for the 210..... I really had it packed into what used to be a broom closet

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Look!.............there's trees growing in that sump!!

an one of my personal favorites...the top view lit by a 175 watt mogal halide.

Keep On Reefin' On!!!

 

[T Man]

the 210 divider's first shot shot's...

the 210 divider's first shot shot's...

See my puppy?

this is a great shot....the wc was clear a a bell.....ding!

Keep On Reefin' On!!!

 

[T Man]

natural sunlight hits just right....

natural sunlight hits just right....

One of the advantages in the placement I have is that the tank gets natural sunlight in the early morning and late afternoon Score!

sump room with natty light..

let's not forget our old friend Roy G. Biv and some of his tricks and shadows

This picture here is a cardinal fishes shadow from ten feet away cast on the wall...it even kinda looks like the sun's outline there too.

Keep On Reefin'On!!!

 

[T Man]

used my head but not for demo......

used my head but not for demo......

Awesome! Hope you used a hammer and not your head to put that hole in there

Tehehe...sawzall and a big hammer:lol: I take it you see the pictures now eh? T

 

[iap]

Haha. Yea I can see pics now and they look great. I'm jealous of everyone being able to build in wall setups ad have fish rooms behind it. I don't have any walls I could do that with. Have been debating moving my son to the other room and use that wall and room. Hmmm...

 

[T Man]

the battle was on....

the battle was on....

During the lifespan of the first 210, I encountered several typical nuisance algae, diatom and dinoflagellates which was easy to correct through the proper water chemistry and cutting back on the amount of food I fed the fish.
This is where it gets ugly....back when I had the 125 set up I introduced a single sprig of grape caulerpa into the system and it quickly dominated both the rocks and the sandbed. I spent hours hand picking the stuff off my rocks only to have it re-appear again about a year later.

some cyanobacteria.

dinoflagellates..

nasty stuff and then some...

Here's a picture of my favorite rock = "favrock" with a whole slew of problems...

Some people consider the neomeris annulata/spindleweed/sea sausage ugly and invasive....I let it run it's course and it disappeared. It was very interesting looking while it was around however....I liked it:0

Here's the FavRock again enduring yet another bloom.

And lastly...at the reef's darkest moment there's no letting this invasive macro algae run it's course...it'll strangle the light from the corals, clams, and the coralline algae on the rocks.....trust me I have battled this problem one too many times, keep it out of your display!

What I got off of just a few rocks...that's a five gallon bucket!

You live, you learn from your mistakes....it was time to put the pencil to paper and draw the next system.

Keep On Reefin" On!!!

 

[T Man]

and then it hit me....back to the mangroves

and then it hit me....back to the mangroves

I came up with some pretty wild ideas to display my mangroves, since the tank was already in the wall, having them growing out of the display wasn't an option. This was easily solved by designing a planter of sorts that extends outward on the floor in front of the display. I had the idea, now I had to start the work. I've drawn a couple of bitmap images to give you an idea of what I've dreamed of. The green squigly lines are real passionfruit vines that will be planted in their own separate stainless steel soil cans concealed within the planter

The mangrove lagoon sump with a tapered bottom deep sandbed frontside.....

and the flipside or "Captains quarters"..

Lol ! after the 210 breakdown, I couldn' help myself...I had to mock it up to give me some inspiration

Keep On Reefin" On!!!

 

[T Man]

forward to yesteday....

forward to yesteday....

Yesterday my tank moving buddies showed up to help me once again remove the tank from the wall. This is what I've been up to for the past two years. I've achieved what I was looking for, the planter has it's own lighting and is an integral part of the tapered bottom DSB sump.
The plan is to display as many as I can fit in there and try my luck at Bonsai

The sheet metal trim is complete now and it's all done except for the sump, this is it.......

and on the flipside.....

the 125 through the 210....

The equipment room has a dedicated electrical panel now, I really enjoyed the electrical stage of this build....I'll share more soon.
This is where it's at now.

the ballast rack above the eq. room.....

Keep On Reefin' On!!!

 

[jc-reef]

coming together nicely!! :beer:

 

[T Man]

Welcome to RC jc-reef! is that you in your avatar? T

 

[alphaferret]

very cool idea-love the planter

 

[jc-reef]

Welcome to RC jc-reef! is that you in your avatar? T

Thanks! Naah, it is a funny pic though. I have friends that 'noodle' catfish as big as that....crazy bas##rds!

 

[T Man]

the light reflectors

the light reflectors

I found the reflective aluminum at my trusty Ace hardware store, the sheets were 24" x 30" @ $22 each. I made the three reflectors @ 19.5" x 19.5" and it took four and a half sheets = $110 not too bad
I've been a sheet metal worker for just over twenty years now, I have to give anyone who has built these by hand credit for taking on the task, my hat's off to ya'.

 

[T Man]

the light rack

the light rack

The light rack is a section of Unistrut "half strut", I used 3/4'' EMT conduit and enclosures for the wiring. Bolted it all together and painted with white epoxy it looks pretty cool

move over Rover....

 

[T Man]

mounting the reflectors

mounting the reflectors

I used two five foot sections of 1" aluminum angle to fasten the three reflectors together. I made two hangers out of the leftover aluminum from the reflectors and fastened them to the light rack

Here it is in place

The whole rack swings up and away from the tank for access, I haven't automated it yet, I'd actually like to save the cost of a light winch and use counter weights and pullies with a release of sorts

a good amount of room to work with.....

Keep On Reefin' On!!!