My 500L Puddle *In progress*

Brady92

Member
I kinda hate you because of jealousy lol jk well kinda


I Love Living In Japan

There's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole
 

Jimbo

Member
You'll hate me more now :D

Second Island in the house!

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Complete with bridge!

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Top down shot, which really gives a good look at the perches :)

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Thanks!
 

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
What's with the tape? I really dig the look.

..........tequilla is not my friend anymore
 

Brady92

Member
Looks great :D gimme your coordinates so I can come grab it from you lol


I Love Living In Japan

There's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole
 

Jimbo

Member
A miniscule update but an update none the less. Decided to plug in my ATI the other day and play around with the dimmer settings.

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And because i can...:D

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Can't wait to put these bad asses on my tank!

Not long to go before its wet :):mnote:
 

soco

Well-Known Member
Very jealous! Looks awesome cant wait to see the now awesomeness in action

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
 

Jetbkk

Member
That rock scape is going to look amazing when it is full of coral. I love how you have so many ledges. Great design.
 

Jimbo

Member
Very jealous! Looks awesome cant wait to see the now awesomeness in action

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks :)

Damn, when it comes to forplay you must be very good at it!

Tok

No complaints yet :D

That rock scape is going to look amazing when it is full of coral. I love how you have so many ledges. Great design.

Yep i am really pleased with it. I think this stuff is the future of Reefkeeping :)
 

Jimbo

Member
Okay, quite a big update today.

Basically, when i put the order in with the tank builder, i didn't specify the measurements for the baffles inside the sump, which inevitably came to bite me on the ass when i tried to put my Bubble Magus Nac7 in its new home, the baffle was about 2-3 inches out (Obviously my tank builder didn't realise the size of the skimmer i was using).

So i had to move the baffle :flaming:. Its a job i have been dreading (Along with cutting the stand for the pipework) because cutting silicone isn't easy, not to mention i've never done this sort of thing in regards to tanks.

So, i had to remove the sump first, which meant taking off the doors and the supports.

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The sump in the hallway.

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The baffle in question.

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So, next came trying to get this out, now some tank builders over here are notorious for fitting stupidly tight baffles which often snap, luckily mine had left mm each side for a bit of wiggle room, i used a long craft (Stanley) blade and to my surprise it was actually quite easy to remove.

As you can see in the pics, the excess silicone which i could not be bothered to remove.

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Next i had to trim the excess silicone off of the baffle, really easy.

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New baffle in :dance:

As can be seen its now about 3 inches over and the Skimmer fits perfectly, now i have to wait a few hours for it to set and a few days for it to cure.

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Not the neatest work in the world but it should be fit for purpose hopefully.


My to do list before filling -


* Make sure the sump is watertight
* Cut the pipework
* Dry fit the pipework to make sure the measurements are correct and then solvent weld
* Install my RO Unit
* Fill up the tank below the weir - I decided to follow the advice of some fellow Ceramic owners and pre-soak for 2 weeks while running Rowaphos
* Fill up the rest of the tank including the sump - Salt the water. I have decided to switch from D-D H2Ocean to Reef Crystals as they have gone down in price in the last 6 months from £80 to £50.
* Set up the QT Tank - I'll never be without a QT Tank again, luckily i have all the equipment i need.

Stock list is nearly complete

Pair of Clowns - Picasso or a pair of True Percula's
Lemonpeel Mimic Tang
Bluethroat Triggerfish
Bicolour Blenny
Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse
3 Bartletts Anthias

Coral list is undecided but it will be a mixed LPS/SPS reef. I can also tell you that it will be heavily dominated with Acans!

Thanks for looking, i will have more updates asap :)
 

Jimbo

Member
More updates...

Decided (As its a quiet job) to fit the tank connectors to the tank, as i have a mountain of space under the sump without the sump or supports in there.

Here are the holes under the tank for the pipework, this is a twin standpipe setup hence the tank has two drains, the smaller one is the return.

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Take three tank connectors...

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For those that follow this thread who are in the process of setting up their own sumps, notice all three tank connectors have two gaskets, the lighter coloured gasket is rubberised and is designed to seal the main body of the connector inside the weir, the darker gasket is plastic and simply acts as a bridge for the bottom. Do yourselves a favour and throw these in the bin, they will perish due to the corrosive nature of saltwater.

Do this instead - Remove the gaskets.

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Take a good amount of silicone and apply it to both sides, try not to get any on the thread and hand tighten, it really doesn't need anymore.

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Rinse and repeat and voila :)

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I am just taking a break to post pics before i do the baby return connector :D

Ciao!
 

reeferman

Well-Known Member
very nice build!i love ATI fixtures.
one thing to critique...the bulkhead gaskets should not be discarded.they are designed to work with saltwater and also give the glass some cushion against the tightening and possible future flex of the joint[never know when youre gonna bump a pipe too hard].silicone is a bandaid and should not be used to seal threaded unions.the very nice schedule 80 bulkheads that you have are not known to fail under normal circumstances with the supplied washers.
 

soco

Well-Known Member
Nice call on the rubber gaskets. Silicon is a good choice to use instead

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2
 

Jimbo

Member
very nice build!i love ATI fixtures.
one thing to critique...the bulkhead gaskets should not be discarded.they are designed to work with saltwater and also give the glass some cushion against the tightening and possible future flex of the joint[never know when youre gonna bump a pipe too hard].silicone is a bandaid and should not be used to seal threaded unions.the very nice schedule 80 bulkheads that you have are not known to fail under normal circumstances with the supplied washers.

I've seen them perish on other tanks. Its not a short process but it does happen. Properly applied the silicone will last at least as long as the life of the tank and hand tightened there will still be a nice cushion between the bulkhead and the tank.

The connectors are of good quality but in my opinion the gaskets were not :)

The ATI is a great fixture but i may be upgrading in a few weeks to an 8x39w Dimmable.
 
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