Project 58!! (Image intense)
- Thread starter Maxx
- Start date
mps9506
Well-Known Member
I like this idea:
I may steal this idea, and the light box if you ever post a picture. My tank is setup a similar way, but my stand is ugly, and my lights hang from the ceiling. If I ever get around to making a new stand, I'm doing what you did, little bit bigger stand though, I like the extra room under the stand.
I may steal this idea, and the light box if you ever post a picture. My tank is setup a similar way, but my stand is ugly, and my lights hang from the ceiling. If I ever get around to making a new stand, I'm doing what you did, little bit bigger stand though, I like the extra room under the stand.
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Maxx
Well-Known Member
Mike,
feel free to steal whatever isnt nailed to the floor...
Thats how I got alot of this together. I stole/borrowed/aquired ideas from everyone I saw and liked.
I havent taken any new pics of the new lightbox yet, cause it isnt quite finished. I screwed up the original front plate of the box....I dont know what the deal was, but the stain was blotchy and nasty...I used the same wood conditioner and stain I used for the rest of the stand and canopy, and this one came out looking like I finger painted it.
So I made up a new one and have that almost ready to mount. I'm using the crappy one while I mount up the lightbox and get everything balanced properly. I actually had it all hung up for a bit today, (tentative, nothing anchored in place yet, but I've been finalizing ways to get that done. I'm planning on getting the lights mounted inside the box and the whole thing mounted here shortly.
Pics will definately follow.
Nick
feel free to steal whatever isnt nailed to the floor...
Thats how I got alot of this together. I stole/borrowed/aquired ideas from everyone I saw and liked.
I havent taken any new pics of the new lightbox yet, cause it isnt quite finished. I screwed up the original front plate of the box....I dont know what the deal was, but the stain was blotchy and nasty...I used the same wood conditioner and stain I used for the rest of the stand and canopy, and this one came out looking like I finger painted it.
So I made up a new one and have that almost ready to mount. I'm using the crappy one while I mount up the lightbox and get everything balanced properly. I actually had it all hung up for a bit today, (tentative, nothing anchored in place yet, but I've been finalizing ways to get that done. I'm planning on getting the lights mounted inside the box and the whole thing mounted here shortly.
Pics will definately follow.
Nick
Scooterman
Active Member
Seems you get a good drop in temp. with the OM not running. 3 to 5 degrees is a lot to deal with. I'm with you on the chiller expense, they cost, & some make quite a bit of noise, I hope if I ever do get one, It is quiet.
Maxx
Well-Known Member
I just tested the water temp again...still 77 F...This is with the mag 7 and skimmer running only. I just runed on the Iwaki 55RLT, but not the OM unit. I expect the temp will rise again back up to 82.4 degrees since I really doubt the OM unit transfers anyheat to the water as its driveshaft is made of a high quality plastic polymer.
This leaves me with a couple of options:
1...buy a chiller. This will expensive, but will be the most aesthetically pleasing solution. And I know it will work. No tweaking to get the temp set right, (outside of normal getting a new chiller set up), and precision in terms of water stability. In all honesty, this is the route I feel safest...I'm just hurtin for money right now...two months okay...Rocio's B-day 7 days before Xmas, and Xmas itself...not so much.
2...DIY a Franken-Chiller. I have an old dorm sized fridge downstairs in the basement busily collecting dust. Its ugly, (faux woodgrain anyone???), its dirty, but it can be cleaned and I think I can make a chiller from it...and it wont cost me $50.00 to do it. This will require some playing around to get flow rates down right ...or I'll just get a good heater. I think this is the way I will wind up going short term. I will eventually upgrade to a real chiller which will give me more of what I need.
3...Find a new closed loop pump that is pressure rated, but doesnt give off as much heat. The major downsides to this are that it will cost more money to buy the pump, (less than a chiller, but still more than I want to spend right now) and it would quite possibly mean I would have to redo some of the closed loop plumbing. Not something I'm really looking forward to doing right now.
Nick
This leaves me with a couple of options:
1...buy a chiller. This will expensive, but will be the most aesthetically pleasing solution. And I know it will work. No tweaking to get the temp set right, (outside of normal getting a new chiller set up), and precision in terms of water stability. In all honesty, this is the route I feel safest...I'm just hurtin for money right now...two months okay...Rocio's B-day 7 days before Xmas, and Xmas itself...not so much.
2...DIY a Franken-Chiller. I have an old dorm sized fridge downstairs in the basement busily collecting dust. Its ugly, (faux woodgrain anyone???), its dirty, but it can be cleaned and I think I can make a chiller from it...and it wont cost me $50.00 to do it. This will require some playing around to get flow rates down right ...or I'll just get a good heater. I think this is the way I will wind up going short term. I will eventually upgrade to a real chiller which will give me more of what I need.
3...Find a new closed loop pump that is pressure rated, but doesnt give off as much heat. The major downsides to this are that it will cost more money to buy the pump, (less than a chiller, but still more than I want to spend right now) and it would quite possibly mean I would have to redo some of the closed loop plumbing. Not something I'm really looking forward to doing right now.
Nick
Spooda420
Member
nick,
save your pennies, use this time to drop in your fishies, get your ALK/CA right for SPS let the bioload build up, then in a few months add the chiller. fishes can live at 77-80 no problems run it light less for 2-3 months or until you can get a chiller, weather in STL is only gonna get colder, just a suggestion.
its amazing how much change you build up in 2-3 months I bought my display tank with change i saved for 2- 3 years.
or go to the boat and risk it, at the black jack tables...
looks good BTW, didnt some one say nothing good happens fast in a reef tank?
save your pennies, use this time to drop in your fishies, get your ALK/CA right for SPS let the bioload build up, then in a few months add the chiller. fishes can live at 77-80 no problems run it light less for 2-3 months or until you can get a chiller, weather in STL is only gonna get colder, just a suggestion.
its amazing how much change you build up in 2-3 months I bought my display tank with change i saved for 2- 3 years.
or go to the boat and risk it, at the black jack tables...
looks good BTW, didnt some one say nothing good happens fast in a reef tank?
Scooterman
Active Member
Question Nick? The Iwaki 55RLT is it external? I was just wondering how it transfers heat if so?
Maxx
Well-Known Member
Yeah, its a fan cooled pump, and it is external. I'm slowly isolating things to see what is causing the heat spike. But as I said earlier, I'm assuming its the pump based on the way the OM is constructed.
Chris, I've thought about doing just that...but I want to nail down every possible solution first.
BTW, you gonna suck it up and make it to the meeting on Sat?
Nick
Chris, I've thought about doing just that...but I want to nail down every possible solution first.
BTW, you gonna suck it up and make it to the meeting on Sat?
Nick
mps9506
Well-Known Member
Is the pump under the stand along side the sump, I could go back and look at the pics, but I'm lazy!
perhaps it is just heat built up under the stand causing the problem... Then a simple exhaust fan in the stand could help... Maybe...
Just typing as I think,, very dangerous...
Mike
perhaps it is just heat built up under the stand causing the problem... Then a simple exhaust fan in the stand could help... Maybe...
Just typing as I think,, very dangerous...
Mike
Craig Manoukian
Well-Known Member
Nice tape job Nick!
Maxx
Well-Known Member
I hooked up the halides tonight and turned them on. They are dual 250 watt Double Ended (DE) bulbs. I will also be running 190 watts of VHO actinics for color supplementation. I dont think they will add anything that the MH's wouldnt, temperature wise.
The lights have been running for about 6 hours and the temperature has risen to 82.4 degrees F. The house is at 69 degrees F so I think the ambient air temp has a larger effect on my tanks temp than I had hoped or expected.
I'm going to be figuring out a way to DIY a chiller from the old dorm fridge I have in the basement. I just want to lower the temp about 5 degrees or so and then use a heater to maintain the correct temp, (at least until I can afford to buy the right chiller).
I'm evaporating somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 1/2 gallons a day.
In the Things that make you go DUH!!! department:
I've been trying to figure out where a micro bubble problem was coming from since I moved the tank inside the house from the garage. The bubbles were coming from the OM unit and were all over the place...really annoying, I figured that it was just because the tank was new, and would eventually go away.
Wasnt happening. In fact, I could tell it was getting worse.
So I shut down the OM unit and pump and tried to figure out what the problem was... Checked to make sure the closed loop had enough water and wasnt causing some cavitation...everything was fine in there.
Turned it all back on...problem was worse than when I tunred it all off and looked inside the priming hook....wait a minute??? All I did was open the priming hook cap! Leaving the pump running, I unscrewed the priming hook cap, (seen in this photo...the part sticking up to the right of the Loc-Line return Y...)
And suddenly bubbles starting flooding out from the closed loop....the priming hook from the closed loop intake started sucking air horribly.....
DUH!!!!?????!!!! This is the INTAKE...its sucking air stupid!!!! Thats why there are so many micro bubbles!!!
It hadnt done this in the garage because I cranked it tight attempting to prevent a geyser of water all over my motorcycle in the garage when I was wet testing....
Took the cap off completely, wrapped the threads with teflon tape, and cranked it tight by hand.
Turned everything back on.......no bubbles!!
Yeah, I'm a genius.....
Tomorrow will be getting the light box handcrank together and then I will begin staining the lightbox support arms, and the dowel that the lightbox will hang from and will rise/lower from.
Nick
The lights have been running for about 6 hours and the temperature has risen to 82.4 degrees F. The house is at 69 degrees F so I think the ambient air temp has a larger effect on my tanks temp than I had hoped or expected.
I'm going to be figuring out a way to DIY a chiller from the old dorm fridge I have in the basement. I just want to lower the temp about 5 degrees or so and then use a heater to maintain the correct temp, (at least until I can afford to buy the right chiller).
I'm evaporating somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 1/2 gallons a day.
In the Things that make you go DUH!!! department:
I've been trying to figure out where a micro bubble problem was coming from since I moved the tank inside the house from the garage. The bubbles were coming from the OM unit and were all over the place...really annoying, I figured that it was just because the tank was new, and would eventually go away.
Wasnt happening. In fact, I could tell it was getting worse.
So I shut down the OM unit and pump and tried to figure out what the problem was... Checked to make sure the closed loop had enough water and wasnt causing some cavitation...everything was fine in there.
Turned it all back on...problem was worse than when I tunred it all off and looked inside the priming hook....wait a minute??? All I did was open the priming hook cap! Leaving the pump running, I unscrewed the priming hook cap, (seen in this photo...the part sticking up to the right of the Loc-Line return Y...)
And suddenly bubbles starting flooding out from the closed loop....the priming hook from the closed loop intake started sucking air horribly.....
DUH!!!!?????!!!! This is the INTAKE...its sucking air stupid!!!! Thats why there are so many micro bubbles!!!
It hadnt done this in the garage because I cranked it tight attempting to prevent a geyser of water all over my motorcycle in the garage when I was wet testing....
Took the cap off completely, wrapped the threads with teflon tape, and cranked it tight by hand.
Turned everything back on.......no bubbles!!
Yeah, I'm a genius.....
Tomorrow will be getting the light box handcrank together and then I will begin staining the lightbox support arms, and the dowel that the lightbox will hang from and will rise/lower from.
Nick
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Craig Manoukian
Well-Known Member
Lookin' good Maxx. A true labor of love, eh?
Maxx
Well-Known Member
I dont even have a heater in the tank yet. This all due to ambient air temp (68-70 depending on whether or not I can keep Rocio away from the thermostat...In the summer, she wants this house to be ice cold...in the winter, she wants it no less than 75....cant win for losing!), pumps transfering heat, and the lights being on.
No heater needed right now.
Nick
No heater needed right now.
Nick
Maxx
Well-Known Member
I've been as busy as Rocio would let me get on the tank today.....
Installed the dowel brackets today, cleaned of the little dorm fridge, bought a maxi jet 1200 to run water through tubing that will sit in the fridge, bought 100 feet of 1/2 ID tubing to sit in the fridge, plugged in the little fridge to see if it still works and how well it still works, (Froze a bottle of water in a couple of hours when placed on coldest setting), connected the American DJ PC-100A power centers today, and hung the ballasts for my MH's....And I took pictures of most of it.
Here is a close up of the dowel bracket.
I used a 1 3/4" hole saw to cut the hole. Heres a helpful tip those following along at home. When using a hole saw that uses a drill bit to get started, drill all the way through the wood, until the drill bit itself punches through, but not the hole saw. You can cut halfway through the wood with the hole saw if you like, but do not go all the way through with hole saw. Flip the piece over, place your drill bit in the hole it made from the other side, and cut from the other side of the piece. This time you're going all the way through the wood. In doing this, you avoid the wood splintering when the hole saw comes through. Its pretty ugly when that happens. This keeps that from happening.
In case thats really confusing to follow...drill halfway through with holesaw, all the way through with drill bit. flip piece over, line up drill bit into drill bit hole from the other side, and begin cutting. This should prevent any splintering. Its what I did here.
Here is a photo of the bracket with the dowel rod inserted. The dowel rod and the lightbox support arm still need to be stained and sealed. The hole is 1 3/4" but the dowel is only 1 1/4". I made the hole larger for two really good reasons. First, I wnated some room for the dowel to rotate with out binding up. Second, I only had 1 1/4" hole bits, and the 1 3/4" hole saw was the smallest one I had....nothing else would fit.
Nick
Installed the dowel brackets today, cleaned of the little dorm fridge, bought a maxi jet 1200 to run water through tubing that will sit in the fridge, bought 100 feet of 1/2 ID tubing to sit in the fridge, plugged in the little fridge to see if it still works and how well it still works, (Froze a bottle of water in a couple of hours when placed on coldest setting), connected the American DJ PC-100A power centers today, and hung the ballasts for my MH's....And I took pictures of most of it.
Here is a close up of the dowel bracket.
I used a 1 3/4" hole saw to cut the hole. Heres a helpful tip those following along at home. When using a hole saw that uses a drill bit to get started, drill all the way through the wood, until the drill bit itself punches through, but not the hole saw. You can cut halfway through the wood with the hole saw if you like, but do not go all the way through with hole saw. Flip the piece over, place your drill bit in the hole it made from the other side, and cut from the other side of the piece. This time you're going all the way through the wood. In doing this, you avoid the wood splintering when the hole saw comes through. Its pretty ugly when that happens. This keeps that from happening.
In case thats really confusing to follow...drill halfway through with holesaw, all the way through with drill bit. flip piece over, line up drill bit into drill bit hole from the other side, and begin cutting. This should prevent any splintering. Its what I did here.
Here is a photo of the bracket with the dowel rod inserted. The dowel rod and the lightbox support arm still need to be stained and sealed. The hole is 1 3/4" but the dowel is only 1 1/4". I made the hole larger for two really good reasons. First, I wnated some room for the dowel to rotate with out binding up. Second, I only had 1 1/4" hole bits, and the 1 3/4" hole saw was the smallest one I had....nothing else would fit.
Nick
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