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12/27/06
Ok, I've been slacking on both working on the new tank, and taking pictures of things that I've done. In the past week or so I've cut all the baffles for the sump, finished the auto-topoff system, built the duplex part of the refugium out of overpriced egg-crate and mounted some of the electrical components. I had to mount some of the electrical stuff on the outside of the stand, which I really didn't want to do, but due to space constraints I felt that it was the best thing to do. Besides, the dual-stage temperature controller, the ORP controller and the pH controller are on the outside away from splashing and humidity, another plus. If I route all of the wiring decent, it shouldn't look too bad though.
Here's the brackets that I made from scrap acrylic to hold the float switches...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...1/bracket1.jpg
I used the good ol' heat gun to heat up the acrylic and bend it to go over the sump...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...1/bracket2.jpg
Here's another picture of the main bracket...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...1/bracket3.jpg
I then used some more 1/8" scrap acrylic to make brackets for the float switches. I'll use some little zip-ties to hold them to the main bracket. I drilled a bunch of holes every inch on the main bracket so I'll have some options once everything is installed.
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...1/bracket4.jpg
Here's a picture of the components all labeled and pretty. :)
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...1/bracket5.jpg
Here's the materials that I used to make the duplex part of the refugium. I just zip-tied everything together. Pretty easy...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...01/duplex1.jpg
And here it's all put together...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...01/duplex2.jpg
I had a few new costs, but the good news is that I only have some reflectors to buy for the T5 bulbs and I should be done with expenses, except for a few odds and ends.
I bought the motor for the light mover off of ebay. It will run my 150W halide back and forth across the tank. I'm pretty psyched about it. The bad news is that it makes my canopy that much more complicated. Oh well...
http://i4.ebayimg.com/01/i/06/5b/38/82_3.JPG
I also ordered 4 36" CoralVue T5 bulbs, two 50/50 and two blue ones. I run 48" ones over my 120G tanks and I like the way they look.
Agramover: $140
Bulbs: $75
Running total: $160.77
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12/27/06 continued...
I also worked on the baffles for the sump. I'm going to go with the pressure locking baffles that I found information on the web about. I also posted that here: http://www.myreef.com/smf/index.php?topic=19.0
I cut the baffles about 1/4" shorter than the width of the tank, maybe a bit less than 1/4". The EPDM gasketing material will fill up the remaining space and hopefully hold them in place. I'm also going to be adding a little bracing to make sure that they don't move. Kinda defeats the purpose of the pressure locking baffles, but they're all still removable if need be...
Here's the EPDM stripping on the side of one of the baffles. Couldn't be much easier to install to be honest...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...01/baffle1.jpg
Here's a couple more shots...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...01/baffle2.jpg
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...01/baffle3.jpg
It's hard to see in this picture, but I also welded some 1.25" pieces of acrylic to the center baffle in the bubble trap to keep the distance between the baffles not only even, but it keeps the center piece of acrylic about 1.25" above to floor of the sump...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...01/baffle4.jpg
Here's a shot of the electrical components that I mounted on the outside of the stand. I'll be trying to route all of the wires so that it looks good...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...lectrical1.jpg
Other than all of those goodies, it's ready to be taken to work for setup. I took the display tank to work today and I'm going to try to grab a van from work tomorrow at lunch so I can grab the stand and sump and whatever else I'm sure I'll need.
Woohoo! We're close now! While the tank is cycling for a month or whatever, that'll give me time to build the canopy for the lighting.
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can you explane more about the presure lock baffles ?
what is epdm stripping?
tell all !!!! i would likeuse this system in my sump!!!!!!!! :):):):):) verry cool verrrrrry cool!!!!
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Well my Illini friend... If you had perused the link that I had provided (here) then you might have the required info. :) I can see how you might have missed said link though because you're trying to wrap your brain around how the Bears are going to lose to the Packers this weekend. :p
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du(me) must a read right over it im sorry so wrap up on what i saw it must not registerd in my head on what i read some times
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12/28/06
Quoting Professor Farnsworth from Futurama...
http://www.ams.org/mathmedia/images/...ringtheory.jpg
"Good news everyone!"
I got everything to work and got the plumbing all cemented together. I tossed one end of the RO/DI hose into the tank and proceeded to start filling. The RO/DI was on for about an hour or so before I left work and with the 5 gallons of water I had laying around in a bucket, I would guess there was about 10-12 gallons in the tank before I left to go home. I was a little nervous about running the water all night in case something happened, so I put it on a timer to it will shut off in a few hours. As impatient as I am to get it running, I want it to be done right. I'm pretty sure that when I get to work (provided the stand didn't collapse :) ) and turn the RO/DI back on that it won't be full by the time I leave work, so that will be a bit disappointing. Oh well.
I took some more pictures with my other camera, but that's at work. I've got a busy day at work tomorrow so I'm not sure if I'll have any time to post them before the weekend. If I don't forget the camera at work, I'll post some this weekend.
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yay yay you ...the man and nice job on the eletronicks(sp)
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Eric, that is a suweet set up you got there. man I cannot wait to see that when its all done!!!!! keep us posted buddy
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Needless to say, I hardly got any sleep last night. All I could think of was that the stand collapsed and everything was wrecked and I had 20 gallons of water on the floor of my office. Got into work today and everything was good! The tank was about half full. I brought 5 gallons of water from home and dumped it in, as well as my last bag of Southdown sand. It's about 3/4 full now I think. I turned the RO/DI water back on, but I doubt that it'll fill the sump today. We'll see I guess.
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12/29/06 continued...
Well kids, here are some pictures of the agonizingly slow fill process and whatnot...
Here's a shot of the area in my office "before" tank...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...001/before.jpg
And here's a picture of some masking tape that I put on the tank so I could see how long it was taking to fill. :)
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...001/levels.jpg
I MAY have borrowed a couple, or three, 5 gallon water jugs from our drinking water fountains to help expedite the process. Shhhh
Here's where I was last night when I left work...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...nk_filling.jpg
Here's a picture of the sump all assembled before I put it into the cabinet...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb.../sump_dry1.jpg
And another picture of it...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb.../sump_dry2.jpg
And here's a couple pictures of the sump installed in the cabinet...
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...installed1.jpg
http://www.ericfeige.com/gallery/alb...installed2.jpg
I'm pretty close to actually being able to turn the pumps on. The closed loop is up and running, but I think I'm going to have to dial the return back a little bit because my drain can't handle it.