Jump to content

440g Custom Starphire Metal-framed Reef Dropoff Tank


fjr_wertheimber

Recommended Posts

A few folks have asked why I'm using so many LEDs, rather than pivoting a fixture of having it move via a stepping motor. Actually, the original plan was to either pivot the fixture, or move it using a stepping motor or hydraulic actuator throughout the day, but the issues I found in those plans was a) access to the tank without having to basically disassemble that whole assembly b) angles available without a HUGE canopy c) one more level of mechanical complication (I hate having to rely on motors unless absolutely necessary. I'm definitely a solid-state kinda guy.) and d) I like the flexibility of that many LED circuits, i.e.- if it's 2pm and the lights are on the "west" side of the tank and I choose to have a "lightning storm", I can dim the "west" side and have the lightning flashes come from either the "east", "west", or a combination of the both. And yes, trust me, the color balance will change throughout the day, with more of that afternoon "golden light" that photographers love so much showing up in the early morning and late afternoon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hope everyone is enjoying the planning as much as I am... Now to get back to the building! Speaking of which, the room is almost done, we're doing our paint touchups tomorrow, getting some drapes for the room, the electrician is coming on Wednesday, and the custom floor should be in sometime in the next couple of weeks! Woohoo!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After getting a bunch of quotes from various electricians I finally went with Jeff Gray from Grayzer Electric LLC. Jeff and his apprentice just left here, and I've got to say I'm absolutely THRILLED with the quality of their work, their awesome price, and the speed with which it was all done. In less than an hour they had run the conduit outside, run the new circuits through the ceiling, into the wall, and installed the boxes and faceplates (I'm WAY oversimplifying all they had to do in order to get the circuits run). So, I now have all the electrical I should need for the tank (three dedicated 20amp circuits), woohoo! One step closer! (Oh, and thanks Hydro for suggesting Putnam, I called him to get a quote from him, and will definitely keep him in mind if Jeff is ever too busy or unable to do a job for me.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, so one change to the overall design and specification of the tank... I've decided to go with the Reef Angel controller. Why, you ask? Well, let's see: DIY LED control... check. Vortech ES control... check (well, on the way). Dosing pump controls (and dosing pumps)... check. Open source for tinkering and really cool $#!*... check. Oh, AND it's cheaper than 99% of the other controllers out there? Yup, count me in!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had it for 3 months now. There are little issues with creating new codes and attaching new hardware sometimes, but these are all easily resolved by asking questions on the forum or directly to the owner, he is great at helping out. The learning curve for the code is a little steep, but doesn't take long to figure out the basics. The controller itself has run flawlessly and I have had no issues from it.

The challenges with the system is the directions are mostly all outdated and sometimes it is hard to find the current information. They have done a great job of continuously improving the software and the products, but they have done a poor job of going back and updating the information to correspond. But as I said, this is easily resolved by asking questions. The owner has remote logged into my computer on a couple of occasions to help get something set up properly.

If you ever want to come by and get a feel for the controller and the programming required, just let me know. I am happy to give you a tour.

Who were you with, BTW? I thought I remember seeing a mention of III Corp somewhere. I did some time with 4ID.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I'd love to swing by sometime and check it out if you don't mind. I spent time with 8th MP Brigade out of Korea, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), was TAD with 4th ID, 3rd ID, WYNG, NYNG, 172nd SBCT, 3rd ACR (got my spurs from them), MNF-I, MNC-I, then off to 89th MP BDE, then to III Corps (WORST unit in the Army, IMHO), USF-I, and now Fort Living Room. grin.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, and on a (semi-) side note, if you're ever looking for a good primer when painting a room, Kilz is it. We used Kilz2 in the fish room, but then figured we'd just use the Valspar primer for our daughter's room, since we're not worried about any moisture in there. Bad idea. Coverage with the Valspar (which is actually a very highly-rated primer) is about 1/2 that of the Kilz. From now on, whether the room will see moisture or not, we're going to use Kilz for our priming needs.

Just opened up the vinyl plank flooring we special ordered from Lowe's and it's PERFECT. Looks great in the room, we can't wait to get the carpet up and put the "wood" down!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some work in progress pics:

The room as it stands tonight. Got the photo print from Kodak today (20"x30" Pro-Print on metallic paper), got the materials to put together the frame and matting, and put it all together and hung it. We still need to get the smaller frames, possibly tomorrow. Pardon the mess, like I said, it's still a work in progress.

Fishroomlarge3.png

Some of the vinyl planks. Don't worry about the drips on the floorboards, they're all getting torn up and replaced when we put down the new flooring.

Fishroomlarge2.png

The photo lit by the LED light fixture. Looks fantastic (much better than in the photo) in person, almost 3D in appearance. Definitely glad we sprung for the metallic printing.

Fishroomlarge.png

We also FINALLY (as you can tell from the first pic) found some drapes we liked. Just need to get the steamer out and steam out the wrinkles and we'll be set as far as that goes. Slowly but surely, the room is coming together...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally got the floor done and super pleased with how it turned out. Wendy grew up in the flooring business (her parents owned a flooring company) and even she was amazed with how it looks. Now to just find some baseboard I like and put that in, and the room portion of the build is done!

Fishroomlarge31.png

Fishroomlarge32.png

Fishroomlarge33.png

Now, on a (semi) side note... Wendy and I have been talking about putting together a little pico/nano for our son Tito's room. I played around with the idea, and thought, "Hey, why not make a scale version of the big tank?" So, voila!

SmallTank.jpg

Just need to pick up some 1"x2" for the stand and some 1/4" acrylic for the rest, and we're in business. Hopefully I can put it together this weekend, or at least start on it. I found some great little LED strips that will work perfectly for lighting it, and a great DIY for a pico skimmer, and Hydor makes some great little nano pumps and powerheads that will fit perfectly. Overall size (including stand) is 24"L x 12"W x 18"H.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, everyone. I've got to say we're pretty pleased so far, too.

Speaking of which, I've had a few people ask about how the big tank is being constructed, i.e.- why not make it the normal way, why build it this way, why not have AGE/Marineland/etc. make it. Here's why:

Beyond the issues of having to perfectly level the two levels in order to achieve a perfect silicone bond without weak points (if you were to build it the normal glass/silicone way), the other reason it's being siliconed directly to the steel, much like a large-scale commercial aquarium. And no, unlike some people have thought, you don't want it to give, to do so introduces shear forces upon the silicone seal. Ideally, you want to silicone directly against the most stable outer surface as possible, so that the only force being acted upon the silicone is compressive force, where the silicone acts merely as a packer and seal, rather than being held in tension or shear, as most silicone and glass aquariums are. Utilizing silicone in this manner is almost incalculably stronger (assuming a strong outer surface, i.e.- strong welds and well-built structure, to seal against) than utilizing silicone as an adhesive. Not only that, but then your safety factor relies on the strength of the glass between the steel frames, rather than upon the strength of the silicone bond (either in tension or in shear) to retain the shape of the glass and keep it from reaching the point of failure due to deflection. Remember, when calculating required glass thickness, the biggest issue is bending stress, so supporting the top and bottom of the pane of glass reduces (almost to the point of removal) that bending stress at the point where it's most likely, i.e.- the top and bottom shear-held silicone bonds. Really, the only issue relative to the use of metal for the frame is the differential linear coefficient of expansion between glass and most metals, especially steel. To offset this in larger joints (i.e.- those longer than 1 meter on their longest edge, or a bit over 2 meters in this case) the thickness of the silicone seal must be changed to allow linear expansion without the fear of compressive failure. Assuming that plate glass has a linear coefficient of expansion of ~5.0 x 10^6 in/in degrees F, and steel has a coefficient of linear thermal expansion of ~7.3 x 10^6 in/in degrees F, allowing 2-3mm per meter of joint length (i.e.- 5mm seal along the large side plates, and 3mm along the front plate) will allow the silicone to take up the linear expansion differences without failure of the silicone seal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, so speaking of over-engineering stuff, I'm trying to replicate the big tank as much as possible, and that includes making a Bubble King über-mini clone powered by a modded Maxijet 1200 (and yes, I know that the MJ is turned the wrong way, but I realized that after I built the rest of the skimmer so I'm just gonna leave the model as-is for now...). So, here's the plan for it:

MiniSkimmerforTitosTank.jpg

Yes, I know that for a nano or pico (and really, for larger tanks, too) you get much more efficient protein removal from water changes, and that for nanos and picos you don't really get much benefit from a skimmer (especially such a small one), but hey, I thought it was a pretty cool idea, so I'm gonna build it, if for no other reason than I think it will look cool under the tank... LOL

Edited by fjr_wertheimber
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...