Brian Palmers 230 Rimless Tank Thread!

B

Blue Water

Membership Expired
In the planning stage. 72X30X24
[attachment=1]230.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]230-2.jpg[/attachment]

Here's the plan.
Mostly SPS. Doubt I'll be able to resist some LPS.
DIY Stand.. probably wood.
Bean Animal with internal Calfo
Reef Octopus DC-5500 Return Pump
Most flow from 3-4 Vortechs.
Skimmer Undecided. Looking at Reef Octopus Skimmers
Probably run reactors off the return pump.
DIY sump with Middle return. Refugium to the side to control flow through it easier.
I'm thinking 3 AI Hydras rail mounted.
6 Stage Chloramine RO/DI system.
Hopefully my Reefkeeper Elite still works. Stored for last few years.
Probably dose initially . Maybe switch to Calcium reactor later.

Fish Plan!
Planning to add a Copperband as my only fish for a while. Except maybe a couple smaller peaceful fish.
I want the CBB to have super low stress before any other fish come.
Hopefully that will work out after that :
Hippo Tang
Blonde Naso
Powder Blue<---maybe
Yellow Tang
Prefer to keep Smaller versions of each. (Except the CBB)
Love Anthias, Blue Mandarin, Blennies, Some sort of wrasse.
So much to do!
Cheers
 
Very similar dimensions to what I have. Looks like a great list. The Hydra 52s will be out later this year hopefully but the regular Hydra should be more tha n enough power for the depth you have.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
 
I got it from a former member. He had David Varela build it about a year ago. Then decided not to set it up.
 
@Sherman wrote:
How many weird looks did you get pulling it the Prius? [smilie=lol.gif] said:
That's funny. I love that little trailer. It's paid for it's self many times. And it folds up to put in the corner of the garage.
Click to expand...
 
Some progress this week.
Got most of the stand done. Shopping for some sort of doors.
The red corner clamps are at Harbor Freight for $10.. Really makes it a lot easier. Also got the pocket hole guide there.
[attachment=2]IMG_0781.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]IMG_0783.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]IMG_0785.jpg[/attachment]
 
Hmmm photos worked in the preview.
[attachment=0]IMG_0790.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=2]IMG_0787.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]IMG_0788.jpg[/attachment]
 
So the stand is done except for the skin. I think I may go with some modern cabinet doors that hang on magnets. I saw a neat tank on RC that had a faux concrete finish on the sides. I may try to duplicate that and white or grey doors on the front. Anyone know where to get some not too expensive laminate doors? Home depot I asked and they don't sell just doors. Ikea had some that looked good but were 100-170 for each door. Still looking around. Shower pan liner from Home Depot was about $50. I got a personal tour of DNA today from John the owner. Showed me his personal tank in the office so it gave me some motivation. Spectacular tank. Straight forward guy.
[attachment=0]IMG_0791.jpg[/attachment]
 
Ok.. Making some progress.
Here's my DIY sump. I had Regal plastics cut everything. I figure they can cut it much cleaner than I can. They cut all the pieces including the teeth on the black piece for the refugium section. $277 plus about $20 for a can of #4 weld-on and an applicator. I buy a lot of acrylic from Regal and they're always great.
It's 48 L X 15.5 H X 21W =67 gallons. Fingers crossed for the leak test. May add probe holders and still need to cut hole on that top section for the pipes coming back from the tank.
The red clamps are truly a life saver. [smilie=smile.gif]
Acquired a used Vertex Alpha 250 and a new Reef Octopus Diablo DC-500 pump for my return.
So far the Reef Octopus appears to be about as quiet as the red dragon.. I may change my mind on that later we will see. I've only tested it out. The plastic appears to be pretty cheap though so we will see if it stands the test of time. I like that it comes with adaptors for 3/4 or 1" outlet and has a protective basket for the inlet. Feed mode button seems like a nice feature.
Pics to come for my Bean animal drains.
[attachment=2]SAM_2684.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]SAM_2685.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]SAM_2686.jpg[/attachment]
 
[attachment=2]SAM_2687.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]SAM_2688.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]SAM_2689.jpg[/attachment]
 
My suggestion is get a skimmer neck cleaner either a swabbie or a vertex. Also order the adjustable skimmer volute from premium aquatics. I had an vertex alpha 200 and they made skimmer run so much better.

Build looks awesome


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
 
Good advice thanks. I was wondering about that. I've never owned one so I knew it was one of the early models but it does at least have the 47mm pump to skimmer connector. Didn't know you could order one thanks. I'll do that.
 
Slowly getting there. Got it on the stand today and find out the stand is not perfect. There is a gap of about 3/32" on one of the corners. Tomorrow I'm going to have to take apart part of the stand and make some new sections so it will fill that gap. Frustrating cuz I thought for sure all the cuts were just right. Also I can tell with a level it won't be perfectly level without some shims. So gonna work on that this week. Painted the back myself.
Also I made the mesh sock holders in the sump and a home made probe holder. Got lucky and found a nice 1/2" piece of Acrylic in the scrap bin at Regal plastics. Perfect for sock and probe holder.
For the probe holder... I have a cheap thread tap set from Harbor freight. The one I used was 1/4 " 28 threads. Well got the the store and find out they don't carry that nylon bolt at Home depot.. but they do have 1/4" 20.. So I just bought a metal 1/4" 20 bolt and reamed out the hole with that to make new threads. It worked and now the nylon bolt fits in the threads.
[attachment=2]IMG_0905.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]IMG_0906.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]IMG_0909.jpg[/attachment]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top