dandy7200

OK, your first idea was good but, your second one is bad (or a waste rather). First of all what is the purpose of a overflow box other than to get water from tank to sump? Surface skimming. If you don't want to slot the tank there is absolutely no reason why you would need a external box. All you would be doing is creating a pipe, which can easily be replaced with.....a pipe . Nothing wrong with not doing the external and just putting bulkheads in and then a durso out the back, in fact it is very common. On a 55 I don't think I would waste my valuable space with a Coast to Coast or Calfo Overflow but, do some research on those as it is another option. If you do go with the external overflow, let me critique your plans a little. 21" high: Do you really want to stick your arm down in a overflow that far? It's going to be heavy and akward, it doesn't need to sit on the stand the silicone will hold it fine. I would break my tank before I was able to pry mine off if I tried. Backbone, well that is a good idea and it would add a support to keep the back panel from bowing, I like that idea alot, I would run the back support to the stand and only let the overflow hang about 12" at the most. One overflow a little larger is better than two: Much cheaper, less cutting. The split sump thing I don't understand. Ok well I understand why but the flow doesn't make sence, maybe I'm just reading it wrong. I'll go back and read it again. The absolute first thing you need to figure out though is it the back glass is tempered, because if it is you will have a much bigger overflow than you need :wink: . Oh yeah, scrap the sound proof cap and use a restricted overflow with a gate valve and a emergency drain if noise is a problem....DEAD SILENT! Actually I have a piece of clear glass on mine just to keep the salt creep in check, algae is not a problem for me YMMV.

Remove the bones?????? Am I lazy or is that really needed? I just feed about 1/3 of a whole silverside, sometimes it's soaked in selcon sometimes not, sometimes I put a little cylopeeze in the cup and let it all marinate along with some DT's and PE Mysis. Heres a shot I got today....

Some linky's as per request One Two Three Four Good stuff there.

External overflow is just drilling a really large hole in a tank . I can give you some links that describe the process a little better than I documented it. I made the slight modification of adding a extra pane of glass to the overflow but, that is the only differance between what I have done and what many others have. Be warned though many, many tanks have cracked while attempting this. I felt very comfortable doing it on a three sided tank vs. a four sided tank, the physics are in my favor or not, I could never figure that one out.....lets stick to in my favor, that helps me sleep better......oh yeah and the floor drain . Dan

Hahaha, it's too late to run power tools or I would still be working

Thanks Thomas, no prop tank.......yet :wink: Steve I had just started measuring everything when you stopped buy...... OK, next step is to make the plywood top and bottom. I found 1/2" maple ply that had some damage and bought the sheet for $19 . Jig saw, bbbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Testing the fit with the new reflector and face frame. Same for the top. Attach rails for the top. A few screws to hold it all together and voila..... When the canopy is down I have 16" from the top to water, and I have 21" maximum lift before I hit the ceiling. Lots still left to do but, I feel pretty good that I knocked the frame out in two evenings. If any webmaster happens to read this, can you tell me why this code doesn't work? <a href=" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/101/256056730_109077f58d.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="DSCN1387" /></a I left the last > out so you could see. Thanks

Looks good! My tapetum pair has colored up nicely as well. Still want to get that food Scott suggested? Also how often are you feeding them? I am doing 2-3 times/week.

He just has his priority's strait

I did cut the top and bottom plates from 1x12 pine. After the frame is complete I will cut a solid full piece of 1/2" ply and attach it to the top and bottom to reinforce things. I did the resaw and glue laminate work on the actual tank stand but, felt it would probably be overkill for this application.........goes to flickr....... Hey I didn't see Tex in pic #4, good eye Flowerseller. I have had him for 3 months. The first 6 weeks he went through hypo (bad ich from Roozens) and he has adjusted to the tank well. I already have him hand feeding. Don't worry folks I have a 280 planned for next year . Thanks Bob, I am excited to see how it turns out as well. Sometimes I get used to the way things look and forget that they could always be better.

Bill Wann does. This is your opportunity to watch the build of the largest privately owned reef tank in the states, as documented by Spazz. Cheers

Alright I figured if I post this here it will keep me motivated to finish this project. Please feel free to chime in with suggestions, advice or questions or to just give me a poke in the ribs to help me want to finish what I start . I was planning on waiting another 6 months or so to build the canopy/stand skinning/built-in bookshelves that will be surrounding my tank but, since I am doing a lighting upgrade/switch I thought now would be a good time to at least build the canopy for the tank to hide the retro kits (I am replacing a sleek looking fixture) My internal geek requires that the canopy not only functions and looks good but, also moves up and down by a linear actuator on a rocker switch. Step one: Install 24" heavy duty glides to wall (wall is already prepped with 1/2" ply backer board). Step two: Attach wooden runners to the glide rails. You can see in the above pictures that I have already cut the templete piece that will serve as the frame for the bowfront canopy, which leads us to..... Step three: Cut two identical 1x to fit the front of the canopy. Cut 9ea 13 1/2" 1x2 to brace and be nailers for the skin. Test for fit. I ordered the mechanical parts including a 18" linear actuator rated for 150# at .7"/sec travel speed, a momentary rocker switch, and rocking mounting brackets from FA Automations. It shipped today so I guess I will get it sometime next week. I hope to build most of the framework this weekend and will update as I go. Can we get some more emoticons? This does not accurately describe how I feel.

I have a feeling you will now get your wish

Hey Rob, wanna spell check that one for us?

Sorry the pics are not there. This is the bulb I selected. Aquablue+ Link It is a 60% actinic and 40% white. I was going to go with the actinicwhite but this was similar, had more par and hit a better portion of the noon sun spectrum. That said I have no Idea about T-5 lighting other than what I have read. I did ask TGR over on the Q-5 T&A thread on RC about the reflectors and he thought it was a non issue as the PFO reflector would do a great job. I am interested to find out what kind of differance it makes. Like I said the relectors come with the kit and so I will have them if I need them. What I am really hoping to do is be able to do is fit 2 T-5 bulbs on each side and then slap pure actinics on them and then as Chris said: the best of three worlds. We will see. How much room does the T-5 take with the reflector? without? Thanks for the help everybody.

It doesn't have to be fair, it is an opinion so it should stay. My opinion is that I strongly disagree with the review. GO WALLY"S!

The PFO parallel reflector should work better to distribute the light front to back. The kit comes with the reflectors so I do have the option to use them if "should" doesn't work as planned.

They may eat hermits. My experience is when a shrimp falls off the prong and the hermits attack it the snowflake grabs the shrimp and shakes it until they flail away like little girly hermits. I guess it may be differant from individual to individual, just like us, some hunt and some wait for the pizza guy to ring the doorbell.

I love mine. Had him 2 years. Tunnels the sand is my only complaint. Never tried to attack or eat anything except his shrimp on a stick . He did look for escape routes when I fist got him, at that time my hood was tight fitting. A year ago I opened up the canopy a bit and he hasn't noticed yet. I got him at about 6" long and as thin as popsicle stick. He is now 18" and about 3/4" fat

Final decision: PFO Parallel reflector 24" PFO Standard Magnetic Ballast 250w (m58) XM 20k se 2 bulb Tek T-5 Retro 24" (doubt I'll use the individual reflectors) 2ea Powerchrome Aquablue+ Still looking for advice/experience on photoperiod..........

Thought I would share . It was pointed out to me that I needed to post this here as well. Well my 50 px was just to loud. I took off the fan shroud first and that made a huge difference. If this tank was in the living room or family room I think my mod would have stopped there. Just by taking the black piece off the back it cut the noise by at least half. Alas the tank is in my office and I am trying to acheive the silent tank so next I took the fan off completely. This made the pump run at barely audible. Great but, I think the fan is supposed to be there for something right? Well just for kicks I ran the pump for 4 hours fanless to see how hot it would get. It was hot but much, much less than the equivelent Velosity T-2 and quieter to boot. After 4 hours it took my tank temperature up by 2 degrees (90 gallons total water). I run central air in a pretty new house so the ambient air does not change. I decided that the heat gain was worth the trade off for the noise but, don't really want to fry the pump so I bought this. This is a pretty hardcore P4 chipset heatsink and fan. Put a hole in the heatsink. The metal fins were really hot from the heat transfer as I drilled through the solid copper core, so I believe this will work good. Strapped her on. Hooked up the fan rated at .2 amps 35cfm and only 22db. Fired the system up and guess what? 1. Silence. 2. Tank temperature DROPPED 2 degrees from when the original fan was bolted on. 3. Never would have guessed but the pump starting pushing more! I would say around 100 gph. I guess the motor didn't have to turn the clunky fan any more so it has more umph for turning water. I only noticed because I have my return line restricted for testing the Herbie Overfow on the tank. A few months of discussion about this mod can be found here.

10 minutes work with the dremel . The only thing I really see differant about the design from what scarletnight06 posted is that I built a 4 sided box instead of 3. The panel that sits against the tank glass is cut 1 inch shorter and I put it there as I felt it would help to reinforce the slot.

I've been contemplating the Geosapper for quite some time. I ordered the Nanochloropsus disk from Florida AF a few months ago. I at the time mainly wanted the Phytoplankton Culture Manual but, it was much cheaper to just buy the disk at the same time. I have three in the veggie crisper . I have been thinking though that I may start a culture with DT's Premium so I can get the Phaeodactylum as well for the EFA. I dunno. Steve Tyree has had sucess with using fresh water to culture Nano, F2, sit in the window, and just let it be. So sometimes I wonder if I am overthinking it. Dan

Lowes has 1" and 1 1/2" although it is actually cheaper to buy it at savko.com and pay shipping.

Does anyone maybe have advice on photoperiod when the 20k is halide and t-5 "suppliment" is a high par daylight bulb? I was just thinking of reversing and running the halide 12 hours a day and the t-5 for the 8hours in the middle?