tonkadawg June 16, 2008 Author Share June 16, 2008 dude thats awesome work... crazy creativity to draw up that design, glad its all going according to plan... thanks Josh - I do have to admit, not everything has gone to plan. But, I'm not going to tell you what it was, I want to see if you can figure it out when it's done. that looks great! It took me untill now to figure out where the tank was going to go. no worries, I've had several people a bit confused on the tank placement too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefmontalvo June 16, 2008 Share June 16, 2008 Very nice work. I still need to stain my stand. Because everthing else in the house is either tan to match the berber carpet or black to match the 60inch HD sitting in the corner of the living room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg June 16, 2008 Author Share June 16, 2008 got the bracket to the powder coaters this afternoon - unfortunately it's going to be next week before they have it done :( I was really hoping they might have it ready for me in the next couple of days. Oh well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg June 20, 2008 Author Share June 20, 2008 (edited) quick little update while I'm waiting for the canopy bracket at the powder coaters... got the sump planned out: dimensions are 12" wide x 14" deep x 16" high - skimmer box, intake from tank is on top left, the middle/bottom/biggest section will be for the mangrove and cheato, and on top right is the return to chiller and tank. This area will also have the ATO sensors and controller probs. also, last night I ended up ordering the panels. I realized that I'm not going to have the time to build them like I wanted to and for the $270 it would be a lot less of a hassle to get them done. They should be here in 6 weeks. any ways, let me know what you think. Edited June 20, 2008 by tonkadawg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg June 20, 2008 Author Share June 20, 2008 and mostly because I'm bored at work, I did the water reservoir. Doing this did help me nail down the final dimensions, so not a complete waste of time dimensions will be 4"x14"x18" - approximately 4 gallons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger June 20, 2008 Share June 20, 2008 clean design... wondering though if you want to increas the size of the water top off tank... you might grow tired of fill up that tank once every other day. Looking way too cool my friend, great work overall!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg June 20, 2008 Author Share June 20, 2008 clean design... wondering though if you want to increas the size of the water top off tank... you might grow tired of fill up that tank once every other day. Looking way too cool my friend, great work overall!! thanks Josh! unfortunately, can't make the ato tank any bigger - if I did, sump would have to be smaller. Right now, I've got about 1/2 gallon evap a day - with a cooling fan running. Once the sump comes on line, I'll be hooking up a chiller too and doing away with the fan. I think I'll be able to go a week before I need to fill the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy953 June 22, 2008 Share June 22, 2008 Very cool! I love the finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak June 22, 2008 Share June 22, 2008 Love the coating finish it looks really neat. Can't wait to see that sump together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg June 25, 2008 Author Share June 25, 2008 (edited) alright kiddies - update time got the canopy bracket back from powder coating - turned out excellent!!! mounted to the stand and canopy: and everything together for the final installation: next up is a nice pile of acrylic (thanks again Jeff and Josh ). Baring any major life altering events (oh I don't know, maybe something like my first born decides it's time to bless us with his/her presence) I should be starting on the ATO storage tank and sump no later than this weekend. Anyways, some really nice 1/4" acrylic with some very clean jointed edges: Edited June 25, 2008 by tonkadawg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak June 26, 2008 Share June 26, 2008 How do you plan to hold the acrylic while you glue it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg June 26, 2008 Author Share June 26, 2008 How do you plan to hold the acrylic while you glue it. you mean when making right angles and what not? I need to test the idea still, but what I'm thinking is to get a couple of plastic right angles and tape them to the acrylic - in the end, everything will be held in place correctly. If that idea doesn't work, I'll make a jig out of some scrap wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg June 28, 2008 Author Share June 28, 2008 change in plan - decided to move the tank to it's new location before making the sump. here is the tank pre move - note the official Miller Light fan stand and the new location ready for the tank: and in place!!! and a couple of full tank shots - skimmer is putting out some crazy bubbles - that will be fixed with the sump. Also, sorry about the blue - I haven't figured out how to adjust the white balance with my camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg July 31, 2008 Author Share July 31, 2008 (edited) found a full tank shot from the first of July. Things have changed since then (more corals, different pumps, cleaner set up, etc) //edit man, that's a crappy pic - it looked good on my phone. I need to find someone who's good with a camera and get them to take some pics for me. Edited July 31, 2008 by tonkadawg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak July 31, 2008 Share July 31, 2008 I urge you to paint that maxijet and frag rack black with krylon fusion it'll look great. The tank looks spectacular though, especially that maxima Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg July 31, 2008 Author Share July 31, 2008 I urge you to paint that maxijet and frag rack black with krylon fusion it'll look great. The tank looks spectacular though, especially that maxima yup, way ahead of you. both will be going into the sump once it's brought on line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg August 3, 2008 Author Share August 3, 2008 finally got to work on the sump: I'm hoping to find enough time today to finish this and the ATO reservoir and start leak testing tonight/tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg August 6, 2008 Author Share August 6, 2008 sump finished and being leak tested: ordered everything to get the tank drilled and plumbed for the sump. Also got the panels in, just need to finish sand, seal and install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger August 7, 2008 Share August 7, 2008 NICE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg September 2, 2008 Author Share September 2, 2008 not much in the way of pictures, but some major milestones accomplished. Sump and chiller are online - had some minor set backs though. When I first drilled the tank, I was going to use 1/2" drain and return. Problem with this is that water wasn't moving fast enough through the sump and I had the mag 5 return pump all but shut down. This of course tripped the chiller on and off more than necessary. Had to order 3/4" flex pvc and bulk heads then wait a week to get it. Last night, pulled everything down, removed all the 1/2" drain lines and drilled out the tank for the 3/4" bulk head. Got the new line run and opened up the mag 5. Next on the list is to clean up some of the plumbing - I didn't have all the pcv pieces I needed so I had to hack together everything. Not required, but it will drive me crazy if I don't. Skimmer is still on the back of the tank, need to take that down, clean it and install on the sump. And I still need to get a couple of pieces of acrylic for the ATO tank. Not making progress as fast as I had wanted, but at least I'm still moving forward and the hard/stressful part is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg December 24, 2008 Author Share December 24, 2008 long over due for an update I did get the ATO finished up and working. And then today I was able to hang all but 2 of the panels. The magnet idea didn't work out as planned so I opted for some super strength velcro for the time being. If I can figure out a way, I go back to using the magnets as the velcro pushes the panels out by about an 1/8" causing the panels to not line up exactly. heres with just actinic: and now with actinic and MH: and a couple of close up FTS: I need to do some sanding on the other 2 panels and then glue them into place - should have that done in what 6 months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLazar December 24, 2008 Share December 24, 2008 Really nice! Love the stand and canopy, tank is looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capsfan December 24, 2008 Share December 24, 2008 The stand and canopy are awesome! Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonkadawg December 26, 2008 Author Share December 26, 2008 thanks guys/girls since moving and adding the sump, chiller, ato and actinic's the tank is really starting to color up (I'm a terrible photographer and the pics don't really show it). It's not entirely where I'd like the coral coloration to be, but I'm working on reducing nutrients and it's getting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanCallan December 28, 2008 Share December 28, 2008 thanks guys/girls since moving and adding the sump, chiller, ato and actinic's the tank is really starting to color up (I'm a terrible photographer and the pics don't really show it). It's not entirely where I'd like the coral coloration to be, but I'm working on reducing nutrients and it's getting there. I found with my tank that I could get nutrients down really low if I did daily water changes. There are a couple threads on RC about the benefits. One of the chemists over there reported seeing years worth of growth in SPS in a matter of months with daily water changes. You're not only removing a bunch of the nutrients but you're adding back in on the trace elements and minerals. Some people over there say that if you're consistent in your daily water changes that you can eliminate the need for a skimmer all together. Another thing you may want to look into is dosing a carbon source (vodka, vinegar, and sugar). Possibly a combination of all three since they affect different strains in the water column. On RC theres a thread about someone testing out the various combinations, may be worth looking into. I'm looking into one of those GroTech dosing pumps so I can use it to dose NeoZeo and to do a 1 gallon automatic water change a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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