Living Room Nano Peninsula

[YHSublime]

19 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

Nice! Which power strip did you get? Although my DT is on a controller, my mixing station is all powered by my Kasa.

 

Kasa, it's awesome

 

6 minutes ago, Abe said:

Picture look great but they don’t make justice on how awesome it looks in person. Can’t wait for the new tank to get salty

 

You're too kind, thanks!

[nburg]

Those Zoas are looking good! Getting some good growth on those AOIs. 

[YHSublime]

Those Zoas are looking good! Getting some good growth on those AOIs. 

The frag tank is perfect zoa grow out, I’m very pleased with its performance. I pay it little mind, and it’s rewarding, lol.

[YHSublime]

I'm prepared to be furious when I've missed something:

 

A lot of dollars later, ordered the following for plumbing:

 

LoPro External Overflow Box (1600 GPH) - Fiji Cube

1 1/2" x 46" Black Schedule 40 Pipe (straight run down into the sump)

1 1/2” Schedule 80 Union Slip x Slip (Unions, unions, everywhere!)

1 1/2” Spears Gate Valve Slip x Slip (How is this half the cost of the overflow?!)

35 mm Diamond Coated Glass Drill Bit (For the return)

3/4” Bulkhead ABS Thread x Thread (For the return)

3/4” Schedule 80 90° Elbow Barb x Female Thread (For the return)

NPT Connector for 3/4” Modular Hose - Loc-Line (For the return)

Black Vinyl Tubing 3/4" ID - Kuri-Tec (For the return) 

3/4” Bulkhead ABS Thread x Thread (For the sump)

Schedule 80 Reducing Coupler 1 1/2” Slip x 1” Slip (for the 1.5" down into the 1" bulkheads in the sump)

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In order to plug the holes in the bottom of the Deep Blue 80

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Schedule 80 Spigot Plug 1"

1” Bulkhead ABS Slip x Slip

Schedule 80 Spigot Plug 3/4"

3/4” Bulkhead ABS Slip x Slip

[howaboutme]

Ah..brings back memories of mine:

[YHSublime]

About right, probably better thought out. Either way, gaining quicker than I anticipated.

[YHSublime]

Well, left my tanks for the longest I probably ever had, and traveled out to the West Coast. Two weeks later, everything is looking awesome. I left a 20 gallon tub out with RO, as my top off container is only about 4 gallons, and was glad I did. Either I forget how everything looks, or it's all exploded in growth while I was not in it every day. 

 

I've been home for about 12 hours, and already started tackling this project:

 

Here is the tank with the overflow it came with:

 

I've since sliced that out, and plugged the bottom with bulkheads:

 

Then I took it outside for a nice little drill sesh:

 

 

 

Bulkhead plug leak test:

 

To infinity and beyond:

 

The plumbing should work out great, as I plan to drop directly down into the bulkheads in the sump. The return won't be as fun, but I can always overpower the pump. I debated turning the whole thing horizontal and off the other wall, until I remembered the beams don't run the right way to distribute the weight. It'll be great, but a little cluttered with 3 tanks in the small office. 

 

I'm also a little concerned, as I don't want the sump sitting directly on the floor, but if I put it on a board to raise it, I'll lose a lot of height. I'd build a box to put the sump in, but it butts directly up against the bracing of the stand, I could probably get 4" of a lip and have some play L-R (or Width Wise if you think Peninsula) 

 

[howaboutme]

Looks great! good luck w/ the plumbing. I found that to be fun.

[YHSublime]

7 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

Looks great! good luck w/ the plumbing. I found that to be fun.

 

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, lol. It'll be a breeze *knocks on wood.* 

[YHSublime]

 

[howaboutme]

Haha, not sarcastic. Luckily, I measured twice/thrice and cut once but mine wasn't nearly as complicated. I also didn't have any leaks.

 

By the way, the E-drain pipe that FijiCube includes I found too short so I just created my own. I wanted mine just a bit higher for a quieter "water fall" (ie, silent). Just note that if you do play w/ this height, do a E drain test. My first shot at a taller E pipe resulted in almost having the water go over the box. But with a bean animal you may not have this issue.

[YHSublime]

1 hour ago, howaboutme said:

Haha, not sarcastic. Luckily, I measured twice/thrice and cut once but mine wasn't nearly as complicated. I also didn't have any leaks.

 

So far so good over here. It's going to be pretty simple, it'll drop right down about 3' of space directly into the sump. I'm very pleased with the shake out. It looks great. I have a hard time believing the push in internal box will cut it, but I don't see why not.... this is also probably way bigger than I needed, but I wanted a bean animal. 

 

Did have some leaks on the floor plugs, but got it worked out before bringing inside. 

 

2 hours ago, howaboutme said:

By the way, the E-drain pipe that FijiCube includes I found too short so I just created my own. I wanted mine just a bit higher for a quieter "water fall" (ie, silent). Just note that if you do play w/ this height, do a E drain test. My first shot at a taller E pipe resulted in almost having the water go over the box. But with a bean animal you may not have this issue.

 

Good to know. I've got Ben building a top for me, so until that's done I don't plan to plumb it, but I do have some rock cycling in a tub downstairs just in case. The plan is to move everything from both tanks into the 80, and kind of let it ride. The whole less is more thing. There's a lot of sump room, and my water height should be pretty high as well, it's going to be slick. 

[WheresTheReef]

In the picture it looks like the bulkhead is upsidedown. Did you consider installing the plugged bulkheads the other way for a lower profile in the tank? Would look a little nicer imo. Less likely to smash the bulkhead and crack it too. That would also put the gasket on the flat side of the bulkhead so the nut doesn't twist the gasket.

Edited April 28, 2022 by WheresTheReef

[YHSublime]

Did you consider installing the plugged bulkheads the other way for a lower profile in the tank? Would look a little nicer imo. Less likely to smash the bulkhead and crack it too. That would also put the gasket on the flat side of the bulkhead so the nut doesn't twist the gasket.

I did. There’s not a lot of room the other way around. I thought about trimming it down. The solution was a gasket on either side. I could get lower profile, but plan to cover it with a rock anyways. It’s not perfect, but I’m repurposing used.


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[Pedro]

49 minutes ago, YHSublime said:

I did. There’s not a lot of room the other way around. I thought about trimming it down. The solution was a gasket on either side. I could get lower profile, but plan to cover it with a rock anyways. It’s not perfect, but I’m repurposing used.


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Are you putting sand in the new tank?

[YHSublime]

Are you putting sand in the new tank?

TBD. Probably not. Unless you can change my mind.


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[YHSublime]

Evolution:

 

 

 

 

I won some Noopsyche LED's for the 80 gallon. I had never heard of them before, but they had reached out to me in the past about sporting them. I received them in the mail last week, and they visually seem to be a good amount of light. I plan to sign up for the par meter so I can actually figure out what it looks like going from my LED/T5 combo over to two of these V7 K3's. I'm debating ordering another one, which I think would fit the bill just right. 

 

Because of the peninsula, I won't be able to use the arms, so I'm thinking about a lacquered board with holes drilled through it mounted with an ATI hanging kit. Ideally I'd like to be able to hold 3 lights, and mount it to the ceiling as cleanly as the other lights are in the office. Anybody have some ideas? I might reach out to some folks that I know have access to a CNC machine and see if they can get something put together, but open to options!

 

The other thing I'd like to figure out is what return pump I'm going to use. That and what to do with the sump. As the braces for the stand sit, the sump fits very snugly in-between the front and back. I had considered building a box underneath the braces and waterproofing it so the sump could still sit on the floor, however, if I put it on top of the braces, or built a ledge on which the sump could sit, I could have it slide out the back so the plumbing would drop directly down into the sump from the external overflow box. 

 

What's everybody's thoughts? 

 

[DaJMasta]

Very nice looking setup!  For hanging the lights, you could consider something like the RMS mount rail or an equivalent aluminum extrusion, then hanging the whole rail, or if you were feeling fancy, anchoring the hanging points to the rail and having the lights be sort of 'free hanging' without connections between them.  In either case, having the hanging parts anchored to a rail gives you some flexibility to position them or add/remove them as needed.

Personally, I think keeping the sump off the floor is a benefit, so a platform of some sort is probably good, but I don't know if putting it on the braces is better.  On one hand, you do get a bit better of a look into it, but you lose some overhead height to add/remove the skimmer and other maintenance stuff.  I also don't know if a straight shot from the overflow would be a benefit - a longer drop will likely mean more noise and microbubbles - so leaving it offset and centered in the stand but putting in a couple of 45 degree angled fittings to sort of zig zag into the sump may be the quieter option.

[YHSublime]

15 minutes ago, DaJMasta said:

Very nice looking setup!  For hanging the lights, you could consider something like the RMS mount rail or an equivalent aluminum extrusion, then hanging the whole rail, or if you were feeling fancy, anchoring the hanging points to the rail and having the lights be sort of 'free hanging' without connections between them.  In either case, having the hanging parts anchored to a rail gives you some flexibility to position them or add/remove them as needed.

 

Thanks! It's been quite a lot of work, but it's slowly coming together. Honestly, the RMS mount rail sounds like the easiest option. This is a problem I don't mind throwing money at if somebody else has done the work to create the product. I'm betting 80/20 or an equal product is available as well. The RMS has cable tracking, so that's already a plus. The problem with each one free standing, which I do like and have seen, is the cable management for each power cord. 

 

21 minutes ago, DaJMasta said:

Personally, I think keeping the sump off the floor is a benefit, so a platform of some sort is probably good, but I don't know if putting it on the braces is better.  On one hand, you do get a bit better of a look into it, but you lose some overhead height to add/remove the skimmer and other maintenance stuff.  I also don't know if a straight shot from the overflow would be a benefit - a longer drop will likely mean more noise and microbubbles - so leaving it offset and centered in the stand but putting in a couple of 45 degree angled fittings to sort of zig zag into the sump may be the quieter option.

 

I'm with you on keeping the sump off the floor. I'm sure my partner is as well. What I'd do is just put a whole board over the bottom, instead of just bracing. Alternatively, and she will hate this idea, but I love it, is plumb it down into my basement. In the immediate it's probably not feesable, but I'm waiting for us to refinish a few floors before I make dedicated commitment to a small fish room or space down in the basement. Then I'd do something even bigger and probably build a water mixing station instead of trashcans, etc. 

 

OK, enough dreaming. The problem with the 45 degree fittings is that I'm reducing from 1.5" from the overflow into 1" into the sump. Might mean I just have to do it earlier. I do like the idea of keeping the very front open for a box for electronics, like the MP controllers, and an apex display if I ever go that route. This will eventually be covered with a "U-like facade" that will slide over the aluminum frame and make it look like a wooden stand, with doors and all, just like the nano (except the nano is all wood.) This will also make it easier to move in the future. 

[nburg]

I won a noosyche unit on reef2reef a little over a year ago and actually like it a lot. I run it over my frag area in my sump and get good color blending and corals color up nice down there. Not sure on spread and par for a bigger tank, but it’s putting it some good par for me. Controller sucks, but once you get used to it, it’s not too bad. For the money, they’re nice lights. 

[YHSublime]

5 minutes ago, nburg said:

I won a noosyche unit on reef2reef a little over a year ago and actually like it a lot. I run it over my frag area in my sump and get good color blending and corals color up nice down there. Not sure on spread and par for a bigger tank, but it’s putting it some good par for me. Controller sucks, but once you get used to it, it’s not too bad. For the money, they’re nice lights. 

 

Yeah, the instructions are almost non existent, but once you you tube and reach around the internet a little bit, you can figure out how to set them up. Glad to hear your experience was/is good, honestly, 2 look like they will get the job done, but my tank currently has a LOT of light, I want to continue that. Just talking it out right now, I think a way to continue that would be to go with the 48" aquatic life hybrid to continue on with my T5's as well. 

[AlanM]

Do you have the ability to measure the diameter of the power cords?  If so, I can measure the channel in the larger size 80/20 we have at work to see if maybe the cord would fit.  Then you could route them in the channel that wasn't being used for mounting and make a nice box of black anodized 80/20 that might fit it fine.

[YHSublime]

3 hours ago, AlanM said:

Do you have the ability to measure the diameter of the power cords?  If so, I can measure the channel in the larger size 80/20 we have at work to see if maybe the cord would fit.  Then you could route them in the channel that wasn't being used for mounting and make a nice box of black anodized 80/20 that might fit it fine.

 

I do, but I've actually found a 48" Aquatic Life fixture. Can confirm that the Noopsyche lights will fit. I was given two, and ordered another one on my own dime. It's not Radions, but everything combined should light up this tank like a Christmas Tree. I'm starting to get excited about this (not that I wasn't before) but I think it's going to look very clean. I'm also excited about getting more fish and letting these SPS finally have some space. A lot of these acros are growing in clumps because there's not a lot of variance in the flow over 12" L-R and F-B. 

[roni]

Man, you've made a lot of progress.  Sounds like you've got your lighting set up.  Will be interested to see your experience with the noopsyche.  Ultimately, par is par as long as the lights are reliable. 

[YHSublime]

13 hours ago, roni said:

Man, you've made a lot of progress. 

 

You have no idea! Props to @Alex Simpsonfor helping me drill and move the tank around. I dropped off a red oak board with @Ben Athis weekend for the top. For those of you who don't know, Ben builds stands, and the 22 was one of the first. I had an old Aquabox tank that was 6' long, and something like 8" wide and high. It was silly, but part of me wishes I still had it. The board I was using on that tank for the top was from an old head, @Coral Hind. Ben cut it, planked it together (I don't know what the woodworking term is!) and kept a beautiful live edge on the outside. 

 

He's going to do the same with the even more exaggerated live edge board for the 80. Once I have that back, and I'll plumb (have everything I need already) and just combine the two tanks. 

 

I'm cycling additional rock in a tub downstairs, but I don't think I'll use it, better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. 

 

13 hours ago, roni said:

Will be interested to see your experience with the noopsyche.   

 

Props to @Abe for the 48" Aquatic Life, I took the weekend to rig up x2 of the 3 K7 V3 Noopsyche's. I'm going to run into a similar problem that @monkiboyis dealing with, which is managing (cleanly) 5 power cords for lights while hanging from the ceiling. Although, he does have a ton more lights than I do! 

 

13 hours ago, roni said:

Ultimately, par is par as long as the lights are reliable. 

 

Yep. I've never really concerned myself with it much, but I want to make sure I'm keeping an adequate comparison when I move everything over. While I haven't made any decisions about the future of the 22, I am trying to keep all the equipment on it, as most of it was built or acquired to sustain a SPS nano reef, otherwise I would just use the same lights. 

 

In other news, I've been on the waiting list for a small copperband at a few places, and a few weeks ago, Live Aquaria notified me they were back in stock. I ended up ordering x2, but they still have not shipped. I think covid has led to some serious staff shortages, and I'm becoming increasingly concerned with the quality/health of them when they arrive/if they arrive. Thanks to @kyle&amyfor the QT tank. While it was larger than what I was looking for, it will be the perfect tank to make sure I can get them eating, treated, and established in the new build. 

 

I don't intend to keep two, unless I have some odd luck and they pair up, but chances are slim. I'll hopefully get both eating and sell one. That leaves my stock list at: 

-Mated pair of Platinum Clowns

-Watchman Goby

-Cardinal Fish (was hoping for a few more from @DaJMasta, next round)

-Yellow Tang

-Copperband Butterfly

 

I would love to do some anthias or wrasse, but I don't want to put a lid on the tank, and I don't want to have sand, so I think I'm not even going to venture down either road there. If I can find it, I would love to get a juvenile BlueFace, which is my fish 'holy grail,' but don't plan to go out of my way to make it happen.