are your drain lines drilled through the back as well? I can't figure out why you've got unions on your drains...maybe I'm missing something

just so that if i ever have to dismantle the tank it's easy.

and yes, they are on the back

Are you going to be building a small overflow box? I noticed the gate valve on the primary drain...that's so you can keep the water level higher in the tank I'd imagine...just trying to figure this out...looks like it'd work though

another thing. If you're going to go with a normal T at the top there you'll want to add some ball valves on either end (at least I would) so that you can controll how much is going through each side...

i am indeed building an overflow box, and the reason for the gate valve is because
im going to be using a herbie overflow for this tank.

nd the ball valves sound like a good idea

update
 

well there isnt really much to update. i got my RKL for this tank and thats about it.

buuut its my birthday april ninth so that means reef=soon!

im super excited to get it up so wait for lots of updates.

Oh, and i got my first coral on hold at elite aquatics as of tonight (if it is still there):biggrin::biggrin:

Well im almost there :)

thursday is my birthday so my reef she be up in about a month!

today a local reefer checked my RO water for me (thanks Jay) and its at 6ppm.
pretty good for a 3 stage made for drinking wtaer IMO :)

also my coral was at the shop so its mine now :D
I'm the proud owner of some lunar paly polyps! only about 3-4 polyps, but they are sweeet.

okay, so not a big update, but i thought i'd share this with you.

basically i think i have all the money i need to get this thing up, so i just gotta start workin on it.

so heres what i wanted to show.this neat valve Colby got for me. its like a weird gate valve, and seems pretty awesome so far.

front shot:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/002-9.jpg

side shot:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...101/003-14.jpg

half open:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/004-9.jpg

fully open:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...101/005-10.jpg

hey
just fyi Koralias are supposed to be terrible on a timer. They don't turn back on after they shut off

thanks for the tip NBH, but i already decided to try not to use any powerheads.

That's a knife valve you've got there. What are you using it for?

Very nice shots of it BTW. Almost 'menacing' in the dark room with the direct light source above :D Good work ;)

im using it for my herbie overflow system. its alot like a gate valve, so should work generally the same.

It will be a little harder to control the slight adjustments needed for a herbie but yeah they work (I used them for the first herbie I ever tried a few years back).

how did they seem to work?

slight adjustments seem like they might be kinda hard, but once i got it dialed in just right i'll make a mark so if i ever bump it wont be a pain to readjust perfectly.

also, the prices on gate valves now adays seem crazy!

It worked just fine. May take some time to get dialed in as you say but then its pretty much good to go.

You shouldn't have any problems and yes much, much cheaper.

My advice to anyone buying gate valves is to always buy the double threaded ones, so you can use them over and over on different set ups!

or just get either a double union gate valve, or put on 2 unions :p

Okay that is a VERY cool ball valve... I really thought you have gone nuts when I saw your other thread... As new as I am in the hobby, I really had no clue how one would be the other...:lol:

It was also late last night when we were talking about it.

hahaha, no problems diana. yes, i love my new valve.

well, big news.

I got a custom tank built:twised:

it was "under wraps" but now taht its done i'll share it with everyone.

so basically this is quite an original design (Jay at elite aquatics thought it up).
its a tank with an external overflow, but inside the overflow there's a mini fuge!
its quite a cool idea, but here's something i messed up on....

jay asked me what the dimensions of a regular 29 gallon are (so that it would fit my stand) and i told him 30x12x16... real 29 gallons are 18 inches high :lol:
but the funniest thing about it, is that it looks better IMO 2 inches shorter.

so this project is now... the 25 gallon build!

pics to come next week.

woot woot!

woot woot to you too :lol:

here's a rough-ish sketchup of the tank:

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/new29.png

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...101/new292.png

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...101/new293.png

here's pics of the new tank:

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...101/003-15.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/006-8.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/008-6.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/009-5.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/010-7.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/012-5.jpg

Looks great. How do you plan to make the back black or blue? Maybe acrylic on the inside?

Proportionally that's gotta be the largest external overflow I have ever seen. Looks like it's going to tip the tank backwards ;)

well the back is going to be painted, and then one part of the overflow(the end chamber where the plumbing goes) will be blocked out with acrylic,
and the first 2 chambers will act as sort of a mini display (maybe for a baby mantis)

haha, it sure is one big overflow, but as long as you have the back of the overflow against the wall(with foam in between of course) it's absolutely fine.

Oh I know it's fine and won't actually tip over :mrgreen: You can also support it from below if you don't want it right against the wall.

Very cool idea with the fuge.

ya. int eh place where it's at it works best that it's against the wall.

thank you for the comment on the fuge, but really, its all Jay and Colby from elite aquatics' idea. i guess i just kinda..expanded on it a little?

Tre cool:cool:

tre thankyou

well today i got some basics.

you know, salt, test kits,some maxi jets for multiple purposes..

and well, you know how it is when you have store credit..

i now have 2 2x24 hagen GLO t5ho fixtures. 4 bulbs of brightness!:twised:

If your bored check out what I did with 2 Glos and a twenty http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...fishytimes+20g ...pretty basic compared to your "box"

okay, so this is what i was thinking for bulbs:

(front to back)

KZ coral light new gen
KZ fiji purple
KZ coral light new gen
aqua science 22000K

any thoughts?

Hmm, what sort of effect are you going for? I would expect you to get around 15K or so with that combination, and your pinks, purples, and reds should look really nice.

i want a look that's not too white, but at the same time not too blue.

something that'll make the colors of the corals pop without being like pure atinic :p

I would consider skipping the fiji purple....it provides a great look, but the red spectrum it produces will encourage algae growth. Also think about the aqua science "special" 15000k...it out pars both ATI and KZ and with the unfortunate inadequacies of the glo reflectors, every little bit may help . I have both AS and KZ in my spread with a Giesemann aquablue+ (which is also rated at 15000k) to boot. Lined up side by side, they all look different. Go figure:biggrin:

so..

aquascience special
fiji purple
aquascience special
aquascience 22000K

i know that the fiji purple promotes algae growth, but after seeing what they do on our tank at elite, i just have too:lol:

EDIT:i think that this would make more sense:

fiji purple
AS special
AS 22K
AS special

Okay, so i painted the back of the tank, and i thought i'd post pics of it.

in the pics im only using 1 of my hagen GLO fixtures, and im using some old bulbs i had lying around, as im waiting for mine to come in.

sorry for the crappy pics, ive only got a point and shoot thats getting pretty outdated

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...101/001-13.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/009-6.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/011-6.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/012-6.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/013-3.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/014-2.jpg

It's looking real good! When do you plan to add water?

Just a question, but why did you not make the baffle's for your fuge section a little higher? If you are going to do a herbie style overflow (which i assume you are with the 2 holes drilled) the water level will be low, defeating the purpose of a herbie, or are they there just to hold mud etc, and you will bring the water level up?

the reasoning for the baffles consists of:

-less bubbles
-if they weren't there the overflow box would probably fall off

dont forget i can adjust the water level with the gate valve on the herbie, and i plan to have one standpipe very short