congrats man those are pictures of victory!

Looking good Mark, nice to see you got past the bs known as the city of vernon!

Is the front of your house facing east or west? Not knowing your whole plan, but if you're facing west could the heat from setting sun be a problem for the tank? Just throwing that out there! :)

Thanks for the comments everyone. So glad that we are finally on the way.

As for the house position to the sun. The sun should be setting where most of the light is going to be hitting the back yard rather than the front windows. Even then, the tank is about 17' back from the windows so I doubt that heat will be an issue. Actually, I think that I might have to spend more time heating this tank as the fish room is in the basement and should be quite cool so sump/refuge water will get a good chance to cool down.

Wow this is going to be amazing. Congrats!

Congrats on the new house too.

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

You have a triple thumb macro on your computer don't you Lance? :lol:

That things becoming as well-known as the kiener popper.

Well, got the moonlights working last night. Unlike the rest of the build, these had to be soldered so I wanted to test them out.
This is the 4 moonlight kit from Rapid which includes a little driver pushing them at 350ma

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-01210245.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-01210104.jpg

Well just because I've been waiting for this to happen for ages...I thought I would do an update on here of my house in its construction progress.

It's not a fish tank...but it's a major step towards one. :)

This is a quick shot of the front of the house (I know the pics aren't great but I was carrying a baby while trying to shoot these)

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_9136.jpg

Standing right where I am when taking this picture will be the 7' peninsula tank separating this room (the Living room) and the dining/kitchen area.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-09154306.jpg

And here is the view when we're lying in bed...
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-09154203.jpg

Here is off my deck:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-09154218.jpg

Lastly, here I am with my kids. Note the goofy grin on me...I'm imagining the tank already.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_9142.jpg

lol kids just want a place to go to sleep and you're planning the tank (I can tell). Congrats man nice to see things turn around for you. having your life put on hold sucks!

I love when the build gets to the framing. Things really start to shape up quickly when the walls go up!

what a place to live man well done, have to be a millionare to live there thou.

haha..I wish I had those dollars...the okanagan can expensive but the quality of life is excellent especially if you have active kids. The reality is that this whole tank is going in on a shoestring budget and I've really actually benefited from the delays with time to save for additional parts.:biggrin:

Well, it seems that things never go fast enough when you want a build to get going.

Today I was a bit bored so I thought I would update my thread on how the house was coming...

We reached lock-up just before Christmas.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-23105502.jpg

And if you can imagine a Tank sitting right across the room you see here (separating my living room from the Dining/kitchen) Right where the buckets are running all the way from the wall at the right.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_9198.jpg

Then because I had the time, I thought I would run through my equipment list.

What I have already:
7'L x 32"D x 26"H starfire tank
5' custom sump/refugium
Reeflo Blackfin 3600 return pump (along with a spare 3600 Blackfin as well)
Octopus XP5000 INT Cone Skimmer
Octopus automatic skimmer neck cleaner
Elos Osmocontroller (auto-topoff)
DIY LED lighting (184 HO Cree LED's)
110 - 125lbs of rock (half curing & half dry)
Vertex UF-20 Biopellet reactor
2 x Two little fishies reactors for GFO and Carbon
2 x Tunze 6105 pumps with 7096 controller
2 x Vortec MP40W ES pumps
33G quarantine tank
2 x 300W Ebo heaters

What I still need:
2 x 75G or larger water storage tanks
Controller system
75lbs or more rock
New RO/DI system
dosing system
plumbing supplies to do up the fishroom

Anything I might be missing?

Well, time for another update. The house continues to progress. Here are few pics of where the tank is going to go...hopefully better pics than before. :)

In this pic, I'm standing on my stairs and right in front of me is where the tank will be. It will extend from that wall beside the fireplace out towards where I'm standing. Starting at the wall will be an enclosed sink (so my wife won't have me using the kitchen sink) and then the access to the external overflow.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...1-09142653.jpg

Here is just another angle.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-29123451.jpg

Here is a pic of my fish room...though it's still missing the far wall. It's 14' x 7 1/2'. I've had them plumb in three in-wall drains so that I have ready access for when I need to get rid of saltwater. There will be a laundry sink at one end and two big water storage bins at the other.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...1-09142415.jpg

Lastly, I've been really too busy to work much on my DIY light...but I did get some stuff done the other day. I will be having two "control panels" with drivers, power bars, etc. Here is the simple one. Ignore the powerbar that is there, I just needed it for the layout aspect as I haven't decided on the controller I will be buying yet.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...1-02164041.jpg

Each driver will run one string of 12 LED's. There is also the small driver for the moonlights and the power adapter for my fans on the light. At the front is a variable speed fan controller. It may not look pretty right now, but it will once it's enclosed in the stand.

Look at all that ROOM you have! Must be nice ya bast...

Again... looking great man I'm happy for ya and stuff lol :mrgreen:

Thanks Brett...and if you didn't read it on one of the other threads, I bought Prodibio for this tank (1 years worth) so hopefully I'll be starting it right from the very beginning.

Looking good Mark. When is the tank lift? I better start warming up... :lol:

Very nice man. I consulted with my financiers and they said 'HAHAHA' when I mentioned prodibio.

Kevin, the builder says that he doesn't want the tank in until almost the last thing...seems to think it might get broken or something.:surprise:

Brett, I found a boxing day price for it and got the price very very reasonable. Basically about $50/mth. If it means no algae and healthy corals...I spend that on short term fixes all the time. No guarantee's but I'm already seeing some results in my little 70 from the first dose of prodibio. I've changed nothing...yet 3/4 of my algae has gone away...and I don't know why.

So got a little farther last night on the light. Completed all the testing on several of the strings and wired them up for a photo.

What you see are two of the 4 led's on the center heatsink...the Neutral white and the Blue's. Both running at 700ma for testing. In the end the Blues will be run at 700 while those NW will be running at 850ma. I'm assuming that 184 of these little guys will light up that tank nicely!!!:biggrin:

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...1-11215253.jpg

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...1-11220755.jpg

Dude this light is looking great man can I ask u how long is this? And how wide is this?
What was your total cost for this light liking the way you built this

Thanks...I think this is going to turn out pretty good too!

As for size, it's a total of 6' long and 24" wide. I plan to put a splash shield of plexi on it that will be 2" wider on each side (total of 28" wide) that will be fixed with stand-offs to the fixture.

As for costs, now that I really dig into what I've spent, I'm looking at just under $2400 including taxes and I still have to buy the splash shield. That also includes about a dozen spare LED's between the different colors just in case.

My plan is to build a light lifter with a linear actuator as well but I haven't put that in the price of the light.

:pop2:

This will be super simple...much simpler than what you did on your last build.

The actuator will simply be bolted to the ceiling with an eyebolt at the end of it. When the actuator retracts back it will pull on two stainless aircraft cables which are fed through pulley's to the eye-hooks on the fixture. Thus pulling it up. Letting the actuator out, will let the light down.

I'm using these to balance the wire above each end of the fixture:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$(KGrHqYOKiI...cpHdoQ~~_3.JPG

Oh your actuator will hang vertical and simply extend/retract? That should be easy and very safe. Mine would have eventually tore my ceiling apart I'm sure.

Actually, I wasn't thinking vertical...I don't think I have room for that even with 9' ceilings. I was planning on bolting it to the joists horizontally. Why would you have torn out the ceiling...were you only using plugs or was it attached to solid wood?

I had that metal shoe on the end that was guided along the wooden channels. I was always scared it would snag on the wood like it did before I refined it. Doing so would rip the enclosure apart. Also over time the wire may have frayed on the metal bearings.

Fun project but not the safest way to suspend an expensive light lol. Made much worse for the nerves when you can't actually see the mechanism anymore!

I saw the same thing that I'm planning done online by someone else...will try to find it.

if you don't mind me asking how much did the tank set you back?

You mean...like mine?

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0079.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...Lightframe.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0085.jpg

No...not like yours....I would need another degree to make something like that. Plus a lot more patience than I have left. :)

More like what is documented here:

http://www.kenargo.com/lightLifter/index.php

Although now that I think about it...I may be over-thinking things and maybe I just need to go with one of these and a couple of pulley's.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5356_200395356

Time for an update.

Worked on the light last night. Trying to get my second set of drivers organized for the "Parallel" part of the build.

Got plugs onto the three HLG150H-48B's and also setup the fuses and resistors for the strings.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...1-15223845.jpg

The empty spaces on here are for the controller power-bar (whichever one I end up buying) and the dimming controller module (again based upon whatever controller I buy)

I have some quick connects coming that will allow me to disconnect the strings from the board and also at the light. Once they arrive and I see that they will work, I'll get pictures of them up.

So it's time for another short update to this slow slow build. My house is progressing quite nicely and I think we will be by mid April. Next week the wall board is going in.

Anyways...here are some pics! :)

My fish room as it progresses:

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-08162643.jpg

The builder had to disrupt my joy a little to tell me that this room is the most expensive per sq/ft room in the house when I look at what's gone into the whole build. Not something I really wanted to think about...lol.

Here you can see my return line (and backup return line). Notice that they used gentle sweeps so as not to create more head pressure. My pump will only use one of the lines...but if every anything goes wrong, I will have the second ready.
Also some of the outlets that will be mounted high in the room. In each box, the top right outlet will be switch controlled so that I can easily flip certain equipment on and off. These are also all on the natural gas generator so that they always will have power. Everything will be run off of a 60amp sub-panel in this room.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-08162619.jpg

And here are my overflow lines coming down from the tank:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-08162609.jpg

Lastly, though it's hard to imagine, the lines coming up through my floor to where the tank will be:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-08173454.jpg

If you are wondering about the pex lines in this picture, I've put in a "hidden or covered" sink within the tank cabinet so that my wife won't complain about me using her's in the kitchen. :lol:

Sorry for the poor pics but it's just my phone and it was pretty dark out already.

hidden sink?! That is so sweet and the fishroom rough-ins are rad too.

Thanks Brett, I've tried to think of everything with this. (and I know that I've barely scratched the surface to be honest) but if I tell my other half that I've thought of everything...she suffers through it all much better.

Wow Mark, it is coming along nicely. I'm going to need a tour soon!

Haha...maybe we can work something out. What are you up to this weekend?

I think I'm pretty much free this weekend. I'll talk to the boss and send you a PM later on today.

Well while I was checking out the progress at the house today I managed to take a few pictures.

I know it can be hard to see where I am putting the tank in my previous pictures so I'm hoping this adds perspective.

The larger board on the floor marks roughly where the peninsula will come to when in place.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-11153725.jpg

Here is another angle. This is what you will see when you come up the stairs from our front door.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...2-11151326.jpg

The smaller 2x4 that you see is just marking the spot where the built in vacuum will come up through the stand. There will be a kick-plate suction spot at the base of the stand. My wife hates any salt creep that ever ends up on the floor so this will let me just sweep it into the vacuum quickly. (Happy wife, happy life)