Rob , no worries on the time frame. you could walk around the world and then live in europe for 20 years and still berat Tony........:lol: we need some more pictures.....

Not much else I can show at this point.. but his will be the basic layout under the tank.

Electrical cabinet - everything will be controlled from here.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2544.jpg

I'll be adding a shelf for the equipment to sit on so it isn't on the floor:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2547.jpg

All the pumps will be located behind this door, it will make it easy to maintain them or swap one out.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2546.jpg

The tank is still raised up from the install so pay no attention to the wood blocking it's sitting on. It will be removed.

Robb, that is one sweet setup. Neat & tidy with lots of room for equipment. Well done. Can't wait to see this build up & running.

Robb that is one sweet set up. i like where the pumps are too ..

Thanks guys.

Well, I started to plumb this thing last night. This is going to be a chore!

My wife sat down beside me as I was plumbing and asked how it all works, I watched her eyes glaze over about 10 seconds into the conversation! :lol:

hey, but she asked.

sweet ya man she asked that is alot conciderign some don't give a hoop N heck well done

Love how the whole bookcase setup looks. My eyes would glaze over too....thats alotta plumbing:lol: I think its a good thing when they show a little interest. My g/f knows how to tweak the skimmer if its overflowing and can tell when something isnt sounding right.... which gives me a little piece of mind when Im at work.

Here are some pics of the pluming, I'm trying to keep it nice and tidy:

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...quarium004.jpg

The sump return:

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...quarium005.jpg

Some poor pictures on the light rack, not finished:

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...quarium001.jpg

It's looking great so far. From the angle you took the picture of the light rack, it's hard to see exactly how you are doing it. Any other pics?

I don't have any more pictures with me.

There is a length of angle on either side of the M/H there is a piece if angle on each end perpendicular to the end to bolt the T5's to and the top pieces of angle hold the T5 ballasts. The top pieces will have standoffs so they aren't sitting directly on the pendants.

I'm not sure if that made any kind of sence to anyone but me!

Nope..that works for me. I'm trying to pre-plan what I will do and so I am looking for every example I can find.

Where did you buy the aluminum?

I picked it up from Home Depot. I probably could have got it cheaper at a metal supply place but the hours I work makes it hard to get to them by closing time.

I'll get some better pictures once it's complete.

We have water in the tank!

That 65wx2 CF fixture doesn't light up the tank to well. :lol:

The tank isn't quite full, the return holes at the top of the overflow are supposed to be 3/4" but they don't fit. The returns and drains are running but only in the overflow box. I have one small leak at a union that I have to take care of but other then that everything looks good.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...quarium014.jpg

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...quarium016.jpg

I got power to the electrical cabinet:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...quarium019.jpg

Ok that is some SERIOUSLY clean plumbing! Not a spot of primer to be seen! Taking your time is all the rage. Looks great =)

Ohhh its coming along nicely!

so purty, looks great. love the bookcases and everything with it. this tank looks great even without the rocks in there. cant wait to see this puppy full. its been a long time since your first tank.

Thanks Guys.. I've been trying to not rush anything and get it done right the first time. But I have to say it's getting harder and harder now that there is water in the tank. So far I'm resisting the urge to throw some sand and rock in there.

Here is a mostly complete picture of the light rack, I still need to add a couple of cross braces to square and strengthen everything up. I'm going to mount it directly to the wall behind the tank with a piano hinge so I can raise it up out of the way.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/Aquarium.jpg

The light rack looks good...are you sure about the piano hinge?....they are made from low grade metals and will rust extremely quickly...also not sure that with the rack flipped up 90 degrees to the tank, that you will have enough light to work in the tank?

Good point, my plan was to use a stainless hinge. I'm not sure if I'm going to use stainless screws or just throw a dab of silicone on them to keep them from rusting.

I didn't think about having enough light to work in the tank while the lights are up. That's something I'll need to address. Maybe I'll throw a couple of pot lights in the ceiling.

I started to do a bit of aqua scape, my wife REALLY likes the look of the rock and foam reef she's seen so I'm going to give it a shot.

Here's a pick of one of the panels in the early stages. I think I need to use more rock and pack it denser then fill the gaps in between.. I'll follow this panel all the way through and see how it turns out.. I zip-tied the rocks on then filled the gaps with foam, let it set then knocked most of it down with a wire wheel on my angle grinder. Once it dries all the way through I'll sculpt it a little more with my drill and dremel.

Again I'm not all the happy with it so far, but we'll see.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/IMG_2584.jpg

Haven't had much to report these days.. the summer has kept me pretty busy. I did get my Apex ordered and delivered - With UPS as the transit company It's a wonder the thing showed up at all, but that's another story.

The Apex is a pretty cool unit, I'm just diving into the programing of this thing.. If I get the code right I might be able to get this thing to bring me a beer! I have two more EB8's on order, I'll have to wait for those to arrive before I can put this thing to use.

Anyway, here's a pic, I know it's not a true update unless there's a picture! :mrgreen: Sorry for being so blurry, I used my cell phone.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...ld/APEXPic.jpg

Oh sweet... you will have to give us a good review of the new apex! That's what I'm thinking of going with on my big tank build.

Oh no.

One of the three...posting updates! I am so feeling the pressure right now.

Slick looking unit there I really like how that looks.

So the water you have in the tank is SALT water? If it's not I'd say I'm keeping up just fine =)

Ha! Your safe, it's only fresh water, well actually it's empty now so I've taken a step backwards. :lol:

Ooooohhh ;)

I've had fw in mine for a couple months off and on. My goal is mold in the house before the reef!

Who are the "three" you speak of? or i guess, who are the other 2 of 3?... :lol:

Delphinus
Lastlight
Myslef

Just because we all have pretty slow builds.. we post an update to our threads every couple months or so.... we aren't in a race.

Small update,

Got my controller mounted up and plugged in. I toyed with having the EB8's on the front panel but I decided to put them behind to keep everything looking a little neater.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2620.jpg

Here's what it looks like behind the scenes of the electrical cabinet.

The back of the front panel:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2623.jpg

EB8 on the right hand side, I need to get two more in there yet.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2625.jpg

I put a bulkhead in the cabinet for the PH/ORP/ Temp probes to pass through:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2628.jpg

Looking really good, you've done a very neat job with everything so far!

Thanks.. I've tried to build it neat so I don't have to go back later and clean it up.. I'm happy with the way it's turning out. :biggrin:

Tried my hand at aquascaping today. I ditched the foam and rock wall project, my next thought was pillars but I have a lot of small pieces which didn't stack that well.. so I went with the minimalist look...


Thoughts:

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2673.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2674.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/IMG_2675.jpg

It's good - I think you'll like it because it gives the corals a good space to grow INTO.

it looks good, the only problem i see with it is lack of hiding places for fish

I love your setup, from the first tank, to smashing it and now the new one... Keep up the great work!

YOU NEED MORE ROCK! :lol: