290G Peninsula Tank

[mseepman]

Haha....just his left hand is what it seems like sometimes. Not done yet but getting closer...slowly. Siding is half on and we're doing lots related to the yard. Electrical is more than half done. Gas is in. Flooring should go in soon.

[michika]

I actually really like to see the house build progression! Its really cool to watch.

You're right, your LEDs look great! I think they came out looking excellent.

[mseepman]

Thanks Catherine! As compared to some of the builds out there, mine isn't too fancy but it is coming together. Rather than use red LED'S I added 24 neutral whites which seem to add just enough in that spectrum for me. Still haven't seen it above water so maybe I'm blowing smoke but I sure hope not

[mseepman]

Well, it's a small update, but right now, I'll take any update.

Got my generator installed:


Then the auto transfer switch was put into my fish room.


Since the transfer switch was finally in, I got lights in my fish room. All plugs and lights in the fish-room are on the generator, along with all plugs at the actual display tank and my refrigerators, freezers, furnace and some random lights through the house as well.



This room is getting the floor epoxied shortly and the walls are all getting several coats of "clear-coat". The wood look may not be fancy but it should be very durable.

Lastly, I guess it never hurts to show a pic on the progress of the outside of the house. They are painting it this week.

[mseepman]

Okay, time for some more updating...this time, more tank related, though still small.

I spent Sunday on hanging my light within the canopy. Thank God for my brother and friends because with the weight of the light and the setup on the canopy, I needed three sets of hands to get it in there without wrecking the Oak.

I ran into some problems with my light lifter design...but nothing that I won't get fixed up by mid week. Here are some pics. Note that right now, the light is sitting on my "Red Green" style temporary stand (empty paint cans since it's all I could find in the empty house).



I'm using a linear actuator with remote control to pull the light up towards the ceiling and out of my way.

Here's the actuator:


Had to route a hole through the stand to allow for both the actuator and my wiring to pass through.


Lastly, here is how I balanced the light at each end. It worked really well and the light is level side to side.


The flaw in my design comes from the hooks used to hang it from the ceiling. Apparently, between the weight of the light and the power of the actuator, those hooks bend pretty easily. I was going to use pulleys but it made the light lower than I wanted...now I will have to use shorter closed loop hooks and pulley's in order to re-direct some of that force.

The whole contraptions works well...it just won't continue to do so for long as something has got to give in the current setup.

[Acipenser]

I absolutely covet your generator setup, does it power any other part of the house as well ?

[mseepman]

Yeah, it powers my refrigerators, freezer, some lights, and my furnace. They are really very reasonably priced now and the kits include the auto transfer switch. I used to sell these 8 years ago for 5x the price. Check out your local KMS Tools if you want to look into it further.

[JDigital]

Very cool! Seems a bit loud, do you plan on sound proofing the cabinet?

[mseepman]

You know what...my wife said something like that too! I actually don't intend to do that. Once cabinet doors are on, it will get quieter. Given how often I have to raise and lower my light now, I don't think I will be doing it very often. Especially with a fish room for doing water changes, dosing, etc.

I think the honest answer is probably that my wife will have to hear it with the doors closed and then we'll see if changes need to be made.

[mseepman]

Originally Posted by JDigital

Very cool! Seems a bit loud, do you plan on sound proofing the cabinet?

After some further testing...I realized that I had some vertical pressure on the actuator arm at full extension. This contributed to both noise and I think wear if I had left it that way. Dropped the pulley's 3/4" and this has made a significant difference. Noise is less and I should have years of uninterrupted service out of this now.