Jake's seahorse reef

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by Jakegr

The DC5000 has a weird sized outlet, 1.25" and I couldn't find a PVC 1.25"-1" threaded bushing in Vancouver. I have accepted I'll have to use the 1.25"/1" barbed adapter that came with the pump, which I'll attach to hard plumbing with a 1" barb/male threaded adapter.

Still lots to do.

Have you tried an outdoor sprinkler supply place? There a place here on the island called Iritex that has weird stuff like that. IF they haven't had a piece I've needed they've found it and brought it in for me at a very reasonable cost. My special order gate valves were almost 1/2 price of the major LFS price.

[riceboy]

seeing all these nice plumbing, makes me want to rip up all my tubes and redo it, next tank i will have to use pipes for my plumbing

Originally Posted by Jakegr

Very slow progress!







Came down to Mitras vs. Kessil. Went with the Kessil because of its small size, price, and I like the mounting arm. Knowing me I'll regret my decision in two weeks, but so far I like my choice.


The overflow. I used stockman-like standpipes due to a lack of space. If it doesn't work out I'll try another design.


Cut out a few teeth and fed the loc-line under the eurobrace.


Not quite finished the plumbing. Still need to build something to support it, and I need to finish the return plumbing. The DC5000 has a weird sized outlet, 1.25" and I couldn't find a PVC 1.25"-1" threaded bushing in Vancouver. I have accepted I'll have to use the 1.25"/1" barbed adapter that came with the pump, which I'll attach to hard plumbing with a 1" barb/male threaded adapter.


Still lots to do.

[toytech]

Thats a piece of pvc art right there , great job .

[Jakegr]

Originally Posted by daplatapus

Have you tried an outdoor sprinkler supply place? There a place here on the island called Iritex that has weird stuff like that. IF they haven't had a piece I've needed they've found it and brought it in for me at a very reasonable cost. My special order gate valves were almost 1/2 price of the major LFS price.

Thanks, I'll have to keep that place in mind. I have never heard of it. I have already plumbed in the pump so it is too late now, but I may renovate the plumbing when I add the 2nd tank.

[Jakegr]

Originally Posted by riceboy

seeing all these nice plumbing, makes me want to rip up all my tubes and redo it, next tank i will have to use pipes for my plumbing

Thanks! I used hard plumbing just for the looks, I don't know if there are any other advantages. My last tank was plumbed with vinyl tubing and it was perfectly functional, plus it was a lot easier to do.

[Jakegr]

Originally Posted by toytech

Thats a piece of pvc art right there , great job .

Thanks! Brought a tear to my eye haha jk.

[zhasan]

Very nice build!! Great job with plumbing... looks very nice!!

I can relate to you with the speed of the progress... I've been working on my tank for the last two months.. still in the process.

I call dibs on the Kessil if you change your mind and decide to sell it!

[Jakegr]

I just received a Walz 4pi spherical PAR meter at work. This is a roughly $3000 PAR meter/sensor, and I'm excited to bring it home once the tank is filled to get some PAR readings on the Kessil. It will produce highly accurate PAR readings.

*I didn't buy this PAR meter, grant money did. It is for phytoplankton research.

[Jakegr]

Almost ready to fill with water!

Here is a pretty detailed run down of what I did to attach panels to the back of the stand. I'm posting it because I hope it helps someone else out with their build at some point.

Back panel with magnets in each corner. Slots cut out for the plumbing.


Close up of counter sunk magnet. The magnet is superglued and screwed to the panel. I got them at Lee Valley.


Acrylic disk on top of magnet.


Panel attached to the back of the stand. Plumbing is supported with hose straps on the back (not shown).


How I ended up plumbing the DC5000 pump. I would have preferred something "cleaner", but the vinyl tubing may help dampen pump noise.


The pump is sitting on top of a silicone trivet. The DC5000 actually comes with great rubber feet, and I can't even tell the difference between the pump running with and without the trivet beneath it, so I may remove it.

Anyways pros/cons to using magnets:

Pro: Really easy to install. Easy to change skin if you want. Inexpensive (~$2/magnet).

Con: The panel has to rest on the floor. Magnets can resist pulling forces, so the panel is firmly kept upright, but the panel slides downwards until it hits the floor as the magnet does not strongly resist up/down slide forces.

Thanks for reading!

[Spyd]

Looks great! Nice and clean look to it!