Joe's Starfire 210

[plutoniumJoe]

Well things have been up and running for a couple of months now and no real big issues. I did have a bit of a problem with the return pump being too loud. It is a PanWorld PXX100 and I thought it was supposed to be quiet but the noise was shaking my fillings loose. The room is supposed to be a media center but with the noise coming from the pump it wasn't going to work out.

I had the return line bolted to the wall so that it was suspended above the tank. I had put the black foam insulation that you put around pipes around it to help dampen the noise but it was useless. In the end I think the wall was reverberating the pump noise.


So.. I unbolted the pipe and reassembled it so that it sits on the rim of the tank. Below I cut away a section of solid pipe and replaced it with clear vinyl. Things are better but once I get the doors on the cabinet it might be acceptable.

[plutoniumJoe]

The summer heat was also causing a problem with my tank getting up to about 84F. I had already installed an exhaust fan that I thought I would need once I encased the lights but it didn't seem to make a difference. The Halide ballasts were stored under the tank and generate a metric butt load of heat. So even when the lights were off there was still a couple of hours of radiant heat coming off the ballasts.

I also didn't like the way the three cords had to come up the back of the tank to the light rack. I decided that I would build a shelf in the garage to hold the ballast and simply drill a hole through the wall and have all the hot stuff on the other side of the wall.



It worked well, heat fluctuates between 78-80 and the wires are all cleaned up.

The blue wire on the left is for the eventual surround sound speakers that will be mounted in that corner.

- Joe

[Greenmaster]

Nice... the tank looks good. Are your clown's hosting anything?
I would have built my own tank but the local glass company's said they couldn't be accurate enough.

[plutoniumJoe]

Thanks, the polished edges were all perfect but the sides that I didn't get polished had about an 1/8 of variance on them.

The clowns have just started to host in my bubble tip anenome. It is still too small for both of them so they sort of take turns then return to their corner of the tank. I am very exited about the hosting and can't wait until it is their permanent home.

[Chaloupa]

Your tank is absolutely STUNNING! Love the orange shoulder tang. It's an amazing fish!

[Youngster Dan]

I enjoyed reading your thread, the tank looks great.

[scherzo]

Looks great Joe...

How is the Arduino working out for you? (I chickened out and bought an apex )
Also looking at your other pics.. did you plumb your RO/DI directly to your sump for your ATO?

[plutoniumJoe]

Originally Posted by scherzo

Looks great Joe...

How is the Arduino working out for you? (I chickened out and bought an apex )
Also looking at your other pics.. did you plumb your RO/DI directly to your sump for your ATO?

I am still working on the Arduino. What I have so far is:
1. Temperature for both hood and water.
2. PH probe working with Arduino.

What I need to still do:
1. Wire the 5v - 120V relays for controlling, lights, ATO, Dosing Pumps, exhaust fan.
2. Ethernet shield and data logging.

I have all the parts I just need to get down to putting it all together.

--------

As for the sump



I do have the ATO running directly into the the RO/DI. I have it on the BRS ATO switch and set to a timer that turns it on for an hour early evening and early morning. The waste water goes back out to the garage and the drain on the other side of the wall there.

I would like to build a mixing tank for my water changes that is tied into the system. It would sit in the garage as well and once the water goes down the drain on the sump side I could pump the new saltwater through the wall into the sump.

All in due time.

[plutoniumJoe]

Originally Posted by Chaloupa

Your tank is absolutely STUNNING! Love the orange shoulder tang. It's an amazing fish!

Thanks for the kind words. I really like the Orange Tang as well, a great natured fish. He doesn't seem to bother anybody and eats just about everything.




In the picture you can see some of the ICH, or something similar, he developed in the first couple of days of having him. It is visible on the orange streak. It all disappeared after about a week and hasn't returned (knock on wood).

[abcha0s]

Great build. Took a while to read the thread. Learned some tricks. Will keep watching.