curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
I got a spray can of it
Basement Reno And In-wall 205g Reef
- Thread starter curiousphil
- Start date
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Sorry but I've never used the stuff before... this will be an experiment!
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Well it has been a busy week, and I still haven't tried the dip for the light rack, but I have been trying different paints for the stand. And I think I found a winner last night.
As I mentioned either earlier in this thread or maybe in another thread (can't remember), I was very disappointed with the liquid rubber. After much reading I decided to get a spray can of Rust-oleum Appliance Epoxy. Thats the only form of the product that I could find at Home Depot. Wow do I ever wish I didn't get the spray can.... the process of applying it left my nose hairs painted white! I looked like a homeless man who had been huffing paint. And what's worse is that the only thing I found which could dissolve it is nail polish remover! Nail polish remover in the nostril really really stings...... in hind sight, I probably should have worn a face mask when spraying.
Anyways, after cleaning up I did some more digging online and found that Lowes carries the stuff in a proper paint can. I'll be getting a couple cans of that so I can paint the rest of the stand with a brush and/or roller. I inspected the finish this morning to see how it dried and I really love it. It dries to a smooth gloss white that is very firm to the touch. It's the same paint intended for using on appliances like fridges and washing machines etc, and it certainly gives that polished commercial look.
On the skimmer front... I believe I mentioned a while back that I ordered an Askoll pump to replace the crappy Sicce PSK-2500 pumps that are currently on my skimmer. Well, it turns out that SWC is now out of business cus the guy illegally imported live rock and got caught. So I filed a Paypal claim, got my money back, and hunted around for a different pump. Yesterday I settled on the Bubble Blaster 5000. When ordered direct from Coralvue, they include the plumbing bits to adapt the pump to whatever skimmer you are trying to put it on, including any caps necessary to block off additional intake bulkheads! This is kind of a big deal, because the bulkheads are metric and I have been unable to find out the exact pipe diameters. So this saves me a lot of research time and trial and error trying to get the pump fitting. Should be plug and play once it arrives.
I think that's about it for now. I'm hoping to do a bit of painting every night this week and hopefully will be able to re-assemble the stand this weekend so that I can complete the process of filling the tank and sump, and bring the skimmer online as soon as the new pump arrives on Monday!
Once I'm that far, I just need to dial in the water parameters, hang the lights, and start moving over all the livestock and equipment. Very exciting times. I'm chomping at the bit!!!!
As I mentioned either earlier in this thread or maybe in another thread (can't remember), I was very disappointed with the liquid rubber. After much reading I decided to get a spray can of Rust-oleum Appliance Epoxy. Thats the only form of the product that I could find at Home Depot. Wow do I ever wish I didn't get the spray can.... the process of applying it left my nose hairs painted white! I looked like a homeless man who had been huffing paint. And what's worse is that the only thing I found which could dissolve it is nail polish remover! Nail polish remover in the nostril really really stings...... in hind sight, I probably should have worn a face mask when spraying.
Anyways, after cleaning up I did some more digging online and found that Lowes carries the stuff in a proper paint can. I'll be getting a couple cans of that so I can paint the rest of the stand with a brush and/or roller. I inspected the finish this morning to see how it dried and I really love it. It dries to a smooth gloss white that is very firm to the touch. It's the same paint intended for using on appliances like fridges and washing machines etc, and it certainly gives that polished commercial look.
On the skimmer front... I believe I mentioned a while back that I ordered an Askoll pump to replace the crappy Sicce PSK-2500 pumps that are currently on my skimmer. Well, it turns out that SWC is now out of business cus the guy illegally imported live rock and got caught. So I filed a Paypal claim, got my money back, and hunted around for a different pump. Yesterday I settled on the Bubble Blaster 5000. When ordered direct from Coralvue, they include the plumbing bits to adapt the pump to whatever skimmer you are trying to put it on, including any caps necessary to block off additional intake bulkheads! This is kind of a big deal, because the bulkheads are metric and I have been unable to find out the exact pipe diameters. So this saves me a lot of research time and trial and error trying to get the pump fitting. Should be plug and play once it arrives.
I think that's about it for now. I'm hoping to do a bit of painting every night this week and hopefully will be able to re-assemble the stand this weekend so that I can complete the process of filling the tank and sump, and bring the skimmer online as soon as the new pump arrives on Monday!
Once I'm that far, I just need to dial in the water parameters, hang the lights, and start moving over all the livestock and equipment. Very exciting times. I'm chomping at the bit!!!!
maybe to late now, but I know Aquatic Kingdom has some SWC pumps (askoll I think)....lots of them
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Slightly too late lol but good to know for future reference! Thanks!
teebone110
Distinguished Member
+1 AK bought out the SWC warehouse of inventory so they have it all
If things don't work out, this might be a good place to check. I think you can probably figure out something tho
theyangman
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- May 22, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
I've seen this in the flesh, and this tank looks retardedly huge compared to mine. I am BEYOND jealous of the extra depth you have compared to mine.
MrHermit85
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Wowzers!!! what an epic demo build! That is one sweet looking tank, coast to coast is definatly a must on larger tank IMO!
Just reading through your thread I noticed that you managed to free up some space by consolidating your heating equipment, what unit did you go with and what does it do? I would love to get rid of my old clunkers to make some more space for a place to store all my makeup water and the such...
Just reading through your thread I noticed that you managed to free up some space by consolidating your heating equipment, what unit did you go with and what does it do? I would love to get rid of my old clunkers to make some more space for a place to store all my makeup water and the such...
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Perfect. That is great info that I could not find on RC!!! I do have a Bubble Blaster 5000 arriving today though and I'm pretty confident that it will do the job.
Haha thanks man... hopefully I can dig deep enough into my imagination to do the tank justice and fully take advantage of all that glorious depth... [emoji37]I've seen this in the flesh, and this tank looks retardedly huge compared to mine. I am BEYOND jealous of the extra depth you have compared to mine.
Thanks hermit! It's very exciting. I'm thrilled with my decision to go with an external coast to coast. The water flows silently and I have zero overflow box to intrude on the reef scape. I will have a wavebox but I'm hopeful that it will fade into the background once corals grow in...
For my hot water heater / boiler combo unit we got a Triangle Tube Challenger which is running off of natural gas. It replaced a 50 gallon hot water tank and a 60 year old boiler which were both gas powered as well. The new unit does a MUCH better job of maintaining the temperature set on the thermostat, no contest... I am extremely impressed with its performance. The old boiler would pump water the pipes at maximum temperature whenever the thermostat fell below the set temp. Once the thermostat reached the set temp, the boiler would switch off... but the boiling water would still be sitting in all my radiators - causing the house to continue heating!!! To keep the house at about 72 I had to set the thermostat at 62. It was such a PITA to figure that out lol. The new unit has an outdoor temperature sensor and automatically adjusts the temperature of the water it pumps through my radiators. End result is I can set my thermostat at whatever temp I want and it keeps it there rock steady.
The hot water portion of it does its job as it should. Takes a couple seconds longer for the hot water to reach the tap but not really a big deal at all. Especially considering now one of us can take a bath or shower and the other is still able to use hot water afterwards! We were constantly emptying our old tank.
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
One more paint of coat to go. I'm going to do that tonight while I have the house to myself, then another evening this week I can complete the frame which will fill the bottom front of the tank stand, place the sump and plumbing back into position, and hang the lights!
I am just going to hang the metal halides for now. I was planning to use 6 foot VHO bulbs but I can't find any for the life of me. Does anybody know if they stop producing them??? I really don't want to use 4x 36 inch tubes.
After the lights are hung, there aren't many tasks left before I transfer livestock!:
-Install a shelf for the ballasts
-Mount a board to the wall for the electrical panel
-Mount my RODI unit to the wall sort of next to the electrical panel
-Hang all the electronics
-TRANSFER!!!
I am just going to hang the metal halides for now. I was planning to use 6 foot VHO bulbs but I can't find any for the life of me. Does anybody know if they stop producing them??? I really don't want to use 4x 36 inch tubes.
After the lights are hung, there aren't many tasks left before I transfer livestock!:
-Install a shelf for the ballasts
-Mount a board to the wall for the electrical panel
-Mount my RODI unit to the wall sort of next to the electrical panel
-Hang all the electronics
-TRANSFER!!!
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
More progress today..
I need to rejig the way I've got my light hung. I set it up with the winch hoping to be able to raise the lights easily when I need to get my arms in the tank... but as it is right now, the highest position is right about where I was thinking about having the lights sit during normal operation. I have an idea about how to rearrange the pulleys that I'm going to try this weekend, which I'm pretty sure will work.
I just have the middle reflector wired up right now but I really wanted to fire it up so I can see what the XM 15k looks like. It looks pretty good! Little bit less purple than I am used to but I'll get used to it, and should look great once I turn on the vho super actinics. It lights up the whole room... turning on the overhead light hardly makes a difference lol.
I need to rejig the way I've got my light hung. I set it up with the winch hoping to be able to raise the lights easily when I need to get my arms in the tank... but as it is right now, the highest position is right about where I was thinking about having the lights sit during normal operation. I have an idea about how to rearrange the pulleys that I'm going to try this weekend, which I'm pretty sure will work.
I just have the middle reflector wired up right now but I really wanted to fire it up so I can see what the XM 15k looks like. It looks pretty good! Little bit less purple than I am used to but I'll get used to it, and should look great once I turn on the vho super actinics. It lights up the whole room... turning on the overhead light hardly makes a difference lol.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2011
- Location
- London, Ontario
That 15k looks like the perfect amount of blue for me
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
It's a bit more white to the eye, but yeah I am also pleased. Looks very natural.
reeferkeeper420
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2013
- Location
- Ingersoll, Ontario
Looking good man. Cant wait to see that badboy full of livestock, and thriving sps!More progress today..
I need to rejig the way I've got my light hung. I set it up with the winch hoping to be able to raise the lights easily when I need to get my arms in the tank... but as it is right now, the highest position is right about where I was thinking about having the lights sit during normal operation. I have an idea about how to rearrange the pulleys that I'm going to try this weekend, which I'm pretty sure will work.
I just have the middle reflector wired up right now but I really wanted to fire it up so I can see what the XM 15k looks like. It looks pretty good! Little bit less purple than I am used to but I'll get used to it, and should look great once I turn on the vho super actinics. It lights up the whole room... turning on the overhead light hardly makes a difference lol.
Zach
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2015
- Location
- Tillsonburg, Ontario
That is one impressive build. You guys are all giving me tank envy. Cant wait to see it up and running
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Thanks guys. I'm as anxious as you are lol!
curiousphil
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2013
- Location
- London, Ontario
Got the lights raised up and fully wired together. Hung a shelf for the ballasts and a piece of plywood for the electronics. I still need to tweak the lighting rig a little bit becuase now if won't go low enough lol.... but other than that I think I'm pretty much ready to start the transfer. The tank is cycled and baby snails from the seed sand are crawling all around the tank.
