My new, long....slow......build (1 Viewer)

[acharpenter]

As some of you know - I tore down my 40 breeder set up in preparation for replacing all our flooring thanks to a cat that doesn't care for the smell in our new place from the last owners pet - ugh!

So in the meantime I have a cute lil 8g nanocube with some GSP, Xenia and pretty Mojano's along with my one lil maroon clown to tide me over until my next tank.

Tonight I got to pick up my next tank - and it is killing me now to have it here and have to wait until after Christmas to put it up

Blurry pics (will get some updated one's a little later)....but you get the idea. Brought it home - placed into the kitchen and now rolling with a bunch of power-heads and some vinegar mix water to clean her up - so..... that's step one of my new build.

Man am I itching to set this up....anyone do flooring?????? GAH!

 

[tjp]

Nice, can't wait to see it up and running!

 

[Kepler]

Nice! Is that an RSM?

What are your plans for this tank?

 

[BashfulBacterium]

Got some pics of the 8g tank right now? Also how big is that tank?

 

[Kepler]

If its an RSM, then around 34 gallons.

 

[1Tlew0]

RSM 34G

 

[acharpenter]

The 8 is nothing to write home about. Just a temp tank - nothing pretty. FWIW - It has always been sitting around in storage for me to use as a QT

Pics of the 8 - lights off - and lights on. The lights in the 8 are LED's c/o ironhedd

The Red Sea Max (RSM) is a 34g - better pics:

 

[acharpenter]

The RSM will be a mainly fish tank with a few softy's.

Getting back to my roots in that when I got into SW - it was for the fish. I was accidentally forced into trying corals and 3-4 years later - going back to the fish with just a few cheap softys.

Xenia, GSP, Mojanos (laugh all ya want - I love them!)!

My Maroon, a Midas Blenny, Jawfish - and still figuring out which but I have to have a symbiotic shrimp/goby pair.....

Thats the plan thus far - of course I am a reefer - so it always changes


Again - ANYONE DO FLOORING!!!!! Sigh - this is gonna kill me until I get it up!

 

[RWellvang]

Flooring, what type?

 

[acharpenter]

This home will become a rental in about 2-3 years so we are thinking laminate - but still trying to figure out if we can have carpet in the bedrooms (going to rip it all up and kilz the subfloor) and see what he does......

If that doesn't work - will be laminate throughout the upper level

Bottom level already is.......

 

[RWellvang]

I've done everything from tile to hardwood, except carpet. Laminate flooring does offer some great options, and looks good too. I'd be happy to lend a hand if I can. I'm kind of busy this month with moving and the dreaded day after thanksgiving, which in the retail world is a nightmare. But let me know.

 

[acharpenter]

Thanks for the offer - I may just take you up on that!


Tank clean!

 

[1Tlew0]

Looking good Angie. Did my RSM persuade you to buy one? :gay1: Jk. If you need any help at all, just shoot me a call or text. :beerchug:

 

[acharpenter]

Actually yeah dude - yours was the first time I ever saw one in person - this thing is awesome

Kevin is calling it the Cadillac of tanks lol

 

[1Tlew0]

Actually yeah dude - yours was the first time I ever saw one in person - this thing is awesome

Kevin is calling it the Cadillac of tanks lol

The exact reason why I regret selling mine. Youll love it!!

 

[acharpenter]

Long, slow, build update

Tank still sitting and waiting until after Christmas for the new flooring before she gets wet

Nano doing well but the Xenia are slowly dying off.... : (

Luckily a member that I FIF corals to offered to set me up again with them - thanks Brian

GSP all good of course................

Maroon Clown FIF so that I could house a couple baby Snowflake Clowns that I was given as a gift at the expo.




Perhaps not being able to put the RSM up as soon as I would like is a blessing as it allows me time to research all the MOD's etc I wanna do

and also a curse - as the fact that it is sitting without water is allowing me time to research MOD's and is costing me a lot more money!!!!


I will be switching out the CF lights for LED's

Best kit I could find is this one:
http://www.modularled.ca/red-sea-max-130-130d/

However that price goes up as I will need to purchase additional parts


I want to be able to run/control the LED's with my ACIII - still a bit lost on what will work with what when it comes to LED kits like this one.

I am totally cool with installing a retro kit myself- I am just totally clueless when it comes to what kit/parts specifically do I order?

Trying to figure out which color LED's and how powerful is insanely frustrating as there are so many opinions!!!

Also hard to judge as this will be a mainly FO system with a few softy's but I wanna be able to handle SPS/LPS if I choose to do so somewhere down the line.

If I cant get it figured out soon - I am totally gonna hit up Jimmy as I know he knows way more about this than I do.



2nd issue is trying to figure out a way to incorporate my auto feeder into the tank somehow. All I my searches found was that most only do it for short term and when they do - they pretty much do the same thing I currently do for my nano - which entails leaving the front lid up

http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showpost.php?p=518601&postcount=7

The RSM front lid has a hollow to it - I am guessing around 1.5 - 2" and then another 1.5-2" from the water level with that hood hollow.

So if I were to drill out the hollow part of the lid - that gives me clearance to install the auto feeder - I think.

Once I run an auto feeder with the front lid closed - I am going to run into humidity issues that may (more than likely would) humidify the food in the auto feeder causing sticking issues etc., so my plan to counteract that is to run an airline to the Ehiem (which Ehiem builds in for this very reason) - and run the airline from the feeder out the back of the tank



Thoughts on all?

 

[LowersMyBP]

With the LED's do you still need those fans that kept the stock lights cool? I would imagine you need to keep that channel intact to keep the air moving over the LED heatsink or it will get hot...Point is, you won't be able to reclaim any space that the fans currently take up.

You won't want the auto feeder mounted on that front lip. Every time you open up the front, it will be a pain in the butt.

If you are into hollowing out the hood...look at how much space and cavity you have right in front of the return pump nozzles. When you open it up to replace those fans, you should be able to get a good look at things. Is there a ballast that comes out for the pc lights and you will be putting something smaller (led driver) in its place? If you can get it in there, the air flow fan that comes stock with the tank may be able to source enough fresh air and you can vent out your airline to move the humidity away? I would want the food to drop there too, as the return flow will get it moving around.

Dunno, I'm sure you will figure it out. However, if you leave the lid open and just put eggcrate over it, you may as well give up on the jawfish, don't you think? He will jump right through it. And make sure you don't have any gaps around your autofeeder that lead into the rest of the hood. Fish are talented, he will find a way to trap himself in there.

 

[acharpenter]

With the LED's do you still need those fans that kept the stock lights cool? I would imagine you need to keep that channel intact to keep the air moving over the LED heatsink or it will get hot...Point is, you won't be able to reclaim any space that the fans currently take up.

Correct - most retro kits come with a heat sink but nothing to cool the back side of the LED's so those fans are crucial

You won't want the auto feeder mounted on that front lip. Every time you open up the front, it will be a pain in the butt.

Why would it be a PITA? Zero out the hollow space under it and install the auto feeder there = clamped on or something to the front lid and BAM! - Every time I lift the lid - feeder goes with - know what I mean?

If you are into hollowing out the hood...look at how much space and cavity you have right in front of the return pump nozzles. When you open it up to replace those fans, you should be able to get a good look at things. Is there a ballast that comes out for the pc lights and you will be putting something smaller (led driver) in its place? If you can get it in there, the air flow fan that comes stock with the tank may be able to source enough fresh air and you can vent out your airline to move the humidity away? I would want the food to drop there too, as the return flow will get it moving around.

Food needs to drop into a feeder ring so that it has time to drop to the fish....

Not enough space to hollow the hood out near the return - at least not yet depending on what room the LED kit takes

Yes - the LED kits negate the need for the PC ballasts so that opens up some space ideas....

Dunno, I'm sure you will figure it out. However, if you leave the lid open and just put eggcrate over it, you may as well give up on the jawfish, don't you think? He will jump right through it. And make sure you don't have any gaps around your autofeeder that lead into the rest of the hood. Fish are talented, he will find a way to trap himself in there.

CORRECT! Which is why I am researching and trying to figure it all out before I put it up


Wait - someone thinking about these kinds of things before throwing a tank up and getting LS - NO WAY!!!! lol


Thanks dude - after our Q&A - my thought is to order something or have someone install an LED kit - once that is done I will reevaluate what space I have and go from there

 

[ArstenA]

There are kits at rapidled and stevesleds.

We can discuss at the root beer float party.

 

[reef junkie]

If ur gonna do lamanate and worried about the animals check out the allure flooring.from home.depot. I have a customer that fosters dogs and has a similar problem as u and this product worked great.


Nice lookin tank also.