Dawn On The Reef

[BigC]

Ahh, good ol Argos timers, thats what i use!

Well spotted. Had them a while for the freshies. They work well and they're cheap. (about the only thing that is in this side of the hobby)

 

[DarrenUnwin]

Big C,

Been a while since I looked on the forum but I cant believe how identical your setup is to mine, you should have no problems there, you'll end up with one great piece of new furniture,

one bit of advice whould be to empty the canister filter of media and used crushed live rock (not too small) with just enough room for your carbon or rawphous bags.

Keep the pics coming and good luck.

daz

 

[littleme1969]

Big C.. just the man I just read somewhere that you work in a glass factory and so build your own tanks
I'm after your brain for 5 mins..lol
I have a 3ft tank that my hubby managed to put a crack in the bottom of while bringing it home, what I need to know is will it be safe to patch? the crack goes from front to the back of the tank at about the mid point of the 3ft. The tank is structuraly sound other than this crack with no other problems I can see. I was thinking of adding a piece inside the bottom and completly covering the underside in sealant then finsh the edges with sealant so they are smooth. Would this work? Also what type of glass to use? Should it be tempered glass?
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Nikki

 

[SkiFletch]

I dunno about how well that repair would work, but I do know that tempered glass is great for the bottom of tanks. Takes the weight of rockwork like a champ

BigC, that wiring looks awesome . Way better than my own first attempt :

 

[BigC]

Thanks Fletch,
I presume the light is for a refugium. I may incorporate some kind of refugium in the future using the existing filter cainster, I have read somewhare that someone did a diy job and managed to get a high powered LED attached through the casing. (something to look at later)
Regards
BigC

Big C.. just the man I just read somewhere that you work in a glass factory and so build your own tanks

littleme....PM sent.
I have been known to be inventive building new tanks. mainly breeding setups and overflows.

 

[littleme1969]

Thanks Big C for the good advise, I'll guess I'l just have to not be a chicken and take the bottom off Nothing worse than going to the trouble of ading a patch then having to rip it all out and replace the whole bottom, may as well do it right first Thanks again will get hubby to get the glass and ordered my sealant.
Thanks also Skifletch for taking the time to respond 2 opinions made up my mind.

 

[BigC]

Ok..I've surveyed the aquarium canopy and there is really not that much room left with the lighting etc. The Azoo fan unit I was hoping to buy has quite a large footprint so that idea has gone by the wayside, likewise are the 80mm PC fans (which I would have prefered) as they also are a bit on the large side. My plan now is to go with 3x60mm PC fans coupled to a small transformer. I'm going to my local Maplins store tomorrow hopefully to get all the kit. (installation pics to follow)
In the meantime here is some of the equipment I have amassed over the past few weeks.

Regards
BigC

 

[SkiFletch]

Yup, that bulb was for a refugium. I say was cause I have a different bulb. Same twisty compact flourescent, but one that has its own reflector built into the bulb. Looks just like a common incandescent or halogen floodlight, except its a flourescent. 23 watts rated for 5100K. Works WAY better than a non-reflected bulb

 

[BigC]

Just purchased these few items today
http/www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.ph.../products_id/35
http/www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.ph...products_id/136
http/www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.ph.../products_id/52
I used to have the hole in the pipe connector but that kept weeping and the wife was none too pleased I can tell you.
So now with the new connector options everything should be rosy in the garden.
She's still gonna kill me though for spending more dough.....the only saving grace would be if I tell her it was reduced in price.
It will have to be signed for when delivered and guess what she'll have to doo it as I'm at work
Why does this hobby keep me spending!!!!!
Anyway I'm off to get the body armour and earplugs out
See you soon
BigC

 

[littleme1969]

PMSL.. @ear plugs.. and yes its spend spend spend.. and thats before you get into live rock, clean up crew, fish.. and coral. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGG *sells a kidney to pay for it all!*

 

[BigC]

sells a kidney to pay for it all!*

PMSL ...ROFWL
I might as well sell them both when she finds out...pssst dont tell her where I'm hiding

 

[BigC]

Ok...as you may have gathered by now I have been concerened with the lighting/heat issue. I've been to my local electronics store today and purchased some kit hopefully to eleviate this problem somewhat. purchased a small 12v ac/dc transformer and 2x60mm pC cooling fans. (wanted to put three in there but the shop only had two in stock unless I wanted another one with flashing LED's.....not) I wish I could have got the 80mm fans but there is literally no room unless I drill holes in the canopy and make some sort of conduit vents which I'm not prepared to do at this stage.

Small 12v transformer and fans.

The tools I used to perform the DIY job

The first thing I did was to snip off the coupling at the end of the transformer lead (dont need that)

and attach the wires to a small connector block (Black=Ground......Black with white stripe= Live) remember this its important.

Next I joined the two fans together (Blue=Ground........Red=Live)

The next task was to join the whole thing together and test.

BINGO! it actually works, I couldn't believe how beautifully simple this job was and it couldn't have taken me more than half an hour.

Then I proceeded to fit it inside the canopy as neatly a possible, sure pushed for room I can tell you.

I have now left it running with the tank lights on and it seems OK for now. Yes the lights do get quite hot...but then again I always knew this. I am giving it a dry run at the moment to see if I need to upgrade further, but in the meantime this was a nice little job to get my teeth into.
I'll keep you all posted concerning the fan testing. Fingers crossed.
Regards
BigC

PS...The fans are quiet with the canopy down, slight whirring sound when you open it, so all in all I'm quite pleased.

 

[littleme1969]

Nice job Men as so practical. Just a thought but I see you have put your live sand in there, smack me round the chops with a wet fish if I'm wrong, but wont keeping it out of water now its not bagged kill off anything in there, especially with the heat from the lights drying it out etc?

Waits for wet fish

 

[BigC]

I have another 3 bags of the stuff and thats only 1 bag. As it is going to be a long process I couldn't bare looking at those bloody ceiling tiles through the base everytime I passed. hence I needed to cover it with something. I'll discard it or mix it with another bag when I'm ready to launch.
Regards
BigC
Duck here comes another wet fish!

 

[littleme1969]

I have another 3 bags of the stuff and thats only 1 bag. As it is going to be a long process I couldn't bare looking at those bloody ceiling tiles through the base everytime I passed. hence I needed to cover it with something. I'll discard it or mix it with another bag when I'm ready to launch.
Regards
BigC
Duck here comes another wet fish!

LOL well thanks for the fish
Your tank is going to look awseome , cant wait to see it with rock and fish in (god I sould like my 13 year old )
Thanks for the advise on the tank bottom. I'm so glad I did replace the whole thing as when I took it off, 3 of the 4 corners all had bad cracks in and I'm sure over time would have caused issues too.
All went well I mostly followed your advise but threw in a few of my own ideas to best suite the space I was working in LOL All went great and I'm checking for leaks this evening when its had plenty of time to cure. I got the odinary glass with the buzzed off edges so did the extra seal around the outside, as well as one on the touching edge and the third one inside going up the sides, just hope joining the silicone at that point does not cause issue . I spent a good 2 hours just removing all old sealant to the point where the join area was just looked like new fresh glass. So fingers crossed all went went to plan. And yes I did all this without the use of a MAN!!! well slight lie he did pick the glass up for me..lol