My 180g, 4 sided viewable project thread

[Hookup]

Sure thing.

I wanted to make sure the screens could be unscrewed and cleaned out so I got the following piece from FlexPVC (warning, they suck for many reasons, but they have these fittings so what are you going to do)..

http://flexpvc.com/cart/agora.cgi?cart_id=2688267.23771&product=BulkheadFittingScreens



Take two fittings, one will be hacked up, the other will be original.

Then I traced the approximate diameter of the 1.5" threaded to slip fitting that would be used to end the input line and screw on and off the screen onto ONE of the screens...

I used a dremel(sp) tool to cut the circular (ish) shape out of the screen.

Then I glued the edges of the "modified screen" to the edge of the original screen and the result is in the photo above.

Hope that helps... sorry I didn't take any "creation" photos.

[salvini55]

Tim, you done did it again! awsomeness is your middle name now enjoy it! What did you do with all your fish? That achillies was spectacular. Again you have set the bar higher than us mear mortals could reach (pls dont throw lightning bolts at us oh great reef god). Let me know what corals you have sps wise, my tank is ready to go. 

[Hookup]

Tim, you done did it again! awsomeness is your middle name now enjoy it! What did you do with all your fish? That achillies was spectacular. Again you have set the bar higher than us mear mortals could reach (pls dont throw lightning bolts at us oh great reef god). Let me know what corals you have sps wise, my tank is ready to go. 

Thank you for the laugh!  That's awesome... Tonight, and forever more, I will dawn a toga and olive branch head gear while drinking sweet-wine from a golden gem encrusted goblet in front of my tank!   There will be no photos of that moment in case you were curious. haha...

The fish, what a sad story.  Like homework, my dog ate them.... cept instead of telling fibs to my teacher covering for me chasing frogs after school and not doing my assignments, the dog really did eat them....

They jumped out and were never to be found... the list includes;
1) Achllies tang
2) 4 line wrasse
3) Various gobies
4) 2x Picasso Perc's

and possibly others that I no longer want to think about...

In losses, going from the old 90gal corner to this setup have been massive... coral loss, fish loss, fish-killing overflows... and of course, none of the corals or clams which I do not want any longer died, only the cool stuff....

I really cannot think about it because I start doing math and that ends up bad just about every time....

[Severum]

Saw this tank last night. Freag-a-duh its nice. 4 sided viewable in 2 rooms is the way to go. The tank looks even better in person than it does is the photos. All that hard work has paid off.

And I believe Tim is starting his own plumbing parts store from his basement.

[Hookup]

Thanks Vafa... sorry about that missing bulkhead I thought I had at least two but it seems that I had been raided already by Pat or Shawn...

I'm pretty jazzed myself, and now that the sump is online and running with the system, it's even better, IMO anyhow...


For those who remember, the overflow design needed to be dead-silent.... Let me tell you... with EVERYTHING turned off in the house, like 4am sneaking home kind of quite, you cannot hear ANYTHING but the faintest little trickle that is almost undetectable.   These overflows are DEAD-SILENT period end of story.... and I am that guy who complains about any noise...   They are easily handling the flow, and doing so like champs!   I'm estimating about 30 inches of skimming and pulling down about 1/16th of an inch of water!  TRUE surface skimming for sure...   

[Darth]

So I just read all of this 27 page posts, and man WOW is all I can say, this is one of the most amazing designs I have seen, looking at all the plumbing and what not I was like what is going on, and to have the pleasure to see this all come together in the end is awe inspiring. Truly amazing!!!!

Breathtakingly great work

[Hookup]

Wow Darth, thanks for the kind words, but I'm even more impressed you read through 27pages of "where are the photos?", "any updates yet?"...  Hahaha

The hope of any build thread, I think, is to entertain and I hope you were entertained a little anyhow.

[Darth]

well I waited till the pics were up I been seeing this thread for a loooong time, and then once the end result was up, I decided to go along on the journey, and it was most impressive (especially the wife) my wife would have killed me after about 13 min!! LOL

[Stussi613]

Thanks very much.  I'm not done with photos... I was looking at them last night, and more over, looking at the tank and really want to take some better quality photos.  Look for more regular updates.

All I can say is WOW. Unbelievable build and final result!!

I've got a Nikon D90 with some fancy lenses, if you want me to come and take some pictures for you just let me know...free of charge for getting a chance to see this awesome tank in person.

[salvini55]

The fish, what a sad story.  Like homework, my dog ate them.... cept instead of telling fibs to my teacher covering for me chasing frogs after school and not doing my assignments, the dog really did eat them....

They jumped out and were never to be found... the list includes;
1) Achllies tang
2) 4 line wrasse
3) Various gobies
4) 2x Picasso Perc's

and possibly others that I no longer want to think about...

In losses, going from the old 90gal corner to this setup have been massive... coral loss, fish loss, fish-killing overflows... and of course, none of the corals or clams which I do not want any longer died, only the cool stuff....

I really cannot think about it because I start doing math and that ends up bad just about every time....

that is devastating but I feel your pain, I also lost quite a bit due to my noobness moving a tank. Thinking of it in terms of money takes a stiff drink to absorb.

any chance that pats going to post the flow vid?  Im wanna see those flow patterns (trying to maximize mine and looking for ideas)

[redbelly]

I have to edit the video down to size.
Not sure if I can et it posted this weekend but I am sure I can early next week.

[Hookup]

All I can say is WOW. Unbelievable build and final result!!

I've got a Nikon D90 with some fancy lenses, if you want me to come and take some pictures for you just let me know...free of charge for getting a chance to see this awesome tank in person.

Thanks for the positive comments!   

We should get together for some photo shooting...  But i have cannon.  Are we even aloud to shoot the same thing at the same time or are we risking putting the earth off-axis?  Hahaha. 

[Hookup]

Thanks AZ for the help today.. I'll post some photos of the new critters and corals.

[az]

you are welcome Tim, setup is looking very nice.

[Hookup]

we lowered the ATI to within 1/2 inch of the tank last night, to prevent jumping... no losses... however, we had a power-outage today... yeah... found the aurora goby on the floor... silly goby...  floors are for people, tanks are for fish... (he's back in, but i'm do not think we found him in time... )

One tail spot has found a pretty cool home up by an overflow... would be wicked if he stayed there.

[az]

oh no he was gorgeus. best to hold the fish gently infront of a powerhead(not crazy flow) for a min or 2, increases survival rate of jumpers by 500%.

[Hookup]

he seems to be doing better... I had to knock some hermits off of him for the first 20min, but after 2 hours he's swimming and any hermit that comes near gets a tail swish in the face... he will now be known as Lucky

Here are some updated photos for those who asked.





A tail-spot that happened by my lens

[Brent Shaver]

Absolutely beautiful, with everything you went through to get here I am glad it turned out so well.

So when is the poker game with a view? grins 

[Hookup]

OVAS POKER?

DAMN, now that's good planning.

I will host a game for sure.

I'd go for one next WEDNESDAY Dec 15th.  (lets start a thread)

I love poker... Texas Hold'em that is.


Brent, fire up a new thread on this if you're serious and we'll get it done... BYOB of course.

[Cheebs]

Wow Hookup, it's finally all come together, and it looks amazing!!!

Awesome stuff, I can't wait to see it mature!