Found my passion in seahorses, but have I lost my mind? My first (public) build. 60g rimless
- Thread starter I'm a natural blue
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Lol. Clearly, I wasn't smart enough to specifically state my intention. Lol!I wasn't smart enough to think of that.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
Great find, that contact paper should be perfect! I can't wait to see it with the tank up and wet.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
As promised here are the pictures from this weekends work.
First..the tank and the original stand.
First..the tank and the original stand.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
We got a lot accomplished, my husband and I, here is the stand progression pictures.
Front with the door off
The back is open
Front with the door off
The back is open
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Because I have two other samller tanks and needed extra working/storage space I decided I wanted to double the size of the stand. One side for the tank and sump, pump etc. and the other for a table and underneath will house the chiller and ATO container. I also have a small sliding and removable shelf on the "new side.
The wood we started with....
In the beginning
We attached the "new" cabinet to the old. My fantastic Hubs doing what he does!
Here it is all attached.
Here is the trimming out portion....
Then we added the top and doors.
The shelf on the new side.
So, what do you all think so far? Up next, the rough plumbing......
The wood we started with....
In the beginning
We attached the "new" cabinet to the old. My fantastic Hubs doing what he does!
Here it is all attached.
Here is the trimming out portion....
Then we added the top and doors.
The shelf on the new side.
So, what do you all think so far? Up next, the rough plumbing......
Last edited:
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
We sat the tank on the stand and cut out the holes for the overflow and set up all the plumbing.
Here are a few more of the rough draft plumbing.
So because the fittings on the chiller were so much smaller than the plumbing for the return pump I was worried it would reduce the flow way too much. We contemplated a work around and the only thing we came up with to avoid the reduced flow by plumbing the chiller in a closed circuit to the return pump we decided to set the chiller up on it's own pump. It will pull from the section of the sump where the skimmer is and return into the section of the sump where the return pump pulls back up into the tank. The test run on the system will be next weekend. We will fill it with fresh water and let it run. Hopefully no leaks (which we can address if they arise) and I will see how long the tank takes to reach equalibrium in temperature with the chiller set up this way. Has anyone ever run a chiller separately? Did you have issues? Before the tank is filled with salt water we can always make neccessary adjustments.
Here are a few more of the rough draft plumbing.
So because the fittings on the chiller were so much smaller than the plumbing for the return pump I was worried it would reduce the flow way too much. We contemplated a work around and the only thing we came up with to avoid the reduced flow by plumbing the chiller in a closed circuit to the return pump we decided to set the chiller up on it's own pump. It will pull from the section of the sump where the skimmer is and return into the section of the sump where the return pump pulls back up into the tank. The test run on the system will be next weekend. We will fill it with fresh water and let it run. Hopefully no leaks (which we can address if they arise) and I will see how long the tank takes to reach equalibrium in temperature with the chiller set up this way. Has anyone ever run a chiller separately? Did you have issues? Before the tank is filled with salt water we can always make neccessary adjustments.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Here is the stand painted and completed. We moved it into the house to adjust to temperature for the week. It will be located in a different area once set up. I will post more of the progression as it happens!
The front before...
The front after...
The back before...
The back after
The top before
The top after
And finally here it is in the house all finished and acclimating.
I asked Hubs to install hooks and whatnot for my supplies on the inside of the doors.
Looking at it all completed, it's hard to believe it's the same stand. I am really pleased with it. I did love the original "antique" look of the paint and thought of doing my own rendering of something similar however, I think it would have looked too busy. The paint I chose is the same color as the accent wall in the room where it will live. The wall it will be up against is a neutral beige and these two colors pop well together. I want the tank itself to be the focal point not the stand. Well? What do you think? I am loving it so far. P.S. One other thing I did that is not pictured was I painted the plumbing that sits in the tank overflow to a matte black. All the other plumbing remained white.
The front before...
The front after...
The back before...
The back after
The top before
The top after
And finally here it is in the house all finished and acclimating.
I asked Hubs to install hooks and whatnot for my supplies on the inside of the doors.
Looking at it all completed, it's hard to believe it's the same stand. I am really pleased with it. I did love the original "antique" look of the paint and thought of doing my own rendering of something similar however, I think it would have looked too busy. The paint I chose is the same color as the accent wall in the room where it will live. The wall it will be up against is a neutral beige and these two colors pop well together. I want the tank itself to be the focal point not the stand. Well? What do you think? I am loving it so far. P.S. One other thing I did that is not pictured was I painted the plumbing that sits in the tank overflow to a matte black. All the other plumbing remained white.
Last edited:
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
The stand looks fabulous. Your husband did a great job so you better keep him, LOL.
Yes, my chiller is set up with a separate pump. And like you, I put the pump in the drain compartment with the skimmer and it empties into the return compartment. I found that it worked well and its simple to take offline if desired. Since my sump is in the basement where our house is cooler, I did not need a chiller this summer. I got away with just a fan blowing over the sump. It was a cooler summer however. I can easily add the chiller when needed.
Yes, my chiller is set up with a separate pump. And like you, I put the pump in the drain compartment with the skimmer and it empties into the return compartment. I found that it worked well and its simple to take offline if desired. Since my sump is in the basement where our house is cooler, I did not need a chiller this summer. I got away with just a fan blowing over the sump. It was a cooler summer however. I can easily add the chiller when needed.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Thank you, Dawn! He did do a great job. He was a contractor/carpenter for many years. This man can build/fix just about anything. He amazes me.
I am so glad to hear that you too run your chiller separate. Although I will need mine most of the year where I live, it will be easy enough to take off line for any reason that may come up. Even if it is just for maintainence.
I went back and forth as to what the best intake/output situation would be. First I had the chiller pulling and releasing into the return chamber of the sump. My thought process was this is where the water is cleanest. It would have been through the sock, skimmer compartment and into the refugium then pulled/returned from the return section. I was going to add a third chamber in the sump. However, even with the best maintainence the return chamber of the sump always has some debris from the refugium and I couldn't risk it getting plugged up in the chiller. As of now, all of my macro will be hosted in the DT and I will most likely only keep extra live rock in the sump for extra bio filtration and pod population. With this set up, adding a reactor is an option down the road for PO4 removal (which hasn't been an issue in the current set up) and carbon (which currently I use the good old bag in the filter sock method). Hopefully I can get enough of the NO3 out with the macro in the dt. I have been buying more and more of it recently in preparation of using it in the new tank for removal and aesthetics. I have about 6 or 7 varieties so far. Next weekend if all goes well I will be able to get it up, tested and running.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
I contemplated a long time what would be the best set up with the chiller as well. My sump is a 3 compartment sump with a fuge in the middle. My thinking was that for a chiller to be most efficient the imput and output should be as far apart as possible so cooled water is not being recycled. I figured the water is coming down the drain is at its warmest and if it dumps in the return after going through the chiller then the chilled water is pretty directly going to the tank. Anyway, even if my logic is flawed, it cooled the tank pretty well.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Ok, good! I am not that far off then am I? I thought the same principal as you. Keep the two separated as much as possible to find the equalibrium in the most efficient way with it set up that way. The other reason I decided to pull from the skimmer section was to try and avoid pods getting pulled into the chiller unnecessarily instead of them going straight to the dt. I'm less likely to have a population in the skimmer compartment than the return compartment after the water passes through a refugium or the live rock. Thanks for your feedback, Dawn. I know I can always count on you to share your experience with me. I appreciate you!!!!
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
I too did not want pods going through the chiller, especially since I had a UV sterilizer in the chiller line.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Perfect to run UV on the chiller because of slower flow running through it! I wasn't sure how-to incorporate the UV with my return pump without pushing water through to fast for the UV to work properly. I never thought about running the way you set it up when I decided to use a separate pump for the chiller! How many GPH is the pump running your chiller/ UV? Do you have the UV plumbed before it hits the chiller or on the way out? Thank you for your idea! I can add the UV to my Fishmas list!
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
My pump is a variable speed so I ran it at what the chiller called for, (which I can't recall atm). I am thinking 200-300 gph but I am not sure. Both the chiller and UV have been offline since January. I can find my manual and let you know? I figured protecting the chiller's operating system was priority. Killing parasites and bacteria was my main reason for the UV and they are killed even with a slightly faster flow. The algae is more difficult but I haven't struggled with too much nuisance algae except bubble and its not hurting anything.
rayjay
Well-Known Member
Please remember NOT to get too complacent when using UV.
Only pelagic pathogens are going to pass through the UV and be controlled, while there are benthic forms, especially most of the nasty bacteria that directly affect our seahorses, that do NOT for the most part, pass through the UV.
Only pelagic pathogens are going to pass through the UV and be controlled, while there are benthic forms, especially most of the nasty bacteria that directly affect our seahorses, that do NOT for the most part, pass through the UV.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Don't go out of your way. I was just curious. I was researching them and see that they have to be run at a specific gph depending on the wattage. I also see that they can create heat so I will (when I acquire one) plumb it before the water enters the chiller.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
Thank you, Rayjay! I am going to do more research on UV. I don't know enough about them yet. Can you recommend any links or articles you think might be of interest?
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
Like Ray stated, a UV is only effective on parasites when they are in the swim stage. The bacteria that is especially dangerous settles in areas where excess food is decaying or detritus and debris is acculmulating and so a UV sterilizer does not help that. When my UV malfunctioned, I elected not to buy another.
OP
OP
I'm a natural blue
Active Member
I received a surprise yesterday! You just don't know how happy this makes me. Considering I top off close to 1.5 gallons per day due to the fans running almost constantly, this in addition to having a chiller now will make maintenance so much easier. Thanks to my Hubs!!!!
Similar threads
