First Setup plan

[Redoog]

so i made anouther test light, 100 led whites from china ebay. works ok, i was planning on 200 white 100 blue. i think it will take more white, have to wait for setup to make sure.

i cut my rock detail. I took a scrap piece of cooper wire and made a tip for the soldering iron. worked great. Only first time i was to shy cutting. I applied first coat of cement sealer, and lost alot of detail.

So i widened my tip, and recut it wider and deeper. should be better. you can see in pics first cut and then second cut.

 

[Redoog]

the detail in the center is my frog ledge and waterfall leature. i cut a trench in the back for the pipe that will carry the sand up.

I made a shell looking piece to catch the sand.

The top is a ledge. If i get any more frogs, they need a place closer to the surface i think, and it highlights the waterfall. The side details were pieces i cut from the sump shelf because the pipes were hitting. Look neat, and thought it might help keep the sand from drifting off the sides.

 

[Redoog]

Not very easy to see, but it is here!!! We'll see if wife lets me work on it all night!!!!!

 

[markx2005]

work all night, it has to be done straight away for me

 

[Redoog]

Man, drilling a brand new tank is stressfull. Not to mention it probably voided the warranty. But as you will see below, there is no way i could have gave them measurements for them to drill, and have everything line up. What i did was set the tank on cabinet, and mark wher the cabinet holes were from the bottom. Checked double checked, measured, then drilled.

So hard at this point to slow down, take your time, make it right.

I almost screwed up.

My drill is pretty worn after drilling all the holes for the pipes.

The 2 1/4" hole saw, while brand new, had some wobble to it. Combine that with the drill, and i should have waited. I did not, I went ok, i had a vac, and a bucket of ice water on hand. I would drill a hole a little while vacing. I would stop and cool the bit, then drill a differant hole a bit. Took 30 minutes to drill all four.

They were not as clean as i would have liked, but everything does fit. Thats good, considering the pipes have to pass through 5 holes, all in line to fit. And there are 4 pipes, so i have drilled 20 holes, and everthing lines up pretty good.

tank is in place, just waiting to see how tight i should tighten the bulkheads, as i do not want any leaks, and if i do it will be hard to tighten or fix.

 

[Redoog]

MArk, I wish man.

Hit a major wall/screw up !!

The nice RUGF plate I made,,,,,

well, how am i gonna get it in the tank???

I am such an idiot!!!

Now I have to cut it in half, get a bunch of spices, and reassemble it inside the tank.

Good news, so far no ;eaks around bulkheads !! And most of the in tank plumbing is done, except for the connection to the RUGF.

 

[Redoog]

ALL my pics and descriptions are on photobucket

http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q231/reddogracing/?albumview=grid

i di get some done before i ran into a stall.

Got a second coat on background. Did a heavy coat, used a lot of black and a little tan. before that i cut it into three pieces that would fit the tank openings

Put it real real heavy in the cracks, then coated everything else with a good coat. i will put a coat of black on the back, not nessasary, but will make it a little heavier.

The two plugs are for my overflow pipe system. I can remove them to get a good draw, and bled. I drilled 2 holes in each to be a syphon break.

I added a syphon break to the 3/4 incoming clean water. facing straight down.

 

[tcarswell]

wow! Keep the pics and details of the work coming. I love it. Wish I had gotten a 100 long instead of a 90 tall... DOH!

 

[Redoog]

Well, I got my rugf pipes installed. But now I have one bulkhead leaking. It was not bad. I tightened it one flat. It was still seeping. I tightened it one more flat, it is still seeping.

So i guess i have to get a shop vac and suck the water out, maybe 10 gallons. Clean it, and try it again.

I know that while I was putting them in, one gasket was kinda gritty, so i wiped that one and the next 2 down. Just dont remember which one i didnt wipe off.

i dont think tightening anouther flat will do any good.

I think the only fix is taking it apart.

 

[zennzzo]

I was always a clean, dry, nothing but water on the gasket, Bulkhead kinda guy, till Phulltank57 showed me a better way...

Upon assembly of the bulkhead, fill the gap between the bulkhead threads and the tank with silicone...NOT on the gasket itself, but on the threaded part of the bulkhead, under the nut.

So, when you tighten down the Nut, the silicone will fill the void between the acrylic and the bulkhead.

You'll have the gasket under the lip against the clean surface of the bulkhead and the acrylic, silicone sealing the threaded section the width of the tank wall, then the nut with silicone on the threads...everything seals up nice, no distortion on the gasket, and the nut tightens more easily with the uncured silicone lubricating the threads... and the best part is it is not permanent... it WILL come apart if needed...

Every bulkhead on my systems have been done this way and they have had ZERO leaks...