Wife approved upgrade arrives!

[thomb]

Progress report.
Strongmen came earlier in the week and now the tank is on the stand.

The rock is just in the tank to get out of the way - no indication of future aquasculpture

Also started on the sump

Still a ways to go, more things to install, and general wire cleanup etc.

Water? getting closer... ever so much closer...

 

[thomb]

The glass is so darn clear - I have headbutted it at least times
Then again, maybe it's just because I am not all that smart.

 

[thomb]

Well we have liftoff! Well water at least...
This is what I call the Super Manifold Mark I

Mark I because this is a proof of concept. I will replace this with a more visually appealing system w/ easier to use valves. I’m pretty wasteful as a “fabricator”– I’ve got to build as I go along, I have no abilities to visualize how things will work.

I’m pleased to report the Super Manifold is now a proven concept – it works great.
I plumbed a drain early on in the build.

Now I can:
1. Direct return pump flow into the drain
2. Drain from the display (via the return line)
3. Attach a siphon hose, fill the hose with the return pump to facilitate starting the siphon, and siphon the display into the drain
4. Pump water from another source into the sump or display

Added bonus, this allowed me to leak test the drain and the return line without needing to fill the sump or run the return pump.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Here’s the Super Manifold installed:

She’s not a looker, but again this is just a prototype.

 

[thomb]

Some more progress...
Water and now no more pipes to nowhere!

When I ordered the MP40's I assumed the cord from the motor plugged into the driver - well it does, but you need to take the driver apart. Guy on reefcentral gave me this tidbit of knowlege. I had resigned myself to thinking I did a lot of work with those pipes to have two extra holes in the wall. I did get the measurements a bit off on their location - grrr.

Now need to source some plugs for the pipes and it'll be good to go. Dang shame MP40's don't come in white

 

[thomb]

Waiting on the some parts for my lighting, and for the water to clear.
And of course still need clean up all the cord routing etc.

 

[Bobbofin]

Congrats on making it past the Spousal Appropriations Subcommittee

 

[Spaceman]

Tank is Amazing!!! Starting to love 120s!!!

 

[firstimer]

how much is it for one of those tanks! ill start saving my lunch money!

 

[thomb]

Got her hooked with the Craigslist special "heck we can run it for almost free, we can get the water from right down the street" : )
But in all honesty it wasn't a tough sell. Actually she does most of the maintenance on our tank now!

As for the cost...
Well, Jesse I'm sure will be happy to set you up (great guy to deal with btw) - pricing is all here... http://www.elosusa.com/store
I will say there is value in assembling vs engineering. And everything is top notch - the sicce return pump is one loud mother right now but I assume it'll break in.

 

[FOXYB]

Congrats! Elos tanks are so beautiful I was sorry to give up mine but I'm hopeful that one day I'll have another.

 

[jango]

how much is it for one of those tanks! ill start saving my lunch money!

That's a lot of skipped lunches!!

Beautiful tank man, gonna be a great looking system...

 

[thomb]

Well now it’s go time!
Hanging the lights today.
Here I am finished fishing the first of the three cords up the great tube to nowhere that will electrify lights.

The red tape <Australian accent> That’s not duct tape, this is duct tape</Australian accent>

Not something you see every day eh?

And in case anyone was ever had a burning curiosity about such things, this is what the insides of an Elos E-power pendant looks like.

 

[thomb]

Grrrrr. Well ran into the only problem I am going to have today I am sure.
Here are the suns

The new Spectra Chrome bulbs are over 1/4" longer than the old ones

Too long in fact for the socket configuration

Yes Virginia I do have the other socket moved as far over as it can go just like this one

 

[thomb]

Fortunately, my old lady has the ultimate set of tools, so we can fix it!

With tedious yet delicate work like this, it is helpful to repeat a mantra, here was mine:
It has strength in compression, but not in shear. And its replacement is not near.
One down, one to go!

 

[s_kelley]

Looking good. Love that tank.
Did you repeat my mantra? I hope this thing works when i put it all back together!
Oh and where did all these extra parts come from? Haha

 

[Spaceman]

This Tank Is stunning!!! Saw last night WOW its AWESOME!!!!

 

[thomb]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It's going to be a long haul before the reef is as nice as the ocean that is containing it

 

[thomb]

Progress update:
DIY fuge light installed - I posted closeups of it in the DIY forum. Pretty happy with it. The back clamp is a bit harder to uninstall than I'd like - the pasti-dip stuff is grippy as all get out so it's not all that easy to turn the clamp removal knob. It doesn't really need to be removed anyway (hense all the adjustibility - I can remove sump cover without removing the light - just raise the light.


Now on to the controller... waiting on a firmware update - its great to be an early adopter

Got a heck of a mess to work with - any creative folks out there got ideas to organize this mess::

Not as big a fire hazard as it looks - none of this is plugged in right now.

 

[thomb]

Where's the reef?!?
Realized I've only posted is equipment pictures. Been a bit rough on things with all the equipment work - so not ready for "prime time" pictures.

 

[thomb]

Last equipment post today I swear...
This is the controller screen - I've named it "world's most expensive digital clock". Since telling time is all it's good for right now.::

But hey it has nice touchey feeley icons to push...

and it connects using one sleek black wire into thing with a large mass of wires! Livin the dream.

I should say, I am not disparaging Elos products or the company - the firmware thing is just something that is going to happen. My comments are simply humor on my part.

I'm not a unhappy customer by any means - far from it!
I work in software, I've walked many a mile in their shoes bringing new products to market.