Doug's 250, now 300, in wall build

[Gti_Leo]

I think they do silly stuff on that show just to keep people's interest. How about the time they tried to power wash fake plants inside the tank while it was full of livestock. Retarded.

lol thats the same tank the paint is starting to peel off the coral structure now. the manufacture claimed it has happened to alot of their structure do to a flaw in the paint they used.

 

[mr_X]

I would fire that knucklehead if I owned that tank....but , then again, I wouldn't own that tank!

 

[needmorecowbell]

the newest episode of LA fish guys they polished a cylender tank will doign a PWC, they masked the water off with panters drop cloth and painters tape so no dust or polish would fall in, but to me this makes no sense

I saw that and thought the same thing. It wasnt done very well and i dont know anyone who looks at the top of a 6ft cylinder.. the house was really cool though.

also, they used 100% ocean water.. is it really that amazing or is it a hoax?

 

[Ibrahim]

I am sure they can do a beautiful reef if they wanted to, but so far all I have seen on the show was fill her up with water, throw some fish in and dash. I would like to see them build a serious reef tank on the show. They send the message to the audience that a fish tank, or worse a reef tank is something you can have delivered and running in 4 hours, full of coral. While I guess it could be done to a fashion, it is really unrealistic to me.

They've done it before when they had to make a feng shui tank. I wouldn't really call it a beautiful reef but they still added a ton of coral. Though they set it up within hours like all the other tanks they set up.

 

[Gti_Leo]

theme tanks no doubt, apparently season two is a whole new thing showing the proper builds of reefs and what not.

as for the thermal insulation of the tank its not because of the thinkness. glass has no R value while the acrylic has a slight value to it, not alot but more so then glass of the same thickness

Thermal Conductivity of some common Materials and Gases

check out the valuse for acrylic over glass, glass is 5 times more thermal conductive then acrylic is. even a glass window with two panels and a gas inbetween for a better r value

 

[mr_X]

I wonder why they don't make acrylic windows then....

 

[Gti_Leo]

they do, now they are coming out with windows with a sheet of acrylic in them. they are more epensive but now a days everyone is looking for a more energy efficient home so they are beefing up the insulation in their attics and windows

http://www.ehow.com/about_6690313_acrylic-windows-vs_-glass-windows.html

http://www.castlewindowcovers.com/technicaldata.html

 

[Gregcoyote]

Here is the new Chinese panel that is dimmable, 120 watts. Uses cat5 cable to communicate between fixtures.

 

[needmorecowbell]

woah. thats a crazy looking fixture. what tank are you putting it on? looks a little too expennsive for me though lol.

 

[Gregcoyote]

No, these are still pretty cheap. The controller is less than $100. I will be slowly switching out my existing panels to these. I use 5 of these and one 300 watt fixture for my turf scrubber and display tank.

 

[mr_X]

Well, I ordered my 300 gallon. I'll be picking it up in Allentown, Pa. on March 31st. 8' x 30" x 25" tall with a starphire front pane and 2 overflows with two 1.5" bulkheads in each. The overflows will not run down the entire height of the tank. Instead they will be two 4"x4"x20" boxes attached to the back of the tank like the picture below. I'll quiet them from the outside.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Boxes like that instead of full length overflows just gives you more display room. Looks very nice.

 

[ClamSnorkler]

Now it's Doug's 300 gallon in wall build.

 

[mr_X]

Boxes like that instead of full length overflows just gives you more display room. Looks very nice.

Yes, exactly why I chose them. The last tank I bought from them had the full length overflows and they really took up a lot of space. These will allow me to turn plenty of water and are going to be out of the way. They will be covered with black plastic and will have overflow teeth, in case anyone was wondering.
I'll start a new tank thread once it arrives.

 

[carey]

I have what may seem like a dumb question. lol Are the drilled holes better on the top or on the bottom like I've always seen? If they are on the top doesnt that mean you have to be a few inched from the wall so that you can fit the plumbing?

Thanks, always wondered.....

 

[mr_X]

Well, either way would work, but I would much rather have the holes drilled in the bottom if I was going to have a stand and canopy and it be against the wall, just for the reason you mentioned.
This will be an in-wall tank and I don't want the giant obtrusive overflows.
Here was my old 195...this is the same size tank as I am getting now, except it's 3 feet shorter. See how large the overflows are?

 

[carey]

Ahh ok makes sense. I really like having them drilled on the bottom and was just making sure that makes sense. lol The only thing I don't like about my new 60g rimless is the huge overflow. i will be losing a decent percentage of space due to it, takes up an entire corner. :-(

So what's the plan now for this new tank? Is there room to put it to where you have this tank now? Or are you going to make another enclosure for it? What about sump plans? or is this gonna be a really complicated build? LOL

 

[Gti_Leo]

have you thought about using a coast to coast overflow box? if i was getting one custom made thats the way i would have gone, skim the whole surface rather then a 20" section

 

[rdnelson99]

have you thought about using a coast to coast overflow box? if i was getting one custom made thats the way i would have gone, skim the whole surface rather then a 20" section

I agree with this. Using a Bean Animal overflow set up with a coast-to-coast overflow box seems like a much more efficient means to export proteins and also a much quieter set up. At least if you can believe this write up.

BeanAnimal's Bar and Grill - Silent and Fail-Safe Overflow System

 

[mr_X]

It's not a 20" section. It's 56 total inches. 2 x 20" fronts, and the four 4" sides.