Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
IMG_7964 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7959 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7963 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7967 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7969 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7979 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7985 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7984 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7986 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7989 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
IMG_7993 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
Anyone know what that white channel is?
Thanks
That started life as a sheet of clear 1/4" thick acrylic. I template routed it into the exact shape of the window opening, but with a 1/4" overhang. I did a 1/4" round over and then used sand paper to frost the entire thing. Frosting it helps diffuse the LED strip that is wrapped around it.
Hey Broadfield,To be honest, I don't know for sure. Red Sea has recently changed their barbed return assembly... so it depends on which one you have. If you have the old one, then I assume it's the same as mine and you can simply use a 3/4" MPT x 1" SLIP adapter. Since the Red Sea is 25mm thread, you will need to use extra Teflon tape to insure a leak free connection. This is the reason I'm working on manufacturing an imperial version of the Red Sea coupler. For one, you will not need to try and source extra Red Sea barbed return assemblies if you want to redo the pluming on all three pipes. And two, it would be the correct thread for all of us living in an imperial supporting country.
No, it would have noise if you didn't submerge them. You can't tell anything is even coming out of them with them submerged.
Hey Broadfield,
Did you ever engineer the imperial version of the Red Sea Coupler?
Hey Broadfield,
Did you find a new coupler that works to adapt to the Red Sea plumbing?
Thanks
I wanted to do something that the normal DIYer wouldn't be afraid to attempt.
What Size Pentair UV did you use? Looks too short to be 40W version? I've got a XL425 so 25W should be fine.As @BigMo noted, I sold my entire sump/plumbing/reactor setup, skimmer etc. I am officially done having a reef tank until further notice. I was running the Triton Method for about six months with mega success... like the best success I had ever had. Until I wasn't having success lol. Tank took a dive again and I couldn't recover it. So I tossed in the reefing towel for now. I will be back at some point... hopefully with a larger tank.
But there's no reason to let a perfectly good Reefer 450 go to waste. So I am changing it up a bit. As noted, I ditched all of the plumbing, sump, skimmer, reactors etc. I completely ripped out my Apex display and am building something new/different to house it... to match the new green theme. I'm sure some of you already know where I am going with this. Like a lot of us, I started with freshwater tanks and always loved a planted tank. But I was young and never put forth much effort into keeping a decent planted setup. Back then, Co2 injection wasn't even a thing, unless it was DIY with a 2 liter bottle lol. So I decided I wanted to get back to my roots, pun intended, and build a really killer planted tank. Reuse the 450, reuse the Apex system, reuse my DOSs and so on. I am obviously going for the green theme now instead of the old orange setup. This is what I have so far...
I will be using one of my DOS to do automatic water changes throughout the day. I will be adding black John Guest 1/4" bulkheads on the top, left side of the sump and heat bending 1/4" acrylic tubes to lead out of the bulkheads and down the left side of the sump, hugging it pretty tightly. They will drop down to a bulkhead plate that leads out the bottom of the stand and disappear into the basement. I will have additional matching hard tubes that will also lead to the basement for dosing fertilizers.
I am reusing my Giesemann Spectra and running Hamilton 6500k 250 watt bulbs. I added a Pentair UV sterilizer and fabricated a custom CO2 diffuser. The planted style I am shooting for is a combination of Dutch and Iwagumi. I have my soil and hardscape already in, but will post pictures of that later once there's some green stuff in there.
Can you explain your drain to your sump? Sorry if it has been answered already, I couldn't find it.I knew that switching out sumps, plumbing etc would be stressful. So I got as much of the plumbing glued up and ready to roll ahead of time. That way my tank would be down off of life support for the least amount of time. I decided to pull the trigger Monday after work.
Before:
IMG_5972 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
Removed:
IMG_7676 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
Manifold and main piping installed:
IMG_7681 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
Virtually everything swapped over:
IMG_7696 by Toby Broadfield, on Flickr
I still need to do all of my accent lighting, ultra organize the cable runs etc. I'll then get some pics with my good camera. I have an acrylic shipment coming in this week, so hopefully I can get more done on the control center side.
They are still around, contact him via facebook and he'll respondHello from Toronto, Canada! I wish you come visit us Toby! Awesome design! I am OCD like you too but no DIY skills lol
is elite aquatics still around? The website is not valid anymore.
are you able to list all your plumbing parts on here?
They are still around, contact him via facebook and he'll respond
I am curious to know if you ever tried it. I currently have a 450 reefer with water and was thinking of changing out my plumbing to what he did as well.That was a quick reply. I'm a little nervous about removing the stand pipes on an operational tank. It definitely makes more sense to do it before the tank is up and running. I'm going to consider it though. Thanks for taking the time to explain in detail!