Huge score? Anyone familiar with Innovation Marine aquariums?

[ThePlummer]

Back is painted.

 

[ThePlummer]

Had some paint left over so I painted the bottom also. In consideration that the fuge light could wash over into the bottom of the RDSB.

 

[ThePlummer]

Here’s the stand, upside down, with the bottom off, getting ready to load the sump in it.

Notice the 48” Fluval light bar mounted in the top of the stand? That’s the only viable use for that crappy light.

Unfortunately, my friend with a welder is going under the knife tomorrow, so I’ve got to find another welder to weld up the arch braces. That’s going to hold me up a bit. Shouldn’t have put that off. Darn it!

 

[ThePlummer]

Preparing to make light shades for the fuge lights. Going to use black plastic sign material. I've got a Finnex refugium light on top and a Tunze submersible in the bottom. Unfortunately, I can't use the magnet on the long end as the overall length is about an inch too long to fit in a 55.

Also, going to make an extension rod for the skimmer valve, so I don’t have to remove the lid to adjust the skimmer height. I still have to shorten it and cut some flats so the handle grabs the rod. I found a rubber grommet from a spin stream nozzle kit that works on the valve side. Might have to put a plastic clamp on the rubber to get a good solid connection.

 

[ThePlummer]

Well, I finally found a buddy with a welder that I could borrow... That's a skill you lose after not doing it for 20 years. It also highlights just how bad my eyes are getting. I'm embarrassed to post a pic of them before I grind off the boogers. Another mishap, I had a brand new hand grinder in my truck box.... not anymore.... never even took it out of the box and it's gone.... Darn it, now I have to have help with my chop saw, having someone pull the trigger on it to make it run, so I can grind of some of the really crappy spots... Not to mention, my truck took to missing on my way back from the welding operation.... No good deed goes unpunished...

 

[ThePlummer]

For anyone interested in looking at Exotic Marine sump kits, you may have noticed that all of them are currently sold out. Just got word from them that they aren't sold out, but cannot get clear acrylic right now because of Covid 19.

 

[ThePlummer]

Progress! Some much needed items have arrived today. I ran out of silicone building the sump, so BRS sent us 3 more tubes to attach the rock to the back of the aquarium.

They also sent 2 check valves & bulkheads so now I can complete the vacuum breakers on the return lines.

Also, the Loop bundle showed up. I have to say, I'm extremely impressed by the quality and design of this system. I am a bit concerned about the output of the lights, because of all the negative comments about them not being powerful enough. I suspect I won't be suffering these ill effects as much as others, because this tank is only 16" deep. It never made sense to me to buy some very powerful $1000.00 lights then run them at 35-50% power anyway... Seems like a waste of money.

Now, on to the Loop Bundle. I'm going to make a bit of a design change, as it's quite obvious there's not enough room in the sump to house 2 of their return pumps, and at a rating of over 3000 gph, I probably don't need two, other than to have one backup in stock if there's ever a mechanical failure. Instead of running two pumps into 3/4" output, till they meet and upsize to 1" to get up to the return manifold, where it would then reduce back to 3/4"... I'm going to just plumb 1" all the way to the return pump. Pics will follow soon.

 

[ThePlummer]

Finally!!!

Arch supports are finished! That was an ordeal.

Time to install them in the stand.

 

[ThePlummer]

Brackets installed

 

[ThePlummer]

Ha, I just noticed that when I created this thread, my autocorrect spelled 'Innovation', instead of Innovative.... I wonder if there is a way to edit the thread title, I can't find an edit button.... Help?

BTW, just waiting for my neighbor to get home to help me load the sump in the stand... Stay tuned...

 

[ThePlummer]

Another small success.

Sump in, bottom on. Now to flip it over and final positioning.

 

[ThePlummer]

So, what do ya’ll think? Sump in, stand in place. Now time for plumbing the ATO.

 

[ThePlummer]

Much progress today. Ready to call in some ‘muscle’ to help me get the tank back on the stand.

Doors back on, wiring for skimmer, one of the fuge lights (the other is currently in use on the temporary setup, and the RO/DI auto fill is plumbed. Just waiting on another ATO to go from ATO tank to the sump.

I’ve finalized the plan for the AWC. coming soon!

Got the loop bundle control panel sorted out.

All in all, a good day.

 

[ThePlummer]

Tested the Current sump pump today in a barrel of fresh saltwater.... Holy cow! That little thing is a beast. Not a bad price at all.

Two 2100gph wave pumps, 3100gph sump pump, two light bars, and all the computer controllers for just a touch over a grand $$$..... Upon arrival, one of the light bars had a slight bit of cosmetic damage (nothing we couldn't live with) and the seller gave us a $48.00 return. I figure if it turns out that we want more light than the Orbits can provide, I'll just buy one or two more light bars to the system.

I'm really impressed with the products we've chosen to use on this budget build... With a little thought, and ingenuity anything seems possible. This is a HUGE step forward from where I was with a 55 gallon tank with a HOB and stupid siphon tubes...

 

[ThePlummer]

Now we’re getting somewhere!

 

[ThePlummer]

The arduous job of rock scaping the back has began.

This is a bit harder than I anticipated.

 

[ThePlummer]

Coming along nicely. If I say so myself.

Debating on whether or not to stick some rock on the overflow. Would like to break up the outline some to minimize its visual impact.

 

[ThePlummer]

So, what do you all think about the rock on the overflow? Can you see the desire effect of trying to hide the overflow? Let me know what you think. And you won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t like it.

 

[ThePlummer]

Well, I've run out of cut rocks.... Gotta have a helper hold the throttle on my concrete saw, so I can cut some more. Kinda glad I didn't cut all of them before I started, because I have to make some custom notch cuts on a few pieces to finish out breaking up the outline of the overflow box.

I'm thinking this is going to be pretty cool, as there are plenty of places to put corals on the back as well on the main rock work, to give a deeper 3D effect.

 

[ThePlummer]

I think I’m going to call this done. I think I’ve sufficiently broken up the weir box enough that it’ll be hard to detect once it’s up and running.

Got some nice ledges built in too.