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7' Tank Build

33K views 186 replies 35 participants last post by  BrendanMc 
#1 ·
Yes, it's finally starting! To those of you unfamiliar with the mighty tank I acquired, here is a picture of it: (my snowboard on top as a comparison)



Custom tank, 7'x1'x1'. Will be housing a species-only Saulosi tank, about 20-30 of them.

Tonight I go out to buy wood, and with the wood the stand will be born!

I'll post pictures of progress later tonight :thumb:
 
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#103 ·
cantrell00 said:
We need some pics Brother.... :p
Should have them this week! Finally got the long car (Nissan Armada) back so I can bring wood home without getting pulled over and given a ticket! Still debating on lighting though, I'm between (2) 4' shop lights that overlap in the middle or (2) 4' bathroom lighting set ups that hold 8 bulbs each. Shop lights give a total 160 Watts and the bathroom lights give a whopping 208 Watts! So far the bathroom fixtures are what I'm leaning towards, but the shop lights would be about $15 cheaper (bulbs and all) so that's definitely helping that option out... Thoughts?
 
#104 ·
The King Crabb said:
cantrell00 said:
We need some pics Brother.... :p
Should have them this week! Finally got the long car (Nissan Armada) back so I can bring wood home without getting pulled over and given a ticket! Still debating on lighting though, I'm between (2) 4' shop lights that overlap in the middle or (2) 4' bathroom lighting set ups that hold 8 bulbs each. Shop lights give a total 160 Watts and the bathroom lights give a whopping 208 Watts! So far the bathroom fixtures are what I'm leaning towards, but the shop lights would be about $15 cheaper (bulbs and all) so that's definitely helping that option out... Thoughts?
Whatever is the easiest way to mount them... Are you doing a canopy or will they be suspended from the ceiling?
 
#106 ·
The King Crabb said:
Inside a canopy with a thin layer (~1/16") of acrylic separating them from the water, no weight will be placed on the acrylic.
If going in a canopy, I would look at wiring/mounting a array of 4 bulb sockets & use hi-eff CFL. Similar to what I have in my fish room.

Would be lightweight & easy to install.
 
#111 ·
Well, they take medium base bulbs, that's the standard size, so CFIs will certainly fit.

The only time I have had any trouble with CFIs is some timed fixtures like my porch lights, where I replaced the switch with an electronic timer, Leviton's the brand, did not shut all the way off, and instead flickered during the day, but they worked fine at night.

For regular on-off timers, they work fine at my house.

It's Home Depot, pick a couple up, open one and try it, if it doesn't work, toss it in the return pile. I haven't paid full price for anything since I bought my house 115 years ago, there's ALWAYS something going back to get store credit.
 
#112 ·
quentin8 said:
Hey the fixture supports "g" type bulbs I dont know it they make CFL's for it take a look here http://www.topbulb.com/find/incandescent.asp
I think G means globe, it's decorative spherical, not shaped like a regular bulb. That's for show, though, trust me, any conventional bulb that you can screw in will work, and I bet a CFL would work, too. The base is medium, that's standard size, I say go for it.
 
#113 ·
CITADELGRAD87 said:
Man, $10 per is cheap, what would you need, maybe 2 of them? Already spaced out and wired, you'd have a hard time convincing me that DIYing it would be better than at that price, your time is worth something, too.
Yeah.. I certainly agree. I never thought about this but now I get it...

My CFL's use a standard light bulb socket. Shouldn't be any worries there.

And if the sockets are too close, just put bulbs in every other one. lots of flexibility with this set up.
 
#115 ·
vann59 said:
The standard socket we use here in the US is called an E27, for edison type screw in bulb with 27mm diameter. Wouldn't tube lights give a more even lighting? And I would be really careful about having an open socket on a live fixture.
:eek:

Yeah.. Good point. Disconnect them if not in use...
 
#117 ·
The King Crabb said:
vann59 said:
And I would be really careful about having an open socket on a live fixture.
That's a good point, I hadn't thought of that! Can you buy just a sort of "plug" for the fixture or will I need to cut some wires?
Light socket to outlet receptacle. Then put silicone into the two slots... Instant light plug.
 
#118 ·
The King Crabb said:
vann59 said:
And I would be really careful about having an open socket on a live fixture.
That's a good point, I hadn't thought of that! Can you buy just a sort of "plug" for the fixture or will I need to cut some wires?
On second thought - you may be better off just placing individual bulb mounts in the canopy.. Cutting and taping off the sockets you don't use would be a pain.

You should only need 4 and would require the following...

X4


X4


Here are the bulbs that have worked well for me..

2 strand 12 gauge wire.. Plug end...

I just daisy changed them together to a common plug connecter and added a timer...
 
#119 ·
I like cantrell00 design, but I would reccomend using the outdoor lighting since it will be used by a bunch of moisture / water. The weather proof lamp holder (bulbs are what you plant in the ground) can also be found at Menards, Homedepot, Lowes, etc.

Here is a company that makes them.
They make all sorts of covers that you can use..
http://www.taymac.com/products/lampholders/covers
Here are the lamp holders.
http://www.taymac.com/products/lampholders/traditional/lt100wh
The nice thing about these is that you can set the angle in which you want the lamp to go.

This is how I put mine together as an example.

In the final design the wires go behind the reflector. In this picture the light fixtue is just resting on the reflector.
 
#120 ·
cantrell00 said:
On second thought - you may be better off just placing individual bulb mounts in the canopy.. Cutting and taping off the sockets you don't use would be a pain.
Wouldn't it be easier to have the bathroom lighting fixtures because I'd only be taping off 2 bulbs maximum, and they'd be on the same fixture at the end?

Agridon, I saw that lighting you did and I really liked the outcome! Do you think that 4 bulbs makes a sufficient difference? Could you maybe post a picture of your tank illuminated with only the CFL bulbs?
 
#121 ·
The King Crabb said:
cantrell00 said:
On second thought - you may be better off just placing individual bulb mounts in the canopy.. Cutting and taping off the sockets you don't use would be a pain.
Wouldn't it be easier to have the bathroom lighting fixtures because I'd only be taping off 2 bulbs maximum, and they'd be on the same fixture at the end?

Agridon, I saw that lighting you did and I really liked the outcome! Do you think that 4 bulbs makes a sufficient difference? Could you maybe post a picture of your tank illuminated with only the CFL bulbs?
Ohh.. Ok.. Thought it would be more than that. No, I agree.. If that is all that you have to deal with, sure..

Agridiron's suggestion is a good one re; water proofing. If this is an enlosed canopy - there is risk of moisture intrusion causing a short...

If the canopy is well ventilated, I don't think it will be an issue. Mine hasn't.
 
#122 ·
The King Crabb said:
Agridon, I saw that lighting you did and I really liked the outcome! Do you think that 4 bulbs makes a sufficient difference? Could you maybe post a picture of your tank illuminated with only the CFL bulbs?
Yes buying a strip light like that would be a lot easier to install with out question! I thought about that for mine but decided not to do that for a few reasons. One is that the base was a bit too thick for my canopy and I was looking for something a bit slimmer. Two was that I wanted to put a better reflector on them, not just a straight mirror behind the lights. Yes the mirror will reflect some light from directly behind the lamp (done very efficiently might I add) but they don't capture any of the light from the side of the lights. Third is that it wasn't water proof and will rust and corrode over time. Forth having the lights turned on their side (perpendicular) the aquarium will be exposed to more of the lamps coils and should receive more of the lumens of the lamp then having the coils parallel with the waters surface.

And Yes I do feel that the 4 lamps (per side) are plenty of light for the tank even without the LED's. Because of your request I am contemplating the need to have the LED's light my tank during the day.... I might just have them as the night lights for the tank and night and turn them to their blue setting for a few hours in the evening to change things up.

Per your request.
Fist picture is with the LED lights lighting the tank and the 8 CFL facing the camera (4 per side). The second picture is with both the LED lights and the 8 CFL's lighting the tank, and the third is just the CFL lighting the tank.

With the LED's you will notice a hint more blue and more shadow effects on the back wall then the one without the LED's. The LED's are more of a spot light.

This picture I turned off the LED's and pushed them to the far back to not block any light coming from the CFL. Actually the back wall looks more lite up this way. CLF's set up in this fashion are more of a flood light.
 
#123 ·
cantrell00 said:
Agridiron's suggestion is a good one re; water proofing. If this is an enlosed canopy - there is risk of moisture intrusion causing a short...

If the canopy is well ventilated, I don't think it will be an issue. Mine hasn't.
Agridon, that's only 8 lights? Wow these do a lot more lighting than I thought! Love the lighting and the tank by the way =D>

The canopy isn't planned to be even able to receive any moisture from the tank, but there is always a chance I mess something up. The canopy will be made like this (I'll draw up a 3D model later, when I have more time) Like all canopys it will basically be a fancy box, but mine will have a little twist to it. The 8" tall canopy will have a small 1"x2" strip of wood going around the inside, for the canopy to rest on, and then there will be a thin layer of acrylic on top of that (covering the whole tank and because it's on top of the 1"x2" strip there is no weight on the acrylic except for it's own). But what's in the chamber above the acrylic you might ask? The lights! All 14-16 (depending on fit) CFLs will be placed horizontally on the hood (the fixture will be placed on the side of the canopy) to prevent them from moisture, remember the acrylic layer will also be sealed together and have silicone around the edges. But to get into the canopy? Well you might recall from other posts in various sections that I'm using a canister filter for this tank, the output being on the right side. Therefore I will build the right side of the canopy to flip open so I can drop food in that side and the flow will bring it as far as the middle of the tank, I won't have to worry about any being wasted because the input is 7' away!

I realize I won't be able to work in the tank at all (other than feeding) when the canopy is on and that it will take 2 people to lift, but since I don't have a 7' wing span I was always going to use 2 people to lift it anyways!
 
#124 ·
The King Crabb said:
cantrell00 said:
Agridiron's suggestion is a good one re; water proofing. If this is an enlosed canopy - there is risk of moisture intrusion causing a short...

If the canopy is well ventilated, I don't think it will be an issue. Mine hasn't.
Agridon, that's only 8 lights? Wow these do a lot more lighting than I thought! Love the lighting and the tank by the way =D>

The canopy isn't planned to be even able to receive any moisture from the tank, but there is always a chance I mess something up. The canopy will be made like this (I'll draw up a 3D model later, when I have more time) Like all canopys it will basically be a fancy box, but mine will have a little twist to it. The 8" tall canopy will have a small 1"x2" strip of wood going around the inside, for the canopy to rest on, and then there will be a thin layer of acrylic on top of that (covering the whole tank and because it's on top of the 1"x2" strip there is no weight on the acrylic except for it's own). But what's in the chamber above the acrylic you might ask? The lights! All 14-16 (depending on fit) CFLs will be placed horizontally on the hood (the fixture will be placed on the side of the canopy) to prevent them from moisture, remember the acrylic layer will also be sealed together and have silicone around the edges. But to get into the canopy? Well you might recall from other posts in various sections that I'm using a canister filter for this tank, the output being on the right side. Therefore I will build the right side of the canopy to flip open so I can drop food in that side and the flow will bring it as far as the middle of the tank, I won't have to worry about any being wasted because the input is 7' away!

I realize I won't be able to work in the tank at all (other than feeding) when the canopy is on and that it will take 2 people to lift, but since I don't have a 7' wing span I was always going to use 2 people to lift it anyways!
Sounds good... Just bear in mind that acrylic absorbs water & WILL warp unless fastened down securely all the way around... Just an FYI to consider in the design...
 
#126 ·
The King Crabb said:
cantrell00 said:
Agridiron's suggestion is a good one re; water proofing. If this is an enlosed canopy - there is risk of moisture intrusion causing a short...

If the canopy is well ventilated, I don't think it will be an issue. Mine hasn't.
Agridon, that's only 8 lights? Wow these do a lot more lighting than I thought! Love the lighting and the tank by the way =D>

The canopy isn't planned to be even able to receive any moisture from the tank, but there is always a chance I mess something up. The canopy will be made like this (I'll draw up a 3D model later, when I have more time) Like all canopys it will basically be a fancy box, but mine will have a little twist to it. The 8" tall canopy will have a small 1"x2" strip of wood going around the inside, for the canopy to rest on, and then there will be a thin layer of acrylic on top of that (covering the whole tank and because it's on top of the 1"x2" strip there is no weight on the acrylic except for it's own). But what's in the chamber above the acrylic you might ask? The lights! All 14-16 (depending on fit) CFLs will be placed horizontally on the hood (the fixture will be placed on the side of the canopy) to prevent them from moisture, remember the acrylic layer will also be sealed together and have silicone around the edges. But to get into the canopy? Well you might recall from other posts in various sections that I'm using a canister filter for this tank, the output being on the right side. Therefore I will build the right side of the canopy to flip open so I can drop food in that side and the flow will bring it as far as the middle of the tank, I won't have to worry about any being wasted because the input is 7' away!

I realize I won't be able to work in the tank at all (other than feeding) when the canopy is on and that it will take 2 people to lift, but since I don't have a 7' wing span I was always going to use 2 people to lift it anyways!
Thanks. I hope the 8 are enough to grow those plants. Anyways what thickness acrylic are u going to use? From what I read it will be siliconed to the canopy. If that's the case you should be fine otherwise your acrylic will sag and warp over time if just resting on the tank due to moisture, if its a thin piece. I found out the hard way with my sump cover and had to glue a frame to it. That sounds like a lot of lights for your tank. Will you need that many?
 
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