Dual Tubed Tank

[DWhatley]

A couple of shots of the mods to Octane's new tank. We hope to finally plumb it all a up this weekend. This started out as a freshwater setup and it took us awhile to decide what to do about an overflow (in the past we have used black PVC pipe). Neal got creative and built two boxes with "castle turrets" that fit under the manufacturers equipment holes for drainage to the sump. There are two bulk heads (one on each side) that will be teed together with water going to the skimmer and sump. I plan on placing a sponge in the overflows to keep curious arms out and the holes will allow for removal for cleaning.

Neal added supports inside the lighting openings for the drilled (for heat escape) acrylic covers and attached the covers with an acrylic hinge.

The light hood was a joke. To get to the aquarium, the entire hood needed to be removed so we cut holes, made hingable covers and are attaching the lighting to the covers so that each side can flip open.

Finished pictures after the weekend (I hope )

 

[Animal Mother]

Pretty fancy!

 

[Bigpapa]

Very jealous, "D's" got construction skills!!! Very nice

 

[DWhatley]

I can't take credit, Neal is the one who plays with the tools, I just come up with some of the ideas. Many guys complain that their wives won't let them get tools but not this one. For every tool Neal decides he wants, I already have 10 projects waiting to use it and why can't I have another outlet here ???

 

[DWhatley]

Water in the hole

After much longer than anticipated and a major accident with the table saw, Octane's tank is almost ready. It seems FedEx has lost our new pump but we have hooked up the old one for now (and may need to add more drainage for the new one as the return seems just right for the smaller one). The hood is still on the dining room table but has new bracing and new access holes with lids and new light fixtures ordered.

 

[DWhatley]

Finally, water and corals transferred

 

[Cephaholic]

The tank looks great.

 

[DWhatley]

TA-DA

OK, so it took me awhile to think to post the completed project and it housed another octo before we moved OhToo in but here is a final picture.

 

[Paradox]

Wow.. very nice and clean build!!

Does the octo prefer one side of the tank over the other?

 

[DWhatley]

I'm not too happy with the overflows and may try moving the Koralia's to the opposite side (the outer pipes are the inflow). The water goes through but the "stuff" seems to avoid the openings.

 

[Amygdalan]

The tank looks beautiful. My only question is that it's in front of those bright windows. Don't Octopodes dislike bright lights? I'm a newbie and I'm probably wrong, or you'll be dealing with a species that isn't bother by it, but that weighed into my decision on buying a corner tank I could keep away from my windows.

 

[DWhatley]

Your thinking is correct but there are two things about this placement that negate the light issue. One, very little direct light comes through those windows. The one that is east facing has woods and the north one does not receive a lot of light. Two, and most importantly, the tank is fully forward of the windows so the sides are not directly in line and the back is solid black opaque acrylic. If you do get a corner tank, I recommend the opaque backing (our 140 is a corner pent). The solid back, will, of course block the light and the view but clear will be a back breaking and unpleasant chore to clean and maintain.