My nano entry

[jlscrug]

I installed the actinics tonight. The lights themselves are only 1 3/4" tall and the MH pendant is 4 1/2" tall so if I put the actinics directly on the hood, the pendant would block out some of the light that would go in the center of the tank. To alleviate this issue I built some rails to mount the actinics on that will make them closer to the water's surface and subsequently not be blocked by the pendant. I made the shelf that the CLC pump and the ballast box will sit on but it is not yet painted so no pic yet...could have finished it tonight but I had to build a model rocket with Jake

[Casey]

Looks good.

[yardboy]

Originally Posted by jlscrug

...could have finished it tonight but I had to build a model rocket with Jake

Sounds like you have your priorities right! Hope you had fun building it. What model?

[jlscrug]

Originally Posted by yardboy

Sounds like you have your priorities right! Hope you had fun building it. What model?

The first one we built was an Estes (I had several as a kid so I bought a kit....umm, I bought him a kit for Christmas) and these run off solid fuel engines. This particular one that we built tonight...no idea what kind but has a one liter bottle inside it for a mixing chamber. You fill the bottle with vinegar, then insert a long clear tube full of baking soda (trying not to let the two mix). The end of the bottle gets plugged with a rubber stopper that has a bolt running through it with a wing nut on the other end. The idea is to tighten the wing nut so that the stopper swells and forms a very tight seal. After it is sealed, you turn the whole thing upside down and shake it a couple times, set it on the ground, and get back. The idea is for the pressure to get so great that it blows the stopper out and rocket up...might be one of those good ideas in theory Either way, he enjoyed it and worst case scenario it doesn't work so we get to modify it so that it takes solid fuel engines I'll try to get a pic of the thing tomorrow night after class. When I was an undergrad several years ago we made potato guns. 1" PVC barrel, 3" PVC chamber with one of those push button grill lighters mounted on the inside. The fuel was hairspray. It will shoot a potato completely out of sight...also made a tennis ball shooter out of metal pipe and it's fuel was acetylene gas from a torch...never see the tennis balls again...THAT was excitement!

[yardboy]

Yep, my son grew up with Estes too! I remember the first one, a single "D" engine, we got in the middle of this 500 acre field, but the wind was blowing and we still nearly lost it. The sight of him whoopping across that field in pursuit of those rockets was something, and later when he got so serious as he set them up on the launch stand, and insisted on counting down "like at NASA". Sigh. I guess I need some more kids!

[jlscrug]

Originally Posted by yardboy

I guess I need some more kids!

When we come down there this spring/summer I'll be glad to drop him off for the day so you can reminisce

[jlscrug]

Worked a little more this weekend. I started out with one full length shelf but it took up too much space and I am probably going to get a MR-1 skimmer to replace the EV-120 one day down the road and it is about 3-4 inches taller than the EV-120 so... Decided to make two shelves, one for the ballast and the other for the CLC pump and now I have alot more space in between. Also did a little bit of plumbing, but have to wait for the overflow and the two corner pieces that will hide the return PVC. Also bought 3 nice pieces of LR that I am going to cook for future addition. Anyway, here's a little bit of progress.

The first picture is of the loc-line returns...idea being to get the flow directed back toward the occupants instead of toward the glass.
Second picture - I wanted to show some of the 'issues' I ran across...I wanted to be able to remove the sump without having to tear out the shelves. Tight fit but removable.
Third picture - Shot from the front showing the shelves, the ballast and CLC pump as they will be when complete.
Fourth picture - Taken from the right glass panel. Shows another angle of the loc-line returns and their intended flow direction.

[Casey]

Very nice you do nice clean work,this is one of my favorite's.

[jlscrug]

I made a Kalk reactor today. Pretty cool piece of equipment for $45 and bought a pound of pickling lime for $2.33 A jar of Kent Kalk at the LFS today was $18 and I think it was 1/2 pound. Here is the shopping list and the construction directions (Thanks to Tom for the long distance coaching and Casey for help with the pics )

One, Whirlpool Whole House Prefiltration System, Item# 89376 (See picture 1), two screw in adapters, male threads on the half inch side and the other side accepts push in 1/4" od poly tubing (just like the fittings on most RO/DI units) item# - 20514, one five foot piece of 1/2" PVC pipe item#23967, several feet of 1/4" polyethelyne tubing item #22266, one 1" to 1/2" slip on both ends, PVC adapter item #23919 and two 3/4" x 1/2" threaded on both ends adapters item #51275.

First, unscrew the housing, remove the cotton filter, then use some silicone to attach #23919 to the 'in-water' inlet in the middle of the top of the housing, let dry 24 hours (Third Picture). Next use thread tape to wrap 3-4 turns around the rest of the threaded fittings. Screw both of the #51275 into the sides of the housing (Second pic). Next, screw both item# - 20514 into the ends of the #51275 (Second pic). Cut a piece of the PVC just long enough to fit into the 'in-water' adapter and have about 1/2" gap between the bottom of the pipe and the bottom of the canister when you screw it back on (5th pic). It was actually very simple to build and once you have all the parts, it is impossible to put the pieces anywhere other than where they should go. (Fourth pic is the finished product)

Viola, Kalk reactor that is rock solid for $45

Now if I could just get my overflow I would be in business...oh well, we are supposed to start moving into our new house next weekend and I doubt I will want to set the tank up this week, just to have to tear it back down and start over next week.

[gwen_o_lyn]

very cool!!

[ChrisPrusha]

Outstanding!!

[Casey]

Yea awesome!

[tdwyatt]

I tlooks like the tank is almost there, what are you planning for the overflow? (sorry, I just stick my head over into the nano tank every once ina while )

[jlscrug]

I have three pieces I am waiting on. The overflow will be be placed on the back glass in the center. It will be about 6.5" wide by 2.5" deep. The first one I had just took up too much space in the tank. The return plumbing in each back corner will be hidden by by two more pieces of black acrylic, each about 2.5" x 2.5". Once they come in I can finish cutting out the starboard, silicone those pieces in place, put the starboard back in, silicone it in place, then filler' up I also drove down to Macon last weekend an picked up three gorgeous pieces of LR about 6-8# each. The plan is to use the smaller LR I have now when I set the tank up. Let the inhabitants get acclimated to the new tank for a couple months, by then the new bigger pieces should have had time to cook, then rescape with the bigger pieces, pushing my corals closer to the top. Maybe by then I will have the auto top-off and kalk drip figured out and in place.

[jlscrug]

One more little point I forgot to mention. If you are going to build one of the Kalk reactors you will have to run RO water into the "out" side of the housing and the effluent will come out of the "in" side of the housing. My first attempt ran off about a cup of slurry.