jrpdriver's Three-o-Three build

[Wiskey]

Now that is cool! Do you plan on having side panels with magnets to hold them to the stand? I always thought that would be pretty slick because you could take the panels right off.

Whiskey

[jrpdriver]

Thanks guys

crvz-yeah that did a really good job, 2 coats of Dupont black and 1 coat of clear, nice and thick

[jrpdriver]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Now that is cool! Do you plan on having side panels with magnets to hold them to the stand? I always thought that would be pretty slick because you could take the panels right off.

Whiskey

I thought about the magnets but the little one will be running around soon so I figured I better go with something a little more secure incase somebody decides to do some climbing. The sides will be screwed into the wall behind the tank and I will probobly use liquid nails for some extra holding strength around the front

[jrpdriver]

Here's a rough idea of what I had in mind, I did this really quick in photoshop so it looks lopsided but both sides will be symetrical

[jrpdriver]

Got some pictures from MRC, everything is going to ship today!
The tank

Sump

and reactor

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by jrpdriver

I thought about the magnets but the little one will be running around soon so I figured I better go with something a little more secure incase somebody decides to do some climbing. The sides will be screwed into the wall behind the tank and I will probobly use liquid nails for some extra holding strength around the front

Aah,.. I gotcha. I would probably trust screws, or bolts more than gluing painted wood, to powder coated steal on the front though - that way if you ever need to you have the added benefit of being able to remove it as well.

That is a sweet looking tank, sump and reactor! I like the way you plan to have the wood come up the sides of the tank too, I've always liked setups like that. Have you thought of putting little "Portholes" in the side panels?

Whiskey

[Wiskey]

Oh,.. BTW - I'll be heading back and can drop by your house on Sunday the 30th,.. will that work for you? I'm not sure on a time yet, but if I can change a few things around (and I'm hoping I can) then hopefully it will be earlier,.. like around 9-10ish.

Whiskey

[jrpdriver]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Aah,.. I gotcha. I would probably trust screws, or bolts more than gluing painted wood, to powder coated steal on the front though - that way if you ever need to you have the added benefit of being able to remove it as well.

That is a sweet looking tank, sump and reactor! I like the way you plan to have the wood come up the sides of the tank too, I've always liked setups like that. Have you thought of putting little "Portholes" in the side panels?

Whiskey

yeah your right, the liquid nails was just my laziness overpowering my common sense As far as the portholes go, it would be hard to pull off with the sides being at angles, plus part of the reason for the side panles was to hide the drysides and wires from the Vortechs

[jrpdriver]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Oh,.. BTW - I'll be heading back and can drop by your house on Sunday the 30th,.. will that work for you? I'm not sure on a time yet, but if I can change a few things around (and I'm hoping I can) then hopefully it will be earlier,.. like around 9-10ish.

Whiskey

Yup, we'll be around

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by jrpdriver

yeah your right, the liquid nails was just my laziness overpowering my common sense

Yeah,.. I know how that goes

As far as the portholes go, it would be hard to pull off with the sides being at angles, plus part of the reason for the side panles was to hide the drysides and wires from the Vortechs

I gotcha! It will be nice to have the wires and whatnot hidden What is a dryside?

Cool deal - I'll give you a buzz when I figure out more and confirm those plans,.. I'm still not even sure what days me and my friend are going to magic mountian or anything,.. this whole thing is kindof last min,.. I love this stuff!

Whiskey

[jrpdriver]

Sounds good. The dry side is the half of the Vortech that sits on the outside of the tank, it has the motor, magnet and wire, the wet side of the Vortech is just a plastic housing with a propeller attached to a magnet.

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by jrpdriver

Sounds good. The dry side is the half of the Vortech that sits on the outside of the tank, it has the motor, magnet and wire, the wet side of the Vortech is just a plastic housing with a propeller attached to a magnet.

Oh, okay, I know what your talking about. I thought the dryside was part of the tank for a second there and I was a bit confused.

Have you looked into using Vortech pumps on Acrilic tanks at all? Allot of people do it of course, but there are one or two that have had issues and I just wanted to be sure you knew.

Whiskey

[jrpdriver]

Originally Posted by Wiskey

Oh, okay, I know what your talking about. I thought the dryside was part of the tank for a second there and I was a bit confused.

Have you looked into using Vortech pumps on Acrilic tanks at all? Allot of people do it of course, but there are one or two that have had issues and I just wanted to be sure you knew.

Whiskey

Yeah I called Eco-tech, a couple people had a early generation pumps malfunction and over-heat causing damage to the acrylic. The pumps are 100% safe on acrylic tanks up to 3/4" thick and the new pumps have a thermal protection built in so if they malfunction and start to overheat they will shut down.

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by jrpdriver

Yeah I called Eco-tech, a couple people had a early generation pumps malfunction and over-heat causing damage to the acrylic. The pumps are 100% safe on acrylic tanks up to 3/4" thick and the new pumps have a thermal protection built in so if they malfunction and start to overheat they will shut down.

Aah! Good deal. I'll pass that info on actually because I have a friend that is nervous about putting them on his tank. I didn't know they fixed the issues.

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Danyen]

I haven't heard of any issues with the Gen 2 vortechs overheating like the originals did (occasionally)