helgymatt

Yes, I figure the drill bit alone is worth that much.

CraigThor

Looking good Matt.

orlando

Like an old Pro! Looks great, cant wait to see the updates.

helgymatt

Pics coming very soon. I have it up and running. Don't get too excited - no plants for a few months so only gravel, some manzanita and cichlids.

Thanks for all the nice comments. A rimless tank was my dream and now it is finally comming to reality. When it is all said and done it will have costed me WAY more than I wanted, but at least its all in good fun

helgymatt

I said soon so here they are...

My floor was very unlevel so I had to buy shims and a level to get this thing siting right, which was a challenge with my roommate holding the up the 400+lb stand and tank while I try to slide shims underneath in the right spot.




Hooking up all the PVC, tubing, and equip was fun.

Here is the ball valve, and union coming from the bulkheads. One on each end (intake and output). Unions make it easy to remove certain pieces of equipment for maintenance or replacement.


The intake first goes to the pump...


Then to the filter and then inline heater. I really wish inline heaters came in 3/4" connectors. Someday...




Need some extra light in your stand? Add a leftover cheapo light fixture.


I regret saying that even with a 800gph pump the flow in this tank is not what I expected. Maybe I will notice it more when I get plants in there. I can think of a few reasons for this
1. I'm using double outputs on my locline. By covering up one output with my finger, the flow (pressure) is much greater in the one not covered. I may just switch take out the Y and use one output.

2. All of the valves, connectors, unions, 5/8" heater slow the flow

In the end maybe I'll add a powerhead in there, but not unless I HAVE to.

I hope this has been helpful to at least one person. If not, I enjoy sharing all of this anyway. I have a feeling many more people will be setting up tanks with bulkheads and closed system filtration. I love the look of no tubes, cords, or other crap hanging over into the tank. As you can see my intake and output can easily be disguised.

Thats it for now. Next thing I need is a light. For now I'm going to get a shoplight at Lowes and place on top of the tank. They have one that actually looks nice on top of this tank. Later, I'll either build a hanging fixture or get a TEK.

CraigThor

matt, are those metal fittings conecting the PVC together? Make sure it is water safe and doesn't leach in to the water if they are.

Craig

helgymatt

Yeah there galvanized steel. Not sure if they leach or not? I can't imagine it would have much of an impact. Our city pipes are all steel! I couldn't find any other fittings that were not metal.

hoppycalif

That is starting to look very good! I really like the Ocean Clear filter and the hidden plumbing. Did you consider adding some more plumbing so you can drain and refill or back flush the filter and refill, all by switching valves under the tank? To me that would be worth almost any cost.

helgymatt

The ocean clears have a drain valve in the bottom of them. I just connect a garden hose, close my filter output valve and let the pump do the work. To fill the tank up, I just hook up the hose to my shower head and fill the thing back up from the filter drain. It takes about 4 minutes to pump out half of the water and another 5-10 or so to fill it back up! Very nice!

I'm having to do this very often (twice a day) because my tank has not cycled. With 14 cichlids in there, the ammonia builds up fast and by morning the fish are gasping at the top. I suspect I'll have to do this for a few weeks because the filter catches up.

helgymatt

Although, I can fill drain and fill the tank easily, I don't think I have it set-up to backflush. From what I can tell, the drain valve is just another ouput?? I'll have to look into how I can reverse the flow out the filter input.