Parrot's 150 Long

[ErinCahir]

U don't have a basement drain? All the houses I've lived in they have a basement drain....could be a Midwest thing idk...

Mine has one! Right by the water heater...

 

[parrotchute]

So I ordered a bulkhead for the drilled water tank, but marinedepot says it needs a hole of 1 1/8" - my hole-saw set comes in 1 & 1 1/4" varieties, but nothing 1 1/8th - and I didn't see anything @ Lowes either.

Can I drill a 1" and enlarge it with an exacto or is that going to be a bad idea?

 

[Burch01]

Yeah, I pay it right with my water bill (it's one bill but covers both) - I never thought to wonder what it is until I noticed the quantity of water I was paying to dispose of!

Ok...dumb question...how would I get at the washing machine drain? It is easy to tap in to?

Usually the utility company that supplies your water and sewer will base your sewer bill on the amount of water used, because they assume that the majority of the water used will be drained into the sewer and back to the treatment plant. The water coming from your RO system has already been calculated as part of your monthly usage so you will be charged a disposal fee for that amount even though it may not be dumped down a drain. I am not aware of a meter on the sewer line that calculates the true amount of waste water that flows through the lines.

In response to your other question, all you have to do is cut the drain pipe where you want to install a pvc wye (regular schedule 40 PVC from lowes) and glue it into place. If you are going to depend on a gravity flow system then make sure the wye is below the outlet of your overflow. This is a fairly easy process if the pipe are exposed and you aren't dependent on a sump pump to pump your waste water up to the gravity sewer line that connects to the Utilitity Company's line. If it is connected to a sump pump then you may need to check and see if the capacity of the pump is large enough to handle the extra amount of water that will come from your overflow.

 

[parrotchute]

Thanks Burch, that makes a lot of sense!

As far as the outlet, I ended up finding a drain right behind my washing machine that I had forgotten about! It's perfect.

 

[Burch01]

No problem. Glad my first official post was somewhat informative and helpful.

Yeah that drain will make things alot easier.

 

[parrotchute]

Oh wow, I didn't realize that was your first post! Welcome to the site!
Hope we can help you out, there's a lot of experience here. Without this site, my first tank would have been a disaster.

 

[parrotchute]

Well, so today I started the aquasculpture planning. I'm a little disappointed in how the pics came out - it looked a lot more 3D in person, but oh well, what can ya do.

It's not quite to scale. The 3 columns on the right will have a much larger gap between the main island - the table is only 5' long compared to my tank's 6'. The main island will be augmented with some more rocks to act as additional shelter for the fish. Also, in front will be some low lying rocks to act as zoa gardens.

Any suggestions?

 

[little_fish]

Its kinda hard to see without the tank like you mentioned, but i like the ideas you have. Try and get lots of different levels in your tank, it is very pleasing to the eye

 

[parrotchute]

Thanks, yeah, the island on the left has lots of little plateaus and I think I'm going to attach a flat rock piece about midway up one of the spires - that should form a little ledge.

 

[parrotchute]

I just mounted my AI lights - ugh, so worried about it though! I used a masonry bit to drill into the ceiling, then one of those t-shaped spring-loaded devices (it opens up once it's inserted into the ceiling space) and then screwed in the wires. I have a massive fear about it dislodging and smashing into the tank!! Not sure what I can do about that to allay my fears.

I hung them all up and realized some of the AIs' outlets were facing the wrong way, so I had to lower it, unscrew them, and then remount! Right now I'm going to go plug in the profilux and test them out.

Tank will be in tomorrow!

 

[buddy08]

woot woot, cant wait to see it come together

 

[Dana42078]

U think a light diffuser over the top of the tank would help curb your fears a little? It could also help prevent jumping fish...jus a option...looking good tho!

 

[parrotchute]

It's a rimless tank, so no light diffuser! Good idea, though. My friend is a carpenter, I'll have him take a look and ensure it's structurally sound!

In other news, I fired the LEDs up, and realized one of them didn't get upgraded to the Sol blue (I had sent my old 4 in for upgrades), so I had to pull it off and will have to mail it tomorrow! PITA.

In a month or so AI is releasing wireless modules which will allow each LED to be individually controlled wirelessly - so I can do a passing cloud effect, dimming each LED in turn, instead of having the cloud affect the entire bank at the same time. Going to be sick!

 

[ErinCahir]

Looks awesome so far, Alex!!

 

[Burch01]

I just mounted my AI lights - ugh, so worried about it though! I used a masonry bit to drill into the ceiling, then one of those t-shaped spring-loaded devices (it opens up once it's inserted into the ceiling space) and then screwed in the wires. I have a massive fear about it dislodging and smashing into the tank!! Not sure what I can do about that to allay my fears.

I hung them all up and realized some of the AIs' outlets were facing the wrong way, so I had to lower it, unscrew them, and then remount! Right now I'm going to go plug in the profilux and test them out.

Tank will be in tomorrow!

First option: Is the ceiling above your tank open to attic space? If so then you can easily spot the anchors between your floor joists (after removing some insulation). Then you could take a 2x4 and nail/screw it to the top of the ceiling joist so that the 4" side is facing down. This will give you a solid attachment point on which to hang the lights.

Second Option: If the ceiling is not open to attic space then check the load rating on the anchors. It should be displayed on the anchor container. Next take the weight of the light fixture and divide it by the number of connection points in the ceiling. This will give you the load being exerted on each anchor. If the load exceeds the manufacturers rating for the anchor then you know you need to install bigger anchors. I would probably take the load being exerted on the anchors and multiply that by 1.5 and find an anchor that meets or exceeds that rating. I.e. if the load per anchor was 5 lbs then shoot for an anchor that can hold a load equal to 7.5 lbs.

I hope this helps. If might give you some ideas that you could talk over with your friend.

 

[parrotchute]

Unfortunately, it's between two living floors of my house. The anchors SHOULD hold; they are what came with the hanging fixture for the lights, so their def rated to handle it. The thing I'm more concerned about is that I jacked up the installation and didn't get it up there far enough (i.e., the anchors didn't "deploy") or that the wicked old sheet rock in the 100 year old house doesn't just rip off!!

Thanks Burch, I'll definitely be speaking to him about some of that!

 

[Burch01]

I can definately see your worry with that. I always have the same concern when using those spring loaded anchors.

I almost forgot. I can't wait to see your tank come together. Those pillars are awesome! I will definately check out the guys you purchased them from when I get ready to purchase rock for my tank.

 

[parrotchute]

Yeah, they are SUPER nice and helpful, I can't recommend them more! They asked what kind of stuff I wanted for the tank and they made it happen.

 

[motorcyclereefer]

Sounds like it is coming along nicely. I must admit I didn't know you had come back to the States already. But now that you are I am anxiously awaiting the progress.

 

[parrotchute]

So my fish tank never showed up today. I took the time to stay home, had some friends (and bought them beer and pizza), and the tank was supposed to be delivered from 2-4. It never showed. When I called at 3:45, they said all their computers were down and they couldn't track it, but it wasn't here by 5, it wouldn't be delivered. WTF - I paid a TON of money for this freight delivery, and they just don't show up? Or don't even give me the courtesy of calling to let me know?
EFF ABF - what a terribly company. Even now, they can't tell me where it is or when I can reschedule because their "computers" are still down. Yeah, okay.