The move is over an attempt to improve on what I have...

[MC Lighting]

So if you read my moving post I ended up having to take a full month to get my tanks back up and running due to work and my shoulder giving me some issues still. The good side of that long drawn out time is that I managed to make some improvements to what I had before and so far they seem to be paying off.

In my old apartment I did not have room on one wall for all of the tanks in the town home I only have room on one wall which has resulted in much better and simpler plumbing and it is noticeable with the amount of flow I am getting compared to before. I have reduced my number of pumps by feeding the skimmers with the output from the overflow on one tank and the main pump output on the other reducing my power consumption and heat introduction into the tanks, I now am having to run a heater though where before I did not :-(

I made a platform for all of the plumbing, pumps and ballast in between the 180 and 90 gallon tanks it will soon be covered and double as a window seat (heated lol) I decided this direction as I was tired of trying to get to pumps and valves that were crammed into tight spaces under the tanks.

I tore the facing off of the 180's stand I will be making the window seat and stand match since they are all as one long run in the living room.

Anyhow here are some pics of whats been done I still need to build a platform for the ballasts, clean up the cords and add the cooling fans then of course build the window seat but at least it is all back up and running again.

 

[returnofsid]

WOW!! Looks great!! That's some intense plumbing!! Glad to hear things are going well.

 

[MC Lighting]

making some progress....

I got most of the window seat done my good friend who lives in the same complex has been a tremendous help with the wood working it is not one of my strong suits... I also spent some time and cleaned up some of the electrical as winter is approaching I do not want anything left undone on the backup power system. It has been so nice having everything running all at once with the additional circuits I am completely covered for full power operations.

Here are some pics of the window seat progress as well as the mini power station I still need to do some wire clean up and I want to add a whole house surge suppressor/lightning arrester. And as you can see I still need to re-face the tank stand, sand and paint everything.

 

[edwing206]

I can't see the pics. Too bad so many things are blocked at school.
BTW, clear out your PM box Mike! :lol:

 

[MC Lighting]

ok just did... Let me know if you cannot see the pics when you get home

 

[edwing206]

OK, I will.

 

[edwing206]

Your setups look great! The window seat is awesome.
I can see the second set of pics but not the first.

 

[MC Lighting]

interesting I will go check the permissions on flickr might have it set to private only.

 

[MC Lighting]

ok try now....

 

[edwing206]

Nope. It says " This Photo Is Currently Unavailable."

 

[MC Lighting]

if you got to http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecrossley/sets/72157607574622918/ can you see all of the pics?

 

[busdriver]

Ouch, that looks nice! I bet the ppl at the plumbing store come out to greet you when you arrive! I hope I can get my setup to look that nice! good touch w/ the battery back ups... I want to do that, but i'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that power isn't out for too long...

That's right! who needs a loasy TV when one can have the an Ocean!!! I wish i could get that past the missus!-)

 

[MC Lighting]

well everyone in the state of Washington had that hope too until 2006 when most of the state was out for 6 days... Thanks for the compliments yes I am on a first name basis at Home Depot between the plumbing, electrical and wood. This is the 4th rebuild of the system all due to moving and each time it improves.

 

[jake65]

Great view outside that window...lol

 

[MC Lighting]

lol yeah as long as your looking out at the angle towards the back its nice.... I am the highest townhouse and I am glad because I look down into everyone else's but its hard to look up into mine. Some day maybe I will be able to afford a house but for now this has to do.

 

[trido]

Very nice window seat!

Glad your back up and around.

 

[MC Lighting]

I am not sure whats going on with the flickr account that is keeping my first 3 photos from coming through so I am going to re-post those again since many were asking me about the plumbing pics...

 

[MC Lighting]

And here are some new pictures that show the modified Current USA Light fixture that I built my LED lighting into for a more finished look, some day I want a full built in canopy but until then this will work fine. Sorry for the lousy pictures its daytime and the shadows in the room make it really hard to take decent tank pics.

I need to go find my old tank thread so that I can update some of whats here in there since the title does not really tell much about what I am posting.

 

[tike]

What an excellent idea to place it under a seat! Bravo!

 

[MC Lighting]

Thanks yeah it was funny a few people said that they were thinking that I should cover it all with something like a cabinet or seat then they scrolled down and said oh wait he did lol Its actually a great place to seat people I BBQ often and like to have a lot of people over so the additional seating in a somewhat small townhouse really works out well.