The epic rimless starphire project

[fischkopp]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and kind comments!

The project is slowly progressing. I found some time to finish the work on the stand and get started on the lights. The stand is dimensioned large enough to be flush with the wall behind it, in order to keep a clean look of the setup. Any equipment such as tubing for filtration, CO2, or the odd wire will have to come though the top at the back edge of the stand. I opted for 3/4" holes, four of them, two for filtration, one for the light, and one for CO2 and others. I also added a new backboard for stability of the stand. Holes and board are aligned so that a tube coming though the hole can be mounted flush to the back. All cut edges and holes are either covered with Melamine or fast drying wood glue to prevent them from water damage. Done with the stand.

The next big item is the light. I switched the original T5HO fixture for a 150W metal halide system, mainly because I like the look of it, and because I always wanted to try out this type of light. And since the fixture is quite small, I wanted it suspending. I opted for a rail made of 3/4" eloxated aluminium tube to stick with the look, one single piece, which had to be bend twice. Bending itself isn't all that hard using a pipe bender (Gardner), but it's quite a science to measure both bends if you have never done it before and don't really want to mess up the first piece. The first bend went quite well, the second was too tight so that I couldn't bend it completely. But after all I am quite happy with the final result. The rail-tube is mounted though one of the holes to the back of the stand. An advantage of this design is that the light can swing to the side to easy maintenance.

Fitting the light to the rail brought up the next problem: 3/4" wasn't rigid enough to hold the weight of the light. But a lottle bit of free-hand bending in the other direction solved that problem. The test-hanging of the light also revealed two eye-sores: the suspending wires and the black cable. So I drilled holes to drop the hanging wires from the inside of the tube. The black cable had to go and is being replaced with clear silver cable, which blends in nicely. The cable itself runs inside the tube-rail as well. It was a bit of a pain the fiddle the cables through holes drilled tightly. But hey, no pain, no gain.

That's were I stopped. Here are some pictures:

Drilling utility holes in the back; used for filtration, light, CO2. Meanwhile the tank gets a white vinyl background. Holes drilled. Backboard in place. Fitting the tube-rail into place. Testing the light placement. Needs work. All wires tubed. That's better. Still need to re-wire the fixture.

What's next? Power up the lights. Getting the filter in place. Stay tuned ...

[daworldisblack]

Awesome update! giddy with excitement!

[charlie]

awesome x2,  take your time & hurry up 

[76brian]

Man, that is going to be NICE.

[exv152]

The rimless look is hands-down my favourite. The project looks awesome, can't wait to see you add the finishing touches.

[Cheebs]

I agree, this is looking sliiiick!!!

[Monte]

WOW.. This is going to be amazing. I am green with envy !!   

[fischkopp]

Thanks everyone! I am glad to see that you enjoy this build as much as I do.

I am kinda excited myself to see how it turns out. The real fun starts when I begin to fill that magic box ...  

[sas]

This build is definitely professional and the patience you"re showing .

I am kinda excited myself to see how it turns out. The real fun starts when I begin to fill that magic box ...  

Can't wait either to see what you're up to.

[smalltownfan]

Robert, your patience and attention to detail is amazing. I can't wait to see what else you have planned and I'm looking forward to the finished product.

[fischkopp]

Good things take time, so they say.  

Well, a lot has happened in the past months, so this project was on hold. I have since moved and had to find a new place for this setup: my living room. Yeah!

I was able to spend some time on this project over xmas and got it to a point where I would only need to add water. The tank and stand are levelled in its new location. The light is fully wired up. I got my hands on an 150W ADA metal halide bulb at 8000K. I must say that this color temperature is quite something. I am a big fan of Giesemann's Aquaflora, but this may be my new favourite. But I better wait until I got some plants growing underneath before making the call on that.

The hardscape is pretty much done as well. Even though I thought initially that there would be too much rock, we ended up using all of it. It took us maybe an hour or so until we came up with a formation and placement that is pleasing, but also shows the texture of the rock. We try to consider two viewing angles here: head on and from the side that we would see from the sofa. We are happy with it, though it may need some tweaking once plants are added. Do you know what kind of rock that is?

On the technical side everything is ready to go now. Hoses for the 2215 are in place. I also broke my first piece of glassware for the filter intake - great, that thing hasn't even seen water. Luckily I got two sets of glassware. I will also need to do something about that CO2 bottle: unfortunately it doesn't fit into the cabinet. The big red bottle on the side is a bit of an eyesore. I might build something to cover it up, or I might switch it to aluminium as this bottle is empty and needs pressure testing anyway.

Other than that it's just a matter of finding all the the plants that I would like to add, but don't have anymore. And then the real fun starts ...

The setup in its new location. Light running. Just add water and filter. The hardscape. Rocks only. View from the comfy spot.

[daworldisblack]

Woah! Can't wait to see this one progress! You never fail to impress

[Sharbuckle]

Looks awesome so far, gonna pay attention to this build

[exv152]

Looking good! What plants are you thinking of going with?

[charlie]

Looking good Robert, hope it`s not much longer for the grand reveal

[sas]

The suspense is killing me , can't wait to see this beauty all decked out.

[fischkopp]

Thank you all for your faith! Since the setup is in my living room I have no choice but to make it somewhat neat looking.

As for plants, I will be going for a lot of the smaller ones as I don't want to cover up too much of the rock. I was thinking of something Iwagumi inspired, with a dutch twist. But I also lean towards the nature aquarium style, whatever it may mean. So you can expect that I will not be able to limit myself to one or two plants, but try a few different ones. I don't have a detailed picture in mind; it will all depend on what I can source and how it grows in.

Does anyone know what type of rock I am using?

[sas]

No idea what kind of rock it is?
Almost looks like something that you made personally?
Whatever it is it looks great and positioned nicely.

[jetstream]

If you see some wood grain alike structure on the rock surface. High chance they are petrified wood stone which is very popular in the state.

Looking forward to see the finished picture!  

[Shawn84]

Looking good so far Robert! Some eye popping little creature would look great in the tank. Maybe some orange shrimp or better yet buff up the ph and everything else turn it into a Cardinal paradise


Shawn