Good Greef

Let me dug up my old bottle of white out!

Acetone works even faster! Looking forward to seeing your build. Just spent 2 wks finishing my plumbing, as I can only squeeze in an hr or 2 per day, thanks to the 2 yr old commander ruling our house.

But yes, PVC cutters are glorious. I need to start a build thread for my 180g soon.


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On 11/28/2017 at 2:27 PM, Jimbo662 said:

The frames are cut from polycarbonate so it's a lot stronger than acrylic and doesn't warp. They put clear mesh like you get from BRS in it.

Here's a couple of pics...not my tank. In the 2nd pic you can't hardly see it. In the third it shows how they cut the tabs so the frame is just inside the tank and the tabs sit on the rim.

 

Im also looking for an acrylic mesh top  for my rimless. Sounds like yall are happy with the quality.

 

Theres a long thread on R2R with several complainging about the turnaround time and lack of responsiveness. Id rather just order through them, but Its kind of spooked me and I was gonna explore if one can buy pieces from regal plastics for a DIY.

But glad to see many here are satisfied.

 

I'm gonna try and utilize a similar  internal Budbox panel for my APEX control area. Did you just screw yours into some plywood then mount it to the stand?

If that internal panel is sturdy enough, I was hoping I could just attach it to my steel stand with some magnets?

On 5/22/2017 at 1:03 AM, Isaac said:

add some sensors n the drain pan too!

Question from someone whose never had a controller yet. Besides adding sensors that beep loudly when getting wet, how would someone hook this up to their APEX to shut off their RODI system? 

 

And could you do this with any brand sensors or RODI system?

Good idea.

Also was wondering... when you transfer all your fish to the tub,  do you keep ur GFO and Biopellet reactor online, even if you won't be feeding your display for over a month? 

Major Bummer Ty. Sorry about that.

Do you plan on painting the back of the tank or leaving it clear?

Always glad to hear your thoughts. You are right, all my comments were pertaining to the 100% "ich free" scenario. Didnt know you believed there was a gray area in the process, and that either its no drops of water or bust.

 

I will also be using a 40g "intro tank" before I introduce any new fish to my new build to make sure they are eating, etc. And ill bayer dip all frags i add like I have been. But if I see a spot of ich in my display, I probably am not gonna catch all my fish and go fallow. Ill just feed alot.

 

1 hour ago, FarmerTy said:

Absolutely.  It really is down to the reefer and how they want to handle their system.  Its all about risk mitigation.

For my thousands of dollars of livestock, its worth it to QT, and if I had QTed the frag, I wouldn't have dead fish right now.  So in my book, it makes even more of a point to QT. 

I think those that don't QT are playing Russian roulette personally.  With the velvet epidemic at the wholesaler level and its increased presence in this hobby, the old methods of just tossing fish in are not as relevant now as they were before.

Changes are even being made at the LFS level with the velvet epidemic.  More are choosing to start treatment at the store level now as they are seeing its occurrence increased over the last couple of years. Its the only way to keep fish alive to even have any to sell.

I get what you're saying and QT is obviously considered the "gold" standard in reefing. 

My final thought is merely that one can spend an inordinate amount of time like you have, on setting up a proper QT and not enjoying your display tank. But even then, its almost likely that at some point there is human error, laziness, or frankly things you cant control that may introduce ich.

Having a family and kids are one of those main things we cant control. Also, id be willing to say that doing a QT is also playing russian roulette. You're betting that youll never cut a corner for yrs, youre betting that putting 5 tangs in a tub for months wont stress them to death.

Sorry. Not trying to argue anything its just such an intriguing concept with such vast opinions.

 

So sorry to hear Ty. Not to reopen the QT or not discussion, but its these type of tragic events (to ppl who know reefing much more than me), that makes me wonder if the QT hassle is worth it ya know? 

All it takes is a drop of water on a frag or invert to introduce it to your tank. Sucks.

4 hours ago, FarmerTy said:

This is my first run with an external overflow, and a mass marketed one at that. First impressions are its really quiet, which I appreciate. I also like how little space it takes up in the tank itself, which is the real reason I did it.

Now, regarding the Shadow overflow itself, I've had some issues with salt creep, which unfortunately, how its designed, you'd have to run a good amount of water on the backside of it to keep the incoming water from splashing and causing the salt creep. The reason I mention this now is if you're having the same problem, I could see it becoming an issue with the limited access to the overflow.

From a standpoint of what you're thinking of doing, I don't see why they wouldn't work, to have the unions and gate valve at the bottom where it is accessible from the sump area. I think you'd want to be able to tune it first prior to pushing it flush to the wall first. I've had to cut and recut PVC risers to find the perfect height to set my overflows inside the outside box and I'm still doing it. Though I've been distracted with moving, having a baby, and a ton of work so your progress may be much faster. Only thought is to make sure you have enough room to go up or out the side with the ohter box and PVC when it is actually disconnected.

Thx for the tips. I saw Aquateks new 48x36 tank that was running a ghost overflow, it also had a ton of salt creep on top. 

I assume its bc there's a big drop from the weirs down to the external box, causing a waterfall and splashing? If so, would you be able to close the gate valve so the external box's water level rises so its less of a dropoff?

Ty,

Ill do my best to be succint in my question about your Shadow overflow;  My plan for my 72x30x24h build is to use the Shadow and place the tank only 5 inches from the wall where ill have no rear access.

The plan was to make those initial 3 pvc pipes that gets glued outside the external box, like 18 inches long (vs. 2-10 inches like their installation video shows.) Then place the main siphon's gate valve and unionx2 (for secondary and emergency) at the bottom of those pieces, so I can access them easier under my open back steel stand. Ive marked up your photo in blue to illustrate this - the circle is the gate valve and the single lines are unions. 

My thought process is that worse case scenario if theres a leak or plumbing issue, I can lower the water level below the bulkhead. Detach the 18' pipes from their unions under the stand, and unscrew then lift the external overflow box straight up in 1 piece. The only challenge would be using a ladder to reach and unscrew the overflow bulkhead.

Does this sound like a feasible plan? I know you have your fish room (lucky), but I dont have that luxury. Im trying to convince myself that I dont need to get  an internal overflow and that I can fix any plumbing issues with the shadow this way. And I dont have the ability to leave a larger gap between the wall and tank.

Any advice from you or anyone is appreciated.

On 2/11/2017 at 11:07 AM, FluxCapacitor said:

^^ You can get them, you just have to find other means of income.  I've noticed that many jobs and occupations people have don't allow for a very good work life balance.  That means that if you're working 60h weeks and not making enough salary to play the way you want or having enough time to do what you went then what's the point?  I don't live to work, I work so I can live.  I think people either become trapped in a way where they cannot do anything except work and then come home to do chores/cook.  I desire not to live that way.  Doing small things on the side that you enjoy doing many times lead into other things that can make you extra money, but again, you have to have the time to do these  things.  For instance, if you love tweaking aquarium hardware there's a potential that other people will pay you to work on their stuff (probably because of a lack of their own time/energy because of their jobs).

I'm looking at taking a contracting position right now that will double my salary that I'm currently making.... and I'm already doing well enough to play the way I want.  The only "toys" I could want right now are having a house that I design and built on my own (don't want to rent or buy someone else's house in a neighborhood next to other houses) land or some sort of pricey super car.  I'd have a new 911 Turbo if I could afford it right now but my Mitsu "boxes" will do for now.  I'm not tooting my horn, I'm just trying to instill the fact that life doesn't have to be like what everyone else does.  I've worked hard to make sure I can maintain my happiness AND do work that is lucrative.  If I cannot do that I cannot enjoy my home life.... and that's really what's important to me, not working. 

I work hard so that I can do whatever I want when I'm not at work.  I've also adopted the idea close to 7 years ago now in this city that I refuse to work 9-5 hours.  This blows about 2h of my time a day in traffic.  If you count your hourly wage for 2h that's a lot of money to not get paid to just be stressed out at other people not paying attention during their commute and causing traffic.  My hours are 6AM-3PM and this allows me to avoid most of the annoying stuff.

^^^ I get what you're saying and agree, but think maybe I couldve elaborated more. I'm luck that I enjoy what i do and get paid quite well as a Private Banker.. it took me 7 yrs to get this gig and I actually have the flexibility to travel alot with my wife and work 35-40 hrs weekly.

I was more emphasizing how crazy wealthy my client's are.. alot of them are in venture capital or took their company public, so they have awesome 10mm+ mansions on Lake Austin and are 40.

Never gonna get that wealthy and neither are most ppl... but im ok with that! But boy... id get a 10000 gallon tank if I ever did!

 

Born and raised in San Antonio, went to UT and graduated in 2006 with an Economics degree. Been working in banking/private wealth management for 11 years now. Positives are pay and getting to know  alot of high net worth execs/techies in ATX and SA. Negatives are I get to see their ridiculous  balance sheets and fancy homes/toys that Ill never get!