fjr_wertheimber

Hey Bio, if you can fix a cracked screen and an exploded battery on an HTC EVO 4G you'd be my bestest friend ever!

I was absolutely ecstatic this morning to come down and see the blue-stripe pair swimmin' around in their holding tank... Soooo excited! I've got some pics of the big tank from the fab guys, just need to figure out how to get them off my (now COMPLETELY) busted EVO 4G (WORST phone EVER) since the battery overheated and exploded. Just the thought of paying Sprint $100 to replace a defective phone really pisses me off. I need to get a number of photos and docs from there, but am really dragging my feet 'cause I hate the thought of paying those a**clowns in order to do so.

LOL No, actually very happy with my fab guys, just very UNhappy with my insane schedule at the new job... Things are starting to finally calm down a bit, so I've found myself with (amazingly enough) a bit of time. So, that being said, there actually HAS been some progress on the big tank... but that's not what I'm posting about. You see, part of the idea/design mentality behind the large tank is for it to be a reef biotope consistent (for the most part) with the Coral Sea (where Wendy and I went scuba diving during our R&R from Iraq). With that in mind, I'd fallen in love with blue-stripe orange-fin clownfish, Amphiprion chyrsopterus and wanted to get a mated pair. The only problem was finding a pair. Well, and finding a pair that wasn't $350+. So, anyways, I was coming back from work last week and decided to pop into Aquatek... when what do I see? Yup, a mated pair of A. chrysopterus. Oh, and did I mention they were about 1/4 of the usual price??? GTFO. Well, crap, now where the hell am I gonna put 'em? It's gonna be quite a while 'til water is in the big tank (hell, I'm still trying to find a decent glass supplier after three different places have changed their timelines/prices on me)... I went on Craigslist and found a guy selling a 30 gallon bowfront with 45 lbs of rock, sand, filter, and LED lighting, all in great shape... for only $100??! Suffice to say, we snatched that up... only to find the tank also included a single A. ocellaris, that (of course) Wendy promptly fell in love with. Well, crap, can't put it in with the blue-stripes, what am I gonna do with him? Another Craigslist search found a great deal on a Biocube 29. Found out it had a bad ballast, but was able to score one at AquaDome for a steal. Okay, now what about live rock? Richard L hooked me up bigtime on some man-made Real Reef rock which I split between the two tanks. I got some Dr. Tim's One-and-Only for Nano/Reef, gave it a few days, tested parameters, rock solid, dosed some ammonia, checked the next day, rock solid still. Sweet! (BTW, that's the first time I've used that stuff, gotta say I'm impressed; it actually lives up to the hype.) Anyway, I know a thread is nothin' without pics, so: Fish being acclimated (BTW, leftover Army combat lifesaver kits ROCK for IV lines for acclimation... I've got extras if anyone needs a few.) Wendy's new Biocube with fish being acclimated: A. chysopterus pair: Another pic: Anyway, I'm completely thrilled, can't wait to get them into the big tank now...

They actually offered, but I want to get out there and check out the tank and stand and approve the work (and the recent additions) prior to accepting it and posting it as "mine".

Hey guys, still been too busy with work to swing by the fabricators and get pics of the tank & stand in progress, but wanted to post the updated design specs for them. On the advice of a couple of good mechanical failure analysis engineers I know, I added some triangular braces to limit the torsional twist and shear potential for failure, changed from a single 1.5" strap across the top to two .5" solid bars across the top, and added some tabs for attaching the wood facings and doors. We also decided to have them weld and powdercoat matching sidetables for the room, as well. Please note, the frame, stand, and tables will all be powdercoated black, they're just red in these images for viewing clarity. Hopefully sometime this weekend or early next week I can get out there and get some real pics, instead of just renderings.

Hey guys, sorry about the lack of updates... I just started a new job and have been absolutely swamped. I promise there will be updates (with pics) shortly!

Okay, nevermind. Just did some more research on them. No WAY am I giving them any money... LOL

Hey, has anyone dealt with Live Rock Ranch (liverockranch.com) before? For the sheer amount of live rock I'm going to need for this system, there's no way I'm going to go through one of the LFS (as much as I love 'em, I earned my $ and I'm not going to throw it away on higher prices just 'cause I like 'em), and their prices seem to be pretty great; plus with them being located in FL transit time should be pretty quick, i.e.- less die off. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences?

Should have the tank frame and stand in the fish room sometime in the next week or so. Can't wait!

By the way, stopped by the metal fabricator's shop earlier today... Things are progressing!!

Dude, JasonJones, you are my new biggest hero and best friend!!! LOVE that link!!

Actually, I'm planning on a Royal-Vertex Kone, but couldn't find anyone who carried smaller conical pieces of acrylic. :-)

And a sketch of it under the mini-tank:

Okay, so speaking of over-engineering stuff, I'm trying to replicate the big tank as much as possible, and that includes making a Bubble King über-mini clone powered by a modded Maxijet 1200 (and yes, I know that the MJ is turned the wrong way, but I realized that after I built the rest of the skimmer so I'm just gonna leave the model as-is for now...). So, here's the plan for it: Yes, I know that for a nano or pico (and really, for larger tanks, too) you get much more efficient protein removal from water changes, and that for nanos and picos you don't really get much benefit from a skimmer (especially such a small one), but hey, I thought it was a pretty cool idea, so I'm gonna build it, if for no other reason than I think it will look cool under the tank... LOL

Jealous of the planned tank, or my mad pseudo-engineering skillz, yo? LMAO