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fjr_wertheimber

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Everything posted by fjr_wertheimber

  1. 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!
  2. 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.
  3. 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...
  4. 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".
  5. 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.
  6. 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!
  7. Okay, nevermind. Just did some more research on them. No WAY am I giving them any money... LOL
  8. 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?
  9. Should have the tank frame and stand in the fish room sometime in the next week or so. Can't wait!
  10. By the way, stopped by the metal fabricator's shop earlier today... Things are progressing!!
  11. Dude, JasonJones, you are my new biggest hero and best friend!!! LOVE that link!!
  12. Actually, I'm planning on a Royal-Vertex Kone, but couldn't find anyone who carried smaller conical pieces of acrylic. :-)
  13. 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
  14. Jealous of the planned tank, or my mad pseudo-engineering skillz, yo? LMAO
  15. LOL I just had a guy over on Reef Central post: "As a Structural engineer your previous post made a lot of sense, do you have an engineering background?" I guess that means I got it right...
  16. Thanks, everyone. I've got to say we're pretty pleased so far, too. Speaking of which, I've had a few people ask about how the big tank is being constructed, i.e.- why not make it the normal way, why build it this way, why not have AGE/Marineland/etc. make it. Here's why: Beyond the issues of having to perfectly level the two levels in order to achieve a perfect silicone bond without weak points (if you were to build it the normal glass/silicone way), the other reason it's being siliconed directly to the steel, much like a large-scale commercial aquarium. And no, unlike some people have thought, you don't want it to give, to do so introduces shear forces upon the silicone seal. Ideally, you want to silicone directly against the most stable outer surface as possible, so that the only force being acted upon the silicone is compressive force, where the silicone acts merely as a packer and seal, rather than being held in tension or shear, as most silicone and glass aquariums are. Utilizing silicone in this manner is almost incalculably stronger (assuming a strong outer surface, i.e.- strong welds and well-built structure, to seal against) than utilizing silicone as an adhesive. Not only that, but then your safety factor relies on the strength of the glass between the steel frames, rather than upon the strength of the silicone bond (either in tension or in shear) to retain the shape of the glass and keep it from reaching the point of failure due to deflection. Remember, when calculating required glass thickness, the biggest issue is bending stress, so supporting the top and bottom of the pane of glass reduces (almost to the point of removal) that bending stress at the point where it's most likely, i.e.- the top and bottom shear-held silicone bonds. Really, the only issue relative to the use of metal for the frame is the differential linear coefficient of expansion between glass and most metals, especially steel. To offset this in larger joints (i.e.- those longer than 1 meter on their longest edge, or a bit over 2 meters in this case) the thickness of the silicone seal must be changed to allow linear expansion without the fear of compressive failure. Assuming that plate glass has a linear coefficient of expansion of ~5.0 x 10^6 in/in degrees F, and steel has a coefficient of linear thermal expansion of ~7.3 x 10^6 in/in degrees F, allowing 2-3mm per meter of joint length (i.e.- 5mm seal along the large side plates, and 3mm along the front plate) will allow the silicone to take up the linear expansion differences without failure of the silicone seal.
  17. Finally got the floor done and super pleased with how it turned out. Wendy grew up in the flooring business (her parents owned a flooring company) and even she was amazed with how it looks. Now to just find some baseboard I like and put that in, and the room portion of the build is done! Now, on a (semi) side note... Wendy and I have been talking about putting together a little pico/nano for our son Tito's room. I played around with the idea, and thought, "Hey, why not make a scale version of the big tank?" So, voila! Just need to pick up some 1"x2" for the stand and some 1/4" acrylic for the rest, and we're in business. Hopefully I can put it together this weekend, or at least start on it. I found some great little LED strips that will work perfectly for lighting it, and a great DIY for a pico skimmer, and Hydor makes some great little nano pumps and powerheads that will fit perfectly. Overall size (including stand) is 24"L x 12"W x 18"H.
  18. Some work in progress pics: The room as it stands tonight. Got the photo print from Kodak today (20"x30" Pro-Print on metallic paper), got the materials to put together the frame and matting, and put it all together and hung it. We still need to get the smaller frames, possibly tomorrow. Pardon the mess, like I said, it's still a work in progress. Some of the vinyl planks. Don't worry about the drips on the floorboards, they're all getting torn up and replaced when we put down the new flooring. The photo lit by the LED light fixture. Looks fantastic (much better than in the photo) in person, almost 3D in appearance. Definitely glad we sprung for the metallic printing. We also FINALLY (as you can tell from the first pic) found some drapes we liked. Just need to get the steamer out and steam out the wrinkles and we'll be set as far as that goes. Slowly but surely, the room is coming together...
  19. Oh, and on a (semi-) side note, if you're ever looking for a good primer when painting a room, Kilz is it. We used Kilz2 in the fish room, but then figured we'd just use the Valspar primer for our daughter's room, since we're not worried about any moisture in there. Bad idea. Coverage with the Valspar (which is actually a very highly-rated primer) is about 1/2 that of the Kilz. From now on, whether the room will see moisture or not, we're going to use Kilz for our priming needs. Just opened up the vinyl plank flooring we special ordered from Lowe's and it's PERFECT. Looks great in the room, we can't wait to get the carpet up and put the "wood" down!
  20. Yeah, I'd love to swing by sometime and check it out if you don't mind. I spent time with 8th MP Brigade out of Korea, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), was TAD with 4th ID, 3rd ID, WYNG, NYNG, 172nd SBCT, 3rd ACR (got my spurs from them), MNF-I, MNC-I, then off to 89th MP BDE, then to III Corps (WORST unit in the Army, IMHO), USF-I, and now Fort Living Room.
  21. Okay, so one change to the overall design and specification of the tank... I've decided to go with the Reef Angel controller. Why, you ask? Well, let's see: DIY LED control... check. Vortech ES control... check (well, on the way). Dosing pump controls (and dosing pumps)... check. Open source for tinkering and really cool $#!*... check. Oh, AND it's cheaper than 99% of the other controllers out there? Yup, count me in!
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