fjr_wertheimber Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 And a sketch of it under the mini-tank: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Already decided to go with the Bubble King huh?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Actually, I'm planning on a Royal-Vertex Kone, but couldn't find anyone who carried smaller conical pieces of acrylic. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonJones Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 It should be pretty simple to make a cone for something that small with a sheet of acrylic. Just build a mold and heat the acrylic. I think I have a thread on making cone skimmers saved somewhere, lets see if I can find it. Edit: This isn't the one I was looking for, but it should work. http://theprodigalcube.blogspot.com/2009/09/diy-cone-skimmer.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Now if you can just make me a mini apex out of acrylic, we can call it a day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Dude, JasonJones, you are my new biggest hero and best friend!!! LOVE that link!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 By the way, stopped by the metal fabricator's shop earlier today... Things are progressing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 status update on the 440 w/dropoff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 Should have the tank frame and stand in the fish room sometime in the next week or so. Can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Okay, nevermind. Just did some more research on them. No WAY am I giving them any money... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 hey i have been following your thread on here and RC. I have used a place on EBAY twice for 200#s of FRESH liverock, and i mean fresh like hand picked the day you order and shipped 24hrs to you. I have seen the LAX airport scan of the LR coming threw customs from FIJI and directly to destination here.(ME) Price was realy fair and the rock was nice in its variety of sizes. Also i havent had and bad hitchhikers. i will search my ebay purchases and get back with you if interested. I just checked and it was aquacon.com For some reason now they arent selling 50# boxes anymore and the price is a little higher. i paid $149.99/50#s and got 2 boxes everytime. was some nice fresh rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard L Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 It's been four months since my build and my man-made rock from Reel Reef has been a really pleasant surprise. I wasn't convinced that it was the way to go but Mark (mcallahan) really wanted to try it and I am sooo glad we used it. Really cool shapes, easy to build with, no hitchikers and the integrated pigments make it look like it covered in coraline from day one. That and a bottle of Dr. Tim's and the tank was cycled and fully stocked within 3 weeks! That's 3 weeks with no die-off to contend with. I never had any spikes just blips on the amonia and nitrite radar. Just a thought. Give Mark a shout if you're interested, I think he is now a dealer for them and could get you a good deal. That said, I can't wait to see some pics of the stand and frame! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 If I were setting up a new reef tank I would go all man made or dry rock because of hitchhikers and algae. I wouldn't use live sand either. I've battled aptasia and have gotten rid of most of it and now I'm battling majanos. I think I would go with our new sponsor, cerameco (spelling?), those rocks look really cool and I like how you can still have lots of sand exposed. I'll tell you how I got all my rock for free which is about 500#. I would go out and buy complete tanks of craigslist in austin, san antonio, waco, and even houston. I would offer them a low ball price and if they accepted I would go get everything, sell the livestock, tank/stand and all the hardware and kept the rock or whatever else I wanted. Sometimes I would just break even and sometimes I would be able to keep the rock and make a little money. Its a lot of work cleaning eveything and reselling it but it saved me around $2k, maybe a little more. RCA will give you a discount if you preorder your rock, I think its $3-4 per pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonJones Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Having seen Richard's tank and using a couple of pieces myself, I think Reel Reef rock is the way to go. It is the most natural looking man made rock I have seen and it is already nice and purple. I would not go any other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Design looks good. Go ahead and start building 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Update! Update! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 (edited) 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. Edited April 18, 2012 by fjr_wertheimber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I'd assume with the pretty penny you are paying them to do all this custom work that they would willingly snap a couple pics for your and our viewing pleasure Can't hurt to ask? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 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". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cMidd Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Updates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Should have the tank frame and stand in the fish room sometime in the next week or so. Can't wait! You must be dissapointed with the fabricators by now, from your posts they have been working on it for 2 months and still aren't done! Should have went with my guy, you would have had your stand 7 weeks ago! Hopefully things will move faster once you get the stand finished, at this rate its going to be a year or more before you get any water in it. I've got a couple extra tanks if you want to borrow one, you can at least put some water in somthing while you wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjr_wertheimber Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 (edited) 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... Edited June 5, 2012 by fjr_wertheimber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Any pics of the big tank yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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