OK Two new 75 Starfire tanks on the way and lots of possibilities and money.

[Basile]

The Refugium separation

Well i've worked a bit on my tanks today and made my separation for my fuge.


Well i've worked on my separation, here it is. I've used gutter gard instead of window screen, bigger holes that won't clog as easy and will let the water flow more freely. Those holes shouldn't let any crabs or ordinairy snails through, although small shrimp which i'll avoid might, maybe, i said might squeeze through, but no big deal.


The frame opens up to trap the gutter gard between its sides, but since gutter gard is a bit thicker than ordinary screen i have to use Zip ties to hook it up and hold it tight on the sides and in the middle.

Zip ties are your friend in this Hobby, lol I did both directions to make a double mesh to prevent small shrimps and snail o go through , it took more ties.....

On the bottom, some rubble will be put to lift the gate a bit higher and foam will be applied to glue the hole thing on the bottom and on the reer panel as well. Rubble will also be used on the back panel to blend in the gate. Nothing will be put on the fron glass , it will all be held from the back and bottom, no need to smear my display glass.

I still have the door of the frame. I can still make another separation for another tank.

My Herbie drain with its strainer

My emergency overflow

My return , i haven't decided if i'm having a "T" going across , still debating that one.

Funny on this angle the drain looks higher than it actually is. Its actually much bellow the waterline of the 150G overflow box.

Same illusion here the emrgency drain on the 150 g looks higher than the wierd, lol its not.

Thats my new stand for my sculpture, the old as been cracking up on all side the 60 lb structure is too heavy for it. So this new 1" pvc structure will be glued to it tomorrow with foam. Then it will rest on a plexiglass sheet at the bottom of the tank to spread the load evenly and not concentrated at the end of those four legs.

 

[Basile]

Today's workload

I got them by George i got them!!! Delivered this morning and the janitor helped me , one went inthe elevator no problem, the other, in the dam stairwell, great....just great.... Beatifull finish powerde coated and that 2 " steel, its there for a long time.


The sump fits just flush my calculation was spot on. And so was my green lines lol as you can see. A foam will be put on the floor under the sump.I've already thought of a cover for the stand, easy , simple and beautiful.

Two inch of steel powder coated; what a great finish.

All the mesurements where on the lines.

The refugium stand is on standby since the 150G is in its spot. I'm waiting for my guys to move it all this weekend. All the masks on the wall are form each country i visited

The shelf will be the QT spot and stuff. Underneath a mixing station and maybe auto feeding fridg ; click the link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ0qNlJpymk&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFfd8lDC9vy4_CVpfPZbvceO&index=13

Some of my ceramic panels are a little too tall so i had to cut them. Easy with a saw, so you know its not cement , lol. Its more like chaulk, this type of ceramic is porous, its been made for are needs, by a company in Germany, who specialised in this.

This particular one was too wide to fit so cutting it lenght wise was necessary, and ...long......

As you can see i'm way off in my cut; look at the little blue dot at the center bottom of the feet. Cutting ceramic heats up the blade and curves it and make you chage direction whether you want or not. So one of the best way is to start from the other side and try to reach your incomming cut.

It looks like their's lots of gaps but i need those to fill them with foam and seal the ceramic panels from water penetration behind the panels. The foam will surround all the panels and prevent detritus from accumulating in impossible spots.It'll also fix the panels permantly to the wall so nothing moves. As a note after moving those tanks and stands if i sell i sell with the tanks and stands, i'm not moving those ever again, yu can ask my chiropractor!

This is dilema for me; what do you think? The smaller pen will be for the anglers. Now should i put the angler near the feeding tube to the Reef for the pods to migrate in safety, or the other way around. What do you think, i'm asking, i'm not sure if it matters but i don't know everything, and maybe it does matter.

Or this way, the seahorses will be near the feeding pipe to the reef.

 

[Wrangy]

The design and length's you've gone to on the tank are awesome!!! Really love reading your updates and I look forward to once you start to get the tank wet

 

[Basile]

The design and length's you've gone to on the tank are awesome!!! Really love reading your updates and I look forward to once you start to get the tank wet

Thanks, some call me crazy some say i don't do thing half way i just did this thing for my semi-retirement the best way i could so i don't have to do it again in a few years and invested in the structure and in what can't be upgrated. This is here to stay for a while lol. And i'm going slow but sure, each step is calculated and i give myself time to think, the water will be there soon enough and for a long time so it can wait lol. It schedule for the end of this month. The over all look will be Borg like. The stand will stay as is, the plumbing being spread over 2 walls( see diagrams) with black Ultra Flex for drains and returns and the feeding pipe to the Reef from the refugium , all on a white wall backdrop the whole room will have a mad scientist look with back lights. I'm even looking for a green LED to put in my 30G RO clear buket lol. to complete the Borg look lol.

 

[Wrangy]

Thanks, some call me crazy some say i don't do thing half way i just did this thing for my semi-retirement the best way i could so i don't have to do it again in a few years and invested in the structure and in what can't be upgrated. This is here to stay for a while lol. And i'm going slow but sure, each step is calculated and i give myself time to think, the water will be there soon enough and for a long time so it can wait lol. It schedule for the end of this month. The over all look will be Borg like. The stand will stay as is, the plumbing being spread over 2 walls( see diagrams) with black Ultra Flex for drains and returns and the feeding pipe to the Reef from the refugium , all on a white wall backdrop the whole room will have a mad scientist look with back lights. I'm even looking for a green LED to put in my 30G RO clear buket lol. to complete the Borg look lol.

As an engineer in study its like music to me ears You really are doing an amazing job and the level of design is awesome! The tank is going to looks so wicked, bloody amazing if I am be Australian for a moment hahaha
I love Anglers too, such interesting and intriguing fish!! Any ideas on what sort of Anglers you plan on keeping??

 

[Basile]

As an engineer in study its like music to me ears You really are doing an amazing job and the level of design is awesome! The tank is going to looks so wicked, bloody amazing if I am be Australian for a moment hahaha
I love Anglers too, such interesting and intriguing fish!! Any ideas on what sort of Anglers you plan on keeping??

I don't know their name but i love the bright yellow ones because they are so visible amongts the vegetation , the others are too invisible. even the red one would be able to blend with the red Macro algae i will have in there so the yellow one will be my choice. And i'm in no hurry i'll wait for it and i'll say it to the store owner call me only when you get a yellow one other wise i don't buy period. The seahorse will be the black one easyer and less trouble , hardyer too less disaese and less medication to worry about. I'll keep my overall temp at 74-76oF for the whole system. Since i'm a softy and LPS fan its going to be alright, a few SPS here and there but not much. I like the swaying motion of softies in the current hence the wavebox, you don't make an external integrated wavebox for sps tank do you lol. That box cost me $ 20 compare to $ 609 i just had to buy the $300 pump from Tunze. saved there.

 

[Wrangy]

I don't know their name but i love the bright yellow ones because they are so visible amongts the vegetation , the others are too invisible. even the red one would be able to blend with the red Macro algae i will have in there so the yellow one will be my choice. And i'm in no hurry i'll wait for it and i'll say it to the store owner call me only when you get a yellow one other wise i don't buy period. The seahorse will be the black one easyer and less trouble , hardyer too less disaese and less medication to worry about. I'll keep my overall temp at 74-76oF for the whole system. Since i'm a softy and LPS fan its going to be alright, a few SPS here and there but not much. I like the swaying motion of softies in the current hence the wavebox, you don't make an external integrated wavebox for sps tank do you lol. That box cost me $ 20 compare to $ 609 i just had to buy the $300 pump from Tunze. saved there.

Seriously going to look good, the yeloow Anglers are stunning too, my lfs has a soft spot for anglers and lionfish so I get some really wonderful specimens come through!! Seahorse's aren't my thing but I will always admire a tank of them, very pretty
A wavebox will really make the softies and certain LPS looks absolutely incredible! The motions add something so soothing to it all, I'm an sps fan so I don't have a lot of movement in my tank aside from my milli's That's definitely a save there to say the least

 

[Basile]

Seriously going to look good, the yeloow Anglers are stunning too, my lfs has a soft spot for anglers and lionfish so I get some really wonderful specimens come through!! Seahorse's aren't my thing but I will always admire a tank of them, very pretty
A wavebox will really make the softies and certain LPS looks absolutely incredible! The motions add something so soothing to it all, I'm an sps fan so I don't have a lot of movement in my tank aside from my milli's That's definitely a save there to say the least

For me thats what an aquarium is about the motion of the sea. I find although they're so nice and vibrant in color and shapes, the sps to be too static for me and lifeless looking. And yes i know you can see the polyps at night and so on , but i sleep at night. So i want to enjoy the tank all day with a sence of movement and life. So for me softies and LPS gives me that and yes its proven that the swaying motion actually regulates and lowers heart rates. Its not to say i wont put any sps at all i'll have some who can be kept in my parameters, for diversity.

 

[Wrangy]

For me thats what an aquarium is about the motion of the sea. I find although they're so nice and vibrant in color and shapes, the sps to be too static for me and lifeless looking. And yes i know you can see the polyps at night and so on , but i sleep at night. So i want to enjoy the tank all day with a sence of movement and life. So for me softies and LPS gives me that and yes its proven that the swaying motion actually regulates and lowers heart rates. Its not to say i wont put any sps at all i'll have some who can be kept in my parameters, for diversity.

Corals certainly are a very personal thing aren't they? They are such incredible little creatures. I'm all about the growth patterns, colours, polyp extension and the challenge and therefore reward of keeping sps corals and I find the way the animals work and grow to be absolutely fascinating
Fish tank, both fresh and salt, are relaxing and stress relieving and that's been proven I prefer a SW aquaria though, I love the biodiversity that is created in a tank and corals of course!! The fish I find have so much more personality too I have found

 

[Basile]

Learn to laugh at yourself

Of course life can be so serious sometimes you have to let go and laugh at yourself. So here's one for you guys. Check my last post and look at the pictures with the stand and the mirrors. I took those shots early in the morning between my first coffee and waking up. Not being particularly awake and concient of the mirror behind the stand i took my pictures in my original, manly costume. Having only taking a few sip of the morning juice i proceeded to post on facebook my new stands. and went all morning to work on my project and other things. At noon i checked my facebook page and clicked the photopage and looked again at the pictures, in shock i see myself in the mirror in all its glory ; the ugliest fish in the room , all hairy and sagging from every sides ; a real jule of the sea to be sure. The moral don't be a morron like me and take pictures when your half awake and most importantly posting them right away, and know when their's a mirror in the room , specially your own stupid mirror.

Here's the joke of the day folks.

 

[Basile]

The Borg assimilation

Well time to progress at last i've got all my parts, finally i can go ahead. As you can see, it looks like the Borgs have taken over.... with their black pipes and tubings everywhere, on the floor and the walls. Since the stands, my PC desk are black, why not the give the mad scientist look, the Borg touch, so the UltraFlex i ordered and the fittings are black as well minus the exceptions i couldn't find , lol. Am i obsess with Star Trek, Noooooo just going with it, lol.

The bags contains wall clamps for the Flex, you screw the clamp in the wall push the Flex in voila, fasten end of story one every foot or every 6" in sensitive area and your done. I use special nails because of the vibration these tubes will generate and a piece of the Sorbothane pads for isolation from vibration on the walls.

Markers; thats where the bulkheads will be in front of the catwalk.

Very handy thing to tighten your bulkheads 1/4 turn after hand tight, $10 at walmart.

You put a layer of this when installing your bulkhead, always on the otherside of the glass and the gasket otherwise they'll compete with each other.

They're never far......

 

[Mrsalt]

Interesting read, and great effort to make your dream tank. Very impressive.


http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/83315-als-red-sea-650-a.html[url]

 

[kyle4201]

ARGHHHHHHAAAA!!!! LETS GET WET!!!!!!!! :cursin:

lol, Ive ben following this since I joined 4 or 5 months ago, your killing us!!! . Now I know your close, I go a few days b4 I check in so I can see alot of progress all at once,, its kind of like eating a whole cake at once instead of piece by piece, lollol.

Coming along great bro. cant wait.

 

[DianaKay]

ARGHHHHHHAAAA!!!! LETS GET WET!!!!!!!!

lol, Ive ben following this since I joined 4 or 5 months ago, your killing us!!! . Now I know your close, I go a few days b4 I check in so I can see alot of progress all at once,, its kind of like eating a whole cake at once instead of piece by piece, lollol.

Coming along great bro. cant wait.

:LOL: :laughroll :LOL: you better hurry up or Kyle might come ya :LOL:

 

[kyle4201]

:LOL: :laughroll :LOL: you better hurry up or Kyle might come ya :LOL:

LOLLOL,, I want to reach through the monitor and turn the hose on, lollol.

 

[Gasturbineguy]

LOLLOL,, I want to reach through the monitor and turn the hose on, lollol.

Soon... surely? lol

j/k of course Basile... your progress is amazing for the amount of work involved.

 

[Basile]

Timeline

ARGHHHHHHAAAA!!!! LETS GET WET!!!!!!!! :cursin:

lol, Ive ben following this since I joined 4 or 5 months ago, your killing us!!! . Now I know your close, I go a few days b4 I check in so I can see alot of progress all at once,, its kind of like eating a whole cake at once instead of piece by piece, lollol.

Coming along great bro. cant wait.

:LOL: :laughroll :LOL: you better hurry up or Kyle might come ya :LOL:

LOLLOL,, I want to reach through the monitor and turn the hose on, lollol.

Soon... surely? lol

j/k of course Basile... your progress is amazing for the amount of work involved.

LOL thanks lol one thing you have to realise is that i'm redoing my condo at the same time, walls, ceiling and floors, lol, so i have to manage my time and rest periods. Plus i'm on medical leave as well for stress and have to take it easy lol, which i am. I enjoy doing what i'm doing right now, and its far more interesting than staying idle all day. but some day its for relaxing only. so patience is a vertue my friends. I've learned that this year. It actually paid off and i'm much more relaxed and at peace with myself, and enjoying the little things, much better, and appreciated them. , on that note here's the room with the tanks all put in;




Before the tank goes up 7 feet in the air might as well test it for leaks

Yes Theo was testing the water

No i'm not cooking dinner this is a little trick for your Flex tubing or spa Flex boiled water

Add some hot water in the tub before, then add your boiling water.

It wont become like super soft but a bit more manageable

Yes i have a scafold to go up there...the cats have their private staircase and private box in the back lol. A plan to put a plexiglass hooked on the steel frame to prevent the feline to hop on the razors LED's.

One of the sculpture, almost finished, wanted to see the positioning. I've explained this earlier, its important to have your tank to do your sculpture because you can juge your scale. I did mine without. Sure enough i have to change the orientation of this one. One of the arm of the sculpture was too long to fit properly so i have to turn it now. not exactly the position i wanted. It still work but, flow wise i could be in trouble, we'll see.

The eggcrate will be under the sand amd still have to hide the foam with resin and sand and trim a bit of the crate, almost finish. The right arm of the right scupture was the problem. too long to put towards the front.

This is where the second scupture will be with the stalactite facing left.

As you can see i've got rid of the white towers, they didn't match the Borg looks, lol, more stream line too.

Now i had to face this guy to get rid of those two towers. The Lord of the Room!

Because i had to change the orientation, see my sculpture is now in the wavebox line of fire. It wasn't before. It'll still work but i rather it wasn't there.

The Refugium will be feeding the 150G Reef tank and will be on a reverse photoperiod hopefully the proximity wont be an issue.

The entrace to the room and the new cleaner look with the new desk

A usefull tool for both my tanks, $ 40 at lowes

A setback , my sump is 20" wide the stand for the 150 is 20" wide but the sump has a 2mm trim , bummer we are working on the problem don't blow a gasket.......

The sculpture on the left will have some of its extremeties out of the water, and on the right the sculpture had her right arm too long to put her front and center hence the position change.

Plenty of room for the second sculpture.

Oh yes their's a back wall to put in too another DELAY....LOL......

 

[Ratpack]

Very nice, can't wait to see the rest of the build come together.

 

[Basile]

Concept Aquariums from Calgary the best service you can ask for.

I phone Concept Aquariums today about my problem with the sump size, and they suggested to take the trim off with a utility knife all around which will take a few milimeters off each sides of the sump, which is exactly what was missing, or should i say was in surplus. So it should fit now and if it doesn't they'll make me a new one, how's that for service. No worries.:fingerx:

 

[kyle4201]

WET WET WET WET !!! :whyyoulittle: