CalmSeasQuest Desktop Tank and DIY CSQ Skimmer

[CalmSeasQuest]

Tom,

It is kind of scary because ever since I saw the Mame one I have wanted to build one for my pico just for the heck of it because I did not want to spend $100.00 on a straight plastic tube with a hole on the side.

I saw yours and thought that is what I am hoping to do.

I will look at your home page for hints.

Again good luck.

I agree - Japanese engineering bested by about $5 worth of acrylic

Looks fantastic!

Thanks!

The cycle continues - Dosed ammonia back to 3 PPM, strangely although the Ammonia is largely gone in 48 hours, I'm not able to measure any Nitrites. I'm hoping that is due to the pre-cycled Marine Pure. With any luck, I'll be able to retrieve the Picassos from Tal shortly.

Here are a couple quick shots of the display area, although they may generate more questions than answers...

 

[bhsgk]

Whaaaat? Is that acrylic? When you said untraditional this is not what I expected. I am very curious as to what your plans will be now that I've seen the teaser...

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Whaaaat? Is that acrylic? When you said untraditional this is not what I expected. I am very curious as to what your plans will be now that I've seen the teaser...

This is but a clean slate...an empty canvas for whats to come. Rest assured, it will be unusual, uncommon, atypical and abbynormal from most every perspective.

 

[rcmania]

Ok, you got me curious now, im tagging along. Looks great so far!

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Ok, you got me curious now, im tagging along. Looks great so far!

Thanks for tagging along RC - All I'll promise is that it will be "different"

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Very unique. I'm interested in seeing where this goes!

 

[KafudaFish]

Very unique. I'm interested in seeing where this goes!

I would imagine on his desk but that isn't important right now.

What is important is I could not open the home page link in the profile.


So you have gone from a ton of shelf rock to none in the display?

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Very unique. I'm interested in seeing where this goes!

Thanks Sugar - Great to add you to the list of "innocent bystanders." I've kept the plan top-secret to provide everyone plausible deniability for the atrocity that is about to occur.

I would imagine on his desk but that isn't important right now.

What is important is I could not open the home page link in the profile.
So you have gone from a ton of shelf rock to none in the display?

Not missing much, IIRC, it was intended to simply to point to this thread. (Take a trip and never leave the farm )

Precisely right. You're now looking at all the rock that will exist in this build and thus the reason behind maximizing the bio-media and surface area availability through the use of the Marine Pure. I've adjusted the AC50 so that just a trickle of water is fed to the Marine Pure tower, hoping to obtain both nitrification and de-nitrification (aerobic and anaerobic areas.) In theory it seems like it might be possible, but you know how most theories works out...

I think I am encouraged by the fact that 3PPM of ammonia disappears within 48 hours with no measurable Nitrites. I'll start testing for Nitrates at weeks end.

 

[allsps40]

I will be following along, look interesting.

 

[huseman808]

Okay you got me too

 

[cjk76]

A guy locally did something similar to house a carpet nem in a lagoon tank. With the deep pockets of sand, I'm guessing either anemones or jawfish.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

I will be following along, look interesting.

Okay you got me too

Welcome aboard! Thanks for tagging along.

A guy locally did something similar to house a carpet nem in a lagoon tank. With the deep pockets of sand, I'm guessing either anemones or jawfish.

I am planning a BTA (once the tank matures) for the pair of Picassos and I do have something "unique" planned for it - but the substrate design is not directly related to the Nem and... although I really enjoy Jawfish, the shallow, rimless, open top design of this tank would likely not hold Jawfish for very long.

 

[cjk76]

Good point. I'll just have to wait like the rest

 

[s_kelley]

Very cool, Would love to have one of those on my desk, it would certainly make my long hours more enjoyable

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

Good point. I'll just have to wait like the rest

It won't be long now...

• Ammonia 0
• Nitrites .50
• Nitrates 10 (5~10 - My eyes aren't sharp enough to tell the difference with API test kits.)

Getting closer - Again added ammonia to bring the tank back up to 3ppm. Hopefully I'll be able to knock out a water change and begin installations early next week.

Very cool, Would love to have one of those on my desk, it would certainly make my long hours more enjoyable

Thanks - I think it ends up being largely a wash. No doubt the tank can be distracting (in a good way) at times resulting in less productivity but... I find I end up spending more time at the office.

All-in-all, it's a trade-off I'm happy to make

 

[sweetnsour]

subscribed for sure very interesting build, looking forward to more pictures

 

[KafudaFish]

Hey remember in The Hunt for Red October when Jack Ryan is on the carrier shaving and thinking out loud?

He asks how Ramius is going to get the crew off a nuclear sub and then the answer sort of hits him.

I have an idea of what the tank is going to look like or at least the idea behind it.

I sure hope I am close.

 

[cjk76]

I'm sure you have some clever way of hiding all of the acrylic, but if you decide you want to hide it more, have you considered adding live rock rubble and just arranging it around the walls?

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

subscribed for sure very interesting build, looking forward to more pictures

Thanks for tagging along. With any luck, the cycle will be complete and I'll have things to introduce next week.

Hey remember in The Hunt for Red October when Jack Ryan is on the carrier shaving and thinking out loud?

He asks how Ramius is going to get the crew off a nuclear sub and then the answer sort of hits him.

I have an idea of what the tank is going to look like or at least the idea behind it.

I sure hope I am close.

Great movie - I'm excited to see what you've come up with. Truthfully, If I didn't mostly know what was coming...I'd have no clue based on whats been shown so far.

I'm sure you have some clever way of hiding all of the acrylic, but if you decide you want to hide it more, have you considered adding live rock rubble and just arranging it around the walls?

No Rock or rubble - Jeesh I just get the tank looking nice and clean and folks want me to clutter it up again

For reasons that will soon become apparent, I'm not concerned about the terrace acrylic showing. As it will be exposed to lower light and flow, I think it will quickly become covered in Coralline and will hopefully add to the overall look.

 

[KafudaFish]

I don't want to post my answer and mess things up for everyone. I bet everyone has been thinking it through too. I will pm you what I think you will be doing. Don't tell me one way or another though. I am interested and want to be suprised as well.

How did you attach the top to the tube for your skimmer? Weldon or super glue gel?

I found foot long tubes on line but no one sells circular sheets in the 2 to 4 inch diameter range.