CalmSeasQuest Desktop Tank and DIY CSQ Skimmer
- Thread starter CalmSeasQuest
- Start date
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
Sorry for the delays all...
I spent much of last week in DC for meetings on the hill, after which I had the urge to bath in hand sanitizer. Thankfully I'm mostly recovered from the unprovoked attack of kitchen cabinetry.
After a 25% water change - Here's a quick cell pic of the first intentional life in the tank - I temporarily added in a tiny Acan frag to make sure it would support life.
As for whats coming next, here's the backstory...
I've kept aquariums for more than 30 years, like many originally freshwater, then reef. Having survived the brief plenum, reverse plenum and skilter era, all builds have been variations of the same basic theme - "Stuff the tank with the most live rock possible". Although it makes great biological sense and is representative of a natural reef and although I consider myself a traditionalist, I wanted to do something different with this tank. So I decided to do basically the opposite. Create a tank that incorporates no live rock and bears little resemblance to a natural reef while still providing the necessary biological filtration.
I've always marveled at Mother Nature's creations - especially those residing in the oceans. A brilliant display of beauty with but a hint of a sense of humor. I thought it might be interesting to create individual pieces... sculptures if you will designed to showcase and accent each coral with a minimal of distraction. Each coral treated much the way Tiffany would feature a precious gemstone or jewelry creation.
Each piece has been created with specific corals in mind. I'll be introducing the first later this week with new additions thereafter. The first while among the simplest in appearance, took more hours to create than any other piece and will feature 3 Acan Lords.
Thanks for everyone's patience
I spent much of last week in DC for meetings on the hill, after which I had the urge to bath in hand sanitizer. Thankfully I'm mostly recovered from the unprovoked attack of kitchen cabinetry.
After a 25% water change - Here's a quick cell pic of the first intentional life in the tank - I temporarily added in a tiny Acan frag to make sure it would support life.
As for whats coming next, here's the backstory...
I've kept aquariums for more than 30 years, like many originally freshwater, then reef. Having survived the brief plenum, reverse plenum and skilter era, all builds have been variations of the same basic theme - "Stuff the tank with the most live rock possible". Although it makes great biological sense and is representative of a natural reef and although I consider myself a traditionalist, I wanted to do something different with this tank. So I decided to do basically the opposite. Create a tank that incorporates no live rock and bears little resemblance to a natural reef while still providing the necessary biological filtration.
I've always marveled at Mother Nature's creations - especially those residing in the oceans. A brilliant display of beauty with but a hint of a sense of humor. I thought it might be interesting to create individual pieces... sculptures if you will designed to showcase and accent each coral with a minimal of distraction. Each coral treated much the way Tiffany would feature a precious gemstone or jewelry creation.
Each piece has been created with specific corals in mind. I'll be introducing the first later this week with new additions thereafter. The first while among the simplest in appearance, took more hours to create than any other piece and will feature 3 Acan Lords.
Thanks for everyone's patience
Last edited:
PistolShrmp
New member
Can't wait to see this come together. :hammer:
Glad to see things progressing on your build.
Sounds like you have come full circle and are approaching this in a simple freshwater method if that makes sense.
I made a copy of your skimmer last week and it has been working on my pico. It isn't as pretty as your skimmer since I used left over parts from my fish closet. Total cost was $3.04 and I built it so I could change parts out.
Look forward to the rest of your master plan.
Sounds like you have come full circle and are approaching this in a simple freshwater method if that makes sense.
I made a copy of your skimmer last week and it has been working on my pico. It isn't as pretty as your skimmer since I used left over parts from my fish closet. Total cost was $3.04 and I built it so I could change parts out.
Look forward to the rest of your master plan.
sweetnsour
New member
the anticipation is high!!!!
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
For the first installation, I took a section of cast acrylic pipe, cut it lengthwise then heated it and formed an angle toward the front of the tank. I then ground and polished a flat surface and painted the reverse side black using Krylon Fusion.
I then used a diamond blade on a Dremel to shape 4 Acan Lord Frags to allow low-profile mounting. Although the photos don't do a good job of showing the Acans, I selected a purple, red with a bright tangerine star-burst center, pink and green/purple frags to provide contrast. I'll grab better macro and actinic shots once they recover from the carving, mounting and travel.
Over time they should merge together, encompassing the entire acrylic substrate.
I then used a diamond blade on a Dremel to shape 4 Acan Lord Frags to allow low-profile mounting. Although the photos don't do a good job of showing the Acans, I selected a purple, red with a bright tangerine star-burst center, pink and green/purple frags to provide contrast. I'll grab better macro and actinic shots once they recover from the carving, mounting and travel.
Over time they should merge together, encompassing the entire acrylic substrate.
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
Thanks cjk76,
The combination of the reverse painting and beveled, polished edges creates a really "neat" visual effect that is far more pronounced than the photos show.
I'm embarrassed to admit how long this one took to make, not because it's complex rather that I have (err had) zero experience working with acrylic. It took three version before I came up with a design that I was pleased with. It took a long time, but was effective as a teaching tool
sweetnsour
New member
I dig it! , it may look a bit empty now but once you have done all of them and the corals spread out it will be something totally different.
sweetnsour
New member
how do you plan on stopping nasties from growing on the acrylic?
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
That's my hope, I believe it will evolve into a very unique look as the Acans grow together. Thus far, I've got 10 other pieces designed and in various stages of completion, each entirely different.
With the back side blacked out, anything that grows on the underside will not be seen. The surface is highly polished so I'm hoping I can keep it relatively clean until the Acans "assimilate" it although, a bit of Coralline might enhance the look, rather like a coral version of a Patina that forms on some metals such as silver or copper.
PistolShrmp
New member
:thumbsup:
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
As I was thinking through the design possibilities for this tank, one tenet was to NOT think in terms of coral (aside from the obvious environmental needs.) Some of the designs were based on Topiary methods used in Horticulture and the concept of creating a submarine formal English garden. To that end, here's the the second installation...
3/32" diameter acrylic rod was heated and wrapped around a wooden dowel to create the spiral. A small section of larger diameter acrylic tubing was affixed to the base to form an attachment point for the coral - in this case, a pink, photosynthetic Gorgonian...
The Gorg looks pretty shabby at the moment this photo was taken as it had been placed in the tank minutes before and after just having been Fragged, affixed and transported to my office. It will look much better in a couple of days.
I also placed a couple small Mangroves in the skimmer section of the sump. Also visible is the Diatom bloom I've been expecting.
3/32" diameter acrylic rod was heated and wrapped around a wooden dowel to create the spiral. A small section of larger diameter acrylic tubing was affixed to the base to form an attachment point for the coral - in this case, a pink, photosynthetic Gorgonian...
The Gorg looks pretty shabby at the moment this photo was taken as it had been placed in the tank minutes before and after just having been Fragged, affixed and transported to my office. It will look much better in a couple of days.
I also placed a couple small Mangroves in the skimmer section of the sump. Also visible is the Diatom bloom I've been expecting.
Keep them coming.
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
I just completed the next piece, using a process I'll call Micro-Plane Fragging. It includes multiple paper-thin sections of coral harvested with a scalpel and placed much in the way you would apply gold leaf (it will make more sense when you see it.)
I'm cautiously optimistic that it will work as imagined, but I'm going to wait a couple days to make sure it's viable before adding to the tank and photographing.
I'm cautiously optimistic that it will work as imagined, but I'm going to wait a couple days to make sure it's viable before adding to the tank and photographing.
sweetnsour
New member
pitchas pitchas pitchas.... haha i like the idea of paper thin , but how????
CalmSeasQuest
Active member
This next piece is definitely the "ugly duckling" of the bunch. Had I not promised photos soon, I would have let this one grow out a few weeks to become a bit more presentable.
I've had a Tryee Toadstool in my tank for a couple of years...
As of late it's begun dropping a couple baby's each month so I thought I might as well find a use for them. I let a Toadstool Frag grow on top of some rubble rock, then using a Dremel, cut-off all but a sliver of the rubble rock leaving a slightly concave attachment point. This was then attached to the top of an acrylic cabochon.
For the second coral on this peice, I affixed a small frag of GSP to a magnet frag and placed it on on a side wall of my tank. Over the next month or so, it covered the frag disc and began to cover the glass in a paper-thin purple film (no polyps were yet visible.) Using a scalpel, I lifted this film from the glass walls and affixed it to the cabochon using a tiny amount of Cyanocrylate around the edges.
Remember, I told you this tank was going to be "abbynormal"
Over time, the GSP should completely cover the cabochon right up to the stalk of the Toadstool. As the cabachon is suspended a couple inches above the sand bed, it should be easy to prevent the GSP from spreading beyond this piece.
I'll have photos of the new Picassos soon as I'm picking them up from Tal later this afternoon.
I've had a Tryee Toadstool in my tank for a couple of years...
As of late it's begun dropping a couple baby's each month so I thought I might as well find a use for them. I let a Toadstool Frag grow on top of some rubble rock, then using a Dremel, cut-off all but a sliver of the rubble rock leaving a slightly concave attachment point. This was then attached to the top of an acrylic cabochon.
For the second coral on this peice, I affixed a small frag of GSP to a magnet frag and placed it on on a side wall of my tank. Over the next month or so, it covered the frag disc and began to cover the glass in a paper-thin purple film (no polyps were yet visible.) Using a scalpel, I lifted this film from the glass walls and affixed it to the cabochon using a tiny amount of Cyanocrylate around the edges.
Remember, I told you this tank was going to be "abbynormal"
Over time, the GSP should completely cover the cabochon right up to the stalk of the Toadstool. As the cabachon is suspended a couple inches above the sand bed, it should be easy to prevent the GSP from spreading beyond this piece.
I'll have photos of the new Picassos soon as I'm picking them up from Tal later this afternoon.
It is like summer camp for reefers and you are doing arts and crafts.
