Join me for a strange one...

[kcress]

Awesome progress. I've been following your build since july, and its been a very interesting journey. It's looking good now! Cant wait to see it wet

:thumbsup::thumbsup: Me too.. Oh and my tang three!

wow taking a long time but worth it. so how are you going to fix/cover the small 1/4" line between each plate? maybe foam or some epoxy putty for added strength? nice build.

Yeah brother! A looong time. Years..

On the gaps? I'm not sure. I wasn't expecting them to be so large. I'm not sure what to do or if I should do anything... I will have coral eventually so I expect them to maybe disappear. Perhaps when 11 more are installed and the two standpipe hides are in they will fade to insignificant??

I think there will always be some motion in the gaps so something rigid might not work.

Foam? I couldn't epoxy it on both sides..

More suggestions anyone?

 

[coketech]

Foam or silicone both sounds good as they'll have some flex. Im not sure how reef safe Ados Quatro Sealant is (have a look at http://www.crc.co.nz/ and use the search function for it.) I use it where sprung stages and dance floors meet static components (pillars, concrete pads etc) and it survives years of trucks and dancers running over it without it cracking or letting go, and its meant to survive UV and marine environments well. The only safety info I have is for when its still liquid, and in that state the solvents are not reef safe, but when its cured it possibly could be a different story. I could try to find out if your interested.
Thats if its available in the USA of course! haha

 

[noahm]

I would silicone the gaps without hesitation if it was my issue. Regular clear and pack/dust the surface with some appropriate colored sand.

 

[orcus]

I finally fixed it by puzzling out how the 25 key keyboard interfaced to the controller. I then built my own replacement keyboard. I used isolation routing on my CNC router. Done yesterday.

Best. Hack. Ever.

Your over looks like something from Apollo 11 Mission Control. Outstanding!

 

[Everyones Hero]

"Oven 13 this is mission control... Uhh, we are seeing a fire on burner one. Do you copy? Over."

 

[kcress]

Foam or silicone both sounds good as they'll have some flex. Im not sure how reef safe Ados Quatro Sealant is (have a look at http://www.crc.co.nz/ and use the search function for it.) I use it where sprung stages and dance floors meet static components (pillars, concrete pads etc) and it survives years of trucks and dancers running over it without it cracking or letting go, and its meant to survive UV and marine environments well. The only safety info I have is for when its still liquid, and in that state the solvents are not reef safe, but when its cured it possibly could be a different story. I could try to find out if your interested.
Thats if its available in the USA of course! haha

Thanks for the offer coketech. It sounds pretty time consuming to run it down around here since googling showed no sign of it here.

Then it leaves me with saltwater tank chemical safety questions. I shall cast about for some alternatives first.

I would silicone the gaps without hesitation if it was my issue. Regular clear and pack/dust the surface with some appropriate colored sand.

This sounds good! I was trying to figure out how a strip of hazy white goo was going to be any better. I never thought of adding crushed ceramic to it to camouflage it.

Thanks.

Best. Hack. Ever.

Your over looks like something from Apollo 11 Mission Control. Outstanding!

"Oven 13 this is mission control... Uhh, we are seeing a fire on burner one. Do you copy? Over."

 

[r3k2p]

When do you think you'll be able to get the kiln time so you can get this stuff in water... the waiting is killing me... I can't wait to see what it looks like. I'm still debating on what I'll be doing for my rock walls.

 

[kcress]

Soon. The Christmas - end of the year - stuff naturally got priority on my stuff. I'm not sure but it might've made it in today.

 

[Everyones Hero]

Go buy him beer. Friends with beer always take priority.

 

[devilsthird]

Wow, this thread is great!

 

[MarkusII]

Hello,

I'm using releasable tiewraps

- well I do not believe that they are strong enough to hold the ceramic plates a longer time.

regards

Markus

 

[kcress]

My thinking is that they're rated at 50lbs. The top ones will be holding 30lbs. Except.. These plates are going to be in salt water so they will actually weigh even less. Probably something like 20lbs total - though I haven't done the math.

 

[coketech]

I wonder what the UV and salt water will do to the cable-ties? I find the "UV stabilised" ones loose ~40% of their strength within a year of being outside, so maybe a decent safety factor would be needed, ie, breaking strength at least 4x the rated (max hanging) load. Thats the standard safety factor we use in the rigging we do.

 

[kcress]

Yeah.. coke.

This discussion got me concerned enough that I went out yesterday and got 75lb black UV resistant ones for the top. Since I will be siliconing and adding sand to the joints between tiles, I will also do that to all the tiewraps. That should protect them from the solar radiation I'll be pumping in later.

It has been soggy and raining for weeks around here. That isn't conducive to climbing in and out, and in and out, of the tank, carrying tiles out to the driveway, and sawing interference points off of them. That's why this is dragging. However we should have no rain for a few days now so hopefully I'll get these babies in now.

 

[rguyler]

Awesome build Keith!

I spent a post-holiday motivation-challenged day reading this entire thread. You have some mad skills in areas that make me jealous.

Sorry to go OT but I couldn't help but notice your CNC from the earlier pages. Is that a DIY CNC using a router?

 

[kcress]

Thanks rguyler.

Naw it's a K2CNC machine. They don't sell the exact same thing anymore.

http://www.k2cnc.com/shop/products.asp?cat=26

It's one of the first ones they made. It's a 4 foot by 2 foot unit with servo motors.

It's a very nice machine. I use it for all sorts of things.

 

[rguyler]

It does a nice job so I'm jealous of that too!

 

[loki32687]

Fantastic work so far, can't wait to see more progress!

 

[kcress]

You want to see more progress?

Well, do you?!?

Well..
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Ok! Here it is.

My son helping put the bottom plates in. I can manage the top two rows from outside. Scale of tank.

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We got the 9 rear plates in today. BOOOH YAH!

A lot of drilling and cutting. This stuff cuts like pressed flower when I hit it with a 5 inch diamond tile blade spinning at 15k rpm.

Now I have to go run down the last plates and see what's up with them at the pottery shop.

 

[coketech]

Looking good! I like your idea of covering the ties in silicone