LUNATIC FRINGE-Duel 500g tanks, 1600g total
- Thread starter FuzzyZipperbaum
- Start date
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Be careful as it is a bit addicting...
http://www.drislink.com/slink/fish/theodds.htm
Going to post this as I came across it... If you want to know the odds of getting a pair of fish with each group you buy....this guy calculated the odds....
Fish Room...I will try and get some pics...problem is that it is mostly empty right now.... Until I decide on a skimmer, I cant build the sumps....thus I cant do much with the fish room....skimmer decision coming by Tuesday morning....I think...
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Thanks Huma....
Had to drill 8 holes through marble, 2" cement, 3/4 plywood....
The hole saw on the right is the teeth I started with....on the left...after drilling just half way through one hole....Had to get a way better bit....Bosh...not cheap but it did the job...took about 15 minutes a hole.
Had to drill 8 holes through marble, 2" cement, 3/4 plywood....
The hole saw on the right is the teeth I started with....on the left...after drilling just half way through one hole....Had to get a way better bit....Bosh...not cheap but it did the job...took about 15 minutes a hole.
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Feels slow but it iis probably good I travel so much as it will keep me from over stocking too quickly....
There are some brilliant threads in this forum... I would suggest finding your favorite ones and subscribing to them because many don't update daily and it will let you follow the builds easier.
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Thoughts on aquascaping:
I gave up the idea of trying to make them look seamless flowing from one to the other...I couldn't figure out how to make the FOWLR flow with a full blown reef. Setting up the rock outside the tank which I posted earlier helped some...
THe rocks are VERY sharp. I dont like gloves because I like to feel the rock as I am placing it in....kind of like baseball or golf....I never liked to wear extra gloves. This was a big mistake...by the end of the day my fingers were so cut up I was in pain for a few days.... So I went out and purchased some strong but thin gloves and soaked them in RO for a bit.
Pressing the rock in place works well. I was surprised that they seemed to glue each other together once I pushed them hard into each other. Got that idea from nine balls "little helper" in their fantastic thread... Great read all the way through and on nine balls website which is under his username, there is an entire group of tips from Mr. Wilson and all are very valuable.
I finsihed the FOWLR side first...took about 3 hours...having someone help would have cut the time in hafl... I did the Reef side in under 2 hours... Once I finished them both I stood back and looked over my work.
I HATED the FOWRL side! The Reef came out exactly as I wanted and I could visually see what type of corals would go where. But I failed to used the depth of the FOWLR side to make it look 3 dimensional. These are 8 by 3.5' tanks and I somehow made the left side look small and flat.
I redid it the next day
I gave up the idea of trying to make them look seamless flowing from one to the other...I couldn't figure out how to make the FOWLR flow with a full blown reef. Setting up the rock outside the tank which I posted earlier helped some...
THe rocks are VERY sharp. I dont like gloves because I like to feel the rock as I am placing it in....kind of like baseball or golf....I never liked to wear extra gloves. This was a big mistake...by the end of the day my fingers were so cut up I was in pain for a few days.... So I went out and purchased some strong but thin gloves and soaked them in RO for a bit.
Pressing the rock in place works well. I was surprised that they seemed to glue each other together once I pushed them hard into each other. Got that idea from nine balls "little helper" in their fantastic thread... Great read all the way through and on nine balls website which is under his username, there is an entire group of tips from Mr. Wilson and all are very valuable.
I finsihed the FOWLR side first...took about 3 hours...having someone help would have cut the time in hafl... I did the Reef side in under 2 hours... Once I finished them both I stood back and looked over my work.
I HATED the FOWRL side! The Reef came out exactly as I wanted and I could visually see what type of corals would go where. But I failed to used the depth of the FOWLR side to make it look 3 dimensional. These are 8 by 3.5' tanks and I somehow made the left side look small and flat.
I redid it the next day
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Some other thoughts::
I had NO luck with underwater epoxy glues. I tried 3 brands and none of them worked well. Not one joint stuck well. I have used epoxies outside of water with great success...even putting it around plumbing that was leaking and it worked....
If I did it again, I would have had someone in or above the tank and me directing where to put stuff. I went up and down a ladder about 500 times because obviously the look from above is much different from looking into it.
I had the tanks 40 percent filled with water when doing all this...This helped with placing the rocks and the water made them lighter...and it also helped if I dropped one. I also placed towels on top of the tank and inside the tank against the acrylic so if a piece fell against the glass...it would not damage it...it saved me a few times as you are going to have pieces fall while building it.
I also placed the sand in after I finished. I tried to google and find ways to better clean it...including placing the sand in tubs and actually getting into the bay and using that water to help clean it....I dont care how long I tried, I couldn't seem to get it clean. Both tanks were cloudy for a few days. The only thing that helped was placing the entire bag into the aquarium and laying it on the bottom .. Then I cut the bag and just lightly place the sand in.....this way it didnt get the fine particles up in the water column.
I had NO luck with underwater epoxy glues. I tried 3 brands and none of them worked well. Not one joint stuck well. I have used epoxies outside of water with great success...even putting it around plumbing that was leaking and it worked....
If I did it again, I would have had someone in or above the tank and me directing where to put stuff. I went up and down a ladder about 500 times because obviously the look from above is much different from looking into it.
I had the tanks 40 percent filled with water when doing all this...This helped with placing the rocks and the water made them lighter...and it also helped if I dropped one. I also placed towels on top of the tank and inside the tank against the acrylic so if a piece fell against the glass...it would not damage it...it saved me a few times as you are going to have pieces fall while building it.
I also placed the sand in after I finished. I tried to google and find ways to better clean it...including placing the sand in tubs and actually getting into the bay and using that water to help clean it....I dont care how long I tried, I couldn't seem to get it clean. Both tanks were cloudy for a few days. The only thing that helped was placing the entire bag into the aquarium and laying it on the bottom .. Then I cut the bag and just lightly place the sand in.....this way it didnt get the fine particles up in the water column.
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Thanks
Just trying to give a little something back as I have spent countless hours on here reading everyone elses threads.....Its also an easy way for all my non reefer friends to keep up who live elsewhere and keep bugging me to send pictures...I just give them this link and they can follow along....
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
4
4
2 plumbing questions I cant find answers to......
1. Lets say I keep the water level of the sump at 10"....if I drill a hole in the bottom of the sump....then run a pipe down about 4" total go parallel for 6 ' and then elbow it back to a pump that sits level with the sump..... Does this put any more pressure on the intake than just putting the bulkhead in the side and running it straight to the pump...???? I am trying to put the return pump 6' from the sump but dont have room to put the pipe straight to the pump..I would have to run it under the shelf and then back up to the pump.....Because the pump intake would sit at say 4" above the shelf and the water level is 10"...I dont THINK it would matter if I plumbed it straight into the pump or down...straight and then back up to it......???????
2. I read somewhere that there is vertically no head pressure on a closed loop so I could put the pumps under the stand or 10' below it and it would not matter....is this true? Doesn't seem to "hold water" to me....
4
2 plumbing questions I cant find answers to......
1. Lets say I keep the water level of the sump at 10"....if I drill a hole in the bottom of the sump....then run a pipe down about 4" total go parallel for 6 ' and then elbow it back to a pump that sits level with the sump..... Does this put any more pressure on the intake than just putting the bulkhead in the side and running it straight to the pump...???? I am trying to put the return pump 6' from the sump but dont have room to put the pipe straight to the pump..I would have to run it under the shelf and then back up to the pump.....Because the pump intake would sit at say 4" above the shelf and the water level is 10"...I dont THINK it would matter if I plumbed it straight into the pump or down...straight and then back up to it......???????
2. I read somewhere that there is vertically no head pressure on a closed loop so I could put the pumps under the stand or 10' below it and it would not matter....is this true? Doesn't seem to "hold water" to me....
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Ok, think I found the answer to question 2 on an OLD Rc thread....http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-243701.html
FuzzyZipperbaum
New member
Interesting that you ask....I was sitting down about 2 hours ago to upload photos to photobucket...hear a scream and now I am sitting in the children's emergency center getting the 7 year olds foot xrayed....thinking it is a sprain but we will see...
got some picture updates and will try to get to them later......
got some picture updates and will try to get to them later......
Mark...
Member
Don't worry about the update, take car of the little one.
Hope all is well and you get fast service.
