WaterHazard
New member
I like the balanced asymmetry of both, and particularly like the cantilevered flat rocks. That said, I have a slight preference for the first. So does my wife.
Lyle's 150H in-wall build (with pics)
- Thread starter jlylec
- Start date
the Undone guy
New member
Amazing work so far. Gotta tag this for inspiration =)
aandfsoccr04
Active member
I like the first as well.
Greenmaster
New member
Ya it depends on if you want an "open" look, or if you want lots of places for fish to swim back and forth. The first is closer to the style I would build... closer to the style I did build 
This is coming together nicely I wish you the best of luck and will be here at least once a week if you put up new posts... even if I don't chime in much.
This is coming together nicely I wish you the best of luck and will be here at least once a week if you put up new posts... even if I don't chime in much.
jlylec
New member
Ya it depends on if you want an "open" look, or if you want lots of places for fish to swim back and forth. The first is closer to the style I would build... closer to the style I did build
This is coming together nicely I wish you the best of luck and will be here at least once a week if you put up new posts... even if I don't chime in much.
yeah thanks man...I do like the style you did. I think I'm going to do something similar with a little more open space on one side. I'm hoping I can do it with the rock I already have and don't need to buy more. we'll see!
jlylec
New member
I was up until almost 2am last night messing around with the scape. It's crazy how something so simple in concept can be so difficult in practice. I just kept staring at everything I did and didn't like anything. Finally I had to go to bed and decided to put the rocks in the tank instead of back in the cure can. Just transferring them from the table to the tank I couldn't get it like I had on the table. Obviously it's much harder placing them in the tank. This is how that ended up. I can't say I love this look, but it's not even close to final. Nothing is attached in anyway yet. The two rocks on the top right will be stood up and pegged and epoxied. I also have two mag rocks that will go on the left wall and the back wall right above the Koralias. I figure they can help hold them up and they'll help hide the pumps (not really, but maybe a bit). I really wanted more of a multiple pillar look, but when playing with that idea it didn't seem like I'd have any space for placing the corals.
Does this look too empty to you guys? I guess it's hard to really say before the rocks are all stood up in place and the mag rocks are in.
Does this look too empty to you guys? I guess it's hard to really say before the rocks are all stood up in place and the mag rocks are in.
jlylec
New member
The sand cloud is slowly clearing. It looks like it will take a few more days to completely clear. I was going to start running carbon and GFO last night but realized I need to move the reactor so it's easier to access and change media. Everything else is running and the skimmer is pulling very wet, nasty water out. Rocks on the left aren't final, but the ones on the right probably are. I'm not sure about the placement of the mag-rocks either. Putting them over the Koralias works well because they help support them, but they look a little just thrown in. I really want a minimalist look but am wondering if I'll have enough hiding spots for the fish. We'll see. I'll be adding fish slowly so I should be good for a year or so anyway like this.
jlylec
New member
I made some progress last night. Aquascape is about done now. I drilled and pegged the left side so I could get the height and negative symmetry I was going for. I didn't think it would be possible for a while, but I finally got it and think it looks pretty good. My wife thinks it's a bit TOO straight, but I'm going to add a rock to the bottom and once the corals start growing on the pillar I think it'll look great. What do you guys think?
The pillar on the left doesn't actually touch anything inside the tank. It's completely free standing. I didn't want it leaning and supported by a wall because long term keeping those walls clean would be impossible otherwise.
I also tested the water the other day. I've still added nothing except cured dry rock and sand and my parameters are:
NO2: 1.0
NO3: missing scoop for dry stuff in the Elos kit I got...nice.
NH3: 0.5
PH: 8.1
ORP: 215
Temp: 77
The pillar on the left doesn't actually touch anything inside the tank. It's completely free standing. I didn't want it leaning and supported by a wall because long term keeping those walls clean would be impossible otherwise.
I also tested the water the other day. I've still added nothing except cured dry rock and sand and my parameters are:
NO2: 1.0
NO3: missing scoop for dry stuff in the Elos kit I got...nice.
NH3: 0.5
PH: 8.1
ORP: 215
Temp: 77
jlylec
New member
Good news...my lights have finally shipped (well...supposed to ship today from Premium Aquatics). They're due in on Wednesday.
Bad news...either my Apex or my webcam has totally f'ed my router/home network. I thought it was my modem but Comcast came out on Friday and everything checks out fine before the router. I've reset everything...disconnected everything...ugh. It's a brand new router because I thought my problem was my OLD router and replaced it. I'm seeing download speeds of .35 MBPS and upload of 6.5 MBPS. Doesn't make any sense. I'm pulling my hair out and the wife is not impressed with me right now! Any networking guru's out there who could point me in the right direction? I know there are a hundred variables at play here and it's impossible to diagnose with such little info, but if you could point me in the right direction (an online diagnosis tool or something) I have no problem reading and figuring stuff out. I'm just at a total loss here.
Bad news...either my Apex or my webcam has totally f'ed my router/home network. I thought it was my modem but Comcast came out on Friday and everything checks out fine before the router. I've reset everything...disconnected everything...ugh. It's a brand new router because I thought my problem was my OLD router and replaced it. I'm seeing download speeds of .35 MBPS and upload of 6.5 MBPS. Doesn't make any sense. I'm pulling my hair out and the wife is not impressed with me right now! Any networking guru's out there who could point me in the right direction? I know there are a hundred variables at play here and it's impossible to diagnose with such little info, but if you could point me in the right direction (an online diagnosis tool or something) I have no problem reading and figuring stuff out. I'm just at a total loss here.
Greenmaster
New member
I would remove the everything from the network and test. Then I would add one thing at a time testing every time something is added... once it slows down then remove the last thing you connected. If that makes it faster again then you have found your faulty device... or faulty wire. I would then try a new cable on the device that is slowing your system down to see if that fixes the problem. There are also some ports that you can enable for your apex in your routers menu. I would reset the modem and browse the net for a bit after connecting/disconnecting each device (you tube is a good spot to kill time browsing the net/test download speeds) HTH
jlylec
New member
I kind of got it fixed last night. At least I'm getting SOME internet now, but only 1.5MBPS down. Paying for like 20 though! I really think the problem is the DynDNS monitoring or something. Everything I read online says it should affect anything but it sure seems to affect me. Direct to the modem I was getting 12MBPS...router with factory settings was giving me like 10MBPS...turn on DynDNS and it instantly drops to like 1.5-2. Maybe I'm missing something in the settings. I need to mess with it some more, but I'm so sick of messing with it! Why can't technology just work?
jlylec
New member
I used the settings in the router. It's so strange though because everything I've read about DynDNS says it should have no affect and no one else online seems to have the same issue.
It shouldn't have any effect. It's just a service that looks at the IP address of the router and then uploads to a remote server. What kind of router is this? You could try and disable the dyndns client on the router and install this client:
http://www.dyndns.com/support/clients/windows-notes.html
on one of your machines to have it update.
http://www.dyndns.com/support/clients/windows-notes.html
on one of your machines to have it update.
jlylec
New member
I had a Belkin Wireless-N router that I really liked (still have actually) but this whole mess started and I thought that was the problem so I bought a D-Link DIR-655 which I saw was tested/supported by the DynDNS service on their site. I may try that client and disable the support in the router itself. The problem is the 2 main computers I have at the house are Macbooks that aren't always there and my only other option (short of buying a computer for solely that purpose) is an older Thinkpad that is riddled with PC/Windows issues to the point that I stripped it to just about nothing just so I could run updates on stuff that requires a PC.
I think I may have an issue with both my modem and router running firewall stuff. I read something about disabling all of that on the modem if you have a router that does it as well. I'm going to try that tonight. Who the hell knows?!
I think I may have an issue with both my modem and router running firewall stuff. I read something about disabling all of that on the modem if you have a router that does it as well. I'm going to try that tonight. Who the hell knows?!
I would disable all firewall/router crap on your modem. I can't stand the phone/cable co's adding these features to their modems, it just causes more problems. Disable everything on the modem so its just a plain old modem. You have a wireless router to act as your firewall and keep everything keen. Try that and let us know.
jlylec
New member
I think I got it all fixed finally last night. Reset everything back to factory and started over. Didn't really do anything different that I know of but everything's working finally. Even the IP camera and outside access to the Apex. DynDNS isn't causing any issues. One strange thing is that the internet speed on my laptop is running at around 10-12MBPS but only 1-2 on my iphone. Not sure why the disparity, but I'm not dicking with it anymore. If it works at all I give up!
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