miwoodar
Likey the bikey
Greetings Folks,
Thanks for all of the great advice and ideas over the last couple of years. Build threads have been a big part of my learning experience and I would like to give back to the community by documenting an upgrade from my current 65 to my DIY 140. I would also like to get your advice on some structural concerns in my house, some wood working Q's, an electrical run, and who knows what else (hopefully it won't be cleaning up a big mess!).
If you don't know me already, I'm kind of a geek. I am an environmental engineer for a company that specializes in groundwater remediation. Yes, we get paid to carbon dose the ground. No, I don't carbon dose my tank at this time but I might if I ever need to. These days I manage the costing tool set we use for large proposals. Sounds fun, eh?
If you're still reading you might be saying 'SHUT-UP ALREADY' but before I do, I need to throw a specific thanks to a few folks (please pardon mistakes, this is by memory):
Acrylics, Chatatoullie, H20 Eng, and Melev: Thanks for the recent acrylic advice in the DIY Acrylic Tank thread. I hope to test the tank before the end of the week!
Anyone who's documented their steel stand: You know who you are, and I've read your thread.
Anyone who has a 36"x36" cube: Crazy4Acros, you have a killer tank. Mike (don't remember your screen name at this time), you do too.
Donw: Thanks for a slew of awesome DIY projects and the recent advice on wood choices. We decided on cherry.
Rocky Mountain Reef Club: Tons of great people to get local advice from. If you're within driving distance, come see our speaker conference in a few weeks (every February)! Frag swaps and speaker conferences occur once per quarter www.rmrc.info.
Bean: I'm thanking you ahead of time for keeping me from burning down my house.
The Entire DIY Forum: It's impossible to name all the great folks. If you have been posting a lot and pushing out good ideas and projects, you're likely on this list!
I'm a very thrifty guy. The only way I could convince my wife to let me upgrade was by promising her that I would save money at every turn. I also had to give a 5-year promise against a request for a larger tank :bum: . As such, here's the deal:
* DIY 140 acrylic cube (acrylic due to my little boy who has developed quite an arm as of late)
* DIY steel stand (saves space for equipment)
* DIY facade made of cherry
From my current 65:
* About 75 lbs of rock
* 4" hippo tang, 2" 6-line wrasse, and watchman goby
* Mostly SPS bonsai corals (bonsai no more is the hope!)
* 2 - swirler steins with DIY MJ Mods running Octura props
* Iwaki 30 RLT
* K2R calcium reactor with Milwaukee controller
* DIY recirculating skimmer
* Top off float valve (eventually to be replaced with a set of solenoids)
* DIY 205 amp hour battery back up
* 2- 250 watt SE MH in DIY Lumenarc style reflectors (thanks tkeracer for helping with this DIY)
* 2 VHO actinics on a 660 (I'll be looking for advice on eventually going to t-5's)
* DIY GFO reactor
Other additions:
* I acquired a broken 40 gallon acrylic sump form a local reefer - fixed and ready to go
* AC802 with a prop mod - this might end up on a swirler stein as well
* Eductor on the tank return
So, here's the general plan:
Here’s where I am now (a bunch of bonsai BS):
This is the goal (not quite to scale):
Here are the acrylic shots. I’ve finished the sides. The top is drying as I type.
Tank (1/2" Plex G):
Tank:
Frag tank? I dunno, it was a practice project prior to building the 140:
Top off tank: to go under the stand.
Thanks for all of the great advice and ideas over the last couple of years. Build threads have been a big part of my learning experience and I would like to give back to the community by documenting an upgrade from my current 65 to my DIY 140. I would also like to get your advice on some structural concerns in my house, some wood working Q's, an electrical run, and who knows what else (hopefully it won't be cleaning up a big mess!).
If you don't know me already, I'm kind of a geek. I am an environmental engineer for a company that specializes in groundwater remediation. Yes, we get paid to carbon dose the ground. No, I don't carbon dose my tank at this time but I might if I ever need to. These days I manage the costing tool set we use for large proposals. Sounds fun, eh?
If you're still reading you might be saying 'SHUT-UP ALREADY' but before I do, I need to throw a specific thanks to a few folks (please pardon mistakes, this is by memory):
Acrylics, Chatatoullie, H20 Eng, and Melev: Thanks for the recent acrylic advice in the DIY Acrylic Tank thread. I hope to test the tank before the end of the week!
Anyone who's documented their steel stand: You know who you are, and I've read your thread.
Anyone who has a 36"x36" cube: Crazy4Acros, you have a killer tank. Mike (don't remember your screen name at this time), you do too.
Donw: Thanks for a slew of awesome DIY projects and the recent advice on wood choices. We decided on cherry.
Rocky Mountain Reef Club: Tons of great people to get local advice from. If you're within driving distance, come see our speaker conference in a few weeks (every February)! Frag swaps and speaker conferences occur once per quarter www.rmrc.info.
Bean: I'm thanking you ahead of time for keeping me from burning down my house.
The Entire DIY Forum: It's impossible to name all the great folks. If you have been posting a lot and pushing out good ideas and projects, you're likely on this list!
I'm a very thrifty guy. The only way I could convince my wife to let me upgrade was by promising her that I would save money at every turn. I also had to give a 5-year promise against a request for a larger tank :bum: . As such, here's the deal:
* DIY 140 acrylic cube (acrylic due to my little boy who has developed quite an arm as of late)
* DIY steel stand (saves space for equipment)
* DIY facade made of cherry
From my current 65:
* About 75 lbs of rock
* 4" hippo tang, 2" 6-line wrasse, and watchman goby
* Mostly SPS bonsai corals (bonsai no more is the hope!)
* 2 - swirler steins with DIY MJ Mods running Octura props
* Iwaki 30 RLT
* K2R calcium reactor with Milwaukee controller
* DIY recirculating skimmer
* Top off float valve (eventually to be replaced with a set of solenoids)
* DIY 205 amp hour battery back up
* 2- 250 watt SE MH in DIY Lumenarc style reflectors (thanks tkeracer for helping with this DIY)
* 2 VHO actinics on a 660 (I'll be looking for advice on eventually going to t-5's)
* DIY GFO reactor
Other additions:
* I acquired a broken 40 gallon acrylic sump form a local reefer - fixed and ready to go
* AC802 with a prop mod - this might end up on a swirler stein as well
* Eductor on the tank return
So, here's the general plan:
Here’s where I am now (a bunch of bonsai BS):
This is the goal (not quite to scale):
Here are the acrylic shots. I’ve finished the sides. The top is drying as I type.
Tank (1/2" Plex G):
Tank:
Frag tank? I dunno, it was a practice project prior to building the 140:
Top off tank: to go under the stand.
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