Mike's 140 Cubish Build

Wait a minute - I just looked back at the pics I posted. They are out of date. The overall (cumulative) water movement in the tank always goes towards the front pane above the rocks and towards the back pane below the rocks. I have a ~700 gph return line coming from the back right of the tank towards the front left. I also have two 2200 gph MJ mods on swirler steins along the back wall. They turret in syncronicity from left two right 2.5 times per minute. As the point to the left (as if looking at the tank from the front) they simultaneously add to and cross cut the return's flow. As the point to the right, they definitely cross cut the return's flow. The whole tank is an endless system of unpredictable eddy currents. At any point in time, the corals in the middle of the tank get anywhere from 2 inch/second all the way to 15 inch/second of diffuse but turbulant flow. On one pass any particular coral might get missed by the eddies/current. On the next pass the same coral might get blasted for a few seconds or more. Corals towards the front of the tank but still above the rocks don't receive flows in the upper velocities. I would take a stab in the dark and guess that they get a range between 3 to 8. Corals on the sand might get about the same due to reflection coming off the panes. There is a general upwelling and push underneath the rocks across the entire sand bed.
 
thanks for the clarification!! I have to look back at your MJ mods on the swirler steins. Seems like the flow is more than plenty!
 
:lol: I cracked up when I saw it and couldn't say no. I'm not sure if the aardvarks are permanantly retired yet though...

The tank is doing great BTW. I just got new bulbs this week. My old ones are well over a year old. The tank has been on autopilot for a while. I've been working a lot and got a 'fun car' a few weeks back - picked up a YJ Wrangler and have been working hard to get it ready for summer.
 
yeah make me want to go ride my bike..Cool ..Jeeps are great..I am trying to get my tank on somewhat autopilot so I can play with some other toys too. When you get sometime let see some updated pics
 
2nd that...

know you're busy with family and other toys, but would love to see some updated picks when you get a chance!
 
Does this count? How do you like my new beard?

CIMG4476.jpg
 
Oh man, that is some serious slacking on my behalf. I missed the final call for a response by about a year. Hmmm, my apologies.

Leif/Steve - awesome to see you guys last weekend. Let's do it again soon.

The tank is doing well but it's been on autopilot for a while. It's relatively healthy again. With the exception of my flame angel, I haven't lost anything in quite some time. I lost him when the overflow grate became dislodged...allowed him to find his way into the overflow and became trapped against the strainer. This was disheartening loss. It's one thing to lose a new fish. It's way worse to lose a fish that has been around for a while though. :( I will probably hold off any major livestock investments until this fall/winter. Plans for turning it into a freshwater planted tank are dead. It's not that I wouldn't love to have one, it's simply that I don't want to invest the time/energy into going that route any time soon.

I'm currently scraping the glass maybe twice a week and doing a water change every two to four. Easy, low maintenance.

I've been trying to diversify my interests over the last few months. The family is great. Kids are friggin awesome. If you don't have any yet, I highly recommend them. :) The Jeep started to catch my attention for a time but I had to cut that out as plans got waaaay tooooo expensive. I built a bumper with a tow point so I can at least take if off road when I want/need to. Lastly, I quit smoking (woo hoo!) and got back into shape.

The getting in shape part began after I started nagging a triathlon buddy about when he was going to take his first shot at an Ironman. That was late last summer. Welp, somehow we both ended up signing up for Coeur d'Alene this June. Mind you, I had never owned/ridden a road (or tri) bike and the furthest I had ever run was 13 miles...not to mention the fact that I was a pack a day smoker at the time. Cigarettes quickly got left behind as the training miles started piling up. When I signed up my goal was to finish. The cutoff of 17 hours seemed entirely feasible. After considering the time investment though, the mantra of " Don't Suck " has become an often repeated phrase. Exactly what that means in hours/minutes has yet to be determined but I can assure you I'm not gunning for a Kona spot. My goal is definitely less than half a day though. I don't know if I'll be doing more in the future. Doubtful. I would like to get back into Xterras, MTB racing, road racing, and feel the need to prove a few things to my running shoes (would love to pick up a qualifying spot for Boston...maybe this fall).
 
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miwoodar- good to hear from you. Sounds like you are busy. Glad to hear you scrapped plans for a switch to freshwater planted. I recently switched a tank over from fresh planted to salt recently and never looked back. Not nearly enough tinkering in the fresh water world.

Sorry to hear about your flame.

Coeur d'alene -you picked a dandy. Heard its a beautiful route - assume the bike/run can be a little on the hilly side! Should be a lot of fun - good luck - you'll be headed to kona next year. You ever do any road racing?

Don't spose there's any chance for a FTS or even some more recent randoms?
 
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