Mike's 140 Cubish Build

[miwoodar]

Thanks Lily, caribngg. I'm not worried about it. I had a PVC/foam structure in my prior tank for a year or more before switching to the new tank. The black structure posted earlier in the thread is now 100% covered in coralline. People (even a few seasoned reefers) have come over and didn't know it was PVC/foam until I confessed. Any little bits of concern I had are long gone.

 

[miwoodar]

Quick update...wife, kids, life, and the tank are all well. I have lots of openings to fill in the tank but haven't had a chance to fill them yet. Life goes too fast! The slow economy has not impacted my office too bad. In fact, I've been on a head-down trudge working some long hours the past few weeks. My only respite has been spending time on RC.

I just did the math on my switch to DIY 2 part + Lime...

I picked up 24 lbs of baking soda for $12 (Costco), 27 lbs of driveway Heat for $18 (Home Depot), and 10 lbs of Mrs Wages pickling lime for $30. It appears that this will get me through the next 12 months. I've calc'd my usage as shown at the bottom of this post. These numbers are still a little rough but are close enough for horse shoes. I think I'm going to make my $50 / year target. I definitely wouldn't have made it if I weren't buying in bulk.

* 14 lbs / year Driveway Heat
* 20 lbs / year baking soda
* 9 lbs / year lime

 

[miwoodar]

Oops, math errors...I should just keep this stuff to myself so I nobody knows about the egg on my face.

6 lbs Driveway Heat, and 8 lbs baking soda per year.

I would guess that these numbers are good +/- 20%


Anybody care to check the math? Please point out any errors if you see them.

 

[erics3000]

Driveway heat...I had to check in on that haven,t heard that before. us Floridians...We would be buying ant killer instead. hheheheeheh

 

[miwoodar]

I'm not thinking it's going to be very easy to find in Florida. It's hard to find in Colorado outside of winter time. Also, not many places seem to carry that particular product. Maybe you could buy it online? I've seen it at Home Depot (cheapest) but also found it at Ace Hardware.

Ants suck.

Here's the lime dosage summary. All in, I'm definitely beating the $50/year target.

 

[porthios]

what are you using for kalk mike?

 

[miwoodar]

Mrs Wages. It's ~$3/can (1lb can) at King Soopers. I'm running it via ATO. I thought it was cheaper than the DIY A/B but I've just come to the realization that it isn't unless I can find it in bulk.
Using my current sources (again, assuming that I haven't made another boo-boo in my math for the A/B, I know the kalk is right)...

$5/year in Driveway Heat (Home Depot)
$5/year in Baking Soda (Costco)
$27/year in kalk (this is very surprising)

Man, I am a cheap skate!

 

[erics3000]

Cheap skate???naw...Save pennies to spend dollars or more for corals...hhehehehe

 

[miwoodar]

I'm with you! Spend the extra dough on corals! I should prepare an annual summary of my cost savings measures and present it to the wife about two weeks before my birthday.

 

[porthios]

I've just come to the realization that it isn't unless I can find it in bulk.


yeah, that's where i was headed with the question. kalk, cheap as it is, is still the most expensive piece for me. was hoping you had a local source for it in bulk.

 

[miwoodar]

It's come up a handful of times on the MASC forum. I know there is a local source but don't remember the details. IIRC, you need to buy it by the 50# bag. Even if the bag is $50 though (I seriously doubt it would be) the cost of lime would go down by 2/3rds. If you come across a source I'll split a bag.

I pay 7.5 cents per pound at work but I wouldn't feel comfortable putting something that came out of the back of a dirty truck in my tank. None the less, it's clear that Mrs Wage is making a profit despite the fact that she charges less than half of what aquarium companies are charging for the same product.

 

[Ratpack]

Just keep an eye on the Mrs. Wages. I know it usually goes on clearance after the canning season and I always pick it up for about $1 a can. I have 11 cans in stock right now.

 

[lil gramps]

Mike, I may have missed it somewhere in this thread but can you give me the specifics on what type of steel you used to build your stand? Thank you

 

[miwoodar]

Thanks for the tip Ratpack.

lil gramps, I don't recall the specs. It's 1x2. The gauge eludes me. I wouldn't recommend building a steel stand unless you already know how to weld or you have a welding buddy that wants to give up a night to put it together for you. I fell in the latter group. I told him what I wanted to do, he showed me how to buy/cut/prepare the steel, he welded it, then I ground down the welds (ahem, thanks Leif ). I do like the steel though...it really opens up the space under the tank.

 

[lil gramps]

thanks mike, I also fall into the later category. My little brother can help me out there.

 

[porthios]

I know it usually goes on clearance after the canning season

i've heard that mentioned several times but i'm gonna go ahead and ask the stupid question now. when's the canning season?

 

[miwoodar]

Fall...right after fruits and vegetables are ready for harvest.

How's the tank doing Jason? When are you going to post up some new pics!?

 

[porthios]

lol, i guess that makes sense.

all good. painting the fish room shelves atm. i'll throw up some pics when i get it cleaned up a bit. wife's going out of town this weekend so i'm planning to get a bunch of destructive activities done while she's gone (cut holes in the floor, mess with the house plumbing, etc.).

i like to do that stuff while she's out of town. that way, if things go bad i can get a head start on the escape and evasion plan.

 

[eaglesrx]

wow, great tank!!

question: how do you like the placement of your powerheads in terms of driving detritus to your overflow?

Keep up the good work!

 

[miwoodar]

Thanks eaglesrx. I do. I am so happy with the flow that I got rid of my vortech (! !). The swirler stein / MJ mod combos send the flow left to right a few times per minute. The surface stays well skimmed - no build up of any kind. Beyond that, the flow pattern keeps the detritus in suspension long enough to find a mouth or the overflow. I can follow food, detritus, etc as it gets shot through the MJ mods towards the front glass, circle back under the rock structure, and come back up from behind the rocks only to be shot again in whatever direction the MJ mods happen to be pointing at that time.