MY 75 Gallon RR project and soon to be "former setup" DIAL UP BEWARE!

[headshrink]

Now that is funny.... I didn't catch on till now.

Who knows... maybe it was yours maybe not.....

 

[concept3]

DIY FRAG PLUGS

DIY FRAG PLUGS

I'll be postig up my DIY oystercrete frag plugs as soon as I resize these photos.....stay tuned

 

[concept3]

DIY PLUGS

DIY PLUGS

There are a few places out there that sell reef plugs, but since I was at the DOC's house today staining his stand, I figured I would go play with some sand and cement again. (Well, actually, I was bored last night and decided to cut a whole bunch of circles out of 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch PVC pipe with my new pipe cutting tool)

Reef plugs go for anywhere between $0.15 to $0.50, and I see no reason to buy them in bulk unless you are very serious about Coral farming and plan on turning out 20-50 frags a month. I know they are relatively cheap, but I decided to try and make them anyway......HEY, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE! :lmao:

Here are the circles I cut out for the molds.

I used 1/2 inch PVC for the plug cut 3/4" long

and used 3/4" PVC cut 1/4 to 3/8 long for the tops.

You'll see what I mean in the next few pics..........

I poured a mixture of sand+cement in the larger rings.........

Then shoved some more cement in the longer PVC and then slammed it against the larger circle.

 

[concept3]

For size comparison, here is a Nickel next to one of the plugs.

Here is my COLONY of "Reefpluggus gregorius" sub-species Mervus-conceptous..... :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

 

[RichT]

If they don't come out of the "forms" like you expected, I have some other ideas.

Good luck

 

[concept3]

Rich, I don't have a drill press and you know it, don't rub it in :lmao:. Make me a few holes in a piece of pine will ya?

 

[RichT]

I was thinking more along the lines of a "stamp" that will make a desired impression in the sand then pour the cement wet. I also like your idea. I just got a 1 3/8" mortis bit for the door hinges on my stand. That would probably be too large though. Give me some specs and I'll see what I can come up with.

 

[concept3]

Rich, you know we're in the chat room

 

[concept3]

REEF PLUG UPDATE

REEF PLUG UPDATE

Well, I was a little dissapointed with the plugs, since I forgot to "oil" the insides of the PVC. It took a lot of time to pull them out of the molds, and I was able to take out only 5 intact in one piece out of 11. I have already begun constructing molds out of pine and a few drill bits, we'll see how that turns out.


On a SIDE NOTE, I received my 22 X 22 X 16 PROP tank from glasscages, and was happy that it arrived intact. I was a little dissapointed in the finishing of the bottom, it was not as smooth as I expected. It matters when you are going BB. It did not have a flat internal bottom, rather it had an internal perimeter brace for strength. I guess I'll have to work around it. I will be drilling two holes on the back of this tank, and will be plumbed back into my sump. It will share the same water as my main display.

I am planning to use this PROP tank exactly as mentioned, but my second purpose for this tank is to keep more light loving clams.

 

[concept3]

This prop tank will house a single 250watt 6500K bulb with no actinic supplementation. I plan on keeping the photoperiod on the 6500K at 8 hours, but will set it up in such a way that it overlaps with my main lights to provide an extra two hours...who knows what I might end up doing. As we speak, I am building a matching cabinet that will sit to the right of my tank; as well as a matching hood. It will have the same design as my main tank, only smaller.

Here is how the package arrived via Fedex:

DO NOT CRUSH?!?! Now why would anyone want to purposely do that ?!?!? :lmao:

YOU CAN SEE THE INTERNAL BRACING IN THIS PIC

PROP TANK WILL RESIDE TO THE RIGHT OF THE TANK, WHERE THE PLANT IS.

 

[concept3]

I also received the day before, an Olympus macro lens and polarizer. I've been hanging out in the photography forum of RC learning from others about taking pictures. I've always loved taking pictures in Macro mode since they give a completely different look to the subject. A millepora looks like a fuzzy stick to some, but at closeup, man, it's a completely different animal! Check these out.

Camera is set to manual, and every pic had it's own setting...don't ask me, I fiddled with the camera so much, I'm gonna reset it tomorrow. Camera is an Olympus C5000, with Lens adapter tube, polarizer and Macro lens (piggybacked to each other).

Pink millepora

(still a little dark....it's a learning process)

 

[concept3]

SOME MACRO SHOTS

SOME MACRO SHOTS

Trying out the camera and lenses....enjoy!

Peach milli from KEITH (blstrvlr)

My "monsternemone" in my girl's 20 gallon nano

Discosoma in the nano as well

Here's Spike, cruisin' in the nano along with "Red" the maroon clown, the monsternemone and some shrooms.

 

[concept3]

Before Polarizer lens and shutter speed low

Polarizer on and shutter speed high...plus, he's off the drugs now.... :lmao:

My Copperband trying to get cleaned..... I think my Cleaner shrimp is DEFECTIVE!!! He doesn't do anything but sit under the cap. I want a REFUND!!! :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

Here's Blue trying to play hide and seek.

 

[concept3]

HERE'S MY DOGFISH.........

HERE'S MY DOGFISH.........

I COULDN'T RESIST. I HAD TO PUT THIS ONE UP. IF A MOD DECIDES TO TAKE IT OUT, SO BE IT. I PRESENT TO YOU, MY DOGFISH. He likes to watch me dunk my hand in the sump and sneezes when I pull out the skimmate out of the skimmer. :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Scooter the Dogfish


I think buying the MACRO lens and POLARIZER for my Camera has definitely made me appreciate this hobby more!

 

[ruden]

Merv, awesome as usual. I love the dog fish. I hear they are extremely rare in the home aquarium. I did not know they were reef safe though .

Bob

 

[Marcelog]

Nice pictures! Can I borrow it to take some shots of my tank?

Marcelo -

 

[concept3]

A FEW MACRO SHOTS I TOOK TODAY, STILL LEARNING HOW TO TAKE 'EM!

A FEW MACRO SHOTS I TOOK TODAY, STILL LEARNING HOW TO TAKE 'EM!

Bushy ACRO SP.?!?

German blue monti digitata, ready for another branch!

Tort in front of Maxima

Green table coral frag

Purple acro colony and a bubble LOL

GSP under actinics..........still can't get those actinic shots that I want.

A. micropthalma under actinics

 

[concept3]

It's been a few weeks now, and I FINALLY finished the frag tank. Here's the stand I built about 2 weeks ago for the frag cube. It has a similar design to the main tank which it will be sitting beside.

I decided to use the same sump for the two tanks due to my limited space.

I drilled 3 holes. The middle is for my sump return and a 1" bulkhead was installed. The other two are for 3/4 inch bulkheads.

 

[concept3]

I painted the back of the frag tank black, and the bottom white. This will be bare bottom as well to facilitate cleaning.

I placed a T for the water returns. I was torn between using PVC and soft pipe, but due to space issues, I had to go with silicone. I got them in black so I don't see the gunk that grows in them, plus hopefully won't grow any algae in there.....It's happened before!!!

Here's the canopy of the frag tank. It houses a 250 watt 6500K Iwasaki bulb.

Only circulation in the tank will be by using a SEIO 1100.

Cut out on rack for SEIO

The main tank next to the prop tank

MAN!!! THAT 6500K bulb IS YELLOW!!!! :lmao:

 

[Zoom]

MAN!!! THAT 6500K bulb IS YELLOW!!!!

And Bright as the sun