Our 375 Gallon project

[Medicine Man]

If you don't mind it would really help me out. I purchased the actuator but was not really sure where/how to mount it. Thanks in advance or the help

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6370850#post6370850 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sidewinder770
melev- Thank you as well. I have been to your website many times for some great info. Not to let the cat out of the bag to early but.... we may almost be neighbors in a few years and it would be great to see your setup in person!

I had to review this thread again to make sure I was thinking about the right setup. You're the guy with the multiple sumps in the garage, just like I thought. No way you're going to leave all that behind.

Just fly out for a visit and I'll be happy to show you my setup, and you can save yourself a lot of time and money.

 

[sidewinder770]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6371234#post6371234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
I had to review this thread again to make sure I was thinking about the right setup. You're the guy with the multiple sumps in the garage, just like I thought. No way you're going to leave all that behind.

Just fly out for a visit and I'll be happy to show you my setup, and you can save yourself a lot of time and money.

Who ever said anything about leaving it behind . Of course we are getting a little ahead of ourselves- I think this will be a topic for later in the thread....like page 30 or 40 . Of course we might take you up on your offer to see your system in a few months.

The R/C Man- coraline is definately growing on the foam. Kind of hard to tell from the pictures but there is lots of it- probably be another month or so till it's completely covered. I didn't realize that it doesn't grow on the homemade rocks- why is that do you know?

Medicine Man- There are several ways to mount an actuator but I will try to get some pictures of how I set mine up in the next few days. It works really well so far and I know it will be even better once I get the canopy skinned.

More pics soon..........

 

[The R/C Man]

Don't have a clue..... My buddy has a tank with some homemade rock and the coraline doesn't want to grow on it. It does grow on the real live rock though. It may have something to do with what it is made from....

 

[sidewinder770]

Interesting. Kind of good to know since we actually made some homemade rock out of concrete and oyster shells but in the end we decided not to use them (and now we have 3 buckets full of un-used white concrete and oyster shells ). I wonder if he used a different formula. I'm kind of glad we didn't use it now

 

[The R/C Man]

Yeah, you don't get the good biological filtration with the solid homemade stuff either.

 

[bond007069]

What is the stuff you used for the background.

how did you cure it?

 

[EnglishRebel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6371792#post6371792 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bond007069
What is the stuff you used for the background.

how did you cure it?

If you read pages 2 and 3 you will see what he used,

 

[sidewinder770]

bond007069- The background is black pond foam. There are a few places you can get it online. I think page 3 or 4....maybe 5 of this thread goes into some detail about it so you may want to go check there for some more info.

Here is a little more eye candy using the macro lens as promised-

This one was from the top looking down- didn't have the setting on the camera set up correctly but I think it's kind of cool looking.

 

[maxxII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6371686#post6371686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The R/C Man
Don't have a clue..... My buddy has a tank with some homemade rock and the coraline doesn't want to grow on it. It does grow on the real live rock though. It may have something to do with what it is made from....

I've got two homemade rocks with coralline growing on them. In fact the oyster shells were one of the first things in the tank that grew coralline.


Nick

 

[Reefski's]

incredible job!!!

i am planning a large system, similar in size to yours, to be incorporated into a remodel we are doing next year.

nosey question. can you share some of the financial info with us? how much did it all cost?

do you have any running cost projections also?

of course it is my wife who is not as understanding as yours who is the one who wants/demands to know. i would just build it and see how much it all comes out to be.

Carl

 

[kamil5000]

I've just finished readung through this thread i/o working!

Well done on a great job scott.

What camera are you using to take these shots? (I need santa to get me a belated x-mas present).

I'd love to see how you mounted the actuator to get a faster opening of the canopy.

Keep up the pics!

Kamil

 

[sidewinder770]

maxxII- I guess that makes sense- just depends on what you make your rocks from I guess.

carloskoi- Cost always seems to be one of those touchy subjects- partially because most of us don't care to be reminded of how much we have spent on this hobby. I have kept fairly detailed records and I have a fairly accurate figure but lets just say I could have bought a boat I wanted or a substantial portion of a new Corvette . As for running costs- currently about $80 of my monthly electric bill is attributed to the tank- about $30 a month in food, salt and water. Of course you have to factor in yearly things like bulbs and of course the $50-$400 a month in livestock purchases that always seems to happen. And of course my electric rates are higher in the summer so I will probably be in the $120-$140 a month range for electric when summer rolls around. Also those things that pop up every few months like RO/DI cartridges and resin, additives and supplements. All told on a yearly basis I guess I would say a monthly average would probably be about $250 for just the "essentials". Of course if I were to factor in our labor time since we did everything ourselves I'd probably be able to buy 2 Corvettes .

kamil5000- The camera I used is a Canon Rebel XT with 2 different lenses- one for "normal" shots and one for macro shots. I'll see if I can get some pics of the actuator as that seems to be something a lot of people are asking about.....just not sure if I want to reveal my secret till it's finished as all the other ideas I mention seem to have been employed by someone else before I was able to finish it myself

 

[nuddybuddy]

nice stand.

 

[chetm2]

Very, very cool. I'd love to see it in person some day. More Pictures!

 

[TheCoralReef731]

What camera do you use with the macro lense. I love those pictures and would love to reproduce them in my tank. The top down photo is cool, with it being out of focus toward the top of the coral and the base. Interesting.

 

[Ehgemus]

Very Nice Tank!

 

[sidewinder770]

Thanks all for the compliments. It's definately looking a lot better not that we have livestock in it. I'm still not done yet as we need to skin the stand still and we are looking to add some T5 lighting to the display as well as some lighting to the frag tank so we can start putting stuff in there.

chetm2- You are welcome to come by and look- I imagine you may be by to pick up your resin order.

TheCoralReef731- I'm using a Canon Rebel XT with a Canon 100mm macro lense. I need to get some more pictures- this camera is simply amazing! Best Christmas present I've ever been given!

 

[sidewinder770]

Here's a few more pics to please the masses

 

[TheCoralReef731]

It picks up detail you probably can't see with your eye. Amazing. Too costly for me though. I'm stuck with blurry pics.