Some DIY :)

[Sparkss]

My latest DIY adventure
Please check it out and give me some local feedback. On both the outcome (although it is still in progress) and also on the design ideas, etc. The original thread is posted in the DIY forum, and I posted a similar thread to this one in the BAR forum, but since I know many of the MARs members, I thought to also post it here .

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=835341


Thanks


P.S. My web hosting company has been having issues and from time to time the pictures don't display... and there are alot of pictures in that thread. LMK what you all think

 

[thereefgeek]

:eek1: WOW, nice acrylic work! I love DIY

Looks like you have some pretty good control of your water distribution with all those union BV's and banjo fittings too.

I can see you'll be ready for the next BAR Frag Swap! Are you using the white plastic screw-in drywall anchors? I think I got a frag of a green tabling Acros from the last swap mounted on one of those. Yours? How are the AEFWs BTW? I wound up with a few myself a while back :mad2: but I think I got 'em all.

 

[Sparkss]

That AEFW battle was also part of the reason for a whole new prop tank. We built the new one, in the new location (shelf and all) and dosed the old prop tank heavy with Levamisole (after we had disconnected it from the system). Then after the 5 hour dip we moved all of the frags over to the new tank, re-mounting every one onto new plugs/mounts (to make sure that no eggs or hiding/surviving AEFWs hitchiked in the plugs). We were up til after 2 AM getting all of this accomplished. We lost about half a dozen frags, but nothing irreplaceable. The prop tank was the only place we ever saw evidence of AEFW damage or found any AEFWs.

 

[tfp]

tom,
awesome setup and acrylic work!

 

[Sparkss]

Thanks.. but I have to admit that up close the acrylic work lacks "polish". In the beginning I was very careful with the Weldon, and in lining everything up with a speed square and having everything "just right" by the end I was just painting on the Weldon #16, slapping the pieces together and eye-balling it all for level, etc . But then again that was after many many hours of working on it all. Oddly enough some of those later "casual" acrylic pieces came out as nice or better than the ones I tried to be careful on .. go figure. If this were anything but a sump I would have done it differently. Since it is not something that is typically used for it's looks, I wasn't very careful with the glue, etc (most of the time they are hidden away in our stand, etc). There are a couple of spots were the glue dripped or "drizzled", but I just didn't obsess over it like I did when we built the prop tank. Then again the prop tank was a lot simpler design, only a handful of seams, and only around the edges.. much easier and more manageable

Thanks for the kind words


EDIT :: In the end I was focused on structural integrity and seam strength more so than looks. When I stated that I "slapped then together", I still kept a heavy focus on creating a strong bond and a permanent seam. I just wanted to clarify my statements