Some New Pics

[Brian Prestwood]

Here are some new pics of my tank...

My daughter's bull dog (Cloey) is in the picture to make the tank look good

 

[dots]

I like the woodwork, very nice!! I see what you are talking about, you were able to get a stack that would be hard to do without....The islands are way cool, but again my tank is not a permant one as yours and won't have that luxury of a larger one for a while.....Thanks for posting the pics....

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Doug

Thanks.

The removable panels attached to a frame are based on idea from Larry Robison (former MARS treasurer).

Oh, and the island style is inspired by Tim Flores' island tank. My stuff doesn't grow as good as his.

Yes, the downside of glueing the base rock down is that you can't ever change it so you better get it right. Fortunately, I'm happy with the arrangement.

 

[Pico1]

Nice tank! I really like the aquascaping and the school of firefish, you don't see that too often. That skimmer looks pretty sweet!

 

[bkmorris]

wow, i love your tank. i think that's one of the nicest room dividers i've seen. very clean and professional looking, woodwork and all. and tell your daughter i think her bulldog is awesome

 

[Brian Prestwood]

It surprised me how easy it was to make the panels once I decided to build them instead of buy them.

Here's a better shot of tank. You can kinda see the surge tank firing.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Jordan

Thanks

That's the MARS skimmer. I built ten of them at once a couple of years ago. It works very well.

We'll be doing another skimmer DIY soon.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Brooke

I'll tell my daughter (Nicole) but Cloey can't hear it. She's already full of herself as bull dogs are apt to be.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Fire Fish

Fire Fish

Jordan

About the fire fish, one of our regular speakers, Bob Fenner I think, said that they do well in proximity as long as they can't see each other.

I had two in the tank that hung out low on one end. I added two more. Initially the two news ones hung out on the other end. After about a week they all started schooling.

A fringe benefit of having to seal the top of my tank for the surge buckets is that I don't lose any jumpers.

 

[tiburone9162003]

i would love to have something like that in my living room! ...

 

[pbetito]

Wanna trade some frags for the bull dog??
That is a beautiful tank.

Paul

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Very nice tank and stand. Really like the book match on the hood doors.

 

[Reefugee]

Brian,

Very nice looking tank. I love all the progress that it has gone through!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=642650

Minh

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Hey Minh

Thanks

It has been a PROJECT. I can't believe it took me a year to get the skins on. Turns out I can do finishing work, sort of. I'm going to have to re-work a couple parts.

 

[Elite]

Cool divider tank .. How come there are a lot of bubbles??

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Surge Tanks

Surge Tanks

How come there are a lot of bubbles?

The bubbles are from my surge/fuge tanks. I have two 15 gal surge/fuge tanks. Each one dumps about five gallons of water in the tank every 45 seconds.

You can see one firing in the 4th picture I posted. The picture (2nd) with lots of bubbles is what the tank looks like right after both surge/fuges fire at once. Most of the time, they are not firing at the same time.

FWIW - I have had surge tanks on my tank for about five years. I have never had micro bubble problems with my fish or corals.

There is a 15 gal tank at the top of each pier (vertical part of the stand).

 

[MrsLizard]

Thanks for the pics, Brian! What a beautiful tank!! I am so jealous!

 

[Nu2SW]

Wow thats very interesting, Ive never seen a tank with surge tanks.

May I ask why you decided to go with them.

I love that stand, just gorgeous and the tank is very nice

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Edwin

Surge tanks provide a very natural water motion, they amplify the pump output (4X in my case) and they look good (IMO).

The downside is that you have to seal the top of your tank and clean the lid a lot (2X/Wk in my case).

My surge tanks take about 60seconds to fill and about 15 seconds to drain. That mean the pump output is applified 4X when firing.

I like the look of the surge tanks firing. They give the tank a much more natural look. At night when the halides are on and the room is dimly lit the light reflecting off the surge bubbles lights up the whole room. It definately grabs your attention.

The bubbles floating in the tank after the surge tank fires make the fluid motion of the water very obvious. It is that fluid motion that has a documented relaxing affect on human brains.

I minimized the effort it takes to clean the lid by purchasing two sets of glass for the lid. They fit in the dishwasher so I don't have to clean them by hand.

Having the top of my tank sealed has some fringe benefits. I have fans that blow air in one end, through the air gap between the water and the lid and out the other end. This turns my tank into a giant swamp cooler. Also, jumpers, like Fire Fish, can't jump out.

 

[miracles38]

Brian,
I love that tank. Awesome job. Looks like that was quite a bit of work. I really like the surge idea. Maybe time to start planning a new and bigger tank . . .