Storytime again for us fish nerds... Southern Japan and Guam dive/fish trip 2012 :)

copps said:
Sounds cool Dave... send a link if you could... I plan on maybe using fibergrate for this, so it is fully removable... we'll see...
Click to expand...

I used the fiberglass grating to build the structure under my live rock. So the rock looks like a solid pile but is only one layer of rock deep and under the rock is a big open void.

It's a great product to work with, but just be careful when cutting it. The glass dust is nasty.

In the big tank forum I have a build thread - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2293079

There are photos of the rock wall and the fibergrate structure in the tank before the rock going in.

At the end of the thread are some recent tank photos and you can see the rock wall in the back ground in the photos on the right side of the tank.

Dave B
 
The new tank passed the water test... 1300 gallons... and coincidentally weighs 1300 pounds empty:spin3:

 
Great shots John! My husband and I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian village when we went to Oahu a couple of years ago. Great hotel!
 
Water test ? That water looks like my skimmer collection cup!

Congrats on the test! So how soon can it be moved into it's final resting place ?


Dave B
 
Thanks again guys...

Sugar Magnolia said:
Great shots John! My husband and I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian village when we went to Oahu a couple of years ago. Great hotel!
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Yes... that's my preferred hotel... makes me feel like I'm on vacation when I come back from work. And when I dive with Rich we launch from the marine right next door, so I could just walk with my gear. HHV rocks... just stay away from the Diamond head Tower!

o2manyfish said:
Water test ? That water looks like my skimmer collection cup!

Congrats on the test! So how soon can it be moved into it's final resting place ?


Dave B
Click to expand...

:spin1: Yes that's at the manufacturer. I get it delivered to my current house next week. We close on the new house the end of next month... actually had to move the closing date because it coincided with MACNA, which I am speaking at... that was a fun conversation with the wife!:lmao:
 
New tank looks awesome, John... congrats man :thumbsup:

Wow, first rebreather dive with Rich. So cool!

See you in a month ;)
 
copps said:
:spin1: Yes that's at the manufacturer. I get it delivered to my current house next week. We close on the new house the end of next month... actually had to move the closing date because it coincided with MACNA, which I am speaking at... that was a fun conversation with the wife!:lmao:
Click to expand...

Wow I am glad to not have that chat!
 
Checking in to say hello John! What a life of adventure! You and Richard Pyle loving what you do!

Take care,
Holly
 
Did you ever make it out to the RMI?

PM me if you need access / sponsor we can talk.....take you out collecting if you want.

Here's my address :)




love the thread, great pics and travel photo's

c
 
r-balljunkie said:
Did you ever make it out to the RMI?

PM me if you need access / sponsor we can talk.....take you out collecting if you want.

Here's my address :)




love the thread, great pics and travel photo's

c
Click to expand...

Due to building our new house I had to cancel that trip for me... I organized friends from the Steinhart Aquarium and Hawaii and they ended up having to go without me... I was over a month in Hawaii over two trips for work and could not justify the extra time to go to Kwaj to our builder (and my wife)... it all worked out though... the house and my new system are a dream come true... :) I may take you up on that offer in the future... this trip was actually with five star accommodations on your neighbor to the north (Ebeye)! ;)

Eville said:
Any updates on the new displays?
Click to expand...

I will get pics up this weekend... the new system has been months of work but it will be frigging spectacular! I look at it every day and pinch myself... The first fish went into the system on Thanksgiving... a mix of Chrysiptera genus damsels... and I have plans for so much more... :)

Copps
 
will get pics up this weekend... the new system has been months of work but it will be frigging spectacular! I look at it every day and pinch myself... The first fish went into the system on Thanksgiving... a mix of Chrysiptera genus damsels... and I have plans for so much more... :)

Copps
Click to expand...

Awesome news! Just finished going through your frags for sale and awesome write up for TOTM. Amazing collection of both sps & fish.

Jacob
 
Hello Copps. just a wonderful read, and thanks for the eye candy with the Angles. Like yourself i have a big hart for the little fish :)

A few things i was wondering. Im guess you have a new build thread, a link would be great.

Being a fellow diver myself I was wondering on how you managed to bring your collected fish back with you and how you housed them while still over seas? Im guessing you mailed them back. I could see you with them on your lap during the flight also but figure it would make customs a pain :) I have never collected a fish from the wild and cant say that i ever would, unless it was maybe the perfect Dwarf Angle :)

Always good to see a family enjoying life together above the water. Im sure you cant wait for it to be below the water as well.
 
Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted much here in the reef fishes forum... Saying I've been busy is an understatement... building our dream home, along with my dream system, has been insanely time consuming in addition to taking care of systems in two homes. The display is the same size as Chingchai's (but different dimensions), who I met at MACNA this year where we both spoke, but all of the work has been done by myself and a close handy friend, along with my retured father who has chipped in very well. Doing things right the first time and on this scale takes time, especially with two young kids and a demanding job. No build thread yet, but here are some photos. The new system has been running for almost three months now and is maturing nicely... starting to move things over recently...

The display in the room showing the two sided viewing... dimensions again are 8 1/2' x 6' x 42" high. We stopped working on the rock wall to complete everything in the fish room... which is much more important...


The front view... it's tough to capture in a photo but the front to back dimension is 6 feet... just insane and so friggin' exciting!!


The side view... perhaps the most exciting... with a front to back dimension of 8 1/2 feet... ore than ever this is like a piece of reef... not an aquarium... again so exciting guys and sorry it's taken so long to share!:beer:



And the business end... a shot from the fish room... I built a deck going around the tank made of Fibergrate that is the same height as the bottom of the tank, which allows me to walk around the tank, just giving me a few inches clearance so I don't bang my head on the ceiling... this photo is from back in November...



And a shot from a few days ago... I moved two of the MP60s... tank is lit by six 400 watt 14K Ushio metal halides, and six VHO actinics... waiting on three Ecottech Radion Gen3 Pros that just came out to complete the lighting on the tank...



A better shot showing the lighting... there are three rows of metal halide tracks that can be moved out of the way for me to work on the tank (or get in)... the VHO actinics are on magnets and can be removed also... one Radion will go in between each of the pairs of halides on each of the three tracks.



The 240 gallon anemone display on the same system, which is also built in and will get the wall complete with rock.

 
The fish quarantine area, with six 40 gallon breeders in place, which is more than I'll use long term but I am prepping to move my entire fish collection from the old house and these will be holding tanks... the dedicated water change tub could be seen, which has a hose I could hook on any of the tanks to refill, and a dedicated sink for the area, which will eventually have all of the tanks plumbed with a drain. The vat is fitted with a float switch run from my large RO/DI system... No chance I could truck buckets around with the scale of the systems in this new house! You could also see a dedicated washing machine for my filter socks (which made the wife happy), and a 105 pint per day dehumidifier. The coral QT area is on the other wide of the room...



And for those of you who know my kitchen fish only, this is the separate system where all of those fish will go, including my pair of clarion angels and so many other large fish... it doesn't look like too much from the view, but this tank is 350 gallons... aquascaping is not complete, but the wall is done! Everything is set up like a public aquarium... with smaller viewing windows revealing a larger system behind... and the back of the tanks lined with black Kydex... as there is nothing I hate more than a coralline encrusted wall behind my tanks!



And lastly, my Emperor Aquatics 300 watt commercial UV system which is HUGE! With the investment I have in fish, I cannot sleep at night without a UV on my reef system... despite my QT methods, it is difficult to keep all fish parasites out completely... with this UV it will be tough for them to ever get to plague proportions. :)



Many of you know this already, but I've been hardcore into this hobby since I was very young... I'm so thankful I've been able to transfer my design I've been planning for years in my head into a real working system... this is the last move for sure!

It's an absolute pleasure to share this with you guys here... anyone reading this sentence shares our passion, which is very gratifying. As we know, within our circle of friends we are all the crazy fish guy/girl... but while all of us here in the reef fishes forum have many differences we are all bound by the same passion for the amazing life that we are able to keep in our homes from reefs around the world.

The journey is just beginning... I'll be sharing with you guys as things progress.

Cheers!:beer:

Copps
 
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