xmadcowx
Wilderness Reefer
I would like to get this out there right now, this isn't your standard build thread. I admire all of the people on here who put the effort into daily, even hourly updates as their tanks progress so we can all learn, and for that, I thank you. You will see a ton of ideas I have borrowed from being in the hobby for many years, and reading this forum during all hours of the day. As much as I would love to give credit to each person for unique ideas, I really cannot think of a way to track them down, so lets just say, thanks to the community.
Now, onto the background. I have been in the hobby for a little bit, had various tanks with various livestock until recently impulsively purchasing a 40g cube which lasted all of 6 months until I came home one day and said "this corner of the room would look a lot better with 3x as much water". For reference, this is what I started with.
This is what it turned into. This is with hardly any livestock in there, but it mainly contained LPS (big acan fan) with some sticks here and there. Standard stuff.
This is what I told my contractor I wanted. Clearly the paint will be changing, but the you get the idea.
The concept is to make a "dry bar" type feel in this useless corner of the room, hide the door to the sump behind wood trim and secure it with magnets or a hinge system. The sump door will be made of drywall, and the seam will be hidden behind trim to give the appearance of a regular shadow box (I think that is the term). The trim is not drawn in the concept, but see below and I'm sure you can figure out where the door to the sump will be lol.
Here is what the stand looks like now. This is his first time building a stand to support this much weight, so it is entirely over engineered, overkill, but that's how I like it. The more math the better!
This is what I came home to Tuesday
This is what I came home to Yesterday
Yes it is perfectly level...somehow. This guy is amazing, he has done so many projects for me, could not do this without him.
Started laying out the plumbing in the living room tonight. This is what I came up with.
More to come when I have some time. I will try to keep this relatively updated, as I learned most of my knowledge from reading what others have gone through. The tank is not drilled in your standard corner locations, but will have a internal overflow box using the bean animal system which will be plumbed through the wall into the adjacent closet. Pics of that tomorrow...or sometime this weekend.
As for lighting, the canopy will be suspended with some sort of adjustable cable, chain, etc. 2 Lumenmax reflector elites, 175k single ended phoenix 14k, 2 T12 powered by icecap 430, and 2 galaxy adjustable electronic ballasts.
Circulation will be the snapper, but mainly 2 MP40w E on each end. Yes, one of them will have the dry side inside the wall (no idea how this is going to work yet lol).
That's all I can think of for now, more to come as things progress...at least I hope.
Now, onto the background. I have been in the hobby for a little bit, had various tanks with various livestock until recently impulsively purchasing a 40g cube which lasted all of 6 months until I came home one day and said "this corner of the room would look a lot better with 3x as much water". For reference, this is what I started with.
This is what it turned into. This is with hardly any livestock in there, but it mainly contained LPS (big acan fan) with some sticks here and there. Standard stuff.
This is what I told my contractor I wanted. Clearly the paint will be changing, but the you get the idea.
The concept is to make a "dry bar" type feel in this useless corner of the room, hide the door to the sump behind wood trim and secure it with magnets or a hinge system. The sump door will be made of drywall, and the seam will be hidden behind trim to give the appearance of a regular shadow box (I think that is the term). The trim is not drawn in the concept, but see below and I'm sure you can figure out where the door to the sump will be lol.
Here is what the stand looks like now. This is his first time building a stand to support this much weight, so it is entirely over engineered, overkill, but that's how I like it. The more math the better!
This is what I came home to Tuesday
This is what I came home to Yesterday
Yes it is perfectly level...somehow. This guy is amazing, he has done so many projects for me, could not do this without him.
Started laying out the plumbing in the living room tonight. This is what I came up with.
More to come when I have some time. I will try to keep this relatively updated, as I learned most of my knowledge from reading what others have gone through. The tank is not drilled in your standard corner locations, but will have a internal overflow box using the bean animal system which will be plumbed through the wall into the adjacent closet. Pics of that tomorrow...or sometime this weekend.
As for lighting, the canopy will be suspended with some sort of adjustable cable, chain, etc. 2 Lumenmax reflector elites, 175k single ended phoenix 14k, 2 T12 powered by icecap 430, and 2 galaxy adjustable electronic ballasts.
Circulation will be the snapper, but mainly 2 MP40w E on each end. Yes, one of them will have the dry side inside the wall (no idea how this is going to work yet lol).
That's all I can think of for now, more to come as things progress...at least I hope.
