Time for that next build...

[icu2]

Menard's has random oak- most I bought was miscut on one side. Pricewise 1/2 normal cost.

 

[ws6kid]

Could also look into some of the scraps at Marble and Granite companies if you want something fancy

 

[RokleM]

I hit the Menards on the way to Aquatic Specialists. They didn't have any miscuts, but had plenty of oak for sale on 1" pieces. I picked up most everything I need except for the doors. I think I'll go a slightly "traditional" color on the oak (maybe hint of cherry), then do cheap pine or oak plywood for the doors of a different color (maybe dark mahogany or something).

I also applied a few coats of polyurethane to the stand yesterday. I couldn't decide what route to take, so I just went that route knowing it worked for me in the past. I looked around for stuff I could use as the bottom of the stand, but have given up and am going to use the shower liner.

A few updated pix. The corals seem to really be liking the radiums.

 

[Jkraft136]

are those just overdriven radiums or radiums and acintics?

 

[RokleM]

Underdriven actually. Only a single bulb at 250 vs correctly driven at HQI. No actinics.

 

[aklausing]

Eric, have you checked out Sutherlands on Nelson Rd for doors? They have racks of cabinet doors in the back of the store of all different sizes and in both pine and oak. I bought a couple that were 22x36 about two months ago and I think they had some of even larger than that. Price was something like $10 each.

 

[RokleM]

I have not, but thanks for the heads up. I'm torn on how exactly to do that. I'm thinking removable panels vs doors.

2- 25w x 26.25t
2 - 27w x 26.25t

 

[RokleM]

Turning a couple of valves is too much work for a water change, so here's part of my new setup

Dual head dosing pump. One will push in new water, one will pull out. I plan to do multiple small water changes (automated via my Apex) during the day.

PVC shower liner cut for the bottom. I think I'll create a rim around it with some sort of trim to keep small leaks in.

My stand has been in limbo partially because I've been waiting on the stain and urethane to dry. I don't like the idea of the plain ole red/yellow oak look. I'm leaning towards a two tone stand. I'll line oak across all the horizontal and vertical pine faces and use a standard stained oak look (middle triangle). The top, doors, and corner trim however I'm leaning towards the darker triangle (top left). The bottom left was just a little too plain. Ignore the two square pieces (was testing on pine). Thoughts?

 

[RokleM]

Have to be honest, not a whole lot of updates as I've been working on the house (inside and out) and dealing with the twins who are becoming more and more mobile. We had to move them already to toddler beds already, becuase my son thinks he's a ninja and was already trying to get out of his crib with an impending 4' THUD as he would likely hit the floor.

The tank is sitting on the stand, and I need to get some some of our resident wood guru's to get a few boards trued up in thickness to ensure the stand comes out nice. I put the top together, but the oak is varying slightly in thickness (maybe 1mm or so) so the tank isn't 100% flat with 100% contact (which is how I want it).

I did however fill the GEO Pico for the first time. It's an incredibly complex and painstaking task. I think it took me at least 120 seconds from the time I decided to fill it until it was back up and running :lol: VERY easy to fill given this design.

 

[RokleM]

Slowest build ever :lol:

I got a little more done on the oak trim this week. I HOPE to finish it up next week, get stain on it, and officially get the tank in place for the last time.

Over the last few months, I've struggled to decide if I wanted to keep the orange or black ocellaris clowns. I gave up :lol: This is the new "clown resort" for my black ones. My orange ones will go in the 100g.

That's a 40 breeder to give you an idea of how large they are.

 

[ws6kid]

Man, that is a sick light

 

[Jkraft136]

Are those the propagated btas that Anthony diced up?

 

[RokleM]

Man, that is a sick light

Why yes it is, and thanks (got it from him). I only have two of the four lights on right now so I don't shock them after being under the 6 LED system.

Are those the propagated btas that Anthony diced up?

They are indeed. They've probably doubled in size since he cut my original at that demonstration. That's having lived under that test LED mini setup I built (probably use it at the fragswap actually) and not being actively fed at all.

 

[Just2Many]

Wow nice setup.

 

[Shark Keeper]

Slowest build ever :lol:

Yes for you this is the slowest build ever! LOL. Looking good.

 

[RokleM]

Yes for you this is the slowest build ever! LOL. Looking good.

Yes, yes it is


I was cleaning out the rock tank today, found a hitchhiker, and figured I'd take a picture of the rock curing process. Reminder, most of this was dry rock:

What all but 10lbs started out like (seeded with a small amount of live rock):

 

[Just2Many]

May be a slow build but... Slow and steady wins the race!:thumbsup:

 

[RokleM]

I was traveling most of the week, but did have time to do a few cool things quickly this afternoon. I just brought my test co2 online. This is pretty cool. Part of the biggest issue is that paintball canisters do NOT fit our regulators. I stopped into Paintball Ohio on 71 last week looking for help. In discussion, it actually came out that Aquarium Adventure is in there every few days. Wait... AA is ahead of the curve on stuff I can't find anywhere online? Of all places, yes AA has the adapter for paintball canisters to our regulator (blue part in picture). Paintball Ohio has a pretty cool program too. $26 buys you a tank and a full year of refills. That could be once a day or once a year. The cheapest I could find this canister was $20-22 online, so that's only $4-6 for a year's refills. Pretty good deal I think. It's hooked up to my 618 right now. I think I might get an extension hose so I can mount the canister separate from the regulator under the tank. You can see the drastic difference in size.

They do NOT put oil in (issue #1 for this use) and should be using food grade co2 (they do beer keg co2, pop machines, etc).

The co2 tank finally ran out, so it's good that it will last me months at a time.

The wood is all stained and waiting on a urethane coat.

 

[RokleM]

Finally getting somewhere.

 

[Just2Many]

Where did you get the tank?