DaveS

I recall a year or two ago there was a tank build thread here that showed an interesting stand. I don't recall all the details but the stand was big (as was the tank) and under the tank there was a shelf that was elevated for a refugium that would then drain into the sump. Also the stand was waterproofed so that it could hold an couple of inches of water inside should there be a leak. Other details that I think were part of that thread: might have been a 400G tank, might have been Tony Gallo's build. These details are not very solid but might help jog someone's memory or search skills. I couldn't find that thread anymore... Thanks.

Oh man... who's rearing their clownfish fry? Doug? Ziggy? This would be perfect for that! I'm so tempted but 8' is a bit too long for the space I have...

Thanks a lot for the offer Jim. Stafford is a bit of a haul for me but if I can't find any closer options I'll probably schedule a run down there. I have some time so I can mull my options over a little bit longer. I'll get back to you soon. Glad to hear you are past your problems and don't need them any more. Thanks again.

Thanks for the kind offer T but I think I'm going to try and use fewer but larger bins. This would allow me to keep the system as large as possible with minimal failure points. Obviously 1 large 210G vessel would be best but since I'm not going to set the old tank back up, I think 2 100-150G tanks is the ideal option.

As I ponder my tank renovation, I'm going to need 2 Rubbermaid stock tanks for 1-2 months while I rip out my existing 210, redo the room and put in the new tank. Does anyone have one or two they would be willing to lend/sell to me? Ideally I'm looking for one or two with bulkheads on the side (or if borrowing, the ability to install them). I'm probably going to connect two of them and run them in series. Borrow is preferred as I doubt I will need them when the project is finished. I guess I can always sell them to someone here when I'm done... I don't need it right away and honestly I don't know exactly when I will. I still haven't pulled the trigger on this project yet. I'm just trying to line up all the resources beforehand. Thanks.

How long did that Oregon tort take to grow? Mine is sloooowwww.

I bid $50. Oh wait, this isn't in the auction forum?

Not looking to hijack the thread but I have a similar problem. I don't use a pinch valve on airline tubing but have what I think is a small gate valve on the rigid stuff. I still get erratic flow. One prob you may with the airline tubing is that since it's soft it may kink/pinch more after some time bit and cut off flow. Another problem that I think we both may have is that the pressure from the feed pump may vary. Therefore, even if the output restriction is consistent, the output will vary as the input pressure changes. I especially notice this problem when I restart my pump after it's shut down for a water change or something else. Not sure what causes that or why.

Depending on date/time, I could probably come by and help.

Post #1- congratulations! Where are you located? Some of this stuff is much easier to explain in person than type up. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find someone in WAMAS close enough to you to come by or have you over to lay all this stuff out for you. Maybe update your profile with a location and someone can help out.

Automatic water change- I'd love to do that but I'm on septic so pumping over 20G a week of saltwater probably won't be good for the septic tank or leech field. That and I don't think I will be physically expanding the room (just making better use of the space) so lots of water holding tanks may not be an option. But I will keep the idea in the back of my head. This is great! I seem to have some combination of pros and DIY guys to work with. Let me process this info for a bit and come up with a plan. If anyone else wants to help out, please let me know. I didn't get into it but in addition to actual construction, there would also be other stuff like: -breakdown/move of existing 210 tank -bringing in the new tank (probably need 6+ guys just for that) -set up of new tank As you can guess this won't be a 1 day thing and there is plenty places for non-construction types to join in on the fun. The whole thing will probably be a fairly long process with much of the work done on weekends. What better way to spend the long cold winter weekends than working on fish stuff right? If you guys are coming over for the benefit on Jan 10th, maybe by then I'll have plan in place to go over with everyone.

As some of you may know, I inherited my system when I bought the house. It's a nice system but as I've gotten more and more into the hobby I'm starting to feel it's limitations. After more than a year of flip flopping, I have finally made the decision to switch out my acrylic tank for glass. In talking things over with various people who's input I value, I've come to a new decision point in this process- why go half a$$ed if I can go whole a$$ed! Instead of just swapping out the tank and leaving things at that, I'm considering making more upgrades while I'm at it. Options include: -rebuilding the stand to allow more space (larger sump) underneath -lowering the tank by a few inches so it's not such a death defying feat working in the tank (the stand is 50" high which means the top of the tank that I have to climb over is almost 8' above the ground). -redoing the wall after lowering the tank since it's an in-wall tank. -building more shelves in the fish room to accommodate other things like water storage, more tanks, etc. (I'm already outgrowing the current rack with my frag tank). -moving some plumbing for the house around in the room to get it out of the way for the more important fish stuff. -whatever else I can get talked into by my fellow reef addicts. Before I do take the plunge I wanted to ask for help. Most of what I"m looking to do isn't super difficult. It's more than I can do personally but not beyond the expertise of what I have seen others accomplish here at WAMAS. If I have to find a general contractor and spend a ton of money on construction than this may not be an option. However if anyone with some expertise is willing to lend a hand, maybe at a reasonable price, I might be able to make these upgrades happen. So I guess what I'm asking is- would anyone with some good construction experience be willing to help me take on this project? I don't think this will be much crazier than many of the build threads here or on RC. I don't even need to upgrade the foundation or bulkhead the house like Dandy. In general I think I would need help with the following skill sets: 1) Know how to build a sturdy stand for a 210G+ tank (doesn't need to be pretty just sturdy as it will be behind a wall). 2) If it gets lowered, ability to re-frame a non-load bearing wall where the tank is. 3) Some carpentry and electrical work to move stuff around the fish room and get it out of the way 4) Decent drywall skills 5) Ability to do trim and moulding work around the front side of the in-wall tank I'm more worried about someone who can help tackle 1-3 as I know of possible options for 4-5. I'm not looking to start immediately and the timing is flexible. What I probably need to do first is just figure out the things I want done- decisions which will depend heavily on what kind of help I have. I can offer beer, frags and a great sense of accomplishment along with bragging rights when we are done. If you are a professional at any of this stuff, we can also talk money. I am willing to pay a professional to exercise their trade. I just want to be careful that I don't open myself up to any yahoo with a saw-z-all looking to make a buck. I hope that makes sense. So who's interested in joining me on this adventure?

DISCLAIMER: I'm not Randy Homles-Farley and I haven't gotten around to putting this stuff in my tank yet so I can't guarantee for sure it won't kill my fish. However: 1) the crystals look the same as the stuff I got from Bulk Reef Supply 2) The contents of the bag clearly state it's MgCl2 -6H20 and nothing else. 3) http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/diy-mag...html#post375846 - The UPC is different than the one specified but that doesn't surprise me based on how Costco repackages things 4) The CAS number on the bag is the same as in the MSDS sheet mentioned in #3. 5) http://www.nasalt.com/products/icemelters/...epproseries.htm - Among the different lines of products made by the manufacturer, only one is listed as just MgCl. The description for that says: "Safe for people, vegetation and pets" All in all, I'm satisfied that it's safe and I plan to add it to my tank. If someone knows for sure otherwise, please let us know!!

So I was at the Sterling Costco last weekend wandering for 3 hours while they put new tires on my car (I swear I spend 5x the tire savings on other stuff there). Anyways, look what I saw: I got a 50# bag. "Sure we need this much honey, didn't you hear about that big snow storm coming..."

Yea I remember him saying that. I thought it was "interesting science" at the time. Kinda like the theory from a new bestseller book about how Asians are good at math because of all the years of farming rice. Maybe this idea for the eggcrate came from thinking that if you take something that works one way and reverse it, it works the other- use a diffuser in reverse and it becomes a focuser. I dunno. I do think that Origami's quick experiment is good enough to bust this myth.

I tend to get a slime coating on my fresh water storage tanks too. I just figured it was normal but maybe someone here knows better.

I think the reason your nooks and crannies are better illuminated is because eggcrate is NOT a light focusing device but a light diffusing device. That's generally why they put it on fixtures. If it was meant to be a focusing device, it would be linearly parabolic- like the way T5 reflectors are. As it stands, what eggcreate does is take a linear "point source" and changes it into multiple point sources. Each grid surface is, by reflection/diffusion, a small source of light. As result, you get illumination over a great surface. The drawback is that each surface has less intensity as seen by the empirical results.

How difficult would it be to plumb them together? I noticed that they seem to be side-by-side. Maybe drill a hole on each side that lines up and use some bulkheads? By making them one system, that would allow better utilization of the space and equipment. For example, 2 skimmers that handle 65G each probably cost more and take up more space than 1 that handles 130G. Just a thought. Doug is following up with me on my offer with a great idea and I'm going to run it by the wife. Hopefully we can help make this happen!

If someone is willing to help organize it, I'd be happy to offer hosting a "Giving for Grace" event at my place. Just let me know!

Green palys on rock. This is a horrible picture. It looks a lot like the ones posted here: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...st&p=176254 $15