ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)

The glass-holes figures for flow rate are a little unrealistic. When I design an overflow box I'm looking to have close to 24" of linear overflow length for 1500gph. Their 1500gph overflow is only 12" long...and only half of that is overflow space once you take out the teeth. If you were to run the flow that high through that box the water level would easily run close to the top of the teeth (too which they admit in install directions " water level in our boxes will be just over ½ to ¾ of the way up the teeth" ...not optimal surface skimming action there. That being said, you don't need to run 1500gph through your overflow box in a 93 gallon tank =). If it were me and I had the space and didn't mind it, I would use the bigger 1500gph box in your tank anyway. You will have better surface skimming and won't be taxing the overflow box as much. Your pump is rated over 1500gph (at zero head), but you won't need all that flow through your tank...nor would I recommend it running that high through that box. Your needed flow rate depends on what you will be putting in your tank, but all in all you generally (not applicable in all cases, but most) shoot for 3-5 times turnover through the sump and any additional turnover is provided by your powerheads in tank. The other reason for using the larger box is that you will have two 1.5" drains...this means less water volume going through each pipe which should help you keep it quieter. As for a single 3/4" return line, yes you could have that work in your 93 just fine.

Oh No!! Dag nabit! That is so so so sad =(. And I was just at the zoo several months ago and didn't have time to see the invert exhibit that time (had family in town...not exactly hobbyists lol, and the youngin's took so much time everywhere else). But jeez!! The 22nd?!?! How about just a LITTLE more notice huh?

Hey Kid, come here....you wanna know where the key for the mystery bottom door is? mwahahahahahaha Quick work Alan! Lookin' good =)

Welcome to the Club...AND...Welcome to the Neighborhood!!!

Wow Ken, you have been a busy bee since the pickup . Just got caught up on your thread. Your basement looks COMPLETELY different than when I was in there for the initial consult lol. I forgot about your little IM16 too. And now I remember being impressed because you actually plumbed that little sucker all the way down to the basement lol . Can't wait to see it all continue coming together! I love exceptionally detailed builds! Also, I believe I do have other pics of the tank complete before it was wrapped. I can upload a couple of them for you if you like =).....or we can leave everyone sitting in complete suspense hehehe.

Hi Makai! Crob is correct. In the cases he described, we receive the colonies on a thin disk and it is easiest in our case to cut the disk and then mount the individual pieces to frag plugs. In most cases, when we receive colonies this way it is from some sort of a coral farm where corals are grown this way for the trade. This can carry a smaller environmental impact as they are not collected from natural reefs. In other cases, when natural rocks come in covered in zoas the process for us is much the same. We are however using a diamond bit band saw which is purpose built for this and when cutting large amounts of colonies it is generally the most efficient way. That being said...for really tight and/or valuable zoas this method isn't always the best as it can result in some "carnage" along the way. In those cases there are a number of other routes we may take to accomplish the fragging if necessary.

Yep...you should wear gloves if you have any cuts/scrapes at all that will be exposed to the water ideally to be safe. In the store, we generally only wear gloves under that condition (cuts/scrapes) when pulling livestock for customers. However, when we are cutting zoas/palys that is a COMPLETELY different story. Generally that includes gloves AND a face shield so any spraying juice doesn't get into the eyes/nose. There are a number of corals and fish that require extra respect in our systems for sure.... Here's another story starring WAMAS's very own STEVEOUTLAW back in 2007.... http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/04/05/worlds-2nd-deadliest-poison-in-an-aquarium-store-near-you/#.U404bPldUdU

BIG LIVE SALE @ INCREDIBLE CORALS!!! This Wednesday - June 4, 2014 - 7pm until 11pm It’s going to be super simple...even more so than last time!! We will be posting pictures with a DIRECT PAGE LINK this time so you don't have to search our website directly for the items...making your perfect snags that much quicker! Item pics and links will be posted on Facebook as well for those that prefer to follow from there. Further full details to be included on the Live Sale thread (New thread will start at approximately 630pm Wednesday for the sale) This Live Sale will include many awesome Ultra grade Paly's, Zoa's, Chalice's, Gold Octospawn, Splatter Hammer's, Rainbow Hammer's, Orange Crush Acan's, and ON and ON and ON. We have a huge selection of corals and definitely WAY more ultra grade stuff than we have ever had or put into a Live Sale before so it is DEFINITELY something you DON'T want to miss!!! You do NOT want to miss this one!! This is a SMALL sample of what you can expect. Even ArtFully Acrylic, Incredible Coral's "parent" company will be participating and has an awesome 18" rimless cube, stand, and 150W MH pendant light that is included with the package....this package is only available during the sale at this price and there is only one available...and it's ready to go to it's new home. This package will be listed for $250 when it goes up on the sale.

Yep you read that right...no gimmicks....no tricks....no catch.... 40% OFF ALL Coral Frags, Fish, and Inverts!! The only catch is you better hurry....Sale runs from 5/15-5/18 ONLY!! Get in and get your goodies while the gettin' is good!! In-store only. Our main frag tank is stocked with 400+ frags. Our SPS system is stocked with 100+ SPS frags (ALL have been healed for AT LEAST 4 weeks). Hundreds of inverts including starfish, shrimp, hermits, snails, urchins, and more. Wide selection of CAPTIVE, TANK RAISED, and Quarantined Fish also available. NO WILD FISH THAT HAVE NOT BEEN THROUGH AT LEAST A 4 WEEK QUARANTINE IN STOCK OR AVAILABLE. ALL fish eating pellet/prepared foods and disease/parasite free! Here are some highlights: $10 to $40 Frags $6-$24/ea Fully QT'd Yellow Tangs $64 $38.4 Urchins $10 $6 Peppermint Shrimp $6 $3.6 Fighting Conchs $18 $10.8 Orange Linkia Stars $35 $21 Ultra Snowflake Clowns $135 $81 Fire Shrimp $39 $23.4 $40 Frags $24 Urchins $10 $6 All SPS Frags $25 $15 $40 Frags $24 Thank you to all our loyal customers!

Hey Xabo, here's a bit of help.... First off, go to HD, Lowes, or even better....Harbor Freight (cheaper) and get a sufficiently long bar clamp. This should keep you structurally sound in the interim. As for the amount of bow you have, you may not see it. Best way to check is with a 4' level held up to the front panel. Bow can be checked both horizontally and vertically. Vertically the heaviest bow will generally trend towards the bottom 1/3rd at it's widest (higher pressure lower in tank). Horizontally, it will naturally be in the center. It is potentially possible for you to replace the top brace with a new plastic one or glass. If you can find a new plastic one that fits then great...use it. If going with glass, note that many glass suppliers will charge you a square foot minimum PER piece. For example, one local glass supplier in manassas nearby charges a minimum of 3sf per piece. This means if say the glass is $5/sf and you need a piece 24"x6" you will pay $15 for it...not $5. This can surprise many that don't expect it...especially if you are buying 5 pieces minimum for a proper eurobrace. And if you are going with 1/2" glass...it won't be $5/sf. If replacing the plastic brace be prepared to exert some elbow grease to get the old one and all of it's silicone off the glass. As for the cause of the break, it's possible to have been the MH's...particularly if they sit in a canopy or directly over the brace and relatively close to the tank. Note also that if you are going to go through the trouble of replacing the brace I would strongly recommend you do a reseal on the tank. At 15-18 years old, the silicone in the tank currently is likely in need of a refresh soon so you may as well do at the same time if you intend to keep it. This doesn't mean rebuilding the whole tank, but would require a complete take down of your system. You would then go through the process of scraping out all of the silicone on the INSIDE of the tank, not the silicone in between panes holding tank together, and then resealing all internal seams with a fresh bead of silicone. Just some food for thought as you determine what it is that you would like to do with your system.

Novus would work well once through the mesh sufficiently. In reality, at least from what I see in pics...you won't even likely see that haze once you put water in it. But you should be able to punch through it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh NO! Right in the main view rounded corner of course right?!?! lol I hate when things work that way, but they always seem to don't they? No worries though for you...you are very close. If the surface feels smooth, but just has that haze left then the quick and dirty would be to use a plastic polish from your local store's wax and polish aisle. In the provided example, she used PlastX. That would be fine for you as well. Note that there will likely be some visible swirls using this method (that's why it's quick and dirty), but only on close inspection while tank is still empty and likely not perceptible at all once wet. Oh, and all those "Headlight Restore Kits" which are overpriced for the most part....mainly they compose of high grit sandpaper (up to about 4000 grit) and Polishing Compound.

Motti! Hate those unexpected rock slides. But I'm glad you saw the benefit in acrylic being it's repairability. I've seen rock slides leave scratches on glass tanks....and they may as well be unrepairable. Particularly, Low Iron Glass (Starfire for example) will be softer and even easier to scratch than plate glass. Acrylic is of course easier to scratch than the two most common glass forms, but we can fix it =). In short, the micro mesh kit you got (thats the sandpaper that goes up to 12000 grit) will most certainly work. The 12000 grit sandpaper makes surface abrasions that are not visible to the human eye. You work all the way up through there then it should look hardly perceptible if at all. If using Micromesh your results will be MUCH better if you do use them WET. Will also prolong life of the paper as it doesn't get clogged as quickly when run wet. For a "quick and dirty" that will appease all but the most OCD, you can use the method shown in the below writeup that uses the polish after a few levels of sandpaper. This is a writeup I did on Wamas a good little while back. http://wamas.org/forums/topic/50430-repairing-scratches-in-acrylic-mini-tutorial/?hl=%2Bscratch+%2Brepair Another option that fits into this category would be to sand the scratches (run perpendicular each step, not parallel) out and then from there (only need to go as far as necessary to make smooth and hazy), you can step into polishing/buffing compounds with buffing wheels like found here http://www.harborfreight.com/14-piece-aluminum-polishing-kit-98707.html Progress from Black to Brown to White in that order. Never mix compounds on the same wheel. Each compound has a different level of abrasiveness. I hope this gives you enough info to finish it out =). In your case, if you have no more visible or feelable scratch and only a bit of haze, then progressing to a plastic polish would probably be the best finish up for your event =)

Last year, only two months into operation, Steve went on the same company vacation as he is on now. I took it upon myself to run a big sale (without telling Steve) on the only thing we had at the time....Coral. We put our selection up with a Buy2Get1 sale. With our great selection and already great prices it was a HUGE sale and deal for everyone! We have run similar specials periodically since then, but have never done it with the impressive amount of inventory that we have now!! So, I'm gonna do it again, but with a Twist. (though this time Steve has suspicion that I am up to something...) This Friday through Sunday ONLY we will be putting ALL Livestock on SALE!!! -- Coral, Wild Fish, Captive Fish, and Inverts!! All Fish and Inverts Buy2Get1 FREE*. Coral will be up to 25% OFF!! Want to use your Fish or Invert "freebie" on coral instead? NO PROBLEM!! Pick one free frag from our $10-$40 section*. ALL Coral up to 25% OFF*!!! Spend $50-$99 and take 15% OFF your Coral Purchase Spend $100-$149 and take 20% OFF your Coral Purchase Spend $150+ and take 25% OFF your Coral Purchase *Sale cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts. "Freebie" is limited to one item of equal or lesser value than the least expensive of the two purchased items.

Looking great Motti! Glad to see that you put as much pride in the continuation of the build as we did in the acrylics end of it =). I'm still excited to see how your own controller system comes together on this one! But most of all....the aquascape and seeing coral and fishy swimming around in that ArtFully Acrylic Beauty =P

Clever idea. Def outside the box thinking. bbbwwwwaaaaahahahahahahaa.

Thanks again for your business Motti! I look forward to seeing the rest of the build play out. It's all in your hands now!!! LOL you ain't kidding Alan! And yeah, what a throw back to the garage days!! Man were those days special lol!! Not only do I have more space now of course, but being full-time plus (that means WAY over 40 hours btw lol) certainly helps quite a bit too you know . As for the black back and overflow side, yes they are 1/8" Black Acrylic Panels that are welded to the appropriate 3/4" panels as an inlay. It presents a great presentation from the viewable side of the tank. The view from the back side isn't nearly as pretty when done this way, but it's a very popular option as the back side in these cases is typically against a wall or in a back room anyway. 3/4" acrylic is available in solid black, but it can be somewhat cost prohibitive so this is one of the several other backer options I provide. I look forward to your build as well Ken! It will be yet another fun one! We have a lot of large tank orders lately lol. Just took an order for a 600 gallon tank this past weekend also....eek.

Tom, I didn't mention before, but make sure with those mangroves that you spray their leaves every day or two with RO water. Mangroves export salt through their leaves. In the wild rain takes care of this process for you .

What language are you two speaking?!?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I wish I knew all this stuff you two were talking about, but let's face it....my mind can only hold so much....so I will stick to the knowledge on Tank Fabrication Artistry and leave the programming and custom interfaces to you guys ...but seriously...VERY nice work. And Motti....we WILL be talking about this interface in more depth at delivery...=P

LOL, yeah we have had some interesting and cool builds as of late. Little scared actually....last year, February was our biggest month in 2013 for orders. We ended up running 10-12 and 12-14 week build times as a result for a bit afterwards. Luckily this year we are a full-time operation, but still...we are slammed. It is awesome to get unique/cool builds going on that are outside the norm. I LOVE what I do, but I also LOVE a challenge or something new from time to time. Alan...you and Motti make my head spin with this stuff. I LOVE the interface Motti has created...and it even makes ME jealous! I personally can't wait to deliver the tank so I can see where my work of art is going. Something tells me that with the creativity put into that interface and all of the automation I will be in awe .

Looking great Motti! Your new ArtFully Acrylic creation is going to look awesome in that spot!! I just emailed you some pics of the sump as it stands. Pics of the tank will follow as they are taken =)

Won't be waiting long for the setup all...Derrick started filling it for a freshwater test before I even left from the delivery lol. Pictures are backwards, but you should get the gist. At the end are "teaser pics" of the blue acrylic panels that will eventually join the tank/stand. Also included are pictures of how the combo was protected and packed up for delivery. Delivery went well...no issues =).

One last addition before tomorrow's delivery. Derrick wanted a way to attach the goosenecks for his Kessil's...so we came up with this. It's a 3/4" thick polished piece of acrylic that runs the length of the tank. Beauty is in simplicity. This will blend in and not be distracting...by design. Delivery begins in about 12 hours. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok, stand is done (with exception of blue acrylic skin which will wrap the stand later after we get the custom work done to them). You won't want to miss the plans for the acrylic skin!!! We are taking custom to an all new level, but are right in line with what ARTFully Acrylic is all about Caesar has given his final inspection and one paw up Tank and Sump are moved into place... All the plumbing is complete!!!

Overflow is on the tank sooooo....the tank is officially complete aside from cleanup. Last weld was just done on sumps sock box soooooo...it is officially complete. Tomorrow, white ply goes on finished stand. Then on go the tank and in goes the sump. Cause it's plumbing time!! Yep, full service build including plumbing . Stay tuned for more build pics. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk