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Chip I've been gone tooo long. These are Fantastic. I tried Mangroves once and failed miserably, Like you I like the look of them so I may ask for help once everything is back up. Chris

AAhhh but that just sort of happened, I always wanted a hard tank and soft tank and since it was easy to access the basement from this location the L was a natural fit. My creativity comes in with the Fish bridge I wanted to build that would allow the fish to swim between tanks. But that was much too expensive to implement. Chris

The epoxy will also help protect the foam for breaking down. I did use pond foam that is more water resistant then the insulating foam from HD but it stall may break down over time. I just see all the possibilities. I can just stick my frags in the foam. No more looking for that perfect place on the rock pile. Chris

The 3 pieces are rocked and foamed. Here are some pictures of the test fitting. From the front From the side Next steps I am going to let the foam cure for the next few days before I epoxy and sand cover the black parts, Then I will put the pieces back in, foam the joints in place and sculpt the wall as a whole. Epoxy and final sand and we are ready for water.. Chris

Ok let the rock building begin. The process to create the foam background is to build a grid system out of drop ceiling light diffuser, zip tie rock to it and foam around the live rock. Once the foam is set you need to sculpt it, cover it with 2 part epoxy and sand /crushed coral to make it look more realistic. I do realize that this is a real risk to do. The long term effects of foam and epoxy off gassing are not known and how long the foam will hold together is also an unknown. I just really like the look and feel of them and as I said before my aqua spaces have always been just a pile of rocks. I wanted something different. To start the project I needed to create the grid for the liverock to attach to. I need to build the back in 3 sections. one to the left middle and right. Left grid with rock attached The hole in the middle is where the closed loop will come through the wall. Center Grid The center grid covers the closed loop intake. and one of the over the back closed loop returns. Center grid reinforced I learned real fast the I need to reinforce the grid before I put the rock on and foam. These extra grid pieces are removed once the foam sets. Center Grid with rock installed Some of these rocks are really big the grid was straining Center Grid foamed I then added the foam to the grid As you can see the foam really expands around the rocks. Left and center in tank to check fit while I measure for the final grid. You can see I started to sculpt the foam I also made big holes near the bottom for water flow and hiding places More to come as I continue this project. Chris

many more images to come.. ... No I foam arpund the rocks then sculpt and tear it away to allow more of the rock to shoe through. The next post which I am working on will be the foaming and how I did it. I have 2 sections ready for resin and sanding. once they cure. Chris

Hi All It's been a while since I had time to devote to my tanks so around a year ago I decided to start over. I still had my dual 75's up and running but they where in poor shape. I moved all my stock to my 100 rubbermaid sump in the basement and started the tear down of the show tanks in the living room. For the restart I want to have 1 tank hold softies and the other hold hard corals. I don't think I will ever get good enough at this hobby to keep some of the harder to take care of corals but I love Monti's and the LPS corals. The 2 tanks will sit together in an L shape sharing a common 100 gallon sump in the basement. I started the rebuild by drilling the hard coral tank for side overflow and closed loop. This included 2 holes for 1" bulkheads in the side with 3 holes in the back. 1 for a 1" bulkhead and 2 for 3/4" bulkheads. The closed loop will draw from the 1" and feed back to the tank via the 2 3/4" bulkheads and 2 over the top. The next step was to get my friend to make me some custom built stands. I wanted to raise the tanks higher and cover one of the backs since it's visible from the staircase. Stands were delivered a couple of months ago and boy did he do a great job. When the stands came in I installed 2 Icecap 660's running 5 t5 54w tubes over the SPS/LPS tank and PC's over the Softy tank. I completed all the plumbing for the closed loop, overflow and return. The next thing is to figure out my aquascape, I am not a creative guy and when the tanks were up before I always hated the Aqua scape I could never get it to look the way I wanted. I was surfing over on Reef Central the other night and found the Foam rock aqua scape and thought this looks great. Since my tanks are narrow it will allow me to create the aqua scape and cover all the pipes and fitting in 1 swoop. So off to the store I go to get he supplies. See next post for the start of the Foam experience. Chris

Hi All I wantes to hear from some Tunze owners. I want to make a wavebox using the Nano Stream on a single controller. I need to know if the Tunze single controller can be programmed to pulse the pump at 4 second intervals? I figured i will take about 4 seconds to empty the box but I haven't figured fill rate yet. So my other question is can the controller be set to 4 seconds on then 5 off then 4 on again? Thanks Chris

Old age really bites... Why didn't I think of this... Chip you da man.. Chris

Hi All I just broke down one of my 75G tanks so I can drill it and start over. When I picked it up I had salt creep under the tank. Is this a problem.. I sign of a leak or just the pervasiceness of salt? Should I use this tank or replace it? Chris

Welcome to the club.. Great start and i really like the aquascape.. Chris

I am with you there.. I have used the smaller Uniseals in the same situation.. Dan that Aquabridge is awesome.. I didn't think about something like that. I can make a square version out of sheet acrylic... I can really have fun with one o those. Thanks Guys

I have 2 75G tanks setup in an L shape. I want to connect the 2 tanks together. I was thinking I could use 4" Uniseals with a 4" PVC pipe running between the 2 tanks. I was then thinking I could run my return to 1 tank and drain to the sump from the other. The fish could have more room to roam and of course I think it would be cool . Has anyone used Uniseals this large and how do I get a 5" hole cut in the glass? Chris

awesome tank David. I can't wait to see what you can do with corals in there.. Chris

The membrane inside is a Filmtec I am just suprised it seemed to go so fast. I did order a replacement membrane to see if that helps. I will also feed the storage tanks straight from the membane and cut out the pressure tank storage. Are you saying I should DI prior to the membrane and then again before the storage tanks? Chris

My System is the Aquasafe 100Gpd The setup is inbound through carbon > Micron Filter > Polish Filter I think > Membrane > to Pressure Tanks. From Pressure Tanks through the taste and odor > DI to Holding tank for fish tank. I tested the water right from the membrane and I get the same .15 there as well Chris

I've been fighting a terrible hair Algea outbreak for the past 6 months. My phos has been steady at .15 and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Last night for some reason I tested the topoff water in my storage tank and go figure, phos at .15. I tested the water coming out of the RODI system and again .15, So is this a membrane problem? The ro system is only 1.5 years old and I replaced all filters except the membrane about 2 months ago. Chris

Good questions.. I have always had my fans blowing out. I would have 2 holes on one side to let cool air in and have the fans on the opposite side pulling the air through the canopy. I feel the goal is to get the hot air out. As for open top I am moving to a t5 setup and I will consider an open top canopy. Since heat rises I think this will prevent the heat buildup inside. I'm jus not sure about the light leaking out of the top. Chris

Thanks Guys Great ideas and the pics are awesome.. Chris

Hi All I am getting ready to drill the back of my 75G tank to install an overflow box. I currently use CPR over the top overflows. I wanted to know others opinions on how to create the best siient overflow in a drilled tank. I am going to install 2 1" drains. I am thinking drill in the center of the tank about 3 inches fron the top. I can run an overflow box across the whole back and feed it into the drains or I can just build a box around the drain holes to create a much smaller overflow box. Chris

I have 2 75G tanks. I wanted to make 1 an SPS tank and the second a softie tank. I already have 2 IC 660's ready to go. I was wondering if you would use the 2 660's to power 6 54w T5's over the SPs tank or use the 2 660's to power 4 54w over the sps as well as 2 54w over the softie tank? Do you think 6 54w T5's is too much PAR for a 75g? Bulbs already purchased 2 Pure actinic 3 Actinic + 1 Midday 6000K Chris

Hi All I am switching my lighting to T5's because I want to reduce the size of my canopy and reduce heat. I was wondering is I make a new smaller canopy that places the t5's about 5" above the water do they need a splash guard? Setup 75G with siphon overflow 4 or 6 t5's with Icecap water proof endcaps running on 2 Icecap 660's with individual reflectors. PS also does the reflector just clip onto the t5 bulb? Chris

Welcome to the Fun... and I agree with dhoch I have a ton of nusciences.... they are hard to keep in control after a while... Chris

I agree with that... The bigger the safer.. I also wanted to add molex connectors so I will have to see if I can find connectors for 14G. I an going to solder and heat shrink the wire to the harness but I want the canopy to easily removable.. Chris

Hi All I want to install my ballasts about 15 feet away from the tanks in the fish room. Does anyone know what gage wire I should use. I have Icecap 660's running 2 54w t5's at present.. Thanks Chris