fab

Your post iks confusing... What is it you don't like and what is it you want to do? You said you were "...only concerned with the ones on the BOTTOM edges." Then it sounds like you want to rip these out. Are you concerned about the horizontal glass slabs in the bottom seams? ... or about the horizontal pieces around the inside of the top rim? ... or something else? Presuming you mean the glass slabs... The slabs that are glued in along the bottom seams very likely are critical seam reinforcements. The ones around the top are also probably necessary structural bracing to hold the tank together and keep the long side panes from breaking from large bending moments. The top, horizontal braceds provide a large cross-sectional area of material attached normal to the plane of the viewing glass. That large area of viewing glass integrates the pressure into very large forces on the seams and into large bowing forces on the viewing glass. The slabs around the top counter the bowing forces that are trying to bend the viewing glass outward. The slabs in the seams serve to add holding power along the seams so the tank doesn't come apart. The horizontal braces around the inside of the top rim are also valuable for keeping the 'slosh' factor from letting water end up on your floor and for retaining a lot of the salt creep you will get. What is it you really want to undo? I urge extreme caution in modifying the structural elements of the tank. You could end up with a giant mess and without a tank. Perhaps you should contact the manufacturer and confirm my assertions above. If you are referring only to the black framework then you are most likely dealing with cosmetics. That said, you might end up doing more damage than its worth to try removing the frame. Just cover it up with your own 'thin' frame of wood or whatever other material you prefer. fab

good move! fab

Welcome aboard. Join up as a paid member and get a lot of valuable benefits. fab

Write a letter to Lowe's management. fab

I also soak mine in a 20% solution of white vinegar, overnight, then run them for a few hours the next day. This gets a lot of the calcified buildup off the interior. fab

Use the gloves. Rinse with fresh tap water. If you are energetic, dry with a towel. I just let mine hang over my utility sink. Be careful not to get them wet on the inside. If you do, don't panic. Just turn them inside out. rinse with fresh tap water and let them dry inside out. If you need to dry them quickly, put them next to a fan and let it blow directly on them. When they are finally dry, just turn them right side out again and you're back in business. fab

To overcome the "blue" problem, you need to perform a white balance before shooting aquarium shots. Put a piece of white material in the tank for the white balance test. Be sure it fills the frame when white balancing. fab

Contact the manufacturer and get your information from them. Otherwise you cannot be sure you know what their issues really are. fab

Welcome to Wamas. Read a lot! Then read some more... fab

Trigger fish are very risky, therefore, hard for me to justify in a reef tank. I nature many of their varieties spend a lot of time picking at the reef, destructively. They are reef consumers and are usually aggressive. They get quite big, easily a foot long, and are voracious eaters. You better do a lot of research on specific varieties of trigger fish before you decide to get one. You'll have to provide them with large crevices for hidey holes. They like to hide their heads in holes or crevices in the rock structure and lock themselves in with their fins when they get upset. Mechanically, this is not a gentle action. In nature this is not a problem as the reef structure is very solid. In a reef tank I would expect this behavior could easily bring stacked rocks crashing down. Many times as I have been swimming along a reef at about 20 meters depth, I would see a dozens of trigger fish in a small area, each with about 2/3 of its body stuck in crevice but with its tail sticking out. Usually the crevices are horizontal, so the fish would look like it was on its side. Something nasty must have just gone through the area and they were still hiding from it. Eventually they would let go and back out of the holes. I've seen them in the holes for 10-15 minutes at a time. I guess they could be considered the ostriches of the sea. I think that in a large fish-only tank they might work out, but even that is doubtful to me for many varieites, given their adult size. I believe this would have to be considered on the basis of which specific type of trigger fish you end up wanting to have. fab

Drip while floating. Use a dosimeter to dose the water into the new container that is floating. fab

No. You do not have a silica buster. fab

Do you have a silica buster DI cartridge on your RO/DI system? Silica is a hard substance to remove unless you are an algae plant. It is another substance that supports their growth. fab

Toss the rock. You really did not need anthing in your quarantine tank but water and water motion. Some people put a couple of pieces of pvc pipe for the fish to have refuge. fab

Experiment with a piece of rock. Discover for yourself what works best with the particular rock you have to work with. Different types of live rock come from different source islands and have different physical properties from each other. Some rock is denser other rock is less dense. Some rock has very low tensile strength, being held together by calcareous growth. So the inherent binding strength of the rock will depend on the type of live rock you are working with. Be sure your drill bit is sharp so it does not 'snag.' The try a piece of rock drilling fast. If it breaks up, try another hole drilling slow. Extra holes in the rock will not cause a problem because the rock will be overgrown eventually with live stuff and the holes can be plugged with rock fragments that will not show after a while. fab

Drill slowly, not fast. Use a relatively low rpm. fab

I take it the tunze is 1500 gph, not gpd. So you are trying to move 52 tank capacities per hour through your 36" long tank? Why would you want to do that? fab

How much flow rate are you trying to produce? fab

Check the "gph" rating for the bulb first. Just don't exceed it. fab

What advantgage are you seeking by going from sand to barebottom? fab

Treesprite, LESS than the stated flow rate for your UV sterilizer unit. fab

Are you using Reverse Osmosis (RO) or RODI (and de-ionization) to polish your source freshwater? If not then you may need to consider this. Buy a cheap TDS meter and test your total disolved solids at your water source. See how high the TDS measures and let us know. fab

When you say a 2 breaker panel, do you mean a service panel. If so then don't limit yourself to a 2 breaker panel. Go on and put in a full 60 amp service and include a 220 volt circuit. Stub out the 220 v for now. You can finish later if you ever need the 220v hookup and then you will know exactly which 220v plug and socket arrangement you will need. fab

The important pressure reading is right in front of the RO stage. Not enough pressure and you will not produce much and you will waste a lot. fab

I have found a gorilla rack, simlar to your Muscle Rack, that is 77"x30"x72" tall. That would give me a 30" wide, front to back dimension. I am considering putting up a stack of 3 auxilliary tanks on a rack system like this. The draw back is that these racks only hold 2000 lbs total weight, which is a total of 240 gallons of sea water. That is close to 2 tanks, each at 68"x30"x18" tall, 1/2" wall thickness, which works out to total water content of about 260 gallons. So I'm shy one more tank for what I want to do. Then again, if the third tank is low to the floor, it could be supported underneath so it doesn't use up any of 2000 lb the weight allowance. If I could find an 18' version, I could use two racks to make up 36" of width and probably get the total volume capacity up to accomodate the 3rd tank outright. fab