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12/12/2009, 09:08 PM | #51 |
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Nope. I said it was going to be slow, remember?
Tomorrow I'll have a few hours to work on it, hoping to get the biscuits cut on the tank, cut out the remaining two viewing panels, and hopefully glue/screw it together. That would be a pretty nice milestone.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
12/14/2009, 08:27 AM | #52 |
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Biscuited, glued, and screwed:
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
12/14/2009, 08:32 AM | #53 |
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Worth pointing out that it's upside-down in that pic. This is the "end" panel that'll face down the hallway, and of course the main viewing panel that'll face the living room. The back panel cutout is partially visible through the end cutout. I made it 8" tall by 24" long, so it basically goes a third of the way down that back side. Hence from the hallway side, you'll basically be presented with a 8" tall view that's 24" by 48".
I've got a much firmer grasp on aquascaping, might try to draw something up to show the ideas. I'm terrible at drawing on a computer though so maybe on paper & then scan it. Also finalized some thoughts about the lighting and the filtration. It's amazing the amount of thinking you can get done late at night if you don't mind not sleeping.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
12/14/2009, 09:13 AM | #54 |
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looking great, this is an awesome build. I like your design ideas so far, very original.
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Joshua "With fronds like these, who needs anemones?" - Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: multiple nano's sprinkled around the house |
12/14/2009, 09:54 AM | #55 |
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that looks great, nate. one thing I was thinking about, if you do go with the sump underneath the main tank, have you thought about how you're going to do water changes?
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Insert witty phrase, followed by explosive laughter Current Tank Info: 75 gallon reef, two 175-watt MH, two vho actinic |
12/14/2009, 10:18 AM | #56 |
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Thanks. I've got plenty more where these came from.
In the end, as I've said many times, I'm trying to build this to meet some big-picture aesthetic goals, not just to keep some pretty corals alive. IMHO the hobby right now is far too focused solely on growing colorful corals and parading them in front of viewers. I don't want that - I want to recreate the impact I remember from snorkeling on real reefs. The feeling that there's "stuff" out there in the distance beyond your field of vision. Besides all the points I've made several times about the small viewing panels, my aquascaping will tie in to this. There are some specific vistas I want to recreate in this tank. I took a break from marine tanks a few years ago and spent some time focusing on planted FW tanks. The experience changed me - the planted FW hobby community seems to have a far better grasp on aquascaping and visual impact, instead of the neon fruitstand look that's so common in the reef hobby.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
12/14/2009, 10:26 AM | #57 | |
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Quote:
I'll have a supply line from the RODI unit and a mixing pump, so the work required to do water changes will basically be dumping salt in the storage tank once every month or two. I'll probably use peristaltic pumps to get accurate volumes, and control it from the Arduino controller I'm building. That way I can tie it in to the ATO (i.e. turn the ATO off while water changes are occurring) and any alarm/notification I end up doing (i.e. send an email if a water change fails, or some undesireable condition is detected - empty storage tank, low water level in sump, etc.). Randy Holmes-Farley of chemistry forum fame uses a similar approach and he's got me convinced that it's effective and easy. Now that the tank is assembled, I have to brace the top. Hoping to have that done by Christmas, so I can do epoxy while I have a few days off around the holidays. Then get the glass in and hopefully have the tank itself finished by the end of January.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
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12/16/2009, 11:51 AM | #58 | |
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No updates, but I did just stumble across a signature-worthy quote that helps sum up my approach to this tank:
Quote:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/eb/index.php
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
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12/21/2009, 07:49 AM | #59 |
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Updates. Last night I got the bracing cut and laminated.
I had to move the tank on to the floor to make room and couldn't resist another size-perspective shot: Instead of cutting a hole out of a big sheet and sticking a one-piece eurobrace on the top, I cut strips and laminated them so each side will have a double-thickness brace. Here are the braces stacked up awaiting glue: Each side has a longer piece and a shorter piece, which are alternated so there's overlap in the corners. Hoping to get a few hours to mark and drill pilot holes then screw and glue these braces in before Christmas. I ordered epoxy (7.5 gallons - 89 lbs shipped weight!) and it's supposed to be here on Christmas eve. I have vacation starting on that day and running till the 4th of Jan, so I'm hoping I get a good shot at epoxying during that timeframe, which would put me right on schedule - original target was to have the tank finished by Feb, if I get a good enough start on epoxy next week I can let it cure for a week or two and get glass in towards the end of the month. Oh, and I've been refining my schedule for the remaining projects on this tank and I'm suddenly feeling overwhelmed. This is, by far, my most-DIY intense effort yet. I made a list of major systems/components that I will DIY vs. buy off the shelf: DIY: 1) The tank itself 2) Stand & hood 3) LED lighting with "special effects" 4) VFD-controlled closed loop (thanks stugray for the inspiration!) 5) A turf scrubber 6) Sump 7) Automated RO/DI storage tank 8) Automated (small, daily) water changes 9) Some form of environmental control to adjust ventilation, etc. dependent on temperature, humidity, etc. 10) Arduino-based controller for all of the above, plus heater control, pH monitoring, and some degree of alarm/notification when critical conditions exist 11) (optional, down the road) heat-recovery system on my furnace exhaust to heat the tank. My furnace is old and puts A TON of heat out the chimney. Off the shelf: 1) The return pump 2) Heaters I better get cracking.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
12/21/2009, 12:25 PM | #61 |
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Is it alot cheaper building a tank out of wood than your conventional way of glass or acrylic??
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12/21/2009, 12:36 PM | #62 | |
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Thanks. I hope so!
Quote:
If you bought glass or acrylic yourself to build the tank, it would probably cost 2 -3 times what this tank costs in materials. Of course, those numbers are NOT including my labor. I'm guessing I'll have somewhere around 60 - 80 hours of labor in this tank. I was initially thinking 100 hours, but it's going faster than I expected. And I'm probably a slow worker - if you were familiar with these methods and very proficient in woodworking, you could probably whip this tank out in 40 hours. And if you're trying to scale these numbers up or down to other tank sizes, I would roughly guess that below 150 - 200 gallons, the plywood tank isn't cheaper any more. Thinner and smaller glass/acrylic panels are pretty cheap, and as glass tanks get smaller, the costs per unit of tank size drop off quickly. Meanwhile, the plywood/epoxy construction this tank is made out of doesn't really get any cheaper per unit of size as you go smaller. Plywood is probably cheapest from around 200 gallons up to a few thousand gallons or so, after which point you'd probably be thinking about concrete.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
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12/22/2009, 04:06 AM | #63 |
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I'm digging it so far. Looking forward to more!
How thick is the plywood? Sorry if you stated it earlier. Hard to tell from the pics. |
12/22/2009, 07:31 AM | #64 | |
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Quote:
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
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12/22/2009, 12:47 PM | #65 |
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A question in case the other ply builders are reading this thread. How do you all feel about bulkheads in the bottoms of ply tanks?
I'll be doing the overflow through the "end" near the bathroom, and return over that side of the tank. I was originally planning on powerheads for circulation, but stugray's recent VFD thread has me hooked. So, I need to get a closed loop on this tank. I'll need a 2" bulkhead for the inlet, and several 1.5" for returns back to the tank. I'd like to hide all of this behind or under rockwork. Thanks to the peninsula orientation, the bathroom wall is the only wall I can do plumbing through, and since rockwork will be sparse, I won't be able to hide enough bulkheads in that wall. Which leaves me with lots (4 - 5 at least) of big bulkheads through the bottom of the tank. I'd use heavy bulkheads for sure, but I'm still nervous about drilling the bottom of the tank. Thoughts anyone?
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
12/23/2009, 05:27 PM | #66 |
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I would not give it a 2nd thought. Go for it.
Just make sure you completely seal all of the plys with epoxy afterwords. I drilled mine oversized and then used a form and poured them separately. Similar hole.
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12/24/2009, 06:45 AM | #67 |
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Nice work Steve. Gives me confidence to try myself. Though my forms probably won't be as cool as yours.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
12/24/2009, 08:04 AM | #68 |
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The one in the 2nd pic was done using pvc pipe. I just smeared a little silicone lubricant on it to keep the epoxy from sticking.
Piece of cake.
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**************** "Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em." -- The Webb Wilder Credo -- don't go ninjin' nobody that don't need ninjin'! Current Tank Info: 220g custom plywood. SPS heavy with Sequence Hammerhead return with 4-Way OM. Tunze 6100, 6200 and Wavebox. 5000btu DIY Chiller. Lighting is 10K mh 250W / VHO Actinic Skimer - H&S A200-2x1260 |
12/24/2009, 08:32 AM | #69 |
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This is fascinating to follow!
This may sound like a stupid question, but is there going to be any interior coating of the plywood other than veneer? Perhaps fiberglass, or something like that? Will the integrity of the tank come mainly from the methods used to join the plywood at the edges? |
12/24/2009, 12:28 PM | #70 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
I have some composites experience in other areas (boats and airplanes) where you'd typically use fiberglass or other material to build up the composite, but in this case the wood box is stiff enough. Pouring a big thick layer of epoxy is kind of a brute force method vs. doing a nice delicate layup of cloth, but it's definitely proven to work, so I'm not worried. Several other folks in my immediate geographical area have built tanks like this from 400 - 1,000g in size and it's turned out fine.
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Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman) |
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12/25/2009, 03:00 AM | #71 |
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i dont know if you have already said it or not(sorry if you have) will you be using glass or acrylic and how thick?
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12/25/2009, 03:24 AM | #72 |
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16 days and no updates? Don't leave us hanging
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12/25/2009, 04:35 AM | #73 |
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So far it looks awesome but I have 2 questions. 1st - Wouldn't it be wise to layup some cloth in the corners only 1st then epoxy the entire inside of the tank? 2nd - Since this tank is going on the 1st fl and you have a basement has the strength of the floor been taken into consideration since you will plopping down a few thousand pounds it?
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12/25/2009, 06:08 PM | #74 |
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Good luck! Watching for more picks!
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12/25/2009, 09:32 PM | #75 |
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hi, interesting work, keep posting..
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