The Bernese Mountain Dog Build

jsker · May 4, 2016

I forgot to say, that is some nice craftsmanship on the stand.

d2mini · May 4, 2016

Looks awesome so far.

I got suckered into a dog when I wanted to get a motorcycle.
3 motorcycles later, and now none, and the dog is still with us.

FrankAbagnale · May 4, 2016

jsker said:
I forgot to say, that is some nice craftsmanship on the stand.

Thanks! I'm pretty proud of it. I think a lot of people say this, but my pictures definitely don't do it justice.

d2mini said:
Looks awesome so far.

I got suckered into a dog when I wanted to get a motorcycle.
3 motorcycles later, and now none, and the dog is still with us.

Thanks! I'm still working on getting another motorcycle! I don't think the future wife will ever cave on it though.

Scubafrog · May 4, 2016

FrankAbagnale said:
I'm using a Marineland tank. Hoping I don't have issues...I've done a mix of online and KC or STL. Columbia Pet Center is actually now doing saltwater as well. Their system has been up for about a year now and is really improving. I will probably buy my fish there, but will order most my coral online or pick up pieces in KC.

The store on Broadway was nice, but could have been s much better. The owner wasn't great with customers and made some very bad decisions which led to the store closing.

And thanks!!

Glad to see Columbia Pet Center now selling SW as the last time I checked (prob two years+ ago they were all freshwater). I will have to check them out the next time I'm in town. When I was little the only decent fish store was Sunshine Pets in Parkade Plaza back when it was actually an indoor mall.

harley3 · May 4, 2016

That is a good looking pup. I love big dogs. Oh and I can't wait to see how your tank turns out.

FMF0331 · May 4, 2016

wow, looks good

revhtree · May 5, 2016

WOOT! Another awesome tank thread!

FrankAbagnale · May 5, 2016

harley3 said:
That is a good looking pup. I love big dogs. Oh and I can't wait to see how your tank turns out.

Thanks! Millie is a pretty spoiled pup. And, welcome aboard!

FMF0331 said:
wow, looks good

Thanks for stopping by!

revhtree said:
WOOT! Another awesome tank thread!

Thank you, sir!

FrankAbagnale · May 5, 2016

I've never used a UV for my tanks in the past, but I'm throwing the idea around for this tank.

I'm looking at the Emperor Aquatics Smart UV 40 watt (260 Gallons).

Does anyone have any thought on whether it's worth it or not? If it is worth it, is this a good model for a 180?

luke33 · May 5, 2016

That is a good model and would work fine for a 180g. As far as using one thought, its debatable : ) I ran one on my newest system the first year and actually thought it did a great job with keeping the water crystal clear and keeping the fish healthy. I took it offline a few mths ago and have noticed nothing new. But i feel when first setting up a new tank they are beneficial.

FrankAbagnale · May 6, 2016

luke33 said:
That is a good model and would work fine for a 180g. As far as using one thought, its debatable : ) I ran one on my newest system the first year and actually thought it did a great job with keeping the water crystal clear and keeping the fish healthy. I took it offline a few mths ago and have noticed nothing new. But i feel when first setting up a new tank they are beneficial.

Thanks for the info! I'm not 100% that I'll buy it, but may pull the trigger just to give it a try. My stand is around 41" tall so I have quite a bit of room.

CherryCorals · May 6, 2016

We have a Bernese as well, probably the best dog we have ever had!

Your pup is beautiful!

FrankAbagnale · May 6, 2016

I've really wanted to use a auto water change system for some time now, and had been seriously considering the Genesis Renew. One of my issues is my RODI and salt water are on the second story of our home. It's about 12' of vertical and 25' of horizontal run to the water storage. I had been seriously considering the Genesis Renew and even reached out to Kevin at Genesis this week. Kevin was really great and gave me all the info I would need. With that said, $700+ for an AWC system just isn't in the budget right now.

I decided to try out the Neptune DOS for my AWC. I don't believe it's the best option, but I'm willing to give it a try for the price. I still may implement the Genesis Renew in the future if I feel like I need to.

I also received my sand. I went with Tropic Eden Reef Flakes. I used this same sand in my 75G and it has worked out really well. I only ordered 90 pounds because I already had 15 pounds on hand. It still may not be enough. If not, I'll grab another bag!

FrankAbagnale · May 6, 2016

CherryCorals said:
We have a Bernese as well, probably the best dog we have ever had!

Your pup is beautiful!

That's awesome! They really have such an amazing temperament and personality. And, Thanks!

FrankAbagnale · May 9, 2016

@d2mini They say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" right? This Saturday I received my new refugium light! I saw that d2mini had purchased the MarsHydro LED light and that got me into research mode. This is one of the great things about this forum. If it wasn't for his build, I don't know that I would have ever come across this light. This light has some great reviews and a really nice price as well. I'm really excited to see how well this works on my build.

ThePriceSeliger · May 9, 2016

FrankAbagnale said:
I've really wanted to use a auto water change system for some time now, and had been seriously considering the Genesis Renew. One of my issues is my RODI and salt water on the second story of our home. It's about 12' of vertical and 25' of horizontal run to the water storage. I had been seriously considering the Genesis Renew and even reached out to Kevin at Genesis this week. Kevin was really great and gave me all the info I would need. With that said, $700+ for an AWC system just isn't in the budget right now.

I run my AWC system similar to that with the DOS. I have about 15 ft. of head and about 35(ish) of run. No issues at all. It's not effected by head pressure too badly.

FrankAbagnale · May 9, 2016

ThePriceSeliger said:
I run my AWC system similar to that with the DOS. I have about 15 ft. of head and about 35(ish) of run. No issues at all. It's not effected by head pressure too badly.

That is good to hear! Are you using the Neptune tubing or something else? I ordered extra tubing and plan on running the lines this week. I picked up a 50' Aquabus cable so I can have the Dos in the same room as the saltwater. Did you do the same?

ThePriceSeliger · May 9, 2016

That's exactly what I did. I purchased a 100ft aquabus, and I purchased 1/4" line from Home Depot in 100ft rolls. It really does handle the pressure perfectly, just make sure to calibrate it periodically.

FrankAbagnale · May 9, 2016

ThePriceSeliger said:
That's exactly what I did. I purchased a 100ft aquabus, and I purchased 1/4" line from Home Depot in 100ft rolls. It really does handle the pressure perfectly, just make sure to calibrate it periodically.

Awesome. Thank you so much for the info. Makes me feel much better about setting mine up the same way.

FrankAbagnale · May 9, 2016

Heck Yeah!! Received the new skimmer today! This was a pretty hard choice for me, and I went back and forth between a few different options. In the end, I decided on the Reef Octopus Elite 200INT. This thing is huge!! I'm really excited about this purchase. I have no plans of lightly stocking this tank, and think this skimmer is a great choice for that reason. It also has the variable DC pump as well as a float switch in the 8" cup. The skimmer is about 24" tall.

The skimmer is sitting next to a fresh glass of my home brew(hefeweizen)!