Another Build Thread You Won't Read

Devisissy

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University drop out old lady here that picked the wrong year to stop drinking. Nobody cares about my stupid tank, but here it is. My build thread. It's like losing weight, if you don't tell people you are trying to lose weight then you have no accountability and you stay fat. Right? Or something like that.

I have had this 90 gallon Custom Aquarium Brands tank and a Trigger sump for years. They were free. However they didn't come with a stand. So for years it just sat there.

At this point most everyone has tuned out. Not enough photos, too much talk. Let me tell you something if you haven't moved on. Custom Aquariums Brand tanks are U G L Y. This thing is sooooo ugly. I hate it. It's the stupidest messing thing you have EVER seen. Their overflow is stupid, the intake is stupid, the frame is stupid, their sumps are stupid. I hate this tank. However, this thing is a freaking ugly butt TANK tank. Like inch thick glass, aluminum frame, 3 inches of globbed on black silicone RTV40 in their stupid ugly thick frame. I hate this tank in equal amounts of the peace of mind I have that I could shoot a Blackhawk with 454 casull at it and probably be OK. If Custom Aquarium Brands read this, they won't, but if they do, your tanks suck and your sumps suck, and could you make your intake a little bigger and uglier? I mean it already looks like toilet waste plumbing I'm sure you could up your game and make it even uglier.
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I rest my case.

If you willingly bought this tank and it's not in an office building, I would like to know what your drug of choice is and ask you to share it with me.

Why use this tank? Because it was free and knowing what I know now I would have never loaded this 200 pound chunk of silicone and toilet plumbing into my car, then this thread would have never happened, and maybe I would have a life.

First things first I removed the toilet plumbing. Since the man who bought it before me had it plumbed like a literal toilet there is only one bulkhead for a 90 gallon tank. So I am forced to use undersized overflows. Which I don't know what happened in the last 6 years, but there is like 2 companies now? So go with undersized crap that looks good or flushing toilet. So I got the Eshopp Medium. Will it clear the MASSIVE BLACK ALUMINUM 2 INCH WIDE RIM? Probably not, but that's for another post.

So the Trigger Sump is a Ruby. It was abused. Man who had it before had that bad boy straight piped like a Ford trying to run a 6 in a redneck's backyard race track. Imagine Niagara Falls. Now imagine Niagara Falls in your living room. I bet they were hoarse from all the screaming. So he cut out the acrylic. It looked like a small muskrat got caught in a trap and tried to make their way out. Or maybe not a muskrat, maybe just a dude that didn't own a Dremel and only had a chisel and a will. A will to have the world's loudest aquarium. So me being stupid decided, oh all these scratches and defects, I'll just buff them out with all this crap I have lying around the garage. Realizing about 3 hours in I'm closer to death then I have ever been, I gave up. I also decided cordless drills might not be the best for the job at hand. Maybe if Tesla had his way we would never need to charge these things.
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This is what defeat looks like.

I got on the world wide web and surfed on over to Trigger and bought the same sump but the Crystal model. Now, I dunno if it's the red color or what. But there is a MASSIVE difference between a 9 year old Ruby Trigger sump and a brand new Trigger Crystal sump. There are more defects in the acrylic, nothing structural, but just ugly spots throughout. And whatever wax they use is just one giant lube mess. I had to wipe this thing down with a microfiber every time I touched it. It's got cloudiness, scratches, crazing, all sorts of garbage. But it was cheap so there is that, and it came with socks so WOO HOO!

I had this old JBJ 45 that I sort of liked, I do like some things, but learned to hate the AIO. It was always a challenge to do anything. I have man hands OK? This last crash I almost gave up. After tearing it down I found my MP10's magnet has been rusting into the tank. And the ATI test shows that. So maybe that was it who knows. I live in a tiny house so I have to make room which meant getting rid of this old tank. I put it on Facebook market place. I don't know why. Maybe because I like to hurt inside and have lost all self respect. After weeding through all the bullcrud people asking stupid questions I found a normalish person.

The guy who came to get it looked so bewildered. He had NO CLUE what he was picking up. All he knows is his wife wanted a "small" tank. He looked scared. He said, "I wasn't expecting it to be this nice, or big." It was LITERALLY in the ad. Here is what he got. For free. It's like The Ring. You remain cursed until you, oh wait if you haven't seen the movie skip this, /spoiler you have to make a copy of the video and give it to someone else. Same with tanks, I was cursed with Custom Aquariums custom crap tank, so now I have to pass it on. He is what he got.
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I think he got the better deal.

So now with that gone we took all the furniture out of the room, painted, and today an engineer is putting in a 2,000 dollar beam so this giant messing glass box and aluminum frame don't fall through the floor, and then keep falling through the floor, down through the crawlspace, the ground, past the earths core, right on to the other side of the earth. So essentially I'm not protecting the aquarium, I am protecting my house from the aquarium. So next week new flooring goes in to cover this new massive beam.

I have some fish and some corals from the old tank. I threw the corals in the macro tank and they hate the Tuna Sun, cause it's not Tuna Blue so fingers crossed they don't all die one buy one. Fish and the old rock, snails and urchin live in a Tupperware. They have a window for light, a sponge filter, heater, and a skimmer. And dang it, that's what they get for the next month and a half. And they better like it.

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It is the best scape I have ever done.

Equipment is two MP40's and one MP10. Yes, I ordered a new wet side. Sheesh. I got the stupid outdated Ecotech live box thingy to control them all too. Two reef breeders 24inch because I already have them so yay. Bubble magnus that came with the 90 gallon and was surprisingly not in crappy shape. My Loop DC return pump. My stand is custom because stupid Custom Aquarium Brands puts the world's largest rim on their tanks with the thickest glass ever it won't fit on a standard 90 gallon stand. It's aluminum just like the frame of the tank. I stood on it to paint. I have no idea how I am going to skin it yet. I can tell you right now it won't be with fabric, you all know who you are. Stop it.

Oh and because I am generic in life without any single unique vision or will, red with gray plumbing. JUST LIKE EVERY ONE ELSE. At this point places should just charge double for those two colors.

Stay tuned for all my failures.
 
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7of9

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I absolutely love this build thread! Also, I think we should get stickers for reading through the whole thing. That would increase the numbers of people who stay to enjoy this awesomeness. It’s worth it!

Canadian Wow GIF by DJ Khaled
 
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Devisissy

Devisissy

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Following along!
A shameless plug, I like it.

First Update. How exciting. Like that time I won a free rotisserie chicken at the Piggly Wiggly in St. Carloffs.

Moonshiner's method. It's like the Redneck Triton version.

I imagine the Triton people sitting in a board room on the 30th floor of an all glass skyscraper, all in lab coats with German accents. Talking about their trace elements that came from Unicorn tears. While BRS is on speaker phone. "So freunde you will buy more product yes?" and then the Bulk Reef Supply dudes are like "Of, course dudes."

I imagine the Moonshiner dude to be like one guy in a shack down by the river and he is filling mason jars with river water and heavy metals he found in a junkyard. Somewhere a banjo playing. He holds it up to the sky and watches the way the sun hits the mason jar and says, "When the moon is full, and the air feels right, it's time to savor the moonshine's delight.” Then he takes a sip and nods in satisfaction.

All the while ATI are all rubbing their hands together, "Yessssss yesssss buy more of our teeeessssts."

So I downloaded the PDF and boy golly. Hey Andre, if you read this, you won't, I am offering right now to rewrite that word salad mess of a PDF for you. You don't have to cite me or anything. I don't even want payment. Just throw in my first set of chems for free. Give me a month and I can have a proof emailed to you. That's an open invitation by the way. It's really rough man. Most of the time when I read stuff like that I dismiss it and move on, but what saved you Andre are the posts here and the photos.

It's intriguing. I think I am going to give it a try. I like that each element is separate. Now I know on the system it says I have to use their products because they are ultra clean. The real beauty of these systems is they are doing the mixing for us. For the average person it would be less than ideal trying to make all these doses. Unless you are buying rubidium for PET scans on people then why would you have this stuff laying around? Oh hang on the phone is ringing.

"Hello? Oh you say you are someone from the High Tech planted tank group? You have what now? Oh, and how much?"

I was able to find all the metals and elements for pennies, but I already lost my will to live years ago why make my life harder. Moonshiners is much cheaper than Triton in this aspect. Also I love having 30 bottles of stuff all over my house. Makes me feel like a chemist I was never able to become because apparently you have to show up for class. Pffft, rules are for fools.

So just an idea.
 

7of9

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A shameless plug, I like it.

First Update. How exciting. Like that time I won a free rotisserie chicken at the Piggly Wiggly in St. Carloffs.

Moonshiner's method. It's like the Redneck Triton version.

I imagine the Triton people sitting in a board room on the 30th floor of an all glass skyscraper, all in lab coats with German accents. Talking about their trace elements that came from Unicorn tears. While BRS is on speaker phone. "So freunde you will buy more product yes?" and then the Bulk Reef Supply dudes are like "Of, course dudes."

I imagine the Moonshiner dude to be like one guy in a shack down by the river and he is filling mason jars with river water and heavy metals he found in a junkyard. Somewhere a banjo playing. He holds it up to the sky and watches the way the sun hits the mason jar and says, "When the moon is full, and the air feels right, it's time to savor the moonshine's delight.” Then he takes a sip and nods in satisfaction.

All the while ATI are all rubbing their hands together, "Yessssss yesssss buy more of our teeeessssts."

So I downloaded the PDF and boy golly. Hey Andre, if you read this, you won't, I am offering right now to rewrite that word salad mess of a PDF for you. You don't have to cite me or anything. I don't even want payment. Just throw in my first set of chems for free. Give me a month and I can have a proof emailed to you. That's an open invitation by the way. It's really rough man. Most of the time when I read stuff like that I dismiss it and move on, but what saved you Andre are the posts here and the photos.

It's intriguing. I think I am going to give it a try. I like that each element is separate. Now I know on the system it says I have to use their products because they are ultra clean. The real beauty of these systems is they are doing the mixing for us. For the average person it would be less than ideal trying to make all these doses. Unless you are buying rubidium for PET scans on people then why would you have this stuff laying around? Oh hang on the phone is ringing.

"Hello? Oh you say you are someone from the High Tech planted tank group? You have what now? Oh, and how much?"

I was able to find all the metals and elements for pennies, but I already lost my will to live years ago why make my life harder. Moonshiners is much cheaper than Triton in this aspect. Also I love having 30 bottles of stuff all over my house. Makes me feel like a chemist I was never able to become because apparently you have to show up for class. Pffft, rules are for fools.

So just an idea.
What I love about RM is that when you ask questions because you can’t clearly understand the mess of a pdf, everyone acts like you were stupid or lazy and then you begin to wonder if you really are stupid or lazy and if the pdf is actually clear to everyone else but you.

Tom Cruise What GIF
 
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Devisissy

Devisissy

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What I love about RM is that when you ask questions because you can’t clearly understand the mess of a pdf, everyone acts like you were stupid or lazy and then you begin to wonder if you really are stupid or lazy and if the pdf is actually clear to everyone else but you.
I am not kidding. If he reaches out to me I would rewrite that bad boy in a minute. One paragraph was all commas. Andre my man. If you ask yourself, "Do I need a comma here?" the answer is NO! You need a period, a new sentence, a shot of whiskey, and a handgun. I mean, I get it. You are a chemist not a writer. 7of9, (my favorite Borg* BTW), it is not you, its a bunch of gibberish at points.

**Remember when Janeway put the WHOLE dang SHIP in harms way just to save 7? After they knew her for like 5 minutes. I mean what's the harm, they were already half a crew of terrorists. I should join a Star Trek forum and ruffle some feathers. I would get banned in one second with this sentence, "Deep Space 9 is the worst Star Trek series ever." Yeah I said it, fight me losers. Jax was cool. I mean she was like an old dude trapped in a smoking hot chick's body. They didn't do that character justice.

Please tell me you’ve written books, and if so where we can find them … following along because my life is boring and this thread gives me new found excitement.
I am not a writer. At all. I have written many many papers back in school. One of my professors told me I was very smart but not cut out for the Sciences. I decided to save my parents some money and dropped out. I worked with the oil business testing fracking water for a split second. Between you and me and the fives of people reading this, I should have stuck with it, got crap grades, invented a whey protein and BCAA supplement with a shiny cartoon logo and made my millions.

I'm mostly annoyed I didn't realize that a microbiologist flunkie could have made a tidy living selling readily available chemicals rebranded as reef safe additives. I HAVE WASTED MY LIFE FRIEND. Just **** it down the loo.

Speaking of, I love flushing money into the tank. Love it. See my "giving up" thread, I literally threw all the crap into that tank and for what?
 
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Devisissy

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Update no one will read. So I got the tank semi pulled out of storage. I struggled with this thing. I felt like the shower chair in an episode of my 600 pound life. I test fit he tiny little overpriced overflow. dang you reef savvy why you no let me buy ghost? It fits! Looks like the water line will be right at the rim.

I noticed something sort of odd though, but since this tank is a giant ugly box it might be normal. The aluminum frame sits up against the glass on all side except one where there is a 1-2mm gap that has been filling with dust and god knows what for the last 5 years it's been sitting there. Is that a problem?

The silicone looks like it was laid by Stevie Wonder after a few drinks. It's two inches thick and wide. So barebottom is out of the question.

I mean, I could delay my build and get another tank and roll this one up to the dump, and by dump I mean some field a few miles out of town. Don't worry some meth head will come along and steal the aluminum for a deposit. The glass is in great shape though. The inside looks really clean too. So yeah. Is that a normal thing for framed tanks?
 

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Best thing I've read all week. Muskrat... made me reverse snort at work and awkwardly try to make it sound like a cough, which is maybe worse because nobody wants you here if you don't breathe clean ujjayi dasani yoga air. Or maybe they don't want you here anyway, but the snort cough caught the attention of their simmering ire. Right, so that's how I laugh. Hi!

Definitely not following.
 
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Devisissy

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So I got a new floor to cover my expensive beam.

I tried a local place to see about having help moving this aquarium to the stand. Look, I'm old AF. I can't lift this thing by myself. Then I remembered there is literally people that do this. When I contacted the fish tank moving guy he asked for pictures. I was like you move aquariums for a living, it's a standard 90 gallon. Two big men or women, I ain't judging, one on each end, set on top of stand, YOU GET MONEY. That is the Karen in me fighting to get out. How DARE they ask for a photo? I mean I could literally google, "standard 90 gallon" and steal that photo. So I thought that was stupid.

I quit taking mood stabilizers. Maybe that wasn't the best choice.
 
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Devisissy

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So. I noticed a scratch on the front of this tank. I looked real close and its a series of hairline cracks that go from the center towards the corner. I bet you it would still work and be just fine, but part of me always hated this dang tank. It would make a sick terrarium. So now it is off to find a good tank builder. Since I spent 700 on the stand I need that 75-90 footprint.
 

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So. I noticed a scratch on the front of this tank. I looked real close and its a series of hairline cracks that go from the center towards the corner. I bet you it would still work and be just fine, but part of me always hated this dang tank. It would make a sick terrarium. So now it is off to find a good tank builder. Since I spent 700 on the stand I need that 75-90 footprint.
It sounds like you wanted another tank to begin with. There's your alibi.
Very expensive beam, new floor, new tank...looks like a natural progression to me. :cool:
 
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Devisissy

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Well update no one will read.

I have got quotes from 1800-4000. Keep in mind this is a 90 gallon. These prices are just insane today. Insane. When I finally found a tank that was a reasonable price the shipping however was more than the tank! I ship HUGE custom windows and my shipping isn't even that expensive. 89% of the cost of the aquarium is shipping? I don't think so. I would think a very well known company would have an account set up with a freight company. Like we do. Maybe aquarium building and window building are in two different worlds, I don't know.

I purchased the aquarium stand so I am stuck with the footprint of a standard 90 otherwise my options would be a little more open. I also have pumps, lighting, a sump, all brand new in a box. At this rate though for 3 grand I can buy one of those pre built everything included crap.

I'm considering leaving the hobby for now.
 

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Why not get an acrylic tank? I got a really nice tank after like 2 tries for under a grand.
Check out my build thread. Just got it up and running. You could have something in the required footprint built for a great price I'm sure. Plus acrylic holds in the heat or cold it's super clear and it's super strong.

Try Advanced Acrylics or Acrylic Creations. You could have an awesome 90 gallon built out of 1/2" or 3/4" acrylic and be stylin'...
 
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Devisissy

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Why not get an acrylic tank? I got a really nice tank after like 2 tries for under a grand.
Check out my build thread. Just got it up and running. You could have something in the required footprint built for a great price I'm sure. Plus acrylic holds in the heat or cold it's super clear and it's super strong.

Try Advanced Acrylics or Acrylic Creations. You could have an awesome 90 gallon built out of 1/2" or 3/4" acrylic and be stylin'...
I have already tried that friend. Acrylic in all my searches was INSANELY priced. Given the pricing on petroleum today it didn't surprise me.

So aquarium building. I don't know ****e about it. I sell windows. We build and sell windows. Big windows, small, weird shapes, sizes, and all that jazz. They have more materials and sometimes glass into them than a fish tank. They don't come anywhere near this pricing. Now some of you people, yeah YOU PEOPLE, who have bought windows before will call me Satan because of what we charge. Look these windows can take a hurricane, a flood, massive winds, your grandmother's olds driving through your wall. And the warranty isn't no 30 days, it's 30 years. So cash me outside. We partner with freight companies so we can pass savings on to you! I ain't putting this crap on a Fed Ex truck so Skippy fresh out of rehab can throw your crap off the back. Then charge you 80% of the product cost and hope for the best. heck no.

No my guy is named Mike. He didn't get out of rehab cause he's still using, but dangit he gets crap done.

So I did what any good hot blooded American should do, I bought Made In China. That's right the good old CCP. SC Aquariums has a giant warehouse with stock in it. They just have to pull them off the shelf and send it out. Their "contact us" page is broken. Actually, I don't think they ever set it up. Their Facebook page, no activity since 2017. Their address, a strip mall in California. The confirmation email with the link to tracking goes to a blank page. That right there is consumer magic. The Magic is knowing all this I would still rather the devil behind the door than the devil I know is charging me like their auntie herself is driving the tank over themselves in a Toyota Previa with air suspension and bubble wrap. She has asthma and lipedema so she has to make a lot of stops OK?

So I went to the **** Depot and got me some wood. Giggity. I cut it to size and will drill it to the aluminum. Make a nice level platform. Wire management is the hang up.
 

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I have already tried that friend. Acrylic in all my searches was INSANELY priced. Given the pricing on petroleum today it didn't surprise me.

So aquarium building. I don't know ****e about it. I sell windows. We build and sell windows. Big windows, small, weird shapes, sizes, and all that jazz. They have more materials and sometimes glass into them than a fish tank. They don't come anywhere near this pricing. Now some of you people, yeah YOU PEOPLE, who have bought windows before will call me Satan because of what we charge. Look these windows can take a hurricane, a flood, massive winds, your grandmother's olds driving through your wall. And the warranty isn't no 30 days, it's 30 years. So cash me outside. We partner with freight companies so we can pass savings on to you! I ain't putting this crap on a Fed Ex truck so Skippy fresh out of rehab can throw your crap off the back. Then charge you 80% of the product cost and hope for the best. heck no.

No my guy is named Mike. He didn't get out of rehab cause he's still using, but dangit he gets crap done.

So I did what any good hot blooded American should do, I bought Made In China. That's right the good old CCP. SC Aquariums has a giant warehouse with stock in it. They just have to pull them off the shelf and send it out. Their "contact us" page is broken. Actually, I don't think they ever set it up. Their Facebook page, no activity since 2017. Their address, a strip mall in California. The confirmation email with the link to tracking goes to a blank page. That right there is consumer magic. The Magic is knowing all this I would still rather the devil behind the door than the devil I know is charging me like their auntie herself is driving the tank over themselves in a Toyota Previa with air suspension and bubble wrap. She has asthma and lipedema so she has to make a lot of stops OK?

So I went to the **** Depot and got me some wood. Giggity. I cut it to size and will drill it to the aluminum. Make a nice level platform. Wire management is the hang up.
LOL you know, every time I priced out acrylic vs glass, acrylic came out less expensive. You are not the first one to tell me this exact thing either.

I think the prices are more dictated by manufacturer arrogance than actual costs/margin, so shopping around could dig you up something really nice for a good price.

One guy wanted to do mine for 1850 bucks LOCALLY...it cost me 850 bucks shipped from California.
Any of the premade tanks I usually see with some semblance of a real overflow etc made of glass are more than that and you're forced to take their stand that sucks along with it for another grand.

My stand cost more than my tank. :thinking-face:
 

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