I'm a reasonable man. I do reasonable things.

[Wasabiroot]

Petition to rename this tank to "Big Chungus"

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

Awesome build.

What I am realizing is I need a higher paying job

After enough years when you breed enough critters you can make some of this break even. I don't think it's worth it for everyone, and it CERTAINLY doesn't pay WELL, but I try to break even.

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

IN NO-WAY AM I ONE OF THOSE "SHOUT IN ALL CAPS' KIND OF A GUY, but allow me to say, I have seen a lot of builds on R2R but man, you are an ANIMAL and that Glass Cages tank is a BEAST!! It all gives the word "dedication" and the phrase, "Where there's a will, there's a way" a whole new meaning.

heyyyy, thank you! I try to do new stuff. I didn't want to capstone my dream tank, having had a degree, on something halfway. I wanted to do most of it myself as well, sort of a long time, with a long history, working on DIY and etc etc etc, I wanted to do as much myself as possible, and it put a HUGE dent in the cost this way.

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

CMAS= Chesapeake Marine Aquarium Society?!

Great to see that your kids are still helping! Typically about half way through a build like this I expect that the fish room is now the epicenter of the bachelor pad that exists where a family home once was. Looks like you beat the odds!

yep, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chesapeake-marine-aquaria-society-cmas.431645/ these people.

I love my kids, I'd never have a hobby over them. I would however perhaps lean in on doing something stupid for creating childlike wonder.

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

Petition to rename this tank to "Big Chungus"

Oh lawd he comin.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Wow, now that's a tank! Took a while to read thru the pages but glad I did. Enjoyed reading and looking at the eye candy.

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

Wow, now that's a tank! Took a while to read thru the pages but glad I did. Enjoyed reading and looking at the eye candy.

I tried to keep it light and entertaining, I hope it was worth it.

 

[Chrisv.]

yep, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chesapeake-marine-aquaria-society-cmas.431645/ these people.

I love my kids, I'd never have a hobby over them. I would however perhaps lean in on doing something stupid for creating childlike wonder.

I used to be a member of CMAS back in the day! Great club! Every now and then I log back into the old website, which is a very quiet place these days. Have they all migrated here? We used to be an extremely active club.

Nice build!

 

[Devaji]

wow! love it.
I really really REALLY want to get a large tank for joe over at glass cages. been talking to him for quite some time about a 300+

BUT an 800 dang...what are the dems of the bad boy? maybe I misses it?

I am guess as your kidos want to see the big corals it's going to be a reef?
I love reef but if I had that tank it would be an epic FOWLR...

 

[QuantumFoam]

heck of a tank you have there. I also love that you've got your kids involved! Sharing this hobby with my three-year-old has been very rewarding thus far!

 

[Cathy Morris]

I cannot wait to see the finished product. (And wow, that was whole lot!!!!)

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

I used to be a member of CMAS back in the day! Great club! Every now and then I log back into the old website, which is a very quiet place these days. Have they all migrated here? We used to be an extremely active club.

Nice build!

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

I used to be a member of CMAS back in the day! Great club! Every now and then I log back into the old website, which is a very quiet place these days. Have they all migrated here? We used to be an extremely active club.

Nice build!

I am tasked to update the website, stay tuned, I tend to half butt things

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

wow! love it.
I really really REALLY want to get a large tank for joe over at glass cages. been talking to him for quite some time about a 300+

BUT an 800 dang...what are the dems of the bad boy? maybe I misses it?

I am guess as your kidos want to see the big corals it's going to be a reef?
I love reef but if I had that tank it would be an epic FOWLR...

Yes, reef, 12x3x3. Fowler is tempting with the lighting costs but hen for a penny, hen for a pound...

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Absolutely following this, love your tank, LOVE your humor.

I can relate slightly with the house fixing portions, I bought an old house and from the surface looked good, just ugly so we redid the kitchen from metal cabinets to wood and ended up redoing siding, windows, the whole flooring including floor joists, all the plumbing and sheetrock. Windows leaked, plumbing under sink leaked and an old chimney leaked for years so they're was hidden extensive water damage. That was fun while pregnant. We did all the work ourselves and I was still painting when I went into labor and then I installed the wood flooring a week after birth. However having so much of my house open we really got to looking at build quality and we found out the house is really beefy, all full dimension lumber, rough cut, not like today's wimpy 2x4s. Then all walls,floors and ceiling is thick tongue and groove under all sheetrock and subfloor. So much wood in this house.

But now you know your windows aren't leaking anymore and your power supply is definitely more than ready for all the crazy things you'll be using! Great build! I'd throw out my couch for that tank! Who needs to sit when you can look at that all day?!

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

Absolutely following this, love your tank, LOVE your humor.

I can relate slightly with the house fixing portions, I bought an old house and from the surface looked good, just ugly so we redid the kitchen from metal cabinets to wood and ended up redoing siding, windows, the whole flooring including floor joists, all the plumbing and sheetrock. Windows leaked, plumbing under sink leaked and an old chimney leaked for years so they're was hidden extensive water damage. That was fun while pregnant. We did all the work ourselves and I was still painting when I went into labor and then I installed the wood flooring a week after birth. However having so much of my house open we really got to looking at build quality and we found out the house is really beefy, all full dimension lumber, rough cut, not like today's wimpy 2x4s. Then all walls,floors and ceiling is thick tongue and groove under all sheetrock and subfloor. So much wood in this house.

But now you know your windows aren't leaking anymore and your power supply is definitely more than ready for all the crazy things you'll be using! Great build! I'd throw out my couch for that tank! Who needs to sit when you can look at that all day?!

Oh yeah not pictured was a huge renovation project. New hvac new roof new hot water new heater, rewired the whole house, smart housed way up, security system, new floors new siding, new windows. Now I just gotta do the bathrooms.

As for the furniture there is a tank watching couch and I'm on the hunt for the most epic of recliners for my man chair.

 

[rmorris_14]

Absolutely following this, love your tank, LOVE your humor.

I can relate slightly with the house fixing portions, I bought an old house and from the surface looked good, just ugly so we redid the kitchen from metal cabinets to wood and ended up redoing siding, windows, the whole flooring including floor joists, all the plumbing and sheetrock. Windows leaked, plumbing under sink leaked and an old chimney leaked for years so they're was hidden extensive water damage. That was fun while pregnant. We did all the work ourselves and I was still painting when I went into labor and then I installed the wood flooring a week after birth. However having so much of my house open we really got to looking at build quality and we found out the house is really beefy, all full dimension lumber, rough cut, not like today's wimpy 2x4s. Then all walls,floors and ceiling is thick tongue and groove under all sheetrock and subfloor. So much wood in this house.

But now you know your windows aren't leaking anymore and your power supply is definitely more than ready for all the crazy things you'll be using! Great build! I'd throw out my couch for that tank! Who needs to sit when you can look at that all day?!

I second this about your humor. It is what instantly drew me and made me keep reading.

 

[OrchidMiss]

So then we had some wiring to do. I ran 6 20 amp circuits from the box to the fishroom, and I had some guys come put on solar panels.

I them increase my service from 75 to 200amp main panel (old house, bad wiring) and in the interim rewired the entire house, buuutt we got the box put together, 6 20 am fuses for the fishroom:

Each of the six circuits starts with a 20a extra heavy duty lightswitch that Ipaid extra for JUST because they're more clicky than the other ones. The next step of each circuit is the GFCI 20a outlet, and i put it all in a wet use metal lid-ed outdoor box

I built and labled six of these

and i hung em on a wall.

for all outlets i added wet area covers

for the hood I got these metal individual covers, and i rant 2 20amp wires through conduit, I still have to finish my hood design

it was kind of a nightmare, but safety and futureproofing is worth it. I have wet area outlets, and wet area switches to cutoff for the skimmer independantly (left) the sump (right) outlets, and then another switch to cut off the tank outlets for the powerheads (not pictured)

the top outlet/line is the "main lights" circuit and the bottom is the"main flow". we havn't talked about my plumbing yet, that's next post, spoilers:

of course, after plugging in the three inkbirds, the outlets for the powerheads, the three big jebaos (DCP-20000) it needs some wire management, which i've yet to do

The lights are just chinese black boxes, they'll get upgraded when i'm out of the poor house, and they're on 20a outdoor manual timers, and there are 12 of them. they need a better mounting solution, but since i have glass lids on the tank for now, just piled onthe top. suuuuper safe, suuuper cool. but that's why i have gfci and cutoffs everwhere. more on that later.

Holy Smokes!!!!
This is amazing!!! How long did your marine biology degree take??? I am seriously considering getting mine.

 

[DigitalFishAquariums]

Holy Smokes!!!!
This is amazing!!! How long did your marine biology degree take??? I am seriously considering getting mine.

I have a four year degree, so it'd take you as long as it'd take you to finish the ~120 credits. it depends how many credits you start with, and if you can get work experience credits, but i'd generally say 4 years for most people.

 

[OrchidMiss]

I have a four year degree, so it'd take you as long as it'd take you to finish the ~120 credits. it depends how many credits you start with, and if you can get work experience credits, but i'd generally say 4 years for most people.

I'm definitely going to be looking into it.
I already have my BSN, so I have many of the credits already.

Rutgers University Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences

marine.rutgers.edu

Actually, one of the local colleges has a great program it looks like!