Jhildebrand's Re-build

Jhildebrand · Nov 6, 2009

Pardon the salt deposits on the back that dripped down the tank. I've been moving a lot of stuff around trying to get it right.

Exciting (for me!) news. I've been working with Jim at Aquamags on a unique project. We're trying to design a huge magnetic rock shelf that will fill in the void in the middle of the tank. My goal is to make a little suspended island. This will be cool as heck if it works. It will fill in an area that I can't get rock to and still allow room for all the tangs.

My original idea was to install a couple of bulkheads that would support a PVC frame that I could zip tie rock to. I decided it wasn't worth the risk, as the weight of the rock would be around 100lbs.

Fishcrazy06 · Nov 6, 2009

Looking good John! On a couple of side notes: Why don't you start a thread on the members tank forum! :xd::tongue:

Secondly, Do you know Gooch as a couple of different Sized magnetic frag shelves already? Or you looking for something completely different?

Eric

Jhildebrand · Nov 6, 2009

I've seen Gooch's and they are pretty sweet, just too small. Those are little frag racks that look like rocks - I'm looking to cover about a foot high and two feet across! Has to be almost neutrally bouyant for magnets to hold such a large structure.

Fishcrazy06 · Nov 6, 2009

Why don't you rig up a suspending rock for that area? There has to be a way to affix it to the canopy and just have it suspended in the tank? That would be pretty cool actually!!!!

Eric

Jhildebrand · Nov 6, 2009

Thought of that - and I would if I had more room between the top and ceiling so I could hoist the whole thing up out of the way for access. However, I have only about two inches to work with. That canopy weighs a ton and I don't want to hang rock from it because I'd never be able to remove it for maintenance. That's a bit more permanent than I'd like.

Jhildebrand · Nov 7, 2009

This is the area I plan to fill with the huge magnetic rock shelf or shelves:

If one is two large, maybe something like this instead:

Can't wait to see what he comes up with. This will really fill in the tank and make room for SPS frags and growth without interfering with swiming space much for the larger fish.

Fishcrazy06 · Nov 7, 2009

Sure looks um.....well......nice and artsy craftsy with Paint!!!!! Must have been play time with your daughter last night!!!

Eric

Jhildebrand · Nov 7, 2009

Lol, you're seeing the whole extent of my computer prowess right there.

johnanddawn · Nov 7, 2009

here is a possible alt for you
i have a couple that i got from the red sea vender at a f&s swap. when he gave them to me i remember thinking "wow these are cool but what in the heck am i ever going to use them for"
but i found a use, they hide my ph's. they are easy to move about, so i just take them off during pump maintainence
they are fiberglass so they weigh next to nothing in water, cover with coraline quickly and have cool shapes to them.
some silicon and sure grips and you may have what you want
red sea live rock art artificial live rock aquarium rock decor

Jhildebrand · Nov 7, 2009

Thanks for the idea - I know these weigh next to nothing and are supposed to be indistinguishable from live rock after they've been in the tank a few months. It wouldn't take much more than some epoxy and good mags to make a cool shelf. I could still even make a frame with PVC to attach them together in one larger structure. I wonder what that would cost though...

Jhildebrand · Jan 29, 2010

Next up: 150 cube.

I was the fortunate recipient of the goods from a family friend's tear down the day after Christmas, including his Starphire 150 cube. This was great as I was stuck on what to do with all my LPS that weren't happy in the main display with all the flow. After much discussion with the boss of the household, we settled on the livingroom as the location.

Here's the canopy, formerly housing a 400W halide which was downsized to a 250W for my purposes.

Then I cut an access door in the stand - it was solid all around. Going to trim it out and put magnetic catches to hold the door on. We didn't like how it was open underneath with the carpet exposed, so I bought a sheet of HDPE from Midland Plastics and screwed it into the bottom of the stand. This stuff rocks.

The plumbing runs along the left side through holes drilled in the floor along a heating vent and tie into the main sump.

So after it's up and we're discussing how much bigger the cube is than we thought, I decided to calculate how much this added to the overall volume and much to my dismay we're now at.................1000 gallons exactly.

And I'm a step closer to certifiably crazy.

Still to come: I've got most of the rock and corals in now, but I need to get the actinic T5 wire harness fixed. The colors are a bit 'off' without them. It's about 80% as we sit and I'll post pics soon. Since this was an SPS tank, I've got some beautiful colonies in the basement tank waiting to be placed in the main display. Pics soon I hope.

three fish · Jan 29, 2010

I love the 260! I like that it is not your standard size. Kinda looks like a tank at a public aquarium. I know deep tanks can be more work but your build has inspired me to rethink the height of a future tank.

I am glad to know I am not the only one who comes to the forums to feel normal.

customcolor · Jan 29, 2010

i thought i was nuts! 1000 gal!! no wonder why your elec bill is much higher than mine

Jhildebrand · Jan 29, 2010

LOL, for fun now we just go outside and watch the meter spin - it's all we can afford to do...

customcolor · Jan 29, 2010

have you considered going led with any lighting yet?

i have ben thinking of it...ill be doing some tests soon i hope to see if its what i want to do.....i wanna check out the color vers penetration in deep water...yep im almost thinking about ditching the radiums.....hey if i can save almost 200watts an hour in lighting just in the display...im game....it may cost me up to $800 but i can do little at a time and it would help my wife out alot too.....she pays for the electric....

h:

hech the value of my radium set up is like $600

chris goetz · Jan 29, 2010

Wow, very nice 260 and congratulations on the new tank!

I get over to Neenah occasionally for work... next time I'm heading that way, I will let you know and maybe see if we can't work it out to trade some frags.

Chris

Jhildebrand · Jan 29, 2010

Yup, and I was very close to getting a Solaris, and not only did the company tank, but before that the product was riddled with problems and faulty parts. Then I ordered a retro kit for the Biocube, and had to cancel the order because the units had faulty parts and it was backordered two months. For what they cost, they better work. I can't wait until the day they're reliable and more cost effective. I do want to play around building my own though, but for a small tank!

customcolor · Jan 29, 2010

i feel to make something new more reliable..you need to make it simple...the solaris had many programming options to it...that didnt help much..and if im right the solaris used 1w leds...i plan on using 3 watt crees and eather 60 or 40 degree lens and reg drivers (non dimming)

Jhildebrand · Jan 29, 2010

Honey, I could have sworn I told you I had to drill a couple more holes in the floor to make this work... My wife is a saint

And had to pop another hole in the sump for the Iwaki...

I think it worked out okay. That was a lot of plumbing to run. Half went to sump, the other half to the 270 gal in the basement to get some more water running through that system.