The Addiction

[nitro]

Lookin very good.

 

[jsker]

I decided to try out pukani rock. The stuff is supposed to be super porous! A big downside is that it can come with a ton of organic material on it which can easily be taken care of.
When I placed my order I asked for larger pieces with interesting shapes and specifically NO boulders....

I wasen't exactly happy with my order.
Now, rockwork to me is super important. I really enjoy aquascaping and get pretty into it. And I like to think the scapes I end up creating look pretty good. I took this rock as a challenge.

I proceeded to acid bath and bleach clean the rock to give me a good start, remove all those organics.

I then got to work chiseling and sawing and basically working this rock to give it shape. I used hydraulic cement to affix pieces to give me the shapes I wanted.

This photo shows all of the rubble I created doing this work. The beer is only there for size reference.....

And these are the three pieces that will make up the aquascape of the tank.

1 question and 1 thought
Question: the longer players, those are antiques? or for a black smith
Thought :Beer is good for reefing:rolleyes:

 

[blkhawk10]

Awesome looking build...I'm looking forward to more photos!

 

[spscrackhead]

I had decided that I would paint the stand myself. I wanted to go with an older look, something a bit worn. The stand had to match the doors.

I got the stand in place.

To accomplish the finish I wanted, I went with some charcoal chalk paint and a dark brown wax.

The way this process works is you first lay down the chalk paint and then distress to your liking, followed by a wax coat to give it color and seal it in. Finally you buff the wax like you would your car to give a shiny smooth finish. I went fairly light on the buffing, as that isn't what I wanted.
Now lets get dirty!

I developed some burn through spots and worked the edges a bit.

This is after a coat of wax, you can really see how much this stuff transforms the look!

 

[spscrackhead]

How dare I not mention my little helper!?

Er, ummm... Supervisor?

 

[Scubafrog]

Nice looking build!

 

[spscrackhead]

My supervisor said I was doing a really poor job with the plumbing. I was shoved out of the way and he then got to work!

It was a pretty rare occasion to see him actually working I HAD to take photos. Also marked it down in the calendar:D

Of course I forgot a few random fittings. He INSISTED on coming to the store to make sure I didn't same the same mistake again. Although he says I am a bad driver, I wouldn't budge on that one:D.

 

[Sharvey103]

Great start and looking forward to the development and startup of the tanl. Following.

 

[spscrackhead]

I have been slacking pretty hard with keeping this thing updated. Here is photo of the tank cycling. I will be adding more shortly!

 

[spscrackhead]

I have swapped a few things out, ran into some good luck, and some bad luck. It's all about the journey.
I swapped out the LED fixture for an ATI 8x80w with plans to add reef brite in the future. Neptune finally got their things together with the apex and I felt comfortable moving forward on that purchase. What a game changer!

I stumbled upon someone breaking down their tank and was able to get some corals for pretty good prices. They are' t things I 100% see in the tank long term end game speaking. But they are great testers and space fillers for the time being!

I have had first hand experience with Uronema. Let me tell you, this stuff is absolutely devastating! I lost one whole order and half of the replacement order to this stuff. Thank god I had quarantined! If this stuff would have made it into my display, I dont know what I would have done...

 

[bknapp]

Looks awesome. Stand is sweet.

 

[revhtree]

Nice build!

 

[spscrackhead]

I have been distracted with other things going on in my life and haven't been posting as much as I would like.
Here are some photos.
I picked up the new Apex, This thing really allows you to geek out hard and bring your tank to the next level.

I swapped out the LED light for an ATI 8x80W, still messing with the bulb combo.

When this photo was taken hair algae was taking a pretty strong hold on the tank, It has since loosened its grip.

Under the hood shot. Finally starting to get things organized enough to where I'm not ashamed to post a photo lol.

 

[spscrackhead]

Well things have been a bit hectic around here and I have not been able to post like I wanted/planned to.
This post is for the equipment junky inside most of us.
I was cruising with Kalk in my top off but knew I would get to a point where it would no longer cut it. I slowly picked up the pieces I would need to go with 2 part.

I have also put online GFO and bio pellets that I had initially plumbed the manifold for. The skimmer is really taking off now.

 

[spscrackhead]