My wife is about the same.. She likes going to the stores and picking out fish.. Only problem with that is she points one out and its sorry doll cant get that one it might eat this or this.. And now my youngest has pointed out he wants a bamboo shark which has got the wife thinking and the tank stand isn't even built.
Wife instantly regrets what she said build.. 600 Gallon Build
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tricky_tran
Well-Known Member
yah.. i already gave my wife and kids the talk. Fish may be "Pretty" but we need to make sure they can live with each other and the corals.
Smarkow
Valuable Member
I bring the Mrs. to the LFS every chance I get. She goes crazy with her ADD and buys a lot more than she would let me buy alone. Same with live sales... she sees it as a competition to bid fast. She once stayed up late one night on WWC’s Live sale, trying to get the $5 frags. I woke up and instead Of $5 frags, found an order full of mushrooms and LPS that she loved. I had no complaints haha
The first time that my wife and I spent time together alone (work lunch, not really a date, as I have to remind her, haha) she heard I had a saltwater tank and just blurted out “you can make me the happiest person in the world if you just tell me you have a shark!!” Years later, this is one of the first baby books my wife bought, with the intent of having me read it to our daughter. It’s short, but with the sliding teeth incorporated into several illustrations it’s very cute and unique.
Sometime later, I was in San Diego for work and she agreed to tank sit. Apparently she called her dad and was like “What do I do if one of these stupid fish die? I started looking up the prices for these online and I’ll go bankrupt!” All the fish were accounted for on my return.
When we were first living together I made the (stupid in hindsight) decision to plug in a new 300w heater and then run to a quick dinner with my parents. She was feeling a bit unwell and stayed home to snooze it off on the couch. We all know what happens next, right? Heater flips on and trips the fuse, siphon stopper gets clogged and fails, and 50 or so out of 210 gallons in the display gets siphoned back down the return and overflows the sump. So the future wife wakes up to a dark tank and a musty smell, gets up off the couch and her feet are suddenly wet... I will never live that down. She handled it like a champ (she’s good in a crisis), but I did have to buy her new floors before the wedding... no joke.
Later, as we started to talk seriously about getting married, I said “sweetie, if I ever have to choose between you and the tank, I’ll choose you.... but please don’t ever make me choose!”
Since then, she’s demanded (and received) her own predator tank. She also insisted on naming all the fish, which I had never done before. She loves ugly fish, which I fear is a reflection on my looks haha... So while I didn’t marry my wife for her tolerance of this hobby, she can’t say she went in blind in any respects
Her predators:
Below:
Me trying to strangle her at graduation... why she puts up with me, I may never know?
Lastly, us with our first “little frag.” First heard the frag comparison as a joke from a fellow R2Rer and my wife loved the play on words. We lost her suddenly before she was a month old. She had a condition, but we were told to expect full life expectancy, so it was a huge and terrible shock. This is one of only 2 photos with all 3 of us in the shot. And yes, I did read the shark book (above) to her.
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I don't know how easy that decision would be to make.. Just kidding. My wife is pretty good. As long as I don't bug her about her hobby "Book Collecting" she doesn't say too much for me as long as there is a roof over hour heads and kids are fed. Sorry to hear about your loss, that's not something you ever want to experience.
Don't know how much the wife is going to love me tomorrow. I have to tear down the 220 to move it and she hates the smell as the tank is starting to dry out.. Luckily she works all day so just need to make sure its back up and running by the time she is off.. definitely not looking forward to it.. I have a feeling I'm going to move it and its probably still going to be in the way. Hopefully marking the floor will help..
Smarkow
Valuable Member
Hope you stocked up on deodorizers. I have to dump a bunch of pine sol down the drain after every time I clean out the protein skimmer (and then run the disposal with some hot water to sort of spread it around and aerosolize it). That stuff can really reek. Febreeze never seemed to cut it so I gave up trying that. We did invest in a tower fan off amazon a while back (for my wife's stinky cat, edit: not a euphemism) that has a carbon air filter, plus UV, plus ozone/ionizer that works really well.
Good luck. Just remember, the couch is really comfy and elbow free
Reverend Turtle
Active Member
SkiCatTX
Sustainable Reefkeeping
This is an awesome example...I couldn't imagine such a hobby, however, if I stand back and think if this is how I feel about that, it must be similar to the way she feels about the tank...and if she bought a $5,000 bookshelf, and stocked it with $100+ books, and then bought $1000s worth of "book maintenance and cleaning equipment", I guess I would be concerned as well... lol
So a little bit of an update..
I have finally moved the 220g DT. I think I would rather do a tear down than a move... Not going to like moving everything to the new tank once completed.. I didn't realize how much of a pain it is to catch and move big fish.. Caught my foxface in a net, then had to cut net apart to get him freed. But all in all it took me about 9 hrs. to get the tank back to the point I could get the sump circulating and call it a night.
Now that the tank is open and I could work from the front, its so much easier to do the aqua scape.. definitely going to have to make some doors on the front of the new tank...
Had to put the little one to work. Wanted to earn some extra money.
The new temp spot. kind of out of the way.
A big open hole now...
One thing I have learned make sure the mess is cleaned up all the time. Stops ya from getting the evil eyes from the wife..
Now just have to wait for the stand to be finished welding and painting and it can be moved into position and leveled..
Thanks for stopping by.
I have finally moved the 220g DT. I think I would rather do a tear down than a move... Not going to like moving everything to the new tank once completed.. I didn't realize how much of a pain it is to catch and move big fish.. Caught my foxface in a net, then had to cut net apart to get him freed. But all in all it took me about 9 hrs. to get the tank back to the point I could get the sump circulating and call it a night.
Now that the tank is open and I could work from the front, its so much easier to do the aqua scape.. definitely going to have to make some doors on the front of the new tank...
Had to put the little one to work. Wanted to earn some extra money.
The new temp spot. kind of out of the way.
A big open hole now...
One thing I have learned make sure the mess is cleaned up all the time. Stops ya from getting the evil eyes from the wife..
Now just have to wait for the stand to be finished welding and painting and it can be moved into position and leveled..
Thanks for stopping by.
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GBRsouth
Valuable Member
That's a rookie move - pouring it down the drain while your wife is awake and at home ....LOL.Hope you stocked up on deodorizers. I have to dump a bunch of pine sol down the drain after every time I clean out the protein skimmer (and then run the disposal with some hot water to sort of spread it around and aerosolize it). That stuff can really reek. Febreeze never seemed to cut it so I gave up trying that. We did invest in a tower fan off amazon a while back (for my wife's stinky cat, edit: not a euphemism) that has a carbon air filter, plus UV, plus ozone/ionizer that works really well.
Good luck. Just remember, the couch is really comfy and elbow free
Here is what you do...
Drain you skimmer into a sealed bucket with a hole just big enough for the drain hose. When it is full, carry it under the cover of darkness into an undisclosed bathroom - and for God's sake don't take the lid off the bucket yet.
Once in the bathroom with the door closed... turn on the exhaust fan and spray some air freshener. Then, quickly pull the top of the bucket off and pour it into the toilet, flush immediately and replace the bucket lid. Take no more than 15 seconds for this part. Count to 100 before opening the bathroom door. No one will be the wiser.
Well I was able to finally move forward with my build.. Good News is that my fab shop has completed my stand for the 600g build. It wasn't to bad only took 4 of us to unload it. I think its going to do great.
I decided to prime and paint it.. I hate rust paint... It took forever to dry. and it still stinks a week later..
As you can see I thought out the build and had some pretty tight measurements to make sure the stand was going to fit in my basement.. If I didn't have a garage to my basement floor I would have had to build the stand out of wood..
With the help of my brother in law and some wheel carts we were able to get the stand moved across the basement into place...
The stand sure makes my 220Gal look small...
I had a quick thought once the stand was in place that I may have jumped in a little to deep with this build... That thought disappeared quickly though.
Thanks for looking
I decided to prime and paint it.. I hate rust paint... It took forever to dry. and it still stinks a week later..
As you can see I thought out the build and had some pretty tight measurements to make sure the stand was going to fit in my basement.. If I didn't have a garage to my basement floor I would have had to build the stand out of wood..
With the help of my brother in law and some wheel carts we were able to get the stand moved across the basement into place...
The stand sure makes my 220Gal look small...
I had a quick thought once the stand was in place that I may have jumped in a little to deep with this build... That thought disappeared quickly though.
Thanks for looking
Reverend Turtle
Active Member
Oh my! That is going to be awesome!Well I was able to finally move forward with my build.. Good News is that my fab shop has completed my stand for the 600g build. It wasn't to bad only took 4 of us to unload it. I think its going to do great.
I decided to prime and paint it.. I hate rust paint... It took forever to dry. and it still stinks a week later..
As you can see I thought out the build and had some pretty tight measurements to make sure the stand was going to fit in my basement.. If I didn't have a garage to my basement floor I would have had to build the stand out of wood..
With the help of my brother in law and some wheel carts we were able to get the stand moved across the basement into place...
The stand sure makes my 220Gal look small...
I had a quick thought once the stand was in place that I may have jumped in a little to deep with this build... That thought disappeared quickly though.
Thanks for looking
I agree but is any mans tank the right size?
I have finally started the actual tank build itself.
that was just a quick mock up in the garage... That's the point I almost thought I went way over my head in the build.. I know the stand was big, but wow... Of course there was no way I could build the tank and move it into the house in one piece.
That's my father-in-law helping out... We're getting the front panel mounted on here, just started.
Finally getting the bottom installed on the tank... At this point I still can believe how big this is going to be...
Of course had to get the kids in the tank for sizing it up... I think the little one might have to go for a swim when there's water in there. I have to admit, this build has been pretty fun. I'm already getting impatient an want to get water in this thing.. I'm still working on the bracing for the walls and should have that completed in the next week, I did have some video recorded of the tank move and getting the stand unloaded and moved into position but for some reason all footage is corrupt and wont work.. such a waste. Anyways, thanks for checking in. Hope you like the build..
I have finally started the actual tank build itself.
that was just a quick mock up in the garage... That's the point I almost thought I went way over my head in the build.. I know the stand was big, but wow... Of course there was no way I could build the tank and move it into the house in one piece.
That's my father-in-law helping out... We're getting the front panel mounted on here, just started.
Finally getting the bottom installed on the tank... At this point I still can believe how big this is going to be...
Well AXBROWN your just a little ahead of me.. I was planning on doing an update today.. lol
I was working on editing up some video for my YouTube channel of the current build and the process but my computer crapped out and there went all my video... I didn't have any backup of footage, but Ill know for next time.
So far on the build I have pretty much got all the bracing completed aside from the front.
I decided to add some side viewing windows so I can have a better look in the tank. I have found out with my other tank its not always fun just looking from the front and top down. At least this way I should be able to see behind some of the rock structures too. Side viewing windows are 10"x20" which I think will be plenty. I know with being that high up on the build I don't have to go with 3/4 glass but I'm going to. It will be inset in the wall so it doesn't look so bad from the front.
once the glass is actually in place the bottom 2x4 of the wall bracing will actually be bolted down to the bottom stand. I feel it will help keep everything in place.
If anyone watching this build maybe see's something I should be paying attention too or has a better idea please let me know.. I appreciate everyone's opinion...
Thanks
I was working on editing up some video for my YouTube channel of the current build and the process but my computer crapped out and there went all my video... I didn't have any backup of footage, but Ill know for next time.
So far on the build I have pretty much got all the bracing completed aside from the front.
I decided to add some side viewing windows so I can have a better look in the tank. I have found out with my other tank its not always fun just looking from the front and top down. At least this way I should be able to see behind some of the rock structures too. Side viewing windows are 10"x20" which I think will be plenty. I know with being that high up on the build I don't have to go with 3/4 glass but I'm going to. It will be inset in the wall so it doesn't look so bad from the front.
once the glass is actually in place the bottom 2x4 of the wall bracing will actually be bolted down to the bottom stand. I feel it will help keep everything in place.
If anyone watching this build maybe see's something I should be paying attention too or has a better idea please let me know.. I appreciate everyone's opinion...
Thanks
Devaji
5000 Club Member
Dude this is fantastic...I "try" to stay away from the monster section of R2R as I get dreaming...but the thread title drew me right in.
nice stand and tank man I have thought long and hard about a plywood tank my self.
what are your plans for this bad boy? reef, fish only
nice stand and tank man I have thought long and hard about a plywood tank my self.
what are your plans for this bad boy? reef, fish only
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