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#76
09/18/2007, 01:21 AM
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Ken: I haven't done any specific major pruning as of yet but have created frags, both intentionally and inadvertently.
 I won't be altering my lighting but my calcium levels struggle to remain ideal with the current equipment as is. This appears to have slowed growth rates slightly. I did just replace all my MH bulbs so that should counteract this. But, as much as I hate having to see the unnatural look of pruned corals, the time to do so is drawing near.Chef Reef: Actually, I have no money left as I've spent it all on my tank.  Seriously, your life will be much more enjoyable should you not concentrate so intensely on money. The resulting lack of feelings of jealousy alone should make a great improvement itself. And you can take that bit of wisdom to the bank. Dudester & EBR4: Thank you both very much and you are welcome. Joseph. |
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#78
09/18/2007, 07:15 PM
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Pruning
Joseph,
The only reason I asked is because of how well U do with every other aspect of this 'hobby'. I thought U would come up with some sort of ingenious plan to minimize the 'fraggled look' of pruning. I love to see the look of naturally developed coral heads myself. Maybe something like pulling out selective heads and replacing them with frags, the constant change of life on the reef. Thanks for being a positive example. |
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#80
09/21/2007, 04:53 PM
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dougie & seastar12: Thank you very much.
Ken: I still think the easiest route would be to just get a bigger tank. Thanks for the kind words and you are welcome.Joseph. |
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#81
09/21/2007, 05:28 PM
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Well you know a bigger tank would require many new custom gadgets that someone would have to design and build. You don't know any gadget masters do you
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#82
10/03/2007, 10:52 PM
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Being an acrylic DIY guy myself, I just have to know a couple of things about your chiller housing.
1) On the flange end where the chiller drops down into the neck of the 2 pieces that come together how did you machine that part perfectly into both pieces using the tools that you say you have. (I have all the same tools you mentioned and am curious) There are some curves in the neck portion that would leave me to believe you used a CNC for that part unless you have a very steady hand using a jig saw. Both pieces of the flange seem to match perfectly which is another reason I was thinking cnc. 2) What are your procedures and tools used to polish the saw cut edges of that piece from start to finish? |
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#83
10/03/2007, 11:02 PM
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duplicate post, sorry.
Last edited by DKreefkeepers; 10/03/2007 at 11:11 PM. |
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#84
10/04/2007, 11:01 AM
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Quote:
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#85
10/04/2007, 11:49 AM
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WOW. I am truly amazed with what you have done. You have some amazing abilities to be able to do so much of your tank work yourself.
Please keep showing us what you're doing as you continue to work. Thanks, Eric |
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#86
10/04/2007, 04:15 PM
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Quote:
I like your way of thinking! 
__________________
Click my Red House to check out my 120 in office reef (upgraded in Aug 06) Seeking therapy for my fish tank ADD |
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#88
10/05/2007, 03:25 AM
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DKreefkeepers: I assume you are referring to the elongated hole that the chiller coil's straight section passes through. The smaller diameter section closest to the opening was done with a drill press and done so with the gasket in place to ensure the correct spacing between the two halves. The larger diameter section closest to the barrel area was done on a router table with a half-round bit. This was done prior to machining the two halves exterior shape. Basically, the two halves were still in their original, rectangular shape as they were when I purchased the acrylic. This gave me a straight edge on both pieces to reference and run along the router table' fence. I used stop blocks attached to the fence to ensure the routing started and ended at the same point on both pieces. Also, I had to carefully drop the material down onto the bit with the router running to start the cut while ensuring the material stayed tight to the fence.
As far as the edge finishing, I have an acrylic specific tablesaw blade that leaves a very smooth cut finish to begin with. Then I use a stationary belt sander which has something like 120 grit paper installed. Then I use an orbital sander with 220 grit paper and work up to 400 grit. The final polishing is done on a stationary polishing buffer with the appropriate rouge applied often to the pads. In addition, prior to all this I used a round-over bit in the router to soften all the corners. Hope that explains it all well enough. Eric: Thanks and I will. advice1: Back atcha. There's not much to update as the tank is pretty much on cruise control. I did find and add a new anemone. If you've been following the thread from long ago, I had a beautiful blue carpet anemone at about the one year mark that unfortunately didn't survive. I'd always kept in my mind that I wanted another and luckily, found one at a local fish store. My hope is that with the tank so well established, the chance for survival will be greatly increased. On a related note... since adding this blue carpet, a bit of turmoil has been created within the tank. The Ocellaris clown pair that have always been attached to the Sebae anemone on the lower left of the tank immediately took to the Blue Carpet anemone. The female True Percula that made her home in the Rose Bubble Tip anemone (RBTA) then made her way to the now periodically vacant Sebae. That is, when the Ocellaris pair weren't spending time back in their old home. They still move from tank side to side between the two anemones. Interesting but no issues there. What is an issue though is that the RBTA moved down into the back of the tank and appears to be splitting. I would assume this is due to the addition of the carpet anemone which is positioned at the same end of the tank yet several feet away. Probably a chemical warfare issue. I've since replaced all the carbon in the carbon filter in an attempt to remove as much chemical as possible. Hopefully, things will settle down and everyone will find a safe and comfortable distance from their fellow nemesis. Time will tell. Anyway... here's a shot of the newest addition and its new residents.  Joseph. |
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#89
10/05/2007, 06:59 AM
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Very nice. I picked up on this thread a little while ago and thought I would add your acrylic skills are incredible! Anytime I want to make a DIY acrylic piece I usually ask my brother to help since he has a CNC shop. After seeing some of your stuff I'm very tempted to try and free-hand some things (for lack of a better word). Now if I can only convince the wife that we "need" a good table saw, drill press and router table...
__________________
Vice President Omaha Marine Society Coral Tees Frag Plug Designer (Click my Red House) |
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#90
10/05/2007, 08:15 AM
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That is a stunning photo!
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#92
10/05/2007, 09:55 AM
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Great photo Joseph. Last time I "dropped" a piece of acrylic onto my router something very bad happened!
__________________
Jonathan--DIBS Breeder and Card carrying member of the Square Skimmer Brigade (Click on the Red House to see my pics garage) |
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#93
10/05/2007, 11:40 AM
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What a beautiful anemone. Congrats and I too hope that things settle down in your tank so that everyone can be happy. If I was a fish, I'd want to live in that tank.
__________________
Marc Levenson - member of DFWMAS |
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#94
10/05/2007, 11:46 AM
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No doubt Marc. I have buddies that come by and see what I feed my fish and they say the same thing...
__________________
Jonathan--DIBS Breeder and Card carrying member of the Square Skimmer Brigade (Click on the Red House to see my pics garage) |
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#95
10/07/2007, 01:23 AM
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Weatherson-
I first began reading your thread in 2003 when you first started this journey. I remember specifically telling my wife of the lift you had used to get the tank into its spot. Unfortunately in January of 2004 my son was born 3 months premature...and with all the chaos of that experience I lost track of this thread and Reefcentral all together. Here recently I have been craving a salt tank once again. And I noticed this thread and been bumped up to the top. I went back through and scanned through all of your work. I didnt read every post..as lets face it, its over 165 pages now. Your work is awe inspiring. And your workmanship is incredible. Have you had any formal training in working with acrylic? What do you do for a living if you dont mind me asking? Are you a wood worker? Which might explain the detail, and craftsmanship you put into this build. Care to come to Texas and teach me your skills? Im attempting to fix my salt crave with a 300g tank after the first of the year I hope. You have given me some truly great ideas that I will implement in my setup. Thanks for taking the time to post such a great build and keeping it up after 4 years now..Its amazing to see how your tank as progressed over the years... Congrats!
__________________
Tony |
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#96
10/07/2007, 01:49 AM
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Tony, if you'll just go to Page 1 of this particular split of Weatherson's thread, you'll get the full recap that has been shared over the 165 pages. Joseph did a beautiful job bringing everyone up to speed.
And welcome back to the hobby. 
__________________
Marc Levenson - member of DFWMAS |
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#97
10/07/2007, 05:41 AM
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lvpd186: Thank you very much. Your brother has a CNC shop? Just think of all the precision made possibilities. A CNC machine is all I want for Christmas. Even if I had no front teeth.
marino420td, Ltlduc, jnarowe, melev : Thanks guys. The photography is mine but the beauty is nature at its best. NewMariner: Glad to have you back and thanks for the kind words. My background is in fact woodworking and no, I've not had any formal acrylic-work training. Although, acrylic work is very similar aside from the need to polish instead of stain/finish and the slightly different glues required. Thanks again and you are welcome.Our local club is doing a coral growth test so I took the opportunity to photographically document the three corals, a Digitata, Acropora and Capricornis. I mounted these to a single rock and placed it on the sand in the bottom area of the tank. While not ideal for the best growth rate results, still interesting with the growth rates available in this location. I'd have placed them closer to the lights up top but there's not space enough for this without doing some major pruning. Anyway... I found this to be interesting so I thought I'd share the animated GIF I created with the photos taken every other day from 9/5/07 to 10/5/07. The Digi obviously grew the most overall and most dramatically “colored up”. The Acropora didn't grow in height but did bulk up and "puddled" onto the frag-plug considerably. The Cap basically grew along the outer ridge as would be expected. Here's the animation for the fun of it...  Joseph. |
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#98
10/07/2007, 06:17 AM
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I am at a lack of words, when it comes to commenting on your tank and the ability of the DIY work.
I noticed that the sand changes a lot in the pic.show, Is that due to the amount of water movement? What is your lighting cycle and how often do you do water change? |
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#99
10/07/2007, 06:36 AM
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Now your just showing off
Absolutely amazing as usual Cheers Chris |
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