finally beginning my 480g 5'x5'x30" SPS Reef Tank

[thirschmann]

that's where I got the link from

Thanks man

[erics3000]

Why do you need a 4x4 solid piece to make overlows. Wouldn't you jus t glue3 pieces together

[thirschmann]

Good point Eric. I had considered that but to be honest with you I just really want to try to machine the thing to see if I can do it. My backup is to just glue some pieces together to make a box and then cut out what I need to.

btw, in case people forgot, I'm trying to reproduce the elos drain since they refuse to self me 2. Damn trade secrets and what not.

[jnarowe]

make sure your shop floor is really clean, so that when you have that giant pile of acrylic shavings, you can collect them and use them.

[Serioussnaps]

Tom,

I have enjoyed reading your thread. I just wanted to point out a misconception you have about the clown goby's if you are worried about your acros. They will irritate the hell out of your acros regardless if they are mated pairs or not. These little boogers can really wreak havoc and I would seriously reconsider them entirely.

Also, if you can't get your hands on the orange lined cardinals you can get your hands on the threadfin/blue streak/glass cardinals easily. They don't always ship well so expect some losses and buy more than you need. The latin name is :

apogon leptacanthus

One of my favs, very docile, will breed in your tank, become much more attractive after TLC than any picture will let on and don't bring much bioload or care.

Ill be tagging along, but on this one I couldn't resist.

[thirschmann]

serioussnaps - Thanks for the feedback, its always appreciated. And thank you for the positive response to my build thus far.

I will take the your advice about the clown gobies into consideration. What is your opinion on keeping just 1 little guy in my tank if I plan on having a lot of acros, will the damage that he inflicts be significant? Will he generally reside on only one coral head or bounce around to different corals?

As far as the cardinals are concerned, would you have any pictures of the genus you mentioned from your own tank? Most of the online pictures are, as you mentioned, are rather unimpressive.

I appreciate the input and please feel free to comment on anything else you might feel is suspect in either my building design, equipment selection, or stocking goals.

[thirschmann]

Wow... just reread my post and realized that I have been spending to much time talking to lawyers and officials.

[thirschmann]

Finally... Proof that some of my equipment may still exist and has not been sold off for beer.



More to come. My girlfriend promised to take inventory and take pictures this weekend.

[jnarowe]

Nice! When I built my system, I didn't know black flex PVC existed. I am so bummed to see it on high quality installs now. I guess I could swap it out, but that would be totally geeky right?

It's nice you left her a snack too. You are a sweet guy! She must be freaking out about you being away for so long.

[cbui2]

Jonathan if you look closely there are 2 boxes unopened . are you sure this is 480gal build cuz all i see is one salt bucket

[erics3000]

Where did you get the black spa flex?

[Lunchbucket]

Ok FLIPPING CRAZY sketchups!! I need to talk to you on how to do that stuff. Man I can't get my stuff to be even close to that. How do you do all that??? I need some tips!!!

Lunchbucket

[thirschmann]

jonathan - I'm pretty excited about having the GREY flex PVC. Its available in black but I decided that to match up with my savko bulkheads and BV grey would look best. I guess it would be geeky but..... this hobby allows a little more geekiness out of normal people then you would think.

Any yes its been pretty hard on us. We were supposed to start our graduate program together but now I will be delayed for a year Its rought.


bart - That's only a small portion of hte boxes there. I think she said that she counted 18 boxes related to the build in that room only, I think that should about cover everything I've ordered. Only inventory will tell. Maybe my brother emptied them earlier for beer money


Eric - I got mine at pondsolutions.com but flexpvc.com also has a lot of options. They don't have as much information on the colored flex PVC on the latter site but I emailed them and they said it has the same characteristics as the white version.


hahah thanks lunchbucket, no problem, just let me know what you need help with. I also have all of my main sketchup files on my website if you want to check them out. Your more then welcome to copy any of my stuff if it makes it easier.

The plumbing is a pain in the @$$ at first but you get the hand of it. You can use the "follow me" function or simply take straights, 90's, and BV and rotate and resize and reposition them to make it look right. Feel free to use my plumbing if you want.

[thirschmann]

forgot to mention my website again... web.mac.com/thomashirschmann

[jnarowe]

aahhh, so it is Grey...looks black in the picture to me. I can't find that site.

[thirschmann]

Its consider dark grey I guess. I used pondsolutions.

http://www.pondsolutions.com/pump-tubing.htm

http://flexpvc.com/

[jnarowe]

nah, I meant your web site. Can't find it...did you check into SAVKO, since you are out in FL? I know it's too late for this run, but I would bet dollars to donuts you'll be needing more!

[thirschmann]

Here it is unprettied up.

http://web.mac.com/thomashirschmann/...0jr./Home.html

My girlfriend took pictures of almost everything for me this morning, once I'll get them I'll try to see if everything came in. Would be a first if it did though, there's always something missing in a large order.

[thirschmann]

7100 posts...

[cbui2]

we all know what Jonathan post to get 7100 .

[jnarowe]

oh yeah, I have been to your website before. You have a great eye and I really enjoy the various images you offer up.

[jnarowe]

Originally posted by thirschmann
7100 posts...

I just realized what you were referring to...seems weird to me. But RC is part of my whole scheme to procrastinate my way through life!

[thirschmann]

bart

Thanks jonathan, I took a break from photography for a while and those aquarium pictures are my first series since I've gotten back into it and I'm pretty happy with it. Hopefully I can get some really nice shots out of my next tank. I think I've jumped on to the RC procastination bandwagon as well.

[jnarowe]

your index image is really sweet. I don't know enough about it to know if you "massaged" it at all, but I love that image.

[thirschmann]

Thank you... I did not use photoshop for anything other then resizing the image. The only things that I adjusted are contrast, sharpness, and color balance and that was done in Aperture. I try to stray away from digital enhancement whenever I can.