Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Stand Design
So after contemplating using steel or a wood to build my stand and after reading all the positives in the reef central thread I've decided to go with a wooden stand made with 2x4 pieces of pitch pine. I had to customize my stand in incorporate my chiller because I intend to have a very clean cut tank with the display tank the focus and with the rest of equipment hidden within the stand. Basically i designed the frame using Google Sketch Up which is a free CAD tool. It's rather addictive and relatively easy to use. I will probably use it to design the plumbing section of my tank as well. Anyway below is the initial design for my tank.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Planning
Have been really lazy in updating this blog but here goes:
I have had an aquarium built with dimensions looking like 48x24x18 inches. The tank was made by a custom glass dealer who has alot of experience with tank building. I initially wanted wanted a shallow rimless tank but to do this i would need very thick glass which would put the tank outside my budget. In the end i went with these dimensions and had to live with two braces in the middle of the tank running from the middle of the overflow. It's not what i pictured but I will make it work. Along with the tank i also had a 50 gallon sump built. When designing the system I was very confused and as a result i ended up with a wet-dry filter instead of a refugium. Later on I will customize this to suit my needs. Overall I am very happy with the build quality of my tanks.
I have also aquaired all my bulkhead fittings from www.glass-holes.com along with some fancy loc line fittings and plan to install these to increase flow entering the aquarium. My wife also bought me a 6 stage Reverse Osmosis system so that i will have the extra clean water that is required to start my tank. In my possession from my last tank i have a Tek 36 inch system with 4 t5's. Later on I will need to upgrade this system but for now i hope to incorporate it into this system. I also possess a Tradewinds Inline 1/4 hp chiller which is much needed in the caribbean in order to maintain a constant temperature for the coral to live.
Currently the only things I am missing to start my aquarium are a tank stand (which i plan on doing myself) and my new house which should be ready at the end of this month (maybe thats why I've been so lazy in updating this blog...
Anyway I plan to design my tank stand using google sketchup and use a model which i found in this informative thread on reefcentral. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14306359#post14306359.
By the way reefcentral has now become my new addiction and I am sure when i set up my tank i will have problems with the "go slow let it grow" mindset that i must undertake when i start my tank.
I have had an aquarium built with dimensions looking like 48x24x18 inches. The tank was made by a custom glass dealer who has alot of experience with tank building. I initially wanted wanted a shallow rimless tank but to do this i would need very thick glass which would put the tank outside my budget. In the end i went with these dimensions and had to live with two braces in the middle of the tank running from the middle of the overflow. It's not what i pictured but I will make it work. Along with the tank i also had a 50 gallon sump built. When designing the system I was very confused and as a result i ended up with a wet-dry filter instead of a refugium. Later on I will customize this to suit my needs. Overall I am very happy with the build quality of my tanks.
I have also aquaired all my bulkhead fittings from www.glass-holes.com along with some fancy loc line fittings and plan to install these to increase flow entering the aquarium. My wife also bought me a 6 stage Reverse Osmosis system so that i will have the extra clean water that is required to start my tank. In my possession from my last tank i have a Tek 36 inch system with 4 t5's. Later on I will need to upgrade this system but for now i hope to incorporate it into this system. I also possess a Tradewinds Inline 1/4 hp chiller which is much needed in the caribbean in order to maintain a constant temperature for the coral to live.
Currently the only things I am missing to start my aquarium are a tank stand (which i plan on doing myself) and my new house which should be ready at the end of this month (maybe thats why I've been so lazy in updating this blog...
Anyway I plan to design my tank stand using google sketchup and use a model which i found in this informative thread on reefcentral. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14306359#post14306359.
By the way reefcentral has now become my new addiction and I am sure when i set up my tank i will have problems with the "go slow let it grow" mindset that i must undertake when i start my tank.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Introduction
In this blog i have decided to document the creation of a reef tank. I decided to first start off about my history in this hobby. Since i was a "Small Man" as we say in Trinidad I have been mesmerized by fish, fishing and basically fish keeping on the whole. I was so into fish i would collect "drain" fish (Poecilia reticulata) at the tender age of 5 and keep them. I would have to stop into every pet shop just to watch these magnificent creatures.
As i grew up i moved to Canada and here my fish keeping went into hiatus as i was constantly moving and fish keeping abroad was a bit different, instead i took any opportunity i got to go fishing in any lake or sometimes even canals. After 3 years i moved back to Trinidad where my obsession was rekindled by the availability of cheap fish, i was especially interested in Siamese fighting (Betta splendens) fish and even started to breed them. In Trinidad i also had an uncle who shared my affinity for fish keeping and all around me were ponds of Kois (Cyprinus carpio) and Platies (Xiphophorus variatus). Eventually this uncle moved to Miami and most of the pnds were left without fish.
Later on after getting a job and finally spending my own money i decided to get into Discus (Symphysodon spp.)
My 4ft Discus Tank
I had this tank for 2 years and then my job took me to a coral reef and the Environmentalist as well as the Aquarist was "enlightened". I started a fish only tank and soon keeping fish only tanks were unappealing and i required more to quell my obsession.
My 3ft (40Gallon) FOWLR
After getting married and also moving out I am now at the junction of purchasing my new house and moving in. My house is almost complete and apart from the excitement of moving in, i now have the excitement of planning and creating a reef tank. This is primarily what this blog will be about, hopefully I don't stray from the topic too much...
As i grew up i moved to Canada and here my fish keeping went into hiatus as i was constantly moving and fish keeping abroad was a bit different, instead i took any opportunity i got to go fishing in any lake or sometimes even canals. After 3 years i moved back to Trinidad where my obsession was rekindled by the availability of cheap fish, i was especially interested in Siamese fighting (Betta splendens) fish and even started to breed them. In Trinidad i also had an uncle who shared my affinity for fish keeping and all around me were ponds of Kois (Cyprinus carpio) and Platies (Xiphophorus variatus). Eventually this uncle moved to Miami and most of the pnds were left without fish.
Later on after getting a job and finally spending my own money i decided to get into Discus (Symphysodon spp.)
My 4ft Discus Tank
I had this tank for 2 years and then my job took me to a coral reef and the Environmentalist as well as the Aquarist was "enlightened". I started a fish only tank and soon keeping fish only tanks were unappealing and i required more to quell my obsession.
My 3ft (40Gallon) FOWLR
After getting married and also moving out I am now at the junction of purchasing my new house and moving in. My house is almost complete and apart from the excitement of moving in, i now have the excitement of planning and creating a reef tank. This is primarily what this blog will be about, hopefully I don't stray from the topic too much...
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