MLF Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Nice tank. I would love to have a 180 gallon. Keep up the good work. How do you like the Koralia 4's? I was thinking about getting two of them for my 90 gallon. Monty Got a few new toys. Koralia 4's Still playing around with flow. Had a nasty case of Cyno that has amazingling gone away since these have been put in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Well not much to report, work and life have kept me busy. Battling hair algae still, but think with the help of algaefix im getting it under control. Had a ich outbreak and lost 2 tangs and a dragon goby. Picked up a new RODI system from Nick at RoseCity today. Thanks Nick. now just need to figure out how to hook it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Nice setup. I wish I had your glass tank. I am tired of the scratches that come with acrylic. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 Wow, so Im have been really bad about udating this lately. To be honest Not much has been done on the stand itself. Been battling hair algae(censored) still. Finally looks like im kicking it. Most of it is dying off and I dont see much for new growth. With the help of Algaefix, water changes, and finding out my alk was not what it should be(thanks Shane at Cayes). For some odd reason I didnt check itDOH!, Shane reminded me to check it. Got that coming into check. Been messing with my flow a bit, trying to figure out whats best. RODI system is up and running good. Thank god for not having to lug jugs of water back and forth over the glen Jackson bridge. Aside from that, just some fishy updates. Had a bout with ich and lost a few fish, saved a couple. Lost my Midas blenny to a suicide jump for some odd reason. Full tank shot. back side shot Added my Ocellaris pair to my tank today. Amazingly they accepted my little lone perc, so far(scary) Diamond goby going to town. Replaced my dragon goby that died with the ich. LMB being fat and lazy Few corals, zoas, not really sure what they are, maybe you all can tell me. This one was one polyp that came on a rock with an anenome from my old tank. It seems to be doing well. And a few fish I got in the 55 FO/qt Spotted hawkfish Just picked this up today at Fantaseas. Sailfin tang. Also picked up a beautiful coral beauty but he is a bit camera shy. Thats about it, my wifes hounding me (wife) to get the stand done, not to mention all my other projects, so maybe I will get some work done. Im kinda stuck on what I want to do. The more I think about it, I want to skin the whole thing with wood instead of sheet rock. Just not much of a finish carpenter. I really want to get the canopy done, so I can cut the glare in the room down, not to mention the doors and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Well hopefully by the end of this week I will have the stand done.(rock2) I got the hood mostly framed in today. I decided against the sheetrock and pulled that off today. Im going to skin it with 1/4inch(I think) hardboard. Trim it with 3in pine. I was trying to get fancy with my new router but realized I dont have the skillz to do that yetDOH!. So the trim will come after its all skinned. I got one side cut and started staining it. Ill post some pics once I get a bit more done. Im not a finish carpenter by any means so it doesnt look to pretty right now. More to come soon, hopefully get a bunch done tommorow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 well I got 2 of the 3 sides cut and stained. Now just coating them with varathane. I was able to get my design for the doors done and have one framed up glued. Not perfect, but not bad for my first attempt. 2 more that size and a couple smaller ones, then on to the canopy. Ran out of time today. Hopefully get some more done tommorow.(clap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Stained the one door. Got one side of the canopy door done. Got it half stained tonight. Got both sides of the stand skinned today, need to do the end piece still. Trying to decide if I should make a door on the end incase my sump ever needs to come out, or just wall it in and worry about that if I ever need to. Seen numerous threads on RC of people basically making a door out of a existing stand to put a sump inl. Hopefully take some actual pictures of the stand somewhat skinned tommorow. And this is just a night picture of my clowns digging on the RBTA at night. The little guy peeking out is the perc, the other is my big ocelleris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logical1 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 this is going to be real nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Well did not get as much done this week as I hopedDOH!. Turns out varathane drying time, resanding, varathane drying time.....yada yada yada is longer than expected. So here are some updated shots. Dont laugh at my crude craftmanship, not much of a finish carpenter. Personally like the rustic look myself. So I got one side pretty much done, need to do the small door in the middle. The trim still needs done along with all the little finsih stuff. The other side is almost done, need to finish the canopy door. one side bottom Canopy(still needs some tweaking) Other side bottom top(the canopy will be a bit shorter do to the cabinet and need to make room for some venting and cords and stuff) Full tank shot from semi finished side. So still got the end pieces to do, one small door and then the trim and clean up stuff. Any one suggest a good locking hinge type thing for the canopy lids? I found some and HD but they are crap and dont look very sturdy. I want the lid to lock open when it is lifted. Back to work tommorow, so the rest is gonna be in my free time.(scratch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Hey don't sell yourself short! It looks really nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 I got one side almost completely done today. Need some finishing touch up stuff. Other side, the door and canopy are drying and ready to mount. Just have to figure out the canopy end piece. Need to tweak the doors and put some magnets to keep the doors shut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 The craftsmanship looks fine. Have you thought of a solid main color with the wood trim remaining stained? If you would like an idea of what it may look like that way let me know and I'll post a pic. (I Photochopped an example to get an idea of what the difference might look like before suggesting it) Basically it would hide the grain going 2 different directions. Instead of magnets on the doors you could also use spring loaded hinges if you wanted. Once I figured the cost of hinges plus magnets the hinges that were spring loaded ended up being about the same price. It looks great as it is but I thought I would toss out an idea or two in case your interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Yeah I really screwed up that piece on the canopy door. I didnt even see it until I posted the pic the first time. Frustrating, but honestly it doesnt bug me enough to mess with it. I did not think about a solid color though. I do like that idea, minus the fact I would have to take it all apart again. Minus the one mess up on the canopy, I kind of like the "rustic look". I really looked around at hinges and could not find any that would work(or rather that I thought would work). Im not to happy with the way the hinges went. They look nice, but they are not what I had in mind. Im still looking for a hinge or some kind of brace to hold the canopy open. Think Im gonna have to go to someplace other then HD or lowes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Below is the photochop in case you ever decide to change it and are wondering what difference it might make. (I can change the color if you want to see something different) Yours certainly looks better than what my last one did though (The finish job on it was horrible) and I never got around to stripping it all down to refinish it. After awhile it grew on us and simply gave it more character. If anyone ever mentions the one door just tell them you did it on purpose to make it unique. If you decide you want to try different hinges the ones I got for mine came from Lowes but I think HD has the same ones. I think they were a dollar or so more for each door but I don't recall offhand. One nice thing is that they still allow the doors to swing all of the way open. (They do have 2 styles though and one would not allow it) Here is a link showing them or at least something similar. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=89212-103-BP7629-AE&lpage=none They do have a cam action of some sort so they will stay open unless they are close to being closed. Magnets would probably work just as well now though and may be less trouble. Especially if the holes are different. When I did the hood on my last one I used a brass folding hinge thing from Lowes. They were about 6" long when folded and when extended they locked into place. There is a left and right one due to the way they mount. I think they would work for the upper door to hold it up. Here is a link showing them. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=169026-1277-DPB1890L&lpage=none The website claims they don't carry them at the E. Vancouver store however I know for certain that is where I got them a few months ago. BTW, It's looking great. Really the only issue I see is the front to back depth of the tank. I think it's probably a bit too deep for the area you have it and an inch or so too tall. You probably should swap with the one I have here since it's only 18" deep and 23" tall instead. (Just Kidding, I'm not going to do another swap for awhile but when I do it will probably be a 180g) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 When I did the hood on my last one I used a brass folding hinge thing from Lowes. They were about 6" long when folded and when extended they locked into place. There is a left and right one due to the way they mount. I think they would work for the upper door to hold it up. Here is a link showing them. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...90L&lpage=none The website claims they don't carry them at the E. Vancouver store however I know for certain that is where I got them a few months ago. I actually bought those, at lowes. They just looked really flimsy to me so I didnt mount them. Maybe I will give them a try. I kinda like that photochop look. Im pretty happy with it, I am more critical of things because I know where all my screw ups are. My wife just stares at me like im crazy and says it looks fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I actually bought those, at lowes. They just looked really flimsy to me so I didnt mount them. Maybe I will give them a try. I kinda like that photochop look. Im pretty happy with it, I am more critical of things because I know where all my screw ups are. My wife just stares at me like im crazy and says it looks fine. They will always say that, our being critical is from our pride in our work. Their lack of criticism is from their want for us to not spend more money on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 So a few updates and I decided to post soem pics of everything just cause I was bored. re did all the hinges to the type that will allow the doors to open all the way and shut on there own. Got the lower end of the stand done.(minus trim and stuff) Still figuring out how im gonna vent the end of the hood. Got the other side door on, not totally happy with it, but its up. Also re did the hinges on the canopy doors. Hate them almost as muchDOH! I changed hinges since they were not quite opening right, now these just look bad. So the tank stand and canopy are starting to come together. Few tank shots RBTA's are doing good. End shot LMB hanging out with a Electric blue crab Blue throats(all my fish would not cooperate tonight.) Kole Dori(was the size of a quater when we got her, now she is close to 4-5 inches) Lone firefish and shrimp My baby perc is finally getting some color. Diamond goby(nicked named Fred by my 4 year old) These babies were a lone hitchhiker about 8 months ago. And good ole "spike" A hand me down from Dsoz who got him from Smann And my birdsnest frags I got a month ago. A month ago Today Quite a bit growth on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Still figuring out how im gonna vent the end of the hood. Why dont you cut make another door that matches the others, router 5 horizontal 1/4-3/8 slots that are 6 inches across and 3/8 apart verticaly for the air movement and velcro or hinge it to the end cap? Looks great so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Picked up a couple coral frags yesterday. Thought I would show a couple pics of that and soem growth I am getting with my birdsnest. Picked these up from Ocean in a Box yesterday. Australian Lobophyllia Some type of Montipora, not sure, its green. Neon green Candy cane. It looks like the one head might split. My pair of birdsnest. Growing quite well. These are the 2 in the pictures above. Still learning about corals and starting slow. Trying to stay with the more forgiving SPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 If you go down coral road...start slowly! You should consider a Ca Reactor for a tank that size. Aside from the hair algae, the LR looks really nice! I wonder if your Phosphates are connected to that rock? Check your PO4 levels...if you haven't already done so. Beautiful tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 If you go down coral road...start slowly! You should consider a Ca Reactor for a tank that size. Aside from the hair algae, the LR looks really nice! I wonder if your Phosphates are connected to that rock? Check your PO4 levels...if you haven't already done so. Beautiful tank! Yeah I have gone slow on the corals, a few SPS frags and some zoas. I thought maybe the rock to, but not sure. I checked my phospate levels and they read 0. So not sure. I have considered a CA reactor, just dont have the fundage for one yet, not to mention the room might be tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 Few pics I took this morning. Not much new. My shrimp finally are starting to come back out after hiding during the hawkfish crysis. RBTA split again, so now I have 3 in there. Birdsnest seem to be growing well Anyone know what these are? They are growing like mad And the 55 is up and running now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltfinsax Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Its looking real nice Josh. I was looking at them zoa's or pally's and what are them white dots that are on the side of each one? kinda strange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 Not really sure. When I got those they were just a few on a little rock. Now I have 3 huge patches like that one. Not even sure what they are. THey grow like weeds under the halides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted February 20, 2010 Author Share Posted February 20, 2010 Well its been a couple months since my last update. Not alot to report. All my hair algae up and dissapeared. Tank is now pretty clean. Only new addition would be the devils hand frag donated by saltfinsax. Most my corals seem to be growing. Tank is almost a year old now and starting to come around. Here are a few pictures I took this afternoon, and yes my camera sucks. FTS My new devils hand and Fred the diamond goby birdsnest and slimer seem to be doing well. My 3 mutant RBTA's, all loved equally by my Clowns. Other birdsnest Monti is growing now most the fish in this shot, even though its not the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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