Peppie

Very nice score!!

Is that lava rock in your tank???

Gary is cruising around fine now...thanks to any and all who care at all he won't take any food yet, but he'll be hungry soon enough.

Yeah I am calling this an almost-done-deal, and have already started collecting gear for the reef build - going to jump on the BRS group buy and see I how much more I can flesh out the build with what I have left inthe budget.

Thanks everyone for checking this out - I have gotten a way better response here than on the reptile forums...nearly everyone there was telling me how I was wasting my time.

LOL Nearly everyone there has a brain the size of the pets they keep!! They were just jealous as H@&%

OK. Now that this project is done have you started a thread build for you reef???

Gary will be fine give him a week to get settled. He will love his million dollar condo soon enough.

Peppie' date=' I saw that pic before I read the post and I almost screamed!!! I thought someone was going to use that foe a stand and i was like NOOOOO!!! Glad to read it is going to be well loved in a saltwater free home. [/quote']

 

LOL Gill,

That desk was a labor of love. My daughter worked very hard to earn it. I am confident to say it will never see ANY type of watertank on it.

 

Dont want to hi-jack OPs thread. But the title is (just to show off a little) LOL

Very impressive Lizard Box.

Your craftsmanship is top notch!!

I am a big fan of anyone who who can use their imagination to create anything that is functional and pleasing to the eye.

The hours you have put into your skilled trade screams out loud in this thread!!

My hat is off to you. GREAT JOB!!

I will be looking forward to your reef build.

BTW I understand what you have accomplished

A graduation present for my daughter

Peppie - did you vacuum-form that conical section?

Great builds, both of you guys

No, it was heated in a homemade oven, then it was pressed in a jig. I used 3/8'' material. It was a hard push.

I would like to know how Wana did his.

Not a problem, Sometimes it is better to have solid data to relies on.

Imo 3/8 would need a euro brace, and the 1/2 could be rimless

Wana,

Great to see you have come to the Airstone side!!

Your DIY Skimmer is awesome. The built in cone looks as it may have been a bit tricky? Did you get it on the first shot?

You know you will be able to run much more gph thur the skimmer? Your contact time and dwell time are going to be great with the height of your mixing chamber. You could run up to 500-800 gph and still get great numbers. Mike posted the formula in the Lets Build a Skimmer Thread.

After I studied the thread and did some math, this is what I came up with.

My Water in is a bit different

Have you run a test on your yet??

There is a chart that will give you the correct material thickness for many sizes of tanks

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/planasystem/ig/Guide-Charts--Tables--Diagrams/Glass-Thickness-Calculator.htm

Here is another

http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium

Have you considered building a skimmer that does not rely on a pump to pull int the air and pump the water.

You could build or mod a skimmer to be a counter current, air driven. You would be able to feed the skimmer directly from your over flow. All you would need to do is get your self a quality ceramic air stone, and a small Luft air pump.

IMO these type of skimmers give much better dwell time, bombbardment rate. With the correct air to water ratio you can out skim any skimmer on the market.

Frank,

Very nice system you put together.

I am new to the site,

Who built your tank? I am in the market for a large acrylic tank.

I would prefer to do it myself but the retail cost of 3/4'' acrylic is crazy.

Thanks,

Peppie

Maybe this will help

I zip tied the rocks to the eggcrate then applied Becketts Black Pond Foam in between the rocks