A Golden Reef Tank
- Thread starter halmus
- Start date
I'm going to translate that as a desire for more pictures. Or are you asking the price of my brah?
Here are some more pics.......of my last tank. There is literally nothing else to see in the fish room that hasn't already been photographed. I am not making any progress there other than stocking up on equipment. I promise I'm not holding out on anyone.
I miss some of these colonies. I haven't seen a few of those outside of Oregon where I picked them up. I will need to get in touch with my west coast contacts to see if any of the frags I handed out are still floating around.
Here are some more pics.......of my last tank. There is literally nothing else to see in the fish room that hasn't already been photographed. I am not making any progress there other than stocking up on equipment. I promise I'm not holding out on anyone.
I miss some of these colonies. I haven't seen a few of those outside of Oregon where I picked them up. I will need to get in touch with my west coast contacts to see if any of the frags I handed out are still floating around.
I've read a lot of major threads on Reef Central over the years with people using various technologies. A guy named Peter in Canada successfully ran a huge tank with Orphek before this tank exploded (a crazy story in itself). A guy in Arizona is running a successful 4' deep tank using Radions. There are plenty of other people that have thrown a lot of money at their tanks with less success. I won't post up a Graduate thesis here. There are a lot of variables involved in a successful tank. I think my tank could be successful with LED, however it will take more than the manufacturer's recommendations to get the kind of coverage I prefer.
My mind needs to focus on one thing at a time to be successful. I'll figure out that part of the build when the time comes.
My mind needs to focus on one thing at a time to be successful. I'll figure out that part of the build when the time comes.
I started making drawers for the wife's mud room and quickly figured out that I don't have stock wide enough. I started gluing up blanks for that project. That means I have to find something else to do between gluing up batches.
So, I spent a few hours making a little progress on the tank. The outside base was already skinned with plywood. That will be covered with cherry woodwork in the future. I skinned the top countertop area, the sides and underneath that countertop area. It's officially ready for the counter top people to come by and take measurements. That can be installed as soon as it's ready. Before that happens, I have to build the base cabinets for the dry bar near the aquarium. I want the same counter top material on those surfaces down there. Everything will tie together better that way.
I drained the water that was in the tank. We filled it just to test it out but it's starting to get stagnant. The lights on the wall will be wall sconces in the future. I just have cheapo fixtures on them now to add a little extra light.
DISCLAIMER: My wife picked out the paint color. I'm not totally sold on it, but the wife likes it. I was told that the paint color I picked out looked like stomach bile. Who doesn't like that?
So, I spent a few hours making a little progress on the tank. The outside base was already skinned with plywood. That will be covered with cherry woodwork in the future. I skinned the top countertop area, the sides and underneath that countertop area. It's officially ready for the counter top people to come by and take measurements. That can be installed as soon as it's ready. Before that happens, I have to build the base cabinets for the dry bar near the aquarium. I want the same counter top material on those surfaces down there. Everything will tie together better that way.
I drained the water that was in the tank. We filled it just to test it out but it's starting to get stagnant. The lights on the wall will be wall sconces in the future. I just have cheapo fixtures on them now to add a little extra light.
DISCLAIMER: My wife picked out the paint color. I'm not totally sold on it, but the wife likes it. I was told that the paint color I picked out looked like stomach bile. Who doesn't like that?
This isn't much of an update. It's more of a teaser. I have finally gotten to the point in the remodel where I'm focusing on the basement. I have some base cabinets to build before I bring in the counter top people to measure up for the "dry-bar", aquarium counter, and small counter up in the mud room. They'll all be the same material...probably granite or some similar material.
I have some cement board in the wall now where the dry bar will be. I added the needed circuits for accent lighting to the upper cabinets. I added the outlet for the built in fridge under the counter for beverages. That arrived last weekend. I picked up the cherry for the cabinets. This weekend, I'll start building the cabinets. I spent a lot of time drawing out the dimensions in the modeling software to try to anticipate how the cabinets and doors will line up with the panels on the wall. It's a lot of extra work, but I'm finding that I anticipate problems before they come up in terms of dimensions when I see a 3D version of the final product.
FYI: the screen capture here doesn't reflect the final dimensions. There are a lot of details I've left out, but this drawing was just something I'm using to get the ball rolling.
The back wall with the dry bar will be some sort of stone veneer material as an accent. The door is on order and I'll start modifying it as soon as it arrives to add the arch. Assuming I like the quality, I'll immediately place an order for the remaining doors. I'm also working on getting dimensions together for the remaining mill-work.
I have some cement board in the wall now where the dry bar will be. I added the needed circuits for accent lighting to the upper cabinets. I added the outlet for the built in fridge under the counter for beverages. That arrived last weekend. I picked up the cherry for the cabinets. This weekend, I'll start building the cabinets. I spent a lot of time drawing out the dimensions in the modeling software to try to anticipate how the cabinets and doors will line up with the panels on the wall. It's a lot of extra work, but I'm finding that I anticipate problems before they come up in terms of dimensions when I see a 3D version of the final product.
FYI: the screen capture here doesn't reflect the final dimensions. There are a lot of details I've left out, but this drawing was just something I'm using to get the ball rolling.
The back wall with the dry bar will be some sort of stone veneer material as an accent. The door is on order and I'll start modifying it as soon as it arrives to add the arch. Assuming I like the quality, I'll immediately place an order for the remaining doors. I'm also working on getting dimensions together for the remaining mill-work.
Last edited by a moderator:
I wanted to update everyone to let you know the project is still on track. I placed the order for all of the millwork in the basement. I took a week off of work to make some progress on the basement. I focused on the major cabinet work that needs to be done. The two wine racks are made up of over 200 individual pieces of cherry laminated together. This was a lot of work for a rack that only holds 11 bottles of wine, but it adds a nice touch.
I had to make up this jig to cut radius pieces for the project. This isn't anything fancy, but I spent the extra time to make this usable for future radius cuts.
After playing around with all kinds of options for finishing the cabinets, we went with a linseed oil finish. Once that was applied, we put the cherry out in the sun (which finally came out last week) to bake for a day. That darkened the wood significantly. Finally, I applied polyurethane finish coats and baked them a little longer in the sun. Then, it was time to install.
We're still deciding what rock veneer we're going to apply on that wall as an accent. I also need to make all of the doors and order the glass for doors and shelving. That will be done later on. I want to focus on finishing everything else first. Also, that wood on top is just for a work surface until the counter tops are ordered and installed. The beer fridge is awesome! I'm glad we added that.
I had to make up this jig to cut radius pieces for the project. This isn't anything fancy, but I spent the extra time to make this usable for future radius cuts.
After playing around with all kinds of options for finishing the cabinets, we went with a linseed oil finish. Once that was applied, we put the cherry out in the sun (which finally came out last week) to bake for a day. That darkened the wood significantly. Finally, I applied polyurethane finish coats and baked them a little longer in the sun. Then, it was time to install.
We're still deciding what rock veneer we're going to apply on that wall as an accent. I also need to make all of the doors and order the glass for doors and shelving. That will be done later on. I want to focus on finishing everything else first. Also, that wood on top is just for a work surface until the counter tops are ordered and installed. The beer fridge is awesome! I'm glad we added that.
I've also been stocking up on the rest of the supplies for the aquarium. I ordered a big box of true union valves. I have two dolphin amp master pumps on order from AA. Those will be the return pumps. I want to go with dual matching return pumps for redundancy. They will each have manifolds coming off for other filtration on the back side of the tank. More on that once I'm actually building something for the tank itself. I have four new Vortechs for the in-tank circulation.
The only major thing I think I'm missing for the tank is the lighting. I have some ideas for that. I might be going LED and MH. I want the best of both worlds. I want the efficiency of the LED's but I don't think I can convince myself not to have MH over SPS. So, I might be running MH a shorter period of time during the day than I typically would, and running some quality LED fixtures at the same time for a longer period. I still have plenty of time to work through that decision.
The only major thing I think I'm missing for the tank is the lighting. I have some ideas for that. I might be going LED and MH. I want the best of both worlds. I want the efficiency of the LED's but I don't think I can convince myself not to have MH over SPS. So, I might be running MH a shorter period of time during the day than I typically would, and running some quality LED fixtures at the same time for a longer period. I still have plenty of time to work through that decision.
I received the mill work for the basement last weekend. There's a lot to finish but I'm happy with the quality.
Once I had some of the trim I was waiting on, I wanted to build one of the wall panels that will run around the perimeter of the room. It's not finished but I like how it's looking so far.
I also built the framework for a few columns so those can be installed. My parents are coming out for a few days and my dad is going to help put up some crown molding. That's a much easier job with two people.
My wife is taking care of sanding and applying oil to the mill work. I just have to put on the poly finish when she's done.
Once I had some of the trim I was waiting on, I wanted to build one of the wall panels that will run around the perimeter of the room. It's not finished but I like how it's looking so far.
I also built the framework for a few columns so those can be installed. My parents are coming out for a few days and my dad is going to help put up some crown molding. That's a much easier job with two people.
My wife is taking care of sanding and applying oil to the mill work. I just have to put on the poly finish when she's done.
Thanks to both of you.
This should be the fun part of the project but I can't stop looking at an empty aquarium!
That same style of paneling will be going around the aquarium stand and hood. We're looking at some burl veneers to use for the inset panels vs the 1/4" cherry ply you see above. They would just be used on the aquarium stand/hood and the columns where wall sconces are.
Samples are in the way. I will hopefully have the framework for paneling done around the aquarium this weekend.
One step closer.....
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This should be the fun part of the project but I can't stop looking at an empty aquarium!
That same style of paneling will be going around the aquarium stand and hood. We're looking at some burl veneers to use for the inset panels vs the 1/4" cherry ply you see above. They would just be used on the aquarium stand/hood and the columns where wall sconces are.
Samples are in the way. I will hopefully have the framework for paneling done around the aquarium this weekend.
One step closer.....
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I apologize that this is taking so long and has been a carpentry thread for a while. I finally have a little progress to update.
I have about half of the wainscoting built, finished, and installed. Doors are finally on order for the living space that the tank sits in. My dad came out for a weekend and helped me hang crown molding. We finalized our decision on a wood veneer that will go into those panels on the aquarium base, aquarium hood, and columns. That veneer is on the way. Counter tops will be installed on the 29th. Stone is on the way from Georgia (a second time). They tried giving me the wrong product the first time. I picked out a product that has been discontinued, but there was some remaining product in a store on the East Coast.
I am going to be using a vacuum press for applying the veneer to the backer panels. That's new technology for me. Has anyone seen the Mythbusters episode where they shot a ping pong ball out of a vacuum cannon? That's really why I wanted to buy the vacuum system.
Today, I built a majority of the remaining panels. I have to buy more solid cherry before completing those. Once the counters are in and the stone is finally in my hands, I can work on installing that. I've done a little tile work but installing stone is also new to me.
I'll start on the tank some day....
I have about half of the wainscoting built, finished, and installed. Doors are finally on order for the living space that the tank sits in. My dad came out for a weekend and helped me hang crown molding. We finalized our decision on a wood veneer that will go into those panels on the aquarium base, aquarium hood, and columns. That veneer is on the way. Counter tops will be installed on the 29th. Stone is on the way from Georgia (a second time). They tried giving me the wrong product the first time. I picked out a product that has been discontinued, but there was some remaining product in a store on the East Coast.
I am going to be using a vacuum press for applying the veneer to the backer panels. That's new technology for me. Has anyone seen the Mythbusters episode where they shot a ping pong ball out of a vacuum cannon? That's really why I wanted to buy the vacuum system.
Today, I built a majority of the remaining panels. I have to buy more solid cherry before completing those. Once the counters are in and the stone is finally in my hands, I can work on installing that. I've done a little tile work but installing stone is also new to me.
I'll start on the tank some day....
Thank you. I'm hoping that the back end of the tank will live up to how well the front end is looking.
Thanks. I will take some good panorama shots once I have some more done. It's a big space but it will fill up quickly once the furniture goes in. Pool table, couches, table and chairs where we will probably eat supper every night to watch the tank...
I'm looking forward to everyone stopping by.
Does everyone want to see it when it's all finally set up or wait until I actually have coral growing in? Obviously, that's a long time down the road.
Maybe you all can let me know once I have the equipment in place, water running, and the rock cycling.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks. I will take some good panorama shots once I have some more done. It's a big space but it will fill up quickly once the furniture goes in. Pool table, couches, table and chairs where we will probably eat supper every night to watch the tank...
I'm looking forward to everyone stopping by.
Does everyone want to see it when it's all finally set up or wait until I actually have coral growing in? Obviously, that's a long time down the road.
Maybe you all can let me know once I have the equipment in place, water running, and the rock cycling.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
