The build thread: 430gal. display

[jasonh]

Slightly OT, but if anybody's curious about the area the fire burned:

http://www.digitalglobe.com/downloads/DG_Olde_Stage_Fire_Boulder_CO.pdf

Some nice satellite images of just how close the fire got to everything.

 

[Ummfish]

And that only covers one of the fires. Thanks, Jason!

It's pretty crazy, though. Before the snow, you could see the blackened areas right up to the back fences of the homes right on the north end of town. They got _really_ lucky.

And one more thing to worry about: The area that the fire passed over is open space for a reason. It's _really_ heavily polluted from years of jet fuel dumping from an old defense contractor. I guess it'll be safe for human habitation again in something like 30,000 years. We all hope the city buried everything deeply enough in there.

 

[Ummfish]

So I've been out of touch on this thread, but I've had lots of work and lots of getting stuff ready. But it is time for an update, eh?

My lovely bride took some photos yesterday:

http://www.ummfish.com/remodel.html

I have the barrel just about finished. I still need two 45s and to cement on the plumbing.

I can cut the egg collector out of the flow loop with the ball valve:

The inside of the egg collector:

 

[jasonh]

Andy,

The house is just beautiful. Quite a change since I saw it in, what, October I think. My wife is in love with the tile on the upper walls in that bathroom.

What's the room with the black-topped table and jars on the walls for? Some kind of craft room?

So can you explain this barrel thing? How is it going to be used?

 

[Ummfish]

Thanks, Jason! You are right, that's an arts and crafts room upstairs. We all have our projects and the kiddo's really into art, so it seemed like a good use of space. My lovely bride also spins custom yarns, so that gives her a workspace for putting things together, dyeing, washing, etc.

Okay, the barrel thing. Small pelagic spawning fish--dwarf angels, basslets, wrasses, etc.--don't need a huge aquarium but they need a tall water column in order to complete their spawning ascents. I guess having a tall enough container can make a huge difference in percentage of eggs fertilized or even whether any get fertilized at all. So, a 55 gal. drum. It's tall but not huge. And, the circular shape helps with flow dynamics in egg collection. You plumb return water from the sump deep into the barrel and pointed to the side. So you have water swirling around the circle and moving from the bottom of the barrel towards the overflow at the top. Pelagic spawners' eggs are a little positively buoyant so any eggs should make their way over the overflow, down a slight slope, and on to the egg collector.

And there you have it....

-------------------------

Inspection was today. Just some piddly details, as inspectors must justify jobs. Actually, the biggest involve the aquarium room. The inspectors are requiring unfettered access to the crawl space, so some of the plumbing above the sump is going to have to move. Also, they had to move a couple of electrical boxes in there because the inspector couldn't get into the boxes to check to make sure that they're working. The other big issue is a technicality involving venting the sump pit under the house. The plumber asked the city what kind of venting they wanted, installed that kind, and then the city changed their minds about what they wanted. No big.

The big cleanup starts tomorrow!

Tonight's photos: http://www.ummfish.com/remodel.html

But, some photos of the nascent rockwork. He just started adding the base coat of cement this afternoon. The finish coat with sculpting goes on tomorrow or the next day.

The access doors above and below the aquarium are supposed to be installed Friday.

 

[dtech]

Where can I read on the build process for the nascent rockwork? I really like that look and would like to learn it.

 

[Ummfish]

This is the guy who's doing the work (Adam, a really nice guy): http://www.geocustomdesigns.com/index.html

The process isn't terribly hard: Mesh as a cement backer, Great Stuff foam to hold the mesh in place, Portland cement. There's a looooong thread at Reef Central that talks about the process: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=807988&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

Good luck!

 

[jasonh]

Are those pieces going to be pulled out of the tank and cured in some other body of water, or are they there for good? Takes a while to leech all the junk out of cement, especially when it's not quickdry cement. of course, that's been my experience making big rocks, not just coating stuff like that....

 

[dtech]

Yes that is quite the long thread, I'll have a ton to read, Thanks for the info.

 

[jasonh]

I read that thread all the way through a year ago or so. I got my recipe down and haven't looked at the thread lately for any improvements.

I use quick-drying cement, oyster shell, sand, and perlite. I use salt for molding, but I don't put it in the mix. After 24 hours I bake the rock in the oven. Then let it sit outside for a couple weeks, then soak for a couple weeks, and it's usually good.

I haven't made it in a really long time, since I haven't needed it. Once I set up a bigger tank again (I can now that I'm BUYING a house) I will most likely make a big batch again.

 

[Ummfish]

Hey! The house is mostly clean! Woohoo!

Just so you all know, all the photos in this thread are hosted on a server local to me. I'm going to be migrating my network to the house over the next couple of days (or more, depending on how it goes) including moving my business server to a new computer and possibly even moving these photos to a new server, so you may encounter periods where the photos don't work. You have been warned!!!!

Mmmm, I looooovvvve IT work. At least Macs make it easier.

 

[Ummfish]

dtech--You don't know the half of it. The thread's split three or four times.

Jason--

I can now that I'm BUYING a house

Hey! Congratulations! Way to buck the trend!!!!

 

[jasonh]

Andy, thanks. It's a manufactured home and is costing us 1/3 what a regular house would, but a home is a home (and it doesn't look like a cheapy manufactured home).

I think once I can get a bigger tank in there (75 or 90...120 may be pushing it for a small house), it will be lit by the sun via SolaTubes

Hey by the way, my wife said something about she thinks the brick in your kitchen isn't real brick, and I can't remember. Is it fake or real?

 

[Ummfish]

Sounds like a good plan!

The bricks are real, but they are cut down to 1/3 the size of real bricks. So, like brick tiles.

------------------

Looks like the photos are back, baby! No new photos yet--haven't had time--and I'd better get back to moving.

As a tank update, the skin installer guys got about half of the bottom done Friday. None of the upper panels are on yet.

 

[Ummfish]

Well, not much of an update but I did take a couple of photos of the tank skinning so far:

 

[Ummfish]

So, here's the progress:

There are some tweaks that need to be made (for example, they forgot they needed to cover the overflow, doh), but it looks really good for the most part.

A fun light photo:

And--bum, bum bum--we have the first tank with salt water!!! Yes, I salted one of the 90s today. I really need to start moving some fish and, so, need to get a cycle going.

Shelves for equipment:

Please ignore the silly stairs. They are there to try to pass inspection and are not likely to stay long after that.

 

[Ummfish]

And, more photos:

I hooked up one of the MHs today in order to check for light spillage and such. This is only one of the six future lights.

Also, I got the first inhabitant of the newly salted system today. A shrimp!

Yep, one raw shrimp from the grocery store. Bring on the cycle!

 

[Zooid]

WOOOOOHOOOOOOO getting soooooooooo close!

 

[jasonh]

Sweeeet. Water!

I always feel weird about just getting 1 shrimp from the seafood counter. So I usually just buy a bunch to eat and then throw a piece in the tank. Good excuse for shrimp cocktail. I use cooked shrimp though, I think I was told once cooked is preferred...dunno why.

 

[Zooid]

I thought raw was the preferred method?