The slow 112G jungle tank build ...

[Harry Muscle]

More notes related to my order with Miracles Aquarium:

Armpit calculations to determine the ideal stand height:

Return line notes:

Magnet calculations got attaching things to the glass:

Shopping list of things needed to connect the living room to the fish room electronically:

More return plumbing notes:

Shopping list for basement plumbing:

Notes about the plumbing that went inside the wall connecting the living room and basement:

 

[Harry Muscle]

Arduino notes when researching which brand to get for the IR light controller:

Notes related to determining where the holes will go in the aquarium:

Notes from when I looked at the tank and stand in September:

Congratulations for getting thru all my notes ... hope some of you benefit from all this research.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program ...

 

[Harry Muscle]

Now that all the notes are posted, time for a status update. I finished the IR Light Controller:

I also installed the electrical box in the hole in the living room. You can also see in the pic that the plumbing has been finished with one half of the Union join glued in (I'll post a better pic later on).

Thanks,
Harry

 

[Harry Muscle]

The electrical outlets went in along with the first set of keystone jacks. This also shows better the union joins that have been attached to the plumbing.

Thanks,
Harry

 

[brennae]

What's the status on your tank and stand? Didn't they mess something up with it from the shop to the fish store?

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[Harry Muscle]

What's the status on your tank and stand? Didn't they mess something up with it from the shop to the fish store?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

I'm driving up to check out everything again this Wednesday ... hopefully everything will be done correctly this time and I'll have the tank delivered soon after.

Thanks,
Harry

 

[Harry Muscle]

I drove out to Miracles this last Wednesday ... that was disappointing. I thought they wanted me to come in and take a look at the fixes they made to the tank and stand ... turns out they wanted me to come in and discuss what I wanted fixed because the original discussion about two months ago was via email.

I have to say their quality is definitely nice, but I'm either not a big enough client for them or they are just disorganized.

They had the tank more accessible this time than before so I measured all the holes that they drilled and it returns out that they misread my diagrams and drilled all the holes 3/8" too high. Somewhat aggrevating ... but the only solution would be to build a new tank. The downside with that is that they threw in 1/2" glass as a favor instead of the 3/8" glass that I actually paid for ... pretty sure a new tank wouldn't include that.

Fortunately I measured things and the glass holes overflow I will be using will still fit ... the water level will just be 3/8" higher than I expected. Also the return lines will be a little higher so there won't be as much back siphon into the sump. Unfortunately though this does mean that the bulkheads will hit into the trim ... they realized this and cut the trim a bit around the holes ... I'll just have to do a nicer and more symmetrical job once I finally get the tank. Here's what it looks like:

Thanks,
Harry

 

[Harry Muscle]

Much much happening lately ... the rest of the electrical in the living room has been completed. That's about it.

Thanks,
Harry

 

[brennae]

Wow this is slow progress for Miracles to actually get you your tank! Did they have a ready date for you?

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[Harry Muscle]

Wow this is slow progress for Miracles to actually get you your tank! Did they have a ready date for you?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

They are aiming for the first week of December ... we'll see what actually happens

Thanks,
Harry

 

[Laeris]

On one hand, I have total envy for what the end result will be. This interim stuff though, not so much. I'm sorry.

 

[Harry Muscle]

On one hand, I have total envy for what the end result will be. This interim stuff though, not so much. I'm sorry.

Ha-ha ... I bet most people feel like you. I'm probably one of the few that enjoys the interim stuff ... just wish it would move along a little faster cause the end result is just more fun.

Thanks,
Harry

 

[ImACoolguy]

I'll say I've never seen so much pre planning for one tank.

Perfection will pay off, hopefully it arrives soon


Caleb

 

[Harry Muscle]

So it looks like my image host (Google) has decided to change the majority of my image URLs so that they aren't working anymore in the previous posts. I have the new URLs, but I can't edit my posts after a certain amount of time to fix the URLs ... so if anyone is interested in any of the previous pictures that aren't showing up you can find them here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=826569

Thanks,
Harry

 

[Harry Muscle]

I'm heading out to Miracles Aquarium again today. Apparently all the repairs to the stand are complete. Assuming everything checks out fine it should get delivered tomorrow.

Thanks,
Harry

 

[brennae]

I hope they are done finally. Seems like you've been waiting forever.

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[Laeris]

Wooooo!! Progress! ?

 

[Harry Muscle]

Today was another disappointing drive out to Miracles Aquarium (it's over an hour drive for me ... so it's not like they are around the corner).

First, lets start with the good. They did a very nice job fixing the stand issues that I reported the last two times I drive out there. They also said that they will make sure I'm happy or they'll refund my money. And they might even credit me some money to pay for all the gas I've spent going there five times now.

Now for the bad. They once again had damage on the stand, most likely from moving or hitting it in the shop after it came from the carpenter. On its own that's not too bad, but combined with the fact that this is the third time I've driven out there to deal with the stand it's really annoying and doesn't make for a good customer experience.

I've definitely come to the conclusion that if you're obsessive, particular, or anal and you're looking for a company that will deliver "perfection" on the first go around (or even the second), you should definitely look elsewhere. On the other hand if you're just an average Joe looking for a good quality but not necessarily "perfect" tank and stand then definitely give them a try. They are nice to deal with, although quite disorganized based on my experience.

It looks like they'll be aiming to get the tank and stand delivered to me December 28 ... hopefully.

Thanks,
Harry

 

[ImACoolguy]

Guess it's a new meaning to "you can't rush perfection" but that sucks they are taking so long with it and those issues.


Caleb

 

[Harry Muscle]

Guess it's a new meaning to "you can't rush perfection" but that sucks they are taking so long with it and those issues.


Caleb

I placed my original order beginning of July ... so I guess perfection takes about 6 months [emoji20].

Thanks,
Harry