Doug's 250, now 300, in wall build

[Dary421]

No doubt about it. If its built strong enough you could use bricks made from dried mud. It just needs a tough waterproof interior that doesn't degrade after years of pressure and saltwater. As well as various burrowing critters that can attack the sides and bottom. For tanks built into walls, what not? But my reef has 5 different angles I can view from without big seams obstructing view. So acrylic was the choice 20 years ago as glass then was too green in any thickness at all.

I was a hippie when I built the 500 gallon. It had a observation dome built into the middle of the tank when you could roll your chair up under the tank and stick your head in the bubble and watch the angel fish. But as a hippie, I didn't mind that the think was always leaking.

Whoa,...talk about being on mushrooms ,.that had to be a real trip to behold,..got any old pictures of it ?

 

[mr_X]

lol..yeah..lets see some pics!
the strength of the wood is of little consequence to me because i'm using a steel frame. i won't even need a center brace.
i feel like a bit of a sell out after all of this, but on the glass cages website, they also offer a 375 that's 96 x 36 x 25 Tall, for 1819.00.
will i miss the foot? probably.


...i just ordered another 200 pounds of live rock, so, i'm gonna need to do something....lol.

 

[carey]

Whatever it takes to make you happy! Homemade or store bought I'm sure it will be awesome.

anything new in the current tank btw? Or just rolling along as it was?

 

[mr_X]

nothing new. diatoms from purposely overfeeding, the fish are putting on some weight (they had some ribs showing when i got them)....
i will say this though- i like the bubble magus skimmer better then the octopus. better footprint, and more/finer bubbles. it's producing more skimmate.
(it was the BM 180 ex, and the octo was the NWB-200)

 

[Gti_Leo]

when you go with the larger tank what are you goign to do for skimmers.

what are the skimmer pumps rated at, that may have make a difference as far as how much skimmate they produce as beign side by side the one skimmer is pulling in water faster so the other pump has less dirty water to pump in

 

[Gregcoyote]

Whoa,...talk about being on mushrooms ,.that had to be a real trip to behold,..got any old pictures of it ?

I admit to nothing...the early 70's and tropical fish...cameras were my least worry at that point.

 

[mr_X]

when you go with the larger tank what are you goign to do for skimmers.

what are the skimmer pumps rated at, that may have make a difference as far as how much skimmate they produce as beign side by side the one skimmer is pulling in water faster so the other pump has less dirty water to pump in

i'm going to use these two until i can save up for a larger one.
i don't think that's the case with the one pulling water faster than the other. the octopus has a larger pump, so if your theory is correct, it should be producing more skimmate, not less. besides, the water leaving the skimmer chamber is by no means spotless.
i snapped a couple pics, but my camera battery went dead before i could transfer them to the pc.
glass cages wants an extra $367.00 to make the front pane of that 3 x 8 tank starphire glass. that sounds crazy expensive to me.
plus another 240 bucks to truck it to allentown pa. i just can't afford that.

 

[Gregcoyote]

i'm going to use these two until i can save up for a larger one.
i don't think that's the case with the one pulling water faster than the other. the octopus has a larger pump, so if your theory is correct, it should be producing more skimmate, not less. besides, the water leaving the skimmer chamber is by no means spotless.
i snapped a couple pics, but my camera battery went dead before i could transfer them to the pc.
glass cages wants an extra $367.00 to make the front pane of that 3 x 8 tank starphire glass. that sounds crazy expensive to me.
plus another 240 bucks to truck it to allentown pa. i just can't afford that.

It is incredible glass though. They sheet buildings in it...can't imagine what that costs. Even acrylic has gotten really expensive...I guess polycarbonate is out of the question as well. How thick was the glass panel to be? You might check with a building contractor or large glass company to price a sheet to your specs. Everybody uses this stuff now for even display windows.

 

[mr_X]

it doesn't say how thick, but the last tank i got from them was a 195-5, and it was extremely heavy. much heavier than the 265 i have now.

some random crappy pics....
blood worm feeding frenzy...

the file...slowly getting less and less camera shy-

one of my corals, repo'd from the gym tank (i believe this to be an acan maxima. it's got the same skeleton an acan lord has, but the polyps are about doorknob sized)-

a fts. nothing exciting really. as you can see i'm using those mj pros. they are ok, but the suction cups are lousy..

and the skimmers doing their thing-

 

[Gti_Leo]

everythign looks healthy but i've gotta say the tekk fixture has a wicked color to it, you really have to change out the lamps in the other fixutre and it is far brighter too, it over powers onto the other fixtures side

 

[slitherbomb]

I wouldn't go with a glasscages tank. I've read horrible reviews from the Internet about them and how the glass panels were not aligned, and how the silicone seals were too thick and uneven. I wouldn't risk that much money to get something like that.

 

[kurtyboh]

ive read the exact opposite, that glasscages are one of the top companies to get from... weird

 

[slitherbomb]

Maybe the reviews I read we're old then. Their price are really good and if it is in fact true that they're good, then I would be happy and it will be easier to get the 300g I'm planning.

 

[redsea]

it doesn't say how thick, but the last tank i got from them was a 195-5, and it was extremely heavy. much heavier than the 265 i have now.

some random crappy pics....
blood worm feeding frenzy...

the file...slowly getting less and less camera shy-

one of my corals, repo'd from the gym tank (i believe this to be an acan maxima. it's got the same skeleton an acan lord has, but the polyps are about doorknob sized)-

a fts. nothing exciting really. as you can see i'm using those mj pros. they are ok, but the suction cups are lousy..

and the skimmers doing their thing-

The tank and fish look great Doug! Nice job!

 

[carey]

Looks good X. Liking it alot.

 

[mr_X]

I wouldn't go with a glasscages tank. I've read horrible reviews from the Internet about them and how the glass panels were not aligned, and how the silicone seals were too thick and uneven. I wouldn't risk that much money to get something like that.

it could go either way. i was satisfied with my last tank from them, and the most important fact is that they are about half price, compared to the other tank manufacturers. a thousand dollars sure makes a crooked caulk line seem less noticeable.

 

[kurtyboh]

that it sure does!!! for many of us $1000 is a dream tank...

 

[mr_X]

i just got a quote from a reputable tank builder. for the 96 x 48 x 25, without a single hole drilled or overflow box installed, it's going to run me 5870.00.
double. now i ask you, would you be willing to put up with some messy glue lines?

 

[Gti_Leo]

or some wood and metal

 

[scubasteve03]

Wow I didn't know you could build a tank with ply wood I've been on you tube all day lol