novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Here's a goal someone should aspire to:
In a dream, I saw a new aquarium. It was a cylinder tank, 26 inches in diameter, and 32 inches tall. It stood alone on a mahogany wood base, scalloped and trimmed as you might imagine a Doric column. A coral bommie rose from the sandbed in the very center of the tank; wider at the base, growing smaller near the water's surface. The live rock of the bommie cleverly concealed the overflow for the tank, and the return loclines pointed down in different directions to create a swirling current down along the live rock structure. A trio of Koralias were hidden among the rock near the base, their timers set so that no more than one powerhead was on at a time. They provided countercurrent for the returns, and a gentle rocking motion for the water. Their cords snaked up, tucked between the rock crevices, to a power bar in the canopy of the tank. Hidden in the round canopy was a circular LED light system, 48 3-watt LEDs arranged on a doughnut-shaped heat sink so no light was wasted over unused parts of the tank. An aquatic garden of different corals grew in and among the rock bommie. A rainbow of colors danced and swayed in the current as delicate polyps reached out to snare whatever floating plankton they could find. Gorgonians and sea fans stuck out among the coral, and the sand bed was covered in leafy macroalgae.
Look closer. There were 8 large H. erectus horses hiding in among the coral. Perhaps there' was one hitched to the red sea fan, his colors blended to match the rusty red and orange of his surrounding. There might have been a couple in the macroalgae, hunting for tiny shrimp along the sandbed as they clung to the green blades. Two more were courting, their tail tips knotted together as they twined up along the side of the tank. The others...well, they could be anywhere. The tank invited you to sit and watch.
You could walk around this tank in its entirety. There were even a pair of small couches on either side, recliners so you could sit back and work or relax while the horses played in front of you. In the evening, the lights dimmed to a pale blue white. Occasionally a program ran that flashed the lights in a random pattern, a simulated thunderstorm for our simulated world. Perhaps the powerheads were even synced in with the program, giving some underwater turbulence to the storm above.
In the morning, however, the sun broke over the tank........as it would always do. A few dedicated red LEDs started the process off, giving the tank a pink hue of sunrise. Soon enough, a crisp, life-giving white light poured in, and the process began anew.
As I said....a pipe dream. As sure as those original visions that were bourne out of the chinese flop-dens on an opium haze. I can't build this. Maybe someone here can. In the meantime, isn't it great to at least dream about it??
In a dream, I saw a new aquarium. It was a cylinder tank, 26 inches in diameter, and 32 inches tall. It stood alone on a mahogany wood base, scalloped and trimmed as you might imagine a Doric column. A coral bommie rose from the sandbed in the very center of the tank; wider at the base, growing smaller near the water's surface. The live rock of the bommie cleverly concealed the overflow for the tank, and the return loclines pointed down in different directions to create a swirling current down along the live rock structure. A trio of Koralias were hidden among the rock near the base, their timers set so that no more than one powerhead was on at a time. They provided countercurrent for the returns, and a gentle rocking motion for the water. Their cords snaked up, tucked between the rock crevices, to a power bar in the canopy of the tank. Hidden in the round canopy was a circular LED light system, 48 3-watt LEDs arranged on a doughnut-shaped heat sink so no light was wasted over unused parts of the tank. An aquatic garden of different corals grew in and among the rock bommie. A rainbow of colors danced and swayed in the current as delicate polyps reached out to snare whatever floating plankton they could find. Gorgonians and sea fans stuck out among the coral, and the sand bed was covered in leafy macroalgae.
Look closer. There were 8 large H. erectus horses hiding in among the coral. Perhaps there' was one hitched to the red sea fan, his colors blended to match the rusty red and orange of his surrounding. There might have been a couple in the macroalgae, hunting for tiny shrimp along the sandbed as they clung to the green blades. Two more were courting, their tail tips knotted together as they twined up along the side of the tank. The others...well, they could be anywhere. The tank invited you to sit and watch.
You could walk around this tank in its entirety. There were even a pair of small couches on either side, recliners so you could sit back and work or relax while the horses played in front of you. In the evening, the lights dimmed to a pale blue white. Occasionally a program ran that flashed the lights in a random pattern, a simulated thunderstorm for our simulated world. Perhaps the powerheads were even synced in with the program, giving some underwater turbulence to the storm above.
In the morning, however, the sun broke over the tank........as it would always do. A few dedicated red LEDs started the process off, giving the tank a pink hue of sunrise. Soon enough, a crisp, life-giving white light poured in, and the process began anew.
As I said....a pipe dream. As sure as those original visions that were bourne out of the chinese flop-dens on an opium haze. I can't build this. Maybe someone here can. In the meantime, isn't it great to at least dream about it??
