braydonosu's 40 gal

[braydonosu]

Tested my salt mixing tank last night - works like a charm. The flow is pretty low, but what could I expect out of the smallest maxi jet? It only pushes 104 gph, but oh well - it will get the water from point A to point B. Maybe tonight I will plumb the ATO and see how that works. I just ordered a teperature controller online so now it looks like all I need is a small light for my fuge.

 

[coralreefer]

vortech MP20 for flow. awesome pump, worth every penny

 

[braydonosu]

That pump looks amazing, but I don't have $300 to spend and I'm only moving water from a holding tank into the sump - This is my first experience with korilias so we'll see how I feel about them this time around - then maybe next time I'll pony up the cash for some vortechs

 

[braydonosu]

I put a coat of stain on my side cabinates last night - they are looking pretty sweet. This weekend my to do list is - another coat of stain, urithane them both, set up my 22 cube for a pisto shrimp/goby combo, finally finish plumbing.
My weld on is coming in middle of next week, so I should be able to get my overflow done by next weekend

I'll try to take some pics of the progress this weeked - you should be impressed

 

[braydonosu]

Little bit of progress this weekend. Finished my 2 side cabinetes, and am done with the plumbing. All I'm waiting for now is my weld on to come in wednesday. I also cleaned up the 22 cube and put some old sand in with fresh water to clean it up and get any junk out of it.
Here are some pics.
Power Center: (2x 8 switch power strips, digital timer + 4 outlets, Temperature controller)

Water Cabinet: (Bottom is my salt mixing container (~5 gal) top is my ATO (~3.5 gal))

We have water flow: (My 2 closed loop outlets)

My 22 Cube cleaning some sand:

Hopefully not too much longer (I know I keep saying that - stupid set-backs)

 

[hlcroghan]

Wow....incredible!! I am unbelieveably inpressed. I wouldn't even know where to begin on something this nice. Great job!!

 

[braydonosu]

Thank you. It took quite a bit of time admiring other reefer's tanks and asking a lot of questions about set ups. One thing I learned is that everything evolves in design/setup. I started with a simple 40 gal tank and stand and it grew 2 new side cabinetes and all the other trimmings that you see.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Very nice. Hopefully you will be able to get your overflow done and get this thing up and running shortly.
Great job on the cabinets by the way. I have like 0 woodworking skills so those of you who do amaze me. Great job.

 

[braydonosu]

Thanks for the compliment. I have loved wood working for a long time. Knowing that the piece of furniture that you are using was just a few boards and some screws before you got ahold of it, not to mention the feeling that you get when you think about the posibility of something you made being passed down through generations of your family. I have actually made this tank stand/cabinetes, a poker table, a chess table, a clock, and a shot glass cabinet. I gave the clock to my parents, but I'll try to get a few pics of the other stuff to post, as long as nobody thinks I'm being egotistical by posting them.

 

[cmaxwell39]

It's your thread so I don't think anyone would mine if you posted some pictures of your other projects. I know that I would enjoy seeing them so post away.

 

[hlcroghan]

Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
http:///forum/post/2981707
It's your thread so I don't think anyone would mine if you posted some pictures of your other projects. I know that I would enjoy seeing them so post away.
+1

 

[braydonosu]

Well the only picture that I would hav ewith the clock has already been posted (The pic with my cousin and his nerf gun), unfortunitely his head is blocking the whole thing.
My poker table is currently holding all of my tools for this build, so it's under a cluster of stuff - I'll get a pic as soon as I am done with this project.
Here is my chess table (I made it in highschool - the actual board is oak and walnut glued in strips, then cut and glued the other way to make the checkerboard (Teacher helped with this part)

My shot glass cabinet - nothing too hard to make, I just like the mirrored back and glass front.

The poker table and shot glass cabinet (and tank stand/cabinets) were origional designs, the clock was a highschool build with jigs and everything, and the chess table was mostly my design with some help from the instructor.

 

[braydonosu]

You can actually see part of the poker table in above pics (the one with the power center) - You can't see much - the top is covered with crap. I'll get a better picture when I can

 

[cmaxwell39]

Very nice.

 

[braydonosu]

Thanks.
So I got my weldon #4 and a syringe last night. I tore out my overflow and went to town on it. We'll see how it came out. If all went well tonight I will work on separating the chambers in my sump.

 

[braydonosu]

So the tank is 99.9% done. Rock, salt, sand, and water are in. Cabinetes are done and in place. I love my new aquascaping - for the first time in the 5 or so years that I have been doing this I do not want to change my rock work around. I used thin slices of PVC as bases so that a lot of my rock would not be submerged under sand. The .01% not finished is a small leak that I found that I need to address tonight. One of my pumps also broke, so I'll need to replace that. It's just a CL pump, so it's not that big of a deal. For some lame reason I did not get any FTS pics last night when I finished up, so I'll have to upload those tomorrow. I did however snap a few pics of the largest bristle worm that I have seen in my tank. This sucker was at least an inch long. I'll get those pics up soon too.

 

[braydonosu]

Here are the pictures that I promised.
Tank and Stands:

Water Cabinet: (Salt on bottom, ATO on top)

Power Center:

Big Bristle worm:

Redoing my overflow with weld on:

 

[braydonosu]

So my tank has come from this:

And after 3.5 Mos and $750
It is now this:

 

[cmaxwell39]

Very nice. I love how open your rockwork is. Great job on a nice build.

 

[braydonosu]

Thanks. I'm pretty proud of it. So my plans for the tank have changed slightly. I may have to opportunity to travel to London for 6 mos for work around this time next year. I have decided not to go all out with corals so that it will be easier to get rid of what I have when the time comes to leave. As of now I have a six line wrasse, an ocellaris clown, and a zebra damsel. I'll probaby end up getting another clown and maybe a purple firefish or a gramma. I'm going to have corals, but i'll only buy frags at good prices so i wont have a huge piece that I need to get rid of in 12 mos. I'll keep taking pics along the way.