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rbrinton2373
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Joined: February 15 2008
Location: Syracuse, Ut
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Topic: 60 Gal with 38gal sump Posted: November 20 2011 at 3:55pm |
Well it has been a long time coming that I got to a point to start posting pics and info on my tank build. I have been working on this setup for almost a year now. I know its a long time for the ammount of work I have done but I have very little time between work and school. Anyway I hope you all like it. I think its pretty HAWT. The stand and canopy are made from Cherry wood stained with a sedona red stain. The sump is a 4 section sump with compartments for Rubbleand carbon, a fuge, frags, and a skimmer. The Tank is a Marineland 60gal Cube 24"x24"x24' I have some T5's that are going in it but the only light mounted is the MH. I have almost 100 lbs of rock fom MarcoRock (regular and flat shelf pieces) that I will be building into a pillar, with over hangs. (If any one with scaping knowledge want to come help or give me some pointers that would be awesome) I have 2 vitarock back panels custom made from Cerameco, that will be going on either side of the overflow as this will be in the corner of my front room.
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Ryan Semper Fi 60 gal cube w/39 gal Sump\ MH + T5s
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Sitaga
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Joined: September 08 2007
Location: Ogden, Utah
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Posted: November 21 2011 at 9:06am |
Good looking Ryan! Keep it up!
Snap some pictures of the vidaRock before you put it in. Are you doing anything military related on the tank? I know you had mentioned that before.
As always - let me know if you need anything!
Bill
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Tons of livestock including fish, coral, and inverts currently in stock. We also have Reeflo pumps, SeaChem additives, Brine Shrimp Direct foods, and ATI lighting in stock.
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Jeremyw
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Joined: April 09 2009
Location: Utah County
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Posted: November 21 2011 at 9:30am |
Ryan, that looks great! I love the stand and canopy! Keep us updated as you go along! Cant wait to see this with Water in it :)
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rbrinton2373
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Posted: November 21 2011 at 6:48pm |
Sitaga wrote:
Good looking Ryan! Keep it up!
Snap some pictures of the vidaRock before you put it in. Are you doing anything military related on the tank? I know you had mentioned that before.
As always - let me know if you need anything!
Bill |
I was originally planning on the stand and canopy as a tribute to my beloved Marine Corps. But with as long as it has taken me to get this done, I have decided not to as of now. But in the future I may add the pieces to make it so If I can find the ones that I want. Plus I was unable to get the really bright red that I was hoping for but what do you do? I was planning on taking pics of all the rock that I have including the panels before and after I place them.
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Ryan Semper Fi 60 gal cube w/39 gal Sump\ MH + T5s
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rbrinton2373
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Posted: November 24 2011 at 5:43pm |
Pics of the Rock I will be using for my Column Pics of the Base of the column so far (2 views)
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Ryan Semper Fi 60 gal cube w/39 gal Sump\ MH + T5s
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rbrinton2373
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Posted: November 24 2011 at 5:45pm |
I do have a question about the aquascaping. I am using epoxy mostly to hold the pieces together some of the more challenging and larger pieces I may bolt together using a nylon rod and nuts. I have seen and watched various aquascaping tips and videos. The only one that ever mentions using nylon rods is on the marco rocks website, and they say to bolt the base into a sheet of plexiglass. My question: Is this necessary or is it just to give you a stable base while building the scultpure or does it aide in weight distribution. If I don't do this will I be putting too much weight into too small of an area and risk cracking my tank?
Edited by rbrinton2373 - November 24 2011 at 5:51pm
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Ryan Semper Fi 60 gal cube w/39 gal Sump\ MH + T5s
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Deluxe247
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Joined: December 02 2009
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Posted: November 26 2011 at 8:46pm |
I wouldn't worry too much about weight distribution from the rocks on the glass. The sand actually does a pretty good job of carrying that load. Unless a big rock falls hard directly on the bottom, the glass should be pretty safe.
I my opinion, I don't like to mechanically fasten rocks together, but perhaps sometimes it's necessary if you're trying to build something difficult. I've always been able to figure out a pretty good looking and sturdy solution by stacking. My best advice: try to create a nice open reef structure, and if possible, only touch the sand in a few places so there's good flow over the sand bed
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90G Mixed Reef
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rbrinton2373
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Posted: November 29 2011 at 9:58pm |
Snother Update: I think I have everything I need now. Just finished setting my vitarock backdrops, put in the sand, got my rock column built and placed, Koralias in place, sand in my fuge, and most everything plumbed. I still need to connect the pump into my return, and put in my skimmer but other than that this baby will be ready to fill tomorrow night. For lighting I am using the old MH fixture from the previous pictures and (2) 24"t5 going with a purple and a blue. I ran 2 purples before and for the most part I liked it so I will see how this looks. I do have a question about the MH however. Looking at the bulb to replace it and I discovered it is a 70w 140k bulb. My question does the wattage matter much. It seems to be proving difficult to get a replacement bulb as the people I have checked with don't carry these bulbs and some of the online places don't carry less than 150w. To me it would seems that as long as I am getting the 140k the wattage should only matter in the cost of the opperation of the bulb. Anyway here are some updated pics. These are the Vitarock panels from Cerameco. These guys did a great job and have been very helpful in getting these done and fitting correctly in my tank. These are of the whole setup minus canopy and water
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Ryan Semper Fi 60 gal cube w/39 gal Sump\ MH + T5s
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