Porter's Tank / UPDATE
Printed From: Utah Reefs
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Forum Name: Tank Threads
Forum Description: A place to show off your tank build.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=58683
Printed Date: February 26 2025 at 3:22pm
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Topic: Porter's Tank / UPDATE
Posted By: nachot
Subject: Porter's Tank / UPDATE
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 12:02am
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All, this is the reveal of Porter's tank that was donated and built 100% by members of WMAS. Special thanks to everyone -- and I mean everyone! My simple post looking for a tank we could buy ended up being such a special event. The outpouring of support to get this tank created before Porter got home from a five-day chemo session was unbelievable. BobC63 really took the ball and ran with it. Bob had help from many who ran across the valley picking up all of the donated pieces and getting them to him. fdc_guy and Peggy helped Bob set things up at our house on a Friday night and Saturday morning. It was an amazing sight to see.
Some background: My 16 year old son, Porter, is in his fifth month of chemo for Ewing's Sarcoma, an agressive childhood bone cancer. Three weeks ago, he had his right leg amputated below the knee and then has been in chemo for the past five days. He wanted a puppy, but that wasn't in the cards and I suggested a fish tank. Hence the post on the forum classifieds.
Porter finished his chemo and arrived home tonight at 10pm. He was beat. He made it up one flight of stairs before falling into the couch to rest. Then I had to coax him to head up to his room. Leaning on the handrail on one side and a crutch on the other and hopping one step at a time, he finally made it to the landing. I ran to his room, picked up the camera and started filming as he crutched in. His initial reaction to seeing me with the camera in my hand was not a happy one. But, once he got inside the room and saw the tank, the little smile appeared. He is so excited (even though he doesn't show it much...he's 16). He asked if he could sleep with the lights on so he could benefit from the soothing sounds and sights. I explained that they need to sleep, too. There were so many contributions that I can't get pics of every single one, but rest assured that your gift is appreciated!
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Replies:
Posted By: Mr.Gray
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 12:13am
| Awesome! I'm glad I had something to donate. I hope your son enjoys his tank as much as we enjoy ours. |
Posted By: Fatman
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 7:34am
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Thanks for sharing!
------------- February 4: Winter Banquet at the Living Planet Aquarium Tickets: http://utahreefs.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=36 |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 8:05am
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I just want to thank everyone who donated something, who picked something up, or dropped something off. We couldn't have done this without you!
 You all played a part in making this young man's return home just a little bit happier.
------------- - My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) - * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: Melissa
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 8:24am
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I'm a little teary after watching that. I'm so glad we could all pull together to bring some sunshine into Porter's day. I hope you guys hang around the site, there are so many great people and so many cool things to learn.
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Posted By: fdc_guy
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 8:37am
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I wish him lots of good things for the future. The nurturing he can provide the tank will help him heal. |
Posted By: Molli
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 9:28am
| Does his tank havea moonlight? If not, I"d donate the parts if someone would install them. It would only need a 2-3 tiny blue led strip. |
Posted By: nachot
Date Posted: August 27 2012 at 8:03pm
| Molli, there is a moonlight with two LEDs in the hood, but it's not working. I opened up the hood and connected a 12v battery and both LEDs worked. I tried a different 12v AC transformer and still nothing, so it's somewhere in the wiring under the hood. I've also looked at retrofitting all the lighting with LEDs, but it's probably more than I want to take on. I think the moonlight can be addressed as you've outlined and I can probably handle the install myself. Let's talk offline about how to get those strips. I'm not familiar enough to know where to start looking. Thanks! |
Posted By: willrileyiv
Date Posted: September 03 2012 at 11:06am
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Hows the tank doing. And hows porter? ------------- 11 year old tomato clown named cherry 2 gal, 30 gal, 32 gal, 65 gal and 210 gal |
Posted By: Fatman
Date Posted: September 03 2012 at 1:47pm
+1 on Porter. Hope all is going well. Sorry about the moonlights. I didn't even check them. If I had I would have repaired them before you picked them up. I sincerely hope Porter and your family are doing well. And I hope you are enjoying the tank. Fat ------------- February 4: Winter Banquet at the Living Planet Aquarium Tickets: http://utahreefs.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=36 |
willrileyiv wrote:Posted By: nachot
Date Posted: September 03 2012 at 3:48pm
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The tank is progressing well, thanks! All of the corals are really blossoming since the first few days and much of the rock has sprouted living goodness. In fact, this morning some of the corals that we thought looked great have opened up to more than double their previous size over the past few days. I have to assume that this is a positive response. We did lose the purple pseudochromis after only a couple of days (sorry e46slc), but everything else seems to be thriving. We have had some trouble keeping the tank at what we think is a good temp. The room temp during the day gets up to ~75 and the water has crept up to as high as 80 degrees. I've read that we should keep it in the 76-78 range, so I'm hoping we're not doing damage to the life. I've had to leave the front part of the hood open with a fan blowing across it, but then I lose a lot of water every day. Any suggestions on a good water temp and keeping it there? The spaghetti algae (I think that's what it is) has been growing rapidly to the point I think I need to cut it or tuck it back behind the rock, otherwise it gets caught in the powerheads. Recently there's a red algae growing on the spaghetti algae. I'm not sure if that's ok, but it doesn't look good. Any suggestions on whether I should cut off those portions that have the red algae on it? I'll take some better pics and post them a bit later.
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Posted By: nachot
Date Posted: September 03 2012 at 3:50pm
| Oh, and Porter's doing fine. He seems to be mourning the loss of his leg as he's a bit short tempered and grumpy, but you can't blame him. But he loves his tank! |
Posted By: Fatman
Date Posted: September 03 2012 at 7:26pm
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God bless him and speed his recover. ------------- February 4: Winter Banquet at the Living Planet Aquarium Tickets: http://utahreefs.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=36 |
Posted By: nachot
Date Posted: September 03 2012 at 8:28pm
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Here are updated pics, including one showing the red algae growth on the spaghetti algae.   Here you can see the red algae on the spaghetti algae:            |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: September 05 2012 at 11:40am
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That red stuff is a little cyanobacteria; pretty common in a newer setup. You can just remove some of the chaetomorpha (spaghetti algae) to get rid of it. Otherwise, things look great! & PM sent  ------------- - My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) - * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: September 05 2012 at 6:25pm
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UPDATE FOR ALL: I just confirmed with Porter's Dad that both he and Porter WILL be at the Meeting tomorrow night!!!  For all of you who helped out on this project, and all the people who just want to wish this young man well in his fight... THIS is your chance to meet him! So please join us all for a very special time at the Fragfest Meeting tomorrow @ 7 PM http://www.porterstrong.com" rel="nofollow - http://www.porterstrong.com ------------- - My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) - * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: ksmart
Date Posted: September 05 2012 at 7:12pm
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Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: September 06 2012 at 7:51am
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Come meet Porter ***TONIGHT*** at the Fragfest Meeting ------------- - My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) - * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: Molli
Date Posted: September 06 2012 at 7:59am
| So wish I could come tonite .. having some remodeling work with tons of issues and need to hang around the house. |
Posted By: nachot
Date Posted: November 17 2012 at 11:31am
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New pics from Porter's tank. It is growing nicely. Too much, in some cases! Everything here is from the goodness of your members and from the fragfest! It's so beautiful! Thank you!                |
Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: November 17 2012 at 12:00pm
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Looking Awesome!!!!!!! ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |