Time to join the club!!

[dahenley]

here is a comparison pictures.

(12-17-09)

(10-20-10)


Idaho Grape
(12-17-09)

(10-20-10)


Red/Brown Monti
(12-17-09)

(10-20-10)


Birds nest
(12-17-09)

(10-20-10)

[jpsika08]

Wow talk about DIY, incredible work on those reflectors!

BTW, your tank looks amazing.

[dahenley]

Thanks for the compliment!!

Sadly, i am a college student, and i upgraded from a 55gal (while looking for a 120gal) and found this 240!!!

it was the best/dumbest thing that i ever did.... best because i love it, and dumbest because i have no money to to buy good equipment, or livestock/corals. (and 3-400W lights runs up the electricity... and makes it warmer in the house... but thats why the DIY helps so much. it lets me keep up this massive thing.)

and its also the dumbest because i want a larger tank!!! (deeper front to back, and a taller stand.. it sucks being 6'7" and having to bend over or get down on one knee to look at my tank...)


I give thanks to everyone in my local reef club and my local LFS for the ability to buy $5.00 frags.... (which is what every coral in my tank was. for the exception of a few 10$ ones and a nice synphillia that i spent $40.00!!!! on ........

[Sbgentry]

I just found your build thread (remember I'm new and therefore somewhat slow), what an upgrade! Congratulations!

Great DIY! Never forget sometimes a lack of funds is what generates new innovation.

I can't wait to see it progress! I'll be following along....

Stacey

[dahenley]

WELL, because of the season, i figured i would post a few pictures for everyone!

here is me cutting a pattern for me and my wife!


Here is my wife's pumpkin all lit up!!


Here is a picture of Mine all lit up!!

[dahenley]

i had a question on what my skimmer looked like in my sump, so here are a few pictures.

skimmer in action... and note the refugium flows past the skimmer section to the return section. this is so the clean fuge water gets back to the display with all pods and neutrients, while the skimmer pulls straight from the display drain. (this way it gets first pick on dirty water. (i have dual drains so one goes to the skimmer and one goes to the refugium. bu i run solid siphon so the skimmer gets 80-90 % of the water and the refugium gets a slow water and i keep the circulation with a powerhead in the fuge.)

water level just above the unions.... (oops) i keep telling people its below, but i guess i was wrong...

body bubbles... (nice small dense bubbles in the body)
(note the baffle by the skimmer. this keeps the skimmer section perfect all the time. no matter if i need to top off or not.)
also, i run the exhaust plumbing to the bubble trap/next chamber so i never reskimm clean water!

nog picture... (i cleaned the cup on Monday or Tuesday i think....) smells already lurking in the room.. (got to shut the doors to the stand! )


im currently running without the silencers, but eventually i will put them back on... im just lazzy and havent soaked them so maybe when i clean the cup i will put them back on....

[dahenley]

oh, and sorry if the black stripe is confusing.... i lost the plug to my drain hose, so i just used some electrical tape.. its stretchy so i just pull the hose off, drain in the sink, and stick it back on!

also, i dont lock the lid on.... i dont think there is going to be that much pressure to blow the cup off.. (although if this does happen.... that would be amazing
until clean up.)

[prop-frags]

Love it! great job on the system..

[Omega_rains]

Dude,

Your tanks looks pretty fricking sweet..

[dahenley]

people say it takes years for corals to look big and nice, and i would say that is true.

you look at the same tank every day, and never see them grow, but believe me. they DO.

the best inspiration is to take weekly or monthly pictures.
my tank is hard to take full tank shots because its 8 ft long, and there is a wall that is probably 10-12 ft away which isnt enough room. (some of the full tank shots i have are me standing outside through a doorway....)

I would have to say the pictures i posted above put a smile on my face.....
i have been looking at the corals i had and wondering if they would ever grow, then i found those previous pictures lying around and WOW....

growth is nice, but the actual colors of my corals have come out in the past few weeks...
The month of October, i have been paying more attention to Alk and Cal.
i know that my other parameters stay consistent.

but with maintaining the Alk, my colors and growth have taken off....
its taken a while for the other parameters to become consistent and take care of them selves, but with maintaining the other levels.. WOW.

[Euler Kernighan]

Hey Dahenley, just tagging!

I did a quick search and found this thread. that's amazing build I really like do it and f...ck yourself threads!! LOL

do you have any pics on "230 big screen getting re-sealed and going to add to the gallonage"

...and about your signature "My wife has no clue how addicted i really am....." My wife might contact your wife to join in the "clueless wives club" LOL
she asked me: how much do you will spend on this project? Quickly I replied: something around 500+ at most 700 bucks!!!

[dahenley]

wow, i havent updated this in a while.....
here are some old pictures

Originally Posted by Dahenley

Well, i plan on re-doing my rock work, so i took some tank shots and figured i would share them before i touch the rock.
so i hope you like them.
(also, if you want some pictures of something, feel free to make a request before i move things.)
Full tank shot with flash

Full tank shot without flash

Some actinic photos of misc corals.

[dahenley]

these are from december....

Originally Posted by Dahenley

some non-actinic pictures
Suggested "ORA Chips Acro" growing slowly...

Happy Clam (its grown a bunch since i got it... you can kind of see the white layers on the shell)


Tyree Straberry Monti.


Happy FrogSpawn (octo, or wall frog)

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Dahenley

[dahenley]

here is Dec 14th.
I decided to re-aquascape my tank some. (you wouldnt believe how much rock i took out.
but i love the look now

Originally Posted by Dahenley

here is my little helper! (cant do anything without her)

here is the beginning of the rock going in the container

its filling up fast.....

it sure is looking empty now...

im trying to stack the rocks with corals in one section, rocks without corals in a different section, and just corals in the section closest to the skimmer

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Dahenley

sure is looking REAL empty.... (thats about 6ft of empty tank... (the other 2 feet have too many corals that are grown together and it will be another day before i tare them apart.

other view

helper again.

its hard to tell, but that purple monti wont fit in a 5gal bucket.......
and those 2 birdsnest are between a large grapefruit and a cantilope..
(the sad part is i dropped a rock and crushed the purple monti.... it wont look the same, but its not shattered, just a little messed up.... :shock: :shock: )


and here is what you were looking for.
here is one rock structure!

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Dahenley

here is the special product i am using.


i am using it in conjunction with fiberglass reflector rods.
the rods prevent the structure from falling, and the hydraulic cement is making them stiff.
it sets up in 2-3 min, its hard, and cured in 3 hours, and tank ready in less than 24 hours.
its also sealed, so saltwater wont penetrate it and break it down, and this particular type will not induce PH swings or Raise PH.

We will see.... :roll: :roll:
:ugeek: :ugeek: :ugeek:


(i have confidence in my research and other people, so my reef is in their hands.....)

[dahenley]

here are pictures from january.

Originally Posted by Dahenley

here are some pictures.

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Dahenley

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Dahenley

here, you can see a little difference in color between the rocks. this is a picture of the cement that is bonding the rocks together. inside the rocks is a fiberglass reflector rod from Lowes/HD and is cut to a short length. after drilling both rocks and they are put together, i then filled the joints with cement and smoothed and blended them together. after a short period of time, it will blend and look exactly like the rocks once a little alage grows on it.


here is another picture of a different joint. the Hydrolic cement is hard in 5 min, and cures in 3 hours and is reef safe within 24. after the 3- week break between pictures, i can see some nice growth and polyp extension on the SPS and i know if they are doing well, then the water quality must be good.


here, the joint is to the left of the purple fish, and above the orange DIGI frag


joint is above the Hawk Fish. (thanks Travis, its still kicking after a year+)


crappy picture of a nice coral with good extension


random shots

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Dahenley

Here is a picture of my New Calcium Reactor with 2nd chamber.
here is a link to it
http://myreefcreations.com/product-l...cr-6-dual.html


just for comparison, here is the old one when i first got it in.

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Euler Kernighan

Hey Dahenley, just tagging!

I did a quick search and found this thread. that's amazing build I really like do it and f...ck yourself threads!! LOL

do you have any pics on "230 big screen getting re-sealed and going to add to the gallonage"

...and about your signature "My wife has no clue how addicted i really am....." My wife might contact your wife to join in the "clueless wives club" LOL
she asked me: how much do you will spend on this project? Quickly I replied: something around 500+ at most 700 bucks!!!

I still have the 230. Its taken apart still. (finally 100% apart, and 80% cleaned. i should finish cleaning the old silicone off so i can put it back together.)
Im still in College, so im slow at this project, and i usually only have time to work on it over the summer.... but i took summer classes this semester... so its taking even longer!! (not to mention, 3/4 glass weighs too much, and my wife wont help me move it, so i have to ask for help when i cut glass apart, and move panels around.)

I will get some pictures up soon of it. (im also going to re-do the top bracing so if i can find some glass locally, maybe i will finish soon...)

[fieldy132]

wow...amazing what you can achieve on a budget!! looks fab!

[muttley000]

Just made my way to your thread from the dry rock thread. Your tank looks great, dont know how I missed it all this time.

[dahenley]

Originally Posted by Dahenley

please excuse the algae on the front glass (if you know me.... you know i never clean my tank... even when i know people are coming over.. (im a bad host))
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