Fish building/man cave build!

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One other thing that having my own space will allow is getting back into the audio hobby.

I haven't had the room to test speakers that I build or collect so I will be able to shut the door, drop out and tune in, so to speak. I have a LOT of audio projects to catch up on. I hope y'all will enjoy seeing them as well.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Rarely do I tout a product. It has to be something exceptional. That being said, this is the best utility knife ever:

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I use one for cleaning up 3d prints and one for aquarium related cutting diy stuff. I have added a third now for upcoming fragging because I am out of scalpels and really they are a waste. I cut a leather last night just to see and this thing worked just as well, if not better, than my last scalpel.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I am going next saturday to pick up a fully running, and beautiful 75 gallon reef setup and keep it going for a buddy until he has his RSR 525xl setup and running. We will then frag the corals and I will still keep the fish and he will get everything else.
 
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I have been waiting for this to go on sale to get one:

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30x24 stainless steel for $99

The way I figure it, if I have a way to store and move my test kits and supplements/supplies around the room easier, I am more likely to keep up with the routine and it's easy to clean. I will design and print a tray to organize all my test kits, magnetic stirrer, beakers, cylinders and calorimeters on the top. I will put akro bins on the bottom for supplements and consumables.

I know it's early, but, I am buying things as I get a deal on them. In the long run, it will save a bunch of money doing it this way even if it seems disorganized.
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
hypothetically speaking, if one were to put 5 prime 16hd on a 144"x16"x18" tank, would you think it would sustain a mixed reef fairly well? Only lighting the middle 10 foot of it because there are overflows at each end?

Asking for a friend... ;)
 
I went with a buddy to pick up a complete 75 gallon reef tank Saturday. He wants the equipment and I wanted the inhabitants. It was a two hour drive each way , two hours to break down and load up, and then two hours to throw everything back together. The whole shebang got setup in my dining room until the fish room is done and I can transfer stuff out there. I took a little more time Sunday to properly stack the rock and arrange some loose corals.

There must be 50 different corals in this thing! Plus about 8 bubble tips, two clowns, a yellow tang, 8 line wrasse and a six line. The live rock is encrusted and looks good. A couple aptasia but I will catch my peppermint shrimp and let them deal with them. I am going to break down the 240 and move my few fish over to this one and put one of my good skimmers in place as well.

This was the deal of a lifetime. I couldn't figure out the programming on the older xr30s that got accidentally reset, and it was taking too long, so Monday, I moved two a360x onto it and everything perked right up. Pretty stoked by the way it looks. I will try and get good pics soon.

The wiring and stuff is a mess right now.
 
dantimdad said:
I went with a buddy to pick up a complete 75 gallon reef tank Saturday. He wants the equipment and I wanted the inhabitants. It was a two hour drive each way , two hours to break down and load up, and then two hours to throw everything back together. The whole shebang got setup in my dining room until the fish room is done and I can transfer stuff out there. I took a little more time Sunday to properly stack the rock and arrange some loose corals.

There must be 50 different corals in this thing! Plus about 8 bubble tips, two clowns, a yellow tang, 8 line wrasse and a six line. The live rock is encrusted and looks good. A couple aptasia but I will catch my peppermint shrimp and let them deal with them. I am going to break down the 240 and move my few fish over to this one and put one of my good skimmers in place as well.

This was the deal of a lifetime. I couldn't figure out the programming on the older xr30s that got accidentally reset, and it was taking too long, so Monday, I moved two a360x onto it and everything perked right up. Pretty stoked by the way it looks. I will try and get good pics soon.

The wiring and stuff is a mess right now.
Click to expand...
We need a pic!!!!!
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Tidal Gardens
allforreef.jpg

magneticstirrer.jpg

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The lady I got the aquarium from used All-for-reef liquid and you can't argue with the results. So, I got the powder to save a little, well a lot, of money. Plus, I got to get out the breaking bad kit. ;)

Dosing 15ml a day to start like she did. I will start today measuing alk.
 
I also got the heater moved, the lights on the same power strip (was causing something funky with the timing) and the fuge schedule in reverse of the tank schedule. Tonight, after I paint all the trim for the bathroom, I will remove all the stuff from the cabinet that's not getting used and tidy up the wiring and finish the skimmer install. I have to find one part of it to finish otherwise, it would have been in last night.

We picked out the colors of the fish room last night and got a tally for all the supplies including paint and, I will explain later, the carpet.

Grand total: $3453 +tax will make it move in ready.

Now, this doesn't include ANY aquarium equipment or supplies. It does, however, include building a huge desk/3d printer work area.

Considering just the bare bones building was going to be $7k, I think I am doing very well indeed.

Now, why carpet?

I have had a stroke as many of you know. And, although it doesn't effect most things, my wife worries about me falling so we have to do something to the floor to make it non-slip. I don't really like painted concrete and the noise would be ridiculous, so, we found rubber backed indoor/outdoor carpet that I like the look of really cheap. We are going to put the tanks in and carpet a big rectangle in the middle of the room and use mounting tape to hold it down. That way, if we ever have a huge spill or leak, I can roll it up and take it outside to hose it off and dry while I dry up the room. Also, it's dirt cheap so it's easily replaced if it gets nasty.
 
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dantimdad said:
I also got the heater moved, the lights on the same power strip (was causing something funky with the timing) and the fuge schedule in reverse of the tank schedule. Tonight, after I paint all the trim for the bathroom, I will remove all the stuff from the cabinet that's not getting used and tidy up the wiring and finish the skimmer install. I have to find one part of it to finish otherwise, it would have been in last night.

We picked out the colors of the fish room last night and got a tally for all the supplies including paint and, I will explain later, the carpet.

Grand total: $3453 +tax will make it move in ready.

Now, this doesn't include ANY aquarium equipment or supplies. It does, however, include building a huge desk/3d printer work area.

Considering just the bare bones building was going to be $7k, I think I am doing very well indeed.
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Half off of a building is well worth it. Not to mention, the space it frees up in the house for the wife to do her things. With your 3d stuff in there, the majority of the fish stuff in there, she should have some "her" space also.

Win and Win, my friend.
 
Eagle_Steve said:
Half off of a building is well worth it. Not to mention, the space it frees up in the house for the wife to do her things. With your 3d stuff in there, the majority of the fish stuff in there, she should have some "her" space also.

Win and Win, my friend.
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That's the whole point. The new office will be all hers with a reading nook for both of us. Once we combine the two small bedrooms and build the walk in closet for the master suite, it will leave the new room 12x16 with a 36"x36" closet which, if we ever sell, still qualifies it as a bedroom. So we go from a 4/2 to a 3/2 but adding the new fish room will add 220 square feet. Win. Win. Win. :)
 
Oh! I forgot! The 240 is for sale and will be ready for pickup in a few days. Also, I am going to start a blog and post a list of everything that will be available, including live stock from time to time. Everything but aquariums and sumps will be able to be shipped.

I have accumulated so much stuff that I won't use, it's time to let a lot of it go.
 
Avast
Well, I said I wouldn't do it again but I did... sort of. @Fin kinda forced my hand to tell what I was up to. ;)

I am not opening a full blown store, but, I did apply for a business license to be able to deal frags, water and aquarium supplies and 3d printed objects and possibly supplies for that. (BTW, it costs more to set yourself up as a 3D designer than it does to just sell the finished products. Weird.)

Anyhow, I can't have more than one car that isn't from our address in the driveway at a time during "standard business hours". But, realistically, that won't happen anyway unless we have some kind of meeting and no one will mind that.

I got way to stressed out with everything that went wrong causing the store to close to ever do it again, but, I miss my folks coming by and this area really needs more options. Plus, I can get discounts and stay in touch with all the really cool vendors I met.

I am having the layout of the room 3D rendered by a buddy who does really nice building/architecture layouts. I will post it soon.
 
dantimdad said:
Well, I said I wouldn't do it again but I did... sort of. @Fin kinda forced my hand to tell what I was up to. ;)

I am not opening a full blown store, but, I did apply for a business license to be able to deal frags, water and aquarium supplies and 3d printed objects and possibly supplies for that. (BTW, it costs more to set yourself up as a 3D designer than it does to just sell the finished products. Weird.)

Anyhow, I can't have more than one car that isn't from our address in the driveway at a time during "standard business hours". But, realistically, that won't happen anyway unless we have some kind of meeting and no one will mind that.

I got way to stressed out with everything that went wrong causing the store to close to ever do it again, but, I miss my folks coming by and this area really needs more options. Plus, I can get discounts and stay in touch with all the really cool vendors I met.

I am having the layout of the room 3D rendered by a buddy who does really nice building/architecture layouts. I will post it soon.
Click to expand...
Glad you found something that will be workable and fun for you to get back in the hobby again. I am trying to get the juices flowing again after a number of setbacks. Good luck to you and I will definitely be following along!
 
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I have to do a little work in the closet in the bathroom and touch up some paint and the bathroom will officially be done!

That means, work on the aquarium room build can commence. I will make the truck a roller over the long weekend and move it out of the carport and under a tarp. Then I will clean everything up and layout for the walls with chalk lines and tape and then go get materials.

I am hoping to have it framed pretty quickly.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%

  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%

  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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