holy sh!t
 

Wow that is sick! You gotta put a guy fishing at the stairs lol

Lookin killer Jamie! Like how you're thinking outside the box on this one.

That is so incredibly cool!!

Well Done!

Very cool idea... very well done.

Talk about a high tech nano! You thought about everything, this is seriously one heck of a build. I love the way the rock work protrudes out with that balsa walk way, so boss. :laluot_02:

wow , beautiful set up. Love the little staircase

Wow man that is so cool. Great work and imagination.

haha so far the majority of this tank is outside of the "box" haha, and thanks guys I'm glad to hear that so many people are enjoying it! the main reason behind building this tank was to do something that I haven't seen anywhere else and make something insanely different



haha i threw pretty much every piece of technology i could at this tank and there is still more to come that i haven't gotten yet, by the time its all done its going to have the systems of a 300g setup haha but only running 20g of water

haha so far the majority of this tank is outside of the "box" haha, and thanks guys I'm glad to hear that so many people are enjoying it! the main reason behind building this tank was to do something that I haven't seen anywhere else and make something insanely different



haha i threw pretty much every piece of technology i could at this tank and there is still more to come that i haven't gotten yet, by the time its all done its going to have the systems of a 300g setup haha but only running 20g of water

I was thinking and I think you should should somehow make a sandy beach area with a mangrove growing out of the sand and a little guy fishing off his boat at the end of the stairs.

I'm thinking the sandy beach area can be irigated by the same stream coming from the top of the rocks. As long as a grainier sans is used, you can use some sort of a strainer type material so it trickles down in the tank. A mini cool looking refugium as it will have at least a mangrove.

that sounds like a great idea but i have no clue where i would put all that haha i have a refugium in the sump. I will be putting a little fisherman on the dock somewhere and theres going to be a lighthouse built into the rock at the top, i think I've said to much as is but theres going to be a few more details to go along with it haha :)

I think you could easily put it on top of the wave box stretching all the way to the dock. It will take a little bit of construction above the wave box but it can be done.

And yes lighthouse sounds wicked, I actually pictured that before you posted :)

Im sure one day I'll make something like this when I have time and need something to do, kids will eventually get older... Will have to steak a few ideas.

I do have to say this is one of the coolest if not the best ever high tech miniature build I've ever seen.

Thus belongs in a magazine :)

By the way where did you get the short extension cords for eb8 ? That's again a really cool idea.

Oh yeah! now you've got my head spinning haha there might be a way to incorporate something like that above the wave box haha now I'm starting day dream again haha

I got the cords from here they worked really well the only thing i had to do was shave down the casing on the second plug from the left on the top row and the same on the bottom row to allow them to fit just because of the way that EB8 spaced out the plugs

Im not to sure if its magazine worthy or not but i do have to say that i haven't found anything else like it haha thanks!!!

New twists and turns
 

I've got some more done on the walk way over the last day or so!

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...psd7226f62.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...psa248bb76.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps88da4850.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps73e0108d.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...psfe687d20.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps2db99fba.jpg

today I've got to drain the tank and do some work on the plumbing on the return line to increase the back pressure to push the water up to the upper pond, even with the bigger pump the flow isn't strong enough to get the water to the top but thats an easy fix. After that though its going to be my last update for a few weeks as i go back up to work but ill be ordering some more parts that should be here when i get back just begging me to put them to good use!

it was just starting to get good to!

well haha I'm back home again so we can get back on track with the good stuff!!

i got some more done on the boardwalk so here you go! - its grown!

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps0c720413.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps6d5f5dbd.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps5b6ccf50.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...pse104ea1c.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps20c55d34.jpg

Hey guys, so i think i might have a problem, I get back home from work and I'm starting to notice that some of the silicone in both my tank and my sump are starting to turn yellow, its both the factory silicone as well as the silicone that i did. so i emptied the tank and sump and gave them both a good scrub to see what was up but it didn't come out at all, there is no algae on the glass, there was a few small spots of a dark brown algae on the yellowed out silicone but thats all! so now I'm starting to get conceded I've never seen this before especially seeing that its both the factory and aftermarket silicone, ill get a few pictures up too

any one have any suggestions?

This is the factory silicone, it seems to have turned yellow the whole way through

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...psb7d82b08.jpg

This is the silicone that i did, and it seems to be the same way as well, this is just a few spots

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps5d90d8ad.jpg

and this is the sump, and well its pretty much its own dam story and it worries me the most…

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps152411f0.jpg

I find exposure to sunlight will cause that in SOME silicones, it happened to the one corner of my wife's tank that is exposed to sunlight but the rest of the tank is unaffected

No negative affects from what I've noticed on corals or structural integrity of the tank, just an eye sore

Thats really weird... I don't have an answer to this, but would like to find out what causes that as well and is that silicone reef safe after it turns color?

I have a feeling its the silicone or the light over the silicone, if its aquarium safe then there is not much to worry about although it will most likely drive you insane as that tank is a masterpiece.
Hope you get it all sorted out.

Sunlight might have done it but my sump is closed off the the light all day long and it seems to have got it worse then the rest of the tank so I'm not to sure what is causing it…:cry:

Your dead right about it driving me insane! haha so i think what I'm going to do is cut the entire tank and sump apart and clean it all up then get my hands on a few tubes of the clear aquarium silicone and get rid of those pesky seams haha and then i know for sure 100% that there is nothing going to be effecting this tank, and with all the extra stuff I'm doing and adding to it not having to worry about the silicone will just be one less thing i have to worry about

Hey guys I've been pretty busy the last couple days getting more built on the boardwalk and also getting my return plumbing finished and final with the additions of a few valves that allow me to pressure up the line feeding my waterfall/lagoon! its been running for a day now and I'm able to see where the water is wanting to move and how I'm going to have to keep it moving the way i want it too but for now here is a video for you guys!

Click Me!

Don't forget to change it to 1080p either!

My mind absolutely boggles at the time and effort that you have put into this tank. I can only assume that you will be adding tiny led streetlights for your boardwalk, a working remote control crane for the cargo area, and wee little floodlights to illuminate the rock from beneath, all run by yet another hidden electrical panel that looks like it was assembled by an OCD Swiss watchmaker. :)

- Ian

hahahaha thats awesome!! and pretty bang on too!! I'm going to be building lamps out of model plane hollow brass tube and .75mm fiber optic line - the lights are going to be about 1cm tall at most with, most likely a cast epoxy lamp on top to make it look like an old gas lantern light post

I haven't decided on the cargo crane yet or if I'm going to do something different but the one thing I'm sure of there is going to be a lighthouse built into the rock at the top that will light up as well and conceal the blue tubing that feeds the waterfall - not to sure if I'm going to build it out of wood or stone and wood

also not to give to much away but I think i posted a while back a ship that I had built and then wrecked to make it look like it split in half. I might end up using it as well but only time will tell:wink:

Update?

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the extended hiatus. Ive been gearing up for a move for the last few months and still working out of town. So Ive made it to my new place and I've unpacked the truck and set up the majority of everything and cracked a fresh bottle of jack and started pouring all the while listening to my tank yell at me to unpack it and get things going again. Unable to resist anymore I start to work on setting up my office and the tank, after about half hour of hunting to find all the desk parts, it finally starts to go together then the big moment as the tank gets unwrapped and placed on the desk. Everything is going fantastically so i headed back out to the kitchen to grab that glass of jack I hadn't even started yet, when I hear a bang and the distinctive sound of glass shattering...

See the way the extendable legs on this desk are set up, they require you to twist them on way to loosen them off so you can lengthen or shorten them but then need to be turned the opposite way to tighten them back up again. I think that after a long day of moving and unpacking i didn't quite tighten one of legs fully. The weight of the tank on the desk with the help of that cruel cold hearted beach known as gravity had conspired against me.

I sat there for a minute or two in shock and disbeliefe before a few big gulps finished my drink and allowed me just the perfect amount of time to go threw the normal grieving process, you know shouting a little at absolutely nothing, swearing that your just going to sell everything a get out of the hobby, thinking you can fix the problem because it's not that bad, and finally realizing that your too invested in the stupid thing to give up, and this time you'll build it better.

So thats all for story time today kids, but don't worry ill be back real soon to show you exactly what a new 13.3g Mr. Aqua Bowfront tank looks like!! (when i find one that is) but if you can't wait that long click on this link right here and see magically into the future :wink:

Ouch, sorry to hear that... I'm going through a similar process and still unpacking from my move and at the same time making a new stand for my new tank which is still being shipped from Concept in Alberta :)

For now, my temporary fish tank looks like this:

http://oi60.tinypic.com/2wdq6fs.jpg

And took up the entire shed, but they have a ton of swimming space as that's a 150 gallon rubbermaid vs the 75gal they were previously housed into. Needless to say, the shed is extremely tight. i can barely squeeze in there to throw food in.

Sounds familiar!!! Just toppled my new mr. Aqua 12 gallon long and the sump all in one. Smashed it all!!

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psn4w9rwdy.jpg

I feel your pain!!!

Ouchy, Mr aqua seems to have bad luck...