lastlight's 404
 

I dunno. Why not right? :biggrin:

I met with Dave at Concept Aquariums and they should be starting the build on-site sometime in February. I was talked out of starphire once again and feel really good about that choice (again). Dave let me handle a glass sample while we talked...yeah it was hot.

Here are the rough details:

96L x 36W x 27H
19mm
External overflow on end
Viewable 2 sides

Ok my wife typed that bit in quotes while I was away parenting for 2 minutes. If she's right stay tuned for hot deals. If she's wrong maybe a flooded basement? The fun is not knowing!

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Table of Contents:

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+ The Mess
+ The Cleanup
+ The Stand
+ The Little Helper
+ The Tank
+ The Temporary Office
+ The Sump That Attacked Me
+ The Lots Of Wood Update
+ The Reno From Hell Part I
+ The Whitewash
+ The Shiny Floor And Scribe Party
+ The Reno From Hell Part II
+ The Salt Tower
+ The Rock Kid
+ The Big Sexy Skimmer
+ The Laying Of Pipe
+ The Power Centre And Fill Up
+ The Great Cycle
+ The Scape
+ The Transfer (Video)
+ The Tailspot (Video)
+ The Backlit Reef
+ The Livestock Photo Dump (FTS)
+ The Truth About Frags
+ The Paranoid Squarespot (Video)
+ The Romancing of the Squarespot, Chromis Gang (Video)
+ The T5s
+ The Ugly Filtersock Tower Of Terror
+ The Triple Threat - Striped Damsels And A Filefish (Video)
+ The Big Mac Part I - Acanthurus Maculiceps
+ The Big Mac Part II (Video)
+ The Random Livestock Peep Show
+ The Big Mac Settles In (Video)
+ Rip-a-reef-apart-apalooza (Filefish Edition)

Here is v1 in sketchup. I am leaning towards using one of Paul's new Ocean Motion devices but I need his (and anyone else's) input to plan where I need holes. I would like to have current flow one direction for maybe 60 seconds, then reverse and flow the other way. I'm interested in reversing the intakes as well like I think Paul has demonstrated. I'm still confused so hopefully he can chime in here.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/sketchup1.gif

Why talked out of Starphire??

Here is a really ugly drawing of the basement which I am renovating once the tank is in place. Very small basement but I have full ownership of one side.

Things of interest:

- 18" wide access tunnel behind tank. Will have floor raise about 2 feet with steps for easy access to back of tank
- Overflow will be on the fishroom side of course
- Nice view from my modest little office space
- So far fishroom is 12x4. Maybe a bit small but once I have the stand built I may move things slightly.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/sketchup2.gif

Scratches easier and I was actually surprised that the 19mm didn't really look all that green to me. In the end I always think...tank gets filled with water which certainly isn't 100% clear and then I turn on a small army of Radiums and the tank is quite blue. I'm going to spend my money elsewhere =)

That will be quite the tank. Any ideas for the wall with the overflow box? How are you planning to hide it? Or are you even going to hide it? Ive got same style overflow box and dont like seeing glass edges or inside the overflow box. I was thinking a piece of black acrylic against that wall but i dunno anymore.

Ok. I've been having the interanl debate over this for my next tank, which may be plywood with a glass front. Figured the cost of one pane wouldn't be too much more.

Those dimensions seem very familiar.:wink: With 18" behind the tank I suggest you don't put on any weight.:lol: However perhaps you are also planning sump access from all sides which would resolve that issue.
If doing it again I also wouldn't waste money on starphire glass. Just one tiny grain of sand in the magfloat can leave a lot of scars.

Yeah I hope it will be. I do have a history of not finishing haha. With my current tank I picked up some black acrylic from IPS here in town and siliconed it over. It blends perfectly with a painted black background and so far it scrapes clean as well as the glass with my Kent scraper. I will most likely be doing the same thing on this tank. It would be nice to have a removable black panel so I can peer in from the room but in my experience that black will not look the same as the back panel which has no air gap (painted right on) and also I really don't want to see in that box. The box will go there because I want my access tunnel to be obstacle free.

The cost for front and side in starphire as quoted by Concept Aquariums was very reasonable but I think I'm forever a regular glass guy. I got extremely tempted though. I want to have this tank done not obsess over too many fancy details so that I never have budget to run it.

Here is where my journey begins. Actually...I've been down there cleaning a little already if you can believe that. I took out 14 bags full of recyclables! Pop cans are the wife's job lol.

Kids' TV and toy room:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/messy1.jpg

Looking towards my office:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/messy2.jpg

Tank and fishroom. You may need to really just have faith at this point?

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/404/messy3.jpg