the power head of the vacum wrapped up the cord like a tape measure realing in the tape head unit flew one way the usb end is still yet to be found it flew another way and the wire that connects thetwo shredded. hope of rewireing .. nil i checked.. replacement will have tobe ordered. lol sh...happens.. its liek geting a new car and you drive it home just to have a drunk side swipe it.. nature taes its course.. and in this case it was my fault. i just hope the net programing sticks and i can use it once tank stand is moved in the house next week. if not ill be doing the reg power bar thing until i can replace

so moving forward.. pity party is over for now... back to working on the stand. the base is 85% complete now. just a tiny bit of trim to do yet i hope to have that completed tomorrow. sanded and ready to laquer. still awaiting some parts from china for the locking system (kids safe).. will have pictures tomorrow .. little wiped today.

the stand thus far ready to sand and finish

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6670.jpg
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6671.jpg

Looks beautiful.

thanks for the compliment the wife thinks the door part looks out of porportion but itis what it is and hopeflly it will apeal to her more when al the trim is complete. im just happy i can get this thing inthe house this week and get the tank on it to settleand start filling it this weekend.. lets hope lol.

Once it is stained it will make the doors blend in better. The doors actually look like trim rather than functional doors, it is a beautiful stand.

thank you again. im glad you guys like it as i said the wife is still onthe fence lol

there will no stain just laquer i like the natural wood look. save for the yellowing over time of the finish. all of our living room furnature is finished in this fashion. this way the tank is just another accessory to the set:)

a lil buzzed from the fumes but stand is ready to move in... once it stops raining. if all goes well should be wet by end of next week. then i can start working on the rockwork and the hood.

getting closer startng to get excited

That stand is fantastic! Nicely done...wanna come skin mine?...lol. So close, I can't wait to see how it allcomes together!!

thanks ill take pics once its in the house id love to skin your stand just a bit far away sorry. besides it takes me a bit to do things. wife would kill me if i was gone for a month lol

I'm sure your wife appreciates the amount of time working on your own tank and pulling this altogether, don't need to add someone elses into the mix....:lol: Mind you, my guy doesn't bother with me and what I do with the tank, occassionally will help with lugging jugs of water (usually the last one...:twised:)

I would like to do my stand with my dad, but his health is not great. He would do the work with me and not stop until he was done, but it would end up doing him more harm than good. Also, for now, having all the equipment exposed so I can see what's going on is a good thing as I'm making silly mistakes that if not spotted, could be disaster. So for now, my fish room looks like a fish room instead of what I have envisioned for it, but that's ok.

you can always ...for now... buy some black fabric and velcro a skirt around the bottom of the tank. it would tidy it up until you are ready to do the skin you desire. its really an inexpensive remedy to allow you to enjoy the display without seeing the rest.

all my wife does to help with the tank is tell me she doesnt like the rockscape. and pick out really expensive corals. she enjoys the tank but too afraid to touch it. as fro the time its taken me i usuallyonly workon the tank when the girls(wife included) are asleep and spend most my time with them. they are the priorityover my obsession

Ah, once it all comes together, I'm sure your wife will love all of it. For me as I have not a single ounce of creativity in my bones, its hard to picture what a finished product will look like. Maybe she's the same.:wink: At least she's got good taste in corals!!

Yep, family first. My dad always had projects on the go when we were growing up, he built a lot of our furniture in our house, children's furniture, rocking horses (one won an award at the Calgary Stampede) model planes, refinishing old vehicles, model trains for a while, endless pets, wine making (which started my brother's enterpreneural skills at 15 as he was selling bottles to all his buddies..lol). As we grew, we would help or hang out with him on projects. Hopefully your girls will want to share in some of your interests as they get older (I know they are still babies :biggrin:).

My dad said the same thing about the material around the stand....I'm considering it. It doesn't bother me or anyone else the way it is now.

the tank will look a bit wierd in the begining brown wall purple rock lol but as it matures it will be good. a little purple up will kick start that. yeah my wife has to drw out to get a picture she cant visualise. she has her hobbies mine tendsto be a bit more pricey. i basically gave up a few intrests to persue this one. but im happy with it.. for now lol

its nice to have something to keep busy if its not my tanks i kill ppl on xbox... it help me unwind. i can only hope they takean intrest .. they do now but allthey see is strange creatures floating lol. if they dont have any intrest it doessnt matter .. as long as i hve intrest inthier intrests and encourage thier creativity. i had a gf in the past that all she did was crochet.. da in day out.. so i said the hell with it and had her teach me.. i can make a mean pot holder. lol so no mater thier intrests ill do mybest to learn lol

main thing with your tank as long as your happy thats what counts if ppl dont like it kick em out... another idea i if you have young kids our your kids are artistic. take a chunk of plywood mount magnets and have your kids paint /finger paint the board and just attach it to the stand via magnets...

stand is in.... first set of latches installed... works great door opens with a press of a button love it. just working on the leveling and searching quietly for the wall studs as to not disturb the kidlets. should have power to the stand before bed maybe...

Happy Wife and all that ....

Honestly, I spent too much time playing Half Life and should have been trying to advance my life

Nice to hear about some progress ...
You mentioned some secret stuff coming from china or such ?
You could build my next tank stand if you like .... :mrgreen:

not secret as such just cool... i picked up some electronic latches to hold the doors in place to keep tiny hands out of sump and keep a clean look to the tank.. aka no hinge hardware or locks visible on the tank save for door handles if i chose to add them.. so in the end all ill have to do is press a button and the door to sump or electical door is opened. no searching for keys. or fighting with hinge doors the whole thing removes for easier working.

the tank should be on the stand tonight and ill take pictures of everything it needs to settle into the carpet before i bolt it to the wall/floor

so close yet so far my tank lifting help cancelled so i may implement plan b after all plan leverage lol

so a little sweet talking and i got my father over yet again to help with the tank. i feel so bad tho lifting stuff like this is not good for him. so i very grateful for the help.



pics uploading will post shortly

so here is the stand in the house

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6672.jpg
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6673.jpg

the electric locks for the doors

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6674.jpg
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6675.jpg

controller compartment

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6676.jpg

tank on stand

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6677.jpg

rock wall inside tank.

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6678.jpg
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6679.jpg
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6680.jpg



now time to plumb.. but not today to freakin tired.

That looks so slick!

thanks im happy thus far still nervous of the fill and wieght

That's a sexy setup, everything came together really well! Now get the plumbing done and fiiler up!

i still have to hurry upan wait.. today i spend some qulity time with the kidlets clean up some messes maybe rinse out some sand. but nothing major will be done today only that which can be done through nap time. but i hope to have it filled by next weekend.

Slow and steady! I love the rimless tank and a little jealous of yours :mrgreen:. You've got the apex lite, have you used this before? If so, pros/cons? I'm looking and really debating on what to get.

Enjoy the kiddies, I miss mine being small, goes so fast. My youngest turned 15 this weekend :sad:

the tanks not really rimless it has euro bracing but at the picture angle it looks it a bit and there will be a hood.

im new to controllers but so far i like the apex lite. i bought it off a sask reefer for a great price i couldnt resist.. but the savings are lost since i vacumed the display module.. other than that i enjoy turning stuff on and off with the pc. thats about as far as ive gotten. it seems simple enough to configure i think all in all it will be perfect for this system i like the 8 plug powerbars even thoh they are pricey. i need to ad one more power bar to control the lights. other than that the rest are toys for the future.

i also have a reefkeeper lite and the only difference i can tell are the powerbars and that apex is net built in. you just have to decide whats best for you but i do recommend the apex. more bang fro the buck. j&l has sales once in awhile keep your eye out.

i love my twinkies.. i fear teen years so im enjoying them now before i want to kill them lol

just had a workout lugged 10 5g bucket of ro upstairs..insert into tank.. so far no crackling of lumber beneath it lol.. it looks to be aprox 1/3 full of water.. will let it settle a couple of days bolt it on wall and insert sump finish plumbing on sump..comence filling,,,commence praying..lol

i was going to wait until the weekend but there isnt much else i can do without water.. its true what they say and especially with this hobby...without water there is no life..

well come on why the heck are you lugging water Jeff. dont you have a line ran from the RODI unit to the tank. come on man:razz:

lol yes i do but i wish to hear wood splintering as i fill it just in case the floor doesnt hold.. im paranoid..im sure it will be fine but there is always that what if. senario. once im convinced that all is good then the ro/di line will be usefull. last thing i wish to do is have the tank fall through the floor onto my wife who sits below the tank in the daycare.. i kinda wanna keep her lol. bolting t to the wall this morning for added support and adding more water tonight.

80% full.... floor isnt crackling yet...plumbing....:laluot_21:... there is justnever enough room from what you think should be and isnt....back to the drawing board.. it is my mission to have salt in the tank come friday

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/100_6681.jpg

Good news:

tank is full
tank didn't fall through the floor
power heads and overfow seem quiet
did i mention the tank hasnt falen through the floor lol

Bad news:

a couple plumbing leaks easy fix
have to figure a way to reduce bubbles in sump with the amount of flow powering into tank
quiet one pump a bit louder than i would like
tank level is off by 1/8th of an inch which has the level 1/4 inch lower at one end of the 6 foot length.. may or may not empty it al un boltit and straightenthe tank out or just have hood trim cover it.. ill take a brief vid later and post

over all we are good to goish lol

plumbing issues fixed.. micro bubbles fixed...noisy pump not fixed. but as of now tank is running with ro water.. and salt going in tomorrow morning or shoud i say this morning.. contemplating throwing in prodibio startup to speed things up a bit after sand and some live rock is added just a lil leary of the product. ppl swear by it but who knows.. worth a try i guess.

So you're not going to level the tank
Mine's not perfect either, but close enough for me :wink:

I may bolt it to the wall though ...

i thought about it and no. if it really bothers me ill crank the telepost up a 1/8 of an inch in the basement down the road since thats where its unlevel . the trim of the hood will hide the evidence anyways.

and ps to all the readers yes the rock wall does float a bit lol but my return plumbing is holing it down 60 pounds of rock and althat foam its quite boyant lol

salinity 1.026
sand in .. live sand from 90 added to seed.. sand cloud dispersed...tomorow give skimmer a good cleaning and start rockscaping if i get a chance so far it lookstobe a busy workday which is good work has been a bit dry.

been busy the last 3 days and decided to put prodibio to the test with the start up kit ive added the live rock done to rock scaping not fond of the left side but when i find the right pieces ill fix it. for now the rockscape is functional. did a 50 percent water swap with the 90g added prodibio startup waited 24 hours instead of the recomended 12. and added my fish. so now i will be testing daily twice a day to watch for problems. with water changes ready just in case.

on a side note be very careful not to get spiked from your regal hand when numb for an hour.. learn something new every day but at least i can now dismantle the 90 after i catch the last couple of fish.

anywho here it is as it is at this moment hood will come soon as i figure out how tobuid it to work for me

fts
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/101_0007.jpg

right side
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/101_0008.jpg

right
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/101_0009.jpg

center
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/101_0010.jpg

left
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/101_0011.jpg

left to right
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/101_0012.jpg

dusk
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/101_0015.jpg

night lights not yet hooked up but possibely buy the weekend

thank for looking..

Looks wicked! Can't wait to see it once coraline takes over!!

Woohoo, it's alive!! Looks great!! Great job on the scaping, came together nicely!

good job budd looks great:)

And BAM the fish are in :biggrin:
I wasn't expecting it that fast

Scape looks great