kien's 150g Room Divider Mixed Reef & Stuff

[hillegom]

That sure was a lot of hair pulling! Glad for you its finally over.
Kitchen looks good.
So you were the main contractor? Helping out and co-ordinating the trades.
Good work, I'm sure you saved some money doing it that way.

[Delphinus]

The end result looks fantastic! I don't doubt that was a long and arduous process.

What exactly happened with the water line? Was it kinked or something, or just rotten luck that it sprung a leak?

[kien]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

The end result looks fantastic! I don't doubt that was a long and arduous process.

What exactly happened with the water line? Was it kinked or something, or just rotten luck that it sprung a leak?

It wasn't kinked. Just rotten luck I guess. The water line developed a pin prick rupture that fizzed water into the kitchen all day long while we were away. Floor was soaked right through down to the room in the basement below (which also had to be gutted). Some of our lower cabinets were ruined as well.

This actually wasn't the first time this exact failure happened. It failed in this manner a couple of years ago but that last time we were home and were able to shut off the water. We had an authorized service centre come in and replace that line. So it wasn't user (DIY) error either (I don't think). Needless to say, I won't be fooled a third time. The water line won't be hooked up again unless we buy a new fridge. Even then I'm leary.. Although, a few weeks ago I ordered some water sensors with a remote monitoring kit so at least if it happens again I'll have 10-15m to drive home and shut off the supply. Ya, I'm paranoid now. I've done a lot of renos before but by far, a kitchen Reno is the worst. Especially when you have a full on family in tow.

[kien]

This week marks the official completion of our post flood reconstruction renovations. Last month we finished up the kitchen which was a huge milestone, but we were not quite done yet. The flooded kitchen also ended up flooding the room beneath it in our basement which was our spare room/exercise room. We lost the entire room, exercise equipment (treadmill, spinning bike, weights, electronics, etc) *sadface*

Well, this week we finished up reconstructing that room and had our new treadmill delivered. This means we are officially back to pre-flood "normal". This is a huge relief and means I have a whole lot more time on my hands now. YAY!

For anyone interested that cares, this is how our kitchen ended up.





Now, you may think that this isn't exactly reef/tank related, but actually it kinda is. In the background here you can see the tank.



Reflecting back on the past year I am reminded of how throughout this entire ordeal, the tank has remained a focal point of not only our house, but our lives. Everything that we did had to somewhat revolve around the tank. For example, the cleanup contractors had to make sure to turn on the breaker for the tank if they had turned it off. When we had to redo the entire floor we simply laied flooring around the tank instead of disturbing it in any way. I'm sure the fish enjoyed the two days of nail gunning.

Remarkably, the tank has come out somewhat unscathed. So we've been hit by two floods now, neither of which was the actual tank itself. The first one was the great Calgary flood of 2013 (was it?), and the great kitchen flood of 2015. Clearly my prayer reactor is doing its thing! I highly recommend that everyone invest in one.

[kien]

This past year also marks the 6th year for this tank. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Marching onward and upward. Or, just keep swimming, just keep swimming

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Kien,

Your tank is truly spectacular and worthy of Tank of the Month honours every month. It blows any tank I've ever owned or set up right out of the water. I love your new kitchen too. Looks great. Amazing job and hopefully things don't come in THREES

Anthony

[Wretch]

Beautiful. Something to aspire to. Nice tank as well

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by kien

Kien,

How long have you had the Red Flowerpot coral? I'm guessing you would recommend placing it on the sandbed, as opposed to on the rock work closer to the lights? Do you feed it? Any special additives? Just a very spectacular red goniopora you have there and I'm Mad Jelly.

Thanks,

Anthony

[kien]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Kien,

How long have you had the Red Flowerpot coral? I'm guessing you would recommend placing it on the sandbed, as opposed to on the rock work closer to the lights? Do you feed it? Any special additives? Just a very spectacular red goniopora you have there and I'm Mad Jelly.

Thanks,

Anthony

Hey Anthony! I've had that goni for about 5 years now. Got it off ZoaElite actually, and he had it for some time before me, so it's pretty hardy, for a Goni. I do not feed it or do anything special. Over the years I have learned that it doesn't like high flow or high light so I keep it in medium to low flow and medium to low light. The lower the flow and the lower the light (but not total darkness) the longer its polyps reach out. Where it sits down it is kinda shaded from the Halides and mostly just gets T5 lighting it. Aside from that, it's just pure luck I think. I am no goni expert by any stretch of the imagination :-)

[gregzz4]

Wow, your Kitchen is, for lack of a better word, spectacular, or beautiful, or whatever.
Happy for you that it's all back together now and your tank looks like it's recovering very nicely.
Now I need to go back through your thread and see all the kitchen/tank pics that I missed