DIY projects

Chapter 1 History
About a year ago I took a job that required me to be out of town for 4 weeks or more at a time. So I gave my 55 gal reef to a friend and fellow reefer. The job didn't work out and I ended up unemployed for a while. Now, I've got a good stable job in town, and my friend offered me the reef back. Seems he was tired of taking care of 2 systems, especially with our electric prices here.

Chapter 2 Bringing it home.

I'll let the photos do the talking ...

As most of you know I'm getting the 55 gal set up I gave away a year ago back. And planning to upgrade it to a 75.

Step 1, Research
I've just finished rereading parts of "Aquarium Corals" by Eric H. Borneman, which prompted me to get a copy of "Natural Reef Aquariums" by John H. Tullock. I really like Tullocks ideas for a biotype aquarium that replicates one reef zone, from one part of the world.

Currently I only have 2 species of fish. 1 false ...

Not much progress on the 150 build due to some changes in my life recently. But here's some updates.

First, here's a shot of the brace in the center of the tank. I can't seem to eliminate the cloudyness, I'm even tried polishing it out with Flitz with no effect. It's about 2' wide so I'm always going to have a lower light area in the center of this tank.


I ordered a pair of overflow kits from ...

someone mentioned in a previous blog that acrylic could be bonded with MEK. Since I can't get weld-on in Alaska without paying huge has-mat charges I decided to try it. The result was disappointing. It did bond the two pieces together, but it was a very brittle, thin bond that was easily brocken by hand. Felt similar to a superglue type bond. So i certainly can't recommend using it for anything structural or that holds water.

Anyone else have different results?

Just purchased a 150 Gal tank off Craig's List today. I'm picking it up Friday afternoon. The tank is 7' x 1.5' x 2', so same cross section as my current 65 Gal freshwater tank, but 4' longer! It comes with a pretty nice, very strong looking stand that is only 24" tall, this will work well since it will located along a short wall giving me close to 2 feet above for lighting. And also making for easy maintenance and viewing from couch height. This will be long, slow build as I have to make some ...