Reef nutrition

Mike's newest disaster...

Alright, no big updates, just some thought processes that I wanted to record for posterity.

First is the stand, I was heavily leaning towards one made from extruded aluminum (think 8020.net), seemed strong, lightweight, and a ton of fun to build. Then I basically priced it out and it's $250 just for the aluminum probably x2 when you add in all the fasteners, and while $500 isn't a lot for a stand, it is when you you can build one out of wood for 1/10th that cost. So yeah I'm kind of bummed I won't get to play with big kid erector sets, but the foot print is large enough that I don't have to worry about about saving space, so it seemed like a money waster... although I still might waste some money :D

Now I'm thinking about the 40G breeder that I'm going to use as the anemone tank, and whether or not I want to plumb it into the main tank. Part of me says yeah, because then that's additional equipment I don't need (sump, skimmer, heaters, maybe even no need for an additional return pump). But on the other hand I keep thinking about an anemone losing a tentacle getting chopped up and spreading out cnidocytes into the tank killing everything it touches, fyi that is what usually happens when an anemone gets chopped up by a pump and you get a major crash, it's not the bioload of a dead blob it's all the stinging cells and what they do to other critters.
 
Well I am working, a little bit at a time. I'm almost done with all the floor minus laying down the plywood. Need to get a truck for that since 4x8 sheets don't exactly fit too well in the Prius, and I'm not sure I want to put that much weight on the roof of the car.

Before plywoodI have to run all the conduit & piping before laying down the plywood though
 
I think plywood will fit in the van lmk and we can go grab the ply; I'll be gone next week Tuesday on for the thx giving holiday. Done working 7 days a week.
 
Cool. I'll need a lot of sheets of plywood, but for this application (tank) 4 will do for now, maybe one more for the stand top. There's a great deal of "get the fish tank done, then I can move everything over to that side of the room and demolish the other side, then rebuild that" action that will require another another 6 sheets at least. 3/4" ply is fairly heavy too, so don't want to kill your van :D

But I gotta still run stuff under the floor, so it might not happen before Thanksgiving anyways.
 
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Cool. I'll need a lot of sheets of plywood, but for this application (tank) 4 will do for now, maybe one more for the stand top. There's a great deal of "get the fish tank done, then I can move everything over to that side of the room and demolish the other side, then rebuild that" action that will require another another 6 sheets at least. 3/4" ply is fairly heavy too, so don't want to kill your van :D

But I gotta still run stuff under the floor, so it might not happen before Thanksgiving anyways.
If you still need help around Xmas time, I probably can help. Big truck. PM me.
 
Ok this is why you have a build thread, I forgot when I put the metal halide bulb on.... now I see it was back in January and probably is beyond it's useful lifespan. (it was one of the cheaper bulbs, but it still is brighter than a Kessil fixture!)
 
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