Jestersix

Patrick's 81G - the last dance

With your current clean setup, imagine how you'd feel if you got an acrylic and it starts getting all the scratches that are very very easy to get on acrylic. Your current setup looks good now, and will continue looking good longer than the acrylic version!

(my first reef tank back in the day was acrylic and I'm team glass now)
 
But with a little for thought we can even set it up for you, post pictures on forum, set it up in some ones garage, sad story about moving outta state, and you can bring her along to hear the price. Planned out in true enabler fashion.
 
richiev said:
With your current clean setup, imagine how you'd feel if you got an acrylic it starts getting all the scratches that are very very easy to get on acrylic. Your current setup looks good now, and will continue looking good longer than the acrylic version!

(my first reef tank back in the day was acrylic and I'm team glass now)
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Enabling mode turned off, you have one of the cleanest setups I’ve ever seen. I don’t think it can get better than this. I’d have no regrets running with this setup and hope to achieve this level someday. I’ll agree with Richie here
 
MarcosDelgado0 said:
It’s funny because months before I got my low boy, I had hit up John for a quote but he never replied lol. So I just got the low boy because I got tired waiting. It was always in the back of my head that I should’ve figured out how to get that acrylic tank. Then @SupraSaltyReefer came along and I ended up with the tank. It kinda sucks because I have to start over again essentially lol but I know in the end I’ll be happier. Just food for thought… still got time for that 25% off ;)
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What's crazy is the lid I ordered for this glass tank is almost as much as swapping it out to an acrylic one from them! Kicking myself over that.

Hard to pass up a deal like that...especially when your on a forum full of enablers..haha
 
finalphaze987 said:
What's crazy is the lid I ordered for this glass tank is almost as much as swapping it out to an acrylic one from them! Kicking myself over that.

Hard to pass up a deal like that...especially when your on a forum full of enablers..haha
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Yeah John’s running some really good deals right now. Early Black Friday lol
 
finalphaze987 said:
What's crazy is the lid I ordered for this glass tank is almost as much as swapping it out to an acrylic one from them! Kicking myself over that.

Hard to pass up a deal like that...especially when your on a forum full of enablers..haha
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I'm all for enabling, but in your case I think the benefits of acrylic you're past. The main benefits are ease of moving, install, drilling, and possible cost versus low iron glass.

You've already gotten the glass version, it's drilled, and carried into place. Presumably it's low iron glass so almost as clear.

I think at this point it'd be all negatives versus what you have. Much much easier to scratch (can't even have some urchins), you'd need to build it out, and you'd need to move/sell the existing one.

You've got the best already!
 
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richiev said:
I'm all for enabling, but in your case I don't think the benefits of acrylic you're past. The main benefits are ease of moving, install, drilling, and possible cost versus low iron glass.

You've already gotten the glass version, it's drilled, and carried into place. Presumably it's low iron glass so almost as clear.

I think at this point it'd be all negatives versus what you have. Much much easier to scratch (can't even have some urchins), you'd need to build it out, and you'd need to move/sell the existing one.

You've got the best already!
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Oh I thought he was talking about getting a 2nd tank, not swaping current one, his set up is so dang awesome i wouldn't change anything at all. Its like a magzine cover and doesn't even have water yet.
 
PjFish said:
Nice! Last year I dropped my tv several feet as well to eye level found that sweet spot..Such a difference!! No more bent necks lol
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I used to get still necks when binge watching Netflix and got the mantle mount to lower the TV...your right, the difference is night and day..the soundbar sounds better, we can raise it back up when not watching, and no pain!

With all the ergo enhancements I've made at work and my home office, I'm surprised I didn't get one of these earlier.
richiev said:
With your current clean setup, imagine how you'd feel if you got an acrylic and it starts getting all the scratches that are very very easy to get on acrylic. Your current setup looks good now, and will continue looking good longer than the acrylic version!

(my first reef tank back in the day was acrylic and I'm team glass now)
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That was my biggest fear with acrylic...scraping the coraline and hearing the blade dig into the pane..the first time this happened on my old TruVu, my previous neighbor called the police to do a "wellness" check on me and ensure there was no domestic violence going on..

All they found was an old Filipino lady (my mom) yelling at me to stop cussing...

You're right, my OCD wouldn't fare well with something like that again..
 
finalphaze987 said:
@richiev gave me the feedback I needed..if I didn't have the tank yet, I would have jumped on the deal right away and went acrylic...but I did forget some of my experiences with acrylic that I would find difficult to accept now..when it's difficult for me to clean, it gives me more reason to put it off..
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This will be my first acrylic tank so I’m interested in seeing how it’ll go. I hear all the stories but I feel like it’s one of those things you have to personally experience to really understand. Maybe I’ll end up regretting it and going back to glass lol
 
MarcosDelgado0 said:
This will be my first acrylic tank so I’m interested in seeing how it’ll go. I hear all the stories but I feel like it’s one of those things you have to personally experience to really understand. Maybe I’ll end up regretting it and going back to glass lol
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Seeing the clarity when you fill it for the first time is unforgettable... But when you do scratch it, don't curse up a storm like the 16 year old me...I was broke and didn't buy the proper scrapers..working at Pacific Sunwear in 96-97 for $4.25/hr , I figured I'd save a couple bucks...big mistake on my part
 
finalphaze987 said:
Seeing the clarity when you fill it for the first time is unforgettable... But when you do scratch it, don't curse up a storm like the 16 year old me...I was broke and didn't buy the proper scrapers..working at Pacific Sunwear in 96-97 for $4.25/hr , I figured I'd save a couple bucks...big mistake on my part
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MarcosDelgado0 said:
This will be my first acrylic tank so I’m interested in seeing how it’ll go. I hear all the stories but I feel like it’s one of those things you have to personally experience to really understand. Maybe I’ll end up regretting it and going back to glass lol
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Yeah, it's not that acrylic is bad, it's just not superior if you already have a glass one in place. There's a lot of nice benefits to acrylic in terms of setup and configurability; very nice to be able to move a 100 gallon tank with no effort or worry if you set it down wrong it's going to chip. It's also very clear.

You just need to be very very careful not to scratch it. It wouldn't be an awful idea to buy a small piece of acrylic from the local hardware store and run a scraper on it just to learn what you can or can't do. Also make sure you buy acrylic compatible scrapers (or use an old credit card), never let sand get caught in the scraper, and I'd be very careful with any cloth style scrapers.

It'll be great, and if it isn't you can always get another!

I've always wondered if some day they'll release a product similar to what F1 drivers use on their masks. A series of removable plastic covers where you just rip off the outer one and toss it, leaving you with a perfectly clear viewing area. Maybe install a new set every 6 months somehow. Alternatively a double pane glass style setup where the inner piece can be removed to be soaked in cytric acid. Has to be something that's doable beyond scraping inside the aquarium.
 
MarcosDelgado0 said:
This will be my first acrylic tank so I’m interested in seeing how it’ll go. I hear all the stories but I feel like it’s one of those things you have to personally experience to really understand. Maybe I’ll end up regretting it and going back to glass lol
Click to expand...

Just mentally prepare yourself for scratches, they are 100% inevitable. You can minimize the damage to hairline scratches that are generally difficult to see, if you're careful. Those aren't that big of a deal IMO. But keeping the glass clean regularly without scratching is the most annoying part of owning an acrylic tank.
 
richiev said:
Yeah, it's not that acrylic is bad, it's just not superior if you already have a glass one in place. There's a lot of nice benefits to acrylic in terms of setup and configurability; very nice to be able to move a 100 gallon tank with no effort or worry if you set it down wrong it's going to chip. It's also very clear.

You just need to be very very careful not to scratch it. It wouldn't be an awful idea to buy a small piece of acrylic from the local hardware store and run a scraper on it just to learn what you can or can't do. Also make sure you buy acrylic compatible scrapers (or use an old credit card), never let sand get caught in the scraper, and I'd be very careful with any cloth style scrapers.

It'll be great, and if it isn't you can always get another!

I've always wondered if some day they'll release a product similar to what F1 drivers use on their masks. A series of removable plastic covers where you just rip off the outer one and toss it, leaving you with a perfectly clear viewing area. Maybe install a new set every 6 months somehow. Alternatively a double pane glass style setup where the inner piece can be removed to be soaked in cytric acid. Has to be something that's doable beyond scraping inside the aquarium.
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That's what public aquariums do for the back panel. Just rotate out an opaque blue or black background so you never have to scrape the back. Then just soak the other in citric acid.
 
Finally got around to unboxing a couple items that came in earlier this week. I picked up the Geo kalk rx and algae rx in red. Took a while to build, but with the hurricane hitting that area, very understandable.
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Both fit nicely under the stand, but the more red I get the more the blue on the Fiji sump starts to bug me. A little late to turn back given the plumbing is done, so I'll learn to live with it. Still gotta run the lines and do some wire management, so excuse the mess.
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Picked up a plank as well to get the measurements for the lid position. I was thinking of picking up a neptune one for the left side of the tank to feed pellets, while I stick to the reef jerky for the plank.
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Things are starting to shape up...going to work on the RODI / water mixing station in the garage next before filling. If I have to do it all manually and change water in this cold weather, it'll give me more of a reason to put it off till later, so I gotta make it as easy as possible.
 
RO & saltwater mixing tanks came in today. Originally planned on getting an extruded aluminum rack to stack these one on top of the other, but was able to find a commercial wire rack that could hold the weight at a fraction of the cost.

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The one on tip will be for RO water and have a float valve installed. A flood guardian will serve as a back up in case the float valve fails.

I'll valve off and T the bulkhead and have it feed the container via gravity. The bottom tank will house a gyre to mix and a heater.

With this setup, I should be able to have enough water to perform a large waterchange immediately if needed.
 
Finishing up with some final touches before I fill her up..black friday had a get deals I couldn't pass up and I finally got around to installing a few of them.

The Ecoflow Delta 2 fit nicely in the expansion box. I thought I'd have enough room for a calcium reactor in back of it in the future, but sadly the handles add to the bulk. I was, however, able to fit some slim waste containers for both tridents.
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The Amazon tablet I originally had started to look a little small and lacked the ability to hook up to a monitor so it was swapped out for a surface. The monitor was something I had laying around so decided to put it to use.
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I planned on one plank and one AFS to use as feeders, but after reading up on things decided on two planks. As bulky and awkward looking as they are, I don't mind them as much when there's 2.
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Next up will be working on the area in front of the tridents. The simplicity dosing containers I planned on using won't fit in back of the ecoflow, so I'll be using that area for a custom one.

Water mixing station will be plumbed this weekend...my son only has 1 game this weekend so I'll have time to put in some more work tomorrow.
 

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