Michigan Cichlid Association
General Category => DIY => Topic started by: Steve on February 13, 2015, 01:20:33 PM
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Well it's been a week since the 265 decided to try to ruin my life by leaking yet again. And I've made the decision now to stick to my guns and not get back into any "huge" tanks anymore. Just too much trouble. I honestly think in the long run not having that big of a tank will work out for the best for me because with the amount of fishing trips I go on during the summers where I am away for sometimes up to 16 days, it would have just been a source of constant stress and worry for me.
With that said though, I do still love keeping fish, and I value the friendships I have made here and the enjoyment I get from interacting with you guys each day here on the site. So I have made the decision to keep my 75g hap tank, 55g peacock tank, and 20g angelfish tank. That way I can still enjoy some fish keeping and being active here, yet they won't be as much stress as the 265g tank was for me.
So with that said, the past few days I've been busy at work on the office build version 2.0 ;)
Rather than the jungle wall theme I had with the 265, this time I have decided to stick with the fly fishing/hunting lodge them that the rest of the shop&office already had. I'm continuing the flooring through the rest of the basement as well as the wood plank ceiling, matching the white&hunter green walls to the rest of the room as well as trout border. For my desk I went ahead and turned it sideways and started working on a hand carved stacked river rock front and side for it as well as used the 75h tank to build into it to form an L-shape so I can enjoy that tank while working at the desk.
Still have a lot of work to do, but I think once done this revamp will be a nice stress free set up for me.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img661/4706/5oPPB9.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img913/9165/leeHjh.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img911/7217/PKzyxH.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img538/6849/BjBY8o.jpg)
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Glad to see you're not giving up! Thanks again for the fish the other night!
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I'm sure it'll be a masterpiece, just like every other project you complete. ;)
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Looking good. I am glad you are not getting out.
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Steve, I'm exhausted just by looking at these pictures and knowing how much work you have already done. Holy cow ! You don't mess around do you? I agree with Regal's statement, I am sure this will be a show place once you are finished.
Just outta curiosity, the big tank, is it in many many many pieces now ?
That must have been a very therapeutic experience. Hammer, sledge, 12 gauge. Omar's goat ????? ;D :P :D
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img673/2893/keWUjJ.jpg)
Just outta curiosity, the big tank, is it in many many many pieces now ?
That must have been a very therapeutic experience. Hammer, sledge, 12 gauge. Omar's goat
The 265 now fits conveniently into a 45g trash can in the furnace room at the moment. My recycle bin is limited to 25lbs per week so it'll take till about May to finally be able to be rid of all the remains of the tank. It was bittersweet demo-ing it. Sad to know 2 years of work was going down the drain, but felt good to finally rid myself of the stress it brought me. To demo it I put a heavy army blanket over it and took a sledge hammer to it. Took about 4 hours of sweeping to get all the little glass shards up. Then I took a sazall to the stand.
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img673/2893/keWUjJ.jpg)
Just outta curiosity, the big tank, is it in many many many pieces now ?
That must have been a very therapeutic experience. Hammer, sledge, 12 gauge. Omar's goat
The 265 now fits conveniently into a 45g trash can in the furnace room at the moment. My recycle bin is limited to 25lbs per week so it'll take till about May to finally be able to be rid of all the remains of the tank. It was bittersweet demo-ing it. Sad to know 2 years of work was going down the drain, but felt good to finally rid myself of the stress it brought me. To demo it I put a heavy army blanket over it and took a sledge hammer to it. Took about 4 hours of sweeping to get all the little glass shards up. Then I took a sazall to the stand.
LMAO - Good for you ! CLOSURE is always a good thing...
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img673/2893/keWUjJ.jpg)
Just outta curiosity, the big tank, is it in many many many pieces now ?
That must have been a very therapeutic experience. Hammer, sledge, 12 gauge. Omar's goat
The 265 now fits conveniently into a 45g trash can in the furnace room at the moment. My recycle bin is limited to 25lbs per week so it'll take till about May to finally be able to be rid of all the remains of the tank. It was bittersweet demo-ing it. Sad to know 2 years of work was going down the drain, but felt good to finally rid myself of the stress it brought me. To demo it I put a heavy army blanket over it and took a sledge hammer to it. Took about 4 hours of sweeping to get all the little glass shards up. Then I took a sazall to the stand.
LMAO - Good for you ! CLOSURE is always a good thing...
Don't believe that nonsense... he rode in on Omar's goat, wielding a sledgehammer, gave it a knockout blow & powerbombed that b*tch, like Big Sexy would. :P
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Well you guys know me, I am not one to stay beat down by anything. So I have put in about 80-90hours of work on the remodel of the office in the past week since the big 265g tank decided to leak all over. Some of the things I have done are new floor, new varnished rustic plank ceiling, painted walls to match, trout border, trim work, made the desk all out of hand carved painted and sealed foam board, put up a wall in the very back of the office to cover the storage area, recessed an area for over-wintering my Bonsai trees, built the 75g tank into the desk, made low profile canopy with 15ft of LED strip lights for the tank, added surround sound. And much more but you get the idea. Still have to hang a door to hide the furnace room, do some more detail odds & ends plus hang some more fishing trip pics on the bare wall areas etc etc as well as set up the decor inside the aquarium....but It's taking pretty good shape now.
A before pic before I sledge hammered the tank out of the way to start working
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img909/135/KnmSng.jpg)
And the stage it is at now today....
(http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6108/hrx6mv.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img661/6827/KlGS81.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img661/4233/ymN0pB.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img905/5321/a7ojSe.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img537/3871/lpZBDO.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img912/7224/ZOPw1Y.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img909/2571/iQxu9j.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img631/5667/kFDKfX.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img540/4417/A7RgsU.jpg)
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Looks great
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Looks great
x2.
And damn that was fast! :o
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Little different than when you were here a week ago eh Ron ;) You know me man, when I get my mind set on something I go full bore on it.
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wow - this looks great Steve!!! What a difference is 7 days!!!
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Holy crap!!
That's rediculously awesome ;)
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img537/453/42lGNS.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img905/8391/8AF8sE.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img661/6083/nqXIqZ.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img540/8941/tcE2ZW.jpg)
Took some time this weekend to finish getting the tank decor set up now as well as spray bar mounted etc etc. I'm very pleased with the way it looks now, pretty happy with the LED strip lights I set up as well. Bright enough to show fish colors yet not so overly / too bright.
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Great job!
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That looks really nice!
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img673/3082/UfY5EW.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img537/3447/U46F5C.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img537/2982/Mfu6UA.jpg)'
Working on covering all that new wall space with pictures from past trips. Darn prices of printer ink cartridges is killing me though.
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Just keeps getting better!
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Did you save room for a lazy boy?
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Steve, Look on Ebay for after market refillable ink cartages, that comes with ink for refilling....that's what I use, saves a lot $$
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What kinda light you using on her to get that blue affect
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Al I am using this here on the tank you saw down here yesterday http://www.ebay.com/itm/311024174026?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
It doesn't come with the power supply though so you have to buy that separate but you can get a 12v power supply adapter from somehwhere local like Radio Shack for about $8-$10. Then you just hook the two wires up to the lights and mount them. It's a nice easy and cheap way to get a nice subtle lighting look.
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img913/2632/2aJZPh.jpg)
Built a beam today out of some douglas fir to add to the lodge type feel of the office.
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That's Bad Ass Steve! Funny though, I actually thought something like a wooden main beam would look cool down there when I was over a couple weeks ago. ;D
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UPDATE with some new pics. My OCD turned a simple 30min tank cleaning into a 5 hour long re-do today. Been bored with the aqua-scape of the office tank lately so not only re-scaped it but also rebuilt the canopy to accept better lighting. The LED strip lights before were bit dark for my taste. So now the canopy houses four 48" long T5 tubes. Two natural daylight and two warm color. REALLY made a huge difference in how good the fish colors look now. Just have to make a new side panel to cap the end of the canopy now and then it's done.
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img540/3473/ud69hE.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img540/4661/7VX6kL.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img673/9826/lc4wvy.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img912/2561/felecJ.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img913/9193/3teqeE.jpg)
(http://imageshack.com/a/img537/1853/WnDmke.jpg)
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Nice job Steve...
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(http://imageshack.com/a/img540/3295/6by3fr.jpg)
Finished it up completely now. Yesterday I added a black background, finished the canopy, and also added some more live plants (Anubias) to go along with the existing java fern. I'm much more pleased with it now than I was before.
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Looks great