From reef to planted: musings and build thread

[Anonymous]

Looking very good. I'm actually coming round to the idea of one of these smaller tanks.

PS: just shown the wife. She was impressed. You're helping me out here.

Glad to oblige
I'm a big fan of small tanks. Maintenance on them takes practically no time at all, they hardly take up any room, and you can do most of the layouts in a small tank that you might want to do in a larger one, just by adjusting the scale a bit.

What are the dimensions of the tank btw? Regular float glass or the opti-white high clarity equivalent? I'm looking at what I think may be the same tanks, supplied in the UK (though they're confusingly not marked ADA tanks).

Same ones?

Those are the same (or identical to) the ADA rimless tanks. I don't see the typical little ADA sticker on them, but the dimensions and the whole line match up exactly. The only thing is the price point is really far and away much higher than what they go for here. 150 pounds for a 60cm tank? The same one here goes for around $90.

I'm not using one of them, myself, just an off-the-shelf 15 gallon glass tank (about 24"x12"x12"). Just regular float glass. The nearest equivalent in the ADA lineup is their 60P model, the 60cm x 30cm x 36cm one.

 

[Anonymous]

Everything is so much more pricey here. You can usually expect the pound price to be the same as the dollar price (which, considering the exchange rate is about £1=$2 is bad enough), but when the dollar price is lower, it really stings!

I've yet to find an online vendor for cheap tanks, other than the kits sold by Fluval and Juwel - all of which aren't exactly that modern in style, come with not the best lighting and still aren't that cheap (plus I hate kits, I always want to put something together myself).

I think I should maybe start to go to some real shops, rather than online places. You can sometimes find rather more options that way.

Sorry to keep hijacking your thread btw. It's that enticing, you're now officially my planted tank muse. Don't crack under the pressure now...

 

[Anonymous]

Everything is so much more pricey here. You can usually expect the pound price to be the same as the dollar price (which, considering the exchange rate is about £1=$2 is bad enough), but when the dollar price is lower, it really stings!

I've yet to find an online vendor for cheap tanks, other than the kits sold by Fluval and Juwel - all of which aren't exactly that modern in style, come with not the best lighting and still aren't that cheap (plus I hate kits, I always want to put something together myself).

I'll confess, I haven't got the slightest idea what the typical english tank market is like. Based on the photos of tanks I've seen and some of the odd hardware mounting adaptors on some pieces of equipment, I get the idea that most tanks manufactured over there are either rimless or feature internal glass bracing a little below the tank rim. Either way it's a collosal step up from the plastic frames on US tanks.

But I hear you about those tank kits, I hate'em too.

Sorry to keep hijacking your thread btw. It's that enticing, you're now officially my planted tank muse. Don't crack under the pressure now...

I'll try not to, and no worries about the hijacks. It's part of what this thread is for, really. I'm glad to see other folks interested in going in this direction.

As far as inspiration, have you seen Amano's books? They're absolutely useless... except for the inspiration they provide, which they excel at. I'd recommend volume II over either of the others, but they're all good. Just avoid his AquaJournal magazine, it's ridiculously high priced for a collection of (admittedly very nice) photos with absolutely no real meat to the text (which is only in japanese).

 

[Anonymous]

heh amano has ego issues

VERY nice tank cj ! 8)

 

[Anonymous]

As far as inspiration, have you seen Amano's books? They're absolutely useless... except for the inspiration they provide, which they excel at. I'd recommend volume II over either of the others, but they're all good. Just avoid his AquaJournal magazine, it's ridiculously high priced for a collection of (admittedly very nice) photos with absolutely no real meat to the text (which is only in japanese).

I have Volume 1, plus a couple of his other books and one copy of AquaJournal (the one which focusses on his monster tank - volume 92). It was expensive, even in Japan. Lots of inspiration, but, as you say, little beyond that. Even though I can read the Japanese, a lot of it is rather purple prose with little in the way of practical tips, as befitting his status as inspirational sensei, which brings me on to...

heh amano has ego issues

I think you may be right! The adulation he gets wherever he goes must have something to do with it, but it strikes me the attitude may have helped build his reputation as a guru as well. The Japanese almost expect that from great men. He does put together some pretty good looking tanks though. 8)

 

[Anonymous]

On a different note, yesterday I went to order some prints of my tank photos from snapfish and stumbled across another nifty service they offer: photo book printing. Create a hardback book, 11" x 8", custom dust jacket, photo paper, a bit of text, the works. It was cool enough that I had to assemble one and order it; cost was a very reasonable $25 or so.

Anyway, I won't have the finished product in my hands for a week or so, but if anyone wants to flip through an online version of it you can, just click here. You have to have a snapfish account to access it, but it's free (and they do a nice, cheap job on digital photo prints so it's handy anyway).

These look to be a really cool way of having a permanent record and reference for one's tanks. I would have loved to have been able to do something like this with the 60 gallon reef I had back in Los Angeles before I moved.

 

[Anonymous]

Great idea. By the time I've thought of taking photos of previous tanks, it's been just before breaking them down and when they're not looking their best.

 

[Anonymous]

cjdevito, I love the new Ava :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

To celebrate, here are some new pics.

Popped into the thread here to view the progress, and I'm stunned. Absolutely incredible tank! Just fantastic...

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

cjdevito, I love the new Ava :lol:

Thanks, yours gave me a laugh yesterday when I saw it

 

[Anonymous]

Popped into the thread here to view the progress, and I'm stunned. Absolutely incredible tank! Just fantastic...

Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

I'm halfway tempted to submit it as reefs.org tank of the month. The irony value alone is priceless :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

:wink: I like it too, for the moment.

 

[Anonymous]

Popped into the thread here to view the progress, and I'm stunned. Absolutely incredible tank! Just fantastic...

Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

I'm halfway tempted to submit it as reefs.org tank of the month. The irony value alone is priceless :lol:

DO IT

 

[Anonymous]

Just did 8O

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Anonymous]

Popped into the thread here to view the progress, and I'm stunned. Absolutely incredible tank! Just fantastic...

Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

I'm halfway tempted to submit it as reefs.org tank of the month. The irony value alone is priceless :lol:

:lol:

 

[Anonymous]

You'd have my vote if it were a democracy. 8)

 

[Anonymous]

(chanting)

WE NEEDS NEW PICTURES! GIVES US NEW PICTURES!

 

[Anonymous]

Heh. I'll play with my camera some more over the weekend and see what I can do.

 

[Anonymous]

Couple new pics. Playing around with the new tripod and the camera's manual controls.