Tom's 180 wood scaping

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by samckitt

Like a sheet of Styrofoam? What for, cushion? Is that required? I have never done that & not had any problems.

With heavy tanks, it's not a bad idea.
Reduces any pressure points.
These tanks weight a lot for their sizes and are frameless.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by turbowagon

haha, what an ironic double-post with the senile comment.

Ah.......but.......

Irony has no limit.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by garuf

Oof, still not great, I don't want to clog Tom's thread so I'll start a new one.

Mod's might care, I don't too much

In CA we get high evaporation rates, some places(SE USA) need humidifyers though. Sumps are nice for maintaining constant levels, but I can still those if I so chose, I have some nice CPR overflows for all of the tanks and a sump is nothing more than a tank and some egg crate and bag filter, some bio etc.

Not hard to add or delete, even with the system I have, they both would be independent, having a closed loop canister and an open gravity fed sump.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[tpl*co]

So Tom,

Is this the same tank that was on craigslist?

[plantbrain]

Not quite, but I hired that same guy to make some tanks for me and repair that broken 120.

Sort of wish I'd met him 6 months prior.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Fernando_OC]

Hi Tom, tank looks awesome!!! Im actually looking for a rimless tank builder in CA right now and would love the contact info of the builder of this tank. Thank you

[samckitt]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

With heavy tanks, it's not a bad idea.
Reduces any pressure points.
These tanks weight a lot for their sizes and are frameless.

Regards,
Tom Barr

So with a framed tank it is not necessary? I have never put it under my 75G.

[plantbrain]

His name is Keith, 916-761 3474.
Mention me and realize he lives in Sacramento.

It's a bit of drive to get your tank, Lemar is local to you.

300-400$ in gas, rental, 12 hours of driving etc?

Might be worth it to simply get it locally via Lemar.
I know Juan at Rainbow Pert Shop does good pricing from Lemar.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Fernando_OC]

Thank you Tom, Yeah im also considering Lemar but ofcourse i want to compare cost between these two and a couple others out there. Thanks again

[plantbrain]

I think for the $, the Lemar are your best option where you are at.
They do high line work, the edges are really nice etc.
The ADA tanks you can buy up here also if you wish, AF will sell you them.
Same drive. Depending on the tank size, bring a truck etc.

Or, you can save a bit, and get a nice Lemar for about 1200$ rimless 120 gal with starfire etc. The 180 was about 1600$.

GC's is cheaper, but the edge work is lacking.
Still, they look decent, and not many are going to look too much at that.
Their stands are decent and well priced.

Keith is mostly trying to compete with Lemar, not GC's, his work is better and he does nice edge work.
ADA has nice edge and silicone work as well.

So you have several options really.

This is what I chose and if I did it over again, I think I would have gotten Keith to do the tanks, then bought the stands from GC's or hired some guy here to make them.

Stands are easy to find folks to make them for you.

Oddly, I use to do cabinets etc Trucks and Vans, but no longer have the wood shop and all the goodies that made it a snap to make things.

I made 240 Gal stand and hood, cost me 40$ and took 2 hours to make, then I sold them in the late 1980's for 300$.
Sweet deal for me. I made 32 of them over a year.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by samckitt

So with a framed tank it is not necessary? I have never put it under my 75G.

Generally not because the frame elevates the tank up on the outer edges only.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[fishscale]

Not to derail, but how do you make stands for large tanks? And by large, I mean tanks greater than 500 gallons. Do you need a structural engineer or someone to approve it? (Or at least, should you?) I see a lot of stands that have metal cages and then are skinned with wood. Is that what you usually do?

[plantbrain]

For tanks over 300 gal, it's wise to go to steel I beam.

But that's not in this tread nor would I put such a tank in my home here, tanks that size need built into the home itself as a concrete structure with rebar etc, then yes, you get approval. Much like making a pool inside your home.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[jaidexl]

Tom , you're no stranger to FL, any chance you know of some rimless builders over here?

[jazzlvr123]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

Deep in a verdant forest of Redwoods, sunlight dances of the many shades of green, leaves of aquatic plant reflect the excitement that is life, the sublime experience leaves us in awe.

Come on, that's just not me. I can write silly ADA poems too.
A poem or picture is fine, but it does not compare to being there, experience it, living it.

The same is true for pictures of aquariums.

Life is real and should be tasted, felt, seen, heard, touched.
It is far more real than any art and invokes far more emotion.
As such, our tanks are life as well, and deserve the same respect.

Chew on that for awhile.

Regards,
Tom Barr

wow tom, as us the the jazz would would say. your a deep cat, I digg.