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CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano


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  1. #111
    CalmSeasQuest - Reefkeeper
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    Brighton, MI
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    Thomas
    Awards Nano Contest Winner - Winner of 2012 Nano Contest

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    Sorry for the delays all...

    I spent much of last week in DC for meetings on the hill, after which I had the urge to bath in hand sanitizer. Thankfully I'm mostly recovered from the unprovoked attack of kitchen cabinetry.

    After a 25% water change - Here's a quick cell pic of the first intentional life in the tank - I temporarily added in a tiny Acan frag to make sure it would support life.

    2012 03 26154256 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    As for whats coming next, here's the backstory...

    I've kept aquariums for more than 30 years, like many originally freshwater, then reef. Having survived the brief plenum, reverse plenum and skilter era, all builds have been variations of the same basic theme - "Stuff the tank with the most live rock possible". Although it makes great biological sense and is representative of a natural reef and although I consider myself a traditionalist, I wanted to do something different with this tank. So I decided to do basically the opposite. Create a tank that incorporates no live rock and bears little resemblance to a natural reef while still providing the necessary biological filtration.

    I've always marveled at Mother Nature's creations - especially those residing in the oceans. A brilliant display of beauty with but a hint of a sense of humor. I thought it might be interesting to create individual pieces... sculptures if you will designed to showcase and accent each coral with a minimal of distraction. Each coral treated much the way Tiffany would feature a precious gemstone or jewelry creation.

    Each piece has been created with specific corals in mind. I'll be introducing the first later this week with new additions thereafter. The first while among the simplest in appearance, took more hours to create than any other piece and will feature 3 Acan Lords.

    Thanks for everyone's patience
    The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw
    Likes Sir Patrick liked this post

  2. #112
    MizTanks - Reefkeeper
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    Very happy your on the mend.....especially for the sake of the tank
    There's nothing like being a Reefer! www.upmmas.com

  3. #113
    CalmSeasQuest - Reefkeeper
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    Awards Nano Contest Winner - Winner of 2012 Nano Contest

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    For the first installation, I took a section of cast acrylic pipe, cut it lengthwise then heated it and formed an angle toward the front of the tank. I then ground and polished a flat surface and painted the reverse side black using Krylon Fusion.

    Acan7 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    I then used a diamond blade on a Dremel to shape 4 Acan Lord Frags to allow low-profile mounting. Although the photos don't do a good job of showing the Acans, I selected a purple, red with a bright tangerine star-burst center, pink and green/purple frags to provide contrast. I'll grab better macro and actinic shots once they recover from the carving, mounting and travel.

    Acan4 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    The combination of the reverse painting and beveled, polished edges creates a really "neat" visual effect that is far more pronounced than the photos show.
    Acan2 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    Acan1 1 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    Over time they should merge together, encompassing the entire acrylic substrate.
    Last edited by CalmSeasQuest; 03-29-2012 at 07:15 PM.
    The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw
    Likes Badfish liked this post

  4. #114
    Sir Patrick - Reefkeeper A2 Club Coordinator
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    Pretty cool idea!!

  5. #115
    MizTanks - Reefkeeper
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    Very cool idea!
    There's nothing like being a Reefer! www.upmmas.com

  6. #116
    dlhirst - Reefkeeper
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    Love it. I was gonna suggest little "price tags" to complete the display. But, Tiffany would never have price tags showing...

  7. #117
    CalmSeasQuest - Reefkeeper
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    Awards Nano Contest Winner - Winner of 2012 Nano Contest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sir Patrick View Post
    Pretty cool idea!!
    Quote Originally Posted by MizTanks View Post
    Very cool idea!
    Thanks! This one has been fun so far.

    Quote Originally Posted by dlhirst View Post
    Love it. I was gonna suggest little "price tags" to complete the display. But, Tiffany would never have price tags showing...
    Thanks! - One of the challenges with this build was not going "over the top" and having it look like a FW tank, i.e. bubble producing treasure chest et al. (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

    I'm hoping it will evolve into a very unique look as the Acans grow together and "assimilate" the design. Thus far, I've got 10 other pieces designed and in various stages of completion, each entirely different.
    The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw

  8. #118
    CalmSeasQuest - Reefkeeper
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    As I was thinking through the design possibilities for this tank, one tenet was to NOT think in terms of coral (aside from the obvious environmental needs.) Some of the designs were based on Topiary methods used in Horticulture and the concept of creating a submarine formal English garden. To that end, here's the the second installation...

    2012 03 30 081245 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    3/32" diameter acrylic rod was heated and wrapped around a wooden dowel to create the spiral. A small section of larger diameter acrylic tubing was affixed to the base to form an attachment point for the coral - in this case, a pink, photosynthetic Gorgonian...

    IMG 20120330 135633 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    The Gorg looks pretty shabby at the moment this photo was taken as it had been placed in the tank minutes before and after just having been Fragged, affixed and transported to my office. It will look much better in a couple of days.
    IMG 20120330 135329 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano

    I also placed a couple small Mangroves in the skimmer section of the sump. Also visible is the Diatom bloom I've been expecting.
    IMG 20120330 143002 - CalmSeasQuest's 2012 Desktop Nano
    The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. - George Bernard Shaw
    Likes MizTanks liked this post

  9. #119
    MizTanks - Reefkeeper
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    That is just to freaking cool!!! Where the heck are you coming up with these ideas?
    There's nothing like being a Reefer! www.upmmas.com

  10. #120
    AJ :) - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by MizTanks View Post
    That is just to freaking cool!!! Where the heck are you coming up with these ideas?
    Your build is bizarre. In a good way. Kinda makes me think of weird things, like if there were fish tanks in Tron would they look like this? Keep up the great work.

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