Do it yourself

Quote: beachbumbabs

Whaddya mean, "no traffic" in your bedroom? Get crackin', Face! :)

Lol, mine is going in my fish room. It somewhere you have to walk into. The only reason to go in there is specifically to look at the fish room, and there's nothing to do in there but look at fish stuff. It's not like it's in the hall so that I may stumble into when drunk, nor in the living room where I wrestle with the kid. So, you know... it's not gonna get hit by anything bigger than a plastic bait bucket.

Quote: BBB

No ideas on how to substitute/work around. Was thinking several smaller windows, interestingly inset (staggered) in the wall like a set of pictures, but I suppose every seam is a potential leak point in an aquarium wall. Still, maybe....

I do. I just. Don't. Wanna. =p

My design called for a rather excessive 3' height, and height is the factor here. I could stretch the length (left/right) out to 18' long, and I'd need no extra thickness. Ditto for stretching the width (in/out). It's the height (up/down) that changes it all. If I drop down to 2', which is the size of my current tank, my thickness drops all the way to just 0.5", and that's for the high safety factor of 3.8 (as opposed to the 2.0 I was shooting for). So, The length and depth I make this is limited only by my house. I could go the full 48" x 132" and still only need 0.5" thick glass, provided the depth stays at 24".

And I gotta admit, the depth is the one factor that didn't bother me about my current setups. I wanted way more width and bit more length, and I can still do that. So there are options. Of course, while a huge 33% chop in thickness and therefore weight (6.56lb p/square foot vs 9.8X), it's still gonna be a damn sight heavier than I planned to ensure my house don't cave in, nor can I lift it myself, nor can I likely afford it. I don't have no $2-$3k for a f#$%ing window XD

/sigh. It was affordable when I just wanted an upgrade. But then I had to get to dreaming...

Quote: Face

Lol, mine is going in my fish room. .

My recent obsession is the pantry. I turned a
closet back into a pantry, and am not stopping
till I have 3 months worth of food. Dollar Tree
is the key. 13,000 stores in the US, Walmart
only has 4500. DT has some amazing values
if you're stocking up. Especially canned meats.
The thing is to visit several in your area. What
one doesn't have, the others will. I've got over
200 cans and need another 200. Walmart has
12 taco shells for a buck, they last forever.
This is actually fun, looking for a sale and
buying in quantity.

Quote: Evenbob

My recent obsession is the pantry. I turned a
closet back into a pantry, and am not stopping
till I have 3 months worth of food. Dollar Tree
is the key. 13,000 stores in the US, Walmart
only has 4500. DT has some amazing values
if you're stocking up. Especially canned meats.
The thing is to visit several in your area. What
one doesn't have, the others will. I've got over
200 cans and need another 200. Walmart has
12 taco shells for a buck, they last forever.
This is actually fun, looking for a sale and
buying in quantity.

I've been into prep like this the past 2-3 year or so. A buddy asked why and I asked him if he had not seen how many people end up in a bad way after things like Katrina and Sandy because they do not have even the food for a week. One mistake some people make is buying in bulk because it is cheap but they do not buy what they like to eat, too much just rice and beans.

This is also something the Mormon Church preaches, they are supposed to keep a year or so of stock on hand.

Quote: Face

/sigh. It was affordable when I just wanted an upgrade. But then I had to get to dreaming...

Back in action. Found some abrasion resistant acrylic. I could double the length and triple the width of my current aquarium and the sheet needed for the job is only 50lbs and $400. That is totally doable and, to be honest, cheap enough that I can replace the sheet over the years if wear/yellowing occurs. And the more I look at it, the 24" height limitation is still desirable. I suppose it'll be nice addressing issues on the bottom without having to actually go swimming to do so. And this is cheap enough that, depending on racing, I may be able to build this warm season. Starting to get excited again =)

Lol, maybe I'll just use all my rink connections and repurpose some hockey glass =p I think it was EB who mentioned someone doing a wood floor out of reclaimed bowling lanes, pin dings and all. Maybe some puck marks in my tank will be just the touch needed to really make this "mine" ;)

Now to design the DIY pump and filter. I'll be back...

Quote: Face

Back in action. Found some abrasion resistant acrylic. I could double the length and triple the width of my current aquarium and the sheet needed for the job is only 50lbs and $400. That is totally doable and, to be honest, cheap enough that I can replace the sheet over the years if wear/yellowing occurs. And the more I look at it, the 24" height limitation is still desirable. I suppose it'll be nice addressing issues on the bottom without having to actually go swimming to do so. And this is cheap enough that, depending on racing, I may be able to build this warm season. Starting to get excited again =)

Somehow this tank idea reminds me of......

Quote: AZDuffman

Somehow this tank idea reminds me of......

Clear aluminum? That's the ticket! Though I would've used invincibilium ;)

And... I mean, not to derail every single thread I post in with this garbage, but... I literally just stated that I'm getting excited again. Excited because, hey, finally something is going right. Something I want is again attainable. I have something to look forward to.

It's now 49* in my house. Heater just went overnight. Come Wednesday, I'll be out $1,900 for a used replacement.

WTF have I done? No broken mirrors, no desecration of ancient spiritual grounds, I haven't dug into one, single burial tomb.

Couple of my Native friends call me Dark Cloud. A title I'm certainly earning ><

Quote: Face

....WTF have I done?...

Couple of my Native friends call me Dark Cloud. A title I'm certainly earning ><

Do you know your local Shaman?

We have had ours come through and bless our place, it didn't hurt anything. Reflection

Quote: AZDuffman

I've been into prep like this the past 2-3 year or so. A buddy asked why and I asked him if he had not seen how many people end up in a bad way after things like Katrina and Sandy because they do not have even the food for a week. One mistake some people make is buying in bulk because it is cheap but they do not buy what they like to eat, too much just rice and beans.

This is also something the Mormon Church preaches, they are supposed to keep a year or so of stock on hand.

Some things do not keep for years canned. Tomato products swell and I would wonder if some of the canned meat can be limited.

We are set to go with things for a few weeks , but I can't make myself prep for longer than that.

I used to wonder if I'd regret the lack of prep if we had nuclear war, but that seems distant enough for my lifetime now. And I never bought into the idea of a complete collapse of our Federal system due to economic problems making years-long prep necessary.

I think now the most likely thing to happen to make me regret it is a sufficiently powerful coronal mass ejection from the Sun. I just keep hearing that if such took out our electrical power system widely enough it could not be repaired for years, and that due to the way this would snowball into problems it would kill millions by starvation etc. A sufficiently widespread such problem could also be caused by terrorists, but the planning for that would have to be monumental, don't much buy it. See link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection
PS: adding this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

Quote: odiousgambit

Some things do not keep for years canned. Tomato products swell and I would wonder if some of the canned meat can be limited.

Issue with tomatoes is that the high acid eats at the metal. If you home canned it would probably last longer.

Quote: AZDuffman

One mistake some people make is buying in bulk because it is cheap but they do not buy what they like to eat, too much just rice and beans.

I only buy what I know I'll use. Today a
local store has diced tomatoes 2/$1. I
use them in everything. They have lot
of varieties. Garlic and basil, chili, fire
roasted, onion and garlic. I'll get at least
30 cans, maybe more.