Kinetic's 98 Gallon Custom

[kinetic]

Kinetic's 98 Gallon Custom Cuttlefish Reef

 

Display Tank

36" x 25" x 25"

1/2" Acrylite Cyro G Acrylic Body

1" Acrylite Cyro G 3" wide eurobracing

Black back

White bottom

 

External Overflow

12" x 5" x 12"

1/2" Black Acrylite Cyro acrylic

1.5" Sched 80 Bulkhead drain

12" span of 1.5" long teeth

 

Lighting

Prop Tank - 250watt HQI AquaMedic Oceanlight w/ 20K AB Lamp

Display Tank - 250watt HQI + 2x24watt T5 AquaMedic T5/MH Pendant

Refugium - 54watt 6700K PC

 

Plumbing

Prop Tank - Quiet One 4000 HH sump return, three Seio 620 for more flow

Display Tank - Panworld 200PS Sump Return, Sequence Reeflo DART Closed Loop, OM 4-way v.2 Drum Wavemaker

 

Display Stand

36" x 30" x 36"

Custom DIY stand

Pressure Treated frame

Primed skin

Red Oak Cherry Stain

 

Sump Stand

7' x 2' x 7'

7' x 2' x 3' first level (prop/fuge area)

7' x 2' x 4' second level (sump area)

 

Sump

50 Gallon TruVu turned Sump Tank

 

Refugium

30 Gallon EcoSystem Refugium

 

Propagation Tank

30 Gallon prop tank

 

Misc. Sump Equipment

5 Gallon Remote Deep Sand Bed

K2R Calcium Reactor setup w/ 10lb co2 tank

ASM G3 Skimmer (recirc mod)

Aqualogic 1/5HP Chiller

TLF Phosphate Reactor

AquaController III + DC8

 

 

Journal Updates

05/04/06 - Tank is now in the process of being made! I have to order a OM 4-way and a lighting system. That'll come later.

05/01/06 - Decided to make this tank into a Cuttlefish tank. I will be keeping Sepia Bandensis.

04/27/06 - 82g Tank pending sale. 97.4g tank starting build. prop/fuge ready to be plumbed. one sump baffle broke =(

04/24/06 - Talking to Gen @ kritter creations for 98g tank build

 

 

Photo Gallery

 

Sump Area

 

 

 

 

 

Display Tank

 

 

[Sebea]

Looks cool koden, but why not go with socal again?

[kinetic]

I would, but the shipping is too much. Plus I found a new place, kritter creations, that is up to par with socal's work. I absolutely love my socal tank, except I need something bigger (well, I don't *need* something bigger). Kritter Creations is about 40 minutes from my home, so I can easily drive there to pickup the tank and avoid the $150-200 shipping charges.

 

Also kritter creations does bent corners rather than only rounding the front two corners, which is what I was looking for before.

 

Socal is great, but kritter creations looks just as good w/o the shipping prices =)

[Quash]

Son of a B.... from the 32 to the 82 that didnt get finished to a 98 in planning. You have got quite the disposable income son. You said you had a wife right??? And she was cool with all this?? Cant wait to see this bastage up an runnin at least with some water in it. Good luck with it all. Any word on the tank build?

[divemaster]

does kritter creations have a website by any chance?

[Cuba Libre]

Cuttlefish? I've only seen those at public aquariums, didn't know that hobbyists kept them. How difficult are they to maintain?

[The Keeper]

Cuttlefish? I've only seen those at public aquariums, didn't know that hobbyists kept them. How difficult are they to maintain?

 

With a large enough tank (so they dont rub their butts off), enough filtration, and live food... They aren't very difficult at all...

 

And they make great pets.. Smart and entertaining.

 

www.tonmo.com for more information

[kinetic]

Son of a B.... from the 32 to the 82 that didnt get finished to a 98 in planning. You have got quite the disposable income son. You said you had a wife right??? And she was cool with all this?? Cant wait to see this bastage up an runnin at least with some water in it. Good luck with it all. Any word on the tank build?

 

No disposable income =( I'm just graduated from college, so I'm paying back loans at the same time. I decided to live at home during the limbo time between undergrad and grad school, and I have a decent paying job, and I don't have a wife (girlfriend though, who is super thrifty and supports all my hobbies, she's great) or kids, so I guess I have a bit to spare.

 

The tank materials just came in yesterday to the shop. Should be 2-3 weeks more. I'm thinking end of June should everything be ready to be plumbed and watered

 

does kritter creations have a website by any chance?

 

krittertanks dot com

 

Cuttlefish? I've only seen those at public aquariums, didn't know that hobbyists kept them. How difficult are they to maintain?

 

Cuttlefish. goto tonmo dot com, they have tons of information about them.

 

If you can keep a large reef tank, you can keep a cuttlefish. Daily feeding of frozen / live foods, big skimmer, lots of room to swim, good lighting, a few toys, and you're good to go. Some live in colder waters, while other live in 78-80 degree waters in the wild, which are perfect for reef tanks + cutles.

 

The only thing is, they'll eat any crustacian other than a small hermit crab. THey don't eat snails. So get small scarlets or blue leg hermits and whatever snail you want, and you're good to go.

 

no tankmates other than species only if you have a big enough tank.

 

Sepia Bandensis are only 4" maximum in size.

[I Take Pictures]

Cuttlefish, hmmmmm, interesting. Im looking forward to seeing it come along.

 

I trust you spent some time on the Cephalopods forum on RC?

[Guitargod6453]

Go with a pair of Dragonface Pipefish, awesome fish, and may eat red bugs.

 

Good Luck

[kinetic]

Cuttlefish, hmmmmm, interesting. Im looking forward to seeing it come along.

 

I trust you spent some time on the Cephalopods forum on RC?

 

I did most of my research on tonmo.com before it went down. that place has TONS of information. I also read the article by Richard Ross, who actually lives 20 minutes from my house. He used to breed cuttlefish.

 

 

 

Go with a pair of Dragonface Pipefish, awesome fish, and may eat red bugs.

 

Good Luck

 

Yeah, I liked those and the multibanded pipefish. I don't know if they'll like the SPS dominated tank, and the 40x turnover. Plus they're a bit too cryptic...

 

I could go with a full blown fish tank, with a genicanthus bellus, my two clowns, a trio of lyrtail anthias... but then doesn't cuttlefish just sound so much cooler?

 

sure pipefish will eat redbugs, but can they do this:

 

http://homepage.mac.com/ulufeke/sticky/cut...piaonenotgr.mov

[yoshiod9]

i was going to make sure you knew who to talk to in our area but it seems you've got that under wraps. i remember when rich picked up his 'flamboyant' cuttle and showed the vids/pics of it on the bar forum on rc. sooo freaking nice. anyway, goodluck with the setup!!

[kinetic]

i was going to make sure you knew who to talk to in our area but it seems you've got that under wraps. i remember when rich picked up his 'flamboyant' cuttle and showed the vids/pics of it on the bar forum on rc. sooo freaking nice. anyway, goodluck with the setup!!

 

Yeah I saw the videos online! They're really amazing.

 

I think that one needs colder waters, 72-76 degrees, which wouldn't be ideal for most reefs unless it stayed at 76. The bandensis need 78-80 waters, which is perfect.

 

His definately looked awesome, especially how it sort of crawls and stalks it's prey. Here's a vid of it I found:

 

 

http://homepage.mac.com/ulufeke/sticky/cut...piaonenotgr.mov

 

 

I wonder how cool bandensis look compared to the officialis (flamboyent).

[kinetic]

So the tank is now in the process of being built of Polycast Cell Cast acrylic.

 

It will have front rounded corners, and mechanically buffed instead of flame polished.

[Izzue]

So the tank is now in the process of being built of Polycast Cell Cast acrylic.

 

It will have front rounded corners, and mechanically buffed instead of flame polished.

 

Hi Koden... wuzzup???

 

Does any of your quote above help to keep acrylic from scratching so easily???

After my Finnex--- I will NEVER have another acrylic tank due to scratchs.

 

Izzue

[kinetic]

Hi Koden... wuzzup???

 

Does any of your quote above help to keep acrylic from scratching so easily???

After my Finnex--- I will NEVER have another acrylic tank due to scratchs.

 

Izzue

 

Hey Izzue,

Neither of those are for scratches. Cell Cast is a much better acrylic for scratch resistant, but will still scratch. The Polycast is just a good brand of cell cast aclryic, and using a buffing bit doesn't change the chemical properties that burning and melting the acrylic would, thus it would prevent crazing (the eventual stretching and ugly look some tanks get near the top).

 

After this next acrylic tank, I will be going for a Low Iron glass tank. Probably a 180g. That will be in a few years when I'm done with Law School.

 

I know of one person who lives near me who is patenting a scratch removing method using some amazingly strong magnets that will safely remove any scratch from acrylic in an well established tank. A few "testers" of it said the scratches they had completely dissapeared. The equipment he uses can't be used by the common aquarist though, as he says, it takes specialized tools and skills to get it done. So it would be like having your car taken to an auto body shop or something like a paintless dent repair person.

 

That is why I feel a bit better =)

 

On my M-Tank the only thing that scratched it was when I was on the phone while cleaning the tank, and my Kent Pro-Scraper got some sand in it and totally etched up one side of my tank. GUH.

 

but it's true, acrylic sucks when it comes to scratches.

[kinetic]

Found a source for Sepia Bandensis: newalameda.com

 

They're actually raised by daisycuttlefishfarm.com's Rich Ross. He's local to me and the president of the local reef club.

 

I'm going to get my system running soon so I can grab a few. They're pretty darn cheap right now.

[kinetic]

Tank is just about done! All it needs is the external overflow to cure and the holes to be drilled.

 

I'll have it by Sunday most likely

[Smitten4Witten]

that is awesome that u are doing cuttlefish

[yoshiod9]

why the name change, koden? i was hella confused for a minute there...

[kinetic]

I'm on a bunch of forums, the bulk being Photography forums, Reef forums, and Car forums. I'm Blizzard on all my car forums, Kinetic on photography, and Koden on reefs. I'm in the transition of changing all my names to one name.

 

=P

 

Cuttles will be a challenge to feed, since they need to be fed every day, and most likely live. My tank is big too, so it will be difficult =/ I'll think of something.

 

I'll be keeping 6 bandensis at first, then maybe going to 8 if I think it can handle 2 more.

[Sebea]

I'll still call you Koden. lol

 

I have seen a couple cuttlefish at aquariums, and I think they are extemely interesting animals. They were able to socialize with me right away, and they reacted to every movement I made while changing from color to color. Just fascinating. I hope that you can care for them well!

[kinetic]

I hope so too. After reading articles, it isn't as hard as feeding other aggressive fish, and may even be easier than fish like scorpians and anglers. They also don't need anything in particular, just really clean water as usual.

 

Cephelapods have been around for a loooooong time, they're pretty hardy =)

[supernip]

When are you gonna get your gen tank? I'm sure you'll be pleased with it.

 

Sorry I didn't respond in my other post about people with bad experiences with gen. I'm sure people have, but I've also noticed that gen likes to overbuild and advises you to it before he starts. Without details, ie customer refusing to get appropriate size acrylic, it's hard to judge who is right or wrong. I know gen can be hard to work with though.

 

Getting your tank sunday? hahaha that means 2 sundays from now probably, gen really lags but it's well worth it. You should see my 25gal sometimes. It's built like a museum art piece.

 

 

Anyway, keep us updated. Tell gen supernip says hi and to finish my work already. k thanks bye

 

 

your pal,

Nips

 

ps

why the round corners? and why so many tanks? This hobby will quickly become a chore for you...

[kinetic]

Hey Nips,

Yeah Gen finished my tank in about a week and a half!!! Very quickly and exactly as I ordered. He came and delivered it too and drilled all the holes for me right there and then.

 

Review / Comparo Between SoCalCreations and Kritter Creations

 

I have both my SoCalCreations and Kritter Creation tanks next to each other...

 

Out of the box, SCC tank looks "higher quality". I like SCC's external overflow design better, they rounded the top edge corners, AND they used polycast cell cast acrylic all the way around. Their eurobracing also looks nicer. But that's not to say KC's tank is less higher quality.

 

KC's tank has a much thicker eurobracing (1"), he flame polished the four holes drilled in the eurobracing, he reinforced the back of the tank so it wouldn't bow as much so the external overflow wouldn't pop off, and the best part, he used one piece of acrylic for the sides and front, giving me bent front corners. The bending is perfect, and looks fantastic, while SCC only were able to round it out (which was well done).

 

Summary:

SCC

Cons: No front bent corners

Qualms: didn't take into account long term bowing of the back wall, causing overflow to not sit flush? may be moot though. They also never sent me a "cad" design of everything, which I know aquatic systems design and krittercreations does. Told me they didn't think leak testing was necessary, which shows they know their stuff, yet I had wish they did test it just to be thorough.

Pros: Stunning attention to detail, perfect rounded everything, external overflow was great, SUCH amazing customer service, great shipping!, nice people, very helpful in designing my tank. Every few days sent me updated pictures of the build. Rounded all the corners of the tank, except the back, and made it look beautiful. Included bulkheads and predrilled everything. Extremely knowledgable about setting up reef tanks.

 

KC

Cons: does exactly what you want, but nothing more in terms of asthetics. Didn't round out a lot of the corners of the tank, such as the edge around the top. Seemed to not want to go lengths to find me polycast acrylic, and in the end I was only able to get him to make the top and sides out of the more expensive Polycast Cell Cast, while he used plexiglass g for the rest of the tank since he conveniently had that around. SCC definately used polycast for my entire tank, even the black pieces. KC did not have black pieces, nor didn't seem to know much about polycast vs. plexiglass. I had to resarch myself to find out polycast was much better and I tried to get KC to make it all out of it, but definately he didn't seem like he wanted to spend the money, even though I did not say I would not spend extra for it. That was probably the only thing I was not happy with.

Qualms: Didn't go out of his way to meet all my demands, such as the polycast. Didn't go beyond my expectations, but that's fine.

Pros: Local to me. Bent front corners. Redundant support for the tank =) Great customer service. Hand delivery. Came over and I was able to choose exactly where I wanted the holes drilled on the real product.

 

In conclusion

Overall, if shipping was not a factor, I would have had socalcreations make the bigger tank, even if they could not bend the front two corners. (Though I would beg and plead). I'd also have them do all the good things kritter creations did. But I'm still extremely happy with my kritter creations tank, and Gen did an awesome job. I'd highly recommend SCC to everyone, and KC to locals.

 

 

Side-By-Side Pictures this weekend!