I'm back

reefkeeper2

Well-Known Member
BRS Member
I've been gone for a while. Back in August I got laid up with a degenerated disc in my neck and it put me out of commission for 4 months. My tank suffered and I couldn't do very much other than scrape algae off the acrylic and even that was painful. Take that along with Underwater World closing and I was in a deep blue funk. I was wondering if my reefing days were over. I was down but fortunately not out. With physical therapy, various yucky drugs and 3 months off from work , I recovered . I'm back up to speed! The tank though needs a lot of work. It is looking kinda sad. :( I didn't realized how much I did until I couldn't do it. The whole back side of the tank needs to be re-aquascaped. The acrylic is a mess and needs to be de-scratched. There are patches of cyano. There is fuzzy grey algae over a lot of the rock work. I need to take down my frag tank and put up a new (better) one. A lot of colonies need to be cut back and I have a ton of frags and colonies to get rid of. I need more fish!
So I just wanted to check in and say I'm still here. Time to get back into the tank and get my hands wet again.
 
Hi Paul
Good to hear from you. I was actually just did a search on your tank set up last Thursday since I’m thinking about an acrylic tank. Sorry to hear about your health but glad to hear you’re recovering well. Im sure the tank will also recover quickly as well.
I think it will be very hard for people like us to quit this hobby. I moved and sold the tank but after about 2 months, I feel something is missing. I never intended to set up a tank again so soon especially with a new house. On the planning stage now and inspired by your sunroom set up.
 
Glad to have you back. I know the feeling of disc injuries all too well. Ruptured L5, fractured L4. Had a hemilaminectomy in July and am waiting for comp approval currently for an Anterior ALIF Spinal fusion.
 
Hi Paul
Good to hear from you. I was actually just did a search on your tank set up last Thursday since I’m thinking about an acrylic tank. Sorry to hear about your health but glad to hear you’re recovering well. Im sure the tank will also recover quickly as well.
I think it will be very hard for people like us to quit this hobby. I moved and sold the tank but after about 2 months, I feel something is missing. I never intended to set up a tank again so soon especially with a new house. On the planning stage now and inspired by your sunroom set up.

Acrylic has it's good points and bad. With glass you can swipe with a razor blade scraper and your done. Acrylic is much harder. I think acrylic has less chance of failure and looks better than glass but the maintenance is tough.
 
But acrylic scratch can be buffed out even with the water inside the tank. A scratch on glass is pretty much forever. Regardless of how careful you are, scratches are inevitable even on a glass tank.
The main attraction of acrylic for me is the weight(?). I don’t want to call on a whole village to move a tank. How much weight do you think you save on going with acrylic over glass?
 
Glad to have you back. I know the feeling of disc injuries all too well. Ruptured L5, fractured L4. Had a hemilaminectomy in July and am waiting for comp approval currently for an Anterior ALIF Spinal fusion.

Wow, you have my sympathy. My injury affects my arm and hand. I'm in pretty good shape now.
 
But acrylic scratch can be buffed out even with the water inside the tank. A scratch on glass is pretty much forever. Regardless of how careful you are, scratches are inevitable even on a glass tank.
The main attraction of acrylic for me is the weight(?). I don’t want to call on a whole village to move a tank. How much weight do you think you save on going with acrylic over glass?

Your right and weight was a major factor in my decision. I buff out almost all of the scratches. Ido have three tiny cracks right in the front panel that I can't get rid of that drive me crazy. They are on the outside where some frag shears fell and hit it. They are not scratches but cracks and are too deep to remove without causing distortion. Really pushes my OCD buttons.
 
Wow! Glad to hear you're feeling better Paul. Let me know if you ever need a hand with anything. I'm sure you'll have things corrected in no time.
 
Your right and weight was a major factor in my decision. I buff out almost all of the scratches. Ido have three tiny cracks right in the front panel that I can't get rid of that drive me crazy. They are on the outside where some frag shears fell and hit it. They are not scratches but cracks and are too deep to remove without causing distortion. Really pushes my OCD buttons.

So if that was able to cause that on the acrylic, do you think it would’ve cracked the glass? I thought acrylic is stronger than glass.
I think we’ll be here for awhile so I do want this tank to last. Even with all my years in reefing, I have to admit that I can’t say that I’ve had the same tank running for more than 4 years.
The new Elos uses “ Diamond Glass” which claimed to have 92% light transmission which is on the level of acrylic.
 
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So if that was able to cause that on the acrylic, do you think it would’ve cracked the glass? I thought acrylic is stronger than glass.
I think we’ll be here for awhile so I do want this tank to last. Even with all my years in reefing, I have to admit I can’t say that I’ve had the same tank running for more than 4 years.

There is no way for me to tell. I suppose it could have broken it if it was glass. I'm going on 6 years for this tank. It's really well built, no bowing or crazing.
 
My real concern is the coralline growing where the sand/water line. Very card to reach and most often time, I need to use a razor to remove it.
I don’t mind the more frequent scraping using a plastic blade, but I always get the hard green algae where the sand is that is problematic to remove. I’m also very OCD about the tank viewing.
 
Glad you're on the mend Paul. Having had my share of back problems, I agree that that it will humble you pretty quickly.

The tank will rebound. With a little time and effort, I am sure it be spectacular as ever. How long has it been up and running? It's been quite a while.
 
Glad you're on the mend Paul. Having had my share of back problems, I agree that that it will humble you pretty quickly.

The tank will rebound. With a little time and effort, I am sure it be spectacular as ever. How long has it been up and running? It's been quite a while.

The tank you saw years ago came down because the seals on it began to fail. This tank replaced it and is six years old.
 
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