Probably very premature to be posting this here since I'm still in the planning stages, but I figure if I don't start now the project will be near completion without documenting anything.
Anyway, out of bad things often comes new refreshing ideas. Let me start with the background info first. Last summer I embarked on building a backyard pond. It was up in the air whether it would be fresh or salt, but I knew that I wanted an outdoor water feature. I researched and bought a high quality liner and broke ground. It didn't take long before I encountered large roots so I hired someone to come in and grind up the roots and stump. After that I then came across a large buried concrete planter, D'OH! Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. My back went out on me and never fully recovered. Turns out I blew a disc out, but I'll spare everyone the boring details and medical terminology.
While all of this was going on I had already started a new reef tank inside following a year off of the hobby. That has slowly taken shape and is doing quite well. Recently I dug out my old books on coral propagation and started thinking about what it would take to prop frags using natural sunlight (besides the sun, duh!). Out of the blue my wife says, "why don't you build a backyard prop/greenhouse system"? Let me repeat that first part, MY WIFE SAYS... !!! At first I thought it was the residual effects of my back meds but she was really telling me to go build a long time dream of mine, without my having to interject any subliminal hints! Turns out she would rather have me build another prop system (I formally had multiple outdoor prop tanks) than destroy whats left of my back on digging holes.
The gears in my head haven't stopped working since. Sometimes I can barely sleep thinking of every aspect of building this project. Thankfully I've held onto various parts and supplies that should help cut some costs. I have a 250 gallon fiberglass holding bin that should make for a perfect sump and somewhere to cure live rock during the initial setup. Next I need to start working on some of the follow items.
More to come...
Anyway, out of bad things often comes new refreshing ideas. Let me start with the background info first. Last summer I embarked on building a backyard pond. It was up in the air whether it would be fresh or salt, but I knew that I wanted an outdoor water feature. I researched and bought a high quality liner and broke ground. It didn't take long before I encountered large roots so I hired someone to come in and grind up the roots and stump. After that I then came across a large buried concrete planter, D'OH! Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. My back went out on me and never fully recovered. Turns out I blew a disc out, but I'll spare everyone the boring details and medical terminology.
While all of this was going on I had already started a new reef tank inside following a year off of the hobby. That has slowly taken shape and is doing quite well. Recently I dug out my old books on coral propagation and started thinking about what it would take to prop frags using natural sunlight (besides the sun, duh!). Out of the blue my wife says, "why don't you build a backyard prop/greenhouse system"? Let me repeat that first part, MY WIFE SAYS... !!! At first I thought it was the residual effects of my back meds but she was really telling me to go build a long time dream of mine, without my having to interject any subliminal hints! Turns out she would rather have me build another prop system (I formally had multiple outdoor prop tanks) than destroy whats left of my back on digging holes.
The gears in my head haven't stopped working since. Sometimes I can barely sleep thinking of every aspect of building this project. Thankfully I've held onto various parts and supplies that should help cut some costs. I have a 250 gallon fiberglass holding bin that should make for a perfect sump and somewhere to cure live rock during the initial setup. Next I need to start working on some of the follow items.
- Protein skimmer, either DIY or...
- Controller unit. Probably an AC or similar.
- Design and parts for a gas water heater. I'm leaning toward a tankless design. I'm already working on plans for a titanium exchanger that will double for both heating and cooling.
- Finalize a supplier for the greenhouse covering.
- Come up with a economical configuration for prop tanks.
More to come...
