Update to my tank - Before and After (56K caution)

[Chin_Lee]

I was asked by several people at the recent Vancouver meet to put up an update to my tank so....... I finally put in my metal halides a couple of days ago and I officially have a reef tank ...... but sadly I've very few corals at this time. :cry: This is the "BEFORE" picture of the tank in July
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/236103_0349-med.JPG

And this is now:
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/236138_3896a.JPG

It has three-sided viewing which gives me the viewing pleasure from the kitchen with:
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/236139_3917a-med.JPG

and the view while lying on my couch:
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/236138_3889a-med.JPG

Thanks to Mason (Son of Skyline) for a lot of the live rocks that I have. As you can see, I don't have too many corals so PM me if you have any frags that you would like to sell.

The giant skimmer I built is working just marvelously
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/236139_3919-med.JPG

and i've added a DJ88 calcium reactor to the sump system in my basement
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/236139_3920-med.JPG

I don't know how so many of you can all keep all this equipment in a cabinet under the tank..... I have enough problem keeping my sump room clean. :eek:
Reminder to PM me if you have some frags that will do well under 250W metal halides.
For those who are currently setting up their tanks, I hope you have as much fun as I had putting mine together. Lessons I learned:
1) do it slow and take your time
2) PLAN, PLAN and PLAN
3) measure once, twice then cut... especially acrylic cuz its so expensive
4) change or remove the price tags from the items you buy for your tank before you bring it home (if know your other half is already home)
5) Pay cash if your other half maintains the credit card bills
6) Remove the outer plastic bag that your livestock is in if you buy it from JL's because they write the price on the bag with a black marker :evil: got me in so much trouble when I took out the bags for the two blood shimps at $25 each :evil:
7) have fun doing it

Cheers
Chin Lee

[Gujustud]

lol, nice tips.

Tank is lookin' really nice and sharp! Good job. Nice Skimmer too!

[reefhawk]

geez looks alot like the 180 i have. Haha. seiously have skimmer envy tho. You didn't happen to buid two did ya? Looks great. wish i could figure out how to convert my pics into a small enough format to fit on here, you would be happy your tank went to a good home.

[muck]

Excellent Pictures..!!
I really like the way it is aquascaped, and the 3 sided viewing is a nice plus.. :biggrin:

[Aquattro]

Great job! That looks really nice.

[AJ_77]

Beautiful setup, and great tips about hiding prices. :mrgreen:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Nice tank.

PS. Forgot to add:

8) Make lots of not-so-subtle hints about what you really want for Christmas, Birthdays (eg. live rock, gift cert. at your favourite lfs)

9) But most importantly - Don't let your other half find out about your posts on CanReef :lol: :razz: :exclaim:

[ree-fready]

Looks really good, awesome job.

[chrisd]

that's a beautiful setup.

[yifan917]

NICE...................!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Great tank Chin. You did an awesome job. Now the hard part. Having patience to sit back and watch everything grow. Again, thanks for everything and nice to meet you and your family. Go Malaysia :biggrin:

[Tarolisol]

Looks amazing nice and clean. Just a question how big is the tank?

[Chin_Lee]

Thanks for your comments. I've really tried to make it "part" of the room. I even bought the same colored paint thats on the trims and banister. I had bought a similar size tank before and sold it primarily because it was 4 inches too big for my couch to fit in there (Reefhawk now has it and got it at a very good price). Now the couch fits snugly into that space. Lord help me if my wife ever decides to buy new couches! :eek: Geez honey............. how about a new dining table instead??? :eek:
The three sided viewing is a bonus but quite the chore to keep clean. It also gives me less room to build a high back wall of rocks to put more corals but more sand area around the rocks for the fish to swim in, out and around. Pros and cons to the three sided.

Tarolisol, the main tank's 66x24x24 (about 165gal) and the downstairs sump is 72x24x24 but only holds about 75% of water so thats about 135g. Total is about 300g.

Anthony, thanks for coming by the other day. Hows Butter coping with the new home? Its weird not having him around when you are expecting loud chirpings to come from that area. I'm just happy he's at a good home (btw i'm 95% sure he's a male). Keep in touch!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Butters fine. Flying around. Visiting my wife, then me, then my wife, then me... You get the picture. The funny thing is, he scares my cockatoo Rupert. Just climbed into his cage to eat Rupert's treats, and Rupert couldn't get out of there fast enough. Rupert's visiting a friend for the rest of the week to lower his "stress" level. Thanks again for Butter. He's adorable, but as my wife keeps stating, "He's perfect except for all the loud noises he makes right into my ear." Oh well, take the good with the bad.

By the way, Butter is a lovebird that Chin hand raised that has now got a new home in Burnaby. Go to pick up a clown goby, come home with a bird & cage as well. Not bad for a Monday.

Chin, Butter is a boy. I checked his pelvic bone separation, as did my bird expert friend. That's why he's so friendly. Don't get PMS :lol: :lol:

[Chin_Lee]

Thanks Anthony
I'm realllllly glad he's at a good home. My wife's PMS wasn't jiving with Butter's lack of PMS and I was stuck in the middle :eek: Then throw in my kid who loved to poke his fingers in the cage ..... :rolleyes:
thanks a million

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

No, Thank You!!!

That was funny though, when your wife said I'm not allowed to "play" with you since I'd be a bad influence :lol: I'm sure my wife has the same kind of thoughts when I go petshop-hopping with my addict-buddies.

Love the tank. You did a great job with it. Totally goes with the rest of the room.

Cute kid too, even if he has busy fingers :lol:

By the way, Butter's not a bird, he's a little human with feathers. Always wants to eat whatever I'm having. Climbed down my shirt to help me finish my bowl of wonton noodles. Loved the noodles, okay about the wontons, didn't like the meat my wife put in. Sits right on my bowl and chows down while I'm eating in front of my computer. Luckily, I haven't had any "floaties" in my soup :lol: Great bird!!!! Merci Beaucoup (Spell? - French's not my strong suit)

[Chin_Lee]

if he's sitting on your shoulder and then wants to move to the edge or starts figgiting down your arm, take him to the garbage can/sink/toilet and tell him to "poo poo" and he'll take the dump. even if he doesn't need to go, he'll still try and sometimes he can push whatevers there out.
yes he does like to eat whatever you are eating but don't ruffle plastic shopping bags around him. he gets really mad and attacks the bag :)
see you around

[Xtasia]

Found this old thread.. love the tank Chin bet its' gorgeous now..

Funny how we found out later that butter IS FEMALE!
hahaha.

[Samw]

How did you find out it was female? She laid an egg?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yup, several eggs prove she's a female. Now Irene wants to buy her a male (ie. husband/sperm donor).

Anthony

[rayyue]

nice

[Jack]

Any updated pics?

[Chin_Lee]

wow.. talking about digging up threads from the past.... I will post some new pics soon hopefully.
Unfortunately that PB passed away but I have other fishes now and a lot more fuzzy sticks and corals.
gimme a few days to post pics :biggrin:

[sumpfinfishe]

Jeezzzzzz for a second there Chin I thought your tank had crashed or sumpfin :eek:

Next time I come by I will bring you a frag of my purpletip bottlebrush, that is if you still have any room left now :mrgreen:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I guess we proved that the "width between pelvic bones" test is inaccurate. Narrow spacing is "supposed" to indicate a male but oh well.

Anthony

[Chin_Lee]

I took a pic of one the sides of my tank the other day so I decided to post it as an update.

Its a little full right now and I've acquired another 120 tank and i'm going to have it plumbed between this display tank and the sump - just need to find time :cry:

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/236676_7666c.JPG

[hockey nut]

SWEET Man!!!!!! Thats a nice tank I must say.

Looks great in person too.