lastlight's 209

[lastlight]

It's amazing how much light you can buy for $300 these days if you're old-school!

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/t5.jpg

Some rubble I borrowed from Maui:

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/rubble.jpg

More to come soon!

[DKoKoMan]

Is this beginning of the new tank?

[kien]

The more things change the more they seem to stay the same :pop2:

[lastlight]

Is this beginning of the new tank?

Yessir.

The more things change the more they seem to stay the same :pop2:

Amen.

[gregzz4]

Brett you're such a tease. At least give us some dimensions to chew on ...

[Skimmer Juice]

welcome back good sir

[lastlight]

Brett you're such a tease. At least give us some dimensions to chew on ...

Lol I am aren't I? 84x24x24 this time around.

welcome back good sir

Thanks man. The pull was too strong. It's buy all the equipment's again time.

[gregzz4]

Lol I am aren't I? 84x24x24 this time around.
Nice!
Looking forward to a fully stocked build thread. I'd ask a litany of questions but I'll be patient (for now) 'open open open'

[albert_dao]

... my sworn nemesis.

[albert_dao]

... my sworn nemesis.

Dude, I live in Calgary now, hit me up if you need any help!

[lastlight]

Dude, I live in Calgary now, hit me up if you need any help!

Back in town? Guess I'll see you at the next reefers wings event. If those still happen...

[albert_dao]

There were reefer wing events?

[DKoKoMan]

Awkward :drinking:

[albert_dao]

Hosts and organizes several reef/frag swaps over the years.
Never gets invited to reef nerd nights.
Feels bad man.

[lastlight]

Hosts and organizes several reef/frag swaps over the years.
Never gets invited to reef nerd nights.
Feels bad man.

I think I went to two over the years? There werent many and you were most def in BC bro. We'll do it up. I don't remember how to reef so you could share tips lol.

[Dez]

Whoa, welcome back!

[lastlight]

Whoa, welcome back!

Thanks bro :)

[Ryan]

Nice to see one of the Good Ole boys back in
I agree with the old school. Just wait until you have to find frags of some of the corals we kept 10 years ago let alone see the price! What we used to buy from Kevin & Doug at Red Coral for $10 is now $20-$30 a polyp!

[lastlight]

Nice to see one of the Good Ole boys back in
I agree with the old school. Just wait until you have to find frags of some of the corals we kept 10 years ago let alone see the price! What we used to buy from Kevin & Doug at Red Coral for $10 is now $20-$30 a polyp!

I was thinking the opposite based on some of the prices I've seen so far. Rastas aren't like 30 pp etc. Good thing my goal is larger colonies of only a few corals. Impulsive me might deviate once I'm coral ready of course!

[Ryan]

That is true. Most of the corals have taken a flop. The $10/frag at red coral is now worth a fortune but the expensive stuff (rastas, red dragon acros) are considerably cheaper.

[lastlight]

That is true. Most of the corals have taken a flop. The $10/frag at red coral is now worth a fortune but the expensive stuff (rastas, red dragon acros) are considerably cheaper.

Where's your build thread?

[Ryan]

No build thread for me. Ive got a 110 display, frag tank and sump. About 150 gallons of actual water.

[lastlight]

No build thread for me. Ive got a 110 display, frag tank and sump. About 150 gallons of actual water.

How long have you been back?! Post a pic or something... details =)

[Zoaelite]

Lets see that FTS Brett :razz::razz::razz:.

[kien]

The old Lastlight would have had build pics of the completed stand by now. What gives, hoss?

[lastlight]

The old Lastlight would have had build pics of the completed stand by now. What gives, hoss?

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/stand.jpg

Well it's not done but I guess a progress shot doesn't hurt lol.

[lastlight]

Big milestone and a huge relief. Tank is safely on the stand. Concepts did an amazing job and I really dig the little extras they put in for me like the vinyl background and the CNC overflow insert which is extremely clean. I'll never move a tank without suction cups again. They lent me four.

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/tank.jpg

[gregzz4]

Lookin' great so far Brett. I see tigger approves.

[Dez]

Wow. It’s shiny!

[DKoKoMan]

Awesome! Looks like a nice setup. Now time for water!

[Dez]

I like the colour of your wall. Are you going mainly fuzzy sticks with this tank? LED’s?

[lastlight]

Thx guys. It'll be a mix for sure. Gorgs, acans, zoas, and certainly sticks too. Will be lit by t5 and I may toss some of those bright white led clusters down the middle for some shimmer.

[lastlight]

Unfortunately I've been forced to hide the jackposts in the basement since they're in my wife's dayhome space so I've been busy framing and drywalling when I should be reefing. However I did manage to leak test the new tank and put in my rocks. I need to source a
new threaded elbow for my ro/di and filters so I can get to making proper water. My ranco temp controller also came in the mail. Baby steps!

Trouble light preview:

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/scape1.jpg

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/scape2.jpg

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/scape3.jpg

[brotherd]

Looks good. How is the overflow and back panel constructed?

[Skimmerking]

Looking good young fella

[lastlight]

Thanks guys. Overflow is standard external with three holes. Primary siphon with trickle down the emergency and third is my return which I still need to fit with some loc-line. Black vinyl on back of tank and the overflow teeth are CNC in a black plexi insert that can be removed.

Tried out the prodibio to kick start the tank maybe a month ago. Have started adding my fish / coral feeders and as I typically do I'm adding all the fish I've had before and loved. Really need a nice Kole tang though! Just have a strip of RGB LEDs I had kicking around over the tank for now just so I can watch the fish. Will hopefully get to constructing the light canopy soon.

No great pics to share but so far for fish I have

7 chromis
2 3-stripe
Pair of squarespot
Naso
Tailspot

And best of all my best friend gave me back the black leopard wrasse from my avatar. She must be at least 6 years old now and she's got adult colorations in her face so it's green marble instead of white spots. She has only been in the tank 2 days and was asleep before I came home from work. Hope to get a picture soon. Wish i still had access to a macro lens. When I'm ready I'll be getting frags of some of my old gorgs as well. Super stoked!

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/fishes1.jpg

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/fishes2.jpg

[Delphinus]

Looks great so far! Who's that in front of the Naso in the second photo, is that the female anthias? Looks kinda yellow?

[lastlight]

Yes that's the female. Similar to previous times I've had these she seems WAY smarter than the male lol.

[Dez]

Looking good Brett.

[Parker]

Tank looks great, as always!

[Millepora_Maniac]

Tagging along!

[chizerbunoi]

Wow looks great Brett. Nice to see you back again.

~Donny

[mseepman]

So good to see you back Brett! Your tanks are always some of my favorites.

[lastlight]

Thanks guys it's really great to be back!

My leopard seems to have figured out that the tank's current dim lighting doesn't mean it's always bedtime. She's been out the last two evenings and I managed an ok phone shot.

First when I got her in March 2013:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/93/black4.jpg

And present day (has a little scuff on her side):

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/209/leopard.jpg

Still gorgeous but totally different.

[brotherd]

"Overflow is standard external with three holes. Primary siphon with trickle down the emergency and third is my return which I still need to fit with some loc-line. Black vinyl on back of tank and the overflow teeth are CNC in a black plexi insert that can be removed "
The black vinyl is on the outside of the back glass and the black plexi is on the inside of the overflow as a removable piece? The reason I ask is they made my back plastic panel permanent on the inside of the tank. It covers the entire back glass and acts as the strainer if you will to the externally mounted overflow. What caught my eye was the visible silicone joints on your tank. I didn't understand how it was made I guess.

[lastlight]

Yes even though the silicone seams are visible i prefer having glass that I can scrape on the back vs full acrylic across the back.

[niloc16]

Looks amazing! Great job. I’m getting the salt itch again and seeing a build like this makes it even worse.....

[kien]

Nice fish.

[b09u5]

Welcome back! Looking great!

[Skimmerking]

:pop2:

[lastlight]

Wow my journal is still on page one of this sub-forum without a new post in months. Wow wow lol.

Figured I'd throw an fts in here so I have something to compare to down the road. My algae battles with this tank were soul-crushing but things are much better these days. I can tell I'm finally getting to that point where everything's sorta deciding it can start growing. The coral figures maybe you've earned some satisfaction. Most frags are still teeny but it's great to see the growth starting to pickup. I still don't have much in the way of SPS... going to see how my easy pieces do for a while longer before going much deeper down that rabbit hole.

Currently running 8 rows of T5 with just a strip of DIY adhesive-backed LEDs down the middle for a bit of day and evening light. I plan to add something with a strong blue pop in the future. Maybe the Reef Brite Lumilite etc.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/209/fts20200130.png

[chizerbunoi]

looks great. I'm sure it's a great pleasure to your family. Do you still have the leopard wrasse?

[lastlight]

looks great. I'm sure it's a great pleasure to your family. Do you still have the leopard wrasse?

Thanks! The leopard died about a month ago sadly. I think it was about 7 years old. My naso also just up and stopped eating shortly after. Went from pig to nothing overnight and a day later was gone. Very strange and everyone else is doing great.

[gregzz4]

I did a re-start back in July 2019 so I hear ya about new tank issues. Still going through stages right now.

Real shame to hear about your fish losses. I also had a couple unexplained ones last fall - both long-term resident wrasses. I'm no longer adding garlic power to their frozen foods. No other ideas about what happened as they were sudden losses as yours were.

[FishyFishy!]

My favorite fish!!!! Glad to see she's looking good!

Tank looks good too. Love the cabinetry.

[gregzz4]

My favorite fish!!!! Glad to see she's looking good!
Ummm ... which fish?

[FishyFishy!]

Ummm ... which fish?

Orange shoulder. Had her for a solid 4 years. Loved that fish.

[gregzz4]

Orange shoulder. Had her for a solid 4 years. Loved that fish.

Oh, phew. Though you may have been looking at old pics. NM :lol:

[bauder1986]

Algae problems aside. Still a good looking tank!

[JMes]

Tank looks really nice Brett. Is this build 11? :biggrin:

[lastlight]

Thanks yes I suppose it is! I've really flattened the build curve. All part of getting old or something.

[Skimmer Juice]

wish I kept a log of all my builds over the years . Still remember when we cut down that 500g tank in your basmt lol . But tank looks awesome stand is super clean :biggrin:. Also really like the scape

[WarDog]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/209/fts20200130.png

Just incredible! I still can't get over how many builds you've done.

[lastlight]

Thanks guys. Yeah cutting that tank apart was a learning experience. I recall it went pretty fast once we got the guitar string going!

I actually like going back through old builds for fun sometimes which is why I've made sure all the pics remain on my server. I'm a lot more patient / easy-going with things now which is both good and bad. It makes for fewer and less exciting updates since I'm really not adding or doing much besides letting things grow (the first year of this one didn't really see the kind of growth I'd have expected). If I still had a macro lens and I was spending more on corals like I used to I'd prob be more on top of making some sort of update more regularly.

I have been busy removing all the sand the past month or so. My orange shoulder loves to eat sand then crap it all over my corals and some don't like that too much. I'm being really OCD too and I've been siphoning it out almost nightly for the past month to see if I can truly get it all. I siphon into a mesh bag hanging in a 5g bucket. That bucket then has a small pump putting water back into my sump before the filter sock. In this way I can siphon/turkey baste/siphon sand for hours without having to shut anything down. It's the last 1% which is mostly sand fines that is keeping me busy right now but I am determined! After I blast a few more grains out from under or inside a rock the tang tries to eat it. He follows me around for the whole process it's quite funny.

[lastlight]

Alright I tried a tiny bit harder to make these phone shots a bit sexier but... they are what they are lol.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/209/2020-04-28-1.png

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/209/2020-04-28-2.png

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/209/2020-04-28-3.png

[FishyFishy!]

Looking good bud!

[Dash]

Wow, looks so lovely and clean.
(Even without sand:))

[kien]

:pop2:

[lastlight]

:pop2:

What seasoning is on that popcorn?

[kien]

What seasoning is on that popcorn?

I don't use any seasoning. Not even salt, or butter.

[lastlight]

http://fishbrains.net/images/209/pigs.jpg

[kien]

Adorable. Not reef safe but adorbs.

[chizerbunoi]

Wouldn't the guinea pigs jump out without a cage on the front?

[lastlight]

Wouldn't the guinea pigs jump out without a cage on the front?

There's sliding screens between the aluminum channel =)

One of the cats (who'd been napping on a blanket in there for a month until my glass piece was ready) tried to leap in when the screens were installed. That was good for a laugh!

[riceboy]

damn you took down the reef?

[Skimmerking]

Hey man is your reef tank all done