112g LPS Tank

[c me fish]

Hello all and welcome to my build journal. I've been gathering equipment over the last year with whatever money I could spare after bills were paid and the gf was happy. I'm not in a huge rush to get this done as I still can't afford the lights I want and I have a smaller tank to hold off my addiction :biggrin:

I'll snap some pics of the big tank's gear this weekend, but in the mean time here are some pics of the smaller tank that's been running for just under 2 years.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/FTS2.jpg

It's a 37g corner bowfront. Pics were taken last night under actinics.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/Valley.jpg

LPS dominated with a couple of mushrooms

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/OrangeCrush.jpg

I apologize for the crappy quality as I only have a point and shoot camera, and don't really know how to use it.

Specs: 37g corner bowfront, Deltec MCE600, Coralife 24" AquaLight Pro, Instant Ocean Salt, One Koralia 2.

Inhabitants: 2" female clown, 2.5" Niger trigger, 1" blue yellow-tail damsel, 3" Coris wrasse, 1 blue-leg hermit, 1 turbo snail, 3 Nassarius snails

Just checked on my first post and noticed the first pic doesn't show up and the other two are links... how can I insert the pics so they just show up?

[fishytime]

Youve got some nice stuff there....photobucket gives you 4 image codes to choose from.....use the fourth or bottom code:biggrin:

[noirsphynx]

Nice collection of LPS. On photo Bucket there's an IMG code on the left hand side for each image, just click on it and it will copy the code and then you can just paste here.

[c me fish]

Thanks guys, got how to insert the pics! Looks like I may need to resize them though, kind of big... well something to do later I guess.

So here's the equipment I have so far... some of you may recognize various pieces. In collecting this stuff I had the pleasure of meeting many of you in person and oogling your tanks, which just fueled my obsession, err, interest in this great hobby.

The tank: 72L x 19W x 20T (but the bottom is raised so it's more like 19T). It's sitting on two 0.5 inch plywood boards which sit on a steel stand. The person I bought the stand from did a really good job cleaning it up as it was starting to rust so I had little sanding to do then painted it with Tremclad rust paint (black gloss). Two half inch boards were used as to avoid warping, but maybe I should use a one inch board instead? what do you think?

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Tank.jpg

The sump, it's a 40g breeder, which may be too small... I was originally going to use the MCE600 as it is rated to 190g, and to use most of the sump as a large refugium, but I got a really good deal on another skimmer... It's been sitting in that corner since last spring so stuff has slowly been piling up on it.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/40gbreedersump.jpg

The aforementioned skimmer... BK Supermarin 250 Internal :biggrin:

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/BKSM250.jpg

My calcium reactor with second stage and CO2 tank. Um, does anyone know how to set this up? I picked this set up at the end of 2008 and I don't remember what goes where! When the time comes maybe someone can lend a hand?

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/CalciumReactor.jpg

Anyhow, the plan for this weekend is to get some more plumbing, remove the top black tank trim and get some wood sealant.

[c me fish]

Well it's been a few weeks since my last update... but here is the progress I made...

The plumbing bits with the original overflow idea on the left. Basically, I wanted to have an upside-down "L" with a hole cut across the top as an overflow so I would basically have 4 sides viewable.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Plumbing.jpg

Alas it was not to be as I did not have a return pump so there was no point in plumbing it up that way so I capped the drain off. Here's what I went with, note that I did put an abs "union" 3/4 of the way up so I can change the drain intake at any time.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/IMG_0503.jpg

Here's the wood drying after sealing it.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/IMG_0504.jpg

Here's the final product, everything is finally in one place! It has now become a bedroom tank (more to come about that later). Since the plumbing was done last Wednesday I should be ok to move stuff in now, but I'll test it out on Saturday giving everything a week and a half to cure.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/IMG_0505.jpg

Anyone know if anything other than commercial silicone remover will get rid of the film left behind by the black trim?

[JDigital]

Anyone know if anything other than commercial silicone remover will get rid of the film left behind by the black trim?

Razor blades and Goo Gone worked for me.

[c me fish]

Thanks JDigital, I did get some GooGone from Rona but haven't had much luck with it. Is there a trick to it? I heard methyl hydrate can be used to clean glass too, anyone have experience with this?

The tank has been running for a month now without any problems other than it being inadequately lit. Everything from my corner tank is now in this one. I'm debating purchasing a light for this tank, though some of you may have noticed in a previous pic that I was sealing the wood for this tank on a much larger aquarium frame... yes, an upgrade is already in the works so I don't know if I should bother with a proper fixture :biggrin: As of now, I don't know if I will keep this setup once the upgrade is complete.
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Roomshot.jpg

On boxing day I picked up a couple of new additions: a flame angel and a clown trigger. So far, so good, both are eating well, get along with the rest of the fish, and do not pick at any of my lps.
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Newadditions.jpg

[JDigital]

Hope you know how nasty Clown Triggers can get...

Temperament: Aggressive
Reef Compatible: No

[c me fish]

Hope you know how nasty Clown Triggers can get...

Temperament: Aggressive
Reef Compatible: No


So I've heard/read. I'm hoping I'll have some luck as there are a few model (trigger) citizens around too. Thanks for the input though.

[Blowfish]

any updates on your tank? really like the size and hows the clown trigger treating your lps

[c me fish]

any updates on your tank? really like the size and hows the clown trigger treating your lps

Everything is doing really well. I need to get a couple of things replaced though. Since I gave my sister my smaller tank she took my glass cleaner, RO filter, and test kits (which I never used on this tank, but I will need a month from now) and about 40-50 lbs of liverock. I also broke my camera a while back, but since there is interest to see it, I'll make it a priority to replace it. I was going to on my last paycheck, but decided to buy a few more lps instead :P I rescaped when she took the rock, which I like more mostly because I got all the corals under the dinky light :)

The trigger is amazing! He doesn't touch anything he's not supposed to. He's ALWAYS excited to see me, and he gets along with the fish just fine, mainly because I think everyone acknowledges he's the boss. He did kill an acan I got from Borderjumper accidentally though. It was on the edge of his new sleeping rock so he knocked it over, and it landed really close to the 250W heater... and I didn't notice for a couple of days, so it was toast.

My flame angel is pretty good too except it ate most of my torch coral when it was up front. Interestingly enough, when I moved it away (to the back of the tank) it didn't go after it anymore, poor torch was so stressed out though it just receded/melted away completely :(

[Skimmerking]

nice tank man love the flame you have. well done

[Blowfish]

wow more lps damn you already have alot :) cant wait to see some new pics of your pieces

[c me fish]

Thanks Asmodeus!

Blowfish, I wish I could take great pics like some of the other members.. anyhow, I'll get some pics up as soon as I can.

[c me fish]

It just so happens that I picked up some new stuff yesterday... and my buddy came over... and happened to have a camera on him...

but first, a trigger shot just for you Blowfish. He's the only one that wasn't frightened by the camera flash, all the other fish were MIA for the rest of the shoot.
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Triggerinfrontofbrain.jpg

As for the new additions, this is as close to the real colours as we could get them.

Unknown Tunicate
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/UnknownTurnicate.jpg

Purple Fire Coral
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/PurpleFireCoral.jpg

[noirsphynx]

Cool tunicate and I love that fire coral.

[c me fish]

So this is my Rhinopias Frondosa. I've had him since March 29, he's been in my display the whole time and so far so good.

When I first got him he was mostly light red/pink with brown/yellow hues but I didn't have a camera that took accurate pictures. It wouldn't have mattered as he was an ugly duckling then compared to what he is now.

http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Scorpioncloseup.jpg

In his favorite spot among the corals:
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Scorpionprofile1.jpg

The community shot, who says it can't be done? ... at least for now...
http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac291/c-me-fish/112g%20Room%20Divider/Hangingout1.jpg

[c me fish]

Shutting down - Everything for sale:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=517704#post517704