30 gallon Mixed Reef wonderland

[bauder1986]

All I can say is, good bye simple and hello future gadjets haha.

So, all thanks to Terry(themarineaprentice) for entering that nano contest and showing me how to build your own acrylic tank.

Watching this guy build his tank made me realize that this is so easy that I could definitly do my own and for only $85.00. So I got to thinking....and drawing....and more drawing....and some measuring....and some arguing with myself until finally I came to the conclusion that the perfect tank upgrade for me is a 20.25 x 20.25 x 11.75 cube tank with a nano style built in sump.

With these dimensions, i didn't really have to worry about light upgrades at the moment, but still gives me the opportunity to add a phosban reactor and all that shiny stuff to spend my money on :mrgreen:

So since no one on Canreef likes to read without have at least 10 pictures there :razz: I shall give you pictures.

....K so I guess you people can only have a few pictures because my internet is being gay....

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020873.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020870.jpg

[bauder1986]

oh and thanks to Greg(grizz) for letting me use his shop to build this thing till the wee hours of the night haha

[Kryptic4L]

MOAR PIKTURES!

Seriously though I love it. The scape is looking good. Just some clarity issues you need to fix.

Now go slap some mangroves in the back.

[Flash]

that looks awesome!!! good job!

[fishytime]

Looks great Josh!....hmmm.....*starts wondering about trading frags for tanks*

[The Grizz]

Hey what about me Doug, my shop, tool's, power and weldon 4. :razz:

[fishytime]

Hey what about me Doug, my shop, tool's, power and weldon 4. :razz:

Josh, Terry and you Greg.....geez....I'd better get out the snips:wink:

[The Grizz]

Josh, Terry and you Greg.....geez....I'd better get out the snips:wink:

fortunate for Terry & Josh I am sticking with LPS, Softies, shrooms, zoa's and of coarse CLAMS in my tanks for the mean time until I can figure out if I will be able to grow SPS in the new tank. :smile:

[the marine apprentice]

Oh I'm sure u will be able to grow sps just fine in the new tank Greg.
And Doug u have my number dude haha or would that turn into another not so budget add on lol

and Josh the tank looks good buddy way better then the old one

[bauder1986]

Alright here is some MOAR PIKTURES haha

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020863.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020864.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020865.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020867.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020868.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020869.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020870-1.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020872.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020873-1.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1020870.jpg


And thanks all for the compliments, ill get better photos once all the coral is happy again after the tank change.

[bauder1986]

fortunate for Terry & Josh I am sticking with LPS, Softies, shrooms, zoa's and of coarse CLAMS in my tanks for the mean time until I can figure out if I will be able to grow SPS in the new tank. :smile:

Dude, with those lights at that depth, i think you will have no prob with SPS.

[bauder1986]

Looks great Josh!....hmmm.....*starts wondering about trading frags for tanks*

Trading frags eh? coooool ill start using some miracle grow to hurry up the process haha JK

[the marine apprentice]

i think doug was talking about tradeing his frags for a tank haha. or maybe i am wrong

[bauder1986]

ooorrr we are both right! haha:lol: no i see that now, i read that post way to quickly haha, well doug you buy the materials, make your box shape design and greg, terry and I will build it for you

[Skimmerking]

hey man love the tank. what is the back chamber for .

[bauder1986]

Thanks asmodeus, the back chamber was tossed in as a 'sump' of some sorts. its main porpuse is a spot to have my protein skimmer and future phosban reactor hang with out having thier pumps in the way of everything in my tank. I also have a heat in their, another pump and maybe a future refugium. It functions as a sump in every way possible but I kept it pretty simple. And in the mean time I can aquascape any way i want and not have to work around heaters, and pumps of skimmers and such.

[superduperwesman]

Yeah it looks good. Like the dimensions

[bauder1986]

Yeah it looks good. Like the dimensions

Thx alot.

Yah shallow cubes are awesome, lots of room to play with and you dont need expensive lights for it. Though pretty soon here i plan on upgrading my 150 MH to a 4 or 6 bulb T5 set up just for the color spectrum.

[BKTruong]

Hey great frag tank! I noticed your halide has what seems to be LEDs hanging off of it? Could we see more pictures of what you did and how it looks on without the halide on such as its function at night?

[bauder1986]

Hey great frag tank! I noticed your halide has what seems to be LEDs hanging off of it? Could we see more pictures of what you did and how it looks on without the halide on such as its function at night?

yah for sure man, ill have to get my buddies camera though, my camera is toast :neutral: so be patient with me while i get photos of that up for you with a proper explanation.

[bauder1986]

Hey great frag tank! I noticed your halide has what seems to be LEDs hanging off of it? Could we see more pictures of what you did and how it looks on without the halide on such as its function at night?

K so I now have your answer and picture. I am using a auto LED that I found at walmart. one package comes with 4 LED in a strip that is wired together, so I bought two packages. Each LED has their own 3M tape on them for fastening and they run off of 12V power supply. I spliced the two string together and grabbed an old 120V to 12V cell phone charger plug-in and wired it all together and stuck all the LED on my MH and surprisingly the MH doesnt get hot enough to melt them

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0045.jpg

Ill try to get some decent night shots if I can for you....but in the mean time here are some frag pics.

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0027.jpg
oh and do try to ignore the open brain in the back of this pic, your not suppose to no about it yet haha
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0026.jpg

[bauder1986]

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0032.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0031.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0030.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0029.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI00272.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI00262.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0025.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0023.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0024.jpg

[bauder1986]

Alright you spoilled brats, you get more Reef Porn haha.

Anyhoo I slapped some Actinics together with a 2x24/39 W Glo Ballast and after almost a week of that with that piece of crap MH the coral colors are starting to get pretty sweet:razz: That is the starting process of me building my own 6 bulb t5 ho setup to rid me off that MH.

Also I decided to build my own phosban reactor / carbon thing out of a Marine Slim S10 over the top filter. The flow is really slow so the medium doesn't get pulverized. Im using Fluval Lab Series Phosphate Remover for Saltwater (about 4 grams or 5 cc) and Fluval lab series Opti-Carb for Saltwater (about 25 grams).

But yah I think theres 29 pics here soooo happy viewing and remember to clean up after your done looking haha:mrgreen:

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0077.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0076.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0075.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0074.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0073.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0072.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0071.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0070.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0069.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0068.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0067.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0066.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0065.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0064.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0063.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0062.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0061.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0059.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0058.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0057.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0052.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0051.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0050.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0048.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0047.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0046.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI00452.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0055.jpg

[bauder1986]

Ok soo interesting couple of days. First off I found out why one of my acro colonies was dying, and it wasnt me! It was a a**hole fuzzy crab eating it. Thanks to Terry and his usual close scrutiny off my tank he found the little bugger munching away. Soo down the drain that one went and guess what???The acro is staying alive now and starting to oddly regain some of its lost flesh!

No the fun part, I rednecked a couple of 24W t5HO Actinics into my system 5 days ago or so, which got me appreciating the idea of a new light system. Well I was checking and cleaning the MH last night and i noticed that the bulb was nearing its life's end. Soo went onto the trusty ol' Ebay there and ordered a new bulb for it...good deal too 18 bucks for a 15000K HQIbulb shipped. And then I saw a 6 bulb T5HO light hood that can fit my tank.....for REEEAAALLL cheap. Well that's it im buying that this weekend.


Well woke up this morning and noticed that only the T5's were on and not the MH.....hmm well I guess my MH light over heard me talking about new bulbs and new lights and decided to off itself.....

So, running only Actinics, seems to be fine for now, gotta wait forever fr new MH bulb and also wait forever for new 6 bulb fixture....AWESOME!

And oh yah I have a half dead acro on my hands too but it looks like its coming back...

Just thought you should know.

[bauder1986]

Guess what people! Im a true blue DIY guy haha! Wanna know how? My first tank that I ever built....LEAKED:surprise:


So Yah I was sitting here at this computer thing playing Sim City for the hell of it and then I realized that I can hear the water from the built in sump trickling. And I thought to myself, well that aint right, I just filled that thing to the tits, I shouldnt be hearing any running water till tomorrow....So I turn around and look at it and I saw about and inch of water of missing! OH NO WHERE DID IT GO?!?! Oh wait...its on the f'ing floor!

Super stund Josh to the rescue! First thing to do is.....call Terry! He is focused and calm right now! He can think for me! LMAO So out comes the hidden stash of buckets, water jugs and styro containers and the trusty syphon hose. and the rescue op begins!

And good 'ol Terry(minor emphases on 'ol just for you buddy haha) shows up with more buckets and starts wipping stuff together and I went to pull the good ol' reliable ten gallon out of the deck and clean it up and get it ready. Short story even shorter, got everything transfered and safe.

So...with my landlord here which happens to be my aunt noticing some water around she put down her first law ever with me and that is 'professionally name brand made' tanks only.....pfffft :razz: So yah In the market for a bigger "professionally made name brand' tank in the next month or so....but for now Terry and his wife there let me use their 20 gallon tall tank just so the fish have some room to swim....and yes its a 'professionally made name brand' tank....got everything transfered over to that tonight and the aunt helped me out even in the late night transfer from the ten to the twenty.


Oh yah and just for those that have known me through all my tanks....Im still using the same freaking stand:lol:

Oh and a side note, got another t5ho ballast and 2 more lights on the tank now...looking good. ill give you people pictures tomorrow. nite

[lobsterboy]

wheres the pics josh ? huh huh :razz:

[bauder1986]

So been awhile here since I said anything...

Anyways, the acrylic tank leaked, the ten gallon was 2 small and the 20 gallon hagen was perfect..

Bought a bunch of stuff from John (lobsterboy) and then the heater decided to go out of control and cook the tank to 90 F!!! yah I lost one milli colony, 2 acros, a slimer frag, a purple blue mili frag and a chunk of Acropora Humilus.

Yah that sucked....alot....anyways, life went one. got the tank back to par. Spent some money on safety measures, upgraded the lights, got a new skimmer, new stand set up two new fresh water tanks for fun. Bought some goodies to keep the perameters good and to get rid of the aptasia for once and for all and some stuff to rid me of the redslime algea...which worked BTW.

Got some new fish: six-line wrasse, blue devil damsel, cleaner shrimp, 3 peppermint shrimp, nudibranch, 4 turbo snails.

got some new zoos and a bird of many colors.....yah thats about it.

Now here are pictures.
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0126.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0127.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0128.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0129.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0130.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0131.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0132.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0133.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0134.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0135.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0136.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0137.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0138.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0140.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0142.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0143.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0144.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0145.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0147.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0149.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0150.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0151.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0152.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCI0153.jpg

[fishytime]

Lookin Good Mang!......I see you've started your Birdsnest "snowman":biggrin:

[bauder1986]

Lookin Good Mang!......I see you've started your Birdsnest "snowman":biggrin:

hells yah im starting the snowman or x-mas tree birdsnest!

[lobsterboy]

looks good Josh, the birdnest is lookin awesome.

very intresting concept with the duel freshwaters on each side. :razz:

[bauder1986]

looks good Josh, the birdnest is lookin awesome.

very intresting concept with the duel freshwaters on each side. :razz:

thanks John! Yah I have been missing how cheap and pathetically simple the fresh water tanks are haha. Plus its interesting to watch the differences in behaviour between saltwater and freshwater fish.

[fishytime]

thanks John! Yah I have been missing how cheap and pathetically simple the fresh water tanks are haha. Plus its interesting to watch the differences in behaviour between saltwater and freshwater fish.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....I thought those were there to catch jumpy fish:razz:......little fresh water dipping perhaps?......

[bauder1986]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....I thought those were there to catch jumpy fish:razz:......little fresh water dipping perhaps?......

hehehe, an easy way to rid of the SW ick!

[bauder1986]

well people, looks like this tank set uop is gonna be packed up and moved to Calgary.

[bauder1986]

Alright you monkeys here is an update.

Start using coral snow. Tank move done smoothly, nothing dead. bought a clam.

here are your pictures.

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0015.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0016.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0017.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0019.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0020.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0021.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0023.jpg

sorry for the cloudiness, just dossed coral snow.

[the marine apprentice]

clam looks good dude. i like this rock work more then the last haha

[bauder1986]

clam looks good dude. i like this rock work more then the last haha

kinda figured you would.
Thx

[bauder1986]

ok, so I went to simons place today because he was like, "Josh!! I need some help getting rid of this coral so I can shut down this tank this weekend!!!"

So this is what I did.

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0016-1.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0015-1.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0014.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0013.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0012.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG_0008.jpg

Your welcome Simon! Always glad to help :razz:

[bauder1986]

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080395.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080394.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080393.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080392.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080391.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080390.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080389.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080388.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/P1080387.jpg

[bauder1986]

Hey everyone just an update for those that dont know, got a cool little 30 gallon off of a guy a few months back and I have been grooming the tank back to damn near full stability, here are some sneak peaks above, more to come later in the day(pics coming are taken from Terry's underwater cam and take forever to load to photobucket)

Enjoy!

[bauder1986]

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0258.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0257.jpg\
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0256.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0255.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0254.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0253.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0252.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0251.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0250.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0249.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0211.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0204.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF0202.jpg

[bauder1986]

Just an update.
Did my seventh tank move with this livestock succesfully! And here is what i came up with in its new home.

I set it up penninsula style

Pictures are with actinics only.

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8182.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8184.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8185.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8188.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8191.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8187.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8199.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8186.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8199.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/DSCF8193.jpg

[claymax]

what kind of sand/substrate you have in there? where can i find it?

[bauder1986]

what kind of sand/substrate you have in there? where can i find it?

its a crushed coral/snail/clam shell mix i found at pisces in calgary for pretty cheap. i like it alot because it is very hard to blow around and since its so loosely packed crap doesnt have a chance to build up in it to cause me any problems.

[bauder1986]

This will be the last update I do on this tank since im changing tanks hopefully in a couple of weeks.

Ill let the pics tell the story.

http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG199.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG200.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG214.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG215.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG207.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG206.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG183.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG201.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG202.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG211.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG210.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG209.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG208.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG212.jpg
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu172/bauder1986/IMG213.jpg

[bauder1986]

This tank is officially shut down:biggrin:

Check out my new tank!

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=84922