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Youngster Dan
12-29-2010, 05:51 AM
Welcome to the build of my "reverse" 90 gallon tank filled with some salt and water.

I just picked up this bad boy today, and am pretty excited to get to work on it tomorrow! The dimensions are 4' long, 2' wide and 18" tall and will be viewable from three sides. Kind of like a peninsula, but also kind of an island?

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1000983.jpg

(This is on my kitchen counter and not the stand where it will end up)

Basically, I am replacing my old tank because it was covered in scratches. Who likes scratches? I know I don't! That and the tank was an old sketchy thing, that just didn't make me sleep easy.

This new one is gonna be an mixed reef, with mostly SPS and LPS. It is highly likely that most of the equipment will be traded for something else as I get a couple more pennies. I will share more pictures and a breakdown of the equipment being run tomorrow.

chris121277
12-29-2010, 06:38 AM
wow man, that is one fantastic looking tank.....I love the dimensions. I just set up a 90 48lx22wx20h

Love the rimless look....what are you using for lights? and what is your existing tank?

christyf5
12-29-2010, 11:04 AM
wow that is a sweet looking tank, can't wait to see the progress on this one :biggrin:

Youngster Dan
12-29-2010, 06:15 PM
wow man, that is one fantastic looking tank.....I love the dimensions. I just set up a 90 48lx22wx20h

Love the rimless look....what are you using for lights? and what is your existing tank?

Thanks Chris(ty), hah see what I did there? two names for the price of one! ... sigh.

I'm going to use a 6 bulb Tek, (who knows I'm considering the possibilities of changing to LEDs in the future just for fun). My old tank is the same dimensions, however there are a lot of things that I wished to change (overflow, no center brace, no scratches, no chips on the side etc...) so I did!

Now to get to some work, and I will update my progress shortly.

Youngster Dan
12-29-2010, 08:24 PM
Well, the old tank is now void of fish/corals. Unfortunately my camera decided it was out of battery power, so all of the photos are with my phone.

These are the last two photos of the old set up right before it was taken down. The sand is super dirty, as well as everything else. But that will just make the new set up look that much more new and fancy, right?

Side 1
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0040.jpg

Side 2
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0038.jpg


The fish/coral/rock is now all chillin in these containers. I underestimated how many containers I needed, so now I'm off on a mission to scrounge up some more!

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0042.jpg

DCDN
12-30-2010, 12:10 AM
Very nice, those are the dimensions I want for my next tank

chris121277
12-30-2010, 12:47 AM
so.....hows it coming, did you find some more containers to house all your live stalk?

Youngster Dan
12-30-2010, 03:23 AM
Yup, I was able to retrieve more containers. I want to keep as much of the original water as possible so as to make everything less stressed when entering the new home. Right now I am looking at two empty fish tanks, and a disaster of buckets, towels, power cords, and plumbing. I have an anthia and a couple of chromis MIA, I am hoping that they were in the rock and not fish jerky under my couch or something.

I owe whoever invented towels a huge thanks. Towels are awesome. I also swallowed a few good mouth fulls of seawater when starting a suction to empty the tank, and sump. Next time I'm going to hook my tubes up to a maxijet or something. Bleh. Tomorrow will be where all the plumbing gets done. Since I am sitting down, might as well go through the specifications of my equipment.

Lighting

Main tank is lit by a 6 bulb HO T5 tek fixture, and the refugium/fragsump has a cool little ecoxotic LED spotlight.

Skimmer

Reef Octopus Extreme 190 (maybe 160? can't remember exactly)

Flow

Weakest part of the tank so far, and is accomplished by a few Koralia 4's and a Iwaki 600gph external for the return. I'm leaning towards the vortecs as a replacement for the Koralia's.

Other

Currently running biobeads, and carbon is run passively.

chris121277
12-30-2010, 03:57 PM
how have the bio pellets worked for you so far? I read a few mixed review on them that have made me hesitant to try them...so for now I have an empty reactor hanging in the side of my sump....lol

how much turn over do you have with the 4 K's?

Youngster Dan
12-31-2010, 05:36 AM
how have the bio pellets worked for you so far? I read a few mixed review on them that have made me hesitant to try them...so for now I have an empty reactor hanging in the side of my sump....lol

how much turn over do you have with the 4 K's?

As far as I can tell, the pellets (in combination with other things) seem to work for me as I consistently have not had detectable nitrate/phosphates ever since I have put them on. That being said, ever since I put them on I have had better equipment as well (ie, no more sea clone 100! yuck). I always do less than is what is recommended, and then slowly work my way up. So I don't have a lot of pellets in the reactor. I would recommend them, just don't expect them to be the wonder cure to all your nitrate phosphate woes, just one more piece of the puzzle.

As far as turnover, I don't really conceptualize flow in terms of numbers (which means I simply have no idea, but I guess I could calculate it). I go more by "feel" and how my corals are looking. I feel that my sps in some areas could have had better polyp extension, and the polyps weren't waving like I would have liked. I think "random" flow would help as well, but so far I just have a few steady streams, and no wave making gizmos.

Progress so far has been good, but like always I have run into some hurdles. Plumbing is done, and I have to say I am a fan of the flexible PVC, over the rigid stuff. Much easier to work with. Unfortunately, after putting my first drops of water I noticed that the overflow is not water tight. So I will either slap some silicon, or orca glue or something to make it water tight. I am running a "herbie" overflow system, and from my understanding a watertight overflow is essential if I don't want the entire tank to drain during a power outage.

I also lost a firefish to the floor, as he apparently was not a fan of the temporary rubbermade.

Enough blah blah. Here are a couple pictures.

New tank! On stand, with sand.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1000991.jpg

My helper was supervising diligently, and not overly impressed. That and constantly drinking from my reservoir of RODI water.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1000988.jpg

Youngster Dan
01-04-2011, 01:12 AM
Well, everything is moved over into the tank. It took me longer than I would have liked, and some of my coral spent much too long without light and so are a little unhappy with me. I'm pretty sure everything will perk up, except for a green birdsnest mini colony stn'd on me so I fragged it all up.

The tank is still a little cloudy, and I'm finding that the return is putting a few micro bubbles into the display.

Here she is, being scandalous and showing what's under her skirt.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1010003.jpg

The frag rack is in it's temporary home, and I will throw it in the refugium where I will hopefully have a mini frag/refugium tank. I'm curious to see what this guy does, and if it will grow any of my frags. Time will tell

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1000996.jpg

I also picked up a Reefkeeper light, and am pretty happy with how it is working out for me. It may not be as fancy as some controllers, but golly it is much cheaper! I may look into adding more expansions, but for now it will do.

This picture depicts quite well one of my my pet peeves of my new tank: Koralia cords. I was pretty happy when my partner told me that I "needed" to get an mp40 for the tank. So that will be the first big purchase for this tank.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1010028.jpg

I'm only about 25% pleased with my aquascape, so it will have to change. I am looking into maybe drilling the rock and creating more intriguing structures, rather than two little mounds. Any suggestions to aquascape? I have fair bit more live rock kicking in my sump, that I could add or take away certain pieces.

To do list includes:

Hanging the light fixture.

Changing the 'scape. (just want to let everything settle in a bit before I start mucking around)

Mounting the corals.

Fixing the microbubble problems.

And probably some more I can't think of.

chris121277
01-04-2011, 01:32 AM
Lookin good so far man

I agree with your partner though.......the cords have to go...lol as for the aqua-scape maybe a 2 island look? I think that would be sharp in there.

freezetyle
01-04-2011, 02:08 AM
looking good Dan!

Youngster Dan
01-04-2011, 06:29 PM
Thanks Chris, and Jon.

Youngster Dan
01-10-2011, 06:40 AM
So I got a little bored, and I aquascaped the tank. A little bored is a giant understatement. Here's the proof:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/1.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/2-1.jpg

But what about the stuff that lives in the live rock, even...

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/3.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/4.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/5.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/6.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/7.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/8.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/9.jpg

Youngster Dan
01-10-2011, 06:41 AM
Please tune in tomorrow for the completed look! I will also unveil some freaking awesome goodies I picked up!

Dan = 1

Boredom = 0

Delphinus
01-10-2011, 07:13 AM
:lol: Oh my, the anticipation for tomorrow!!

Lampshade
01-10-2011, 09:11 AM
Wow, that T-Shirt has a cat with lazer eyes, that's at least +4 Awesome. nice tank, it'll be nice to see it all come together.

christyf5
01-10-2011, 11:23 AM
Wow, that T-Shirt has a cat with lazer eyes, that's at least +4 Awesome.

+eleventy. that shirt made my morning :mrgreen:

chris121277
01-10-2011, 02:21 PM
Can't wait to see the finished product.......oh and love the action shots LOL....very creative.

paddyob
01-10-2011, 02:22 PM
Wow, that T-Shirt has a cat with lazer eyes, that's at least +4 Awesome. nice tank, it'll be nice to see it all come together.

Hmm... who cares about the tank? Where can one find a shirt with a lazer shooting cat? Inquiring minds want to know!

Nice going.

Aquattro
01-10-2011, 02:56 PM
Ok, it's tomorrow already!! Let's see the new scape!

chris121277
01-10-2011, 04:55 PM
Ok, it's tomorrow already!! Let's see the new scape!

+1!! :lol:

Youngster Dan
01-10-2011, 05:32 PM
I haven't taken any pictures of the final scape yet! I guess we will just have to wait for me to get back from school, as the lights aren't on yet :twised:

As far as the shirt, awesome right?! My partner got me that for Christmas, she knows me way too well! I'm pretty sure she found it http://www.threadless.com/product/1354/Mister_Mittens_Big_Adventure . I think if everyone had shirts with that level of awesome, the world would be a much better place!

Youngster Dan
01-10-2011, 11:52 PM
Well, here she is.

Side 1

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1010078.jpg

Side 2

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1010074.jpg

It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to get a picture that depicts the "depth" of the aquascape, so this corner shot will have to do.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/P1010080.jpg

Oh, and I am officially broke as I went beyond my means and got myself a vortech! Woo! This thing makes a huge difference. Wish it was a little quieter, but whatcanya do right?


So, is the new 'scape better?

chris121277
01-11-2011, 12:22 AM
Scape is awesome man!! I love the 2 island look....and man, I wish the wife would let me drop the $$ to get a vortec

how about an end shot?

freezetyle
01-11-2011, 12:22 AM
wow. scape looks much better! i really like the black sand.

Aquattro
01-11-2011, 12:23 AM
Way better, much more open with demension to it!

windcoast reefs
01-11-2011, 02:13 AM
Yeah it is looking great Dan. The live rock looks great now!

365seasons
01-11-2011, 02:20 AM
love the new scape, and the black sand.
really great look to the whole tank.

christyf5
01-11-2011, 02:56 AM
Looks fantastic, I like the openness :biggrin:

Youngster Dan
01-11-2011, 04:49 AM
Thanks everyone! I like it way more.

As far as the openess, I'm kind of hoping that will change as my frags grow into some great big colonies. :cool:

Jackie
01-11-2011, 05:01 AM
Your Vortech wire should be going up and secured instead of hanging down.
In-case the two parts came apart, your dry side will fall and get damaged $$.
Also, how do you like your LED bulb?

Lampshade
01-11-2011, 01:10 PM
very nice looking tank, i like the new aquascapeing... makes me want to redo mine again... again again.

lastlight
01-11-2011, 02:03 PM
Lol. Just saw this. Your aquascape update was funny and even maybe a touch creepy...well done! That shirt is bangin' man =)

Very nice tank and a nice clean scape. Good luck with the rest.

Youngster Dan
01-11-2011, 05:21 PM
Your Vortech wire should be going up and secured instead of hanging down.
In-case the two parts came apart, your dry side will fall and get damaged $$.
Also, how do you like your LED bulb?

Yeah, I know it is supposed to be secured above rather than bellow. When I was putting it on, I just couldn't bring myself to do that as the wire looks silly. So, to compensate I secured the wire in two spots so if the unit pulls one of the sticky pads, hopefully it wont pull off both? I know it has a little ways to fall as well, and will swing a bit. I'm really hoping it wont be a problem.

Lol. Just saw this. Your aquascape update was funny and even maybe a touch creepy...well done! That shirt is bangin' man =)

Very nice tank and a nice clean scape. Good luck with the rest.

Hah, yeah I was kind of going for the creepy factor as well. Though it did give me a moment where I was thinking "Is this the type of thing I should actually post?"

very nice looking tank, i like the new aquascapeing... makes me want to redo mine again... again again.

I hear ya, especially when you go the LFS and see a cool piece of live rock and think "oh that would make a cool ledge thingy!" But for now I'm satisfied.

Lance
01-11-2011, 09:52 PM
Much better. You did good!

Zoaelite
01-12-2011, 12:16 AM
Yeah, I know it is supposed to be secured above rather than bellow. When I was putting it on, I just couldn't bring myself to do that as the wire looks silly. So, to compensate I secured the wire in two spots so if the unit pulls one of the sticky pads, hopefully it wont pull off both? I know it has a little ways to fall as well, and will swing a bit. I'm really hoping it wont be a problem.



Hah, yeah I was kind of going for the creepy factor as well. Though it did give me a moment where I was thinking "Is this the type of thing I should actually post?"



I hear ya, especially when you go the LFS and see a cool piece of live rock and think "oh that would make a cool ledge thingy!" But for now I'm satisfied.

Watch out Brett is going to stalk you and then steal all your fancy tee shirt ideas for his own. Tanks looking wicked really enjoy the dimensions and you can't beat that black sand.

Youngster Dan
01-14-2011, 10:53 PM
Much better. You did good!
Thanks Lance. I don't know if you remember my old 33 gallon tank, but looking back at photos is always kind of funny.

Watch out Brett is going to stalk you and then steal all your fancy tee shirt ideas for his own. Tanks looking wicked really enjoy the dimensions and you can't beat that black sand.

Thanks! I will have to incorporate a few of my t-shirts into the build, as I have more along the same lines as the lazer cat shirt than I would like to admit!

Your Vortech wire should be going up and secured instead of hanging down.
In-case the two parts came apart, your dry side will fall and get damaged $$.
Also, how do you like your LED bulb?

Jackie, I just realized I didn't answer your question about the LED bulb. So far, I like it. I like how it is a lot more blue than most bulbs used over a refugium. I have yet to determine how I like it in terms of growing frags. I just chucked a bunch of frags that I "made" during my aquascapeing adventure. I will get back to you with a little more of a solid answer in a couple weeks when I see how they do under that light.

Also, Spencer at Blue World put my aquascape story in his blog! Haha, this makes me happy. http://www.blueworldaquariums.com/blog/ I feel like I have greatly improved the quality of the blog posts. Not to mention "improve" the reputation of his little store.

Lance
01-14-2011, 11:02 PM
Thanks Lance. I don't know if you remember my old 33 gallon tank, but looking back at photos is always kind of funny.


Yes I do remember it. That was on the other forum wasn't it?

Youngster Dan
01-17-2011, 04:44 AM
Yes I do remember it. That was on the other forum wasn't it?

Yup, I should really update that...

Anyways, got bored again last night and snapped some photos.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0732.jpg


Got this frag recently from a local reefer. Can't remember what it is called, but is really interesting!

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0774-1.jpg

Another great frag from another local reefer. She has a few "mediocre" frags :wink:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0712-1.jpg

Gotta love clowns!

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0805.jpg

benzzz
01-17-2011, 01:38 PM
Nice pictures :biggrin:

chris121277
01-17-2011, 01:52 PM
Some sweet frags there Dan, really makes me wish we had a LFS that stocks corals around here.

Beautiful coloring

don.ald
01-17-2011, 02:15 PM
Got this frag recently from a local reefer. Can't remember what it is called, but is really interesting!

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0774-1.jpg



looks like an "Ultimate Cyphastrea"

christyf5
01-17-2011, 03:57 PM
Got this frag recently from a local reefer. Can't remember what it is called, but is really interesting!

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0774-1.jpg



that is gorgeous!! nice score! :biggrin:

Youngster Dan
01-17-2011, 08:49 PM
Nice pictures :biggrin:

Thanks! I'm playing with my partners new camera. It's fun!

Some sweet frags there Dan, really makes me wish we had a LFS that stocks corals around here.

Beautiful coloring

Well, you should make a trip out to the coast then! We have a few good stores now which is awesome!

Youngster Dan
01-17-2011, 08:52 PM
looks like an "Ultimate Cyphastrea"

Thanks Rick, I thought it was something like that. Those frags I scored from you are already some of my favorite pieces! Thanks again!

that is gorgeous!! nice score! :biggrin:

Thanks! I have a couple more I got from Rick that I wasn't able to get good photos that are equally as nice and interesting.

apex82
03-06-2011, 06:02 AM
Update time? How are you liking the reefkeeper? Are the frags doing okay with the led light in fuge?

Youngster Dan
03-06-2011, 06:14 PM
I suppose it is time for an update!

The reefkeeper is awesome, I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a cheap controller. I have it controlling my lights, one koralia and my heater. I may one day expand it to put a dosing pump, or some other such gizmo.

I have taken my bio pellets offline a month or so ago. I didn't do it for any reason, I just found it wasn't getting enough flow and took it off to clean and haven't put it back on since. I haven't noticed any difference in the appearance of my corals since, however I am having to clean the glass more and am getting a slight amount of cyano.

While rimless tanks do look sweet, I am finding they have their cons. Cleaning the glass with a mag-float is a delicate art, as it is easy to splash the side of the tank which is annoying. That and the obvious fact that it limits me to certain fish (those that are less notorious for jumping), and I lost my mandarin to jumping.

I'm starting to like the LED spotlight under my sump more and more, and I am starting to see growth out of a few birdsnest frags (not as much as my T5's but meh) and certainly my LPS frags, that and cheato is growing a lot faster (could be more from taking the pellets offline though).


Anyways, I will accompany a photo update when I get home from work as they are a lot more fun!

Youngster Dan
03-08-2011, 06:27 AM
As promised, I took a bunch of photos.

Cool LPS

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3318.jpg

Chalice

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3286.jpg

Birdsnest today:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3331.jpg

And when I got it:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_5415.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3282-1.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3336.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3289.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3275.jpg

My newest addition, he is a huge wuss.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_2874.jpg

I really need to do something about all the blue cloves. I hate blue cloves, with a passion.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3313.jpg

apex82
03-08-2011, 09:02 AM
Nice colors... you got some really nice corals. My blue throat took about a week to warmup to me... but definately my fav. fish. You forgot some full tank shot and full room shots.:biggrin:

freezetyle
03-08-2011, 04:32 PM
I really need to do something about all the blue cloves. I hate blue cloves, with a passion.


I am with you on that one. I had some growing around some zoa's and they were suffocating them. I was lucky and was able to take the rock out so i could scrub it and bath the clove polyps in vinegar with a syringe

Youngster Dan
03-08-2011, 05:50 PM
Nice colors... you got some really nice corals. My blue throat took about a week to warmup to me... but definately my fav. fish. You forgot some full tank shot and full room shots.:biggrin:

Yeah, I have had mine for about 2 weeks or so and he hides right away when I come near the tank. Silly boy, but he will warm up.

Here are some more photos I took last night, including some FTS.

My killer coral, I have lost at least 2 and 1/2 nice frags because I will have not secured a coral properly and they fall into this acan. It certainly doesn't play nice.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3380.jpg

This was one of my first corals, that I got with two heads on it. I am constantly pruning it as it grows like crazy.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3358.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3376.jpg

I like T5 shots reflecting off of the water. I had a big internal debate before purchasing this fixture, it was certainly cheaper than many halide fixtures and higher end 5 fixtures and the cost was the deciding factor before purchasing it. I was warned that I would have to keep my sps right at the top if I wanted to get good colour, and that I would probably regret only getting the 6 bulbs as opposed to 8. I am pretty happy with my decision, as I was able to save my pennies and put them towards other things such as the vortec and skimmer.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3394.jpg

And some FTS's:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3432.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3415.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3407.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3400.jpg

christyf5
03-08-2011, 06:23 PM
Looks great!! I love the black sand. That won't be the last things that orange acan kills. I find the orange acans to be the most aggressive. i've lost many corals, lps, zoas, sps, ricordea to mine. It now lives off on its own at one end of the tank, where it can't hurt anything.

Youngster Dan
03-09-2011, 06:30 PM
Looks great!! I love the black sand. That won't be the last things that orange acan kills. I find the orange acans to be the most aggressive. i've lost many corals, lps, zoas, sps, ricordea to mine. It now lives off on its own at one end of the tank, where it can't hurt anything.


Yeah, it is probably time to move it. I put it right at the far side of my tank next to the overflow with the idea that it would be isolated from most corals. Unfortunately, it is also right bellow a pillar/overhang where pieces like to fall.

Sunee
03-09-2011, 07:06 PM
Love your tank, the black sand really makes the colours pop!

Youngster Dan
03-10-2011, 01:36 AM
Love your tank, the black sand really makes the colours pop!

Thanks, yeah it definitely does. I am surprised it is not more common.

Sebae again
03-10-2011, 01:43 AM
Looks great ! What brand /type of black sand is it?

Youngster Dan
03-12-2011, 12:50 AM
I think I used this stuff:
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/caribsea-aquarium-sand.jpg

I'm not going to lie, it was a bit of a pain getting the sand for a few different reasons.

Youngster Dan
03-25-2011, 05:36 AM
Well, I unfortunately disassembled the tank today. My partner and I have gone separate ways, and I just can't look after the tank right at the moment. I owe a huge thanks to Spencer at Blue World Victoria, as all of my livestock is currently residing in one of his systems. This is a major stress relief, and now I can focus on other things rather than worrying if my fish tank will be ok.

The move was fast and furious, and I hope everything makes it ok. The fish looked like they were fine, whereas some of the sps looked less than pleased to have been moved.

On the bright side, I will get to set up the tank again fresh and I have some ideas to make things different. Plus, I get to aquascape again......

chris121277
03-25-2011, 02:28 PM
Oh no man......I'm sorry to hear about that, hopefully you'll be able to get it back up and running soon.

Sunee
03-25-2011, 03:15 PM
Sorry to hear you had to tear down but I can see the bright side too. A new aquascape!!!

Lance
03-25-2011, 04:30 PM
That's too bad. Your tank was coming along nicely.

DCDN
03-25-2011, 04:35 PM
Sorry to hear that. I look forward to seeing it again when you start back up

christyf5
03-25-2011, 05:06 PM
Sucky. I'll be interested to see what you do with the next one though :biggrin:

Youngster Dan
03-25-2011, 10:06 PM
Thanks everyone! It is nice to hear the support, reefers sure have a great little community.

I have an interview in 30 minutes, so if I get this job, hopefully it will be no time at all until I am back on my feet and have the tank running again! Fingers crossed!

Lysa.anne
04-04-2011, 09:23 PM
My "helper" regularly helps herself to my RODI water... Apparently her bottled water isn't good enough! She's great around the tanks though, their like walls that she avoids!

Sorry to hear about your tank, should have waited Until I got to the end before commenting. Good luck with the next one!

Youngster Dan
08-25-2011, 06:53 AM
Well, I'm back!

I moved into a new apartment, and I have a space waiting for the tank to be moved in. Basically, I just need to stop procrastinating and move the darn thing from where it is in storage and set it up again! New things in which I am going to work on:

Fish:

The only thing I have left from my old tank, is a flame angel and two clowns. I'm considering doing something a little different, if anyone has some suggestions I'm all ears. I was considering a fuzzy dwarf lion, or maybe even abandoning the fish all together and going for some dwarf cuttlefish. Hmmmmm

Corals

I am going to try mostly SPS in this tank, whereas my last tank was more LPS

Lighting

I'm thinking of putting three DIY LED "pendants" Details will follow, and I will chronicle their progression.

Maintenance

I would like this tank to be as low maintenance as I can afford. It may mean getting a doser, and an ATO. I spend 8 hours a day cleaning, feeding and just doing general fish related things. While this is awesome, coming home to more fish work is not exactly what I want to do.

I think I will accomplish this primarily through keeping a small fish bioload. I feel that this will keep my nutrient levels in check, and just keep most of the headaches at bay. Though, it will be hard to resist the urge to add "just one more fish" every time I visit the LFS.

Blue World Aquariums
08-25-2011, 07:02 AM
maybe even abandoning the fish all together and going for some dwarf cuttlefish. Hmmmmm

This.

fishytime
08-25-2011, 02:12 PM
Welcome back mang!..... Now get that thing moved!:razz:

chris121277
08-25-2011, 02:17 PM
Welcome back there Dan :biggrin:

Lance
08-25-2011, 09:15 PM
Hey Dan. Good to see you back. :biggrin:Now get some water in that thing!

Youngster Dan
10-28-2011, 06:45 AM
WOW do I know how to procrastinate or what?!

So, I have been busy the last couple weeks and it is time to share with you fine folks. I haven't really been active in terms of posting much for the last six months, but that isn't to say I haven't been quietly lurking in the back.


Anywho here she is as of last week!

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/_1010388.jpg

which is a poor cry from how she was before:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_3432.jpg


Alas, life has its interesting little turn of events. Since I have been gone I somehow managed to get the coolest little job as an Aquarist at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Center (if you drop by feel free to ask for Dan, and I would be honored to show a fellow canreefer around. That is, if I am not busy of course). While that job is an absolute dream, there is one problem: the water is too cold!!

I'm ready to get my hands wet at home again, in some nice, warm tropical water!


What I have done so far:

Plumbing : Check

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/_1010396.jpg

Ok, I don't have some good photos of the whole plumbing yet. But, I can always take some! (It is pretty straight forward, but what the heck. It's a good to journal all these things)

The real fun part has to do with the lighting. Firstly, I decided 6 T5 were great, but I just want to try something different.

So, I took apart my TEK light:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/_1010404.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/_1010408.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/_1010406.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/_1010412.jpg

The plan was to do a T5 LED combo. I figured, might as well recycle. So I saved four of the reflectors and one of the ballasts to be incorporated into a LED set up.

So the LED building begins. I see a lot of people talking about LEDs and what have you. I want to point it out that I am certainly no expert on this matter. Really, I am just kind of hoping it works.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0029.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0033.jpg

I hope you can see this photo, because after looking at this light I can barely see anything:

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0035.jpg

Note the water! Man, RODI takes forever to fill a tank I tell ya.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0044.jpg

Hmm, I wonder which apartment has a reef tank.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/IMG_0041-1.jpg

I've decided to wait until I fire up the T5's and see how I like LEDs by themselves. I have made it so I can quickly set up the combination at a later date.

chris121277
10-28-2011, 01:33 PM
Looks like those LED's pack a serious punch.....that shot from out side is hilarious......almost looks like your growing something other then corals in there :wink:

don.ald
10-28-2011, 02:33 PM
welcome back Dan, I'll start cutting some frags for ya.:biggrin:

Youngster Dan
10-28-2011, 08:34 PM
Looks like those LED's pack a serious punch.....that shot from out side is hilarious......almost looks like your growing something other then corals in there :wink:

Haha yeah, my roommate and I are taking bets on how long it takes for someone to make in inquiry.

welcome back Dan, I'll start cutting some frags for ya.:biggrin:

Rick, this is music to my ears!! Can't wait to get some coral again!

Youngster Dan
10-28-2011, 08:39 PM
Goodness me, I can't believe I didn't mention this in my earlier post. Jake (Windcoast Reef) has been instrumental in helping me with my LED build. This guy is alright. He took the photos, made the awesome box, plus showed me to ropes on electricity and what have you.

Basically he deserves a lot of credit for this whole thing! Needless to say, I will give him first dibs on frags whenever he so desires.

Youngster Dan
01-28-2013, 07:23 AM
Holy long time since update batman!

I haven't really updated, because honestly - this tank has sat pretty dormant the last year or so. I work a lot with fish, and the last thing I have wanted to do was spend more time working on my fish tank. But, for whatever reason I have gotten the bug again and I'm loving it! This bug has also greatly increased the amount of time I spend on canreef, so I guess hello once again.

I took a few photos to kickstart this thread again, and I will post more to let you know what I'm doing and where I'm going.

Just got this guy, and I'm going to fatten him up for a few months before he goes to bigger and better tanks.

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/Roger_zps012850ca.jpg

Urchins are jerks, but are cool. They poop from the top, tee hee

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/urchin_zpsbb33e8d0.jpg

Cyphastrea are probably my favorite coral right now

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/cyphastrea2_zpsf2ab6ed8.jpg

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/cyphastrea_zpse28f139a.jpg

Froggy

http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt311/YoungsterDan/frog_zps688ebea3.jpg

Tn23
01-28-2013, 07:45 AM
Great looking pictures, love the froggy!

don.ald
01-28-2013, 01:48 PM
Look who's back:mrgreen: