Tylers ~30 gal system build.

zum14 · #1 12-12-2010, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madreefer

That zapper that you want to buy can be made for around $20. Sure the one for $95 looks cool but it's just gonna sit under your stand when not in use.

I know I know I'm just a crow somedays..... Oooh look! Shiney! Mine! ...... It's worse somedays the others. I'll probably build one like yours. I think I even have a couple transformers kicking around too.

zum14 · #2 12-13-2010, 04:29 AM

So its a little cloudy still but I got pretty close to what i was shooting for with the rocks today, got one crab and one large bristle worm out, i went over every rock with a fine tooth comb and had to club soda one or two to get the buggers out but hopefully I dealt with the problem. Ill keep a close eye on it still. I didnt end up securing with zip ties or epoxy as I just used a hammer and chisel and made the rocks shaped how I wanted so they would fit together well. Ill get better pics when the waters clear and I have some lights above them.

View from the kitchen into the living room.

Front view. I was able to utilize the cave in this rock.

View from the living room towards the kitchen

Im pretty happy with the shelves and nooks I was able to get for lots of corals to be stuck into, also I seem to have been able to create a bunch of different lighting areas. Ill have to re evaluate when I get a proper light on the tank for that though. I dont think the wife is too happy with the skimmer air intake noise so the stand may get skinned sooner rather then later. Dont bother me much. Only problem im having now is I should of done one more baffle....microbubbles from the skimmer outlet. Going to have to come up with a solution for that and the skimmer pump may need some foam or something below it for a bit of noise dampening. I saw one article on a guy that used a certain foam on the edge of some baffling and was able to just push the baffle in place and the foam wedged it in there, had to be a certain foam to do it. Might work for both problems..... hmmm.

zum14 · #3 01-06-2011, 11:43 PM

So a bit of an update on this tank. Dont get too excited this isnt the final look. I have a bunch of trimming and theres a couple of corals going out for trade, some going to get hacked up a little smaller. Its tough dealing with a small landscape. I am enjoying the level of maintenance on a smaller system. Water top up is crutial. I wont be getting any fish or inverts still my controller arrives and I can set up my auto top off. Topping up every night is getting a bit tiring. So ya ordered an apex lite, bunch of float switches, everything should be here by next weekend so i can get it all set up. Ive been looking at maybe bushing my mag 7 down to a 1/4" line and seeing if it will pump up from my basement. From the flow charts it looks like it should and I cant really see the large restriction on the out line causing an issue as its kind of the same as a ball valve or similar. Test is conducted tonight or tomorrow night. Couple pics. Im going to wait till I get my full rock back before submitting a pic to the full tank shot thread. ( One large piece is cooking with the leftover rocks as I wasnt able to get the two crabs out and wasnt going to take any chances this time. Thats why it looks like its missing something.)

And I know the coral colors are not there, I know, I just spent a good chunk of change on the controller so Im making due with a couple of 36" hagen t5 fixtures with hagen bulbs. There on top of the stand so there like 14" away from the tank and just look terrible. Light is next on the list.

BlueTang<3 · #4 01-06-2011, 11:49 PM

Looking good great job on the tank and stand.

paddyob · #5 01-07-2011, 12:09 AM

I have to say I am impressed you managed to fit a Television in there!

zum14 · #6 01-07-2011, 01:09 AM

Its a new feature ive been working on, i figure were boxing them up in a glass box we may as well give them something to watch. Im still working on a remote for it though. Hard to make it watertight.

paddyob · #7 01-07-2011, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zum14

Its a new feature ive been working on, i figure were boxing them up in a glass box we may as well give them something to watch. Im still working on a remote for it though. Hard to make it watertight.

BAHHAHHAHHA! I think the whole opposable thumb or lack there of might still be an issue... make them watch Sponge Bob.

zum14 · #8 01-15-2011, 11:34 PM

So not a whole heck of a lot of change on the tank lately, everythings growing great except for the one open brain (cant remember if its trach. or wells.) but ya, feed every say 4 days, have tried just about every food on it, not forcing but sort of letting the slow current sweep the food across it, have tried the smaller stuff as well, it was showing some signs of growth, or so I thought, but now i feel like im either not seeing any growth or go as far as saying maybe a bit of recession. Theres a trachyphyllia about an 1" away from it and it almost seems like its getting bigger every week. I dunno, some days I wonder if its lost its will. Im not giving up yet though, trying to keep any algae off it and ill keep trying to feed it till the bitter end. Anyone think a med/dip would have any positive effects?? I know there are no critters in the tank anymore, Ive spent hours watching with the lights out and all I see are pods. (Have a red LED flashlight that works great) Nothing else in the tank is showing signs of stress, everything actually seems the opposite. The platygyra seems to be getting puffier and whiter, lots of feeding tentacles at dinner time, no sweepers noticed yet though. Oh well Ill keep plugging along. I got all my float switches plus some this week.

But due to a shipping mishap it looks like the controllers going to be a week behind schedule. It sucks but what you gonna do? I need some time to figure out how im going to mount all these things anyways. I want one for the tank, overflow, three in the sump (one for water top up, one for low sump water, one for high sump water incase of float failure on the top up) and one will be for the water topup container in the basement incase the water level gets too low in the bucket it wont run the pump dry. That will be my 6 for the one IO box I ordered and if I think of some more well I have some extra switches and also have extras for failures. I have some trimming to do tomorrow and may update the FTS but havent been to keen on it as its going to be a while before I get my final look as Im waiting for my rock to finish cooking. I want to be ultra sure whatever in that rock has long died so I dont bring another 2 crabs back in. That was 6 crabs in 50lbs of liverock.