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Mirya's Floridian Flower Garden - All kinds of new things!


Mirya

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What dimensions are you looking for?

 

Does CadLights do custom work?

 

38" L x 14" W x 15" H

 

I think CadLights does, but I've heard so many negatives about their customer service, that I didn't even really consider them. So far the three makers I'm considering have all been very prompt with their communications.

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Tagging along to see which maker you choose. I am also looking to upgrade soon and can not decide on a tank. Have you looked into Deep Blue?

 

I did look into Deep Blue. There actually is a LFS in town that stocks a lot of Deep Blue. Normally I don't go to that LFS since they have sick, overpriced livestock, but they have lots of tanks on display. I couldn't quite find one of the proportions I wanted.

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Have you tried Acrylic Creations? I just had a second tank made by them and it looks great. This is my second tank from him. He can do whatever you want. I even got some lime green acrylic frag racks. He did a custom blue euro-brace on both tanks and they look awesome when lit! The tank I just had him make is 48" x 13" x 12" and will be dedicated to raising baby rfas and growing out some red and blue macro algae.

post-84525-0-42833000-1437489969_thumb.jpeg

post-84525-0-77255200-1437489986_thumb.jpeg

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Have you tried Acrylic Creations?

 

Nice tanks, Kazoo! I'm looking for glass though. I'm leaning towards Oceans by Design as the builder right now, though I'm awaiting a final quote from Reef Savvy.

 

I finally bit the bullet and bought my skimmer (JNS ConeS CO-1) and return pump (Tunze 1073.02) today. Did a bit of "power shopping" to try to buy them as inexpensively as possible. Went with Marine Depot's current 15% off the most expensive item in your order to get the pump. Wanted the AquaMaxx skimmer, but bought it under the JNS name as I found it cheaper than the AquaMaxx at Big Al's and I found at 15% off coupon for them too.

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Skimmer arrived today and my return pump arrived yesterday! I've also decided I'm going to go with Oceans By Design for the aquarium build. Placing my order tonight!

 

I've also been playing around with sump designs. There is a real basic two chamber design by Advanced Acrylics I could fit into my stand. But I've been playing around with some custom designs. The space I have to work with is really tight. 15" long x 14" deep. (While my stand is long, it is partitioned on the inside. I don't want to take the partitions out least it weakens the integrity of the stand.) There is a local acrylic guy I'm getting a quote from (Geo's Reef). Otherwise I might find a place to cut the acrylic, then assemble it myself. Here are the 3 designs I've come up with so far. I've designed an overflow into the sock, tried to place the skimmer so as to not block me changing out the sock, and a pseudo-bubble trap before the return.

 

I don't know how easily I can fit media into the bubble trap in design 2, but I figure the Chemipure Blue Nano bags would fit. I kinda like the idea of having a fuge, but I'm worried if I want to add a reactor or something to design 1 down the road I won't have space. (Well, I suppose I could take the Cheato out of the fuge and put the reactor or w/e in there. Hmmm, maybe I just talked myself into Design 1 just to have the potential option of a fuge vs media reactor...)

 

Should I go with one of these designs (and if so which one) or just with a basic 2 chamber sump?

 

Layout 1, refugium, has some dead space/bubble trap in the upper right corner:

Sump1_zpsknddlxxo.jpg

 

Layout 2, no fuge:

 

Sump2_zpsiwvtbusw.jpg

 

 

Edit: Did a cardboard mock-up of the sumps and decided I didn't like Design 3.

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Do you have versions of these with the dimensions on the different sections? I find that if you make the sump too crammed by laying out every spare inch of space, it can get like tetris trying to do any maintenance or mess with equipment. Number 1 is nice as long as you have enough room to be able to access everything easily. My first sump was way too crammed and I really regretted it. This time around I tried to make it easy to get my hands into all compartments and to be able to remove all pieces of equipment easily for servicing.

 

Layout 2 looks more spacious to me. You could always put a little fuge light on the skimmer section and grow some chaeto in a basket on one end if you don't go the media reactor route. You also have the option to put some rubble rock in the skimmer section sort of like a fuge if you wanted to.

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Thanks for the sump advice. You make a very valid point about not trying to overbuild it in terms of using every last square inch, Felicia. I made a cardboard mock up of the sump designs and tested them out. While I could work in #1 it was super tight and I can see that getting frustrating. I'll be going with #2.

 

Yesterday I visited two regional fish stores, Premium Aquatics out near Indy and Aquarium Artisans in Cinci. Both were having anniversary sales and both are sponsors of my local reef club. At Aquarium Artisans I picked up something for this tank. A pink Ricordea florida! It honestly is a color I have never seen in a R. florida, only in R. yuma. Here is a fluorescence picture where it looks super delicious:

PinkRicF_zpshpp6vzvd.jpg

 

And if you are saying to yourself, "Are you sure that isn't orange?" Well here is a topdown shot of my Ric garden with some orange Rics for comparison:

RicsFTD_zpsn9wapody.jpg

 

At the bottom of that picture is a pink mouthed Ric. It is a Haitian Ricordea that I recently got from Legendary Corals. Here is that one at another angle:

RicsFS_zpseuzgo7xb.jpg

 

Finally, a non-fluorescence top down shot. The pink Ric isn't as amazing under normal lighting, but is still cool and I look forward to seeing if it morphs color at all:

RicsTD_zpsvmlmsxrw.jpg

 

At the left edge of some of the above pictures was my baby RFA. He's been doing great. He is up to the size of a nickle now and eats like a champ.

BabyUpdate_zpsgsk5tblx.jpg

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So glad to hear your baby rfa is making it and successfully at that. All my babies have been royally tiny, the bodies no bigger than this O so it's been hard to get them to survive.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Photo time!

 

My Nuvo 24 and Nuvo 8 together:

 

FTS%20squared_zpsgjnp2iyp.jpg

 

Just the Nuvo 24:

 

FTS%20florida_zpse0ilbve0.jpg

 

All my goofball fish in one shot. Some of the gorgonians (the purple ones to the right) are from Zia:

 

Gorgs_zpsah7xglro.jpg

 

Some of the denizens of RFA island. The newest RFA that I got at Best Fish in Milwaukee is the red faced one on the right:

 

new%20RFA_zpsv2dwtogq.jpg

 

Also, lots of my pictures I take of this tank have to be tossed because Derp Goby (and to a lesser extent Derp Gramma) is a pro at the photobomb. Proof:

 

Photo%20Crasher_zpsol0rotm3.jpg

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This tank is looking great! I think the gorgs from Eddie were a great addition. Really filled in that right side with some more height. I just love gorgs and especially in your Florida themed tank.

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Absolutely beautiful tanks! I feel stupid, I didn't even realize you had 2 tanks. Duh!

 

It is a crack addiction. :D Started with the Nuvo8. Then set up the Nuvo24 about 6 months later. Then a little frag tank about 6 months after that!

 

This tank is looking great! I think the gorgs from Eddie were a great addition. Really filled in that right side with some more height. I just love gorgs and especially in your Florida themed tank.

 

Yeah, I was really happy to score some gorgs from Eddie. They are great for the tank and I keep promising the one that I will eventually get it a basketstar to hang out with it again.

 

Seeing as how I've been setting up a new tank every 6 months or so, that must explain why I've been itching to pick-up another Nuvo8 to do a dedicated softie tank... Although I also blame Eddie for that too!

 

Awesome tanks Congrats, subscribed.

 

Thanks!

 

Instead of setting up a softie tank though, my next step will be the upgrade to this tank. Haven't heard word from Oceans by Design how the build is going, but it is really too early for that. However, I did get to pick up my sump today! I had contemplated trying to DIY the acrylic work myself, but then my local reef club pointed out to me that there is a sorta-local acrylic worker. It's George who runs Geo's Reef. I showed George the mock-ups I had done, described to him my wishlist of features, and the measurements I had to work with. Then he tweaked things to come up with a final design. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

 

Here is the sump, 15"x14"x14":

Sump%201_zpss9y7w7s7.jpg

 

The drain area spills over to a 4" filter sock holder to minimize noise:

Sock%20Holder_zpsanmq5ajc.jpg

 

There is an adjustable baffle to tweak water height in the skimmer chamber. George even added on a little temperature probe holder. Behind the baffle water will spill over to an area where I can stash my media bags. There is a nice little rack to hold the bags:

Media%20Holder_zpsto6882f6.jpg

 

Plenty of space to upgrade to a media reactor down the road:

Sump%202_zpsejvhcxj4.jpg

 

And it all fits just perfectly in the little space in my cabinet!

Sump%20in%20Stand_zpsqtheckft.jpg

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Beautiful sump. So you actually have 3 tanks! O dear, you may need a 12 step program, LOL.

I disguised my addiction by plumbing my tanks together and calling it one system but I have 3 tanks going sometimes when I am raising baby seahorses! I guess I am an addict too! There, I said it.

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Beautiful sump. So you actually have 3 tanks! O dear, you may need a 12 step program, LOL.

I disguised my addiction by plumbing my tanks together and calling it one system but I have 3 tanks going sometimes when I am raising baby seahorses! I guess I am an addict too! There, I said it.

 

Yeah... busted!

 

Busted_zpslmyeohaf.jpg

 

The little frag tank sits on the end of the kitchen island.

 

My long-term, when I am a grown up (ie own a house) dream:

1- Convert the Nuvo8 to a softie tank.

2- Maintain the Florida tank, which by that point will be a sumped 38 gallon custom tank.

3- Set up a 100 gallon+ SPS/LPS system that will be tied into the 60 gallon frag tank I am current refurbishing.

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Yeah... busted!

 

Busted_zpslmyeohaf.jpg

 

The little frag tank sits on the end of the kitchen island.

 

My long-term, when I am a grown up (ie own a house) dream:

1- Convert the Nuvo8 to a softie tank.

2- Maintain the Florida tank, which by that point will be a sumped 38 gallon custom tank.

3- Set up a 100 gallon+ SPS/LPS system that will be tied into the 60 gallon frag tank I am current refurbishing.

So will the Florida tank be the sump for the 100+ SPS/LPS that will be tied into the 60g frag tank? If so, I will say it is much easier monitoring parameters when everything is tied together. Make sure in your dream house you have a dedicated circuit for the fish system to accommodate the electrical draw of that much equipment.

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Nice tank(s)! Following

 

Thanks Harry!

 

So will the Florida tank be the sump for the 100+ SPS/LPS that will be tied into the 60g frag tank? If so, I will say it is much easier monitoring parameters when everything is tied together. Make sure in your dream house you have a dedicated circuit for the fish system to accommodate the electrical draw of that much equipment.

 

I may eventually tie the Florida tank to the Nuvo8 together as one system and then have the 100+ diplay and 60 frag tank be a separate system. So that still would only be two systems. And I want a sexy fish room like Mr Saltwatertank or Sangheili.

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Thanks Harry!

 

 

 

I may eventually tie the Florida tank to the Nuvo8 together as one system and then have the 100+ diplay and 60 frag tank be a separate system. So that still would only be two systems. And I want a sexy fish room like Mr Saltwatertank or Sangheili.

Wow, you dream big!

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Wow, you dream big!

 

Might as well! :D

 

 

Apparently my Photostream from my iPhone gets uploaded to Google Photos because my husband is an IT professional and he is always playing around with things. (Kinda like me and the tanks, so I can't complain!) Anyway, Google Photos will recognize when pictures are taken in series and will make animated GIFs out of them. Google made this cute GIF of my Gramma as I was trying to capture him peeking out of his hole in his rock, then swimming off.

 

IMG_3504-ANIMATION_zpsj0qvf66s.gif

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