The Nautilus [85 shallow]- New family member

[TigerLily]

It looks lovely! You guys did a great job - I love the stand.

[Odyssey350kc]

This tank is Crazy! That's a lot of tech, but i hear what your saying about the tank sitters, its sooo nice to have everything automated. Hope your corals look as good as your setup.

[Angel<3Nanos]

Oh man. Im still amazed by this build. Can't stop looking at your pics

[Pinner Reef]

Oh wow! How did I miss this? I'm watching please continue the good work

[ajmckay]

Hey if at all possible could you post another daytime shot in higher resolution?

 

Typically if you host the image somewhere else (like flickr) and then paste the link here you get better resolution.

 

I'm just being greedy, something about the small picture leaves me wanting more... Oh you might also consider turning off the christmas tree lights

[lkoechle]

Hey if at all possible could you post another daytime shot in higher resolution?

 

Typically if you host the image somewhere else (like flickr) and then paste the link here you get better resolution.

 

I'm just being greedy, something about the small picture leaves me wanting more... Oh you might also consider turning off the christmas tree lights

Oh I've got your Christmas tree lights for ya...

 

 

 

And a photo of my clowns patiently waiting for their new home. Christine (aka Miss Daae) and Phantom. Their going to think the big tank is the fabeled ocean!

 

 

Miss Daae is DaVinci and Phantom is a Phantom.

[ajmckay]

 

 

So my wife asked me what I'm doing on the computer... I didn't respond.

 

A few seconds later jokingly asks if I'm watching porn.

 

"Yes"

 

 

 

 

 

So I went and got some of those leveling feet for my stand... They work pretty nice! I only got 4 but I'm also going to use some wood shims underneath also.

 

What kind of rock do you have? I just received my order of BRS Pukani and I'm literally rocking out tonight Ha!

[lkoechle]

So my wife asked me what I'm doing on the computer... I didn't respond.

 

A few seconds later jokingly asks if I'm watching porn.

 

"Yes"

 

 

 

 

 

So I went and got some of those leveling feet for my stand... They work pretty nice! I only got 4 but I'm also going to use some wood shims underneath also.

 

What kind of rock do you have? I just received my order of BRS Pukani and I'm literally rocking out tonight Ha!

 

 

Yay! I'm somebody's porn!

 

We're pretty pleased with the feet as well. Our floor has a serious leveling problem. Wood shims wouldn't cut it at all with us.

 

I have reefcleaners' rock. I'm one of those folks when I find something I like, I'm scared to try anything else. We were thinking about marcorocks but I chickened out. lol

 

But I am thinking about maybe getting a Tonga branch to span between the two islands. More coral space. But on the other hand, I'm really digging the minimalist scape we have going...

 

Are you using any of your old rocks or ditching the idea?

[ajmckay]

You say floor not level problem? I raise you my old floor... It was off by over an inch... at 3 ft from the wall! I actually replaced many of the floor joists in this room... My shims were between 3/8" and 1-1/4" thick slices from a piece of 1x3 oak.

 

Anyways, the consensus is that the reef cleaners stuff is great... I just liked the scape. It's simple.

 

I also looked at Marcorocks but I heard that the Pukani is good so I went for it. I bought 22lbs and the sizes of the rocks are amazing for how little they weigh. The only downside is that there is a pretty significant amount of dead stuff still rattling around in the holes and such so they smell kinda icky and it's going to take some time for that stuff to break down. I actually found a few dead crinoid lobsters on the rocks - which is too bad because those things are cool as hell.

 

As for my old rocks, I'm still sort of unsure. Turns out that the new rock really is enough rock for the display tank... So I'll probably use just the new rock in the display except maybe steal a few pieces of rubble. Some of the old rock will go in the sump, and maybe I'll pass along a deal to a local on the rest of my old rock. After doing some more research on it I'm sure the old rock is plenty safe.

 

I think a tonga branch would look pretty cool, though you might want to actually pick the piece vs. having one delivered... It's sort of tough to mix different kinds of rock and get that nice "put together" look. In all honesty you might even have to take your existing rock out and do some hack sawing or dremeling to get the rocks to come together. Could look really cool though, just tough to visualize.

 

 

[lkoechle]

You say floor not level problem? I raise you my old floor... It was off by over an inch... at 3 ft from the wall! I actually replaced many of the floor joists in this room... My shims were between 3/8" and 1-1/4" thick slices from a piece of 1x3 oak.

 

Anyways, the consensus is that the reef cleaners stuff is great... I just liked the scape. It's simple.

 

I also looked at Marcorocks but I heard that the Pukani is good so I went for it. I bought 22lbs and the sizes of the rocks are amazing for how little they weigh. The only downside is that there is a pretty significant amount of dead stuff still rattling around in the holes and such so they smell kinda icky and it's going to take some time for that stuff to break down. I actually found a few dead crinoid lobsters on the rocks - which is too bad because those things are cool as hell.

 

As for my old rocks, I'm still sort of unsure. Turns out that the new rock really is enough rock for the display tank... So I'll probably use just the new rock in the display except maybe steal a few pieces of rubble. Some of the old rock will go in the sump, and maybe I'll pass along a deal to a local on the rest of my old rock. After doing some more research on it I'm sure the old rock is plenty safe.

 

I think a tonga branch would look pretty cool, though you might want to actually pick the piece vs. having one delivered... It's sort of tough to mix different kinds of rock and get that nice "put together" look. In all honesty you might even have to take your existing rock out and do some hack sawing or dremeling to get the rocks to come together. Could look really cool though, just tough to visualize.

 

 

Yay old houses! Looks like my floors.

 

My LFS has some good tonga pieces. But I'm torn. We'll see what I can come up with. Do you have a build thread for what you'reworking on?

[lkoechle]

Did some more rearranging in the living room today. We moved the clown/qt tank next to the couch. I think they're enjoy it more, plus I will too.

 

[latteslave]

So all the rock from the qt is going in the display?

[ajmckay]

Build thread... Not yet. I'm making water right now and finalizing my rock scaping.

 

Tomorrow in goes sand and water. I'm not too far behind ya

 

Overall getting pretty excited. Unfortunately most of my equipment is the old stuff I had previously, but I think it'll work just fine for now.

 

As for the tonga pieces, it looks like you would need a pretty large one to actually connect the islands... I personally think it looks pretty good as is. I'm having a tough time visualizing where it would go in my head... The exception in my head is possibly a relatively branchy piece which could come out of the rock island on the right... But a small piece... Probably not explaining it very well though.

[lkoechle]

So all the rock from the qt is going in the display?

 

Undetermined as of yet. It's Real Reef Rock (har har har) and we didn't realize when we purchased it that they dye their rocks. We thought we were paying an expensive price for some super nice, eco-friendly rock. So all the corraline is fake. If we do put any of it in the tank, it'll be in the sump.

 

Build thread... Not yet. I'm making water right now and finalizing my rock scaping.

 

Tomorrow in goes sand and water. I'm not too far behind ya

 

Overall getting pretty excited. Unfortunately most of my equipment is the old stuff I had previously, but I think it'll work just fine for now.

 

As for the tonga pieces, it looks like you would need a pretty large one to actually connect the islands... I personally think it looks pretty good as is. I'm having a tough time visualizing where it would go in my head... The exception in my head is possibly a relatively branchy piece which could come out of the rock island on the right... But a small piece... Probably not explaining it very well though.

 

Well you need to make a thread soon!

 

I get what you're saying on the tonga piece. We're actually thinking about taking the massive rock we have in our sump right now, smashing it and making a third island in the middle if we think the tank needs more rock. The other reason I'm considering on adding more is because the Rabbitfish and Red Line Wrasse will need hidey holes at night and I'm not sure I have enough rock work for that right now. I figure we'll see when we get them in and how they're behaving and if they can find a hole.

 

 

[ajmckay]

Yeah I'll probably make a tank thread tonight! Mind you this whole thing has come together in the span of about 1-2 weeks! Haha. I already had most of it lying around, just decided one day that I would like to have it up and running before the end of the year. So far I'm on track with that too, last night filled it 1/2 way. Tonight I'll probably finish filling the display and possibly hook up the sump. I still want to design and build a filter sock holder though, so I may wait to hook up the sump until I can finish that. Unfortunately I don't have this week off work (except the 25th I have off - I'm in banking), so we'll see how much I get done.

 

As for your rock, I think that painted rock is actually kind of cool! I'm not sure about the long term durability of the fake coralline, but eventually it should get covered with real coralline, so in the meantime it at least looks real. My LFS sells it for cheaper than real live rock, but more than basic dry rock. I thought about getting some if I needed some small pieces or fillers because it does have interesting shapes at least.

 

As for the amount of rock in your tank I think you're right that you could maybe use a bit more - I love the minimalist look but like you said with some fish it's important to have enough rock for foraging and hiding. Some wrasses in particular it seems are more active in general when there are lots of hiding spots. Which makes some sense I suppose - if there are hiding spots all over it can quickly get to then there's less of a risk should a predator appear whereas if the hiding spots are few or far away there's more danger in straying too far from it.

 

... observing some other scapes I think that from a visual perspective (looking head on) 30-40% looks about right for a minimalist look. I would put you around 25% now. Note I'm not talking about total volume, just a visual check from the front. I think you could either do a third island, or potentially build up the formation on the left a bit more.

[lkoechle]

I'm thinking about ordering some more rock from reef-cleaners for the display. Husband made a valid point about the rock in our sump, aside from being more filter, it is dampening the drain so our sump doesn't sound like a rocket engine readying for take off. lol

 

UPDATES:

Nitrites are at 5 woo hoo! Hopefully only another week or so and I can order the CUC, add my clowns and start dialing in the skimmer. I don't believe in running a skimmer during cycling. Pulling out waste makes no sense to me when it's adding fuel to the cycle and creating a better biological backbone. So I have not been running my skimmer.

 

For Christmas, I recieved a lovely butter box with photos detailing what my husband plans to buy in the CUC for me when the tank is ready:

 

- 90 gallon hermit package (hermit food included!) -- Husband is talking about the snails lol --

- 1 Florida Battle Snail -- my Florida Fighting Conch --

- The Fuzziest of Chittons

- 4 zig zag periwinkles in all of their winkleyness glory

- A Pack O Pods

- 3 corals from a $10 bin

- 3 corals from a $20

 

The corals were attached to my other gifts. Who knew Catching Fire Blu-Ray came with a $10 frag? Greatest Best Buy Ever!

 

I thought his descriptions were pretty cute. lol So those will be the new inhabitants when the tank is ready, and the clowns of course.

[sangheili]

I see your sump's plastic was painted white. Do you regret that? Wondering if I should do it for my 40b sump as well.

[lkoechle]

I see your sump's plastic was painted white. Do you regret that? Wondering if I should do it for my 40b sump as well.

 

The previous owner painted it. But the tank was up and running for 3 years before i got a hold of it and it looks like it held really well

[lkoechle]

Did some more tinkering in the tank today solving an interesting problem.

 

As you know, I am not the original owner of this tank. The overflow cover (photos below) created two very interesting problems.

 

One is that the slits were spaced far apart and caused a massive disruption in the flow of water down into the overflow cause a constant trickle noise. We attempted solving this by frustratingly adjusting the durso over and over again, but no avail. The water height was not the problem, the cover was.

 

Problem two: You cannot remove the cover without disassembling the return. WTH? Stupidest idea ever. We originally had a 3/4" reducing loc-line Y to the half inch returns, but the cover wouldn't fit. Compounding that issue, the return lines shoot right beneath the euro-bracing. WTF? Who in the world designed this thing? We literally had to use a f$%^*&^% wrench to get into the overflow.

 

With these two issues, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

 

I used plastic canvas, like the kind we all used in elementary school to weave yarn into bookmarks, to build a new overflow cover. I'm pretty pleased with the results. Don't worry, I plan on replacing the black zip ties with fishing line. I just used zip ties to make sure the design would work.

 

Original Cover:

 

 

 

I mean, really, who thought that was a good idea?

 

My revised cover:

 

Front:

 

Return side:

 

Top:

 

 

Okay, okay, my version can definitely use some beauty touch ups, and those will come in the future, but right now, I'm satisfied with the results and pretty pleased with my creativity. lol Also I'm glad I don't need my husband around to get in my overflow anymore. The original cover was ridiculous. I will sacrifice beauty for a quieter, more accessible tank.

 

This hobby is all about the creative solutions.

[lkoechle]

Nitrites .05

Nitrates 7.5

 

We are ALMOST THERE!

 

OPINIONS PLEASE:

When tank is ready (so half weekish to a week), should I go ahead and move feeshies over or wait for CUC to arrive and give them a chance to make the tank all sparkly-glowy?

 

Personally, I vote moving feeshies first, but I'm impatient. Would there be any harm in moving them before CUC gets here?

[specore]

I'd say just move them.

[markalot]

Nitrites .05

Nitrates 7.5

 

We are ALMOST THERE!

 

OPINIONS PLEASE:

When tank is ready (so half weekish to a week), should I go ahead and move feeshies over or wait for CUC to arrive and give them a chance to make the tank all sparkly-glowy?

 

Personally, I vote moving feeshies first, but I'm impatient. Would there be any harm in moving them before CUC gets here?

 

I'd move the fishies to help provide the food for the uglies that the cleanup crew can eat.

 

Looking forward to seeing the progress of this tank.

[ajmckay]

Love the overflow cover.... I think it may get a little Difficult to clean if algae gets too attached though... Unless you can take the whole thing out anyways, then it would probably be easy :-)

 

I think you're fine to add the first first, with that much volume is not going to make a ton of difference...

[latteslave]

Move 'em...

 

 

are they moved yet?

[lkoechle]

Love the overflow cover.... I think it may get a little Difficult to clean if algae gets too attached though... Unless you can take the whole thing out anyways, then it would probably be easy :-)

 

I think you're fine to add the first first, with that much volume is not going to make a ton of difference...

 

New overflow cover is totally removable. The old one we had disassemble the locline and then get an adjustable wrench in there. Massive PITA.

 

Move 'em...

 

 

are they moved yet?

 

Not yet. Hopefully today we have zeroed out. Last night we were so close. So maybe today or tomorrow we should be ready