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The Nautilus [85 shallow]- New family member


lkoechle

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FTS 9/8/2015

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FTS 7/8/2015

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FTS 5/5/2015


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FTS 2/24/2015


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FTS 1/31/2015

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FTS 12/19/2014

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Background (Oct. 2014)

After having a baby, we decided to start a new tank. The plan was to derim the 20L, go with a mame overflow and have a sump. Prior we were sump-less. I found an awesome deal on the local community board for an 80 gallon shallow with 40 gallon sump for $200, showed my husband, and he went along with me down the road of temptation. We were getting frustrated with the size limitations of a nano (hubby really wants a flame angel) so we went for it. We're picking it up today. Yay!

Plans (Oct. 2014)

We plan on replacing the 40 sump with a sump from Fluid Designs. The 40 will then be used as a sump for my clown breeding project.

Currently, we have 1 set of AI Sols which is over our temporary 10 gallon housing our clown pair and their BTA. That will be run over the center of the tank until we upgrade to the new Radion fixture which should give adequate coverage.




Equipment

 

Post with detail photos of build and system setup Build Photos

Display Tank

  • Glass Cages shallow 85 gallon
  • 48x24x17


Circulation

  • 2x MP40
  • Mag18 return pump


Lighting

  • 2x AI SOL Super Blue


Filtration

  • Vertex Omega 130


Controller

  • Neptune Apex


Sump

  • 40 gallon Aqueon but will be purchasing a sump by Fluid Design


Livestock

Proposed Livestock:

  • 2x Occelaris Clownfish (1 Birdshot Phantom, 1 DaVinci)
  • 2x Spotted Mandarin Dragonet
  • 1x Scribbled Rabbitfish
  • 1x Flame Angel
  • 1x Red Lined Wrasse
  • 1x prawn goby (haven't figured out which one yet.) Yellow Watchman Goby
  • 1x clown goby (probably yellow, might be green)
  • 1x One Spot Foxface
  • 1x Flame Tail Blenny


Actual Livestock:

  • 2x Amphipiron occelaris (Occelaris Clownfish- 1 Birdshot Phantom, 1 DaVinci) [Phantom and Raoul]
  • 1x Siganus doliatus (Scribbled Rabbitfish) [usagi]
  • 1x Valenciennea puellaris (Diamond Watchman Goby) [sandman]
  • 1x Labroides dimidiatus (African Cleaner Wrasse)
  • 1x Paracheilinus mccoskeri (McCosker's Flasher Wrasse)
  • 1x Synchiropus picturatus (Spotted Mandarin) [Luna-P]
  • 1x Cirrhilabrus lyukyuensis (Yellow-Flanked Fairy Wrasse) [Cinna]
  • 1x Cyntropyge bispinosa (Coral Beauty Angelfish)



Proposed Inverts:

  • CUC from reefcleaners
  • Bubbletip Anemone
  • tuxedo urchin
  • fire shrimp
  • red banded pistol shrimp
  • maxima or crocea clam
  • florida fighting conch


Actual Inverts:

  • CUC from reefcleaners
  • 1x Strombus alatus (florida fighting conch) [Maximus]
  • 1x Alpheus bellulus (tiger pistol shrimp)
  • 1x Entacmaea quadricolor (rainbow bubbletip anemone)
  • 1x Lysmata debelius (fire shrimp) [Woodhouse]


Coral:

SPS

  • 1x Montipora capricornis (Red )
  • 1x Montipora capricornis (Starburst)
  • 1x Montipora tuberculosa (Mystic Sunset)
  • 1x Acropora sp. (Green Slimer)
  • 1x Acropora sp. (unknown, blue)
  • 1x Pavona frondifera (mint green)
  • 1x Montipora tuberculosa (Rainbow)
  • 1x Psammocora sp. (ORA Green)
  • 1x Acropora sp. (Katropora)
  • 1x Acropora tortusa (Kittiyagi)
  • 1x Acropora tortusa (Cali)
  • 1x Seriatopora hystrix (Ponape)
  • 1x Stylophora sp. (Purple)
  • 1x Pocillopora damicornis (Rainbow)
  • 1x Acropora millepora (Tubs Blue)
  • 1x Cyphastrea sp. (Meteor Shower)

LPS

  • 1x Euphyillia anchora (Green & Pink)
  • 1x Acanthastrea lordhowensis
  • 1x Leptastrea purpurea (Golden)

Soft Coral

 

  • Zoanthus sp.

-God of Wars
-Wows
-Blue Hornets
-Strawberry Lemonades
-Candy Apple Reds
-Rastas
-Red Hornet
-Miami Vice
-Eagle Eye (both green and yellow skirt varieties)
-Pink Zippers
-Wolverines
-Bam Bams
-Fire and Ice
-Pinwheels
-Dragon Eyes
-Blueberry Fields
-PHE Red Ring
-Teal Rings
-Blow Pop
-Utter Chaos
-Gold Mauls
-Candy Apple Orange


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At least half of those fish are expert jumpers... I recommend you add either a cast acrylic or mesh screen top to your build lest you have to start adding unfortunate strikethroughs to your stock list. ;)

 

Good luck moving forward, though!

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At least half of those fish are expert jumpers... I recommend you add either a cast acrylic or mesh screen top to your build lest you have to start adding unfortunate strikethroughs to your stock list. ;)

 

Good luck moving forward, though!

 

Yeah, I have full sheet of eggcrate sitting in the garage waiting to be cut to size. :P

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Went to a local meeting this weekend and got an adorable photo of our son, Alaric, and a naso tang checking him out. Of course, I didn't get that picture, but I did get this one a second later. He's going to love the big one once we get it set up!

 

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That's a cool shot- future reefer for sure when ya getting the 80 going?

I hope he is! I certainly think reefing helps in learning math and science since half the battle is practical application. Even if he doesn't like it, I plan on using it as an educational tool. lol

 

Working out all the details right now. Mainly the stand. Our floor is really uneven and we're going back and forth on how to deal with that. I think we're going with leveling feet used in machine shops.

 

I'm hoping we can start building it this weekend and get it painted during the week. My goal is to finish cycling by christmas but that's probably when we'll be starting the cycle. lol

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Purchased another AI Sol unit. We were going to upgrade to radions but I don't want to spend $1200 on two units. I already have one Sol, so I figured the cheapest route is buying another one. Luckily, some one on my local club contacted me and it turns out he actually lives right down the road! lol

 

One step closer!

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Ordered the leveling feet for the stand. They can hold 600 pounds per foot, we bought six because we like the idea of supporting the middle of the stand. 81239-02-1000.jpg

 

We have the stand all planned out now. Hubby is on call for the weekend but hopefully we can start buying and cutting the wood now. I'm hoping tonight I can also place my order for rock from reefcleaners and my Bimini Pink sand from amazon.

 

I also added Barnacle Blennies to the livestock list. I'm debating between 3 or 5 of those guys. I really want this tank to be an example of interesting behaviors and relationships. So excited!

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jedimasterben

The issue with barnacle blennies in this tank will be finding them - they will, despite best efforts, not choose the location that you want them to and if they choose a spot on the rear of a rock then you will never see them. IMHO they're better suited for smaller tanks.

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The issue with barnacle blennies in this tank will be finding them - they will, despite best efforts, not choose the location that you want them to and if they choose a spot on the rear of a rock then you will never see them. IMHO they're better suited for smaller tanks.

I was thinking about setting them up with a barnacle cluster in a QT tank and then moving them with their barnacle to the big tank. I'm hoping then they'll have their little holes picked out in the cluster and stay there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Started building the stand this weekend. Ordered 100 pounds of Bimini Pink sand, ordered 50 pounds of rock from reefcleaners, and 24 cans of catfood (unrelated to the tank, but needed to be done). We also decided on the stain and husband is debating on when to pull the trigger on the 2 mp40s and mag 18, plus the heater.

 

We also have to paint the room the stand is going in. Not going to put this beast of a tank in and try to move it later to paint. lol

 

Very tired after putting in a long day between being a mother, building the stand and working at a horse barn. Going to bed now and will post more later... But I am excited, although very very tired. We're hoping to get it wet before November 21 so the speed is definitely starting to pick up!

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Be careful with Glass Cages tanks. Lots of horror stories with them and when you do get a lemon they're really awful with customer service. Anyway, good luck! Great dimensions on the tank!

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Ordered the heater, mag 18, and loc line tonight. We're waiting until Black Friday to see if Ecotech offers another black friday rebate for the vortechs like last year and (couldn't wait, just bought the MP40s yay!) hopefully picking up the Vertex skimmer as well. Someone on RC got the Vertex 130 for $200 on black friday last year for $200 ($119 off) I'm hoping they run the same deal this year.

 

The Apex we're also waiting to see if any black friday deals pop up and if not, then it will be my christmas present. And we're buying the Gold Package. Go big or go home!

 

Additionally, Hubby hasn't finished the stand yet, work has been in chaotic. In the mean time however, I have been painting the room the tank is going in (the formal living room/board game room). I love the colors!

 

(sneak peek, full room pic when the tank is in)

 

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In other news, our little BTA has died. :( Everything was good, but he was small and the clowns loved him aggressively. We think they just loved him to death since he wasn't too big. As soon as he was happy, the clowns would dive right back in and then he would get stressed. Lesson learned: Buy much bigger nem next time. I'm thinking a Sunburst would be cool. We'll see around next summer/fall when the tank should be stable enough for a nem.

 

RIP Bubbles

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Rocks and equipment should be here monday. The stand is functionally finished. I am going to spray paint and seal tge inside today and then purchase the oak plywood for the sides and magnets to install. After that, its just staining and installing leveling feet. Might be able to leak test tomorrow evening and start the cycle wednesday or tuesday night.

 

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Top of stand. I like this stain job better then what I did on the sides.

 

Yay! The trim to cover the white frame is still being worked on and you can see the magnetic front panel in the photo. Stand is functionally ready and cosmetically 80% done. Everything else can be finished with the tank in place.

 

All my goodies come in today and we should be leak testing tonight through Wednesday. Cycle has been rescheduled to being black friday. We don't want a disaster happening while we're out of town, so we'll officially start this tank when we get back and can carefully watch for a few days. SO EXCITING!

 

PS, this was my first crack at staining. I think it came out alright. Next time, I'm going to wipe more off, I got intimidated and chickened out on wiping more off. lol The top I wiped the hell out of and thought I made it too light, but now I like it better. At least all the sides are removable if I ever decided to re-do!

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Leak testing for the last day with the vortechs in for a little more thoroughness... And because its a new toy and I wanted to play NOW. I threw in some vinegar with it was well so the tank will not only be leak testing but disinfecting itself for me. Then the tank will be dry for a week since we are on holiday as of tomorrow evening. Boo. But then we'll be back with hopefully some black friday goodies! Fingers crossed for a rebate on the apex and a deal on the vertex skimmer!

 

As I was typing this, the UPS guy came to the house and is like "You're box of rocks is here!" I'm all like "yay! I've been waiting for my rocks!" And he's like, "Really? It's a box of rocks?" I respond with a, "You betcha! Best delivery of the day!"

 

Now for pictures of the tank! I haven't opened my rocks yet.

 

Tank on stand in the room. Gives a good idea of the size of stand and tank plus all the colors in the room really working together. Super proud of myself, guys. I usually really suck at choosing interior colors but this time, I think I nailed it!

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Tank full to overflow with vortechs playing.

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And future reefer in the making. Favorite toy? Empty fish/water bucket.

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