The Pastel Garden: Drop-Off

[gena]

Looks great! I love acans, but the only problem with keeping them at the top is they tend to lose their colors in higher lighting. They really like less than 100 par, especially the rainbows.

I didn't think about that! You are right about it being pretty sunny up there. Hmmmm....may have to rethink it. My blastos are doing fine. Not losing color. But they aren't directly under the light either. Thanks for the tip!!!!

 

I have some remodel pics for you guys.....

 

 

 

You guys haven't seen this love in a while. He's the best

 

 

And I posted this new photo on Instagram today

 

[FlowerMama]

Wow kitty looks so looooong. What an awesome bathroom it's turning out to be. Love the subway tiles & the tile on the floor and sink, well...everything!

[ReefWeeds]

Looks great! I love acans, but the only problem with keeping them at the top is they tend to lose their colors in higher lighting. They really like less than 100 par, especially the rainbows.

 

yep, this is the truth! All mine are orange that sit in relatively high light (on the sand bed). My blastos are fine and don't change color, but my acans could be on the tang container

 

Looking good, Gena! In our guest bathroom, we have 1940's original honeycomb tile like that! I love it. yours looks so nice.

 

The tank looks amazing too

[Hexadron]

Hi Gena,

 

Love the drop-off! I'm looking at a new nano and this tank definitely speaks to me! I know you mentioned you can see some bowing (which is normal for acrylic) but how bad is it? Is t noticeable to the point of it getting under your skin, or more of a "I have to look for it" thing?

 

Could you provide some pics of it to show us like top down showing the front pane?

[gena]

Wow kitty looks so looooong. What an awesome bathroom it's turning out to be. Love the subway tiles & the tile on the floor and sink, well...everything!

Thanks, Annette!

 

yep, this is the truth! All mine are orange that sit in relatively high light (on the sand bed). My blastos are fine and don't change color, but my acans could be on the tang container

 

Looking good, Gena! In our guest bathroom, we have 1940's original honeycomb tile like that! I love it. yours looks so nice.

 

The tank looks amazing too

Thanks, Rachel! I'm really happy with the way it turned out .

 

Hi Gena,

 

Love the drop-off! I'm looking at a new nano and this tank definitely speaks to me! I know you mentioned you can see some bowing (which is normal for acrylic) but how bad is it? Is t noticeable to the point of it getting under your skin, or more of a "I have to look for it" thing?

 

Could you provide some pics of it to show us like top down showing the front pane?

Thanks! I love it too! It does bow, but it doesn't get under my skin. I have to say, I do wish this was a glass tank for other reasons....scratches. It's really hard not to scratch the acrylic. For me anyways LOL. But other than that, no complaints about the tank. Just took these pictures for you.

 

 

 

Looking straight on, of course, you don't notice it at all. I probably would have thought nothing of it (not noticed) if Ben didn't bring it up to me, earlier in this thread. If I could find someone to duplicate this in glass, I'd have the PERFECT tank. I just LOVE it .

[Hexadron]

Thanks! I love it too! It does bow, but it doesn't get under my skin. I have to say, I do wish this was a glass tank for other reasons....scratches. It's really hard not to scratch the acrylic. For me anyways LOL. But other than that, no complaints about the tank. Just took these pictures for you.

 

Looking straight on, of course, you don't notice it at all. I probably would have thought nothing of it (not noticed) if Ben didn't bring it up to me, earlier in this thread. If I could find someone to duplicate this in glass, I'd have the PERFECT tank. I just LOVE it .

 

 

Thanks so much for posting the photos gena! From all my readings on acrylic tanks this is completely normal (although i'm the opposite of an expert here!) That's not as bad as some people made it seem anyways..

 

Well i've had 2 IM tanks, and they never steered me wrong. Glass would be a nice option.

 

Do you do anything special for wiping down the outside of the tank? I always use a microfibre cloth for my glass tank, but never really thought about Acrylic before this tank came about

[gena]

Thanks so much for posting the photos gena! From all my readings on acrylic tanks this is completely normal (although i'm the opposite of an expert here!) That's not as bad as some people made it seem anyways..

 

Well i've had 2 IM tanks, and they never steered me wrong. Glass would be a nice option.

 

Do you do anything special for wiping down the outside of the tank? I always use a microfibre cloth for my glass tank, but never really thought about Acrylic before this tank came about

I have been using papertowel which is probably not a great thing to use . I haven't seen any scratches on the outside though, only on the inside. I should pick up a microfiber towel dedicated to cleaning the tank! I also use an acrylic buffer (spray) to keep it clean.

[teenyreef]

Yeah, it's the inside that gets messed up from scraping algae, no matter how careful you are. My very first tank was a 4g acrylic and it got so bad I switched to a 4g glass just so I didn't have to deal with the scratches.

[gena]

Yeah, it's the inside that gets messed up from scraping algae, no matter how careful you are. My very first tank was a 4g acrylic and it got so bad I switched to a 4g glass just so I didn't have to deal with the scratches.

I had an acrylic tank before and it wasn't as "fragile" as this tank. Must be different qualities of acrylic or something???? Or maybe I'm just less careful now. I just read someone got their bowing IM tank replaced. I'm contacting the company as well. Fingers crossed that they help me out as well! Too bad they don't make this tank in glass. I'd buy one so fast if they did...I'd even spend outrageous amounts of money for one. That's how much I love this tank .

[jabudda]

In the front of the aquarium is where IM added an additional acrylic piece to reinforce the aquarium. I was lazy & didn't want to build a wood stand, instead opting for an 80/20 stand or T slot aluminum.

Awesome looking corals, when I switch aquariums I will use 2 mini tides & probably 2 return pumps so I don't need any additional power heads.

[gena]

In the front of the aquarium is where IM added an additional acrylic piece to reinforce the aquarium. I was lazy & didn't want to build a wood stand, instead opting for an 80/20 stand or T slot aluminum.

Awesome looking corals, when I switch aquariums I will use 2 mini tides & probably 2 return pumps so I don't need any additional power heads.

When I was looking at the photos on your thread, I thought you had the panorama, but then in another photo it looked like the peninsula so this makes sense. Innovative-Marine got back to me today. They are sending me a new tank . With the added bracing . I can't say enough good things about them. They take care of their customers for sure. I told Robert, from Marine Depot, I am an Innovative Marine aquarium girl for life. I will only buy IM tanks from Marine Depot . They really are quality tanks. I absolutely adore this tank! Now if it just came in all glass .

 

We custom made my stand for the panorama, so I have to stick with that style of tank otherwise my stand access door would open on the side which would look odd.

 

So I guess I have to prepare for a tank transfer again . I'm going to get new sand just to be safe. I'm gonna do a larger grain of sand in the replacement tank. I have the really fine oolite grade stuff and it's pretty messy. My clownfish are always displacing it down at the bottom of the drop-off so I'll go very shallow with the sand down there this time.

[Hexadron]

I wonder if they will be doing the bracing to all the aquariums from here on out. I'm sketched out by some people getting replacements, some not with IM saying "it's perfectly normal" and now braces on only some of the tanks?

[ninjamyst]

When I was looking at the photos on your thread, I thought you had the panorama, but then in another photo it looked like the peninsula so this makes sense. Innovative-Marine got back to me today. They are sending me a new tank . With the added bracing . I can't say enough good things about them. They take care of their customers for sure. I told Robert, from Marine Depot, I am an Innovative Marine aquarium girl for life. I will only buy IM tanks from Marine Depot . They really are quality tanks. I absolutely adore this tank! Now if it just came in all glass .

 

We custom made my stand for the panorama, so I have to stick with that style of tank otherwise my stand access door would open on the side which would look odd.

 

So I guess I have to prepare for a tank transfer again . I'm going to get new sand just to be safe. I'm gonna do a larger grain of sand in the replacement tank. I have the really fine oolite grade stuff and it's pretty messy. My clownfish are always displacing it down at the bottom of the drop-off so I'll go very shallow with the sand down there this time.

woohoo! For sand, I really like the special grade sand I got. Easy to vacuum, doesn't blow everywhere, not too big.

 

 

I wonder if they will be doing the bracing to all the aquariums from here on out. I'm sketched out by some people getting replacements, some not with IM saying "it's perfectly normal" and now braces on only some of the tanks?

let's hope this doesn't turn into another IM16 disaster...

[gena]

I wonder if they will be doing the bracing to all the aquariums from here on out. I'm sketched out by some people getting replacements, some not with IM saying "it's perfectly normal" and now braces on only some of the tanks?

I don't know. What a predicament that must be for them though. Probably none have had leaks yet so they are waiting to see what happens? But from now on making them with a brace? I would write them and ask before you purchase one, for sure .

 

woohoo! For sand, I really like the special grade sand I got. Easy to vacuum, doesn't blow everywhere, not too big.

 

 

let's hope this doesn't turn into another IM16 disaster...

I'm going to check out my LFS and Petco for sand. I'll get whatever they have. But I'm looking for a larger grain sand than what I have. Mine actually isn't terrible. I don't get sand storms, but the clowns kick it up occasionally and since this is acrylic I really need to be careful of the fine sand particles when I'm cleaning the panels .

 

3 day weekend happy dance woot .

[StinkyBunny]

I use the Caribsea Arag Alive. Reef flakes is also a good one to not blow around.

 

https://www.amazon.com/CaribSea-Arag-Alive-20-Pound-Special-Grade/dp/B00025YVGC/

[gena]

I use the Caribsea Arag Alive. Reef flakes is also a good one to not blow around.

 

https://www.amazon.com/CaribSea-Arag-Alive-20-Pound-Special-Grade/dp/B00025YVGC/

HAH! That's exactly what I picked up at my LFS yesterday!

 

I got tracking notice for the new tank. So I guess I'll be doing a tank transfer this week! Kinda not really looking forward to that .

 

[cnseekatz]

You NEED these guys in this tank!!

 

African Gumdrop Coral Croucher (Bonded Pair) (Caracanthus maculatus)

 

[StinkyBunny]

Those guys are so cool. They are toxic though so always keep that in mind.

[gena]

You NEED these guys in this tank!!

 

African Gumdrop Coral Croucher (Bonded Pair)[/size] [/size](Caracanthus maculatus) [/size]

 

They are adorable, but no thanks . They just look like they'd be trouble. I was debating getting new fish. I kind of like the ease of just a couple of clowns and my green banded goby. But I think it would be cool to have a shrimp goby and tiny pistol shrimp. Those candy cane pistols are too cute. Still debating.

 

 

Got the tank today

 

That brace looks like it will make a HUGE difference. I think I'll be swapping things tomorrow. Should be pretty simple and straight forward. Gonna save all or most of the water in the tank and put it right back into the new one. Gonna try to do a super fast swap. Kind of like a water change. Only a BIG water change. I only have 3 rocks in that tank which will make it SUPER easy to switch things over. No worries about aquascaping since it's just setting rocks right down in the sand. I don't have any piles of rocks to duplicate .

 

The worst thing will be dealing with cloudy water I guess from the sand. Should be fun.

Oh...new pic I took today. I need more blastos in my life. I have room for a couple of more colors .

 

[ninjamyst]

they look so happy!

[gena]

they look so happy!

They are! And I'm going to royally piss them off tomorrow . Oh well .

[ninjamyst]

They are! And I'm going to royally piss them off tomorrow . Oh well .

didnt you had some issues with keeping blastos in the 45g before?? look at you now...blasto master.

[FlowerMama]

That is a nice mound of blastos. Don't know if I just missed seeing them before or they're just showcased better here.

[gena]

didnt you had some issues with keeping blastos in the 45g before?? look at you now...blasto master.

I've had blastos melt on me before so that's a possibility. So far so good

 

That is a nice mound of blastos. Don't know if I just missed seeing them before or they're just showcased better here.

Thanks! They've been there this whole time but I'm getting a lot more growth on them now and they look good for photographing .

 

 

So.....here's part of my day today LOL

 

 

Water is mixing right now .

[gena]

The transfer went really well, as I expected. It was pretty straight forward. Everything was moved right back to where it previously was .

 

The brace makes a big difference structurally. My LFS has one of these drop-offs. I told him my experience. He contacted IM and they are sending him a new one as well. I'm pretty certain that is all they are shipping out now. So if anyone is in the market for one of these, be sure to get the one with the new added brace. I can't even tell you guys how happy I am that they have done this. I just had to ship my original back to them and they sent me a label to do that. So worth it for the peace of mind .

 

Here's a shot of the brace along the top front....

 

 

 

The remodel is almost done! Wood floors were put down last week. Next week they will sand and finish them. Bathroom just needs some trim and a few fixtures installed. We need baseboards and some lighting installed. And the doors. I can see light at the end of the tunnel .