Sk8n Reefer Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Tiki time! Ok, time to finally start a thread for my 50gal. The tank was actually wet on Oct. 4th. I ran it without any rock or animals for about 3 weeks. Since I am transferring some rock and corals over from the Nuvo it's been a slow process but now it's moving along. Here's my equipment list SCAquariums 50 gal. cube starfire glass tank - 24x24x20 SCAquariums stand- customized to fit in with the Tiki room SCAquarium 301 skimmer ( upgrade- Nyos 120 skimmer) Eshoppes RS-75 sump Eshoppes 10gal. ATO container Tunze Osmolator 3155 ATO Bubble Magus doser- transfer once the corals from the Nuvo are moved over Nanobox Hybrid light- Quad/Quad T5 bulbs- ATI- 2blue plus,1coral plus,1purple plus Sicce 3.0 return pump- adjusted to lowest setting Phosban reactor 150 Maxspect Gyre 150 Cobalt Aquatics 300watt heater Here's a pic of the tank as of today with one of our favorite Moai's I wanted to take an overall appearance to how the tank looks - not just the inside but how the whole package presents itself. Luckily, that is easy in a Tiki room- just dress things up with Tiki's. I also wanted a clean look to the wires and cable management so we built a box next to the tank to hide them and keep things organized Dress it up with Tiki's - Lisa carved out those Tiki's in the frame with clay and made a mold and poured them in acrylic Blends in well I've added rock but scaping is not complete- I am planning on pulling some back out and forming some outcroppings and columns. I'll be using EMarco to bond the rock together We also needed to dress the stand up so Lisa built a new door for the stand. This is a tiki I carved out of clay and we made a mold of it- Lisa pours them in various colors of acrylic. A few others we've made, Lisa paints a background dresses up the frame Tiki style- this one looks like bronze Sump is packed full with skimmer and reactor. Doser will sit on the shelf once I transfer it over A tiki hides the 10gal. ATO container I have a few corals - my purple rimmed cap and red encrusting Monti and shroom transferred from the Nuvo that broke off the mother colony and recently added a spongode. I plan on transferring additional corals this week? I also have 3 pocillopora frags from the Nuvo but they won't stay- I'll trade those in for acro frags ? Spongode Clean up crew is in- a mixture of trochus and Astrea snails and 6 scarlet hermits The plan is to have a sps tank with some more difficult smooth skin acro's. Wish me luck- this is gonna be a fun ride! 18 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 1st reply! Thank you? 3 Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 The light arrived? Awesome!!!!! Post up a review when you have a chance 2 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 The light arrived? Awesome!!!!! Post up a review when you have a chance Nope! Tracking number says Thursday - I'll try to get it mounted ASAP and post up some pics for sure 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 1st reply! Thank you1st of many . 1 Quote Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 allllright! looking forward to this What the heck am I going to bug you about now? 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 allllright! looking forward to this What the heck am I going to bug you about now? Oh the transfer- I am sure I'll be slacking on that ? 1 Quote Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 following along for another awesome build. 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Setting up for some aquascaping with EMarco- not sure how this will go but I am gonna give it a shot. Should be fun anyways ? The plan is to pull out some pieces and attach them and then let them set up underwater in the container - complete with heater and air stone. Let them set for a few hours then I should be able to transfer into the 50. Should keep all my bacteria in the rock healthy. Since the main bottom pieces of rock are still in the Nuvo these will be some top pieces. Pretty much just playing around with the EMarco right now- we'll see what happens! Time for a water change to get this container filled up? 4 Quote Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Setting up for some aquascaping with EMarco- not sure how this will go but I am gonna give it a shot. Should be fun anyways The plan is to pull out some pieces and attach them and then let them set up underwater in the container - complete with heater and air stone. Let them set for a few hours then I should be able to transfer into the 50. Should keep all my bacteria in the rock healthy. Since the main bottom pieces of rock are still in the Nuvo these will be some top pieces. Pretty much just playing around with the EMarco right now- we'll see what happens! Time for a water change to get this container filled up NICE!!! I found with the emarco, it sets really quick so only mix a little at a time. And slowly add the acrylic liquid. I made that mistake too And that's way less of a mess than I was expecting 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 NICE!!! I found with the emarco, it sets really quick so only mix a little at a time. And slowly add the acrylic liquid. I made that mistake too :)And that's way less of a mess than I was expecting I am mixing a pre mini batch to see the handling characteristics- I got about an hr to get my water in the storage container up to temp 1 Quote Link to comment
Bunster Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 tank looks good in that Tiki room 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Wow, it's here...your new tank! I absolutely love what you and your wife have done decor wise with the tikis, especially the door. That is so unique. It's going to be great. Good luck with those acros! 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 tank looks good in that Tiki room Thanks man! A reef does do well with tiki's ? Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Wow, it's here...your new tank! I absolutely love what you and your wife have done decor wise with the tikis, especially the door. That is so unique. It's going to be great. Good luck with those acros! Thanks Dawn, that's awesome of you to say- had to let Lisa know ? it's a fun room for sure! We've gathered quite a collection over the years. This tank's gonna be a challenge - I already lost a frag from dipping. ? 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Thanks Dawn, that's awesome of you to say- had to let Lisa know ? it's a fun room for sure! We've gathered quite a collection over the years. This tank's gonna be a challenge - I already lost a frag from dipping. ?I think I read that in your other thread. Was it a smooth skin acro that you dipped with revive? I wished i could help with dipping but i only used iodides tinture which probably isn't effective against AEFW? Hang in there, I am sure you will get it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 I think I read that in your other thread. Was it a smooth skin acro that you dipped with revive? I wished i could help with dipping but i only used iodides tinture which probably isn't effective against AEFW? Hang in there, I am sure you will get it. Yup- smooth skin with revive. I am changing over to Bayer- from reading up on dips Bayer seems to be the dip of choice- especially with Acros? Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 NICE!!! I found with the emarco, it sets really quick so only mix a little at a time. And slowly add the acrylic liquid. I made that mistake too :)And that's way less of a mess than I was expecting Well my test run didn't work at all. I mixed it to wet- it took a 1/2hr. to initially set then I placed it in water and it fell apart. It's not an ideal set up - not using dry rock. I'll need to cover the rock with wet newspaper cause it will probably need to sit out of the tank for a couple hrs. We'll see how it goes today- round 2 Quote Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Love the build. Quick opinion I'd like to offer which you can certainly disregard. Keep the Monti spongodes off the rock for the time being unless you want a mammoth colony that takes over an entire section of your tank. I love the coral, it is a centerpiece of my tank, but I have to frag it constantly and really wish I'd added it later. However, you don't get the cool 3D branching without the piece getting to sufficient size so your mileage may vary. It will happily grow on the sandbed under that light (which I'm highly jealous of). 2 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Love the build. Quick opinion I'd like to offer which you can certainly disregard. Keep the Monti spongodes off the rock for the time being unless you want a mammoth colony that takes over an entire section of your tank. I love the coral, it is a centerpiece of my tank, but I have to frag it constantly and really wish I'd added it later. However, you don't get the cool 3D branching without the piece getting to sufficient size so your mileage may vary. It will happily grow on the sandbed under that light (which I'm highly jealous of). Thanks! Yes, I agree- I'll probably place it on a smaller rock that I can move around. I am still trying to figure out my scape so last night I tore it all down and pulled out some rock and broke it into smaller pieces- quite a mess today. I have the spongode on a small rock for now. I have a few Monti caps and encrusting Monti's that I plan on placing in the middle bottom and let them grow around each other- that's the plan atleast It's a mess this morning ?. Hopefully I can make this EMarco stuff work. Thanks for checking things out! 4 Quote Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Well my test run didn't work at all. I mixed it to wet- it took a 1/2hr. to initially set then I placed it in water and it fell apart. It's not an ideal set up - not using dry rock. I'll need to cover the rock with wet newspaper cause it will probably need to sit out of the tank for a couple hrs. We'll see how it goes today- round 2 Oh man that stinks, Scott!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Oh man that stinks, Scott!!!! Ya, if it doesn't workout today I'll go back to just placing rock as usual- hopefully I can make it work! Another full day of working on the tanks ? 2 Quote Link to comment
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