PeteyC Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 So first i wanna thank everyone on this site for posting the most common things because none of it was common to me. Anyway for 3 months now i have been making my girlfriends life miserable with trips to every fish store in the greater new york area, and for that im sorry...but not really. I have debated the size tank and the size sump and the kind of protein skimmer or whether or not to even get one, basically everything about it. In the end i decided to get a 36 bow front with a 20g high for a sump/fuge. As for lights i got a diy 70w halide and 2 55w pc fixtures and a small 7w home depot light for the fuge. also im running a mag 9.5 and a aquac urchin with a mj1200. I know the mag is a little much but i figure with the head and the bends i plan on making in the return will be enough to slow it down. Also i couldnt drill the tank because the bottom is tempered and it wasnt free so if i broke it i might hurt one of my belongings. So i got a hang on wier rated for 600gph. I figure il prob have around 40-45g of water between the tank and the sump after all the rock and sand so that will give me about 15x turnover. If by now you dont think im crazy this is where every one else i told about my plan said i was. I realized that i hate the way tanks look when all the tubes, hoses, wires, and other stuff hangs off the back. I think it looks sloppy so iwanted to make a stand with a section behind the tank that would conect the hood and stand to hide all the "hang off" . Kinda like the look of a all in one system... kinda. So this past weekend i recuited a friend of mine to help me build this thing. We spent about $150 at home depot and got all the materials and a few extra things that we didnt use but might have needed so all and all id say it cost about 125. It took fri from 5-11 sat 9-7 and sun 9-4 so about a full day to build, but it was well worth it wait till you guys see the pics of this beauty. Also a friend of mine got me blue vinyl for the background of the tank which looks so good. Before i get to the pics i want you to know thats its not complete i just finished building the stand it needs to be stained the lights need to be instaled the plumbing needs to be done and the sump finished but since i just got my camera back i will be updating the photos as much as i can. I wish i could have documented the building of this stand but at least my buddy got pics on his phone. Ok so i got it to work and here are the pics i hope you all like it as much as me. Iam so excited to finally be almost done building this thing. Hopefully by the end of next week il be buying live rock and then the waiting game starts...nice. if anyone has questions or comments id love to hear them thanks. Link to comment
flick Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 That is one AWESOME TANK!!!! :o You did an awesome job!!! I CANNOT wait to see it up and running! Keep it up man! What do you want in it? Fish wise, coral wise, lighting wise? I have a 46g with 1 bicolor angel, 1 cleaner shrimp, 40lbs of live rock, xenia spreading on all rocks like nuts, few mushrooms, and a baby toadstool! Check out my thread in my signature Flick Link to comment
casiano80 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Bumb for some sweet custom wood work.. Link to comment
PeteyC Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 Thanks for checking out my tank and all the nice things you guys said about it. Im sorry it took me so long to respond but i thought i was gonna die this week. I had such a bad sore throat that i couldnt breath good or swallow at all, really scarey. Anyway now that im feeling better i started back up on my baby. So Im going to install the 2-40w pc's and the 70w mh tonight and hopefully finish the sump and plumbing tomorow and then the water Maybe il finish the sump tonight too so itl be dry by tomorow and then i can do a fresh water test and see it running. So tomorow il prob have pics up of a tank with water in it so check back soon. Link to comment
Gvtv44 Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Very cool setup... good luck with it! Link to comment
PeteyC Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 So this is taking a lot longer than i expected. I figured that i would have water in it by today but i have been so busy. Today i finally got time to make the sump so here are the pics. The water will go into the little chamber through the grill then into the next chamber. In that chamber will be the protein skimmer. The water then goes over the wall into the refugium then through the baffles to the return chamber. Im going to try to finish up the rest of the plumbing tonight and hopefully i will have water in this tank soon. Once again thanks for looking and let me know what you guys think. Link to comment
Tangman1218 Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Nice work Its not every day you see someone tackle making a stand and canopy for a bowfront. Tang Link to comment
flick Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Awesome!!! Cannot wait until you get it up and running!!! HURRY!!! lol Flick Link to comment
PeteyC Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 I finally got around to staining the stand and after it dried i put all the plumbing in and the lights are finally in as well so last night i got water in this thing. Let me tell you after 5 months of planning and building putting the water in was the greatest feeling ever. So after i filled it i ran the pump to make sure every thing was cool and im getting a ton of bubbles going back to the tank. Im not sure what to do the flow seems right but i just cant stop these damn bubbles. If anyone is reading this HELP ME!!!!!! Link to comment
PeteyC Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 Hello again Ive been so busy with work i havent had time to update so here it goes. I fixed my bubble problem by removing the last baffle it was causing turbulance in the return chamber which in turn made all those little bubbles. That was pretty hard to do i have cuts on 4 out of 5 fingers on each hand. Today the rock i ordered came in i bought 50lbs of fiji live rock from a guy in nj for 3.25 a lb. I thought it was a pretty good deal. Next i have to buy live sand but im gonnna get that from a lfs near my house tomorow. Im not sure how i feel about the aqua scaping yet but its been growing on me i want to see it during the day when im not so tired. but for now il show you some pics of what i have going. Also i was wondering if anyone had any opinion of when i should buy the cheato for the refugium, should i wait for the tank to cycle of should i put it in now to help filter, Im not sure. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I'm drooling over here !!! Nice work guy ! Link to comment
PeteyC Posted April 12, 2007 Author Share Posted April 12, 2007 Today when i got out of work i ran over to the lfs to buy the live sand because i had to have it. I only bought a 20 lbs bag and after putting it in i went back and bought another 20lbs. So i have 40 lbs of live sand in there now and it looks good...well from what i can tell through the cloudy water. I will post a pick tomorow when the water clears up because you cant really see anything right now. Link to comment
nanojake Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Did you happen to take any pics as you were building the stand? Link to comment
PeteyC Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hey nanojake I dont have any pics of the build cause my camera was broken but my friend who helped me took pics along the way so il see if i can get them from him. But if you want to know anything specific just ask and i will be happy to tell you all. Thanks for looking Peteyc Link to comment
PeteyC Posted April 20, 2007 Author Share Posted April 20, 2007 Hello again everyone sorry its been so long but ive been working alot the past few days and havent gotten a chance to post anything new. Well here are a few new pics with the moon light on and one with the flash on so you can see better. The tank has been running with rock and sand since the 11th. I have had the lights on for about 12 hours a day with the night lights going on for the remainder of time. The skimmer has been taking out the foulest smelling green foamy water to the point that ive had to empty the collection cup every day to keep it clean. The tank is reading 0 amonia but off the chart on the nitrites and 0 on nitrates. it has been this way for the past 6 days. I thought the nitrites would start going down alittle but nothing. Well im sure its fine but snice im new to this im gonna worry anyway. The rocks however are showing lots of sign of growth i have a few plant like things starting to grow one that looks like a moss and the other looks like a small tree one inch tall. but i cant get good pics of them so for right now i dont have any but im gonna keep trying. At this point i would like to hear opinions if anyone has any on which way i should go fo a clean up crew. Once again thanks for looking, PeteyC Link to comment
PeteyC Posted April 29, 2007 Author Share Posted April 29, 2007 Its been a few weeks since i put all the LR/LS in and im now fully cycled. I tested my water yesterday and the amonia and nitrites were at 0 and the nitrate was barely registering. So i thought this was kinda strange and i brought the water to my lfs and had them test it. They had the same results and were trying to sell me fish and corals so i walked out before i was tempted to lesten to these idiots. I felt like i walked into a used car lot but it was worse because i wanted it all. But i think im gonna go back tomorow and get a small cuc. The only thing is i want a fish and im not sure what to do. Should i put the cuc in and let them settle in for a while first or can a get a small clown fish. Also when should i get a cleaner shrimp before or after the fish or at the same time as the cuc....SO CONFUSED!!! Also should i do a water change since i dont really have any nitrates or just wait till i have a bio load in there? Well if anyones reading this thanks for looking and hopefully i can get some help, Peteyc Link to comment
PeteyC Posted May 6, 2007 Author Share Posted May 6, 2007 I finally plunged in and bought a cuc consisting of 5 nassarus snails 2 red leg hermits and 2 blue leg hermits. I also purchased a domino damsel that I have lovingly named domino harvey. After about a week of having these suckers the tank was looking like it would never get clean so i decided i would double up the cuc so i did. While I was there I saw the most awesome looking blood shrimp so I bought him too. The doubled up cuc is doing a great job but there is still way more to go. The shrimp was named gigantor by my gf seeing as he looks huge compared to the cuc critters. I like the name too so its gonna stay. He has been pretty shy since i put him in but i do see him every once and a while to chase domino out of his cave...so funny! I did a water change right before i got domino and the first cuc so i think im gonna do another tommorow. Also Im thinking on the 21st im gonna go and buy my first coral that way the tank has time to stablize. Im thinking a nice zoa or maybe this sweet branching frogspawn my lfs has. Im not sure how that would be as a first coral so if anyone has any experience with it let me know. As always thanks for looking PeteyC Link to comment
Matty1124 Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 i think you should get some other types of snails they will take care of more of the algae... maybe get some cereth, or some margaritas (spelling on both of those maybe off)... my nass snails only seem to come out at feeding time, and only seem to eat meaty foods like mysis... but you are really off to a good start EDIT: what are you lighting your fuge with? Link to comment
alexmurovec Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 nice clean tank, cant wait to see it stocked. Link to comment
PeteyC Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share Posted May 9, 2007 Thanks for the compliments and comments. Matty1124 my nass. have been keeping everything pretty clean since i doubled them up. Some of them just started burying themselves and now i dont even have anything on the sand anymore. As for the fuge i ordered a 16w compact flourecent bulb at 5100k from lightbulbdirect.com I read about it at melevs reef it shows this bulb compared to other bulbs and the results made me buy it. I also just added a true perc clown to my tank and its awesome. I went to take some pics so i could post them but my camera died so im gonna get new bateries tomorow. I have named the cute little clown Mr. Wiggles fittinr seeing as he wiggles as he swims. Anyway im gonna do another water change tomorow and try to make an auto top off. I really need to make an ato because im going away for the weekend and im scared to leave the tank unattended for the weekend. I think that if the tank has an ato then il be good as long as no other unforseen event unfolds. Il feed before i leave and il have done a water change as well so all i can see is needing fresh water top off. If anyone has any sugestions as for what else I should do I need to hear it by thursday as per friday im leaving. Thanks again for the help, PeteyC Link to comment
PeteyC Posted May 14, 2007 Author Share Posted May 14, 2007 I just got back from a two day vacation and what they say about whatever can go wrong will wait till you go away is true. When I got home the tank was about to overflow and I got to it just in time. I finally took pics of my fish and shrimp so here they are hope you guys like them Link to comment
PeteyC Posted May 16, 2007 Author Share Posted May 16, 2007 So I went to look at my tank today and I couldnt find my shrimp so I figured he would come out when i feed everyone. Well I open the hood and there he is laying inside the overflow stuck. So im thinking hes dead and i lift him out of there and he jumps back in the water and swam away. I was so relieved but when I fed them he didnt come out and eat... I hope hes ok. Other than that everythings been ok. Im thinking about getting my first coral in the next few days but im torn on wether to order it online or to just buy from my lfs. The thing is they are kinda expensive but they are really nice and help me out when I have a question or problem. I was thinking of getting a branching frogspawn from them its really nice. Ive read here that they arent that hard to keep but im not sure if its a bad first choice. If anyone has an opinion please let me know, thanks again PeteyC Link to comment
PeteyC Posted May 20, 2007 Author Share Posted May 20, 2007 I was going to go to lfs and look at a few corals and maybe take one home with me. So before I do anything I like to check the status of my water. And in the past 2 days I had a spike of nitrites and nitrates. So I was trying to figure out what was going on and when I looked in the sump I noticed that my cheato was dead and disolving into the water. Im geuss this was the cause of the spike. So I took the rest out and did a 25% water change and cleaned out the sump of all rotting matter. Things are going back to normal now but i think im gonna wait another week before I even consider buying something else. Another thing is im haveing another diatom bloom is this because of the recent sipke/cycle? -PeteyC Link to comment
PeteyC Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 Its been pretty exciting here since my last post. First since i didnt have enough return flow so I added a siphon tube that goes down to the bottom of the tank and takes water from there only. It achieved the goal of more return flow and I think its also helping change the tank water better. Second I have made a few key purchases in terms of corals. First I bought a green mushroom then a colt leather then a blue mushroom then a torch coral and then my gf got me a plate coral. I think its looking sweet. Im really excited and think this might be it for corals untill somthing special rolls around. Im also trying to think of another fish to get because I really want a flame angel but my tank isnt quite mature enough for it. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. Anyways here are the picks hope you guys like it. thanks for looking, PeteyC Link to comment
eklikewhoa Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Coming along quite nicely! Awesome stand!!! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.