bherrin Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 If anyone has any comments or suggestions to improve my aquascaping, I'd certainly be interested. I like it. If you felt like fiddling around with it. I wonder what it would look like with it broken up into 3 Islands/piles/sections. With 2 of them off center to the right or left. I really like these long and low style tanks. When we finish off our basement I want to build one that is either 5/6 feet long straight or in a 'L' shape. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 i think i like the aquascaping hahaha, if i remember your keeping lps and sps and some clams right? Because i was thinking if you get some softies there going to come on rock which would help combine the spaces a little! i just finished my tank yesterday and i have to paint it and make the stand but then i am ready to go!!! Link to comment
snowlancer2720 Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Seriously, that is one awesome tank and one fine piece of craftsmanship. Im really impressed (not like you were trying to impress me or anything ) I could definately see this becoming a future TOTM. Congrats! Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 sorry about doctor macs i have only heard good things, im thinking about ordering from them cause im in new york and i would get the zone 1 discount on shipping. if not, im going to go to lfs hopefully get some small rocks cause you have to love those gift certificates to the lfs from the dad hahaha. Unfortunatly i did not get a house im only 20 and moved back in with my mom hahaha close enough. My sister did just get a new house and actually got the keys today...shes 22 and has got the loaded bf hahaha. here is my tank build thread andrews tank. I really am jealous of your building skills hahaha i have to build my stand tomorrow and i know it will suck compared to yours hahaha- Andrew Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 spanko - HA, yeah, the ultimate test of one's patience... bherrin - That is a good idea for some variety on the aquascaping. I played around with it a little, but I wasn't able to come up with anything that worked well. There are a LOT of constraints I'm contending with - height and depth, and I also have those 6 loc line jets evenly spaced along the back that need to be concealed. I just put it back to the original scaping for now. An L shaped tank like this would certainly be interesting. dubsmcfly - Yeah, LPS, a few hardier SPS, and a few clams. Also, After observing the flow and the lighting for a while, I think the ends where it wraps around to the back would make nice little "sanctuaries" for softies and lower light corals. The long tank presents a great opportunity for having a variety of conditions in the same tank. I could even put a little shade screening over one of the back corners on the end for a shadier area. Yeah, you're right, I wanted to leave some room for the rocks that some of the corals might come on. Dr Macs did get back to me, but I had already jumped the gun and gone to the LFS. Oh well, there's something to be said for getting to hand pick your own pieces. Hehe, I'm only 28, and I bought my first house at 23. You'll get there soon if you try! It's totally worth it IMO (just wait until the market regains some health . I checked out your thread - pretty cool. I want to do something like that too, I'll be tagging along. snowlancer2720 - HAHA, thanks a bunch! Sheesh, TOTM is a lot more than I would ever hope for, but I'm sure glad someone thinks it's even a reasonable notion. Not really trying to impress - this is only my third reef tank after all, but I certainly won't complain about you being impressed! Thanks for the encouragement. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Quick update - I've had the rock in for about 3 days now. Starting to get some diatom already, so I'll likely cut the light cycle back a bit soon. I've noticed that a lot of the original color that was on the rock has bleached quite a bit. Not sure if that's from the high intensity lighting, or whether it's just from the stress of moving the rock. Also, the saphhire skimmer has really kicked into gear now. It's finally producing skimmate, and the microbubble production has really died down. I think it will prove to be a very decent skimmer for this tank. Fish question. Do you think it's OK for me to put a fish in this tank that you normally wouldn't find in a 10.5 gallon? I think ThunderousTalon has a good point here... I believe that usually the reason that you can't keep certain fish in a small tank has more to do with the available ground surface area for swimming, rather than the total volume of water. This tank has a LOT of ground area because of its dimensions... probably even more than a 30 gallon cube. Could I put a fish in here that you'd usually find only in a >= 30 gallon tank, like a 6 line wrasse? How about a wrasse and a goby? Thanks for your input! Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Thought I'd post an update of the skimmer. I think the collection cup fits a little on the loose side on this model of Sapphire skimmer. I put a rubber band around the bottom, and that has improved the seal quite a bit, although not perfect. I like to skim on the wet side, so I have it set to skim pretty wet. This is my first cup of good skimmate. It's really about 18 hours worth of skimmate, so I think this little thing is performing really well! It's a bit on the loud side, but I'm happy with it. Like I said, I like to skim on the wet side, but I may raise the cup for some drier skimmate, especially since it seems to be performing so well, and with only LR in the tank too! Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 I have cut the lights back during the cycle. Aquablues are always off for now, and actinics will run for 8 hours per day. Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Great build thread, and great looking tank. Can't wait until you start stocking it. If you put as much thought into stocking as you did into the build, I'm sure its going to be great. Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Excellent work, Mathias. Great placement in your home and incredible attention to detail. My next tank will have to integrate as nicely into the home. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 jokeycykoe - Thanks man! I'm glad you like it. As for putting thought into stocking it, this is where I'll start leaning on the advice of the comminity here a lot more. I can't keep track of it all. PurpleUP - Awesome, thanks a bunch! Yeah, this spot in my home was just screaming for a tank of some type. I just lucked out in that I had such an "obvious" mount site for this tank. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 As to your fish question, i think you could have a sixline (my favorite fish there so active) and even a goby pair. The reason i say this is, they have plenty of room to swim back and forth and create there homes, as well as sufficient filtration. You have 21 pounds of LR and a skimmer in 10 gal.If you had this in a regular 10 gal it would be overflowing with the rocks alone. This is my opinion and I'm one to not stock a lot of fish. Id wait to see what others say as well Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 dubsmcfly - Awesome! That's just what I wanted to hear. That would be the PERFECT fish stock for this tank if it is indeed to put that much in here. Anyone else think this would be OK to keep a 6 line and a goby pair in this tank? Link to comment
seagul Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 lookin good bro! keep it up. Those t-5's are kickin it! Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 Thanks Seagul! I'm liking them a lot too. I really hope I am able to keep some clams and some SPS under them... from what I've seen, it should be no problem. Quick update: getting diatoms, and have cut the lights back to only actinics for 8 hours per day. Also, I had mentioned previously that a lot of the coraline bleached on the new rock. But, I had put a couple pieces in my 6 gallon nano that has 2x18W PC, and it bleached in there too. In the past when I ran the 6g tank, it had great coraline growth, so I'm not certain if it was just the lights in the long tank that bleached the coraline. Also, the sapphire skimmer has really kicked into high gear, and every morning when I get up, the collection cup is completely full of green/brown tea-colored skimmate. Link to comment
MattD Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Wow, what an awesome setup. Easily the best custom job I've seen, it is simply superb. :bravo: Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 MattD - Wow, thanks man! That's quite kind of you - glad you like it. The real test will be to see how well it supports life Link to comment
fras Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I've read through this whole thread and it's been a really good read! Lovely build and tank. You asked for feedback so I will say only 1 thing, perhaps the rock along the front side is too thick in places, it's almost touching the front of the tank. I could really see this causing problems in future. My advice would be to get a hack saw or similar and cut some of the thickest rocks in 2, then place the flat side towards the back so you have the same shape, but just less deep. Either that or rearange the scaping a little! Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 Thanks fras. Yeah, it's true, there is a LOT of live rock in there for a tank this size. But I was determined to make sure that it wasn't too close the the front and side walls. I've been there, done that before on a different tank. So, the closest the rock actually gets is about 1.5-2", which should be plenty of room for a magnet scraper. I'm getting my acrylic-safe mag floats and algae pads tomorrow, and if I can't entirely clean the front and the sides with the magnet cleaners, then I will definitely be taking your advice. I can't stand having part of the display glass/acrylic being difficult to clean. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Brief update (mainly for my sake): The LR has been in the tank a week now, and the skimmer is pulling a full cup of green/brown gunk about every 12 hours. I think since this tank has such a large water surface area, and all the flow is going over the overflows, it allows the skimmer to work very efficiently. That big surface area acts like a huge magnet for the pollutants and directs it right into the skimmer. Ran basic water tests last night, and it's still cycling.... seems like its leaving the ammonia phase and entering the nitrite phase. Here's where I'm at: Total Ammonia: 0.2 Nitrite: 5-10ppm Nitrate: 2-3ppm pH: 8.1-8.2 Alk: 9.1 dKH SPG: 1.026 This is about what I'd expect at this point, and looks like everything's on track. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 hope everythings great with the tank, mines still kicking, i think you are the only one following but hey least you are! Im trying to convince my sister to take my 30breeder to her new house for even freshwater but they are always super busy with their jobs. If i live with them over the summer, they will have a fish tank hahaha. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 Hey Dub, Thanks for checking up. Yeah, things are moving along. Really happy with thise sapphire skimmer - too bad they went out of business (divorce I think I read). Getting some algae in there even with the lights cut back a lot though. Will run some more tests this afternoon. Yep, I'm following your tank I want to do something very similar to keep on my bedstand, so I'm keenly watching to see how it goes. How does your sister feel about you bringing a tank with you this summer? Link to comment
AdriftQuasar Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 This is an intensely-cool build. I'm very excited to see what it looks like in the coming months. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 AdriftQuasar - Thanks! Glad to have ya along, and glad you like the tank! Link to comment
PurpleUP Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I have a feeling that this is going to be one of my favorite nanos. Got any old pics layin around of your two previous tanks? Just looking for a teaser prelude of your overall style. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.