calvin415 Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 But ceriths are so gosh darn cute! LOL! The snail is cute, or the shell structure? that pisses me off also, or even worse it gets there and its broken and now you have to send it back and wait for a new one. Well the bulbs were fine, packaged very well, but the end caps are coming directly from IceCap so there was a day delay in the orders. It's out for delivery right now, I guess the driver is running behind, since it's already 4:15... Hopefully I'll have all the lights by tonight. Go with the Powder Blue They are so beautiful, my absolute favorite tang. I wish I had a tank big enough for one..... Yeah, it's probably my fav as well... We'll see what the future holds. yeah i was looking at one for my new tank but i think it would get to big for it, considering your tank is very long it would love it, and i dont think it grows as big as some other tangs grow. Yeah it stays smaller than some, but larger than others... Anything I get will be a baby to start. Amazing tank Calvin! Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. Thanks! i just sorta skimmed through the thread and your tank looks amazing!!! I hope you dont have any problems with the lighting!!! Shouldn't have any issues, just need everything to arrive. I read the tang comment and thought I'd toss an idea out there for you. Genicanthus angels ever cross your mind? Trio of one of those species would be beautiful in this tank. I've got a female swallowtail and absolutely love her. Just a thought. If you should decide to get one or a few make sure to get more than one cleaner shrimp. My female now defends the cleaner shrimp like its an egg. To the point that I'm getting another one to prevent fighting. Very nuts. And it's difficult because the shrimp has no idea he's being horded so he will clean anything that goes by, including me, which inevitable just makes her very angry. Kewl to see but not kewl to catch the nose bump in the knuckle, LOL. Bill Thanks Bill, I've considered them for a while now, but I just feel they don't have the vibrant colors the other angels/tangs have... I bought a potters a few months ago and put him in the 225 until this one is ready, and absolutely love the look, but I don't think I'll be able to get him out... I would love to have a pair, but I guess I'm just hesitant on anything right now. I'm so used to being in plan mode, I'm having a hard time converting over to execute mode. LOL! We'll see if I can get the tank covered with lights by tonight... Quote Link to comment
NANO SHEIK Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Man you are way more then just some diy!!!GOOD JOB!! Quote Link to comment
calvin415 Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Thanks Sheik! Sorry Boom, I'll post some more pics once I have a little more progress. UPS came tonight at 8:30pm with my endcaps and stand offs. Those poor guys! The roads here are covered in snow and it's about 10* F outside... They normally come around 4 so he was 4.5 hours behind schedule. Either way, I got started! To those who know wiring retro kits are a PITA, how's this for time? I finished wiring my last two sets of 4 bulbs (that's 8 bulbs two 660 ballast) including cutting the new wires measuring, and screwing in the standoffs and using those 12 wire connector bars in < 2 hours! HA HA! I still need to pick up a couple new bulbs to keep the color even across all 3 sets, but I have light! Get this, lights were on for about 10 minutes and I popped the American DJ Power Management breaker! LOL! Luckily I install 2 of them, so I moved the lights to their own unit. It's this, or I have to get 3 timers so each set of lights gets it's own switch. I'll take some pics soon, I want to get a sand sifter to help clean up some of these diatoms on the sand and a few starter corals in before I do though. To Do: Buy 1 4' ATI Actinic Buy 1 3' Geismann 6500k Chop the 4' reflectors I have down to 3' reflectors Finish the canopy installing fans to exhaust the heat Pick up a sand sifter Score some nice starter corals to get started. Quote Link to comment
Gerber77 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 what kind of sand sifter are you thinking Quote Link to comment
calvin415 Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Not sure Gerber, I don't have much of a selection to choose from, but I'm sure I'll find something. Quote Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Looks awesome, your making some great progress! Quote Link to comment
jSully Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I'm a big fan of the Yellow Eye Kole Tang as well as the Achilles Tang. I like the orange/gold in the Achilles tang. As far as a sand sifter.. how about a Yellow head sleeper goby or a diamond goby (or both).. If you get a goby/pistol shrimp pair, they REALLY keep the sand nice and given a good amount of time, they'll have a huge territory under the sand to keep it all sifted and moving. You could also consider a sand sifting star, I have one of them and they're fun to watch. Awesome build man, just awesome! BTW, the corals I got from you are doing fantastic!! Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment
maxijazz Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Calvin, ive being watching this thread with months, the only thread i check on almost daily. Just amazing and im sure your after putting the diy bug in alot of reefers. Just amazing and keep the pics coming Quote Link to comment
calvin415 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Looks awesome, your making some great progress! Thanks! Still a long way to go, but maybe in another year it will start to look cool. I'm a big fan of the Yellow Eye Kole Tang as well as the Achilles Tang. I like the orange/gold in the Achilles tang. As far as a sand sifter.. how about a Yellow head sleeper goby or a diamond goby (or both).. If you get a goby/pistol shrimp pair, they REALLY keep the sand nice and given a good amount of time, they'll have a huge territory under the sand to keep it all sifted and moving. You could also consider a sand sifting star, I have one of them and they're fun to watch. Awesome build man, just awesome! BTW, the corals I got from you are doing fantastic!! Thanks so much! I used to love the Kole but looking for just insane colors... I really won't have much room for stocking so I want every fish to make a statement. Considered the Achilles, but just doesn't do much for me. Thought about the sand sifting stars but I want a bunch of Harlequin's so stars are out, the Yellow head sleeper looks like a good choice, the dragon and orange diamond are way too common here... Thanks! for the thoughts and suggestions! Calvin, ive being watching this thread with months, the only thread i check on almost daily. Just amazing and im sure your after putting the diy bug in alot of reefers. Just amazing and keep the pics coming Thanks! DIY is really just a matter of patience and desire. Hopefully everyone finds they can do a lot more than they think, if they just try to do it. Well every night this week is packed with something so I'm not sure when I'll have an update, but I'll let everyone know as soon as I do. Quote Link to comment
Justin_Freebords Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 how do you plan to feed a large number of harlequin? Quote Link to comment
holdorf333 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I may have some zoas to add to the cause. lmk Quote Link to comment
Marteen Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 how do you plan to feed a large number of harlequin? Probably with a bunch of stars. If you can get Harlequins that eat asterinas you can breed the stars in a separate tank. You can also get Chocolate Chip Starfish and cut the arms off to feed your stars. If you keep the water quality good and feed them properly they will regenerate the arms in no time. 4 stars are enough to cycle through and feed a pair of harlequins indefinitely. So get a big enough fuge for your stars and you'll have a endless supply. Quote Link to comment
Justin_Freebords Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 gah i wasnt even thinking about keeping them in the fuge to regen the lost limbs. I would just worry the shrimp would have a hard time finding the stars if they didnt grab them right away or something either way i think its a cool idea and ill continue my daily check of this thread Quote Link to comment
t4zalews Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 get a whole bunch of asterina stars, the little white starfish, and throw them in your tank now..they will start multiplying and then the harlequin's will have all they food they need. Diamond watchman sand sifter gobies are the most efficient and diligent worker when it comes to the sand bed, yellowheads are nice, but tend to throw sand everywhere. Diamonds just sift on the sand bed so no sand all over your corals! This has to be one of the coolest tanks I have had the pleasure to read about, can't wait to see it stocked. Quote Link to comment
calvin415 Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 how do you plan to feed a large number of harlequin? Chocolate Chips. I may have some zoas to add to the cause. lmk I should be good, just waiting for everything to settle in. Probably with a bunch of stars. If you can get Harlequins that eat asterinas you can breed the stars in a separate tank. You can also get Chocolate Chip Starfish and cut the arms off to feed your stars. If you keep the water quality good and feed them properly they will regenerate the arms in no time. 4 stars are enough to cycle through and feed a pair of harlequins indefinitely. So get a big enough fuge for your stars and you'll have a endless supply. They don't regenerate as fast as most think, but luckily they are cheap, so I should be okay to feed a team of them. gah i wasnt even thinking about keeping them in the fuge to regen the lost limbs. I would just worry the shrimp would have a hard time finding the stars if they didnt grab them right away or something either way i think its a cool idea and ill continue my daily check of this thread When they are on the hunt, put it in front of them. They can't miss it. Or if you are cutting legs, it won't matter the leg can't do any damage and the shrimp will eventually find it. get a whole bunch of asterina stars, the little white starfish, and throw them in your tank now..they will start multiplying and then the harlequin's will have all they food they need. Diamond watchman sand sifter gobies are the most efficient and diligent worker when it comes to the sand bed, yellowheads are nice, but tend to throw sand everywhere. Diamonds just sift on the sand bed so no sand all over your corals! This has to be one of the coolest tanks I have had the pleasure to read about, can't wait to see it stocked. Asterinas can become a pest so I'll stick with something I can control. So I still have the pendant to finish, but here's a shot with all the lights going. You can see how just 1 bulb not matching the others can give a completely different look. The end on the right is 2 ATI Blue+ 1 ATI AquaBlue Special and 1 Gmann 6500k, the middle is 2 ATI Blue+ and 2 ATI AquaBlue Special, the left end is 1 ATI Blue+ 1 ATI AquaBlue Special 1 Gmann 6500k, and 1 Gmann Pure Actinic. I'm torn between the middle or the right side color, the middle is more of a 20k, the right is more of a 12k but the left is a nasty 9k. That Gman pure actinic is worthless at throwing any blue, it fires up purple looking. Anyway, here's some shots, both with automatic settings and a shortened shutter speed. Quote Link to comment
dreboogie Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I think you're right on the middle light set up or the right set up. Finally some new pics, I've been waiting all week. Quote Link to comment
Boomboy Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 i'll take 1 to go thanks, deliver to edmonton, canada. thanks again for setting this whole thing up for me by the way. Quote Link to comment
Scott Riemer Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Awww ya! That looks great. Quote Link to comment
SeeDemTails Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I bet those fish are loving the swimming room! Quote Link to comment
JDigital Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 *clicked reply, then didn't know what to say*..... Quote Link to comment
tyty22 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 WOW your tank brings a whole new meaning to Envy Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.