CowboyRWN Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 Okay so I have some updates. None of them very good. My tank was running fine and had gone through it's cycle and I was getting ready to transfer stuff over when I noticed there was a leak around the bulkhead again. AGAIN! So I tried to tighten it and I just couldn't because my stand frame was in the way. So my dad wants to come over and help trim some of the framing out so I can access the bulkheads better. So he ends up cutting a lil too much and having his saw slip because he was tired and to make a long story short, the top will no longer support the back corner of the tank and the whole top and back trim needs replaced. The tank is now on horses in my living room, mostly drained except for 2" of water and the sand and everything else is in a rubbermaid container. He feels bad about the stand so he said he'd like to work on it together when we both have time and fix it so I had to order a new stand for the time being. I wanted to kill him, but I refrained. Let me just say, it's not easy trying to find a stand to fit a cube tank. The Solana stand is the only thing that I could find that would work and the top is 22x22 so my tank would fit perfectly being 20x20. I need it up and running because I'm going on vacation in a month and I can't have worries. I had the LFS order it on sunday. Also have made some other changes. I don't want to and I know I'm gonna regret it, but I'm selling my light for less wattage. The only reason why is because my tank will creep up to 82 after about 6 or 7hrs, sometimes higher if i'm not careful and home to turn it off, adjust the air conditioner, etc and I can't afford a chiller. I'll be leaving for a week on July 30th and I have no one to watch my tank everyday. Well my mom or dad could but with them (not trying to be mean) there is 85% chance of something going wrong because of a mistake they make or something and I'd most likely come home to dead stuff. Three people want the light so I'll sell it for what I paid for it and I ordered a Current Sundial 150w HQI yesterday. I think I'll be happy with it because it has actinics and a built -in timer. My corals loved my Giesemann though Oh well. I rather be safe than sorry. I also ordered a JBJ ATO so I'll have to figure out how I'm gonna hook it up. :/ Other than that, I should (please, oh please stand gods) get my stand on wednesday if the LFS supplier had them in stock. $200 for a freakin stand when I already had one. Oh well stupid mistakes happen. Other than that, nothing else is new. I'll have pics when I get my new stand and get everything set up - I hope by friday. My new light should be here by monday or tuesday of next week. I know all about stand difficulties. I am sorry to hear about your problem. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 So whatever happened with this tank? Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 So whatever happened with this tank? hiya weetie!! I really should update this thread huh? things are actually going quite well with it - let me dig out some pics... Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 Okay it's been a loooooooong time since my last update. First, since my father accidentally ruined my stand i spent so long building I had to go out and purchase a solana stand - which was about $200!! Not a happy camper after spending so much money on my stand but oh well. Anyway I've done lots of changes and had some problems along the way. I had a 250w giesmann pendant that I loved but the ballast ended up dying on me so I was screwed without a light. So it was either be realistic and order a new light since 250w on a shallow tank is overkill (and i didn't have an ATO at the time) or just replace the ballast. I ended up going with the sundial pendant 150w with actinics. I love the light but the stock bulb had to go. I ordered the 20k Radium bulb and i really like it. So after that, I ordered a JBJ ATO and I really love it. It's been a handy piece of equipment and it works excellent. I currently don't have a sump but instead I'm using an old cat litter bucket. how ghetto am i?? I even upgraded my koralia to a Vortech MP20 which I love. The drive shaft ended up going bad on it but Ecotech was wonderful and mailed me a replacement part right away and talked me through on how to fix it. A++++++++ to them!! So enough blabbing - These aren't the most recent pics - about 2 months old but i'll take some more when i can. I've added a lot more stuff since these pics and i've sold some stuff. Here are 2 pics when I moved everything over from my 10g. Not a lot of rock yet in these pics and it's my old Giessemann with 250w 14k MH: Now here is the tank after I ordered more dry rock and experimented with a layout. Not a fan of rock walls but i didn't want a pile-o-rocks and a cube is hard to work with footprint-wise. My tailspot blenny and my baby clown playing (or mating - who knows) And here is Daisy my onyx. she's bigger now and has more markings but she still hosts that yuma. not much else to show. I don't have any updated pics until i can borrow my mom's camera. I've been having some issues with my sps lately but i think it was because my refractometer screw got bumped when i dropped it so it was reading .010 higher than what the SG actually was. I've lost some color but hopefully they'll come back. I've also had some zoas and rics bleach to little white blobs so I'm not sure if they'll ever come back. That was bad light acclimation on my part but you live and learn. Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 no comments at all? well at least there's no criticism Link to comment
sammy113 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wow that great to see you back Kim. I was wondering what happened to this awesome tank. Looking good. Those clowns are cute! Great upgrade on the koralia! Vortechs are awesome. Well hope to see some more updated pics soon. Link to comment
edge121212 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 great job, its about time there was some updates do you have any new pics of the sump? Link to comment
BlueAbyss Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wow I just read through this all and I must say that things turned out pretty nice! Well done! Link to comment
oceanbreeze Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 kim, your tank is looking great well done its paid off after all the trouble you have had! lovely Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wow that great to see you back Kim. I was wondering what happened to this awesome tank. Looking good. Those clowns are cute! Great upgrade on the koralia! Vortechs are awesome. Well hope to see some more updated pics soon. Lol I went into hiding for awhile! I definitely don't regret purchasing the Vortech. I actually bought it from a friend since he was taking a break from the hobby for awhile. I have to take a bunch of pics for my club's newsletter so I'll have some soon. great job, its about time there was some updates do you have any new pics of the sump? I do not have any pictures of the sump. I could take some, but it's just a cat litter bucket. lol. The sump i had was a few inches too wid for this new stand. Someday when i have money, i'll get one or make one. Wow I just read through this all and I must say that things turned out pretty nice! Well done! The whole thing! wow thanks! I don't even think I read through my whole thread kim,your tank is looking great well done its paid off after all the trouble you have had! lovely Thanks for your kind words. I can't believe what a nightmare it was when things went wrong lol. I think if the tank ended up having a leak, I probably would've had a nervous breakdown or something. Link to comment
Rehype Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I think your tank looks fantastic.Awesome job on the aquascape. Link to comment
Phixion Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wow, the tank is looking really great, Kimberly!! Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 thanks guys I think my problem with my corals recently was my salinity. I brought it back up to normal and everything looks happy! I hope i don't lose my montis though. They don't look too good. That's the price i pay for not paying better attention to my refractometer calibration screw. I should be recalibrating it every so often. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Hey, looking good! If your Monti's have just had some fading and no real tissue loss, they will probably recover fine as long as you keep things stable. It's nice to see you've come through all the disasters with a really nice looking tank. Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 Hey, looking good!If your Monti's have just had some fading and no real tissue loss, they will probably recover fine as long as you keep things stable. It's nice to see you've come through all the disasters with a really nice looking tank. Thanks Weetie! Yeah, I couldn't figure out what the problem was - I assumed my test kits were old and ordered new ones. I do have some frags with minor and major tissue loss, but I only have 1 piece that's a goner for sure. I'm gonna keep an eye on the rest of them. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Just keep it stable, and they will improve. If you continue to have minor issues with them, feel free to PM me for suggestions to help. Hey, I have a question, can you really tell a big difference in glass clarity with using Starfire on this tank? I ask because I had heard that Starfire only makes a difference on larger tanks that have to use thicker glass, and I just started up a 10" cube Pico that has 3 panes of Starfire. Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Just keep it stable, and they will improve. If you continue to have minor issues with them, feel free to PM me for suggestions to help. Hey, I have a question, can you really tell a big difference in glass clarity with using Starfire on this tank? I ask because I had heard that Starfire only makes a difference on larger tanks that have to use thicker glass, and I just started up a 10" cube Pico that has 3 panes of Starfire. I could tell the difference between my 10g AGA and this tank that has 1/4" glass. I'm sure there would be a more noticeable difference between 1" regular glass and 1" starfire since they are thicker. since the starfire on your tank is crystal clear, hold up a piece of regular glass to a pane and see if there is a difference. Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 Soooo let me just say that this morning was traumatizing.... I just got 3 sexy shrimp and one is a gimpy because he doensn't have legs on one side. I noticed this morning at 5am when i was getting ready for work that Gimpy got sucked into the overflow compartment. I turned off my main pump and I thought "hmmm - i'll just siphon him into a cup and dump him in my tank." Well it didn't work that way. Warning to myself for future reference: ***Do not attempt to mouth siphon with 1/2" hose into a little cup when you are half asleep*** So i go to siphon and the waterflow was too fast for my reaction time so I ended up choking on my sexy shrimp and coughing him and a buttload of saltwater up all over my carpet. Then I had to try to find him - which I did - and he is now safe in my tank. lol poor gimpy. We both had a bad morning... Link to comment
got2envy Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 OMG I just laughed out loud for realz and everyone in my office was like WTFBBQ hahahahahahaha Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 :o omgomgomg omgomgomg Link to comment
Kimberly63 Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 Lol i know - who chokes on their livestock?? Link to comment
ianryeng Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I think its time for an update Great build thread, very detailed and much appreciated. Thanks, Ian Link to comment
oceanbreeze Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 awww kimberly ive only just seen this, yuk,ok all done that but minus livestock!! glad to hear both ok! Link to comment
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