Vic's Vivarium Project

[Withers]

Murrells Inlet is way better than Myrtle Beach. It's essentially low country, there's barely any tourism comparatively.

 

This looked way straighter in the viewfinder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sure as hell wish these would grow

[Deleted User 6]

nice.

 

my canon shoots crooked when the viewfinder is straight too.

[Withers]

I'll be gluing them to rocks once we get the tank moved.

[Rehype]

Wow everythings looking great Vic! Congrats and GL on the move

[bitts]

Hope the move goes well. The pics are stunning, as always.

 

Hope the move goes well. The pics are stunning, as always.

[gabe_j]

congrats on the house man! we're looking to move into a house next year. let me know how that move goes for you, good luck!

[Withers]

I'm not expecting any complications, this'll be the 4th time I've moved a tank. We're pretty stoked about the house, it's got pretty much everything we could want in it

 

Here's the flickr set where I've been keeping track of it's progress. We get siding, a driveway and drywall this week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonwithers/...57623993566044/

[spanko]

Nice crib!

[Withers]

Thanks! We're pretty stoked, me especially though since I'll finally have my dedicated theater room

[reeftankguy]

Nice FTS! Nice Home! Congrats...

[gabe_j]

very cool place man, i hope it brings many years of joy to you guys.

[divecj5]

Tank looks great Jason. Can't wait until you move and really start stocking it up.

 

The upcoming house looks awesome. A dedicate theater room...that's what I'm talking about

[Withers]

I know I said I wasn't going to add anything, but I could turn this guy down.

[fiction101]

I noticed you zoas and palys look like they might be slightly bleached. How high up do you have your MH'?

[Withers]

The bulb is 6" off the surface. Some of the zoanthids still haven't acclimated fully to the light I'm at a loss, hopefully once I move and rearrange everything/mount all the corals they'll start to look better.

[schgr.cube]

This needs constant updating. Constant.

[Withers]

We're moving it next Saturday. It's also been overwhelmed by some kind of crazy brown hair algae/dinoflaggelate hybrid that I'm working on removing. I guess I shouldn't have stopped running the Phosban reactor

[divecj5]

I'm sure you'll be happy once you're in the new house.

 

Any idea what caused the brown hair/dinoflaggelate bloom? Any reason why you stopped using the reactor or was it just a pain to keep the Phosban fresh. I know that's why I stopped using mine on my BC29 back a few years ago, but looking back now, when it was running it really kept things nice and clean. I ran mine with a mix of carbon and Rowaphos.

 

BTW, is that your BMW? I thought I remember you having a Stormtrooper Mini.

 

-Adam

[Withers]

Basically the tank was looking good and I thought the Phosban reactor was an eyesore, so I stopped running it. Then 2 months later, bam this stuff starts sprouting from nowhere. I haven't tested for phosphates (wouldn't matter if I did anyway), but I always test for nitrates and it never reads any. Plus my monti cap frag is looking great so water quality can't be but so bad. On top of that, I can't keep shrimp alive to save my life. I lost my 2 bumblebee shrimp, 4 sexy shrimp and a peppermint shrimp. I don't have a test kit for iodine but unless my salt is a bad batch (always a possibility, it is instant ocean) I should easily be keeping up with that requirement with my weekly water changes I think.

 

I ended up selling the MINI around April in order to get rid of a loan payment and picked up the BMW in my sig. Not that it's really saved me any money, I've spent at least $350/month in maintenance on it since I bought it. I keep thinking that it'll run right for a while after every repair, but nope. Last week was the master and slave cylinder on the clutch. The week before that was a faulty brake light sensor. 2 weeks before that was leaky brake lines. 2 weeks before that I replaced essentially the entire suspension (front strut assembly, front control arms, control arm bushings, hubs, rotors, rear springs and shocks). Now it's leaking power steering fluid. Basically it's your typical neglected 20 year old car. Anything rubber is rotten and anything that wasn't absolutely necessary to repair hasn't been. But as my wife constantly reminds me whenever I ##### about having to work on it in 100+ degree heat, I wanted a project car.

 

I shouldn't complain too much though, I love my car and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world (especially since I've put 3 times as much money into it for repairs as I did when I bought it) and we're finally moving into our new place next week Plus my classic Mini still runs like a champ so whenever the BMW takes a #### on me I can always fall back on her.

 

We did our final walkthrough this past Tuesday

 

 

[schgr.cube]

VERY nice house man, congrats! And trust me, I know how it feels with the car situation. I'm trying to get rid of my 2007 GTI to get something a little cheaper / easier to work on, but it is hard for the wife and I to agree on anything.

[Withers]

Yeah, that was the other reason I decided to sell the MINI. My wife picked up a 2010 Cooper and her payment is a whopping $205/month. She got something like 1.5% APR for the term of the loan. Mine was like 7%! So needless to say, we sold mine when she picked hers up. It was a no-brainer. Plus I love older cars. The e30 is one of the best looking cars BMW ever designed in my eyes, so I was ecstatic to get one.

[Zo0k365]

I like the kitchen a lot.

[Withers]

Thanks! We love that kitchen. It's where the majority of our upgrades went. I couldn't get the white balance right, but in reality the tiles have much less of a brown hue to them, they're pretty much straight gray. The walls are going to be a muted lime green

[nUgZ]

Beautiful new home! Can't wait to see the tank set up there. Have you decided where the tank's going?

[GOODgREEF]

hey can you tell me what materials and how you made your lamp arm fixture. I'm want to set up my lights like that. thanx in advance