old thread lol

[jedimasterben]

Forgot that I also need to paint the back of the tank black. Fffffffffffffffff... I wanted to start filling it tonight, too.

[metrokat]

Star is the star!!! And KG's jawfish house idea is too cool. Wish I had a jawfish. Nah, I'll just go over to look at his.

[siwelk]

Forgot that I also need to paint the back of the tank black.

Why does it need to be black?

 

It is because it is so long?

[surgicalsense]

I can not wait for this tank, too.

 

 

... beautiful ring. Celtic? Where did your wife get it? My engagement band is a diamond encrusted azgate claddagh.

[jedimasterben]

Why does it need to be black?

 

It is because it is so long?

No, it is going against a brown wall, and it also will hide my equipment better (although, the only equipment on the back will be an MP10).

[albertthiel]

Nice description and drawings of what it will look like. Guess that a maxi-nano then ?

 

I am still trying to figure out who sells the 14 Gallon Biocube here in the Atlanta area ...

 

Albert

 

 

Ok, time for a new format to keep things organized.

 

I've been toying around with replacing my 55g. The dimensions of it don't leave me a lot of room on the sandbed after adding my rocks in, and getting a ginormous long tentacle plate coral recently made me realize that I need more room on the sandbed!!

 

 

 

Display tank:

• 48"x24"x16" Deep Blue Pro rimless Starphire (!!!!!!) shallow frag tank w/ corner overflow
  

Stand:

• Custom built 60"x32"x40"
  

Sump:

• 20g long 24"x12"x16"
  
• Will be a slow-flow fuge with chaeto & a pod farm
  
• ~265GPH return pump (after head of lifting four feet to the DT)
  

Skimmer:

• ebay SC-65 (these things rock!)
  

Lighting:

• Custom LED
  
• 14x 5000k white Philips Luxeon Rebel ES @1000ma
  
• 21x 440nm royal blue Philips Luxeon Rebel ES @1000ma
  
• 16x 420nm true violet @700ma
  
• 6x 660nm deep red Luxeon Rebel ES @700ma
  
• 6x 490-505nm cyan Luxeon Rebel ES @1000ma
  
• 7x 475nm cool blue @ 700ma
  
• Drivers are Steve's LEDs custom drivers
  
• Controller TBA
  
• custom aluminum heatsinks from Heatsink USA
  
• Will be hung ~20" above the water line.
  

Flow:

• 3x MP10wES
  

Substrate:

• 1" (40-80lbs) CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand and Moonlight Sand (black and white mixture, mostly black)
  

Livestock

Fish:

• 1x True Percula clownfish
  
• 1x Firefish goby
  
• 1x Mandarin dragonet
  
• 5x Chromis
  
• 1x (Black) Yellow watchman goby
  

Inverts:

• 1x blood fire shrimp
  
• 1x pistol shrimp
  
• 1x sebae anemone
  
• 2x rose bubble tip anemone
  
• several mini maxi carpet anemones
  
• 3x blue legged hermit crabs
  
• more snails than I ever care to count again!
  

Corals:

LPS

• Duncan
  
• long tentacle plate
  
• branching & wall frogspawns
  
• branching hammer
  
• branching torch
  
• acans
  
• favia
  
• blastos
  
• misc chalices
  
• pink goniapora
  
• green alveopora
  

SPS

• TBD (####'s dying )
  

Softies

• zoas
  
• pulsing zenia
  
• palys
  
• misc mushrooms
  
• ricordea
  

 

A couple of quick mock-ups (OLD DESIGN):

 

le top view

 

le front view

 

Lighting angles front view

 

Lighting angles side view

[siwelk]

No, it is going against a brown wall, and it also will hide my equipment better (although, the only equipment on the back will be an MP10).

Read it again, but this time, look closer.

[rb1685]

Read it again, but this time, look closer.

 

[jedimasterben]

Nice description and drawings of what it will look like. Guess that a maxi-nano then ?

 

I am still trying to figure out who sells the 14 Gallon Biocube here in the Atlanta area ...

 

Albert

Maxi-nano, perfect description of it!

 

I know that Petco stores carry them, and most LFS should be able to order them for you! I can't wait to see what a legend such as yourself will put together!

 

Read it again, but this time, look closer.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[dday80]

Sub'd This looks awesome. Great job so far!

[keydiver]

looking great so far. Love the dimensions of that tank

[jedimasterben]

Thanks!

[metrokat]

Read it again, but this time, look closer.

[albertthiel]

Guess in the end it was a more expensive but good deal since you seem happy with it (complicated calculations but I get it ... smile) and I guess you new have a lot of work to do and pacify the Misses for the $$ spent that she was not counting on .... oh well now she won't be able to get a new pair of shoes from Kat :)

 

Albert

 

HOLY BALLS THIS THING IS STARPHIRE!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Events leading up to said discovery:

 

After waiting several weeks to get the correct tank in, when the LFS owner rang it up, after knocking off a hefty discount and then applying credit from my light I traded and a spare tank and stand, he said my total was $250 after tax. I was like WHAT? I was expecting to pay almost nothing, when I told him to order it he told me $310 without adding in the light or anything, so after the light and tank trade, I would only owe him around $100, which I was cool with.

 

He said "Well, we normally resell the tank for $600, your price is $400, minus your credit is $235 plus tax." At this point I was kinda mad about that, but I was like ok, and just paid it up. Nothing I could do at this point, loaded it up and left.

 

When I got it home and me and the missus got it in the house (mind you she was pretty mad at me for paying that much for it out of pocket, she knew it was supposed to nearly free), I took a good look at it and was like damn, that thing is really clear for being regular glass. I walked out of that room and sat down at my computer, and got to thinking... hmmm. When he was originally ordering the tank, he asked if I wanted an Edge tank from Deep Blue (Edge is their Starphire tank series), I originally said yes because I thought Edge just meant rimless, he said $585 and I was like OHH NO, those are the starphire, I want the regular one, so he said $310 for that one.

 

After thinking back to that, I went in and looked at the tank, and on the front was a sticker that said "Opti-Pure glass", which is Deep Blue's nomenclature for starphire. So, mystery solved. It is not the tank I had originally ordered, but for the price, I can't beat it. It's sexy as hell, and I'm keeping it.

 

And here is a pic of the pearly jawfish. I had just built him a new home out of PVC and had removed his old roof, which was a rock, and put the PVC in its place, and he was scared to death of me and was trying to take cover anywhere he could.

 

 

His new home, a la kgoldy's design:

 

 

And I finally saw my bubble corals' sweeper tentacles! They're amazing!!! Bubble corals are one of my absolute favorites, I'm so pleased that they are doing so well!

 

 

I still need to get the stand to my house and drill it where the drain is on the tank, get it plumbed, and get the baffles silicone'd into the sump. Then I need to fabricate the canopy for the lights (and get a power supply for my fans, scratch that, just ordered one from Amazon), that will be easy and dirt cheap, materials should be $25-30, and I already have all the fans (from a computer cooling experiment using a radiator from a Honda Civic ) and some of the wood needed.

[jedimasterben]

Guess in the end it was a more expensive but good deal since you seem happy with it (complicated calculations but I get it ... smile) and I guess you new have a lot of work to do and pacify the Misses for the $$ spent that she was not counting on .... oh well now she won't be able to get a new pair of shoes from Kat :)

 

Albert

Yessir, but I figured the owner was giving me a much better deal in this case, how could I turn it down? They've been very good to me lately, giving me free corals all the time!

 

And that's a good idea! Kat, send me shoeeeessssss!

 

 

 

 

OK! Got the stand in the house, yeahhhhhhh! I have 23g of water mixed right now, and another 16g is mixing right now. My dad said we were gonna cut the acrylic tonight, but now he says that isn't happening. Joyous, wanted to at least pretend I could get it going tonight.

 

 

Tomorrow I will buy the materials to get the lights mounted, and I think I will take it to my grandpa and see if he can help with the cutting and assembly since my dad doesn't seem to helpful these days. Will look similar to the stand, pure white and trimmed with the same material. Frame will be 1x2 though, since it doesn't have to be heavy-duty or anything.

 

I do still need to paint the back of the tank black. I don't know exactly how that is going to happen (it's stupid heavy, 160lbs or so), I don't think my wife will be able to hold on to it to take it outside with me. I think I may just use a foam roller and roll the paint on, that way I won't need to take it outside. It will just take longer to dry if I do it that way. Sad face.

 

 

In other news, I got my three female lyretail anthias last night. They are larger than I wanted (I wanted juveniles), but I can't be picky. I didn't think that my male would stake out his territory so quickly! My normal LFS was supposed to pick up some in Miami on Thursday, but ended up not going, so I asked if they would order some from Segrest with their order, and they said they would. I asked specifically for juveniles so I could keep their size down until I can get them into the new tank. They ordered female Bartlett's anthias because "they're one of the smallest anthias you can get, would be perfect". I was like "well, they would be awesome if I didn't already have a male lyretail". "Oh, yeah, that wouldn't be good to mix them."

 

I called my other two LFS and asked if they had any, and one just happened to have gotten in three of them. He said that they were "different from normal lyretails, these are squampaninis", but that's exactly what lyretails are, psuedanthias squampaninis. They are an odd coloration, though. Normally I see them bright orange and yellow, but these are a peach color, and blotchy, but from what I am seeing on the internet is that it is just stress from shipping. Normally I'd ask the LFS to keep them for at least two weeks, but if my male stakes his territory, he won't be receptive of them and will beat them up to no end. They are at least eating, they don't seem to care much for the food I gave them earlier (was some sort of spirulina-enriched small shrimp), but they went completely nuts when I dosed my live phyto, so I figured they were eating that. I will grab some selcon on my next trip out of town.

 

 

I also got a beautiful mushroom at the new LFS I've been going to. It's a bright green with neon yellow spots. I asked how much it was, and he was like "uhm, $4 sounds good." And I was like damn, that's it?! Bag it up! And then we were walking around a bit more (I didn't want to charge $4 to my credit card), and we found a blue velvet damsel. I don't like damsels (true damsels, not counting clowns or chromis), but this thing is gorgeous. I asked how much it was, and it was $4 as well! I was like for that price, it's so damn beautiful, I will put it in my refugium along with the puffer fish (it should be able to hold its own, as aggressive and as large as they get). It looks even better than this:

 

 

 

Also about to order some pretty macros and stuff for the unseen sump/fuge (separate from the display fuge) from Reef Cleaners. Cactus caulerpa, halimeda (money and monile), green gracilaria, shaving brush, and ulva. Also grabbing one of their penny macros, can't wait to see what it will be. And OMG, they have their Filter Feeder food in stock now, grab it while you can!!

 

I still need to order some halymenia, dragon's breath macro.

[metrokat]

you want pink or red?

[albertthiel]

Keep a close eye on those sweeper tentacles and what they go for as they "sting" anything that is nearby and that can lead to some problems if the coral is too close to another one ... FWIW

 

Albert

 

 

Guess in the end it was a more expensive but good deal since you seem happy with it (complicated calculations but I get it ... smile) and I guess you new have a lot of work to do and pacify the Misses for the $$ spent that she was not counting on .... oh well now she won't be able to get a new pair of shoes from Kat :)

 

Albert

[jedimasterben]

you want pink or red?

I think she likes red more. She's fiery

 

Keep a close eye on those sweeper tentacles and what they go for as they "sting" anything that is nearby and that can lead to some problems if the coral is too close to another one ... FWIW

 

Albert

My wife? She has sweepers, alright. Her fists.

 

 

Speaking of sweepers, at the new LFS, they had an absolutely astonishing galaxea coral. Roughly 5" in diameter (was a ball shape) with a few little bits sticking out of it. Sweepers were around 8"!!! That thing was MAD at everything around it! They only wanted $25 for it, too. My friend picked it up and gave me one of the little bits, probably about 1/2" long, and I watched it a few minutes ago, the sweepers are about 6"!!! That thing is so cool, I can't wait to have it in the new tank so I can let it grow and "sweep" everything up without killing anything!

 

I lost one of the female anthias last night. She was basically dead in the bag, but as soon as I got them in the house and noticed it, I went to pull her out and she started swimming again, so I thought it was weird, but drip acclimated them (the only fish I've ever done that to) and in they went, I do not have a QT tank big enough to house them, they would die otherwise. Smart move? Maybe not, but no other choice at the moment.

 

Anyway, as soon as I put them in, I let them settle in, the male didn't care about them, nipped at one, but then let them rub up on him . The next morning I fed them, and they all ate like they'd been starved for six months, so I figured everything was ok, even for the one I thought was dead. Came home after being gone for the day and she was half-eaten and had nassarius eggs all over her. Hopefully I can get my money back from the LFS for her (she was $25) since she started off almost not making it the trip home. I will need to get another one ASAP if I want the others to not beat it up when I do get another.

 

Went to Home Depot today to get the materials to make my canopy for my LEDs. 1x2's, some thin, thin plywood, some trim to match the stand, white semi-gloss paint, and some white chain and hooks to hang it from a shelf I am gonna build for the missus. Got a 48"x24" piece of 1/2" plywood for $2.01 from the "cull" bin, glad I went back there and looked around, a piece that size normally runs $15! Got most of it together today and painted (all white). Gonna put the LEDs in and put the top on last. Still need to cut holes for the fans and figure out how to mount the diffuser panel to the bottom of it.

 

Also got a tiny bucket of black paint to paint the back of the tank with. It is itty bitty, I think like a half a pint or something! Will be just enough!

 

Also got a window screen kit to make a screen top for the tank. I already have the mesh to go in it (found some for a good price somewhere, can't remember where, but it's like 20 feet of it!) so I just needed the rest of it. The mesh is black, but the frame is white. Not sure if I will spray it black or leave it white for some good contrast.

 

Got the stand to my house finally, and I just drilled it to fit the bulkheads, but the drain bulkhead is just a fuzz bigger than my largest hole-saw, so I need to borrow a router from my dad and shave off the last bit of it.

 

Pics:

 

 

frame/sides of the canopy.

 

The tubing for the drain is 1 1/4" inner diameter, 1 3/4" outer! This stuff is so stiff!

 

This is how much salt it takes to mix 16 gallons of water. My cat, Clyde, was very interested in it.

 

I remember when she was this big.

 

 

 

 

[metrokat]

Clyde is adorable! Why are you crying?

[jedimasterben]

Clyde is adorable! Why are you crying?

She's all growed up and won't fit in my palm anymore. Had to bottle feed her when we first got her, she was only about 3 weeks old.

[metrokat]

She's all growed up and won't fit in my palm anymore. Had to bottle feed her when we first got her, she was only about 3 weeks old.

aww. thats how I feel about my Bogi but I can cuddle him without killing him now. And then I sneeze up a storm so no danger of him blowing away either.

[ccapasso]

Looking very good! That stand looks awesome.

 

P.S. We need a photo of Clyde inside the tank

[jedimasterben]

She jumped in it about 5 seconds after we initially brought it inside, but I quickly shoo'ed her out!

 

Here is a pic of all three "on break". Clockwise, Clyde, Bubbles, and Nimh. The Union has been good to them.

[ccapasso]

Lolol...Too cute.

 

Also, I had to re-read the names. When I first saw it I thought it read as follow:

 

Clockwise, Clyde, Bubbles, and Nimph

 

Obviously I would have had to ask how the cat got the nickname Nimph, but seeing that is incorrect, ...well...that's another story

[iball1804]

I love your cats