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Sun's DB30g - 2 year bday updates


SunWyrm

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Latest FTS -

(I'll get another one up soon, promise!)


Thought I'd start a build thread here. Really having a lot of fun with this tank and wanted to share.

Equipment
Deep Blue Rimless 30g Frag tank (wet 4/26/15)
30g Sump (added 7/26/15)
Mag 7 return pump
Acan LED 600PA-18B x2
DIY eggcrate/mesh screen top
Avast skimmer
MP10 x2

Still working on finishing the stand and getting other equipment online... 2 years later

Livestock
Fish
Coral Beauty
Spotcinctus Clown pair
Pygmy Hawkfish pair
Sixline Wrasse

Tailspot blenny


Inverts/CUC
extra lg nassarius 4
and whatever other hitchhikers I've picked up over the years.


Lots of pics ahead!

Dry Aquascape

 


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Corals and first fish added

 


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Water change day 10/12 with the pumps off

 


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FTS 10/21

 


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FTS 11/15

 


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FTS 1/16

 



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FTS 2/16

 


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FTS 5/16

 


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FTS 10/16

Spoiler


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FTS 4/17

Spoiler

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  • Like 4
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My sump/stand is completely unfinished (i spend too much time on the tank! I don't have time for the rest!) but I'll work on getting a pic of it. Until then, I have updated pics since I added some colorful sticks! Oh and my anemone is quickly becoming a pita. :furious:

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Couple of shots of my DIY screen top. Not the prettiest, but I'm proud of how well it works.

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  • Like 2
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Here's a few pics of the sump, not recent, but at least you can see the fabulous job I did on my plumbing (Not really, but it's the first one I've done by myself, and plumbing has never been my strong point).

From when I was still setting it up. No, the stand does not go all the way over the sump and it's hideous, but functional. Maybe I'll finish it someday.
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During a water change a month ago, with the pumps off.
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  • Like 1
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This RBTA is outta control!

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I made a very sad frag rack.

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This might be one of the saddest things I've ever done. I either need to finish my in-sump frag section or buy a nice magnetic frag rack. At least this will keep them from getting knocked over constantly until I figure it out.

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Hydnophora got knocked over (presumably by the clown, since it's too close to her majesty's rbta), and landed on an acan... everybody was unhappy and jellyish for a day, but there was no permanent damage surprisingly. Did a 4g water change this weekend, replaced all my media/filterfloss, got my skimmer running again (injector was clogged)... I'm really loving this tank, and I think it shows. My bubble coral is angry since I put a rock between it and the BTA and added a second MP10. On the plus side, I have noticeable SPS growth (big achievement) and my Nerites are laying eggs everywhere.

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Bonus sump pics! No, stand is not done. Yes, the sump is longer the stand. These are issues for another day.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Took some new photos over the weekend.

Check out all the new points on my birdsnest! laugh.pngph34r.png
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Hydnophora's so fluffy. Bubble coral is still grumpy from when I added the MP10 and moved some rocks, but it's getting better.
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FTS
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  • Like 1
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Thanks!

Added a new addition over the weekend. He has some crazy HLLE scarring (and was ridiculously thin when I first put him in QT), but hopefully it'll start to heal soon and once he outgrows this tank you won't know the difference. Poor chalk bass are going nuts since he went in though, glad I have a screentop.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm running out of space! omgomgomg and my rbta just keeps on growing.... <_<

As pretty as my new frag rack is, I'm torn between keeping my all zoas on the big rock in the back, and sps in the front or mixing things up.

I have new zoa frags that I have no space for on the big rock, unless I move some of the larger colonies. Otherwise they'll just be overrun by the ones that are already there.

How do different SPS fair with zoas next to them?

PICS!!!

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I set up Skype to automatically answer calls from my contacts and it starts up the webcam on my desktop which I moved to the tank. Pretty nice to have; I can check on the tank whenever, as well as watch them without them seeing me, since they all beg for food when I'm in the room.

So I call my computer from my phone while at work today. Aaaand my tang is eating the red macro, which he wont touch when I'm home. I was wondering why it kept getting ripped up and thrown around the tank.... This is why I can't have nice things!

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Tons of poor quality pics ahead. I'm thinking maybe I should've invested in a nice camera during the Black Friday sales...Pardon the algae, I'll clean up before pics next time. Too much excitement this go around. I just love this tank.

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Yellow tang is already gaining color back, the pics make him look almost normal. In person, you can tell his skin is still missing in a large strip across his sides/lateral line and face, and he still has white patches on his face, but I'm surprised at how much he's improved.

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I also got some goodies over the big sales weekend. I think I need to stop buying for awhile. I'm definitely done with fish!!!

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I set up a frag section in my sump and somehow managed to fit one of my Acan leds down there. Going to add a basket for anemones and take a stab at propagating the monster in the display. No pics of that crazy mess.

Snagged a clip "macro lens" for my phone off amazon for $7. It's only okay for things up against the glass, but it's neat to play with. Someone enjoyed checking it out!

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If you hadn't guessed from above, I also added my new wrasse from QT. :wub:

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  • Like 1
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I got a lot accomplished over the weekend. The skimmer is back on and the JBJ ATO is set up. I still have my Avast ATO sitting because I can't get my Aquacontroller software to work, but at least I'm not trying to keep up with top off manually anymore. Tons of cleaning and water changes on not just the display but QTs as well. My return pump tried to die on me again but I whacked it a few times to get it running after the water change.
Cleaned all the glass, moved some frags around, and everybody got a treat of live black worms.

In other news, these two are finally a couple:
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Bonus office pico shot:
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  • Like 1
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  • 2 weeks later...

Long winded update ahead.

Work pico has been broken down. I moved desks and due to some construction right above my old desk, the fish died on moving day. Going to bring my 8g Evolve to work, and my "retired" blue devil female. She'll love all the attention.

As far as 30g news, my McCosker's also died. He was eating and active until he was gone, but just kept getting skinnier and not competing for food. I was trying to feed 2-3x a day, and everyone else would overeat, but he would take only a few bites and be done.

I'm replacing him with a sixline and not getting another flasher until I (and the tank) can keep up with feeding them 2x a day. :( The biggest downside to this is the flasher wrasse REALLY got along with everyone, and kept the chalk bass more active and out in the open. I'm not sure if a sixline will have the same effect. McCosker's definitely cared more about being social than picking around the rocks.

 

Now all the inhabitants are obese and the nitrates have spiked since I skipped last weeks water change (and have been overfeeding 2-3 times a day). Did a water change this weekend, and I'm planning on deep cleaning everything over the long Christmas and New Years weekends. Plans include giving the pumps, powerheads, and skimmer a vinegar bath, changing media, and vacuuming all the debris out of the overflow and calmer areas of the sump. Maybe doing a 10g water change also, since I want to redo my mangrove/fuge area in order to get my damsel out.

Oh and I moved the blennies' loveshack, so they've since separated again. He's in the old location (I moved it back, with no luck) but she's in her old cave with all the zoas. Sigh.

Here's some pictures from a couple weeks ago, I'll probably take more pics next weekend after the deep clean.
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  • Like 2
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Got a few things done at least.

Did a water change, moved the sixline over, glued a couple sps frags down and moved a couple things around.

Also picked up a purple montipora digitata frag and a fire shrimp over the weekend. Shrimp will go into my Evolve tank at work.

Bubble coral is so unhappy, I'm not sure what to do with it. It's just sitting in the frag section of my sump being miserable, but it's the sameno matter where I put it. It just shrunk up when I changed out a koralia nano powerhead for my second mp10, and it's just never recovered.

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All of the aiptasia is driving me nuts. Kalk paste, aiptasia x... the same nems just come back after a couple days. I can't add peppermint shrimp without my cleaners going into attack mode.

Speaking of cleaner shrimp, I added the one I kept in my 3g pico over Christmas. Big difference in the color! The original cleaner is a deep yellow, and the one kept in the pico is very pale. They've had the same diet, so it'll be interesting to see if the new one colors up after a molt or two.

New itty bitty sixline is doing well too, just staying out of everyone's way and picking at everything.

Lots of pics ahead. Didn't get anything done except for a water change and wiping the glass, but long, lazy weekends are too good to pass up.

Front FTS
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Side FTS
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More pics!!!


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My favorite part of the tank:

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I think these two love the algae clip more than the tang.

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And it didn't take too long for these two to pair up again.

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(the female)
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New heads on each of my acans.
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Green monti and red cap both lost some color a couple weeks ago, still waiting on them to come back, plus a few others.

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Very happy hawkins echinata, not so happy lokani behind it.

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Corner shots!
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I can never get a good pic of the CB, way too dark, but for once she was still enough.
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RBTA being well behaved for once, clowns, not so much.
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Fat and happy tang, still healing.
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  • Like 1
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  • 1 month later...

Alkalinity swings suck. Testing sucks. RBTAs suck.

I have some SPS that are bouncing back, others that never had an issue before that are receding, and then there's some that have been doing just peachy this whole time. My RBTA finally split... now I have two huge monsters waving all over. <_<

Also added some extra fish I wasn't planning on. Pygmy hawk (bought for my office nano that didn't work out) and a baby snowflake with a severely injured face (who's chillin' in my fuge). Oh and no QT 'cuz I've gone off the deep end apparently.

The pygmy has to be one of the cutest grumpy fish ever; the snowflake makes me cringe every time I see him but I'm hoping I can get him to eat soon. He only appears around 6am, but he's still terrified of the feeding tongs.

Bubble coral has completely recovered in my frag section and is fluffy again, but no new growth yet. Added a tonga branch and a barnacle cluster to the display. Itching for new corals again, but I'm trying to refrain 'til I can get my Kalk reactor set up and my levels straightened out. Just been feeling lazy recently.

Pics coming soon.

  • Like 1
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Cool scape, and that RBTA is huge. :lol:

Thanks! I made them angry last night trying to remove one. The RBTAs won and I'm out of ideas on how to get just one out.

 

My frag rack is so empty, but instead of removing it I want to fill it up again! Plus I need something to put on my new Tonga branch to make it less nsfw. Ideas?

 

FTS with added Donga branch and barnacles.

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The newb - who says these guys are cryptic?

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Moved all my slower growing zoas around to the front and stuck them in barnacles. I think "the pirate" likes his new castle. Except one of the frags fell on his hole, and he was trapped for part of the morning. I realize this looks awful, but for now it's better than the nicer zoas being overrun. I'm having issues with the polyps closing on only certain colonies occasionally too. So far I can't find a culprit.

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Lost the tips on my birdsnest, but there's still some growth on the rest of it.

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  • Like 1
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Wow! I just discovered this build, and I'm so excited because…

 

1. I'm gonna steal your idea with the eggcrate/mesh top! Lol I have the mesh already, but too lazy to get the window frame thing, but I have egg crate at home! This would work out better for me too, cus I can cut the egg crate around my auto feeder.

2. All your fish!

3. I never heard of spotcinctus clowns before, and they are gorgeous! Are they aggressive? If they didn't grow so big, I would be tempted to trade in my ocellaris pair for them!

 

and how are you trying to remove your BTA? I need some ideas… lol

  • Like 1
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