Tom@HaslettMI Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Hello all. Finally starting a journal to share and document my reef. I’ve been a reef aquarist for a long time. I set up my first reef tank in the early 90’s, and I have had one ever since. This tank is an upgrade from a Marineland 25 gallon rimless tank. My goal for this thread is for pictures to do the talking... so I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum. Enjoy! May 2018. DIY stand being built. Empty tank just there to dream a bit. August 2018. The stand is mostly done. September 2018. Tank moved! Rock and coral just dropped in. Pile-o-rocks! October 2018. A peak under the hood. Wire organization mostly there. A de-rimmed 10 gallon as a temporary sump. November 2018. Arch complete! Thanks for looking! Tom 9 4 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 3 minutes ago, Tom@HaslettMI said: Hello all. Finally starting a journal to share and document my reef. I’ve been a reef aquarist for a long time. I set up my first reef tank in the early 90’s, and I have had one ever since. This tank is an upgrade from a Marineland 25 gallon rimless tank. My goal for this thread is for pictures to do the talking... so I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum. Enjoy! May 2018. DIY stand being built. Empty tank just there to dream a bit. August 2018. The stand is mosty done. September 2018. Tank moved! Rock and coral just dropped in. Pile-o-rocks! October 2018. A peak under the hood. Wire organization mostly there. A de-rimmed 10 gallon as a temporary sump. November 2018. Arch complete! Thanks for looking! Tom Looks really good! (The reef and the “stand”. 😃 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Michigan winter sunshine... 4 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Beautiful system @Tom@HaslettMI, such a clean setup! Thank you for sharing your journal, this will be fun to follow along! 2 1 Quote Link to comment
xiaoxiy Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Hey Tom. How the heck did you do that stand!? I love it! 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Great looking tank in a great looking room, especially love the stand 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 5 hours ago, xiaoxiy said: Hey Tom. How the heck did you do that stand!? I love it! Thank you. Your reefs have always inspired me. My friend and co-worker built the components (3/4” plywood base cabinets, butcher block countertop, and plywood open shelves). I helped a little, but did most of the install myself. The four cabinets have 1) board games 2) sump and reef gear 3) Legos 4) miscellaneous Before... During... Never done. Tom 4 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 So pumped to see you share the tank. As always great work! 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 (edited) Top down from Nov 2018 I’ll work on taking some updated photos. Thanks for looking! Tom Edited February 22, 2019 by Tom@HaslettMI Couldn’t get video to post... 3 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Gourgeous space and nice craftmanship. Your reef is really nice there and I am sure a joy to behold. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 I’ve been having hair algae issues for the past couple of months... Taken today I believe a contributing factor has been chronic low alkalinity (low 7 DKH). I changed how I’m dosing kalkwasser with a goal to maintain 8 DKH. I also added a DIY air driven skimmer. Pics of both next time. Thanks for looking! Tom 5 Quote Link to comment
NoOneLikesADryTang Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 I love your aquascape! Beautiful! 1 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 11 minutes ago, Tom@HaslettMI said: I’ve been having hair algae issues for the past couple of months... Taken today I believe a contributing factor has been chronic low alkalinity (low 7 DKH). I changed how I’m dosing kalkwasser with a goal to maintain 8 DKH. I also added a DIY air driven skimmer. Pics of both next time. Thanks for looking! Tom I love that sponge! 😊 How big is that clam? Looks super tiny in the pic. Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Hair algae can be frustrating to battle. Do you still have all those macro algae growing in the sump? Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 10 hours ago, WV Reefer said: I love that sponge! 😊 How big is that clam? Looks super tiny in the pic. Thanks. The sponge is one of my favorites... blue, easy to care for, and not all that common. The clam is close to two inches long. I have a bad feeling I’ll look in the tank one day soon and it will be dead. I’m not sure why but it never looks “happy” to me. 10 hours ago, Christopher Marks said: Hair algae can be frustrating to battle. Do you still have all those macro algae growing in the sump? Yes, there’s still macro in the sump. I’m not sure if all the species are still alive as it’s full of hair algae too. Tom 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 33 minutes ago, Tom@HaslettMI said: Thanks. The sponge is one of my favorites... blue, easy to care for, and not all that common. The clam is close to two inches long. I have a bad feeling I’ll look in the tank one day soon and it will be dead. I’m not sure why but it never looks “happy” to me. Yes, there’s still macro in the sump. I’m not sure if all the species are still alive as it’s full of hair algae too. Tom its so hard when clams are that tiny......i am surprised any of them make it. Quote Link to comment
Joevember Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Woah, nice setup! What are you using for your overflow pipes? Love the heliofungia btw, never seen one that big 😯 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 6 minutes ago, Joevember said: Love the heliofungia btw, never seen one that big 😯 Blue Zoo Aquatics sells them if you are interested. I bought one from there that is almost 8” across when fully inflated. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 5 hours ago, Joevember said: Woah, nice setup! What are you using for your overflow pipes? Love the heliofungia btw, never seen one that big 😯 I’m using a Mame overflow. It is just shamefully dirty right now. Thanks. Heliofungia is a coral I’ve wanted for many years. I picked this one up from a fellow hobbyists that thought is was too big for his 75 reef. I turned around and put it in a 32 gallon! I’ve had it for just over a year. 2 Quote Link to comment
Tigahboy Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 31 minutes ago, Tom@HaslettMI said: Thanks. Heliofungia is a coral I’ve wanted for many years. I picked this one up from a fellow hobbyists that thought is was too big for his 75 reef. I turned around and put it in a 32 gallon! I’ve had it for just over a year. Sweet helio and photo! 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 Sad news. I lost my male Banggai cardinal Sunday night. He had stopped eating but was not holding eggs either. I’m chalking it up to old age as I got him around three years ago and he was pretty big when I got him. On the bright side... he wasn’t a very good dad (he only carried one clutch of eggs through to release). Hopefully the next male will be a better dad. A more positive post coming soon. Tom 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 Real soon. I’m close to intalling my new DIY sump (the tank on the right). It’s an Aquamaxx 11 gallon with baffles for the return and a little bit different take on the first chamber. The overflow tube is 100% silicone and will replace the small piece currently stuck in there. That first small chamber is intended as an area to settle out detritus (though flow may be too strong) and serve as a spot for media (GAC or Phosguard). The second small chamber will have my DIY air driven skimmer. The big chamber will be a refugium. The whole thing will replace the unbaffled, de-rimmed 10 gallon currently serving as a sump. I’ll use the white stand for the new sump both to make siphoning it easier and storing things under it. Best case scenario I’ll make the switch this weekend. Thanks for looking, Tom 2 2 Quote Link to comment
Tigahboy Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Nice DIY work on that sump! RIP Banggai. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Tom@HaslettMI Posted March 13, 2019 Author Share Posted March 13, 2019 Sump swap did not happen this weekend. I caught a nasty bug and slept all day Saturday and a good chunk of Sunday. I’m finally feeling better and may try to pull it off one evening this week. Tom Quote Link to comment
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