coralgirl365 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Hello all, well now that I have finally gotten some live rock in my new 37 cube I thought I would start up a photo journal of my own! I know there isn't much to see yet but hopefully as time goes on it will get more interesting I have had freshwater tanks for almost 3 years but this is my first try at saltwater so feel free to make any suggestions! here goes: 37 gallon Oceanic "cube" Outer Orbit lights (150W HQI, 2x65W dual actinic, 4 LEDs) AquaC Remora skimmer 27 lbs base rock from reeferrocks.com 15 lbs live rock from premium aquatics Crushed coral substrate (switching to aragamax sand this week) Reef Crystals at 1.025 1 hermit and 6 assorted snails (more ordered) Full tank shot before adding LR Another: DIY canopy I made to go around my Outer Orbit lights: Right now my tank is still cycling (Ammonia .25) and is having an algae bloom Tank as of yesterday, 2 weeks after adding live rock: Closeup of one rock with really bad algae, (the picture doesn't do justice to how gross it really looks): I'll post more pics after I switch the substrate and make other progressions Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 10, 2005 Author Share Posted October 10, 2005 ok that was huge.. does anyone know how to resize images? Link to comment
Maeda Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 ok that was huge.. does anyone know how to resize images? Holymoly. That is HUGE. Stick it into photoshop and use 'image size' or use photobucket to store the images. Send it to me if all else fails. Link to comment
Daemonfly Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Depending on what version of Windows you have, MS Paint does have resize and jpg saving (limited) functionality. Link to comment
EnFuego Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 thats a sweet piece of Liverock Link to comment
Daemonfly Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Although the live rock stack is your basic "pile", the rock shapes do make it look quite good. Nice cave too Link to comment
Lil_Ocean Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 any more pics of this custom canopy that is holding your lighting? I would love tons of them Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 any more pics of this custom canopy that is holding your lighting? I would love tons of them It isn't holding the lighting, just kind of making a frame around it to make it more esthetically pleasing. I will post some more pics soon and if you want me to take any specific pics after that I can do that too It's really pretty ghetto, I made it myself for about 20 bucks, but it does the job it really is an improvement over just the lights standing on the tank. Link to comment
reef n ale Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 It looks great! BTW, I thought I saw some pics here earlier of you putting that canopy together. Am I right? I thought you did a nice job on it! Rob Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 here is just the light unit standing on the tank. I like the lights a lot so far with the exception that it is hard to work in the tank without taking the whole unit off (and it is heavy) and that two of the legs recently broke and as far as i can find the manufacturer does not sell replacement legs seperately so I have just been siliconing them back on as best I can for now... Here's a side view of the lights with the canopy/frame on. you can see the slots cut in the side of the frame fit around the light switches and fans. As you can see from the picture in the first post, the whole top and back of the frame is open as well as the fan slots so the heat removal is not compromised. Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 hmm... I don't think I posted any of me actually putting it together. I kind of wish i had taken some along the way though. oh well... Link to comment
reef n ale Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Those are the three pics I saw before. I'm pretty sure anyway! I like it... Rob Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 Those are the three pics I saw before. I'm pretty sure anyway! I like it... Rob ya those ones were in my gallery The large arch rock is all one piece so I can't reconfigure it, but the smaller rocks in front are flexible... any ideas for how to make those look cooler? there are about 5 pieces there. I also have a neat piece of tonga branch behind the arch, its about 3x10. I didnt have any creative places to put it so i just stuck it back there Link to comment
shao-lin nano Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 The 37 cube is a really nice tank. Good choice and it looks like you did a really good job with the trim. Can you also show a front shot of the "hood"? How about lean the big arch rock onto the tonga branch so it looks like a pillar supporting it? Not sure if that makes sense or even possible with the peice you've got. You can also get a tube of reef/marine epoxy for under $10 and attach the smaller rocks to the big rock to make ledges and protruding sections to add more depth and dynamic to your rock work. Link to comment
crrichey Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 So far so good, remember, every system starts out differently. Right now your system is best suited for growing algae, but as time passes and bacteria levels elevate to consume and convert the available resources, the algae will subside. Althought it will never be completely gone (althought it may not be visible), algae in the system is a good thing. You would be hard pressed to find a reef that didn't have algae, it is the major producer on the reef. Without it, first level consumers (snails, urchins, tangs, etc) would have nothing to consumer, starving the secondary consumers and carnivors (lion fish, bass, groupers, sharks eels). I know that had nothing to do with anything you wanted to know, but I thought I would share it in case you were feeling bad about have an algae bloom as your first major achievment Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 So far so good, remember, every system starts out differently. Right now your system is best suited for growing algae, but as time passes and bacteria levels elevate to consume and convert the available resources, the algae will subside. Althought it will never be completely gone (althought it may not be visible), algae in the system is a good thing. You would be hard pressed to find a reef that didn't have algae, it is the major producer on the reef. Without it, first level consumers (snails, urchins, tangs, etc) would have nothing to consumer, starving the secondary consumers and carnivors (lion fish, bass, groupers, sharks eels). I know that had nothing to do with anything you wanted to know, but I thought I would share it in case you were feeling bad about have an algae bloom as your first major achievment yeah i am feeling pretty low right now about my ugly algae tank! But i think as you say it will go away when the tank matures and as I add more cleaners. I'll be taking and posting pics along the way and hopefully someday it'll look as nice as some of you guys' tanks ya I will take a better picture of the front of the canopy if I get some time tomorrow, i know it was hard to see in that first picture thanks for tuning in and giving me input everyone, it's all appreciated by this newbie!! Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 Converting substrate was a 2 day process during which I took a few saltwater baths - and now - and my apartment is in a state of serious disarray - I did get a neat shipment of live sand/rubble/crude that I added in there to give things a boost after switching to the carribsea sand, so now i have neat little buggies running around in there So now I guess it's just sit back and wait for things to clear up... Link to comment
crrichey Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 If you really want to get your system started, try doing a water change with someone that has a reef aquarium. Even though you have plenty of liverock and sand, adding mature water to a system always seems to work for me! Link to comment
Sebea Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 I like the canopy. Very creative! Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted October 19, 2005 Author Share Posted October 19, 2005 I wish i knew someone else with a saltwater tank so I could have some of their water, that is a great idea I know in my freshwater tank adding water from an established tank always really helps the cycle. sadly i don't know anyone else with a SW tank though. here is that other frontal picture of the canopy since the first one was pretty dark. ignore the tank though since it is still going through its ugly/boring phase Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 Okay - my tank still isn't amazing like all the other ones on here, but it's been a while since I posted an update so here we go - Link to comment
proraptor Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Nice cube...What lights are you running? Link to comment
coralgirl365 Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Nice cube...What lights are you running? outer orbit: 150MH (10,000K) + 2x 65w CF (dual actinic). The CF in the back is burned out though... Link to comment
proraptor Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Awesome...So when you going to get some coral for that thing? Link to comment
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