JasonJones

Beautiful pictures. I need to find a way to get you over to take some pictures.

Can a mod move this over to the tank building forum. It probably fits better there. Thanks!

I cannot believe it has been nearly a year since I updated this post. There have been a lot of changes to the tank. Mainly because of a crash that happened over Memorial Day. I had moved the tank to Dallas for the summer and everything was going well. However, when I came back from Memorial Day, the breaker the tank was on had flipped and the tank had been without power for some time. I lost every fish and every SPS except the encrusting montis. Most LPS and polyps pulled through, but I lost 99% of the rics to bleaching over the next month. It was devistating and made me lose some interest in the tank. The tank basically sat in that condition for the rest of the summer. I hardly did any water changes and it just limped along.

I have slowly been rebuilding the tank and have focused more on the SPS than anything else. I am still looking for a few pieces (sunset montipora, Palmer's blue milli and a green slimer) if anyone has some frags. Enough blabbering, here are some pictures.

I am hoping in the next month or two to have someone with a better camera come over and take some shots.

Red Planet and Hawkins are coloring up nicely. Thanks Calvin.

I accidentally broke the blue polyp digi today on the left branch and then glued it on backwards....

New acro in back. I am really excited about this one.

The fish being buddies. The angel picked on the clown the first day, but now they follow each other around all the time. My randall's goby was being shy and didn't want to be photoed. Cant complain about modesty.

A shot of the acros with the dendro in back. The dendro has been growing well.

A shot down the side.

Couple of other points to note. I added a dosing pump for Ca and Alk. I have them pretty tuned in now and everything is staying stable. I am keeping Ca at 480 and Alk at 8.0. Keeping this constant has really helped with the growth and color.

I have been obtaining quotes for my tank upgrade this fall. I am thinking it will be 40" x" 30" x 20". Should be right around 100g. I think I will go with a DIY wavebox and a closed loop on a VFD for flow. I am still really up in the air about lighting. It will either be a MH/T5 combo or a DIY Led fixture.

I would also be willing to pay for this service.

This pole does not really work. If you vote no, you still have to select a dollar amount and if you don't because they are too high, you cannot vote. It should be edited to add more dollar amounts, a 0 and a 5 would be great.

I have been following along since the beginning. This is an awesome idea and I really like the look of the drop off tank.

I hate to be Debbie downer, but I agree a lot with where hydro is going. Unless this is your house, or the owner is a family member who guarantees you can rent the house forever, I would think long and hard about setting up a tank of this scale. To do it right, I would also want to have a dedicated fish room to house all the equipment and quarantine/hospital tanks, etc... I just cant imagine the investment of time and money that it would take to get this going if I ever thought I might have to move it.

I would also say Hydro knows what he is talking about. He has been through a very similar build as you know. As I said, awesome idea, I would just be hesitant to do it right now.

There are several of us on here who have build our own LED fixtures that could provide some help. If you give some idea of what you are trying to accomplish, we could help get you started.

As far as comparing the brightness of LEDs, a decent starting point is to multiply the total wattage of leds times 3. That is a very rough estimate of the equivalent light output by a metal halide. So a 30 led fixture with 3w LEDs is comparable to a 250w halide.

With leathers I have always used fishing line to hold them down until they take hold. Thread the fishing line through the eye of a needle (not as challenging as a camel) and stick the needle through the leather. I try aand do it a cm or so above the base so it doesnt rip through the leather when tieing it down.

I had been eyeing those panda gobies all week but was hesitant to pull the trigger because they were so small. Glad they went to a good home. Tank is looking good!

Rob,

I would like to jump on and add something but I wont be able to pick it up until 8:30 Tuesday night. Would you be willing to put it in your tank until then?

Thanks,

Jason

I use super glue gel and 2 part epoxy. The super glue gel works great, but you need to move quickly to get it to work. I think you can take a good thirty seconds after you put it on a frag before you put the frag underwater to glue. However, once you go underwater with it, the glue skins over pretty fast, so I find it best to move very quickly once underwater to place it, or put a bunch of glue on the frag so when you put it in place it breaks the skin on the glue and puts fresh glue down.

When I really want something to stick, I put glue on the frag, then stick a glob of 2 part epoxy on the frag, then put more glue on the bottom of the epoxy and stick it into place. I rarely have frags come off when I use this method.

As far as the Ecotech glue goes, I did not like it at all. It is too thick and takes too long to dry. I had problems with the applicator becoming clogged repeatedly. The needle on the inside of the top that supposedly keeps it from clogging also broke off. You can use it underwater, but I have heard of people accidently releasing pressure and sucking water into the glue, which ruins the whole bottle. For me, with the ease of using super glue gel, I do not see a point in using the ecotech brand. But I know a lot of people love it.

For anyone who has not seen the dragon eye colony in person, the pics do not do it justice. The green is a highlighter green that is simply stunning. They really jump out at you.

Tank is looking great. Really strarting to fill in.

This is one of the ones I built. Depending on whether they were for me or not, I would wire in the powerhead to a waterproof switch on the unit. Then I would only have one plug going from the unit that would power the swirler and the powerhead.

Just uses a hobby box from Radio Shack. The motor is held in with nylon bolts and nuts.

I have one somewhere I am sure. I will pull it out tonight and take some pictures of it. I considered starting a small company to manufacture them a few years ago.

Here is the very basics on one: http://www.alexreef.com/news/diy-swirler-stein-pump-rotation-device

The one I made is functionally the same, but has a smaller top unit and is a little cleaner.

Here is the main thread on them: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1483439

Most of the oscilating powerheads out there are not that great in terms of performance. If you really want to do it right, buy a normal powerhead and make a rotating unit similar to a wavyseas and attach the power head to it. These can be made for about thirty bucks. In fact, I have an extra one I made several years ago sitting around if you are interested.

I have never had a problem keep clams and hermits together. I have only ever seen hermits mess with a clam when it is already on its way out.

I dont know how I missed this build. Pure excellence!

I really like the dimensions of this tank. This is almost exactly what I would build if I were settled. Great job.

Tank is looking really nice. I like the new stand a lot.

Looking really good. I really like this tank and the rocks you have chosen.

There are a number of factors that make a 1 year old tank substantially more stable than a 2 month old tank.

Reef tanks are very complex eco-systems. Because of the closed systems we run, one of the most important things is nutrient control. This happens through a number of outlets; including micro-fauna, plankton, foam fractionation, chemical filtration, mechanical filtration, bacteria, etc. Without a doubt, the bacteria and micro-fauna are the most important two elements of the system. We often forget this and focus more on the sexy items (like skimmers and reactors). However, bacteria and microorganisms perform most of the work.

Your rock was purchased from other hobbyist; this is good. The rock should be full of bacteria and other micro fauna. However, the rock is the only thing full of life at this point. It takes time for the sand to become teeming with creatures. It also takes time for bacteria to coat the tank, plumbing, walls, sand etc... As time goes on and these processes take place, the tank becomes increasingly more stable and "mature."

This is not to say your mandrin died because the tank is two months old. If he died in only a few days, he was on his way out already.

Also, I would be a little suspect of your test kits if everything is testing 0 already. Most new tanks with that stocking load, even with good live rock, would still show some ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Do you run MHs? Any chance one of the bulbs cracked?

When corals suddenly bleach rapidly, a cracked MH bulb allowing UV into the tank can be the culprate.

Brian- do you really like the ecotech glue? I purchased a bottle and really disliked it. Back to superglue gel for me.

As to frags falling off, never fun. I use a three step process and rarely ever have a frag come unglued. I use both superglue gel and 2 part epoxy. I mix up a bit of epoxy thoroughly. Once mixed, I put superglue on the frag and stick it in the epoxy, gluing the frag to the epoxy. Then I stick more superglue on the bottom of the epoxy where it will stick to the rockwork. Then put it on the rock as quick as possible. Works like a charm.

Great woodworking! This looks like it is going to be a beast. Looking forward to seeing it all come together.

Nice looking colonies. The first one is particularly nice.