Sherita

Had the camera out yesterday, snapped a few good pics that I thought folks might like...... My 140g predator tank. It's still in the "ugly" stage, since it's fairly new. But I'm seeing some coralline popping up on the background, so it will color up soon. One of the two condy nems that reside in the predator tank And, some random coral shots, mostly sps

I hit up the Dfwmas swap on Saturday, and I came home with awesomeness. Utter chaos Raven Candlelight shroom Acans Metallic red chalice And my raffle luck continues to hold out. I bought$20 in tickets and brought home these goodies Skittles stylo Eshopps s-150 skimmer, retail $350.00

I already had all the supplies here, and I used leftover scraps, so really it cost me nothing except the 0.99 for the screws. However, the acrylic tubing is expensive, you can only get it in 6' lengths from Regal. But, I remember seeing much shorter pieces on ebay, for a lot less money. I don't like the size of the porthole. That 7" diameter would be aggravating to me. However, you might find it to be ideal.

Acrylic came from Regal plastics. There's one in Austin. I used the 3", be sure to check your lens diameter before buying. I used Weldon #16 to stick the barrel to the bottom plate, then routed the edge after it dried. If you get a clean enough cut you could use Weldon4. My cut was ragged, so I used the #16 to be sure I didn't have any gaps. Stuck some masking tape over each end, and painted the barrel. Used my drill press to make my screw holes, then tapped them. You may notice that one of my screws is offset. I needed to do that to stay away from a couple of switches on the lens. You may not need to, depending on your lens. I will promise you this, once you shoot through a barrel, you will NEVER use a photobox again. Ever.

Maybe this will help And, they are awesome. I will never again use a top down photo box. No more dealing with light reflections or bleed. No more clunky photobox not fitting where I want to take a pic. I positively love my photobarrel. I made mine, they aren't hard at all if you have access to basic tools. The most "unusual" thing you would need is a 1/4" tap. The nylon thumbscrews can be a pain to find, I just eBay for mine. I couldn't find black acrylic tubing, so I use Krylon Fusion spray paint. Once dry it's safe for our tanks. It does get scratched up, but I can always spray another coat on the barrel if I need to.

The top two photos are just the barrel, the lower photo shows it installed on my camera with the 35-80 lens mounted. The white-ish screws you see are nylon, they tighten down on the barrel of the lens, but are soft enough that they don't damage it at all. I can rotate the lens by rotating the barrel. I'll try to get some more photos to help explain things better. I have a top down photo box as well, but after shooting with the barrel, I just don't use the photobox anymore. Using the barrel has so many benefits, I wish I had been using it all along.

The photo barrel I use

SOLD

I'll get a pic of it today and post it for ya.

I would say that it depends on the size of the frag tank. Smaller tanks will benefit from being connected into a larger system, since large systems are far more stable than smaller ones. If its a large frag tank then running it separate will do just fine. Mine are stand alone, but they are pretty large and stable.

PENDING

Yeah, but I like it out here. It's quiet, I have a few acres of land, and I can pretty much do what I want without anyone bugging me. But it is BFE. A round trip to the grocery store is about 65 miles.

As some of you know, I picked up a really nice new tank from ReefKoi at MACNA. The time has come for that build to begin, so I need to move out my stacked frag system. Included: 2 shallow glass 22g frag tanks (uppers), 36x18x8t 1 glass 28g tank (lower) 30x13x17t Sturdy well built stand, painted black 36" T5 retrofit + ballast, 4 bulbs total (bulbs 3 months old) 2 bulbs above each of the upper tanks. LED moonlights, a double strip above both of the upper tanks durso drains for both upper tanks bulkheads for all three tanks, plumbing has been cut, you will need to couple back together custom screens that slide into tracks above the tanks, so you can lower the light for softies/lps if you want The two upper tanks are bottom drilled with internal overflows, the lower tank is back drilled, I had it set up to drain into the sump of one of my other systems. I used the upper shallow tanks for frags, and the lower tank was used for anemones and rock. The entire system is just over 6' tall, about 40" wide. These tanks are in VERY good condition. Included are the durso drains for the two upper tanks, and the bulkheads for all three tanks. Asking $350. PM me or text 325-two one four-zero135. I'm not really looking for any trades, but if you have something you think might blow my skirt up, it never hurts to ask. I can catch a ride for this system as far as Kingsland or Burnet, but you will have to paypal before I send it on its' way. I am located near Brownwood, so unless you are out here in the boonies with me, you can't just zip over to take a look at it . Both upper tanks look like this lower tank

I can't speak for the crud, but unless you put a baffle in there to keep your macro away from your return, you are going to have the same algae-in-return-pump problem no matter what you use. My sump collects crud on a routine basis, I just get rid of it when I clean the sump about every three months or so.

+1 on this and I run reverse durso's on the outlet end of my drains. Keeps my tanks from "burping".

This tank is replacing the 72g custom in my bedroom. I'm going bigger for one very specific reason.....Achilles Tang. I've wanted one forever, now's my chance. I've got some major changes going on here. I took one frag system offline, it's being replaced with the shallow frag tank I bought from ReefKoi at MACNA. My 72g is coming down, to be replaced by the 210g. And I have a really weird sized 90g (24x24x36tall) that is also going in my bedroom, I have some really special plans for it........center manmade spire with flow all around, and a boatload of active little fish. It's going to be my "dither" tank. The 75g predator has already been replaced by a 140g brick rimless. Imma have a couple of nice systems for sale soon. I sure as heck can't keep them, I have a ton of tanks already sitting around here, LOL.

I'm familiar with Neptune's A lot of my corals come from zoanthids.com, Gonzos Frags, Coral Kings, High Def Corals, and Kick Azz Corals. Those are my Darth Mauls. Oh yea, I also buy from other collectors. It's an addiction, LOL.