boognish

bump - Bedroom completely rearranged. Trying to get the new tank cycling this weekend.

My daughters cichlids have outgrown their tank so we are moving then into my old 75. Its in her room, so a dresser would work great to maximize space, but if you have a stand ill take it too.

512-56(zero)-39(zero)2

Several pics over a few posts of my canopy starting on pg 2

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/13468-175-gallon-bowfront-build/page-2

Thaks guys!

yeah but they werent totally black...i dont like them with the orange nose...is this something they grow out of?

Both of my Ocellaris have turned almost completely black (ther than the white stripes) as they matured. One still has a tiny bit of orange on his lips, but it is going away.

I am using it on my S3 without issue. It works fine. Search 'apex reef' in the PlayStore and you'll 'Aquacontroller Apex - Beta' as the top result.

... Just realized you have AC3... not APEX AC.

Bump. Poor QT fish want some light...

I think you mistakenly put these in the photography forum instead of the 'for sale' forum. I'll take 2

Very interesting colors on those. Nice shot.

I'm looking for lights for my 29g bio cube. If you've upgraded and dont need your old lights, I'll take them. I'm using the tank as a QT so I'd like lights that fit into the factory lid.

Last bump before I just move the Korallin to the new tank.

I bought a nice 7" x 4" multi-colony zoa rock from another member. I always dip zoas in a light solution of H2O2 for algae, etc. I got some tank water in a tupperware, dropped the rock in, and went to the closet and grabbed the Hydrogen Peroxide bottle. I slowly started pouring some into the tupperware with the rock. Suddenly I realized the smell I recognized was not H2O2. My daughter is a swimmer and gets swimmers ear. I had mixed up a 50% H2O2 and Isopropyl Alcohol solution for swimmers ear prevention and kept it in an unlabeled H2O2 bottle. I immediately remembered thinking "I should label this before I use it as H2O2...." The zoas were fine after a RO/DI and saltwater rinse. No algae or sober bugs. "Go home zoas, you're drunk"

I'm sure I've done something more stupid and it hasn't presented itself yet. Might be the melting of my braces with 3 x 400w MHs in my hood. We'll see...

Bump. Still looking.

wow man I am sorry to hear what happened, I was blown away by your tank when I picked up the xenia. I certainly hope everything works out. by the way since I live basically around the corner if you need a tank sitter or any help and I am around please feel free to give me a shout, i'll PM my number again.

and what is that super pink coral?

Thanks for the offer on help - I may take you up on that when it comes time to implement the final fix.

The pink sps is Pink Setosa. It is starting to encrust the rock I mounted it to, but I think it is a bit faded. It certainly glows under the MH and the T5s.

sounds about right - especially with evaporative cooling.

175 Gallon tank

Canopy

3 x 400W Metal halides that are air cooled to the garage

3 x 54W T5s

Even with very efficient closed duct, air cooled lighting system, I lose about 1 to 1.5 a day.

Update time...

Seems like things are finally starting to grow, and most of the zoas are hanging in there, so I've started moving more coral from the old 75 gallon to the 175. The 75 had 150W MHs and 96W actinics. The 175 has 3x400W MHs. I took par measurements in both tanks and I'm trying to place things where the par is close the the same and acclimating them with a shortened light period. I just replaced the 400W MHs and allowed them to burn in for a week. I will re-check and compare PAR readings with the old and new bulbs.

All pics were taken with Samsung Galaxy S3.

This guy was a great grower in the 75, but only

had blue tips. It still has fully extended polyps,

so I'm hoping it colors up in the new tank.

Now for the bad news... While I was off snowboarding, my neighbor called and informed me that my return pump was not on and that the tank was blowing bubbles. I suspected the pump in the saltwater mixing station was going bad and was the culprit for a tripped fuse in the garage. I had him unplug it and the return pump came right back on. The following day, my Brother in law checked the tank and called to tell me there was about 1/4 inch of water in the stand. (I made it water tight, so it wasn't on the floor). I assumed the wavebox pumped water up and it just overflowed the sump a bit. I spent a week getting the salinity back up (was down to 1.02-ish) since taopoff replaced the spillage.

During the first water change when I got back, the tank level went way below the overflows and the sump quickly filled to the top when I cut off the return pump. I turned the flow back on and realized that the top supports had broken (heat maybe??). My bow-front is now a bow-front/back. The back had pulled away from the overflow's vertical side and water is just flowing in along the back to about 1/3 down. My heart sank. To avoid a complete blowout of the back of the tank, I implemented a stop-gap short term 'fix'. I went to Lowes and engineered a bolt system that I could place between the tank and the wall that I could slowly open wider and press the bow-back in a bit. I drained the water about 1/3 down, placed the bolts between a board against the wall and one along the trim at the top of the tank (dispersing the load), and opened up the bolts ... slooooowly... It brought the bow in and I am no longer worried about a blowout while I find the time and figure out a more permanent fix.

I will be adding some of the reef epoxy I use to mount corals (cures in water) to temporarily seal up the vertical piece where it's leaking into the overflow.

Once I find 2 or 3 full days where I can be at the house over a weekend, I will implement my long-term fix:

• move all coral from the top levels to the bottom
• drain the water and place an airstone and an extra powerheads
• use my bolt system to bring the 'bow-back' all the way straight and add support:
  • option 1: find or fabricate a new top trim and supports
  • option 2: create new front-to-back supports with cables that I can adjust like the back bolts I am using as a temp method
  • option 3: eurobrace the back of the tank
  • option 4: a combo of #3 and either #1 or #2
• re-silicone the overflow vertical against the back
• Wait for silicon to cure and refill the tank, cross fingers, and remove the temporary fix.

I am not looking forward to cutting flow for a 24-48 hours while silicon cures, but I don't think it is avoidable. If anyone has experience or input on any of the methods I'm considering, please feel free to chime in.

Looking for a calcium reactor for my 175. I have an old korallin reactor running on my 75 that I planned on moving, but I'm hoping to find one that needs less baby sitting.

I needed a way to spot feed the corals in the bottom of my tank. I was tired of using a baster or pipette and getting soaked. Not to mention, the refraction when standing over the tank usually resulted in me spot feeding the wrong coral or the water column, I came up with this deep water spot feeder. It cost me less than $2.00 in materials, but I came across the 2oz syringe/plunger on the ground at the free SXSW Flaming Lips show last month. They were sold as the delivery mechanism for Jello shots, but I saw more potential in them...

Supplies:

• 2oz Syringe/Plunger
  • Either go to a show and buy a jello shot, pick one up off the ground (recommended,) or search the internet for "Jello Shot Syringes"
• 3/8" Inner Diameter PVC - cost: $1.49
• Vinyl Tubing (3/8" Outer Diameter) - cost: .27c / foot
• Vinyl Tubing (Standard air hose used for air stones, etc) - cost: had it laying around

Cut the PVC to desired length. Since the PVC I found came in 5' lengths, I cut it into 3' and 2' lengths that I can use for varying depths at different angles.

Cut about 1.5 - 2 inch pieces of both hoses and make the tip by fitting the smaller hose into the larger hose.

Fit the larger hose into one end of the PVC. I made two of these tips and fit one onto both the 2' and 3' PVC pieces.

Fit the other end over the syringe. I did not glue it. It stays on pretty well and I can remove it to use on either length of PVC.

Mix up your feeding concoction and spot feed at any depth without getting wet. Attach the stem to the syringe then suck the food mixture into the end of the stem where the flexible hose tip is; not into the plunger first.

Before the stem is in the tank, gravity will pull the plunger down, so learn from my product testing and hold the plunger up to keep the food off the floor, the smell out of the room, and the wife off your back.

Some gone, but plenty left. Come and get some before I decorate my neighbors porch with it!

done -

Trade for zoas, sps or anything else you feel is fair. $5 will get you a handful. Pay more and get more.

Time to trim the hedges again...

Call or text

512-56[zero]-39[zero]2

Those of you still using MHs...

I'd like to hear what brand and temperature 400W MHs you prefer and what growth results you get. I want a good balance of blue without forsaking too much growth.

My tank has 3 x 400W MHs that I bought slightly used and it's time to replace them. I am not sure of the brand/temp, but they are quite blue. I do have 3 T5s for supplemental lighting, but they don't do much when the MHs are on.

PS - I'm not switching to LEDs (except to replace the supplemental T5s next month) or trying to start a MH vs T5 vs LED thread.

Bummer... Bristle worms alone couldn't devour a dead clam that size in 6 hours. I'd look at the fish or the CUC. Like everyone said though, neither of those would usually attack a healthy clam, so I'd look for other culprits that would cause it to be weakening. Pyramidellid Snails, light requirements (usually slow, but can weaken them enough for prestaors to take over and finish the job), etc.

Your post made me reach in and give my clam a hug.

I wanted to hug mine also, but I couldn't quite reach all the way around. I am nervous about moving it to my new tank. Will probably be the last tenant to leave that 75.

I'm unable to PM you from my phone for some reason.... I have a GSP garden and can trim any amount you need.

I started off trying to go minimalist with my 175, but didn't quite end up there... I visited all of the links posted above, plus about 50 more... I ended up with a happy medium between a stack of rocks and minimalist by using pillars to get the height I wanted and leaving as much exposed sand as possible. I need to post some more current pics now that there is some coral in there.

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/13468-175-gallon-bowfront-build/page__st__40#entry165298