victoly Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Whenever you want that 2x cable, i want some of that hawkins or efflo or whatever that blue spike is. Wowza! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Thanks, I rented a professional rolling camera cart and stuck my Galaxy S3 on the front of it with velcro. That and maybe clicked the anti-shake button on youtube to smooth out my shakey old man hands. That sir is my ORA Hawkins Echinata I got from Wizard (Tim) a couple years ago. Perhaps my sandbed/frag rack clear out will fund my new WP-40 and I may call on your services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Do or do not, Ty. There is no try. DADDY NEEDS A HAWKINS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I want some too!! The video don't work on my iPhone but I saw the tanks the other day and OOOHHHH BOY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Looking great. Love the colors on the smallish blue and green coral just above the BTA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 That one Grog is a pearlberry in its new spot. Hope it likes it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 looks great ty. very nice tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 That one Grog is a pearlberry in its new spot. Hope it likes it! Thanks..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 looks great ty. very nice tank. Thanks bud! The more I leave it alone, the better it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 Hmmm... somehow a 215-gallon tank ended up in my garage. Oceanic, "brick tank", with two mega overflows that are drilled through the bottom. Had to look up what a "brick tank" was... basically overbuilt with 3/4" glass so that a center brace is not needed! My life is finally complete now that I have a tank without a center brace! So, the thought occurred to me that I still have a 180-gallon tank in the backyard that I just resealed (need to water test Tuesday). Sump? The tank from my dad is not coming anymore but he is bringing down a ton of smaller tanks (glass and acrylic) that I can use for possible alternative sumps. Awesome. So now I have a 215-gallon to work with as my new tank. One seal has a pinhole leak in it so I am going to remove the whole front pane and reseal. No point in chancing it with 215-gallons in my family room. I also have a solidly overbuilt 2" square steel tubing stand (Thanks Dena!) that now needs to be modified to fit the tank. Tank is 72" x 24" x 28", stand is 72" x 30" x 40". Really, the stand is just 6" deeper than my tank. So, what to do? BBReefer got me thinking about leaving the stand the way it is and just add another 2" steel tubing at the 24" depth mark to support the back of the tank and leave the stand 30" deep. That way I have a stand back there to work with if I needed to walk on it back there and also leaves a gap from the wall so I can organize plugs, add pumps, etc. I think I am starting to like the idea more, each time I think about it. It will also give me more room underneath the tank since I will be essentially working with a 72" x 30" area, versus a 72" x 24" area in the stand. Offroaddodge, you might be getting a PM soon. All these things to think about now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 I think the more obvious solution is to get a tank that is 30" deep to fit the stand. Then the brick could fit under it for the sump and have 6" in front of it for storage and pumps and things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 You wouldn't happen to be using a 72" x 30" tank as a shelf right now, would you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 ha, no. pretty sure if i did i'd find a place to fill it with water. but i only have 135 gallons total. and 15 gal of that is (supposed to be) temporary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Awesome Job on this tank Ty! Easily one of the best tanks I've ever seen and that Green Trumpet is to die for! After seeing your thread I feel a little sheepish for what my tank looked like when you picked up those Chromis. How are they doing btw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 Thanks Sacha! Hey man, we all started somewhere. You were way farther along than I ever was at the beginning of my saltwater journey. Your tank is looking great and will look amazing once everything starts growing in and filling it out. Your aquascaping still beats anything I could ever put together with rocks... I wish there were like aquascaping professionals out there so I could just hire someone. Chromis are doing great. They've established their pecking order and I forgot what the instant affect of adding chromis does to your tank... overnight it turns it into a saltwater community, versus just a couple of fish randomly swimming in a glass box. I lost 3 chromis during QT as those three decided to just slowly break away from the pack and hide until they died. As crazy as it is, I think chromis get the reputation of being easy fish to keep since they are cheap but with territorial fighting and their high metabolisms, they are a little harder to maintain as a group than most would think. For me, my theory is to treat them like anthias... multiple small feedings per day to keep aggression down and to keep up with their higher metabolisms. I kept a group of 7 alive for 1.5 years but slowly over that time, they would die off one by one. Wasn't sure if that was due to territorial elimination over time or perhaps I wasn't feeding enough for their likes. I'll report back how long I can keep these 7 alive. Both times I bought them, I started with a higher number and immediately dwindled to 7 and stayed there for a bit. So for my tank at least, 7 is the magic number. Just in case people were looking, was at Aquatek yesterday and they had a bunch of smaller chromis for $5/specimen. They also had giant one's for I think $15 in another tank. I may look into buying just one very large one as I heard if there is a truly dominant one in the pack (he's like 3x bigger than my current one's), the rest fall in line and don't fight as much. Maybe hearsay but I might be willing to try it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mlaw Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I'd like to hear how that turns out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Love the tank, it looks great. Can't wait to see the new one come together. That 215 is a great looking tank! I take it that you are planning to run mh on the new tank as well? Seeing your sps has just validated my choice to go with mh on my new tank! The color on your corals is absolutely amazing can't wait to see them grown out as some huge colonies!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Wait...is that a new tank you're building, or a glass hot tub lol. Look forward to seeing it completed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 Free splash in the hot tub for first 10 people who buy frags! I was amazed at the 215 when I went to go pick it up from a Craigslist ad. Popped up there with money in hand and a Uhaul truck without ever seeing it. What a great surprise! Dumb luck still feels great when its happening to you... even though you don't deserve it! Haha. MH for sure... would love to get some T5s on it as well to customize the color a bit but MH will be main lighting. I may even kick it up and go 400 watt as my ballasts are all adjustable from 250-400. Gotta love those cheap plusrite bulbs! Thanks for the compliment RobR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Just noticed the pics of the new tank. I really like Oceanic tanks, they are solidly built. Wish that the one I had previously hadn't been so scratched up. Funny thing is I've been toying with the idea of chromis as well but I've heard all kinds of bad stories. I like the concept of one large one to herd the others around. May start a chromis thread so we can share ideas there instead of clogging up your build thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I'm not sure what Clint's trying to get for it but his light is pretty sweet. I got an ati lamp and live it! that brick is freakin sweet, it's Gona look empty when you move your stuff over lol u Gona remove the trim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Free splash in the hot tub for first 10 people who buy frags! I was amazed at the 215 when I went to go pick it up from a Craigslist ad. Popped up there with money in hand and a Uhaul truck without ever seeing it. What a great surprise! Dumb luck still feels great when its happening to you... even though you don't deserve it! Haha. MH for sure... would love to get some T5s on it as well to customize the color a bit but MH will be main lighting. I may even kick it up and go 400 watt as my ballasts are all adjustable from 250-400. Gotta love those cheap plusrite bulbs! Thanks for the compliment RobR. A couple of the new WP40's from the group buy and some heaters and your in business... Just need a whirlpool setting.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 12, 2013 Author Share Posted October 12, 2013 Trim is staying in place. The tank will be sitting on a 40" high stand and the tank itself is 28" tall so I am building an enclosed canopy... or else run the risk of being blinded by 3 x 400 watts of MH lighting. What a way to go out! Hmmm... what frequency for the pumps would you set the Apex on for whirlpool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 So I put together a plan for the tank upgrade. Idea is to move the existing 125-gallon tank to the side so that I can setup the new 215-gallon tank in its place and take my time cycling as well as slowly moving corals over. I have an existing 180-gallon that I resealed which I will use as the hold tank while I remove rocks and corals and move the 125-gallon. I thought it was smart to do this all myself as my mind has not quite caught up to my body as to my actual age. Tank before move with canopy off: Here's my stock 180-gallon with all my precious corals in it: Picture of the stock 180-gallon with the precious cargo and the new temporary spot for the 125-gallon: Here's the 125-gallon after I have moved and replaced as best I could, the corals and the liverock: I'm still feeling the pain but at least I found out this old guy still has some moves left in him with moving that 125-gallon with about 4" of water in it, several live rocks, and 2" of sand. Next step, resealing my new tank (the 215-gallon), having Offroaddodge modify my stand, plumb my new tank, cycle live rock and sand, and slowly start transferring equipment/livestock. I'll eventually skin the metal stand but one step at a time. I am looking for function now and will follow suit with aesthetics later. I have a couple of accidental frags that I will post up sometime this weekend... perhaps after the frag swap/October meeting. Wish I can make it but my dad is popping into town so family first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Wow, I can't believe you did that all on your own. It looks great put back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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