Sascha D. Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 And this is the last time you'll see the tank like this. A few pics of the corals. Just for fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 Its like Frag Olympus! LOL! I made it that high because that is my goal for the new aquascape. I like to view my tank from all sides, but it has to be appealing from the front and the right side. I think I've decided on two large pillars with a pass through in the middle. I'm going to go for a Tree of Life sort of look to them; tall, large base, and flat branches extending from the main column. I'll put one on each side of the tank and connect the look with a single - double stack of rock along the back of the glass. Objectives: Be able to look through the tank from front to back. Swimming room for fish. Three light areas for different corals. Time: Around 5 hours. Chance for Success: Low - Medium. Probability of making a mess: Extremely High. Probability of Completely F#ing it up and having to start over: Medium - High. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 Step 2: Getting pruned! First I gathered out my tools and laidd down my blue "marriage saver." For this project, I bought three 48" driveway markers from Home Depot for $1.99 each and cut them to size with a hack saw, a 5/16 masonry bit, drill, and some epoxy. Next, I took half of the rock out of the tank to get down to the larger base pieces. With everything laid out I was able to try different shapes together. My goal was to hide as much of the rods as I could. Some epoxy was used to affix rubble to specific locations to hide the rods. I'll post some pictures of the finished product tonight after the water clears up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Step 3: Finished pillars Full Tank Shot Left Side Right Side Step 4: Coming soon! As you can see from the pictures the corals are still in my "Fraglympus". I'll move them in a day or two when I'm sure I won't switch it up anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Very unique. It looks great. I have one rock in my 135G lagoon that sets the tone for the tank. I call it Stonehenge. I collected it from my wet weather stream at Bear Creek property. Fraglympus works for me. Very nice work. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Haha I remember that rock Patrick. I thought it looked great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceastman Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Ah that's an interesting idea - drill and sink rods through the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Very nice Sascha. It came out looking very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Is that a fibergalss rod? I've been wanting to expirement with this DIY project but have thought plexiglass rods too expensive for the rigidity. 1.99 a stick of fiberglass would be perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Looking good bud. You are ready for those SPS now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Ah that's an interesting idea - drill and sink rods through the rock. It came out better than I thought. I have about zero imagination, but managed to get a decent design. I probably drove my wife crazy. Very nice Sascha. It came out looking very good. Thanks Planeden! Is that a fibergalss rod? I've been wanting to expirement with this DIY project but have thought plexiglass rods too expensive for the rigidity. 1.99 a stick of fiberglass would be perfect! Those rods are fiberglass. I cut them using a hacksaw. After about 4 saws the rods were completely cut through. You buy these rods near the mailboxes at Home Depot. They have white and orange. I got the orange because they were the cheapest. Looking good bud. You are ready for those SPS now! Thanks! I plan on placing the acros on the top ledges, the birdsnest on the middle ledges and softies below that. Here's what I have right now: Cali Tort Acropora Blue Acropora Purple Digitata Green Digitata a mystery green acro with purple tips Green Birdsnest (which I thought was a Green Slimer when it was a 0.5" frag) and the Turquoise Birdsnest and montipora I got from you. I'm not sure what their proper names are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Should be screaming green birdsnest and warp speed month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Tuesday or Wednesday I plan on decreasing Fraglympus by a few corals and attaching them to the rockwork. I will be separating the corals that I want to sell from the corals that I want to keep. Right now, I think I will sell an acan, duncan, and a few zoa/paly frags. All of the cyano disappeared about a week after adding the skimmer. I have also noticed a considerable decrease in film algae growth, leading me to believe there are generally less nutrients in the tank. I think that I may end up adding a dual reactor with either carbon/GFO and BP. I won't be certain until I am able to start daily tests of the water parameters. I am slightly concerned about the cost of bulk media. Assuming the acros survive, I think I have a good selection of corals. There are still a few that I would like to add to balance out the colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorien Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Nice! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Week 27 Update: I finished the aquascape project this week and I think it turned out better than I thought it might. Most importantly, my "blue marriage saver" totally worked! Not a drop of water spilled! This week I also picked up another barrel for my mixing station. I'm ready to get them cleaned up and drilled this weekend. Last night I opened my HoldFast Epoxy Stick, by Instant Ocean, and mounted some corals. I managed to get about 20 corals mounted and still have 10 to go. So far this is the best stuff I've ever used! Ten times better than JB Waterweld! The JB at Home Depot sells for $4.99 for 2oz and the HoldFast gives you 4oz for $6.99. It sets hard in about seven minutes after mixing and not a single coral fell from where I placed them. I'll never go back to JB again! Nice! I love it! Thanks! I'm pretty proud of it. One or two tweaks and I'll be good to go for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Wow great looking update to the aquascape! I agree with Ty time to get that tank full of SPS!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Week 29 Update: So far so good! I really love how the aquascaping turned out and I see a difference in the corals and fish. The current flows around the tank much more efficiently and I frequently see the Chromis playing in it throughout the day. The SPS has responded well to the different light zones and I'm happy that they are coloring up nicely. I bought this Skunk Cleaner Shrimp after a bout of Ich a few months ago. I got a great deal on it at RCA during that 30% off sale they had in December. Since then he's grown from 0.25" to about 2". This Pocillopora frag is extremely happy in its new spot. This was my first SPS frag and started as a single branch. Frogspawn. One of my very favorite corals and this particular one is about the size of a baseball. I got it from Chris as a single head around August. This is some sort of Acropora. I got it from Scubasteve when he broke down his tank. I actually thought it was going to be a pink or red acro, but after a few weeks the color really started to change. I'm going to put a before and after picture because the change is so amazing! Here's what it looked like the week I got it. THIS is what it looks like today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Hello Everyone, There is no reefer alive that hasn't gotten hard algae and coralline on their glass, and I am no exception. In the past I've tried many methods with varying degrees of success. By far the best method that I have used is a razor blade. The goal is to use a razor to clean the tank without getting soaked to the core. After looking at products online, I thought I had found a solution; the Mag-Flip. My first impression of this product was that there was no way the magnet would hold on my thick glass. Straight out of the box there is no way this product would work. I gave it a test and I was right. The scraper either isn't sharp enough or doesn't push against the glass with enough strength to be effective, though the magnet was stronger than I had expected. This is a shot of the glass scraper. You can see from the picture that Mag expects this plastic piece to remove coralline algae from our tanks. Not gonna happen. So what can we do? Well we have to figure out a way to make the blade stronger. The solution? Add a razor. Here's how: First we remove the plastic scraper. You'll see there are two plastic tabs that help hold the plastic onto the blade. Snap those off as close to the top as you can. Next, we're going to insert a razor blade in between the plastic blade and the scraper. Make sure the blade sits evenly. Now lets see how it works: After the modification the scraper works like a champ! Best of all, I stayed dry. It took me about ten minutes to scrape the glass of a 150 gallon tank and the entire set up only cost me $10 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 Here's an updated full tank shot Right side Left side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 The pillars came out very nice, good job with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 Thanks. I wish I had done it this way to begin with. It would have been much easier to drill the dry rock on my workbench. I really like the way it came out as well. I have 5-10 frags I want to sell and I may add a few more sps, but then I'm going to let it grow out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Week 30 Update: I haven't tested in like two months. I'm almost to a point when I will test daily and monitor my swings, usage and start dosing. I need to buy some tests for Ca, Mg and Alk. pH - 8.2 NH3/NH4 - 0 NO2 - 0 NO3 - 0 Salinity 1.026 Temp - 78 The skimmer is doing great! This is what it looks like every 14 days. The refugium is also growing like crazy! Three weeks ago I removed 50% of my algae and it's already back in business. I have about 6-7 species in there and all of them are doing well. I noticed a considerable drop in C. Prolifera without a sandbed. Edited February 7, 2014 by Sascha D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 only judging by the relative aesthetics of the skimmer and refugium, i think the fuge is better . seriously, though. that fuge looks neat with all the separated macros. so neatly done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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