yet another build thread (180 inwall)

[cilyjr]

i had a few set backs fish wise . i bought 3 barred dartfish and a box anthias. the anthias died and 2 of the dart fish were jumpers. i think i will try some eggcrate over the tank.
i put a piece over the sides which have the lumen brights and it did little to change the lighting but the center that has the old reflector was noticeably dimmer.

 

[cilyjr]

ok so i had some jumpers...darn. i put eggcrate across the top of the tank and was sure i was fine... until today at cra. barry told me how he lost a few fish through eggcrate and i needed the clear screening (yes, takara you said it too). well i bought it and replaced the eggcrate with it. glad i decided to do it after i spent the 10 bucks on eggcrate (lesson i will never learn i guess). anyway heres a pic of the new improved anti jump barrier. i needed to keep some eggcrate around the overflow because of the weird over the top return i used. the pipe with the airline is my beananimal drain system durso.

 

[Cjtabares]

Looks good. can you tell a bg difference in the light like Barry said you would?

 

[cilyjr]

in the middle yes. where i have the older reflector but not as much under the lumenvues. i really need to stop buying livestock and get the 3rd reflector




pbitawa

 

[Cjtabares]

yeah i didn't have any money to spend and i left with the tomini tang. I guess it could have been worse i was eying a few corals and the tank that was built. I left early what happened with the tank?

 

[cilyjr]

i am not sure chris, i am pretty sure it will need to sit there until tomorrow when the silicone cures. dave would prob know i think. cool that ya grabbed that tang he will be a nice add. the orange shoulder i bought was out and eating right away. and he was "making friends" with the kole right away. if i was that kole i would do some reading on just how big the orange shoulder tangs get before i started bullying the new guy.

 

[pillowfish]

Looks like you did a fantastic job!

 

[cilyjr]

thanks i am pretty happy. and my wife now spends time in the finished room in the basement. she says it looks like it has a purpose rather then just being plopped down there.

i am having issues getting all my drips and additives to proper levels atm. but i am working it out. for example i have finally got calcium maintaining 430ish which took a good deal of fussing with the ca reactor. but in doing so i stopped paying attention to the kalk drip and i got alk up to about 14.5dkh. but that is finally dropping too. so basically i got alot of new tank issues. i was expecting them though because when i want from my 40bow to my 90 the same thing happened. i dont get a cycle but ya get all the diatoms and new tank algae ect...go cuc go!!!!!!

 

[cilyjr]

well i finally got a decent camera the other day an i got to snap off a few pictures. i will still need to mess with the camera a bit and get a quality macro lens but my picture quality has improved 10fold right off the bat.

 

[cilyjr]

modded my asm g3 skimmer today. the 1st thing i did was lengthen the air intake to pull fresh air in from outside. this also made it so ya can't hear the slurping that it makes. the 2nd thing i did ( after talking to john) was similar to the gate valve mod but without spending a lot on the gate valve. here is a link to exactly what i did. here are a few pics

 

[s_kelley]

Wow looking good I haven't read this thread since the begining and wow you've made a ton of progress looks awesome

 

[cilyjr]

On slate for today will be adding a drain line off of the return to allow for easier water changes. when i built my sump i allowed a return chamber large enough to change 30 gallons of water without having any visual effect on the display. Currently i need to do it in 5 gallon intervals filling a bucket and dumping into a sink that has a pump out. It sits lower then the out for the house. my 2 problems with this are that i am lazy and don't like carrying the buckets the 10 feet to the sink and when i am done i need to run several gallons of fresh water through the sink to make sure the pump out pump is not sitting in salt water. i will bypass the sink today and go into the laundry drain. since my salt water mixing tub is already plumbed into the system water changes will now only require turning valves. i hope

 

[cilyjr]

did my 1st water change with only having to twist ball valves. loved it! my new water change routine consists of opening one valve going to watch the tank for 10 mins then closing that valve and opening the other. then more tank watching and viola... that was the best 35 bucks i have spent.

 

[cilyjr]

got a few new pics...

cleaning station front and center of tank.

maxima.... again

happy acro...thanks gardner

 

[MPevine11]

i love that pic with the 2 shrimp!! great tank and great pics!

 

[GaryDN]

things looking good Chris

 

[cilyjr]

after 3 months up and running i am pretty much now back to where i was with the 90 meaning i finished "new tank syndrome" not a cycle as all my live rock 300 lbs plus was all cycled from the second it entered the tank. i mean the diatoms and cyano outbreaks that i seem to get every time i have upgraded. i am now seeing growth on corals that have been stunted because of the move and i am pretty happy.
on a side note i got lucky at the last meet and was 1st pick in the raffle and got over 50 lbs of lr rock that had gone dry (thanks jay)....i am cycling it in a tub and will be adding it to the system in a month or so. it is much nicer looking then some of the rock in my DT but i am unsure i want to mess with the aquascaping. to replace it.

on a side note i won over 50 lbs of rock at a raffle and was super excited.....then i realized i was weird!

 

[JohnK]

Nice,

That rock is the best, but plan to cure it for a while. If it's the old school marco figi rock (I think it is, check with Jay to confirm) it may need to cook for 6+ weeks to be really clean, but the time is well worth it IME.

 

[cilyjr]

right on man...you were spot on with the water, it was yellow in 24 hrs....its gonna get new water tomorrow or Monday when i do my next change in the big tank. i got no rush to add the rock. i keep thinking it is much nicer then the rock i have in the DT but i know messing around will halt growth

 

[JohnK]

That dry figi rock is some of the coolest shaped and textured stuff that I have ever seen, dry or live.

If you can, toss a chunk of establised LR in with the dry rock as it cooks. It's amazing how much life can develop during the cook time.