Feelin salty...
- Thread starter Backfromthedead
- Start date
Just the trigger. Liveaquaria has always done a bang up job with the shipping. He left Wisconsin last night and was here in virginia at 144 pm today. They held my order for several weeks to avoid wintry weather, but I cant argue with them as I've never received a DOA from them thus far.
I'm keeping my stocking very light moving forward. I plan to have 3-4 tanks running at some point and maybe 5-6 fish between them. This will allow me to move into coral and anemones at some point without forsaking maintenance on the other tanks. I have a lot to learn with saltwater and dont want to over-extend myself in stocking which has happened too often in the past for me.
Clownfish flew the coop during the night. I had seen some sparring between him and the bicolor, but thought not much of it. Best I can figure is he was either chased out or was in desperate search of an anemone or mate, wriggled through this 1/2" crack somehow:
In other news, the trigger is settling in well. He's been exploring the tank a lot, scouring the ohko stone for copepods and taking NLS and omega one pellets. I know it sounds coarse, but I barely miss the clownfish with all the excitement this guy has brought.
On the tank building front, I've spent most of the weekend on this new prototype 36x24x20 island build. Awhile back, F fishdance posted a picture of a tank with the return lines coming right up through the drain, neatly obscuring the tanks inner workings from view. The idea intrigued me, so I've put something together to replicate it.
I still have to add the inner "sheath" pipe that will serve as a wire chase, emergency drain, and contain the 1" return line. If it works as I've planned, I hope to incorporate the design into some larger tanks.
In other news, the trigger is settling in well. He's been exploring the tank a lot, scouring the ohko stone for copepods and taking NLS and omega one pellets. I know it sounds coarse, but I barely miss the clownfish with all the excitement this guy has brought.
On the tank building front, I've spent most of the weekend on this new prototype 36x24x20 island build. Awhile back, F fishdance posted a picture of a tank with the return lines coming right up through the drain, neatly obscuring the tanks inner workings from view. The idea intrigued me, so I've put something together to replicate it.
I still have to add the inner "sheath" pipe that will serve as a wire chase, emergency drain, and contain the 1" return line. If it works as I've planned, I hope to incorporate the design into some larger tanks.
Sorry about the clown. ?
Trigger is looking great though!
Trigger is looking great though!
After working with GE scs1200 for the first time, I am not a fan. I have no doubt it is a great sealant, but it cures MUCH faster than the dc795 I am used to working with. My seams on this tank are not pretty, but I believe they are adequate in function. Its seems the excess silicone from the joints skinned and hardened before I could get the whole tank together, so when I smoothed the seals over they ended up "bumpy". Perhaps it would've worked better if I assembled the tank, then stripped the seals and resealed all in one go.
I'll be switching back to the dc795, but think the scs1200 still has value as a sealant for bulkheads, internal plumbing components and overflow boxes.
The CT is everything I dreamed he would be. He stands guard over ohko castle constantly, then comes right up to the glass and asks for pellets when I get closer. Instant classic I say.
The bicolor has not been so friendly. Quite the opposite in fact. This is what the 120 looks like 99.9% of the time since the clown departed.
...and when I come up to the feeding window, I might get a half second glimpse like this:
Got lots of work to do on the new tank this weekend which will be the bicolor's new home. Thanks for reading everyone.
I'll be switching back to the dc795, but think the scs1200 still has value as a sealant for bulkheads, internal plumbing components and overflow boxes.
The CT is everything I dreamed he would be. He stands guard over ohko castle constantly, then comes right up to the glass and asks for pellets when I get closer. Instant classic I say.
The bicolor has not been so friendly. Quite the opposite in fact. This is what the 120 looks like 99.9% of the time since the clown departed.
...and when I come up to the feeding window, I might get a half second glimpse like this:
Got lots of work to do on the new tank this weekend which will be the bicolor's new home. Thanks for reading everyone.
Fill test. Drain works just as designed, though I dont know if it will handle the 1200gph I was hoping for, should've drilled more holes. I'm planning on laying down a layer of black epoxy on the bottom, leave sand out of this tank altogether. Still hunting down plumbing components and going to cut the glass for the perimeter eurobrace today.
First water changes on these tanks today. After some rummaging in the garage, I managed to put together a pretty nifty, highly portable mixing station.
Inactive 95g hex tank+old aquaclear 70 ftw! I can get 20% water changes on both of my systems on a full tank, and it's just as easy to move around as a 50g brute can, but nearly twice the volume. I do not use rodi water...I've heard it's not necessary for fowlr setups, considering it for the future though.
This is the kind of algae growth I've been looking for. Can't wait until it covers all the rock...I'm mystified as to why it doesnt want to grow on the two big ones...
The bicolor has gotten noticeably larger, eats healthily but still shy when I approach.
Inactive 95g hex tank+old aquaclear 70 ftw! I can get 20% water changes on both of my systems on a full tank, and it's just as easy to move around as a 50g brute can, but nearly twice the volume. I do not use rodi water...I've heard it's not necessary for fowlr setups, considering it for the future though.
This is the kind of algae growth I've been looking for. Can't wait until it covers all the rock...I'm mystified as to why it doesnt want to grow on the two big ones...
The bicolor has gotten noticeably larger, eats healthily but still shy when I approach.
Set up the new tank today for a trial run. Im undecided as to if I'll rebuild it with a different silicone, so I just installed 4 corner braces from spare glass instead of cutting out the perimeter eurobrace.
Im encouraged by the success. Everything works well, even the e-drain feature, and it's near silent. There is a leak coming from the bulkhead and tee coupling, but since it's all mounted right over the sump all of the water goes right back into the system and not on the floor.
I could see this setup working well with one of those fancy prefab sumps or wet/dry and made even quieter with a fine control DC pump, but for now I'll be using the 30g I started this thread out with and a well used sp4.
Gonna run the tank until sunday when I can break it back down, finish gluing everything together. Thanks for reading!
Im encouraged by the success. Everything works well, even the e-drain feature, and it's near silent. There is a leak coming from the bulkhead and tee coupling, but since it's all mounted right over the sump all of the water goes right back into the system and not on the floor.
I could see this setup working well with one of those fancy prefab sumps or wet/dry and made even quieter with a fine control DC pump, but for now I'll be using the 30g I started this thread out with and a well used sp4.
Gonna run the tank until sunday when I can break it back down, finish gluing everything together. Thanks for reading!
Love all ur work man ??... enjoy that u made all the tanks urself... funny to see how quickly salt spreads...i remember those days ?. Not nearly as hard to keep as people make it seem. Live rock and skimmer is really all u need. As u dive deeper keep an eye out for any oldschool “euroreef” skimmers. Hands down the best imo...
