Smorf

Hmm, I guess photobucket changes the link when you move things into different albums, I will fix the pictures when I get home. As far as seeding the tank, I did buy a couple big live rocks for the DT, and a few little live rocks for the refugium. I also used some bagged live sand, whether or not that added life, who knows!?

I have a cheap $88 dollar one from Home Depot. I think it's Workmate brand or something (in-house brand). It's a table saw style where the blade is below the work. I can let you borrow it if you want to try it out and see if it is adequate for your needs. I tiled my kitchen floor with it and it has held up nicely for being so cheap. Plus I would think coral skeleton and porous rock would be easier to cut than dense ceramic tile. This isn't the actual saw I have, but mine is laid out like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100665659/5yc1v?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=wet+saw&storeId=10051&N=25ecodZ5yc1v&R=100665659#.UN3qLG_AfuM

This is fairly representative of what my tank looks like right now: I've definitely got plenty of copepods, and I just picked up some chaeto yesterday. It had lots of amphipods and little white brittle stars in it (all of which I placed in the refugium). What I haven't seen evidence of yet is worms in any of the sand. Is there anyone near me who would be willing to provide a scoop of worms from their tank? I can make a separate post on the WTB forum depending on the response here.

Well, things are happening in the tank. I've got diatoms, I'm having my Nitrite spike (1.0ppm), and I've got PODS! Tons of copepods scurrying all over the glass. Also there is one piece of live rock that is really interesting, it's growing some sort of macro algae or seaweed and is producing bubbles. I think it looks pretty cool. Here's the current FTS (need to clean the glass): I don't have a nice camera, but here's the jungle rock: And here's the best picture I could get of the bubbles:

Ask and you shall receive:

I had the rock curing in my guest bathtub for 1-2 months doing mostly daily waterchanges. I think I got most of the bad stuff out. My pH is reading 8.4 after having water in the tank for 4 days. Maybe just a hair high? While it was curing the reading was off the chart, like black-purple on the high-range ph.

Hmmm, I might try out your idea, I do get a little salt resting on the bottom. I guess my logic was to "spread out" and aerate the water more, which it does, but obviously it prevents the flow from going as deep.

Hello all. I just put water in my 90 gallon tank this weekend, so I figured I should go ahead and start my build thread. This will be my first saltwater tank. I currently have 3 other freshwater planted tanks, a 20g, a 10g, and 5.5 gallon Red Cherry Shrimp tank. This 90 gallon is definitely the new center piece of my living room. I made some of my own base rock out of oyster shells and portland cement. Here's an example of one specimen: While I was waiting to get everything together, I went ahead and made a water station for storing and mixing saltwater. I have since cleaned up the stray plumbing, but you get the picture. The top Brute is for RO/DI water, and the bottom is for mixing SW. Here's a test run: I also built a stand. Here's the basic 2x4 and plywood skeleton: And with a skin and some trim: And finally with some stain: Then, last Friday came something quite exciting: Tank is a Marineland/Perfecto 90 gallon Corner-flo tank. Light is a 6 x 54W Current USA Nova Extreme I picked up off Craigslist. Sump/refugium is a DIY 40g breeder Return pump is an Eheim 1262 On the way is an SWC Xtreme 160 cone skimmer For now, I think I will start with some soft corals and some LPS and see where the hobby takes me. I need to decide what I want to do with regards to my flow in the DT. I just have the return flow for now, I will probably add at least one circulation pump soon just to create some turbulence, right now everything is just a constant counter-clockwise swirl. I am looking for advice for bulbs for my light fixture. It currently has the year-old stock bulbs, which are 3 x 10,000 K and 3 x Blue Actinic. I'm a little lost when I look at bulbs, blue, purple, 10,000k, 12,000k. What would some of you recommend for a good mix of bulbs? I will post up a picture of the rockscape once the sand-induced cloudiness subsides.

You can never have too many reef pics. Thanks Ryan!

Hey guys, I'm new here. I'll be starting my build thread in due time, but I'm at the point where I need to acquire a tank. I am working towards a 90 gallon reef tank, which will be my first saltwater tank. My current plan is to order a reef-ready tank. It seems that at the local fish stores I've contacted, all anybody can order is a corner overflow tank. Where this tank will be sitting, it will be viewable from 3 sides. I would prefer to order a rear-overflow tank so that the overflow plumbing is hidden, however I've having trouble finding one. If I end up going with a corner overflow tank, I was wondering how ugly the overflow box is from the side. I was thinking about possibly painting the PVC black so it does not stand out like a sore thumb. I was hoping some of you could provide a picture of your tank that shows the side view or a 3-quarter view including the overflow plumbing in the tank, regardless of whether you have taken measures to camouflage it or not. I have not been able to find any pictures like this on the web. I basically want to try to decide if I would be happy with a corner-overflow tank. Thanks!