Kallor

Thanks for the kind words! The song is Windbrake - Walsh & McAuley Remix Edit. It on my workout mix as well - and I think also works pretty well for general lounging around.

Well it has been a month since my last post, and I've certainly got some updates. I've had some challenges and upgrades since my last posts. One upgrade I really like is the addition of an Avast Skimmate locker. Its storage capabilities are great - but I almost like the pressure sensor more. I did something wonky yesterday that set my skimmer off, and got a nice text message from the Apex in response. It definitely helps me feel more relaxed. After having more bulkhead issues, I replaced all of my 1" schedule 40 bulkheads with 3/4" schedule 80 units - they fit perfectly in the pre-drilled holes for the 1" schedule 40s. I started to feel like my schedule 40's would get hairline cracks if I looked at them crooked. I've been very, very happy with the upgrade. I had plenty of flow with the 1" - and I still have more than enjoy for both the pump and the overflows. The Eheim I have has a 3/4" output anyway, and I had my overflow drains closed quite a bit. The switch over hasn't effected anything negatively, so even though it took some time I'm glad I did it. As I implied above, also got my Apex's email/SMS alarms set up properly - and I actually found a use for my Comcast email account - they were the only provider I could find that still lets you send email without using an authentication mechanism that the Apex sadly doesn't support. I think the Apex cloud update will fix this, but until that rolls out of beta it is nice to have the email and text alerts working. Earlier in January I ordered some 'pods and other assorted stuff from InlandAquatics. In hindsight, I was a little hasty with this, but the critters I got was the stuff you normally would get with your live rock, so I think for that reason it turned out ok. I ended up with various pods, some chaeto, bristle worms, a hair worm, some micro brittle stars and some other type of micro star. They've all done quite well - and I'm pretty sure the bristleworms have reproduced already. It is fun to watch the whole crew come out and feed. The micro brittle star's are particularly enjoyable to watch. Below are some shots of the starfish. The micro brittle stars are just a bit bigger than a quarter, and the other unnamed micro star is about the size of your pinky's fingernail. I've also recently starting noticing teeny white 'pods scurrying around low flow areas of my glass. Always a good sign, I think. And when I clean the foam surrounds on the MP-40s, I nearly always rinse out a large 'pod or two. Finally, one critter I've particularly enjoyed watching has been the hair worm. I didn't notice him for the first week or so after he was added to the tank, but for the last 2 - 3 weeks he has set-up shop in the front corner of the aquarium. I made a short video illustrating how he spends his day. I'm not really sure how to embed a video into the post, but you should be able to watch it by clicking here. With my cycle wrapping up, I think I should be ready for my first fish in a week or two. I'm going to start with a pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish, and then work from there. Exciting times!

Wonderful description of the Bean Animal and its workings! I have a BA C2C on my tank (no horizontals or Us, thankfully) and have slowly been learning precisely what makes it tick over these last few weeks. Your post certainly sums everything up nicely!

Sorry for being late to the party, but I'm just catching up on your thread. I really love this time-lapse. I'm exciting about making a similar one myself on of these days. I'd like to get a good camera position figured out so I can do a long-term coral growth time-lapse as well. Thanks for sharing!

Congrats! I've always loved these guys - I hope yours continues to thrive - they certainly are an exceptionally lovely fish! If I ever consider one in the future I may well hit you up for some advice

Thanks for the input regarding the jawfish. The more I read up on them, the less likely it seems like I can provide an ideal home for one of them. I think I'll cross the jawfish off of my list for the moment. I've heard about reclusive goby/shrimp pairs in the past, so I'll reconsider this idea as well. I think I'll look at blenny's as a replacement - as well as a pair of firefish - I've always liked their shape and coloration. I appreciate the advice. I'm rather wary of being able to provide for the dragonette ... and your input reminds me of why that is. There are too many sad stories about trying to keep this lovely fish in an aquarium. Also, if I got a dragonette I'd have to worry about other 'pod eaters out-competing them for food ... so for the moment I'll leave one on my perhaps-in-the-future list, and see how things stand after I've added Gurgly's other inhabitants. So for the moment, I'll keep most of what I had on my above list. However, I think I'm looking more now towards something like this (with the updates italicized): A pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish A trio of Fusilier Damselfish A pair or trio of Kaudern’s Cardinals An interesting blenny - perhaips a midas blenny Watchman Goby + Pistol shrimp - or perhaps a pair of purple firefish Kole Yellow-Eyed Tang Green mandarin – reevaluate in 6 months - 1 year Of course more comments and feedback are always appreciated! And now to sneak in some quick tank update photos Bubbles bubbles bubbles! Photosynthesis bubbles! I think they look like little globs of molten silver. A small bubble takes refuge under a bacteria/algae encrusted piece of filter floss

Soliciting Advice on Future Tank Inhabitants As I’ve currently got some downtime as I wait for my cycle to wrap up, I thought this would be a good opportunity to request some input from the community regarding the critters that will soon inhabit my tank. Most of my comments below are based on what I've read or seen by watching these guys on youtube or at the fish store. As this is my first marine tank with inverts, I don’t have much first-hand experience, so if any of you see any misconceptions, feel free to point them out. Thus far, I’m planning on a clean-up crew consisting of: Micro hermits - General purpose cleaning, and fun to watch. I know they might occasionally gobble up a snail. Snails - Nassarius for the sandbed, and some algae eaters for the glass and rocks – perhaps cerith, nerite and trochus? Mithrax crab - I know they can get nippy with corals, but everything is a risk, right? Also, I like how they look and find them interesting to observe Sea cucumber - For sandbed maintenance, and to give me something challenging to look for in the tank Conch (or two) - Fun to watch, and good detritus and sand cleaners Brittle starfish - I’d like to get a yellow one. They are good scavengers and interesting to observe when they stick their arms out. Red Fromia Sea Star - Mostly to enjoy watching her starfish about the tank. Cleaner shrimp - Fire, skunk … I’m not too sure. Any recommendations? Regarding vertebrate, swimming residents, I’m thus far thinking of: A pair of Pink Skunk Clownfish - I'd also like to get an anemone for them to pair with, and I'm leaning towards some type of bubble-tip at the moment A trio of Fusilier Damselfish – There isn’t much information available on these guys online, but Steve at QR likes them and has told me they make for peaceful , hardy and not-so-shy additions to a reef tank. Does anyone have any hands on experience with these guys? A pair or trio of Kaudern’s Cardinals – My wife is partial to these guys, and I admire their interesting shape and spotting as well. Blue Dot Jawfish - Lovely fish with a cool personality Watchman Goby + Pistol shrimp Kole Yellow-Eyed Tang – I like tang’s, and I like the subtle spotting on these guys. Plus they don’t get quite as large so hopefully one would be happier in my not-so-long , squarish tank. I'm still a bit concerned about a tang being unhappy in my tank, so this is the potential inhabitant I'm most wishy-washy about adding. Green mandarin – I will of course will have to wait many, many months for a stable pod population before adding a mandarin. I figure most of the clean-up crew could be added at the same time, with perhaps the exception of the red fromia sea star (which I would wait to add when the tank is more established). The fish would be added slowly - perhaps one species every month or every other month, based on how the tank responds. The mandarin would of course be added when the tank is ready, which I am guessing could take up to a year. I'd really love any feedback or advice on this basic plan. Thanks everyone!

A quick update: After about 4.5 weeks, Gurgly's nitrogen cycle is wrapping up. At the moment I'm just waiting on getting a good buildup of algae and then I will add my clean-up crew. Here are some shots to show how growth in the tank currently stands: A particularly funky spot on the sandbed What most of the rocks look like Happy New Years everyone! Hopefully in a week or so I'll have update photos filled with snails and crabs

Everything looks great! The tank is looking sharp and the fish look happy. One question I've always had: conventional wisdom is that yellow tangs get to about 6"-8". However, though I've seen loads of photos of 'em, I've never seen one that looked anywhere close to 6" (5", max, is what I've seen). Obviously a pair of 8"+ tangs wouldn't be happy in a tank that size (which is more or less the size of my tank as well) ... so to get back to the point ... how big do they really get in captivity? Great work on your tank! It is looking really nice!

Thanks for the advice guys! I couldn't have asked for two better responders! I really respect both of your opinions (having read so much about your builds on WAMAS). And to be honest, I'm actually quite happy with your advice - the various muds sounded messy and troublesome - and certain aspects of the marketing made me somewhat suspicious. I'm not making any value judgements, but for me at least ... I'll join the you both in the bare bottom sump club! Also, good luck with the hat - making the netted top was substantially easier to do than I expected. I spent about 30 minutes on the whole thing. One nice part is if you make a mistake (with the exception of cutting something too short) you can easily redo whatever step you flubbed. I had to re-cut some overly long pieces of the framing 3 times.

Gurgly is doing quite well - thanks again everyone for your help and support during my previous l--k crisis. Now I've been able to get back to enjoying this project For my next step, I made Gurgly a lid using the standard BRS kit. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out - the netting is nice and taught. I couldn't play tennis with it, but I certainly could rock out a game of badminton. The "lip" on the tank's top bracing made for a perfect place to rest the top - it really helps keep things looking clean. Gurgly's new hat. For the moment, this is just keeping any freakishly huge diatoms from jumping out of the tank . One day it will have actual fish to hold back. I also painted the dry side of my algae scraper to better match the tank's decor. I used some paint leftover from painting the back of the tank. Now I've got a question for my fellow WAMAS'ers: what do you recommend for my refugium's substrate? I'm definitely going to load it up with chaetomorpha, and currently it is loaded with live'ish rock that I had to remove from my main display to make my aquascape turn out the way I wanted. But for the substrate ... I was thinking either an inch or three of sand, bare bottom, or one of the various miraculous mud products (miracle mud, mineral mud, Fiji mud, etc.). However, I'd love some advice and/or pros/cons. Finally, a giveaway if anyone is interested: I've got around 3-4 feet (I can get it out and measure it if needed) of 1" braided vinyl tubing free for the taking, as well as a few good sized chunks of dry rock. If anyone wants it, PM me and we can set up a time for you to swing by my place and grab it. I can also cut anyone a really good deal on 5 1" schedule 80 bulkheads (threaded x threaded - bought from BRS) - though I'd rather sell/trade those than give them away. Happy holidays everyone!

Thanks guys! Your good wishes, and everyone's help is much appreciated! Everything is looking nice and dry so far (and for the last 30 or so hours) so I'm starting to relax. Now back to cycling!

Wow that actually is some pretty good cable management - great job!

Much appreciated guys! I've got the whole system up and running again, and I know for sure I've at least fixed some issues this time around (what with scraping the hardened goop on the wet side of the bulkhead, and replacing a likely-cracked bulkhead), so I really do feel I've got a good reason to be optimistic.Things are looking good so far but I'm keeping *fingers crossed* of course!

Thanks for the tips! I took your advice and cleaned up the bulkhead hole with some blade scraping and lots of towels. I think it looks quite nice now, and I can't feel anymore irregularities in the service. Bulkhead area, post clean-up The bulkheads I have are the ones shown here. I got most of them from Quantum Reefs, though I also picked up two extras on my last BRS order. I did indeed use 'dope' on the threaded joints. It certainly seems like the way to go. Upon close inspection, I could both see and feel the water leaking directly from where the dry side of the bulkhead meets the bottom of the tank - so that rules out the threaded connections to other plumbing items. The old bulkhead I was using still leaked even after my cleanup, so I'm pretty sure I cracked it somewhere during the last few times I took it on and off the tank. So into the rubbish it goes, and out comes one of my spare bulkheads. I've now got the new bulkhead attached in the overflow. It wasn't leaking with just a few cups of water in the overflow, so I added a few gallons to give the connection a better test. The dry side of the bulkhead is currently wrapped up with paper towels so I can quickly spot a slow leak (as it will seep into the towel, rather than hiding via a slow drip drip drip into the sump). I've been very careful to try to avoid over tightening this bulkhead. Perhaps I over tightened its predecessor in order to (temporarily) stop the leak that the gunk on the wet side of the bulkhead was causing. Its been about 20 minutes and everything is still staying dry. I'm going to slowly add more water to the overflow, but I'm starting to be cautiously optimistic now Thanks everyone for all the advice and comments! It is great during a stressful situation like this to have people to talk to that can relate to your exact situation! I'll keep everything updated - hopefully this evening I'll have good news to report!

I was cleaning everything up so that when Vince came by we could get straight to work. Below is the view looking down into my overflow area, straight onto the troublesome bulkhead hole. See the white kinda lumpy looking thing at the 4:00 position? It appears to have the slightest bit of texture when I rub my finger over it. Perhaps so PVC cement leaked out of the standpipe when I was first installing everything and seeped under the bulkhead, making it impossible for the rubber gasket to fully seal? Does this sound like a possibility? The Gremlin in the Overflow? Check the goop at the 4:00 position

That is a very, very good point. Keeping things in perspective is always crucial. All that this current leaky mess is doing currently is stressing me out, and stressing out my fledgling population of diatoms and algae. But my diatoms and algae are resilient - I have confidence they will pull through this ordeal. I'm slightly less resilient, but I will manage one way or another! Thanks for the support! I think Vince from QR is going to be able to swing by this evening and see if he can spot my blunder so that hopefully the this next "fixing" of this leak actually lasts

That is certainly sound advice. I came to the same conclusion when I was planning this build out, so has been what I've been using during the build. Well, 90% of the time at least - occasionally I used the tape just because I was more familiar with it and started get superstitious when I noticed a leak ;-) The part that is puzzling to me is that the leak started 2+ days after I had last messed around under the tank. It guess the currently leaking bulkhead has some teeny cracks in it that are letting water through - I just don't get why this particular bulkhead location keeps resulting in failures. Maybe there was some gunk on the wet side when I installed it last time, which perhaps could create an uneven seal leading to an eventually micro crack forming in the bulkhead.... or something like that. At least I've got the current leak channeled so that it is dripping into the sump rather than around its edges onto the floor of the stand. When I "fix" this again using a fresh bulkhead I'll be double sure to clear away any debris that might cause for a partial or uneven seal, and see if that results in a long term fix. Thanks again for the advice and tips!

Thanks for the info - I don't think I've run across those, but I'll be sure to avoid them now. The bulkheads I'm using are thread x thread schedule 40 ABS, like these www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulkhead-abs-thread-x-thread-2.html.

Help! I've got a leak issue and I am desperate. My tank is drilled for bean-animal style overflow. My secondary drain keeps having leak issues. At first I blamed it out my tubing. I was using braided vinyl tubing for both the main and secondary returns. They had to go to essentially the same location in the sump, and the hoses kinda pushed up against each other. I ended up with a leak in the secondary drain, and I assumed it was due to the stiff braided vinyl tubing either unscrewing its connection, or ultimately creating micro cracks in the bulkhead (due to the angle of the stiff tubing). I've now replaced that leaky bulkhead - and switched from braided vinyl to the ridged hard plastic tube which is more flexible than the braided vinyl. After this switch on Friday I was blessedly leak free for two days. However, I'm now once again getting a leak in the secondary drain at the connection point of the bulkhead to the tank flooring. I removed that section today, checked for random stuff stuck in the bulkhead, made sure the gasket was in place on the wet side, and checked the bulkhead for damage. The bulkhead and its rubber gasket all seem fine. However, when I connect everything back up it continues to leak. Does anyone have any idea what could be going wrong? I inspected that section of the tank's 'floor' as best as I could, and it appears to be in good shape structurally. The bulkhead I'm using is new and has been fine for the last two days, but today, with no provocation from my part, started leaking again. I'm at wits end, and would love any ideas anyone out there has! Thanks!!!!!

Could it be .... the start of a a diatom bloom? I've never been so happy to see this brown slime show up - it is great to see the cycle really is kicking and churning!

Quick update: putting the vibration/sound dampener on the ATO reservoir helped tremendously! So if you've got noisy ATO issues, this is certainly something to consider doing.

I don't have a specific post to comment on, I just wanted to mention how much I've enjoyed monitoring your build over the last few months. I got pretty antsy waiting for my tank to arrive, and living vicariously through other build logs (particularly yours) is what helped me make it through the tough, fishtankless times! Thanks for all the great posts and continued updates!

Sorry for hopping into your build log so late in the game - but at this point I just had to comment. You've obviously had quite the ride to get to this point (tree in the roof and all that) but you've clearly done some great work on your tank. Anyway, I just wanted to chime in and say absolutely amazing this gorgonian looks! Great job on your build!

That is great to hear! I was hoping for some news like this - I figured something must be up or people wouldn't recommend the Tunze ATO system so frequently. Thanks for the info!