mogurnda July 30, 2004 Share July 30, 2004 Hey Guys, I finally got my act together and uploaded some photos of the tank as it has come together. It started as a free 90 gallon AGA tank, with stand and canopy, won in the raffle at the Symposium. Note the stand has already been painted brown to match our earth-tony room. My wife picked a nice shade of blue for the back: The freshwater test run went fine: So I put in ASW, playsand and some dead live rock ("reef bones"), and ran a powerhead and quickfilter: Now it's sitting with some rotting bits of crab, innoculated with live sand from the 20 gallon. The current specs are: 90 gallon reef-ready tank with AGAs version of a durso 20 long sump, now in its second redesign mag 9.5 return pump, going to 3/4" SeaSwirl [there's also a Euroreef CS 6-2 skimmer that will get added after the cycle] Next series: modding the canopy for the halides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo August 1, 2004 Share August 1, 2004 looking good dave, hows the hood coming along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 1, 2004 Author Share August 1, 2004 Finished the woodwork yesterday, and the outside needs another coat of paint. I hope to wire it up during the next week or two. If I ever host a tank tour, I'll have to put a cordon around it so that people can't examine the carpentry too closely Thanks for asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest clownfish4 August 1, 2004 Share August 1, 2004 If you need rock, I am hosting a rock making party on Saturday, Aug. 7th. You are welcome to come. The thread is here. Also, the tank is looking good. Glad to see it is coming along nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 1, 2004 Author Share August 1, 2004 Thanks for the offer. Unfortunately, I'll be in New York that weekend. When the cycle is over, I'll put in an order with Tampa Bay. I love all the stuff on that rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller August 2, 2004 Share August 2, 2004 i know this is off topic but if your going to new york i recomend checking out atlantis marine worl its in riverhead they have a 20,000gl reef tank,a 2,000gl anemone tank and a 120,000gl shark tank. i was just there this weekend and to say it is amazing dosent do it any justice at all:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 2, 2004 Author Share August 2, 2004 I'd love to see it, but I have a feeling my traveling companions would leave me in a shallow grave if I suggested it. They had something more like bars and shows in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller August 2, 2004 Share August 2, 2004 you should try to talk them into it they even have a breeding pair of the gobie that is in your avatar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 5, 2004 Author Share August 5, 2004 Well, I fired up the halides last night. Two 250 watt Iwasakis. Wow! I was wondering if I really wanted to go with halides, then I saw the sharpness and shimmer lines. I am soooo hooked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg August 5, 2004 Share August 5, 2004 Those shimmer lines are hypnotising aren't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo August 7, 2004 Share August 7, 2004 more pics dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 10, 2004 Author Share August 10, 2004 Well, you asked for it Here's how I abused the AGA canopy to get the lights in. First, I extended the height with 1X8s. The corners aren't beautiful but they are adequate. Also installed a couple of 4" fans and cross members for the T5 actinics: Here's a shot before painting to give an idea of how much it's extended: And then painted monkey[censored] brown: The interior got painted black (because much of it started that way), and the halides and T5s got installed. The equipment is 2X250 watt Iwasaki lamps, with one Icecap and one Blueline ballast. The T5s are 54 watt actinic and 60/40, because I want it a bit less blue when the halides are off: Actinics on: Halides on. Since the halides are so much more intense, it's hard to find a good exposure for comparison: Well, that's where I'm at so far. The sump still needs a bit of tweaking, but it's pretty quiet now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacetypes August 10, 2004 Share August 10, 2004 Good work looks like your coming along nicely. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo August 12, 2004 Share August 12, 2004 lol, monkey %#@^ brown. dave its looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 12, 2004 Author Share August 12, 2004 Thanks guys. I guess I'm over the hump, or close. I still have to: -Hook up the auto-topoff, and build a cabinet to hide the 16 gallon HDPE reservoir -Buy live rock and let it settle in, and maybe aquascape a little -Move the livestock over -Tweak endlessly ("honey, wouldn't a seagrass refugium look nice on the topoff cabinet?") Somewhere in there, I'll get to watch the fish and corals, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacetypes August 12, 2004 Share August 12, 2004 What kind of top off are you getting? Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 12, 2004 Author Share August 12, 2004 What kind of top off are you getting? Robert I just got a little float valve from Marine Depot, and am plumbing it into the sump. I got the reservoir from US Plastics, just a square, heavy-duty plastic tank with a 3/4" FTP threaded hole near the bottom. After reading threads about rubbermaid tubs failing, I decided to pay a little more and get a tank that will last. With a few fittings, it will be trivial to connect them with 1/4" tubing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda August 30, 2004 Author Share August 30, 2004 Well, here's the system. Very simple: a 16 gallon tank (US Plastics) connected to a float valve by 1/4" ID tubing. I used a $50 tank, rather than a cheaper rubbermaid tub, after reading posts about rubbermaid tubs failing from the stress of repeated filling and draining. The tank is installed in a bathroom closet, and the tubing is fed through the wall to the valve in the sump. Here are the pieces: float valve (from Marine Depot, $15 ), adaptors to connect the 1/4" thread of the valve to the tubing (from US Plastics), plus another barbed adaptor to connect to the 3/4" bulkhead on the tank. I included a pinch valve and quick disconnect to allow removal of the reservoir without a flood. Here it is in action in the sump. I drilled the baffle and have it running through the fuge, rather than drilling the tank. Simple to build, less than 100 bucks, and frees me up from topping off for at least a week at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo September 1, 2004 Share September 1, 2004 nice job dave,have you stocked the tank with corals from the old tank yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail September 2, 2004 Share September 2, 2004 I'm impressed. Why did I pay so much for my tank? LOL. I have tons of frags of stuff to donate after you get your LR cycled and stablized... steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda September 2, 2004 Author Share September 2, 2004 have you stocked the tank with corals from the old tank yet.Geez, the last of the live rock just went in Monday night. Give it a few minutes to cure tng Thanks for the offer, Steve. Once it's all settled in, I will definitely be in the market for some new frags. It is a very exciting concept to actually have room for new corals! Here's what I guess will be the last photo of the series. The rock is in, the tank is settling, and I can relax a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg September 2, 2004 Share September 2, 2004 How about a few closeups of the rock to show any goodies that attached? We know about the mantis, but were there any corals (one bonus of this rock is the possibility of carribean stonies growing on it)? Did that gorgonian come with the rock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda September 2, 2004 Author Share September 2, 2004 There's lots of good stuff. Some decent-sized colonies of tube coral (Cladocora), some very nice colonies of Siderastrea radians, and a good peppering of hidden cup coral (Phyllangia), fanworms galore, plenty of sponges (we'll see who makes it). I'm a little disappointed in the scarcity of porcelain crabs, hidden cukes and macroalgae, but more critters may yet poke their noses out. Once I start running the halides in a few days, I'll take some macro shots. I decided to try ordering a small sea finger from TBS for $10. That sucker is almost a foot long, and expanding its polyps nicely. The "large" ones must be monsters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grav September 3, 2004 Share September 3, 2004 Looking very nice!! Keep it up. Where did you get the rock? Happy with what you paid v got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda September 7, 2004 Author Share September 7, 2004 Looking very nice!! Keep it up. Where did you get the rock? Happy with what you paid v got? Thanks! The rock came from TBS. I am pleased with the rock, and there is certainly tons of life on it. I am shooting a bunch of macros of the corals, fanworms, stars and the like that came in with it. After cracking a few rocks open to extract some mantises, it seems quite porous, despite what the detractors say. I have now ordered from Richard twice, and both times he has been very communicative and conscientious, but he can be a little flaky. This time, the second shipment of rock came 5 days after the first, and without me asking. He actually googled me to find my number to let me know it was coming. We're lucky he didn't ship it to the bass player for the band Pathogen, who has the same name. As far as cost, I paid $516 for 90 lbs rock, 45 lbs sand and a cleaning crew (23 astraeas, 2 cukes, 90 -yes, 90- hermits, a peppermint shrimp, serpent star), plus $100 shipping. Great deal? Not sure, but I'm comfortable with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now