MattB's new 125g

[EBR]

So here's a long-overdue update.  Funny that after all this time, that today, of all days, is the day that the huge LPS decides to let gravity win.  Oh, well, it's been due for a trim for a looonnngggg time anyway -- too bad it couldn't wait for me to take some new photos.  Anyway:

 

Full tank

 

Left side:

 

Right side:

 

Tired LPS that has fallen over, resting on the hammer underneath, which, by the way, has zero structural integrity.  It's not until these things have started to break apart under their own weight that I realized that I must have been underdosing the Kalk for years.  It's almost like the stalks have been eating themselves full of holes.  Might explain the trouble I've been having keeping any sort of coraline, too :-/

 

Full tank, lengthwise (6' 125g):

 

Leather:

 

Some sort of digitata, which has done really well, I think.  Two picture previous is another (behind the large LPS that fell over) that started as the same size frag:

 

From the anenomies:

 

Candy Cane, ridiculously too close to the glass:

 

the whole giant-LPS-resting-on-the-structurally-unsound-hammer:

 

These guys are great

 

The right side, or "the bone yard" -- needs a big clean-out

 

 

Seriously, anybody want some of this?

 

Matt

[JR-Tanked150]

I like your anemones. What is you crab standing on?

[YHSublime]

Seriously, anybody want some of this?

 

Matt

 

Matt,

 

Have a frag sale, and use the money to get some nice SPS at the meet next weekend. Sell off some of those RBTA's as well. Put everything in your tank and wait as long as you did with the LPS

[smallreef]

So here's a long-overdue update.  Funny that after all this time, that today, of all days, is the day that the huge LPS decides to let gravity win.  Oh, well, it's been due for a trim for a looonnngggg time anyway -- too bad it couldn't wait for me to take some new photos.  Anyway:Seriously, anybody want some of this?

 

Matt

I SECOND THE FRAG SALE!

[EBR]

Frags on Saturday:

http://wamas.org/forums/topic/63223-frags-for-sale-pickup-at-meeting-available/

 

Come and get 'em  ; - )

[EBR]

@JR-Tanked -- The crab is on the elephant ear in the center right, just to the left of the purple encrusting monti.  As for the anenomies, thanks -- I need to thin them out too, just not this time around.

[JR-Tanked150]

Your elephant ears are so cool looking.

[EBR]

I thought it about time to update the tank build since I let this thread go stale in 2007.  The only things really worth reporting are the canopy, the doors, and the electric panel to easily switch over to an auxiliary generator.

 

So without too much explanation, here are the photos from finishing the canopy in the summer of 2012.  On page 2 of this thread you'll see the canopy mostly put together and fitting on the tank, but without paint, stain or even some of the finish trim.  Sadly, it stayed in the garage like that for nearly five years.

 

As it sat for 5 years

 

fitting the trim molding cut on the router table

 

Its best to have a variety

 

Lots and lots of holes to plug up

 

All plugged, ready for a ton of sanding.  Notice how discolored the birch had gotten in the garage, compared to the fresh plugs.  All that went away with the first sanding

 

All ready for finish

 

 

Paint on teh inside

 

Stain on the out

 

Stain without poly finish

 

Install day

 

Done, and on to the doors.  Which had to wait until the summer of 2013!

[EBR]

And now the doors this past summer:

 

Start out with a pile of lumbers, cut it up.  Measure twice, cut once, and all that crap:

 

Butt joints with dowells, and a healthy dose of glue:

 

All stacked up to dry

 

squared out and sanded nice

 

Edged to match the rest of the tank and canopy trim

 

Test fitting

 

 

And yes, they are still sitting beside me, waiting for a long weekend to be painted/stained/finished.

 

Sigh.

[smallreef]

Well...great work...maybe not the quickest build...but very nice,lol

[Sharkey18]

Looks great. Amazing woodworking talent. 

[EBR]

Oops -- forgot the last photo of the new canopy on Install-Day:

 

BTW, is there any way to edit a previous post?

[EBR]

So after a whole lot of fragging, selling at the last meeting, remiving most of the sand bed (what a lesson!), and general housecleaning, this is where the tank sits now.  Next is to deconstruct the right side, remove the pvc pipe structure that the rock are on, and create a curve island similar to the left side.  The elevate structure was a good experiment, and it sure helps to keep the detritus moving, but for me its a hug waste of vertical space.  Anyway more on the later -- for now a quick look:

 

 

 

Matt

Edited February 16, 2014 by EBR

[smallreef]

Wow...what a difference a meeting can make! Looks good...and definently like the sound of your reaquascaping...

[EBR]

After some recent research of this forum about diatom filters and Ca/Alk supplements, I realized that I never posted the final state of the tank and stand.  Sorry 'bout that.  The tank itself has changed a lot from just a couple of years ago before a big sell-off.  We went to Australia and New Zealand last year over the holidays, and for unanswered reasons -- perhaps time change, getting used to dropping my "R"s, or the Coriolis Effect (which actually works, you know -- my daughter has the video of the toilet bowls in both here and there to prove it), the tank did not receive the attention it deserved.  As a consequence, I had a few things die off on me, including two huge digitata I raised from little frag puppies, as well as my favorite toadstool.  All is well now, and the tank thriving and happy now, albeit a bit empty.  More below.

 

Anyway, the stand and canopy as it is today.  The big void in the left-of-center is where the toadstool was :-(  Good news is it's fun to consider what would be a good center-piece in the near future:

 

One of the hatches for the canopy:

 

All five doors are really hatches that capture the lower edge of the frame, and just clicks into place, making it super easy to get everything out of the way within five seconds.

 

Maintenance mode:

 

 

And some better view of the critters:

 

Future home of something nice:

 

 

 

The clowns have upwards of 21 RBTAs to thrive in.  I need to sell just a few LOT of them.  Any takers?

 

 

 

 

 

This is all I have left of the giant hammer a few pages back on this thread that broke apart under its own weight.  It's settled in nicely and is taking off.

 

 

 

these guys are so darn cool:

[EBR]

What to do when snowed in for the weekend? GoPro:

[Anemone]

Gorgeous and inspiring tank build, thank you for sharing.

If you have a chance I'd like to hear about how how you got the corals to grow so well.

[matt]

Love the woodwork. Beautiful nems. As you're an LPS/softy guy primarily, have you considered a wall hammer, australian elegance, a torch, or big photosynthetic gorg for that empty spot....might be a nice fit for your style. cheers 

[EBR]

Thanks for the kind words on the cabinet -- it took 6+ years to be completely done, but somehow now that it is, all of that doesn't matter :-)  The best advice I was given when I joined WAMAS: Nothing good ever happens fast with an aquarium -- I guess that's true for outside the tank, too!

 

And those anemones have me worried a bit.  There's 21 at last count, all naturally split from a single one from the Flowerseller lineage.  They've all sat right there on the same island for nearly 9 years -- I just feel I'm skirting disaster, waiting until they decide to go for a hike one day into a power head.  I should look into selling some off, if there is any interest.  

 

@Matt: thanks for the suggestions -- the leather with the long polyps was the favorite in our house, so I've been looking at a large toadstool or similar as a replacement.  The wall hammer is compelling, and I hadn't really considered gorgonians, either -- but I will now.

 

@ Anemone: Thanks for the compliment, but you should have seen it a year ago -- what a mess.  Since then, it's just been forcing myself to keep up with the water changes and questioning everything that's in it.  I found myself at a point where I was leaving the clutter with the expectation/hope that it would grow into something nice.  But it's really like managing a forest, where you've got to clean out the deadwood to give room for the good stuff.  

 

For the past couple of months, I've also gotten back to watching the parameters.  The single-headed hammer currently in the middle of the open space (8 photos up) hasn't changed since I got it at the March WAMAS meeting (2015).  Finally broke down to get a Ca/Alk test kit, and everything turned out to be low (Ca at 340-ish, and everything else equally low).  So now I'm on the Seachem two part to get things back in line -- the coralline is actually starting to reappear now after all this time, so I'm happy so far.

 

Matt

 

Oh, and here's the leather I'm referring to:

[matt]

Yeah, I almost suggested a green polyp toadstool...but you have the green anthella. Good luck getting parameters back on track...sure you will...buts it's good to know you have durable livestock. I've done that "experiment" myself once too.

[matt]

This was a beautiful piece, that would be great if you could find another as well

 

 

 

Oh, and here's the leather I'm referring to:

[EBR]

My clowns are mad at me.  I settled in all of the frags from yesterday's WAMAS meeting, letting 'em chill out for a few days before mounting them.  I came back an hour later to this:

 

 

 

So I put them all back where they were, and not a minute later she's eye-balling them again:

 

 

 

Seems that (I'm guessing) they were a bit too far back and in her line of sight between the main island of anemones and the one on the far right.

 

BTW, if anyone wants an RBTA, just let me know -- I've got the knack now for removing them, and I'd still like to thin out the herd.

 

Matt

[EBR]

Merry Christmas, Everyone -- As much as I'm on this site to figure things out and get ideas for making my own system better, I find it tough to believe that I haven't updated this thread in four years.  Although, I see that I let this go stale from 2007-2014, too, so perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised.  

 

It's pretty much the same set of corals, some have outgrown, been broken apart, and remounted elsewhere - so instead of one huge frogspawn, it's a forest of frogspawn branches, stuff like that :-)  Finally got a decent replacement for the big toadstool, too.  

 

Anyway, I'll just leave this right here as an update - it has a bit of subtle sound design, best with headphones:

 

[YHSublime]

Is this tank still rolling? I missed the update almost 2 years ago! Love the background soundtrack, my dogs did not!