The inwall 380 starfire reborn

[Sparkss]

I was just surprised to see such a large bloom so soon after adding the rock. It was so thick at first that I could not see the back wall of the tank clearly (if at all). But it is slowly clearing.. in a couple of days it should clear up. Do you think it is OK to add some more pods ? (I kept one bottle of tiger pods out for after the rock went in ). I just don't know if they would be affected by the spikes in ammonia, nitrites, etc while it cycles. Even though I am trying to minimize those spikes, I know that some will happen.

Thanks

[zemuron114]

Tom, whats the fish list going to be? So many options.. hehe

[GreshamH]

Originally posted by Sparkss
I was just surprised to see such a large bloom so soon after adding the rock. It was so thick at first that I could not see the back wall of the tank clearly (if at all). But it is slowly clearing.. in a couple of days it should clear up. Do you think it is OK to add some more pods ? (I kept one bottle of tiger pods out for after the rock went in ). I just don't know if they would be affected by the spikes in ammonia, nitrites, etc while it cycles. Even though I am trying to minimize those spikes, I know that some will happen.

Thanks

If you saw what some upper splash pools looked like (ie. 90 degress, with PILES of bird poo and other decompossing organic matter, etc) where these guys are found, you wouldn't be worried with the minor bloom your seeing No worries, add away

[Sparkss]

DJ
No stock list yet, although there are obviously a few fish/inverts in my head that we would like, but nothing concrete yet. As you said, so many choices . We are working on getting a mate for our mandarin, other than that I am not sure about any fish additions for a while until we get things all settled in (after the cycles are completed and we move our current livestock over, I mean). Other than that there are a few wrasses (would like to repalce the ones we lost during the "drain incident/tank crash" in our current tank), some tangs (really liking the orange shoulder tangs) to go along with our current sailfin and purple tangs. Then maybe a tomini or kole (some sort of a bristletooth). I still need to do some more reading on the various tangs, hostility levels, compatibility with other fish, and what not. We would like some sort of a schooling fish, especially with the size of this tank, but that is still up in the air. Once we get closer to time to actually stock, then we will start really focusing on our options. Right now it seems to darned far away that I don't want to lose focus on the tasks at hand still to be completed. And I don't want to get rushed on getting everything set up because I get a wild hair about wanting a specific fish (which has happened before ).

Gresh
The tank has been running for a couple of weeks, with the old base rock from our back yard and plenty of LR and LS from our current tank, so I guess I just didn't expect to see the algae bloom that quickly. I am not really worried, just surprised . All of the rock is added, there are only a few of the smaller pieces that I left out, and those, if we do decide to add them later, shouldn't make any sort of a deiscernable difference in the tank chemistry. At least with the smaller pieces and the rubble, there are alot less places for dead organic matter to be stuck/wedged/hiding, what there is present, is alot easier to wash/spray away .

[Sparkss]

Last night I put another gallon and a half of mature tank water and another 1/2 - 1 gallon of LS from our current tank into the new one. I did notice that the bloom is noticably less each day, and the little HOB Remora skimmer needs to be emptied every couple of hours (because I am too cheap to buy a bigger skimmer to put on there.. I already had the remora from our QT tank ). But teh skimmer is only pulling out murky green water, nothing majorly "nasty".

I stopped into PetSmart this morning for some dog essentials and picked up one of those Seachem hang in tank ammonia indicators. Oddly enough it is still showing as "safe", even after being in the tank for a couple of hours. If I really get motivated I will break out the old test kit and check ammonia, trites and trates.

If it clears up a bit more I will try to take some pictures, to give an idea about the rockwork and some of our aquascaping options (or challenges, depending on how you look at it ).

[TOURKID]

yep. mine had a diatom bloom that was horendous. came at the 9th day, gone on day 11. now i have lil tufts of green algea. cycling away! I dident think the blooms would be so big either lol

[zemuron114]

Tom, think about anthias. They actually school Bartletts are my favorites and the hardiest anthias you can get!

slow and steady makes a perfect tank no need to rush!

[Sparkss]

Tourkid
It is not that the blooms are big, I just didn't expect it this soon after putting the rock in. That was basically 12 hours after the rock hitting the water. It is alot clearer now though, and oddly enough no traces of ammonia (that the little Seachem "tag" is reporting).

DJ
Anthias are colorful and flashy and may be the way we go for a schooling fish. One thing I was reading about was that some species school near the bottom (like rainford gobies) and some near the top (like chromis) and then others more towards the center of the water column (I guess like anthias ?). So the bigger decision is do we choose which "region" to populate with the schooling fish ? Or do we populate each region with a different species.

Our sump and skimmer setup will allow us to stock almost any number of fish, but the biggest concern is what happens during a power outage, or other even where the sumps and skimmer are not doing their jobs. That is just asking for a tank crash. So although we can (and would like to) stock heavy, we will probably hit the high water mark for # of fish for a tank our size then go one or two over (if I know myself ). But not too many over, if we can help it, for the reasons listed above.

And yea, slow and steady at this point. I have mapped out a month+ long migration plan that can't even start until the tank finishes cycling, or at least gets close.

In a nutshell, the new sumps are going to go where the old sump and prop tank are currently. And I want to build a wall there as part of the fish room segregation from the rest of the garage. That cannot even start until I tear down the prop tank. That cannot happen until the main tank is ready for us to move all of the livestock (corals, clams, shrimp, snails and 2 fish) from the prop tank to the main tank. That won't happen until I tie the new tank in with the existing sump/skimmer, etc. *sigh* and so on.... needless to say there are alot of "baby" steps leading up to the tearing down of the old tank and cutting over to the new sumps and skimmer. That event will be a seriously long weekend, to be sure, and it is several weeks off, at least.

[Sparkss]

Well, finished insultaing the garage door today (ran out of foam yesterday ). and put the front access door up. Here is a picture of the wall, patched and painted, with the trim up and the unpainted door. I will be painting it with the white 2 part epoxy paint, but am waiting as I am trying to decide if I want to route an edge wround the bottom and/or sides, to add some "flair" to the otherwise plain door. If I do go ahead with putting an edge on it (once I decide on the edge itself and make sure I have the router bit ) then afterwards I will paint it. Once painted I have weather stripping for the bottom edge, to hopefully eliminate light seepage from the MHs. And I also will be attaching some 3/4" foam to the back of the door, cut to fit the actual opening, This will hopefully help minimize any temperature and noise transfer through the door. With the piece I have wedged in there now there is no noticable noise or temperature bleed through, so I hope to maintain that once the door is permanent in place.

You can also see a little bit how the rocks fill it up (since we have not done any aquascaping yet) and how the water clarity is currently.



As I noted in a previous post, I am still undecided if the trim is too thin or not, but that is a really subjective question. We are still contemplating that one... but until I get the door painted (and possibly routed) it will be hard to tell. For now it is good enough, especially since we only have about $35 invested in all of it, which is less than 10% of the materials quotes we got for a professional door and trim (then add shipping and installation on top of that). So all things considered, I am not too terribly upset with how it has turned out so far.

Plus that just means more money later for fish and corals !!!

EDIT : The tank water level is about an inch below the overflows. I won't top it off until we are ready to start water flowing through it into the sump

[strittmatter]

very nice. Man those are some big rocks!!!

I personally think the trim is a littile thins. But if it was me I would just leave it. Once the tank is all up and running no one will ever even know what color the trim is.

[jnarowe]

couple things Tom:

1. I have a school of 8 chromis and they do school at all levels in the water column. What I really like about them is that when I feed, they make sure nothing gets into the overflow. They are very agressive surface eaters and really balance out the whole dining experience.

2. On the trim, it does look out-of-balance with that giant door but you can do a lot with color too. Keep in mind that while the white may match other trim in the house, it does not help the reef "pop". Dark trim will probably give you better visual appeal. And you know the "door" is kind of cool. You might think about a nice dark stain instead of paint. I am not one for a lot of grain in my house (can't stand oak or pine) but that is an unusual piece and maybe it could add an artistic element to the display.

[Sparkss]

Originally posted by strittmatter
I personally think the trim is a littile thins. But if it was me I would just leave it. Once the tank is all up and running no one will ever even know what color the trim is.

I agree with you on both points. I am still undecided about routing an ornate edge to the door. If I could find a router bit to match the current trim then I would do it, but barring that I may just leave it plain right now. It is not like I can't take it down and modify and repaint it later.

[Sparkss]

Originally posted by jnarowe
2. On the trim, it does look out-of-balance with that giant door but you can do a lot with color too. Keep in mind that while the white may match other trim in the house, it does not help the reef "pop". Dark trim will probably give you better visual appeal. And you know the "door" is kind of cool. You might think about a nice dark stain instead of paint. I am not one for a lot of grain in my house (can't stand oak or pine) but that is an unusual piece and maybe it could add an artistic element to the display.

I think that once I paint the door it will hopefully "blend" a little better. I could have gone 2" shorter and still gotten away with it, but that piece came in that width, so I only had to cut it on one edge. I have some ideas for making the current trim thicker, as simply as adding some 3/4" corner bead on the inside (tank side, versus wall side). That would be the easiest way to add thickness to the trim. I chose this trim because it was the only trim of any width that had an overhang to tie it into the sheetrock opening lip. I know that the opening is square and level because of how I framed and cut it, plus the overhang helps to fill in the gap between the tank and the sheetrock (where I still need to silicone in with white silicone). There is a gap because the plastic frame around the top of the tank sits off the face approx 1/8" - 3/16", so that was as far forward as we could push the tank (without bowing out/breaking the sheetrock).

The wood piece is standard laminated board, oft times referred to as paint stock board (IIRC). It is a little straighter than dimensional lumber, and a whole lot lighter. Also the trim came in white, I did not paint it that color, although I will be painting it to match the door (whatever color that ends up being).

My main reason for pushing ahead with the door was that I wanted to get my front access set up, since I will be needing it for the aquascaping, and it also helps when I transfer water and LS from our existing tank. If this turns out to be temporary, then that's ok too, it will at least serve it's purpose, and then some

[jnarowe]

Well, I like the wall color allot because it's a darker shade and a nice color. There are a lot of darker colors that would look good with it too like maroon, some darker reds, black, some greens. I just find that piece to be interesting enough to warrant some creative thinking (not that you aren't mulling it over constantly ).

Is it flush with the trim or does it overhang it? You could even make it into a piece of artwork. I tend to like simple non-distracting installations, but I have seen some very cool stuff done with art and various materials to showcase the tank also.

[zemuron114]

Tom, anthias will school all over, not just a particular region in the tank Get a few large active fish (tangs etc) they will school in more tightly.
you cant go wrong with anthias!

[jnarowe]

Originally posted by zemuron114
Tom, anthias will school all over, not just a particular region in the tank Get a few large active fish (tangs etc) they will school in more tightly.
you cant go wrong with anthias!

Well except for that they need some special attention like multiple feedings each day to remain healthy. Also, fish behavior is much more unpredictable than that. They may not school at all. There are too many factors to say that they will.

[joshuasamuels]

I think paint would do better than stain on that particular door. There appears to be a patchwork of grain to it that would likely distract from the tank if stained (even if a dark stain is used). I agree with Jonathon that a darker color would help the tank stand out more.

Just my unsolicited $0.02...

[GreshamH]

I wouldn't do white trim either Tom. From experience, I can tell you that white tends to be a distraction when viewing the tank It pulls your eyes to the sides

[Sparkss]

Originally posted by jnarowe
Well, I like the wall color allot because it's a darker shade and a nice color. There are a lot of darker colors that would look good with it too like maroon, some darker reds, black, some greens.

Thanks, it took us what seemed like forever to settle on that wall color. I know that we drove our painters crazy since we went through at least 12 different smaples of paint (but we were also trying to decide on paint for 4 different, but "connected" rooms. Our walls looked similar to the patchwork of that door panel by the time we were done (what with all of the sample areas painted with various colors to "test" them out at different times of the day and against each other. If you couldn't already tell, we are an earth-toned kind of a family . When we bought the house it was all "renters white". There are still 2 rooms upstairs that need to be painted, pne we have even bought the paint for, but that is a project for another day and another forum . I Will discuss the darker trim ideas with the wife when she gets back into town and then see if I can pick up some tinting for the 2-part epoxy.

Originally posted by jnarowe
Is it flush with the trim or does it overhang it? You could even make it into a piece of artwork. I tend to like simple non-distracting installations

The bottom of the door is flush (snug fit) with the top of the side trim. I also favor simple over complex when it comes to designs and living space.

Originally posted by zemuron114
Tom, anthias will school all over, not just a particular region in the tank Get a few large active fish (tangs etc) they will school in more tightly.
you cant go wrong with anthias!

Originally posted by jnarowe
Well except for that they need some special attention like multiple feedings each day to remain healthy. Also, fish behavior is much more unpredictable than that. They may not school at all. There are too many factors to say that they will.

I understand your concerns about the fish schooling, but addition of some larger active fish, as DJ suggested, will help ensure that the anthias (or any other schooling fish) will actually school more tightly. And as for feeding, I am a firm believer in automatic feeders, since I cannot guarantee our schedule from day to day, hor to hour. We have multiple automatic feeders, that can handle mutiple daily feedings, for good quality pellets and supplement that with a DIY food recipe, cyclopeez, arctipods, etc in the evenings, as time permits. So in general they should get plenty to eat. And with the skimmer we have planned, any "aftermath" from these "eating machines" shouldn't be an issue (the "powerfailure scenario" concern shoulnd't be a big deal, since for a couple of hours, or even a day, they shouldn't be enough to foul the tank to a toxic level, any more than that and we have other issues to consider).

Originally posted by joshuasamuels
I think paint would do better than stain on that particular door. There appears to be a patchwork of grain to it that would likely distract from the tank if stained (even if a dark stain is used). I agree with Jonathon that a darker color would help the tank stand out more.

Originally posted by GreshamH
I wouldn't do white trim either Tom. From experience, I can tell you that white tends to be a distraction when viewing the tank It pulls your eyes to the sides

All good advice and information. As I read this and think about it I would have to agree with the general consensus that a darker color trim would be better. It makes perfect sense.

Thaks to all that chimed in on this topic



On a side note, The Seachem ammonia detector is reading a solid green (Alert) level of ammonia. It really helps to remove the protective film from the detector chip on the card . Here is what their site said about the different detector levels :

As free ammonia, the ALERT color corresponds to about 0.05 mg/L, ALARM to about 0.2 mg/L, and TOXIC to about 0.5 mg/L.

We are still holding at the ALERT level.

[jnarowe]

well that all sounds great Tom. It's tough to pick this stuff...as I mature I tend to tell myself that if I don't like it, I can change it. I used to only do what I felt was permanently acceptable, so I still have rooms with no art on the walls because I haven't painted them.

Check out a bunch of TOTM FTS and see which ones you really like. I really like Steve Weast's viewing room and will use some of his ideas like a dark wood frame and grass walls. I am still considering a shallow oval bar as the sill of the tank window so that we could sit at it on stools and eat sushi. BUT, I am not sure that will be the most relaxing facade in the sense that sitting further away in the room, it may appear to cluttered.

[mrcrab]

Not very relaxing for the fish watching you eat sushi either!

[jnarowe]

Originally posted by mrcrab
Not very relaxing for the fish watching you eat sushi either!

Yeah well that was my first thought, and I don't know about your fish, but my fish would love to get their teeth on some good sushi. They just pile up to the glass and give me the sad eyes.

[Sparkss]

hehehe MrCrab and Jnarowe .. I was thinking the same thing about the sushi LOL

It is a great suggestion, but our floor plan does not really lend itself towards putting any sort of a shelf/ledge in front of the tank. So flat it shall remain (but I have seen some nice implementations with short counters in front of the tank, for drinks, snacks, etc, and really loved them, maybe in our next house on our next tank ).

[Sparkss]

Originally posted by jnarowe
well that all sounds great Tom. It's tough to pick this stuff...as I mature I tend to tell myself that if I don't like it, I can change it. I used to only do what I felt was permanently acceptable, so I still have rooms with no art on the walls because I haven't painted them.

I am more or less at that point myself. I also used to try to only install/implement the "final result", but realize as I get older that sometimes that is not the best way to handle some tasks. I have little doubt that the current trim/door will change before it all settles down (until the next whole-house re-painting event). How it will change and to what ? that I won't know until we get there

[mrcrab]

I seriously considered the counter option. I was going to do some type of rounded marble, I just kept having nightmares of someone knocking something into the veiwing pane and having a short-lived tsunami in my dining room.