IT'S TIME for me to start restocking my tank

[five.five-six]

as some of you know I lost most all my SPS recently. I had no way to save them and wish I did. I have received
many generous offers to help restock my tank but, after recently treating red bugs, and with fear of AFEWs I
decided not to do anything until I have a hospital / quarantine tank. so here goes

what i started with:

10 gallon standard tank from petsmart______________$11.00
300gph return/circulation pump___________________$free it was sitting around
small piece of Plexiglas from home depot___________$2.50
silicone adhesive from home depot_________________$3.00
hose and fittings________________________________$free it was sitting around
70 watt viper from dtfleming . _____________________$100 shipped
lighting timer from home depot____________________$8.50
power strip from home depot_____________________$2.50

total so far____________________________________$127.50




the first step was to cut the Plexiglas to size, I did this by scoring it with a razor and a square then snapping
it along the score line



then I test fit the Plexiglas this required the use of a file and sandpaper... note, a $11.00 tank is not always built
square :P and then I marked where I wanted the return





I used a unibit to drill the hole, I would recommend a hole-saw, either way I had to go slow (I cracked it my first
attempt ) I found a sturdy cardboard box that I could drill into so the Plexiglas would be fully supported

once the hole was drilled I did a final check for fit




then measured it to center and squared it... again a $11.00 tank is not all that square :P





once it was lined up, I siliconed the Plexiglas in and installed the light. I found that when I smooth
the silicone bead in place with my finger, if i lick my finger tip it keeps the silicone from sticking
to my finger




that is about all I can do until the silicone is dry in 12 hours. I am leaving the light on to keep the tank warm for better silicon setting the cold weather we are having

I am still looking for a few things. skimmer, heater cooling fan, autotopoff and I think I will be in business


OK, turns out the 300 GPH is a lot for a 5 gallon tank. I ended up notching the divider with my dremel to lower the water level in the display portion I do have good surface agitation though




I probably should have waited till the water cleared up to take photos. I took water sand and rock from my existing display tank. then I added the dead skeletons of some of the corrals I recently lost in my disaster, that corral will be live-rock in a few weeks




the only rock I had that would fit had this hairy mushroom on it, I hope it makes it. also I think I got 3 snails in the sand I scooped up, I am thinking of adding more sand from the display tank



I am off to get a heater and i could sure use some help picking out skimmer

[five.five-six]

good news, i came out this morning and the tank was at 78 degrees, which where I set it. good thing as we are going through a cold snap right now and last night it made it down to the mid 50's

also, I found some surviving xenia on my rock which is amazing because when my display tank had it's catastrophic heavy metal poisoning, the xenia was the first to go. the water is still cloudy and I am still researching a skimmer





at this point, I am going to install an ATO and I am looking for a skimmer that will fie in a 10" x 10" sump space (or smaller) alos I need an inexpensive tortousa frag to test with. it turns out that all my torts died but several other sps survived

[sharkdude]

looks cool mark.
any plans for baffles for your skimmer area?

I see you outgrowing this tank before RAP V or sooner.

[five.five-six]

this is just a quarantine tank heck, I My prop frags in it, but my 100 gallon is on the mend and has seemed to settled down so I want to start stocking it but everything I get is going to spend a week in here and a few minutes under a magnifying glass before it goes in the main display. as far as baffling, I need to see what skimmer I go with first.. and see what room I have left. there will be a fuge in it. right now there is just some chato floating in the sump. I doubt I will have much to frag by rap V

I just need a tort frag to run through the system and a skimmer right now

[Mac Inger]

Mark do you want a HOB filter for the qtank ? Not that you need it i just have two Aquaclears sitting here

[five.five-six]

thanks, but probably not, perhaps to hold carbon or to convert to a fuge. I need to figure out what skimmer to run

here is a photo i snapped today

[KWoo008]

I bought that same timer from HD and it crapped out on me within a few months. Keep an eye on it.

[five.five-six]

yep, it is a P.O.S. basically it can not handle the start-up current on a 70 watt halide and just resets itself... I had to reprogram it 5 times before I figured it out.. freaking home depot, out of normal 3 wire timers

[lowbudget]

hey 556, i can clip you a brown with blue tip stag.

[faded1004]

hi, i got a few free softies/frags you can take? let me know if you are interested also... i know you said no livestock at the moment... but if you want let me know...

btw, really cool tank setup... simple...

[Siapin]

556...are you having any problems with the tank so far? Doesn't look like it. The reason I ask is that I used silicone from HD, and all of my xenia, along with some other corals died away. (looking for some to replace).....
I was told that there is ammonia in the silicone in order to detract rodents and stuff. So who knows.

[simon.007]

Mark, Give me PM and I can give you some SPS, LPS too

Simon

[five.five-six]

Originally posted by lowbudget
hey 556, I can clip you a brown with blue tip stag.

thank you guys for all the very generous offers but this is exactly what I need. most of my lps and all of my softies made it. the sps were about 50/50 my superman montie bit the dust but the sunset monti made it.. the torts and stags, which I love, were a 100% loss, and there were some stunning torts.

as I restock, I am going to fallow a STRICT quarantine protocol through this nano


lowbudget, can i pick it up this weekend? also, I have a few cool things that made it most of whicn are now brown but will color up

purple rimmed green cap, red cap, purple cap, green cap, pink birdsnest, frogspaqn and green singularia I will be bringing you a frag, which do you want?

[lowbudget]

i dont need anything. im fully stocked. just come by this weekend.

[five.five-six]

Originally posted by lowbudget
i dont need anything. im fully stocked. just come by this weekend.

yes you are, that purple and green thing is just sick. thanks a lot for the frags, your setup is stunning.. when you start clipping LMK because I want everything in your tank

[lowbudget]

mark, it was nice meeting you too. thanks for all the compliments. good luck with your setup and i will let you know.

[five.five-six]

thanks again, things are looking good, pretty soon I will be looking for corrals to replace the ones I lost..anyone got an oragon tort??

[mikedege]

thanks again, things are looking good, pretty soon I will be looking for corrals to replace the ones I lost..anyone got an oragon tort??

haha Mark, ask Tom where mine is? if so, you can hold it for me until I get my new tank up(and take a frag). I got some stuff for you too, lemme know. Ill try to find some time. But December is too freaking busy for me.
But you live so close!

-Mike

[wishntoboutside]

if you need a few frags i could throw two or three nice ones your way all free you have to pick up in riverside. the oregon tort would cost you.=);
Richard

[BurntOutReefer]

556....got a free seaclone 100 body you can have (do some DIY and it'll work great ) if you want.....and will have some GSP in a week and a 6" 12vdc fan you can have.

[five.five-six]

Originally posted by BurntOutReefer
556....got a free seaclone 100 body you can have (do some DIY and it'll work great ) if you want.....and will have some GSP in a week and a 6" 12vdc fan you can have.

thank you!

RC people as a whole have been so generous that I just do not know what to say. a little back ground. when the tank took a dump, Oi had just finished cleaning up some RB with interceptor, things were looking good and I had just fragged my superman montey and was so pleased with how well my tank was doing, I mounted about a dozen nano frags that were left from the fraging and gave them out free for the taking. then like a tornado, in about 36 hours, all my most prized acropora and caps were gone. the uncanny thing is that many of the more common corals survived. but the ones that I took a real interest in invariably were lost. it really took the wind out off my sails, you guys are doing a great job of cheering me up

[five.five-six]

well my 5 gallon SPS LEAKED AND I HAD A MINOR FLOOD so now I started my new and improved 7.5 gallon SPS cube so needles to say, it will be a bit before I continue restocking

[five.five-six]

if you are interested in fixing the leak in my 5 gal nano, it is yours for the taking

[five.five-six]

Originally posted by wishntoboutside
if you need a few frags i could throw two or three nice ones your way all free you have to pick up in riverside. the oregon tort would cost you.=);
Richard

thanks Richard! That Oregon looks great. all the other frags are dynamite too. you are too generous.


anyone interested in some amazing corals aught to give you a pm. your system and collection of everything from rare, named, SPS to palys to acans is stunning, healthy and comprehensive

[five.five-six]

full tank shot