ok 15 gallon reef wall is starting today

[KING OF THE REEF]

well when i finish with my classes, i plan to come home and cut the egg-crate to the size of my 15. i will need to silicone it to th walls, but thats after i get the reef rubble attached. in the middle, i lan to have a few small rocks in a cluster to act like a lagoon. masterswimmer, please chime in on this thread if you read it, as you made a very nice one for your bow tank. thanks. the stocking will be a piar of ocelaris clown or perc clowns, a small pearly jawfish or gobie of equal size, and a small neon goby. filtration is a an aquaclear 70 modded into a fuge. lights will be a 24 inch dual coralife fixture. and corals will be low light monti's and lots of zoos and shrooms. if i can get away with it, i might add a small clam seeing as i will have over 10 watts a gallon on this tank. well what do ya all think. and pics will be coming once i tear it down and prep it (currently it is acting as a holding tank for my saddlback clowns with thier sebea and my blue eyed tang who are not getting along with my 46 inhabitants)

[MonKei]

sounds like a good idea with the wall, I like your idea of the critters to be inside, it should be a calm tank. If you could get a clam in there, that would be cool, you may have to place it somewhere on the wall, closer, to the lights, I know that in the actual reef, a lot of clams reside within a coral formation or rock, its really cool to see the soft tissue coming right out of what seems to be a huge rock. anyway, great idea! I'll be looking forward to seeing photos

[KING OF THE REEF]

dont worry, i have figured out my camera now unlike my last attemot at a reef diary. seems to been mysteriously deleted *wink wink*!!!
it will be a while before i can get all the rubble, but hopefully before the end of this month. anyways, ill take a pic of the egg crate after it is cut

[mokujin22]

cool... good luck! what kind of light will you be using?

[KING OF THE REEF]

2by 65 watt coralife pc, 1 actinic 03, and the other a 10k.

[mokujin22]

that's what i had on my 26 gallon bowfront. nice fixture. only recently switched to a 250 MH. should do quite well for you over the 15 gal.

[KING OF THE REEF]

ove 10 watts a gallno will do wonders for me. acros and a clam or 2 along with all sorts of corals

[masterswimmer]

Ima, looking forward to seeing the pix. Thanks for the kudos.

IMO I wouldn't silicone the eggcrate to the tank. This will make is just a bit too permanent for my liking. You never know what will crop up and require you to have to manuever or relocate 'things'.

I believe you saw the way I attached mine and you said you were going to do it that way. It adds a bit of versatility if necessary.

Are you drilling the tank or is everything going to be hang on? Be careful with your stocking. Go light on the fish and your bioload won't be too excessive. Remember, this is a reef and your focus should be your coral. On a real reef, one of the fish you mentioned would have hundreds to thousands of gallons to itself. If your focus is coral, make it that way. you can always add more fish later. Removing them is sometimes a pain in the butt though.

Good luck and I'll be looking for pix.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

russ after talking to you on your other htread, i have have made my decisionon attaching the eggcrate, YOUR WAY IS BEST FOR THIS. I had originally thought that silicone would be better, but what you said did make me rethink it, thanks for that. as for lights guys i got them today PICS ARE COMING ASAP.
all hob russ. i have cut my fish down to 3 max 4 but primarily gobies that burrow and perch. well thanks for looking

[KING OF THE REEF]

ok pics are here hurrah.
first is of the package for the lights
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0100.jpg
next is the top of the light
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0098.jpg
then the lights themselves
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0099.jpg
and finally, the egg crate sut to fit the tank being used for my reef wall
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0097.jpg
enjoy, i will post pics when i get those little things fom home depot and get it all ready

[masterswimmer]

Good job so far. Do you know how to post pix here without using links?

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

yes but resizing them is a totally different thing for me (keep in mind im in college but that means not a lot of time to do pics)

[masterswimmer]

Using a hosting program like Photobucket makes it very easy to resize and then post. And, it doesn't use any bandwidth through RC, it's just a link.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

ok ill try that, i use photobicket, but the pics are still too big

[masterswimmer]

Click the box on the pic you want to edit. Then click edit. You'll see the choice for reducing size to 75%, 50% & 25%. I find that doing 50% works fine. Then you copy and paste the IMG tag onto RC and the pic loads automatically.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

ok thanks russ, i do have a small sad tidbit ofnews to report from my 20 gallon today (and my pair of clowns was going to be moved into this reef wall too). a rock anemone that i added just 2 days ago killed m male clown. sucks for me. so i mgoing to humainly dispose of this monster (takeing him to a fish store today) along with my blue eyed tang that used to live in my 46 for credit and another clown. well thanks again pics will come shortly of the rock

[masterswimmer]

So sorry to hear of your loss. I know how tough it is to lose any livestock. Especially when one is viciously attacked by another.

On a better note, looking forward to your pix.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

well russ after going to take that monster back i went to home depot and got my wire ties and mounting bases like in the pic you showed me. i plan to use all 8 through-out my tank to support the eggcrate. i will get ya pics tnight of the supplies i have and a pic of the tank (it is filled with water and my clown/anemone pair from my larger tank till this saturday when they go to my friend). then i can start the building. thanks for the support and you got a frag of something coming to ya when it is all over and done (ill pm ya around the time im ready to send ya one)

[mokujin22]

yeah, sorry about that. but when you think about it, you didn't want that anenome in there anyway. used to have a large bta in my 26 gal and all i worried about was "when will it start moving again?" and "what will it burn next?" especially in a small tank where you cannot give it its own island.

sad, but in the long run, you probably saved a lot of heartache and headache (and probably more $). also, look at it this way: the males are easier/cheaper to replace.

jmho,
tony

[masterswimmer]

Thanks for the offer. That's real nice of you. Just keep posting your quetions here. I'm monitoring your thread and looking forward to your pix.

I'm not so sure you'll need all 8 of the mounts. Once you attach a few of them you'll understand what I mean......there isn't any way to reach them to attach all of them! lol

If you attach one or two low on the wall so that the top can lean forward you'll be ok down low. Then when you attach a couple up high and pull the cable ties through it and pull it in, there won't be any room left for your hand to get back there to attach any more!

Another thing, don't pull the light diffuser all the way back to the glass. I'd leave at least an inch between so that if you HAVE to get back there, you'll be able to with some aquatic tongs. Just some forethought for any potential problems down the line.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

russ, my plan was to have enough space so i could get my nanofission skimmer back there and be able ot easily maintenance it. i was oging to start at the bottom and work me way up with the mounting things. have them at the highest preasure points to help. will post pics tonight

[masterswimmer]

Post pix or a link to the nanofission skimmer, I've never heard of it. The mounting brackets pull the wall tighter as you move up. There isn't as much room to work as you might think.

I was thinking about you putting one on the outside of the back of your tank and running the cable tie over the back to secure it. It would be out of the way and the only who'd know it was there would be you.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

nice idea russ, but i painted my tank's back blue (kinda a waste now right lol). ok so if it pulls the wall closer, then i think ill have to use 4 and call it quits. i got 18 total just incase i decide to do this on my 26 bow front when i set it up again sometime in the near future. as for livestock, i have made yet another decision. a pair of true percs and a pearly jawfish. i will also have a small neon gobie (the wierd looking green clown gobie actually).and that will be it for fish, unless of course i can get a pearly jawfish pair. ok off for now as i have to help my mom hang the birdfeeders SPRING HAS ARRIVED WITH A BUNDLE OF JOY IN OUR BIRDHOUSE. baby cardinals and baby jays. gota feed em i guess lol

[masterswimmer]

Sounds great. Just remember, get about 50% more LR than you think you'll need. When you turn the rocks so that they make ledges, they really use up so little room. I used so much more rock than I thought.

Pix.......
Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

i plan to use alot from my fuges that i lready have, but i will pick up about 3 pounds more than what i need and any left over will go to replace my fuges and be placed o nthe bottom of the tank for my jawfish pair (found a pair online that im going to order. link to the fission skimmer coming asap (when i can find one as mine is already running on my 20 nano)

[masterswimmer]

About how many pounds of LR are you anticipating needing?

[KING OF THE REEF]

i am thinking a total 8 pounds of select peices (i aleady have 4 pound ready to go but i need the other pieces to finish and redo my design if needed. will get pics asap got more homeowrk to do (you must kno what college homework is like it is a bore and a time consuming effort)

[masterswimmer]

lol @ the homework. Yes I can remember. Been a few weeks though, lmao.

8 lbs on a 15 is going to frustrate you to no end. On my 16, with the one 90 degree corner added, I used 16 lbs. On your tank, with you just doing the back wall, I would plan on about the same amount of LR. If you don't use it on the wall, the fuge is always a great place for a rubble mound for pods.

Don't get caught short on LR. What will you do if your 75% done and run out of rock? Not like you can just stop and go hand pick more rock to finish the project. This project, if done with precision and attention to detail will take you all day. The LR left out of water over night would not be a good thing.

Like I said, plan heavy and be prepared.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

i also have some base rock i can chissel up to fit if i need it (have so much of this stuff in my seahorse tank it isnt funny). i think ill be good. pics coming tonight i hope (of the few pieces of rock i already have but they look unusual enough)

[KING OF THE REEF]

well layed out the rock after i got home and i think i got enough. ill post pics in about 5 hours or so after i get my online tests done

[masterswimmer]

2 hrs to go! lol

[KING OF THE REEF]

nah im done, just my comp is asktinc up so im on my pda now. will post tomorrow sometime after class (11am or so)

[KING OF THE REEF]

ok sorry for the long time with no update. pics most likely tonight or tommorrow after i get everything ready. i am in need of 2-5 pieces of rubble to complete the wall however i have a large pice of base rock im just going to hamer into pieces. well off to finish thanks again for looking

[masterswimmer]

You can control the 'break points' of the larger piece. Drill some pilot holes with a carbide tip drill bit, then use a masons chisel to crack it along those points. Controlled 'smashing' lol.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

thnx man
but i want them to look weathered so ill try it both ways on 2 different rocks

[masterswimmer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6616082#post6616082 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Imareefer
thnx man
but i want them to look weathered so ill try it both ways on 2 different rocks

:thumbsup:

[KING OF THE REEF]

well yet another set back :(.
i have to go to the doctor today and im not really wanting to. so today is out to complete my wall but because i am not well enough to go to class tomorrow *wink wink to all you truants out there*, im planning on getting all my nice frags out of the tank and putting up the wall. then filling it with water again and im done. i promise you russ and the rest of you that it will be completed this week. and pictures this week as well through-out my progress

[masterswimmer]

Ahhhhhhh truancy with an educational purpose. I'm all for it. lol

Hope you feel better, but not too soon *wink*, and get us some pix already!

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

ok sowwie for not updating. pics htis saturday i hope. but the tank i having algea badly and the clowns are still not gone. this sux. neways just a bump

[KING OF THE REEF]

ok i finished it today hurrah. it isnt as nice as masterswimmer's (russ) but it will do. i did some mods to his ideas and came out with a pretty good setup in my opinion. i cannot fill the tank up yet because of the silicone. i decided to jsut silicone the wall's top part to the tank and forego the wire ties and stiky things russ used. when the silicone dies ill fill it up and get the pics for you all to see. i am running a heater in this tank but no skimmer as of yet. i doubt i will run one but ill keep up on the water changes. hope this gives you guys some sort of vision

[masterswimmer]

I want pix. I'm sure it looks great, but I want to see it.

Congrats on finishing it. Was I right about it taking a long time to do? ugh!

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

sorta right russ. but the whole reason it took so long was cause of those bast*** clowns and their devil of an anemone. lol. pics tomorrow when i can fill it back up. thanks to the silicone it smells like freaking vinigar in my room lol. trust me when i say this russ i hate the way it looks. i rushed cause i had only a few hours to place the rocks.

[masterswimmer]

I'm sure you're being overly critical. Most of us beat ourselves up about things like this. I'm looking forward to seeing it. And remember something, when the corals grow out, they hide a lot of sins.

Russ

PS - Thanks for the Crocea bump.

[KING OF THE REEF]

no prob. hopefully i will be getting my clam soon enough.

[KING OF THE REEF]

ok do you want pics with the anemone still in the tank or can i jsut hold off until i add the fish tomorrow? its up to you guys please lmk so and yes that includes others besdies russ (masterswimmer)

[masterswimmer]

I want to see progression pix. So yes, I want to see the anemone first. Also pix of your construction. You know the way I enjoy pix. Lets have'em.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

i unfortunately didnt take progress pics. ill go snap a few pics now and post em by tmmrw morning (have a chemistry test to study for too)

[KING OF THE REEF]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0105.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0106.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0107.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/philsreef/DSCI0108.jpg
sorry if they are too large, i can resize them to the best of my ability. the secon to last is of my pink acro (i got it like that from a friend but it has begun to color up)
and the last one is my superman

[masterswimmer]

Good job. Thanks for the pix. And don't stop taking them.

The tank looks nice. Keep up the good work. Watching everything grow out is fun.

Russ

[KING OF THE REEF]

yep im off to get a few thigns for it will report later

[annamarie421]

Imareefer - I think the rock wall looks gorgeous! How did you attach the rock to the grid material (sorry if I missed it in one of the posts)? Also, what do you use to cut the grid? Hope you don't mind the noob questions!
Thanks,
Anna :)

[Mikeeal]

Looks like he used zip ties. The eggcrate is easily cut with wire cutters.

Imareefer, it looks better than I thought it was gonna. Looks like you need a couple more pieces up at the top there and you'll be good to go.

[Billy1234]

annamarie, I can't help you with your questions, but
[welcome]

:D

[KING OF THE REEF]

wow thanks for the bump, i have trying to find ths for a while lol. i used cable ties. used my pocket knife for the egg crate. ill update pics later but off to dinner i go lol

[Pico1]

nice LR

[annamarie421]

Thanks for the answers - I just might have to do a rock wall now... Looking forward to updated pics! Where did you get your LR? It is REALLY nice - love the colors!!

Anna :)

[KING OF THE REEF]

i have had it from my other tank. i also got it at my local stores