Matt's Tank Thread

[bayareaquarist]

Well I believe its time for me to start my thread~!

Tank size:
50 gallon TruVu -tall- w/ corner overflow

Sump Size:
25 gallon AGA partitioned w/ acrylic

Stand and canopy:
Unknown manufacturer -Piano black finish-

Skimmer:
Undecided

Lighting:
1 250w SE MH 20k -Hamilton tech- retrofited for canopy
Additional lighting is budget depedant. I would like to go with w/ either double VHO's or T5's.

Flow and circulation:
-Closed loop
-ViaAqua 2600 @ aprox. 740 GPH for cycling
-Modified squid for radomization

-Drain and Return
-1" drain from overflow
-Pump for return is undecided
-Will run cheap Hydor Flow Deflectors for split return

I purchased this tank, stand and canopy from my good buddy Peter AKA Petes97 and we have been doing misc. work to the tank and accessories for about a month. As I am a student on a budget the progess has been slow but in about a week it will be plumbed and flow tested~!
Any constructive criticism is welcome and well apprechiated~!
Wish me luck everyone~!

Pics:

I used 1" polypropolene BH for the CL





This is Pete druming one of the slips we epoxied over the 3/4 inserts of the sqwq -made us feel much more secure having these over the inserts~!



This is the moded Sqwd w/ 3/4 inlets and 1" hose barbs -we trested this very briefly w/ a mag9 and it ran smooth w/ shorter durations




This is Airinhere mixing the artificial rock for bases of two of my rocks that will act as pilars !~TANKS MAN~!



This is the rock sitting in the bases drying



This is the rock w/ bases "cooking"





More pics to come~!

PS can an adminstrator please delete the first thread I started? As I accidentally tabbed to the submit button...~!

[bobbyblank]

YO MATT, looking good . Glad to see you finally got it going. I like the idea of the 50g better then the 29 anyway . Nice job on the rocks guys. What did you use in the mix, oyster shells or rock salt? I was tossing around the idea also and have been reading up on ones mixed with rocksalt, nice and light in the end. I will be doing the same whenever i upgrade my tank. Hope to see you friday at the meeting so i can hear all about it

[Reef n' Madness]

I would have to agree that this seems way better than the 30g plan! Looks good, can't wait to see the end product.

[bayareaquarist]

So Bobby we used white concrete and rock salt: mix with a little bit of water~! Super easy~! I am going to try to make it to meeting tonite...ttyl

[eben]

looks good matt!

[bobbyblank]

I wish you would have shown up earlyer to the meet, i wanted to talk you more about your DIY rocks. They look great. Id like to come check them out.

[airinhere]

Hey man! good to see your tank is forming up. The aragocrete mix will take 28 days to stop curing, but since it is only a small amount you could try testing the ph of your water and see if it stays at 8.4 or lower. If so, you can just think of it like a piece of time-release kalk.

[bayareaquarist]

So here are some updated pics...I have been so busy with school and work that this project has taken a tad-bit longer than anticipated~!
Enjoy~!


Leak Testing:








Fuge/Sump Populated:







This is the foyer actually organized and "clean" before I aquascaped:





Aquascaped:





Some dirty plumbing:







For all you out there with spare equipment I am in the market for a few things.

I am retro-fitting my canopy for a single 250w SE MH + dual 36" CF"S or VHO's...Not sure on secondary lighting I think I'll just take whatever is available~!

If anyone would like to post their input on CF"s vs VHO's please feel free~!

I have a Hamilton pendant that I riped apart and took the ballast, mogule, compaciter/transformer from and now I need a ballast box and cord. Anybody have one lying around?

Im allso going to need some fans...

Thanks in advance~!

-Matt

[bayareaquarist]

Here are some updated pics for the forum~!

The tank with half of the lighting going -TANKS Steve~!:




This is my new fish~!
Paracheilinus Filamentosus aka:
Filiment-fin Flasher Wrasse & Filimented Flasher Wrasse





I have a couple of corals that I will post pics of later...

Tanks to those that looked~!

[funman1]

Nice looking!!
How much did that fish run ya?

[bobbyblank]

NICE! been waiting for you to post some pics. Glad to see no leaks, good to see the close loop going as well.

[petes97]

That is a sweet fish Matt!

[bayareaquarist]

TANKS you guys~! Apprechiate the fan-fair~!

The fish was $30.00 from Exotic of course~! There is one more there Im thinking about grabbing..

[bored4long]

Dang, sweet, well thought out setup. Your sump has an output to the rubble, and one to the sock. Where are each of these coming from?

[bayareaquarist]

Bored: The drain only goes to the bubble-trap and the sock just lays in place for carbon and the like...


My new toy~! Merry Christmas Matt~!





Quick Mesh-Mod:




Installed:



Some new fish~!

Lime green Coris Wrasse:



Unidentified multi-colored Wrasse:
-I have a pair of these and they are absolutely EXQUISITE~!






-I have yet to see a continuous color pattern on them as they are always changing shades.


Four line Wrasse:



-horrible picture cause this fish is quick~!

[bayareaquarist]

Some new and old corals plus some new inverts~!

Recovering GSP:




Recovering Bam Bam's:




Tub's Blue wanabeez:




Tubastrea: -One of my all time favorites~!




Bright orange Fungia:




Tyree Limited Motipora Undata:




Tri-Color Acan:





Inverts:

Halloween Hermit Crab:



Assorted Feather Dusters:

[yoboyjdizz]

Great pictures.. how big is the crab?

[JJ4417]

I'm not up on my skimmer mods. What does it do?

And are you another wrasse junkie?

[bayareaquarist]

Jdizz: The crab is aprox. 3.5-4 inches...

JJ: The mod applied chops the bubbles into a smaller size thus creating more bubbles~!

-And yes im a junkie...FO LIFE~! I love how there are so many varriations in color, body shape, size ect...~!
The species I have chosen are agressive eaters and when introduced with other species of wrasse they are seem to be extremely active~!

[tuberider]

Looks like lubbocks wrasses to me, luv that fish.

[delsol650]

jeremy's right, its a tri-color lubbocks....

[pbetito]

I third the Lubboks but still very pretty. I also really like the purple feather duster.

[bayareaquarist]

It is a lubbocks~! Thanks guys~! I knew it had to be some kind of Fairy Wrasse...Says average adult length is only 3'...thats perfect for my tank~!

[petes97]

Matt, sweet man, coming along. How about a trade of something out of my tank for a bam bam or two?

[bayareaquarist]

How about you come over over and calibrate my PH monitor for me and I'll see what I can do~! =)