150 Redux

Last night the guys from CAMAS (Central American Marine Aquarium Society) came by and finished the long back breaking task of cleaning out the joints and grouting, my back was hurting just from watching them. I'm happy to have had them do it I'm not sure my back and knees could have taken it. I got the base boards cut and got everything ready to install the baseboards in the morning and called it a night.

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This morning I put a coat of paint on the baseboards so I would not have to be on my knees all day painting, thinking that way it will be a lot easier just to caulk and fill nail holes then touch up the paint instead of having to paint the whole thing in place. After they dried, I installed and caulked them, The 3 large pieces went in like a charm but the small ones took a lot more time. The two pieces that went over the transition took forever to cut and of course they had to get installed on a block wall with nothing to nail then into.

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Here is an update.

Here is an update.

In the 65; the war is over the Ocellaris have won the female Skunk is in the overflow and the male is deap in the rocks, the Ocellaris are happy spending most of their time in the RBTA. Ill get the female Skunk out of the overflow and put her in the prop tank and try to trap the male and put him with the female.

The good news the tank must be in very good shape and maturing nicely, the Cerith snails have bread and there are lots of baby snails in the sand. They range from pepper grain size to about 1/8th inch. I’d say there are about 100 of them but its hard to say. I tried to snap a pic but when the glass is clean they aren’t on the glass. It’s a shame I have to tear it down when it is going so well but the 150 will be so much nicer.

The 150; well it is going slowly one more coat of poly on the inside and two more coats on the stand and hood, I will have to assemble the tank stand and hood before I can go any farther with the closet so I can ensure that the joints line up. The tank will finally get buffed tonight and I hope to move it all back into place tonight.

I was up late last night sealing the grout on the fish room tile and with the exception of touching up the paint the room is finished.
 
I fed the fish as soon as all the lights come on as usual and the male skunk came out to eat, well all hell broke loose and the Ocellaris came out fighting instead of eating. I grabbed a net and after a few attempts I scooped up the male and put him in the 20, I pulled out the Durso and got the female out of the overflow, now they are curled up next to each other again in the corner of the the prop tank.
 
Ok Greg,

You have officially made my mind up. My quarantined skunks will not be going in my display. That being said, do you think they would live life comfortably in my 12 gallon nano? If not, I will have to find them a good home.

--Christy
 
clowns .. even "peaceful ones" are a crap shoot.. I bought 6 small ocellaris from the same tank at the same time and as soon as 2 paired they proceeded to wipe the rest out. I know there are tanks with multi species or multiple same species but these little buggers can be nasty
 
Greg, when I did my tile I finished the baseboards with "quarter round" and it give it a nice finished look and hides gaps between the bottom of the baseboard and the tile..
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9539458#post9539458 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ufchristyb
Ok Greg,

You have officially made my mind up. My quarantined skunks will not be going in my display. That being said, do you think they would live life comfortably in my 12 gallon nano? If not, I will have to find them a good home.

--Christy

Christy,

I think with lots of room (which you have) and good introduction procedures (like everything else you two do) you have a good chance of happy coexistence. If your clowns are already the rule of the roost, then maybe not. I have had two pairs coexist happily (both pairs breeding)in this 65 before.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9539508#post9539508 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poknsnok
clowns .. even "peaceful ones" are a crap shoot.. I bought 6 small ocellaris from the same tank at the same time and as soon as 2 paired they proceeded to wipe the rest out. I know there are tanks with multi species or multiple same species but these little buggers can be nasty

It is one of those you will have to see what happens, there are no guaranties in this hobby and lots of exceptions to the rules.

I will try it again in the 150 but will QT in the 120 for 8 weeks first if they don't try to kill each other in the 120 they all will go in the 150


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9539518#post9539518 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poknsnok
Greg, when I did my tile I finished the baseboards with "quarter round" and it give it a nice finished look and hides gaps between the bottom of the baseboard and the tile..

Oak shoes are on the list for the whole house.
 
i wonder if putting them side by sided in clear containers for a period of time would help?. Ive heard thats how you can pair maroons sometimes. lets them get to know each other without the carnage..
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9539761#post9539761 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poknsnok
i wonder if putting them side by sided in clear containers for a period of time would help?. Ive heard thats how you can pair maroons sometimes. lets them get to know each other without the carnage..

Joe it was not bad in the beginning normal squabbles but after the Ocellaris started hosting the RBTA they claimed more territory.

I will definitely ad a piece of egg crate to the 120 to keep them separate for some time while in QT.

On the note of QT Ill be picking up some more fish for the 150.
Any suggestions for a school of fish? I love those Anthais but some Cromis might be ok too.
 
We've about given up on schooling fish. Anytime we buy something small, we tend to have losses over time. First we did the anthias, now we're down to 1. Then we did the chromis, and now we're also down to 1. I certainly can't explain it.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9540091#post9540091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffbrig
We've about given up on schooling fish. Anytime we buy something small, we tend to have losses over time. First we did the anthias, now we're down to 1. Then we did the chromis, and now we're also down to 1. I certainly can't explain it.

good thing they are cheap.. my chromis are down to 1 too.. but I believe the culprit was a moroon clown that has moved away :)..

Could be not enough food. both need multiple daily feedings. Greg. Im kinda partial to Triggerfish1976 school of purple tangs, i think it was trigger's tank. but you need 400 gal plus for that..Im going to get another 10 chromis and 4 more anthias when I do my upgrade
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9540091#post9540091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffbrig
We've about given up on schooling fish. Anytime we buy something small, we tend to have losses over time. First we did the anthias, now we're down to 1. Then we did the chromis, and now we're also down to 1. I certainly can't explain it.

Jeff,

I guess I should just by a Dozen Cromis (their cheap) and toss them in the 120 to see what happens.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9540287#post9540287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poknsnok
good thing they are cheap.. my chromis are down to 1 too.. but I believe the culprit was a moroon clown that has moved away :)..

Could be not enough food. both need multiple daily feedings. Greg. Im kinda partial to Triggerfish1976 school of purple tangs, i think it was trigger's tank. but you need 400 gal plus for that..Im going to get another 10 chromis and 4 more anthias when I do my upgrade

Joe,

I like Brians (bgdiving) school of yellow tangs in a 7' 220 pretty impressive!
 
So did we. In fact, if we didn't already have a yellow, Christy would like to go with a small group of them.
 
Here is a little teaser for you of the almost finished stand. I still have to wet sand and apply one more coat of poly on the top black trim, and install the last piece of trim that will be the jam for the center door, then put a few coats of poly on the rest of the stand.

I have a question for you guys, the trim on the right side of the stand is removable to allow access to the sump and to get it in and out.

Should I hinge the door on the far right on the removable jam or do I hang it on the same jam as the center door? The door above it will have to hinge on the outside jam and swing to the right, because of the way the jams on the hood will work out.

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I decided to go with aesthetics and form over ease. I hinged the door on the far right of the stand on the removable jam, and I hung the jams for the center doors on the hood and stand? Now I will have to
make the removable jams on the far right of the stand semi permanent to hold up the weight of the doors, and rebuild a few doors so they will hinge from the right side. I have done several of the doors already and one of them will go back to the was it was originally.

Andrew (musicawal) came by yesterday afternoon with his buffer and cleaned up the 150. The tank looks real good but still has a few scratches, I wet sanded some of the scratches with some 2000 grit paper but it was a bear getting the fine scratches out with the Novus 3. I will have to live with it or get a Micromesh kit and buff it a gain. Thanks Andrew for all the help.

I went to put the first coat of poly on the stand and noticed that I got a gal of clear and I had meant to get amber polly, so I'm off to Lowes to exchange it. Ill get some pics up later this afternoon.
 
How many times am I going to be peeved at the home improvement superstores before I learn they don't have what I'm looking for and that I shouldn't be surprised when one of their help doesn't have a clue as to what they have in their section. Three hours an 2 stores and I couldn't fide a set of hinge screws that didn't come with hinges and of course they don't carry the Amber poly anymore.

I got a qt of honey stain/poly and a qt of the semi gloss poly, Ill mix the two together and hope that it looks right. I guess its my fault for building this thing around, and trying to match the doors that I like, but you gotta say they look pretty good.

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Lets play what is wrong with this picture.

Ill start off with it isn't inside with water in it.
 
It has been a long day with plenty of upsets and accomplishments, I took a look at the coat of gloss black poly I put on the trim last night to find some bug runs in the center of the trim, they were to big to buff out so I had to get out the 400 grit wet dry and wet sand 2/3rd of the trim. Then as I was in the middle of the first coat of poly on the hood I realized that I hadn’t rounded off the corners of the top and bottom of the jams. Then I looked back at the freshly painted stand to see that I also missed one of the jams on it. Then as I was getting ready to move the stand into the house, I thought that since I have added the trim to the stand that it might be too big to fit in the front door, so I pulled out the tape measure and sure enough it was to large.

Stephen (boydx6) got to my place about 5:45 and we decided that the stand was going to be too large for the two of us alone. I got a neighbor to come by and help us take off the front door and carry the stand in.

This is what it looked like.

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