30 Cube Foam Rockwall Reef Tank

[sam.basye]

Thanks, saf1!

Here's a pretty cool one of a decommissioned F-104 I took in Easton, Maryland at sunset and one of a Gulf Stream G550 in Newport News, VA with the coolest paint job I've seen!

This is the video I made landing at Charlotte with my GoPro.

https://youtu.be/JFysmAn5hlg

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
I got a couple duplicate gifts. Lol
I got 4 filter socks, 2 ATO sensors (I needed on to have a second complete set), 2 skimmer silencers, and 2 sets of foam rings that are the wrong size. Haha
My new pump is hopefully sitting on the front porch since the post office decided to deliver it during my mail hold..

Got some good suspension and brake stuff for the 4Runner!

 

[Chasmodes]

Your new build looks great so far! Do you have a recent front FTS? How are the critters going? Other than the garden eel, are you planning any other additions to your stocking list?

By the way, I need to complement you on your new wall separately. The way that you combined your rock wall and made such a unique shape, and wrapped around a rock outcropping is absolutely awesome looking! Nicely done! I can't wait to see this fully set up!

 

[sam.basye]

Your new build looks great so far! Do you have a recent front FTS? How are the critters going? Other than the garden eel, are you planning any other additions to your stocking list?

By the way, I need to complement you on your new wall separately. The way that you combined your rock wall and made such a unique shape, and wrapped around a rock outcropping is absolutely awesome looking! Nicely done! I can't wait to see this fully set up!

Thanks, Chasmodes!

You don't want to see a current FTS. Lol
I haven't scraped the glass in a month and all the coral is randomly placed on eggcrate or soap trays. Lol

I'll post one of the new tank and the dirty 26 tonight when I get home.
Surprisingly I didn't lose anything in the move! Snappy even made it. I left him in there with all his shells/rubble in very little to no water untill I set it up again. I haven't looked for the two crabs I had, but I assume they probably made it.

I'm going to try adding some yellow clown gobies again and another pygmy cherub angel. Not sure what else at this moment. No real set fish list.


Thanks for the wall compliments! It's actually not quite what I was hoping for.. it all came out well, but I wish it wasn't quite as square, like the last one. We'll see, I might like it better when I add coral though

 

[Chasmodes]

OK, I'll be patient. What I've seen looks very promising though. And the coral will fill things out a lot. The outcropping gives it a nice 3D touch.

 

[sam.basye]

All right, my biggest "œpet peeve" (the phrase pet peeve is a pet peeve of mine lol) on the forums here...

Excuse the poor/crappy iPhone pic!

That's right, the excuse for someone not knowing how to take a fricken non-blue tank picture with their iPhone. This has driven me nuts time and time again, and now, I have moved over to the dark side and joined the Apple Cult!

Got my iPhone X in the mail today and vow to not be one of the morons who can't take a non-blue, blurry-a** picture to save their life! Haha

Apple finally came out with something I wanted and it was time to retire the 3 year old Motorola Droid Turbo. I'd been eyeing the new iPhone X for a while and decided to bite the bullet. I've been tired of Verizon raping my wallet for years and gave them the proverbial finger. I already have Comcast/Xfinity for TV and internet and they had a promotion for new customers which I'd be since we moved. If you sign up for TV, internet, and phone, you get a $500 visa gift card! Xfinity uses Verizon's towers and I will end up paying the same amount for 1gb of data and the monthly phone payment as I was with 1gb for a paid off 3yo phone... eat that Verizon.

Anyways. Excited to start taking pics with the new phone when I get a light over the new tank!

Dirty 26..

I decided to get rid of the "˜T' to nowhere from the return pump after determining it had no practical use.

Installed the new pump and not too thrilled with it - minimal improvement. Next step is to get a couple 3/4" to 1/2" loc-line reducers and 1/2" nozzles for hopefully greater velocity.
I did remove the sterilizer and surprisingly the flow rate with it removed wasn't noticeable, so I put it back in.

With the increased flow, the durso can't really keep up so it is a bit louder now. I have the return ball valve closed a little to help.

 

[ratherbeflyen]

What plane has a single rear seat? Is that a 172 with an stc or something?

I also like your build. I love the one off artistic creations like this.

 

[sam.basye]

Thanks, ratherbeflyen.

The newer ones, last 4ish years, Cessna started offering the 172's with a single rear observation seat instead of the standard 2 seat bench.
I believe that plane is a 2016.


Got just about all the electrical wires and equipment transferred to the new tank today. Just need to buy Velcro stickers.. I have some, that I found a few days ago, and have since lost! Irritating. Lol
I spent a few hours, like 3, organizing and strategically routing all the power cords this evening.
Also stuck the light on top for fun!

Side view - you can see the added dimension I tried creating with the rock work.

 

[sam.basye]

30 Cube Foam Rockwall Reef Tank

Went to Lowe's today to pick up the Velcro and zip tie stickers.
All the power cords are tucked and routed to make anyone with OCD happy. Lol

Still need to determine how and where to place the ATO reservoir in addition to where to hide the emergency bubbler tubing.

The bubbler, timer, and mp10 controller are attached to the walls with the Velcro stickers and the mp10 power cord is attached with the zip tie stickers.

Finished sump!

 

[fabulousfavia]

Happy New year!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Great shots of the rock work. Nice job on the sump cabinet too. It's coming together! How soon before you move stuff in?

 

[sam.basye]

Thanks, favia and hoaster!

I'm going to test the water tomorrow. I actually found a single Xenia polyp next to a rock that made its way in when I added some of the 26's sand. It's still alive, so that's a good sign!
My 2 week "˜plan' puts me at Friday, so I might add the damsel or some coral to test the waters the end of the week.

Got the loc-line reducers and nozzles ordered from marine depot. Only $12 for the 4 pieces.
**if anyone wants to know what specific things cost or where I find them, feel free to ask. I don't mind throwing numbers out there, especially when I try to do things as cheap as possible. Lol It does add up, but the hobby can be done on a budget, which is my goal.

Gotta start brainstorming a light mount now!

 

[McPuff]

I don't know Sam, your new phone makes it look like the tank is covered in algae! :0)

Seriously love the rock work you created.

I have an invention that would add some efficiency to your sump. Still need to post a video of this thing as I think a lot of people on here would be interested. Intrigued?? :0)

 

[sam.basye]

I don't know Sam, your new phone makes it look like the tank is covered in algae! :0)



Seriously love the rock work you created.



I have an invention that would add some efficiency to your sump. Still need to post a video of this thing as I think a lot of people on here would be interested. Intrigued?? :0)

Ha! I was just about to take another pic just for you with the custom algae filter setting on the new phone. Haha But.. looky what I saw instead. One of the RBTA's (the big, original one) moved!!! Those bastards have been attached to the bottom of he rock and impossible to get off. They even risked dying by nemcicle during the move. Lol

I told one of my aviation students about the move and how I'd have to trick it to get it to move. Then I followed with, a spineless, brainless animal which I got the "˜your an idiot' look. Haha

I'll actually be able to remove it now and not have to beak the rock off the wall!

I used this trick with a flashlight trying to get the rents to move on the barnacles in the 26. I have had the 24" light at an angle so it doesn't fall in the tank and the nem is trying to move closer to the light.

I talked to the manager at my LFS and he is going to place me an order for a green spotted garden eel today if they have any in stock. Should be here next week! Going to try to catch the clown or damsel and toss it in the new tank Friday and going to toss a coral in tonight!

The nitrate test came out clean yesterday and I added a bunch of random supplements after the skimmer shut off for the night.

I spent at least an hour standing in the isle at Lowe's trying to build the light stand in my head. No luck

I want to see that video, McPuff!

 

[sam.basye]

Well, that was easy!

Perks of having a foam wall "”> only took 2 min to gently pick it off the fake wall with my fingernail.


I got a little carried away. Lol

I ended up putting a plug of burning magician zoa's, green digitata, rainbow stylophora, and rock flower nem. Plus 2 thin stripe hermits and a nassarius snail. Lol

So far the hermits are roaming trying to eat clean gravel, the snail isn't having a seizure, and all the coral looks happy and opening up!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

It's ON!

I've never seen orange zoas. So freakin' cool! Tank looks great.

Your fake rock work has a spooky, skull island feel to it, to me. I think it's the holes - they remind me of eye sockets. More like frag sockets. I remember, when I finished my fake roots, I saw an eerie resemblance to the (original) "War of the Worlds" creatures.

I look forward to watching everything unfold. The extra dimensionality is so 'next level'! Another masterpiece, by the master fake rocker…

 

[McPuff]

I want to see that video, McPuff!

Admittedly, I'm way behind in making one for this creation of mine. I do need to build a more refined version first and then I can show the original prototype (which is still in use), my second version (in another reefer's system), and a more updated/upgraded version for my own system.

 

[ratherbeflyen]

Thanks, ratherbeflyen.

The newer ones, last 4ish years, Cessna started offering the 172's with a single rear observation seat instead of the standard 2 seat bench.
I believe that plane is a 2016.

I have been out of GA for a long time, but I gave over 1000 hours of dual in Cessna's, not to mention learning to fly, and I can't remember how many years it was before I flew an airplane that wasn't older than I was at the time. Much less a new one. I also can't recall ever having 4 people in a 172.

 

[sam.basye]

30 Cube Foam Rockwall Reef Tank

Come on McPuff.. all that hype and no proof!

I have been out of GA for a long time, but I gave over 1000 hours of dual in Cessna's, not to mention learning to fly, and I can't remember how many years it was before I flew an airplane that wasn't older than I was at the time. Much less a new one. I also can't recall ever having 4 people in a 172.

I'm currently right at about 630TT with about 335 hours of that as dual given in the 172.

I don't think I've ever had 4 people in one either. Lol The only real way to get 4 is if you stick two kids back there, otherwise you'd be running on fumes just to take off under max weight. Haha
They're nice, we have a fleet of about 20 Skyhawks and the oldest one is a 2010. All have the g1000 glass cockpit too.

Fun story - recently I went to Dulles with a student and on the way back we went to hot springs airport KHSP which is about 4,000' up on the top of a little mountain in a mountainous area. It was dark right after departing Dulles and about halfway there ATC told us there was a V22 (Osprey) doing something low altitude over the airport. When we got closer, we started talking to them on the radios and they were doing pattern work with no exterior lights and all the airport lights off practicing pattern work with vertical takeoff and landings in the grass next to the runway! They let us turn the runway lights on and we landed while they were in the grass with engines running and you couldn't see anything. I assume they were practicing flying with night vision goggles. One of the coolest things I've seen so far.


Tank update!

Bubble tip is in. I caught it trying to escape the net earlier. The hermits haven't tried crawling out, no snail seizures, all the coral in the new tank look really good so I placed the rbta in a predetermined hole in the rock work.

I'm going to start transferring everything this weekend.

I'm also on the hunt for a used radion xr30 g3 pro and a reeflink instead of the black box. Gotta find a good deal on one somewhere. Lol

Went to Lowe's yesterday with plans to build the light mount, but left empty handed and disappointed after getting there realizing what I wanted was too expensive and flimsy to be worth it..

Side note: I just realized the other day the pictures I've been posting, after photobucket bent me over its knee, aren't as clear as they are on my phone. Lol
I've been lazy and just been using the Tapatalk app image uploader since its extremely convenient. That's not going to cut it anymore! Going to try and find another easy mobile way to do it without losing image quality..

 

[McPuff]

I know it! I have to get going on the next prototype. Truthfully, I've needed to build one for just over a year now. :facepalm:

For the Radion, if you don't care about having the latest and greatest, you could probably get a Gen 1 for relatively cheap and it would certainly provide plenty of pretty light.

 

[saf1]

I know it! I have to get going on the next prototype. Truthfully, I've needed to build one for just over a year now. :facepalm:

For the Radion, if you don't care about having the latest and greatest, you could probably get a Gen 1 for relatively cheap and it would certainly provide plenty of pretty light.

If you don't mind used lots of stuff on the boards since Santa brought in a new batch of goodies. Or, if you are a DIY person can get some really nice multi-channels and build your own for a fraction of the cost.

On the 'Nem....started with one about that size, now have 6 I think they are just has bad as Xenia! J/k - well, maybe not. But the 6 in my 40 breeder is the problem and two of them continue to roam about the tank because there just isn't enough room for them all. Never again.