DIY 20g Long Build Thread
- Thread starter JasonBJones
- Start date
JasonBJones
New member
Thank you everyone!
Glenn: Sad to hear the 20g is sitting in the garage, that was such a great looking tank. I have no doubt your others will be/are equally impressive.
Dogstar74:Thank you for the compliments. I have been around this hobby for many years and I feel like this tank has been a compilation of everything I have learned.
Kafudafish: We shall see what will happen with the tank. It may become an office tank or I may just incorporate the walls into a new tank. Who knows.
DBreefs: Thank you. I really love the ric garden, one of my favorite things. My wife things it looks fake because its so colorful. S
Peef: Thanks. The mixture I used was portland cement: sand: oyster shell in a 1:2:2 mixture. I also need to upgrade my signature, I have an Aquatinics tx5 on the tank for the last 2 months and I am running 3 ATI Blue+, 1 KZ fiji purple, and 1 ATI Aquablue Special. I am really happy with the bulb combo and get a lot of compliments on it from people who have seen the tank in person.
Glenn: Sad to hear the 20g is sitting in the garage, that was such a great looking tank. I have no doubt your others will be/are equally impressive.
Dogstar74:Thank you for the compliments. I have been around this hobby for many years and I feel like this tank has been a compilation of everything I have learned.
Kafudafish: We shall see what will happen with the tank. It may become an office tank or I may just incorporate the walls into a new tank. Who knows.
DBreefs: Thank you. I really love the ric garden, one of my favorite things. My wife things it looks fake because its so colorful. S
Peef: Thanks. The mixture I used was portland cement: sand: oyster shell in a 1:2:2 mixture. I also need to upgrade my signature, I have an Aquatinics tx5 on the tank for the last 2 months and I am running 3 ATI Blue+, 1 KZ fiji purple, and 1 ATI Aquablue Special. I am really happy with the bulb combo and get a lot of compliments on it from people who have seen the tank in person.
JasonBJones
New member
Time for another update.
Tank is really starting to become stable and take off. The growth had stalled out but really starting picking up within the last month. I quit dosing vodka before Christmas and have really noticed no side effects. I still dose bacteria on a weekly basis. The new(ish) skimmer is still running strong and I am happy with its performance.
The only somewhat troubling thing is an increase in bryopsis. I have had little bits in a couple of places for a while now, but it has started picking up. I may have to be a little more careful with the feedings and increase the Mg to see if I can have any effect on it that way.
I raised the lights up a month ago and that has really been beneficial. All the SPS colors darkened up and many of the zoas had been closing and have stopped that. The one interesting thing is that my red planet had turned completely green when I had him in a highlight spot. It was my understanding that they turn green in lower light and red in higher light. When I switched the SPS rock to the darker side of the tank and put the red planet in much less light, he has started turning red again, weird.
As also, feel free to ask questions or make any comments. Cheers.
Tank is really starting to become stable and take off. The growth had stalled out but really starting picking up within the last month. I quit dosing vodka before Christmas and have really noticed no side effects. I still dose bacteria on a weekly basis. The new(ish) skimmer is still running strong and I am happy with its performance.
The only somewhat troubling thing is an increase in bryopsis. I have had little bits in a couple of places for a while now, but it has started picking up. I may have to be a little more careful with the feedings and increase the Mg to see if I can have any effect on it that way.
I raised the lights up a month ago and that has really been beneficial. All the SPS colors darkened up and many of the zoas had been closing and have stopped that. The one interesting thing is that my red planet had turned completely green when I had him in a highlight spot. It was my understanding that they turn green in lower light and red in higher light. When I switched the SPS rock to the darker side of the tank and put the red planet in much less light, he has started turning red again, weird.
As also, feel free to ask questions or make any comments. Cheers.
qwuintus
New member
Awesome DIY skills man!
As a designer my eyes can not help but zone in on the black paint that is killing your FTS.
I took the liberty of creating two solutions that would continue the line the black paint creates.
The line continues yet is still subtle enough where the main read is still the fish tank.
There are a ton of other different lines you could add to accomplish this style but I would have to start charging
As a designer my eyes can not help but zone in on the black paint that is killing your FTS.
I took the liberty of creating two solutions that would continue the line the black paint creates.
The line continues yet is still subtle enough where the main read is still the fish tank.
There are a ton of other different lines you could add to accomplish this style but I would have to start charging
JasonBJones
New member
Tahoe- Thanks. Hopefully it was not time wasted!
qwuintus- Interesting ideas. I have always tried to make the stand and equipment look as simple as possible to enhance the inhabitants of the tank. I certainly want everything to have a clean look, but beyond that I try to avoid drawing attention to anything other than whats inside the tank. Your ideas make the stand look better, but I feel like the draw the eye to the line and not to the tank itself, which goes against my goal. It is similar to the tile people are using on stands now, while I think it looks good, I wouldn't do it for my tank because I think it is distracting.
Duncantse- Thanks for the compliments. I build the all of the filtration out of black acrylic. Each piece was custom made to fit so, unfortunately, there isn't a good way to replicate it commercially.
Bwinder- Thank you for the compliments. It has been a lot of work, but only the good kind.
qwuintus- Interesting ideas. I have always tried to make the stand and equipment look as simple as possible to enhance the inhabitants of the tank. I certainly want everything to have a clean look, but beyond that I try to avoid drawing attention to anything other than whats inside the tank. Your ideas make the stand look better, but I feel like the draw the eye to the line and not to the tank itself, which goes against my goal. It is similar to the tile people are using on stands now, while I think it looks good, I wouldn't do it for my tank because I think it is distracting.
Duncantse- Thanks for the compliments. I build the all of the filtration out of black acrylic. Each piece was custom made to fit so, unfortunately, there isn't a good way to replicate it commercially.
Bwinder- Thank you for the compliments. It has been a lot of work, but only the good kind.
JasonBJones
New member
Shot a video after feeding tonight. Everything is still going well and growing. Got bryopsis showing up in a few places so its time to cut back on the feeding and up the Mg.
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid926.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fad106%2Fjasonbjones_photos%2FIMG_2366.mp4">
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid926.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fad106%2Fjasonbjones_photos%2FIMG_2366.mp4">
JasonBJones
New member
Thanks Duncan
JasonBJones
New member
Thanks ange. Be careful getting into SPS, they are addicting.
Moving the video over so it doesn't get lost at the end of the last page:
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid926.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fad106%2Fjasonbjones_photos%2FIMG_2366.mp4">
Moving the video over so it doesn't get lost at the end of the last page:
<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid926.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fad106%2Fjasonbjones_photos%2FIMG_2366.mp4">
JasonBJones
New member
Thanks guys. I need to take some updated pictures. The corals are all growing really well and starting to take off. I lost a couple of polyp frags that had not been doing great for a while, but others are growing very well, this hobby is so funny sometimes.
I have been battling bryopsis and it is certainly winning at this point. I have jacked the Mg way up but still having no luck. All the growth of it led me to concerns that there was a nutrient problem building, but nothing shows up on the test kits. I added a refugium with cheato to try and out compete the bryopsis. The bryopsis continues to grow like gang busters and the chaeto is wilting away. It is very frustrating at this point. But as long as the corals and animals continue growing and staying healthy, that is what is really important.
If anyone has any other suggestions, throw them out. I have cut back on feeding and running rowaphos.
I have been battling bryopsis and it is certainly winning at this point. I have jacked the Mg way up but still having no luck. All the growth of it led me to concerns that there was a nutrient problem building, but nothing shows up on the test kits. I added a refugium with cheato to try and out compete the bryopsis. The bryopsis continues to grow like gang busters and the chaeto is wilting away. It is very frustrating at this point. But as long as the corals and animals continue growing and staying healthy, that is what is really important.
If anyone has any other suggestions, throw them out. I have cut back on feeding and running rowaphos.
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