DIY acrylic tank build

[disaster999]

another update, bought more zoa and another clam

 

[disaster999]

small update...corals are all doing well. zoas are busy popping out new polyps. the GSP is expanding too. the clams are as happy as...well..a clam. still trying to get the algea under control. the snails have been doing a great job eating them. but not nearly fast enough. bought some blue legged hermits to help out and clean up some scraps my cleaner shrimp or fish cant get to.

also bought another clown hoping it would pair up with the existing one and i'll get a kick watching them interact. i made sure to find the smallest one i can so my old clown would be the dominant one, shorter fighting and would get along faster. so far it worked out pretty good. they probably spend 10 mins fighting before the winner was decided and my old clown pretty much left the little guy alone. it was a pretty fierce battle, i could even hear the clown fish snapping its jaw.

while shopping for the hermits and clown, i wanted to get an anemone so my clownfish would host it, found this small bubble tip anemone for under $1.20!! it was floating around in my tank for a while...but then i just kinda placed it against a rock, it stuck and started walking around. kinda found itself under a rock out of the light...thought they like/need strong lights :shurgs:

ok enough talk...more pictures
new clown

old clown

hermits hard at work

bubble tip anemone

filament flasher wrasse

 

[disaster999]

after a few trial and error, i think i found the solution to stop fish from jumping and not sacrifice light output. i tried to find netting material and try to make those mesh mod, but that failed pretty bad. so i ended up with an acrylic sheet over my tank. but i was having major water condensate problem which to me was preventing light from penetrating fully into my tank and it was bowing pretty bad i tried eggcrate but, to me, i can clearly see the intensity was reduced and the colors from my 4bulb t5ho wasnt blended as well. so i took that off, drilled a bunch of holes in the acrylic hoping that would solve my problem, but it didnt

finally, i just cut out the center of the egg crate leaving around 2inch wide strip on all the sides. thinking if the fish tried to leap from the edge, the egg crate would stop them, and if they jump from the middle, they would just land back in the water. also, the open space in the egg crate lets in all the light making the center really intense. my clams are enjoying the extra light they have and so far no fish jumped *fingers crossed*

 

[Johnny C]

Your tank looks AWESOME, and I like the idea w/ the egg crate, I may have to try it myself!

 

[disaster999]

quick update, nothing really changed, just letting everything grow in. this is the last update for this tank. im going to take it down and replace it with a slightly bigger tank.

Zoas, excuse the nem

acan, these things grow pretty fast

sun coral, theres 2 babies that it dropped, hard to see..but its there

FTS

 

[disaster999]

sneak preview

 

[disaster999]

no one is interested?????????

well heres what it looks like now

before landscape

after

 

[kalebsdad21]

Nice clean look keep the good work

 

[disaster999]

i wouldnt call it clean...i still need to cover up the pipes =P but thanks, i really like how this tank turned out. a lot better than my old one.

 

[emm0909]

The new tank looks awesome man.

 

[disaster999]

thanks dude

 

[dan10342]

how have the t5s been supporting the clams? do you have to feed the clams in any way other than light?

 

[disaster999]

the maxima clam is a moderate light clam so its quite happy where it is right now.

the crocea needs more light than the maxima so i need to move it higher up a little. right now its mantle is really stretched out trying to get as much light as possible. i just need to somehow find a way of separating it from the GSP rock.

clams do no need to eat. they are filter feeders and pretty much all you need is light

 

[Johnny C]

As said before, looks great... LOVING the new rimless. Keep up updated bro!

 

[disaster999]

thanks dude!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

looks great. still having problems with high aquarium temps?

 

[tropills]

looking nice. that T for your returns would be a perfect spot to install a SCWD.

 

[disaster999]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14691559#post14691559 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
looks great. still having problems with high aquarium temps?

na, i have a chiller that took care of that. tank is not gonna survive long without one here

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14691659#post14691659 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tropills
looking nice. that T for your returns would be a perfect spot to install a SCWD.

yeah, im actually thinking about one. gotta get a black backdrop for the tank too....i really like the clear through look tho. too bad i have my hoses visible.

 

[emm0909]

If you wrapped invisible tape around it you wouldn't see it. HAHA!! (Lame joke)

I like the black back look when there's things to hide. You could probably just tape up a couple pieces of black paper.

 

[disaster999]

na...if im gonna black it out, ill get those vinyl sheets they sell and just stick it on the back...which reminds me..i was at the fish street yesterday and totally forgot about it...was on a mission to find some cool fish but they all too typical....clown, firefish, 6-line yellow watchmen goby etc etc.

did get a cleaner shrimp (the other one died for no reason) and a frag of zoa...its red with neon green mouth. i believe they are red people eater.