drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[fishreef1]

I'm sure you posted it but did you do anything to your rock prior to putting it in the tank?

 

[drummereef]

I was thinking the same thing greenmaster. I started a thread in reef chemistry to see if anyone might have any ideas. Yea Brett I'm soory for the highjack I just knew you had alot of good peeps watching your build and thought I'd throw it out there. I love what you've done with your setup. Pretty much stole all your ideas for my plumbing!! What is that they say about imitation??? Anyway really nice work.

Haha no worries fishreef, thanks for the kind words. I agree too about the bubbles. Sounds like something else was either in the water or on the rock when you put it in the tank. Definitely shouldn't be foaming like that. Leave those kind of bubbles to the skimmer. Maybe even some carbon would help if you don't end up draining the tank. Hopefully you'll get that one sorted out.

Subscribed!

Wow...it took the entire work day (well "work") but I read this thread start to finish. Congratulations on patience, and OCD, definitely an inspiration to me.

I have a 180 in my basement and I'm waiting to recover financially from my new house to start almost exactly what you have started, and I plan on stealing many of your ideas. But I can't get over how you've been at it for over a year!

Anyway, wow again.

So I like blue backgrounds and I own a Nikon d90 and I absolutely love it!

Yeah I took my time... :lol: But half the fun is building the thing right? Thanks for the kind words Fishdisease.

There is a lot here.....wrapping up a 195g in wall too. Very helpful thread

Thanks Pmoss. Just trying to help.

I'm sure you posted it but did you do anything to your rock prior to putting it in the tank?

All I did was fill a 5 gallon bucket with some RO/DI and gave each rock a quick bath/rinse. They were completely dry again by the time I started filling the tank, since it took me a week to aquascape.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


My Canon Rebel XSi came today!!! :bounce2: I'm really pleased with this purchase so far. The camera looks brand new!!! Even though it's a Canon factory refurbished camera you wouldn't know except for the sticker on the box. Even has the little plastic LCD screen protector.


Since I'm still charging the battery I thought I'd post some pics of the new camera.


The Box

Inside the box

Label

First glance after opening the Canon box

The camera came with the kit lens, battery, charger, neck strap, program discs, and some cables. The only thing it doesn't ship with is a memory card. I ended up picking up a Sandisk 4gb card to get me started.

 

[fishreef1]

Sweet buy can't wait to see some pics!

 

[AkaSlyGuy]

As if you don't have enough to work on, now you are going to learn photography You will love that camera.

TIP: get a remote to trigger the shutter and a tripod. Shakey hands will be your worst enemy when taking pics of your tank.

Joe

 

[erics3000]

dark blue or black my vote. Nice Camera...

 

[drummereef]

Sweet buy can't wait to see some pics!

Soon, very soon.

As if you don't have enough to work on, now you are going to learn photography You will love that camera.

TIP: get a remote to trigger the shutter and a tripod. Shakey hands will be your worst enemy when taking pics of your tank.

Joe

:lol: So true! Great tip Joe. I've also found using the 2 second delay while using a tripod really help with camera shake too.

dark blue or black my vote. Nice Camera...

Thanks Eric.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Still getting the hang of using the new camera... this is going to take some time. :lol: But, thought I'd post a couple pics for the heck of it. Not the best but wow SLR's make a huge difference. So much more detail and information in the pics than my previous camera.


Rock taken in RAW. Had to do quite a bit of post manipulation to get this one. Still trying to figure the whole RAW thing out...

FTS - JPEG. Still trying to get accurate color representation although it's fairly close, just a shade whiter. This was taken with AWB. I found if I did a custom white balance the pics came out really flat in color.

Sump Room - JPEG. Sorry about the background, still trying to decide.

Skimmer - JPEG. Here's what the skimmer is doing lately. It's been kind of random but over the last couple days the foam has really dried up.

 

[austin93]

Great looking setup. I feel I may be able to offer some advice on the talk background talk. I have always had blue and felt that it appeared more natural than the black. My most recent tank, I decided that I would paint black due to the overflow box and vortech being black. I am very happy with the choice and would never go back to a blue background. I feel that a blue background makes these necessary item in the tank stand out too much against the background. JMO At least you can change your mind easily as you can get to the back of the tank rather easily. For most of us there is no changing your mind.

 

[Taqpol]

Can you stand at your tank and take a picture of what the rest of your fish room looks like? I think we haven't seen it before and I am busy brainstorming my next fishroom.

 

[crvz]

congrats on the new camera!

 

[fishreef1]

Very nice pics. I think the dark blue background would look nice. something a little different. I had to go black because I was limited on pigment colors for the epoxy on my plywood tank. I would have liked to try something else though.

 

[j-dizzle]

i had to go black as well. that blue looks sharp! nice camera too brett

 

[Greenmaster]

That is a nice camera... I still say the color we can't see is the one to use... A dark blue would work to help hide components as well as help give corals and fish that look without giving the look of abyss... the perfect would be a black/dark blue that starts at the bottom slowly fades to the blue you have as you reach the top of the tank. JMO

 

[1sirjustis]

that is the cleanest set up i have ever seen. most people wouldnt have spent that much time on a fish room like that. i personally would be spending most or my time in there!

 

[drummereef]

Great looking setup. I feel I may be able to offer some advice on the talk background talk. I have always had blue and felt that it appeared more natural than the black. My most recent tank, I decided that I would paint black due to the overflow box and vortech being black. I am very happy with the choice and would never go back to a blue background. I feel that a blue background makes these necessary item in the tank stand out too much against the background. JMO At least you can change your mind easily as you can get to the back of the tank rather easily. For most of us there is no changing your mind.

Thanks for the advice austin93.

Can you stand at your tank and take a picture of what the rest of your fish room looks like? I think we haven't seen it before and I am busy brainstorming my next fishroom.

I'm working on something better to help you out. Give me a bit and I'll post it up.

congrats on the new camera!

Thanks man!

 

[drummereef]

Very nice pics. I think the dark blue background would look nice. something a little different. I had to go black because I was limited on pigment colors for the epoxy on my plywood tank. I would have liked to try something else though.

Thanks fishreef. I'm definitely leaning towards a dark blue but haven't totally decided yet. Hopefully I'll get some time this week to hit the sign shop again.

i had to go black as well. that blue looks sharp! nice camera too brett

Thanks j-dizzle. If I went blue it would be much darker than the poster board example I have. But I do like what it does with the reflections on the water surface.

That is a nice camera... I still say the color we can't see is the one to use... A dark blue would work to help hide components as well as help give corals and fish that look without giving the look of abyss... the perfect would be a black/dark blue that starts at the bottom slowly fades to the blue you have as you reach the top of the tank. JMO

Agree Greenmaster. Since I have corner overflows I think I could go with a dark blue and the overflows would essentially "frame" the back wall.

that is the cleanest set up i have ever seen. most people wouldnt have spent that much time on a fish room like that. i personally would be spending most or my time in there!

Haha, that's pretty much what I do with my spare time 1sirjustis.

wow this tank is looks so good and amazing

Thank you winvargh. It's a work in progress but it's getting there.

 

[Tater11]

wow!! just went through the whole thread awesome build.

 

[drummereef]

wow!! just went through the whole thread awesome build.

Thanks Tater11.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Tank parameters are as follows... all taken with an API test kit (new). Also double checked the nitrate with a Salifert kit (old).

Ammonia: ~0.35 ppm - hard to tell but definitely above 0.25 ppm but below 0.50 ppm.
Nitrite: 1.0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm

Question is, how is it possible to show ammonia and nitrate during a setup cycle? I thought the ammonia would be completely gone by the time the nitrates started rising.