Finally Done!! Part 1 + Part 2 Lots of Pics!! ***56k = Death****

[g8gxp]

Ok this has been a year in the making but it's all finally done. In order to toot my own horn I've decided to start from the beginning. Because I did not see a tank stand that I liked for my 120G I decided to build my own. Mind you, I have never done any woodworking of any kind, but I figured my OCD would come in handy for a detailed project so here we go.

My materials all cut and ready to go

Base and supports.

Frame

More Frame

I forgot to take more photos somewhere, but here it is nearly finished, with the trim and molding attached. Using a router to freehand the fluting in the trimwork was a bit*h,

 

[g8gxp]

Stained with mahogany.

Ok, now for the part you've been waiting for! Part 1 Rock!!!

 

[g8gxp]

After 2 weeks (thanks to hurricane Ike) I was ready for part 2. On a separate note, my cycle couldn't have been easier. Initially my ammonia was at 0.5 and I started freaking out. I did a 10% WC but then calmed down and just left it alone. After 3 days it had gone down to near zero without another WC.

If I had to desribe TBS with 1 sentence it would be, "What the hell am I supposed to do with all this rock?!?" Seriously, for those who have part 1 but not part 2 yet, don't bother to aquasape. I thought "hey I'll just put the big rock at the bottom and part 2 will go on top" WRONG. When you order rock at TBS you are gonna get ALOT of rock.

This was earlier today. Here are the boxes all lined up and ready to go. By the way, do yourself a favor and PUT PLASTIC DOWN. very very wet, much messier than part 1.

3 boxes of rock

1 box of other goodies

Bag 1 - crab. (scientific, I know)

Bag 2 - Underwater Turds
By the way, these aren't the ones that eviscerate themselves when stressed, are they?!?

Bag 3 - Lobsters. Named them Ricky and Bobby (why yes, I am a child) the big one is hella mean. He's already taken out 2 of my CUC snails.

Bag 4 - Here shrimpy shrimpy shrimpy

Bag 5 - Lots of arms

 

[g8gxp]

Bag 6 - Purple thing. I kind of just wedged it between 2 rocks otherwise it would float away.

Bags 7 & 8 - Clean up crew

Bag 9 - Sponges

Bag 10 - No clue

Bag 11 - Anemones

 

[g8gxp]

Took me a good 2 hours to put everything where I wanted it. Fortunately since I am local to Tampa, I picked up directly from Richard. Zero die-off, didn't even need to clean it. Unfortunately there's still some gorillas in there somewhere that I'll need to get out. As well as a mantis that is waayy smarter than me, I doubt I'll be able to get him, but right now he's beating the crap out of my rock.

Just hanging out

Well that's my story. Now all I have to do is cross my fingers and hope everything goes well for the next couple of days. I'm still waiting for the anvil to drop on my head cause so far this has been a breeze. But after lifting all that freakin rock I'm exhausted!!

 

[divemonster]

WOW! :eek1:

Your tank is stunning. Do take pictures as you discover other critters you did not know you had. Your "scientific" naming is quite funny! The Floaty Purple Thing is a Purple Sea Fan, so you can see how close you were to identifying it yourself. The gray/brown soft coral is a gorgonian.

Can't wait to see more pics!

 

[Melusina]

Gorgeous! More pics please!!

 

[g8gxp]

Uh oh, looks like i spoke a little too soon. Ammonia has crept up to between 0.25 and 0.50. Not major but I'm getting slightly worried - will have to keep an eye on it. I've got a little less than 100 gallons ready to go for WC. The f-in crabs ripped off an arm of my starfish already!! Those guys are toast as soon as I get them - sorry up front to all of the "all living things are beatiful" crowd, but playing nice isn't getting the job done.

Also, this morning the large anemone's tentacles were all completely gone! I have no idea where they went. The base is still there but I see nothing where the mass of tentacles was last night. I hope they come back. Also one of the two sea cucumber's?? hasn't moved since i put him in. He looks pretty wedged under a rock so I'm not sure if he's dead or not. Hope to god not, it'll be tough to move that rock around.

 

[liverock]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13428837#post13428837 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by g8gxp
Uh oh, looks like i spoke a little too soon. Ammonia has crept up to between 0.25 and 0.50. Not major but I'm getting slightly worried - will have to keep an eye on it. I've got a little less than 100 gallons ready to go for WC. The f-in crabs ripped off an arm of my starfish already!! Those guys are toast as soon as I get them - sorry up front to all of the "all living things are beatiful" crowd, but playing nice isn't getting the job done.

Also, this morning the large anemone's tentacles were all completely gone! I have no idea where they went. The base is still there but I see nothing where the mass of tentacles was last night. I hope they come back. Also one of the two sea cucumber's?? hasn't moved since i put him in. He looks pretty wedged under a rock so I'm not sure if he's dead or not. Hope to god not, it'll be tough to move that rock around.

normal ammonia spike...don't mess with it unless it gets over 1ppm..

the anemone?

normal behavior...they go up and down all the time!

sea ya
Richard TBS:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

 

[figuerres]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13428953#post13428953 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by liverock
normal ammonia spike...don't mess with it unless it gets over 1ppm..

the anemone?

normal behavior...they go up and down all the time!

sea ya
Richard TBS:rollface: :rollface: :rollface:

Anemones will move around till they find a spot they like...
they will also open and close at times... sometimes after eating, sometimes for no reason.

Cuc's : sometimes they look stuck but they have very strange bodies, they can go soft when they want to, or go stiff when they want to.... they can crawl under / around / thru all kinds of holes and stuff.

 

[Drunes]

g8gxp, looks great, like you stand build out as well, personally I like lighter colored stain. Very nice nice work on the stand though. Tank looks great looking forward to more pics.

 

[g8gxp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13441080#post13441080 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Drunes
g8gxp, looks great, like you stand build out as well, personally I like lighter colored stain. Very nice nice work on the stand though. Tank looks great looking forward to more pics.

LOL. The real reason for the dark stain was to hide the horrendous routing lines. Some of them look like I had my eyes closed.

Update: Part 2 cycled in about a day and a half, I will now use the 4-6 weeks before i get fish to get the darn mantis out. Also, the shot glass trick really does work for the gorilla crabs.

 

[divemonster]

a day and a half cycle . . . very nice!

 

[Drunes]

What is the shot glass trick dont think I know that one. Nice job on the cycle.

 

[g8gxp]

Put some shrimp in a shot glass and just lean it against the rock where the crab is. Once they are in the glass is too slippery for them to climb out. This is dependent on the angle at which you lean it of course. Too little and the crab can still climb out. Also, you have to reset after every crab. If there is more than 1 or if a snail makes it in the crab will probably be able to climb on top of it and get out.

 

[g8gxp]

So, after staring at my tank for 2 weeks, I decided that I didn't have enough rock. THe top of the rock sits a little less than half way up the tank, but a buddy of mine mentioned that fish often like to hide behind rocks. SInce all of my rock is at the bottom, they would be forced to live near the bottom.

I was originally just going to go for more rock, but seeing as how i've lost a starfish to a crab (now gone), my anemone has completely disappeared and my lobster has decimated my snail population, i went ahead and ordered a 2nd package. Instead of sand though, Richard gave me more rock.

Richard dove this morning, packed the rock and i picked up at 5 pm. Less than 10 hours from the ocean to my tank, that's gotta be a record!! I'll follow up with some more pics tomorrow.