Foam Rockwall w/ built in refuge for a 26 gal bowfront

I hear ya, I wasn't planning on setting up the tank until later in that week, but being lazy kinda decided it for me. I set up the 5gal when I came back and didn't want to set it all up again after taking it apart looking for the dottyback... anyways. All is well and happy.

I sure hope reading your Caribbean (cyano) biotope thread didn't give me cyano! haha ; )
I probably overfeed slightly... I realized this even more when I watched a 2mm shrimp pellet turn into a shotgun shell after floating into the mp10. Pellet everywhere! lol
Target feeding Snappy and all the crabs will be less frequent and more difficult now with more depth.

My purple stylo is now a peach stylo. lol we'll see if it turns back before I find a better fixture.
The tube coral might have to go back to the sand bed- not as much light gets to the back shelf its on now..

Time for Pics!


crab on mp10


nice coloration going on


close-up of pinkish stuff


gsp's and baby hammer


anemone things


torch- not as inflated as yesterday, zoas, starfish


peach stylo, tube coral, starfish #2


green digi's, monti spongodes


fts


fts w/ blues only
 
Might be in the car from the ride home...

The tank looks great!! I'm yet to move anything else into the 29G now that I'm hard at work on the stand for my cube. I'm thinking I'm going to utilize some of the foam tricks I learned here on making a really cool pillar up the middle of the cube. Small core with branch like shelves.
 
Saltydrip said:
Might be in the car from the ride home...

The tank looks great!! I'm yet to move anything else into the 29G now that I'm hard at work on the stand for my cube. I'm thinking I'm going to utilize some of the foam tricks I learned here on making a really cool pillar up the middle of the cube. Small core with branch like shelves.
Click to expand...

Haha, it survived the bucket ride back and was set up in the 5gal with everyone else. I know it was in there! lol after that is a blur

That would be sweet! Just add a little foam filler to cover the pvc.
 
A little update:

Bought two scarlet hermits and a pretty teal/orange one yesterday. Almost bought a half dead/dying coral thing. Didn't know what it was, but it was $5! I used self control and left it to die at the lfs. lol Probably would've just died in my tank and been out $5.

The diatoms are getting worse - oh joy.





Was just informed that it is turning into a crab tank. haha The fiancee wants fish!
We'll see...
 
Haha, thanks. I rationalized that it the pet store can't keep it alive, it will be dead 5x faster in my tank. Lol there's lots of things I want every time I go. Luckily, I'm too cheap to buy any of it.. Otherwise I'd leave my wallet when I left! That and there's less risk involved if it were to die. I don't kick myself as much if it is cheap. [emoji14]
 
Hermit crabs and snails don't play well together. Maybe choose one or the other. I chose snails because of their more specific eating habits. Hermit crabs are omnivores.
 
Yeah, from what I've experienced, the only good all around hermit crab is the Scarlet. They are happy as a crab and don't generally attack anything but algae. I'm going to look into getting another conch for the sand bed. I wish I still had the one the horse conchs killed :/

Going to experiment with an astrea and nasarius for glass algae and sand bed gunk control and see if they end up someone's dinner.

Hmmm. Snails don't qualify as a mollusk/bi-valve alternative do they? If so, the stars might eat them.. I think I got the little one to eat a pellet tonight. They aren't the most active, but seem to like the wall, like the hermits. I mean, what's not to like about it!? Lol
 
The Stars might get ahold of a snail from time to time but you should be safe. I would just get an assortment of different sized snails. Make sure you get some little guys to keep the crevasses clean. I'm not putting any hermits in this tank.. They eat feather dusters and I would like to fave a few this some around
 
Well, haven't bothered to get any snails yet.. Maybe tomorrow. I've got $5 of Petco reward points burning a hole in my pocket. Lol

This past weekend I left the tank for the weekend and came back to see a blurry green/brown jungle! The power apparently went out - I only know because the appliance clocks were flashing. So the lights turned back on for whatever reason.. They were off to keep algae from growing while I was away. Soo, I have completed a 5 day blackout and removed all the algae I could get to. I then did a 5gal water change and forgot to add salt... I figured it out the next night after tying to to figure out why the hermits all looked lifeless and then it dawned on me.. I forgot the salt!!! All is well now though.

I bought a new light! :)
I got a steal of a deal on the knockoff of the reef breeders photon 16. - the cheapa$$ scored again! - its a new evergrow it2040 which is basically the same thing as the photon just a different full spectrum color pattern. It has all the bells and whistles a fool could want like the necessary lightning function! - actually I don't even know if it has that useless function or not.. Lol all the non-aquarist think it's cool though.

I bought some three sided aluminum tubing to build a hanger for it and will post pics of the build.
My next dilemma is that I now need a new top for the bigger light. I will either need a glass top and a new hob skimmer, or make an egg crate/plexi top.

Let me know what you think or if there's any suggestions!
 
Last edited:
I've always had hermits. I'm just a fan of feather dusters and want to try some in the display. The hermits I have now will end up in my fuge.
 
banthony, Yeah I definitely see your point. It would take a lot of will power (and lack of interest for me if) I were to go 11 months watching "grass grow" or "water boil". It would be cool to know exactly the number of critters to keep everything in check.

salty, I find myself looking at "novelty hermits" because of their coloration. haha They end up as ornaments to my tank rather than tax paying contributors - kind of like welfare. lol

Soo, I have decided what direction the tank is moving - as far as the light goes...


The list things I am going to get rid of/sell:

The oem plastic hood w/ light cover
-new LED fixture

The Orbit Led fixture
-not enough light output

The hob filter
-unnecessary, increases evap., MP10 creates enough flow, the intake tube may not fit with new glass top, kind of loud, hard to access heater below it, limits amount of light to fuge, shoots bubbles into display

The Aquaticlife 115 skimmer
-water level has to be perfect or it will dump too much water in the cup or none at all, sticks out too far

The Mangrove 'cannon' light
-output isn't as good as I planned, very little to no growth

The fuge light
-will not be needed



The things I am going to buy/already purchased:

Evergrow IT2040 LED
-more light for happy corals

Glass versa-top
-for light transmission of bigger LED fixture

Hob skimmer
-current skimmer will not fit with new glass top


With the new setup, the light will spread over the entire tank and behind the wall into the 'fuge'
The mangrove will be relocated to where the skimmer is now in the center behind the wall where it will get way more light.

The hanger for the new LED fixture is coming along, bracing it will be the hard part due to my design. We'll see..
 
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