HI all- been away for a while

acer said:
nope... probably will sell or use in the basement as part the refugium,isolation tank,etc.
Click to expand...
Doing a basement sump was the best move i ever did Ted. Keeps the mess and paraphernalia down there, less salt drips on my display since WCs are done from the sump, and no lifting or carrying water which is the best of all.
 
Yes,that's the plan. Going to be a project, as the display is not over where the sump will be. Will have to use a lot of plumbing. But I think it will be worth it in the long run, especially because the 180 I have is 30 inches high. So if u had to build a stand that held a sump the tank would be too high to work in without using a step stool. So the plan is to build a stand only about 2 feet high, enough to house the plumbing and electrical stuff only. All testing, etc will be done in basement.
 
acer said:
Yes,that's the plan. Going to be a project, as the display is not over where the sump will be. Will have to use a lot of plumbing. But I think it will be worth it in the long run, especially because the 180 I have is 30 inches high. So if u had to build a stand that held a sump the tank would be too high to work in without using a step stool. So the plan is to build a stand only about 2 feet high, enough to house the plumbing and electrical stuff only. All testing, etc will be done in basement.
Click to expand...
Wow, a 30" high tank. Better get your sleeveless shirts ready cause you are gonna be wet up to your armpits!
 
Yes- hence the very short stand (more like a pedestal) = 2 feet high , only enough room to regulate the overflow plumbing ( preferably a coast to coast Bean type) , store some food, and have a dedicated electrical power center. So regarding the height : 2 feet (24 inched) for the stand, 30 inches for the tank = 54 inches from the floor = 4 1/2 feet. My current stand is exactly 53.5 inches from floor to top of tank. Thankfully I have 35.5 inch long arms and the distance from my armpit to the floor is 58 inches. The real issue is going to be reaching to the lower back middle of the tank from the front or sides - so I will be using Kevin's idea ( thanks KevinL) which is to stack the rock work together my drilling a hole in them and putting a long ceramic rod though the holes that is bonded on one end to a rock plate that will be covered by substrate. This way the rock cant fall and it will be very stable. Because the rocks are stacked on top of each other each having only one hole in them you will have one pivot point ( verses zip tied or glued/cemented) so you can still turn/rotate each rock independently to change the look of them if you want. This assumes that no corals have glued itself from one rock to another, which I am sure does happen over time.
 
you could probably grow some live food in the cube for your refuge/ sump system- I bet you could get a REALLY healthy store of pods from a tank like that.
 
updates: the 180 is actually more like a 165 = 48 long x 28 x 30 high. Also - the guy who built it only used 3/8 inch glass... when I bought it I did not know enough to check (dummy). Every tank I have ever heard of that is 30 inches tall is at least made from 1/2 inch thick glass. SO , I am running several threads on several different websites asking if the tank can be braced in the Center, or by euro bracing, etc. to make it safe. So far, only one guy thinks via euro bracing the top and the bottom it may ( repeat may) make it safe. So that project is on hold for now.

The good news is the 65 is really coming along and the corals and Dragons Breath Macro are all popping and growing. I am having to dose Alk ( cooked baking soda) and Ca+ regularly to keep those parameters good, and the PH up , in spite of using Kalk water in my ATO. I think my regular IO salt has slightly low PH and ALk as I did a 10 gallon water change and my PH went down slightly 8.1 to 8.0 . So I ordered 2, 200 gallon, boxes of Reef Crystals from Fosters & Smith = $84 shipped to my door.
 
acer said:
updates: the 180 is actually more like a 165 = 48 long x 28 x 30 high. Also - the guy who built it only used 3/8 inch glass... when I bought it I did not know enough to check (dummy). Every tank I have ever heard of that is 30 inches tall is at least made from 1/2 inch thick glass. SO , I am running several threads on several different websites asking if the tank can be braced in the Center, or by euro bracing, etc. to make it safe. So far, only one guy thinks via euro bracing the top and the bottom it may ( repeat may) make it safe. So that project is on hold for now.

The good news is the 65 is really coming along and the corals and Dragons Breath Macro are all popping and growing. I am having to dose Alk ( cooked baking soda) and Ca+ regularly to keep those parameters good, and the PH up , in spite of using Kalk water in my ATO. I think my regular IO salt has slightly low PH and ALk as I did a 10 gallon water change and my PH went down slightly 8.1 to 8.0 . So I ordered 2, 200 gallon, boxes of Reef Crystals from Fosters & Smith = $84 shipped to my door.
Click to expand...
I too have recently switched to Reef Crystals after having always used IO. In my case the calcareous macro algaes (halimeda) was using the CA and the magnesium . So far i am happy with it. I also get it from Foster and Smith.
 
update= I "won" a bunch off frags from Cherry corals in "live sale". They arrive today -pic coming soon. Also due to the growth in my tank and some difficulty holding my PH above 7.9, I switched from regular BRS soda Ash ALK supplement to home made cooked Baking Soda because the home made supplement seems to raise my PH back to 8.0 -8.1 and the BRS product doesn't.

Have my dipping station ( Coral RX) for the new frags all set up as Fed Ex is supposed to be here before 10:30 Am.
 
more pics coming - still have to learn how to attach pics without using a URL from my dropbox.
 
Rock Flower Anemone

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ugc34005oa0up58/2016-04-07 16.42.49.jpg?dl=0

Orange Ricordia - tiny but bright
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjo5ndwfuu2m6mm/2016-04-07 16.43.07.jpg?dl=0

Gonaporia - flowers already out but not much color yet- supposed to be bright pink

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hulyl0o82tyxklb/2016-04-07 16.42.19.jpg?dl=0oh well better than nothing


Pics are all washed out - but better than nothing




The rest= a few neat Monti's , a smooth ACRO and some Zoa's

https://www.dropbox.com/s/137rnnudlpczgwq/2016-04-07 16.42.34.jpg?dl=0
 
So far the only frag not doing well is the baby Fungia. I just emailed Cherry Corals with a pic. Hopefully it is just too early to say and it will be fine .
 
So over all experience with cherry corals, would you order again? Maybe next time we split shipping....and I'll get in on it

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Cherry Corals = +1= the box was on time, super well packed- the hot packs were still warm. Each coral was secured with a small plastic cup with a small hole cut out for the frag plug and each had its own bag. Just doesn't get any better. Some of the corals were small- but I knew they would be- very reasonably priced during the live sale. If I paid 40 bucks for a coral and got a small piece like some of the ones I got today - I would not be happy. But since I got them all for a very reasonable price and shipping was $40 for the whole order. NO complaints....
 
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