It begins... 345-gallon Starphire in-wall system

[jnarowe]

I love scrap acrylic!

You know I looked for a pic but could not find one. I have a door that spins on a rod, and the upper part of the rod just sticks out of the water when the trap is on some low-lying rocks.

No feeder tube though which I think is a good idea. I just made a box with a heat formed handle and the rotating door. I put food in before I lower it into the tank. The feeder tube is cool in that you can place the trap in the tank ahead of time and then put food in.

What I find to be typical though is that the trap is usually needed in a hurry. We watch and wait, try different things, and finally resort to the trap as a last-ditch effort. Also, being able to move the fish around the room in the trap seems of primary importance to me.

 

[Sparkss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9172864#post9172864 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mrcrab
Tom, what are the dimensions of that thing?

I think we made ours about 12" long and 6" tall/wide. Just make it to match your tank and fish (IE: we like to rest it on the sand, so made it to fit the open sand bed space).

One thing about the feed tube is that you can turkey baster some new food, or stir up the existing tube, all without moving the trap, which can really help to "entice" the fish into the trap. Also leaving it in overnight and adding the food later, as Johnathan states, is a good way to catch the fish. We also skip a meal or two prior to putting the food into the trap (we feed at least twice a day normally, so even with skipping a meal or two they are far from starving ).

 

[mrcrab]

weldon 16, $4.95. acrylic $00.00, my favorite price!

 

[jnarowe]

nice!

 

[mrcrab]

Anyone here running ozone? I was running it on my 125, just not sure if I want to on the new tank.

Pros, Cons

 

[Sparkss]

used to run O3, not sure if we will with the new tank or not.. alot will depend on how well it all does without it as to whether we add it or not. The biggest downside for us is the extra GAC for the ozone reactor (skimmer, or whatever) output to remove the bromine created by the reaction of sea water and O3. That and O3's inherent side affect of reducing the lifespan whater it comes in contact with. Nothing is O3 safe (outside of glass, etc), but many things are O3 resistant.. which just means that they can hold up longer to O3, but O3 still has an affect on them.

 

[davidryder]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8530774#post8530774 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mrcrab
For all the experts out there...

This is the back of the wall that the tank is going into. It's in the garage.

Opinions please. Do you thing I can start the build as is or do you think maybe it could be a bit more organized?

If more organized...what would you suggest?

I'm thinkin' front end loader and 60 yard dumpster here! :lol:

wow that's a mess!

 

[mrcrab]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9337435#post9337435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davidryder
wow that's a mess!

Yeah, well...at least I own it and everything in it. No student loans to pay either!

P.S. It's in Florida too. I'm wearing shorts and t-shirt today. How's the weather in Cinci?

 

[Zoos]

Tank is looking great Barry. YGPM

 

[draleigh]

Amazing tank

Amazing tank

Your tank looks awesome. I just ran across this thread as thread of the month and though, what the heck, i have time to kill. Worth every moment to read this. Great looking aquascape. Making me think about redoing mine before i get any further in the cycle phase. I am about a week in to the cycle and i have the classic "rock wall". Although i think it looks ok, i love the pillars. Anyway, your tank looks really nice.

 

[cbui2]

congrats on thread on the month, i really like your setup on everything, man i just can't wait for my tank to be delivered this friday.....keep up the great work

 

[Dtking]

Yes, Congrats on the TOTM!!!.. I really enjoyed reading this so far, please keep us updated!!!

-Dustin from Oklahoma

 

[Sparkss]

congrats bro... you need some more pictures !!!!! I need to update my tank thread hopefully this weekend, so I know how it can be ..

 

[adddo]

Just stumbled across this thread while bored at work.

Worth every minute! Awesome setup, nice pics, very nice rockwork and very entertaining writing!

Thanks and good luck going forward with this great project i will be following along!

 

[mrcrab]

WOW! Thread of the month. Didn't even know it existed. I'm humbled and honored.

I actually found out about it by accident as I'm out of town at the moment and connectivity has been spotty at best. Jonathan pointed it out to me, just got back from visiting with jnarowe. Jonathan, thanks to you and your family for the warm hospitality. Great setup too!

I've been having some issues with the tank. Seems as though I'm going through a second cycle since I moved the critters from the 125 in. Nitrates were out of control before I left. I did 3 X 10% water changes the week before I headed out hoping it would help stabilize the situation. Ich seems to be running amuck. My wife called 2 days ago with news that my CBB bought the farm and again this afternoon telling me my mandarin was gone too. The worst part is I won't be back home until late Sunday evening!

I'll be sure to post some updates when I return as I'm sure I'll need some help getting this situation under control.

 

[dhnguyen]

Sorry I didn't get a chance to stop by Jonathan's to meet you Barry. Very nice tank by the way.

 

[jnarowe]

Barry,

Thanks for the compliment and congates on Thread of the Month! We really enjoyed your company to be sure. It seems that most of the reefers we meet are genuinely friendly, easy-going people that we always find common interests with beyond reef keeping.

It's always tough to leave your reef and I feel bad about your losses. Hopefully when you return the animals will get back into their routine and come out fine. One of the ways I am trying to mitigate tank stress is to have my wife, son, and guests do the feeding when possible so the fish get used to other people.

I will be leaving for a week at the end of the month and I am a bit nervous about it!

 

[cbui2]

this hobby is fun and should have all easy-going people, also I am very impressed at any given time questions are asked, immediately answers comes right after..congrates again on your thread, and hpoefully one day i can get nominated..

 

[melev]

What thread do you have, cbui2? If it is a good one, it could be nominated in a future poll.

 

[smoney]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9430345#post9430345 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mrcrab
WOW! Thread of the month. Didn't even know it existed. I'm humbled and honored.

Ich seems to be running amuck.

I'll be sure to post some updates when I return as I'm sure I'll need some help getting this situation under control.

First off, I found this thread throught the whole "Thread of the month" newsletter. I really enjoyed reading it and you have a really nice tank, look forward to seeing the rest of the process.

A little trick that I found out helping with ich, but dont tell anyone(haha, everyone's going to see this) is adding cleaner wrasse. Although many do not believe they fair well in tanks, I find that they fair very well with the tangs. Mostly because tangs get ich like all the time because they are so succeptable to it and natural food for the cleaner wrasse are parasites such as ich. I would suggest like four Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse. Its worth a try and they look really cool, so its not like they are an eyesore.