Lyle's 150H in-wall build (with pics)

[jlylec]

That green one looks sweet.

yeah I think so too...I'm hoping people tell me it's reef safe and not agressive!

 

[jlylec]

yeah I think so too...I'm hoping people tell me it's reef safe and not agressive!

found out the green one is a juvenile dragon wrasse and NOT reef safe as an adult. the other is an emperor red snapper and get's way too big for my 4' wide tank. oh well.

 

[skimace7]

Love your aquascape! nice build thread...

 

[Nonameben]

I just read your entire build thread, from the very beginning for about 2 almost 3 hours. It was like reading half of a very good book, with a scary twist in the middle involving the ich problem. My heart sank for you when it got to that point. And the loss of not only one, but two hippos had already saddened me. I just started the long process of a saltwater reef tank. Done my research for a few months while saving money along the way and am now almost done buying my equipment. Lights and stand being bought Friday, then I'll only need my powerheads, skimmer, and pump for the return. Reading this not only increased my love for saltwater reefs and reef keeping, but also made me decide on recording my progress starting friday when I put the tank on the stand and connect the sump. Great read, AMAZING build. Got some great information from this as well! Can't wait to see your tank progress even more! Don't stop this build thread haha!
-Ben

 

[jlylec]

Love your aquascape! nice build thread...

thanks man!

 

[jlylec]

I just read your entire build thread, from the very beginning for about 2 almost 3 hours. It was like reading half of a very good book, with a scary twist in the middle involving the ich problem. My heart sank for you when it got to that point. And the loss of not only one, but two hippos had already saddened me. I just started the long process of a saltwater reef tank. Done my research for a few months while saving money along the way and am now almost done buying my equipment. Lights and stand being bought Friday, then I'll only need my powerheads, skimmer, and pump for the return. Reading this not only increased my love for saltwater reefs and reef keeping, but also made me decide on recording my progress starting friday when I put the tank on the stand and connect the sump. Great read, AMAZING build. Got some great information from this as well! Can't wait to see your tank progress even more! Don't stop this build thread haha!
-Ben

wow...thanks for checking it out, ben! i got so much out of reading build threads myself it's nice to hear mine is helping people now! i've learned a lot over the past couple years on here but am still a LONG way from being an expert. i love creating things and this is by far my greatest creation to date (relative of course!). i think i'm close to having a very healthy tank, but who knows what's around the next corner! i look forward to seeing your build and will do my best to keep up with this one!

 

[Nonameben]

I'm happy to hear the tank is almost healthy, the ich problem you had made me research it to make sure I can combat the problem if it happens in my tank. Well I'm glad I'll have one person checking out my build! TWO MORE DAYS!!!!

 

[jlylec]

I'm happy to hear the tank is almost healthy, the ich problem you had made me research it to make sure I can combat the problem if it happens in my tank. Well I'm glad I'll have one person checking out my build! TWO MORE DAYS!!!!

yeah the DT is ich-free now probably but I'm giving it another month because I've been slow in treating the fish in QT. DT looks great and the coral is growing like crazy. Plus all the micro-organisms are off the hook. I actually need fish back in there to keep them in check I think! It's interesting to be able to watch how the removal of a kink in the environmental chain completely affects an ecosystem. I have pods in my tank now that are nearing the size of edible shrimp. Never saw those when there were fish in there!

You can absolutely combat ich in your tank if you avoid it all together. Don't put ANY fish in your tank without QT and after putting your rock and sand in there let it run fallow for at least 6 weeks (I'd go 8). I even read that ich can travel in on coral frags which is why I'm QT'ing all coral now too. Better safe than sorry I think. It's now been over a year since I started this build and I don't have any fish in my tank because of ich! Fool me once...

 

[Lofty]

I read your whole thread last night. I was going to post then, but my eyes had crusted over by then. Great Build Thread!!! And great account of the everyday problems a serious hobbiest will encounter. I would have to say that most of the people here dont have a Q-tank and throw caution into the wind when adding new Fish. I would like to not be one of them and start QT on all my fish before adding. (Just added a petco refugee yesterday, but its a neon dotty back and I dont think he'll cause any problems) I'm getting close to adding corals (tank is about 1 month old and I have a total of 4 fish now and my CUC) What is the point in QT corals if I may ask? And can you suggest a more (portable) QT set up for fish, as I do not have my dream "fish room" or any place to put one for that matter. Obviously patience and will power come into play when adding new livestock and my 4 year old dosnt help much, but I am trying to teach him right. Do you really think ever fish sould be QTed a month before adding? Also when you QT before adding new fish, do you always medicate? Is it a good idea to? Lastly, when you add the fish back it, how do you keep from infecting your DT with copper? Do you give them a dip in some seprate tank water first? I would think that would be a serious consideration as the fish coming out of a coper treated QT would still have some remenance of treated water on them.

Thanks for all the good info. Oh, One more thing... I currently have a 90 and want to upgrade to a 150 tall in the future, do you think a standard 90 gallon stand would support the extra weight? I hompe so... I did a hell of a lot of work on my stand and canopy.

 

[jlylec]

Great questions...let me preface my answers with I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I have read a lot and tried and failed a couple things and figured out a couple others...so please keep this in mind!

What is the point in QT corals if I may ask? And can you suggest a more (portable) QT set up for fish

Apparently ich can infect an entire tank in a single drop of water and can even travel in on coral. This is may be paranoid, but there are many other things corals can bring in that are very real. Red bugs, black bugs, acropora eating flat worms (AEFW), normal flat worms, etc, etc. In QT you can observe the coral very close up and clearly for a while. I plan on 8 weeks to ensure the fallow environment kills all possible ich. In this time any other parasites will hopefully be seen. If not, I'm also dipping corals in Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure before they go into QT and before they go into the DT after QT.

Do you really think ever fish sould be QTed a month before adding?

I'm planning on treating them with Cupramine for a month, and then PraziPro for 2 weeks. With the ramp up and down periods I think 8 weeks of QT is safest. This may all seem very paranoid and over-the-top, but I've lost so much time that I could have avoided I'm listening to all the research I've done and not cutting any more corners. If I still get ich or other parasitic issues after all this I give up and will just live with it! Hopefully the fish will too!

when you QT before adding new fish, do you always medicate? Is it a good idea to?

I am always medicating. There are different schools of thought on this. Some say not to medicate all fish, but I'm keeping my medication to the minimum effective dose for longer time to lessen the stress. Not risking the whole tank over one fish. If it can't survive medication it probably wouldn't survive long anyway is my thinking.

Lastly, when you add the fish back it, how do you keep from infecting your DT with copper? Do you give them a dip in some seprate tank water first?

I have this thing called the AccliMate...it's a box that hangs on the outside and drip acclimates whatever's inside. It works by slowly replacing the water in it with the water in the tank you're moving the livestock to. Then there is a colander-like inner box to remove the fish and no water. So basically I'm rinsing the fish in DT water OUTSIDE the DT and then just putting the fish in the tank. No outside water. Without this I would net the fish, put them in a bucket with DT water, then net again and put them in the DT. All this said I think you would be OK just netting out of QT and dropping in DT. The level of Cu would be WAAAYYYY low, but as with anything, better safe than sorry.

do you think a standard 90 gallon stand would support the extra weight?

This very much depends on the stand. My stand is 4x4 and 2x6 construction. You could literally park a car on it and it is way overkill. I would imagine your stand could handle the extra 60g of water, but obviously couldn't swear to that! You may want to consider a 120g honestly. I like my tank a lot, but the 150H is really hard to work on. I'm 6'2" and still get my shoulder wet at times standing on a stand to work on the tank. My next tank (a LONG way off!) is going to be more in the 6'Lx3'Wx2'H dimensions. The 31" height is really high when you're trying to reach the inside, opposite, bottom of the tank!

Good luck with everything and sorry for the long-winded reply!

 

[Lofty]

Good luck with everything and sorry for the long-winded reply!

No... thank you for the long winded reply. If I may ask one more thing?

I was hoping to get some suggestions on a more portable QT, as I dont have room to keep one up all the time. Is a 20 gallon Long too small? or would a 29 gallon (a bit taller but same footprint) a better option. I know to keep some extra sponges in the main tank to use, but is they any other filtration, like an aqua clear or something? With that do you run carbon? sponge? LR? All? or none?

Lighting I assum is not necessary, but for my own purpose, to be able to observe I assume a florescent standard light will do for the fish?

Lastly? I am assuming if you have a fish QT, you could not use the same tank at a different time as a coral QT, would that be correct?

Thanks again... good luck with yours as well.

 

[jlylec]

I was hoping to get some suggestions on a more portable QT, as I dont have room to keep one up all the time. Is a 20 gallon Long too small? or would a 29 gallon (a bit taller but same footprint) a better option.

Oh yeah...sorry I meant to hit on that. I read about people using things as small as 10g tanks and even 5g buckets. I don't think a 20L is too small at all. I think a 20H may be easier to deal with since it's an even smaller footprint and same volume. I wouldn't go less than that just because I'd be worried about water quality fluctuations in such small volumes. You could even use a Brute trashcan or a large rubbermaid container or something but it would be hard to view them. In general I think I'd go with the largest container you have space to afford, but it doesn't have to be anything special. I used 40B tanks I bought off craigslist for $50/ea.

I know to keep some extra sponges in the main tank to use, but is they any other filtration, like an aqua clear or something? With that do you run carbon? sponge? LR? All? or none?

All I use for filtration are 2 sponge filters (http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/248272/product.web). Honestly I was worried about just running sponge filters but these are high volume rated and the water is staying plenty clean. The fish seem happy. No carbon as I'm going to run Cupramine and it'll remove it. No LR as it will get 'killed' by the Cupramine and not be usable in any other tank after that anyway. I did add sand because I had two bags left over and put a pair of gold head gobies in there that love sifting sand. I just figured it would help their stress level. And I added a bunch of big PVC pieces for hiding spots and stuff. You technically don't need anything other than some sort of filter (and heat of course!). And I change at least 10% every week to be safe.

Lighting I assum is not necessary, but for my own purpose, to be able to observe I assume a florescent standard light will do for the fish?

None is needed but I added a cheap strip light too just for my viewing pleasure.

Lastly? I am assuming if you have a fish QT, you could not use the same tank at a different time as a coral QT, would that be correct?

I think you could use the tank for something else in the future as long as you cleaned it out well afterwards. For a coral QT I would definitely consider using a rubbermaid or something since you could view from above.

 

[Lofty]

Thank you, So much, I will keep an eye on your thread as I have learned soo much from it. I really appreciate all of your help. I love your set up and aspire to do similar some day... probably when I retire in 30 years or so... hoepfully sooner.

 

[Nonameben]

yeah the DT is ich-free now probably but I'm giving it another month because I've been slow in treating the fish in QT. DT looks great and the coral is growing like crazy. Plus all the micro-organisms are off the hook. I actually need fish back in there to keep them in check I think! It's interesting to be able to watch how the removal of a kink in the environmental chain completely affects an ecosystem. I have pods in my tank now that are nearing the size of edible shrimp. Never saw those when there were fish in there!

You can absolutely combat ich in your tank if you avoid it all together. Don't put ANY fish in your tank without QT and after putting your rock and sand in there let it run fallow for at least 6 weeks (I'd go 8). I even read that ich can travel in on coral frags which is why I'm QT'ing all coral now too. Better safe than sorry I think. It's now been over a year since I started this build and I don't have any fish in my tank because of ich! Fool me once...

Very glad to hear the ich is gone! Any ideas on new fish to add? I cannot wait to get my corals and watch them start to grow. Everything is living in that tank, and that just blows my mind. It really is the coolest thing to not only watch but create your own marine ecosystem. I've even gotten my girlfriend of one year as interested and as pumped to start my tank as I am! I've read very little on pods, so can't say much there but I'm glad that your micro organisms and corals are flourishing! Maybe the pods weren't visible because your fish were feeding on them? Not sure but sounds like a solid theory to me haha!

Yes, I'm turning my frestwater 29g into my QT tank and will keep all fish in there for 2-4 weeks depending. And my live rock I'm buying is cured, so it may not cycle, but I wont add fish until a month after the tank is up and running. Oh c'mon lyle, don't tell me things like that! Now i'm wondering if I should buy a coral qt tank as well... more money to save.

Lets hope you won't have to deal with this pita again, cannot wait for more pictures to post!

 

[jlylec]

Oh c'mon lyle, don't tell me things like that! Now i'm wondering if I should buy a coral qt tank as well... more money to save.

one thing you could do is put your coral in the display tank while the fish are in QT. let the coral sit in the DT running fallow (fishless) while the fish are QT'ing and you kill two birds with one stone. Of course you'd need to know what you want up front and get them at the same time. You could do this with a few pieces to get started though and then once you're done QT'ing and move your fish over you clean the QT and then use it to QT new corals. i don't know. the whole process is so annoying! the other option is to just say F it and throw caution to the wind and skip QT all together. honestly that's what I did with my 34g nano reef and outside of some flat worms and a couple aptasia I've had no real issues. coral grows great in there and i have a few fish in there for like 5-6 years at this point! i'm only going crazy now because i got dealt such a blow on my big tank right off the bat.

 

[jlylec]

I'm in the process of breaking down my nano at work and I have this big pineapple brain that's on a big rock and surrounded by palys and shrooms that I don't want. Any tips on how to cut this off, break it off, destroy the palys/shrooms without hurting the brain, etc.? I don't care how I do it, but I want this brain in my new tank and nothing else. Is this possible?! The yellow line is the outline of the rock it's on that's hard to see. The red is the part i don't need/want.

 

[jlylec]

So clearly I have a lot to learn from Pearson! I never should have tried to break my perfect, 5yo brain coral off that rock! The rock turned out being a LOT harder than I thought it would be and my super strength got away from me. My perfect brainy looking brain coral now looks like this:

AWESOME! I bought that off a buddy like 3-4 years ago and it was so perfect!

I guess in 4 years I'll have 4 nice ones.

I got some other frags from Tim tonight too. Some more zoas and some purple and gold palys. They aren't all opened up yet, but they looked good and were open before I dipped them.

And a frag of tri-color acro that looks really nice.

I went ahead and saved the pieces of LR with palys all over them in case any of you want them. Surprisingly enough after the torture I put them through they turned back to green! I haven't seen green palys in like 3 years.

If anybody wants to trade me something I don't have for these palys let me know.

Here's that piece of hydnophora (elegance?) from my nano too. Pic is very dark but the coral looks great.

 

[Nonameben]

one thing you could do is put your coral in the display tank while the fish are in QT. let the coral sit in the DT running fallow (fishless) while the fish are QT'ing and you kill two birds with one stone. Of course you'd need to know what you want up front and get them at the same time. You could do this with a few pieces to get started though and then once you're done QT'ing and move your fish over you clean the QT and then use it to QT new corals. i don't know. the whole process is so annoying! the other option is to just say F it and throw caution to the wind and skip QT all together. honestly that's what I did with my 34g nano reef and outside of some flat worms and a couple aptasia I've had no real issues. coral grows great in there and i have a few fish in there for like 5-6 years at this point! i'm only going crazy now because i got dealt such a blow on my big tank right off the bat.

Well once I have my water in the tank I'll put corals in first before the fish but that is a pretty good idea. That could work until I save up some money to get a coral qt and my corals are big enough to frag. Haha well with all the time, effort, and money you put into that tank I completely understand the extra precautions you're now doing. I'll be adding my coral list to my build thread along with pictures of the power heads and main drive pump tomorrow. Link is on my other thread you've commented on. Check it out when you get some time!

Sorry to see that brain turn into brains. New frags look pretty sweet though. I've done a little reading on acros, how hard are they to take care of?

 

[jlylec]

So this is starting to get ridiculous!

Fortunately that's only a porcelain crab molt! I really did research this one after the starfish mistake, but I didn't see anywhere about them being so 'sticky'. Everyday I'm plucking stuff off him now. He may end up in the sump. I just worry he'd climb over the baffle in my sump fuge. Is it safe to assume he wouldn't be OK in my QT with Cupramine?

 

[Nonameben]

Is that a long spine urchin?