Marks...Back to the Future..Reef Aquarium

[Mark...]

That looks so much more natural, now I want my sand bed deeper..the good thing is as you stack the rock upwards, you are adding water volume.

Thanks, I have 180 lbs of sand. It was really deep in spots till I adjusted the wp40s. I'm going to see where it goes now and possible make some sand adjustment. I was afraid, I was going to have a partial DSB...

 

[dave.m]

I would take the highest rock off the top of the pile on the right and add it to the far back corner of the left side pile. That would balance out the "skyline" and keep your waterways clear for fish to swim and corals to grow into.

From here:

To here:

Just a suggestion.

Dave.M

 

[Mark...]

I like it Dave! Thats pretty cool how you did that. Saved me from moving it.

 

[dave.m]

I guess I should have washed my hands before putting them in your tank. Sorry about that, chief!

Dave.M

 

[Mark...]

I guess I should have washed my hands before putting them in your tank. Sorry about that, chief!

Dave.M

You Bastard...lol

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Love the new scape and what Dave did also. Like the Kyle saying too.

 

[Mark...]

Started the skimmer yesterday and pulled this up, evidently those are two dirty shrimp...I had heard it was going to take a while to get the Tunze running properly, but only took overnight.

 

[Mark...]

Captains log: Day 8 of cycle June 4th, 2014

Temp: 78.5
Salinity 1.024
Phosphate: 0.24
Ammonia 0.8
Nitrite 0.5

I bit concerned about the phosphate, even have small 1/2 cup of GFO running.

Also two shrimp in nylon are almost gone. I'd say about 20% left, should I ghost feed when they are gone?

Latest scape design:

 

[SPotter]

looks great Mark. Did you rinse or dip the rocks before putting them in the tank?

 

[Mark...]

looks great Mark. Did you rinse or dip the rocks before putting them in the tank?

3 rocks from BRS soaked for months. The rest is from reef rocks, which has a good rep for low or no Phosphate. I did rinse all those off.

 

[Mark...]

Added more shrimp today...Go cycle!!

 

[Sonicboom]

Man that was fast for those first two!, I would guess you should be ready once these latest ones are gone and ammonia hits 0.

 

[Mark...]

Man that was fast for those first two!, I would guess you should be ready once these latest ones are gone and ammonia hits 0.

I hope so...but the Ammonia only maxed at .8 Nitrites .5 and Nitrate 2...

I added 3 medium shrimp. Asked the deli guy, if he had any bad shrimp laying around...what a look I got...:rollface:

 

[Sonicboom]

I think I added one medium shrimp and some bits of raw fish. I don't think my ammonia got all that high either.

 

[Mark...]

I think I added one medium shrimp and some bits of raw fish. I don't think my ammonia got all that high either.

Good, I'll just wait things out. It's taken me months to get here, a few more weeks is no problem. Still doing fine tuning anyway and relaxing.

 

[Mark...]

Mounted the doors today, after finishing under the stand wiring. Still have some trim pieces to add on the bottom edges.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

The stand looks nice Mark. Nice progress on the cycle.

 

[Sonicboom]

Stand looks awesome, please send me the plans for it so I can redo mine..lol

 

[Mark...]

Stand looks awesome, please send me the plans for it so I can redo mine..lol

Thanks guys! I built the frame off Rocket engineers design, my buddy built the rest with me as his gopher and right hand man...

We were high as a kite doing 5 coats of laquer...

I have some trim pieces still to do and have handles to mount.

 

[Sonicboom]

Ah OK then, I did mine off rocket engineers design as well, my skinning is what blows...