My 150 Gallon Build
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I just ordered an African Radiant Wrasse, Halichoeres iridis on Divers Den. I've been keeping my eye out for one, as I have always wanted a Hilchoeres species wrasse to take care of any pests in the tank. Plus they are beauuutiful IMO. Stoked! He should be done with QT by the time the new tank arrives and gets salty.
Hopefully he makes it, listed as 1 1/2" in size. I know they can be a difficult species to ship, so I am hoping for the best. Does anyone have experience with the african radiant wrasse? Feel free to share!
I took a trip to Puerto Rico this past week while the hardwoods got stained and poly, glad I did it. The house still smells pretty bad... going to resume the work. Next up is re-doing the electrical by running two dedicated lines from the main breaker to various GFCI's... and getting the materials to build my tank stand. Going to be a slow process over the next two months, the house is the first priority with the kid on the way (due Sep) and I am sneaking off to El Salvador for a 7 day surf trip the beginning of May. Stay tuned!
-Tyler
Hopefully he makes it, listed as 1 1/2" in size. I know they can be a difficult species to ship, so I am hoping for the best. Does anyone have experience with the african radiant wrasse? Feel free to share!
I took a trip to Puerto Rico this past week while the hardwoods got stained and poly, glad I did it. The house still smells pretty bad... going to resume the work. Next up is re-doing the electrical by running two dedicated lines from the main breaker to various GFCI's... and getting the materials to build my tank stand. Going to be a slow process over the next two months, the house is the first priority with the kid on the way (due Sep) and I am sneaking off to El Salvador for a 7 day surf trip the beginning of May. Stay tuned!
-Tyler
sixpackgarage
reef mechanic
[/URL]
That is beyond epic!
It like that old show earth after humans, where they would show nature reclaiming and decaying all the man made things. It was a cool show.
Received the Halichoeres Iridis from the Divers Den today. Beautiful specimen! I'm glad I called them this morning, because I never received a shipment notification... first time that has happened. Either way, I had the QT prepped and ready to go. He has since settled in, ate a few bites of frozen brine, and as i'm wrapping up my workday behind the desk- I looked over, watched him circle the top of the tray of sand I placed in the QT tank... and then he burrowed right in! SO COOL. I'm already in love with this fish. I'll try and catch a video of him in action the coming days.
My 150 Gallon Build
Aaaaannnnnd... Action!https://vimeo.com/163824392
FYI it's slo mo so the beginning and end are the exciting parts... [emoji1303]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Aaaaannnnnd... Action!https://vimeo.com/163824392
FYI it's slo mo so the beginning and end are the exciting parts... [emoji1303]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited:
Woke up today to find the radiant wrasse breathing fast and looked like a sore of some kind developed on his side. Three hours later, and belly up. I'm going to have LA credit me and will probably put it toward a melanarus, unless another radiant pops up soon. Being that I've got a baby on the way- i'd really like to have all of my desired new fish inhabitants quarantined and ready to go when the 150 gallon gets here the end of May. TTM/QT is one of my least favorite but extremely necessary things in this hobby. Just a constant test of my patience I guess.
In other news... the floors are finished and I am working on painting the ceilings, and base trim install this weekend. Hoping to have the entire upstairs trimmed out by the end of the month... i'm optimistic. Then i'll be able to work on the future display tank room/study, and begin building the stand. I'll post a few progress pics of the house, and where the new tank will go, in the coming days.
-Tyler
In other news... the floors are finished and I am working on painting the ceilings, and base trim install this weekend. Hoping to have the entire upstairs trimmed out by the end of the month... i'm optimistic. Then i'll be able to work on the future display tank room/study, and begin building the stand. I'll post a few progress pics of the house, and where the new tank will go, in the coming days.
-Tyler
Nice. That looks to be twice as much sand (40 lb instead of 20lb) for the same price as the reef flakes. I'll most likely make my decision based upon free shipping or rewards points (Amazon or BRS eligible). As always, thanks for the input Soulpatch.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Update: With everything I have going on in home renovations, I decided I didn't want to take the time to build the stand (Steve at SCAquariums gave me a great price!). So the 150G tank, stand and canopy will be delivered this Thursday. I'm still deciding if I am going to use the canopy or not... Anyway, the past few weeks have been extremely busy and i'm not even close to finishing the DT room... so it is going to be a long next couple of days. I still have to sand the skimmed ceilings one more time, then prime/paint ceiling, re-paint the walls a new color and do the finish trim work (yup, crown molding too!). I also need to reinforce my floor joists...the list goes on. Since my last post, I was able to sneak off to El Salvador to surf with some friends and catch an awesome right point break. Had a great vacation to get some "me" time, since I've got a baby due in a few months. Thankfully, I'd like to think "tank wise" I am pretty good shape. I've got the LifeReef SVS3-24 skimmer/Refugium and LF1300S sump plumbed and ready for the drains/return. I have the saltwater station set up and producing fresh saltwater. I've got the neoprene pad for in-between the tank and stand, and my Apex on standby. I do need to give the entire sump/refugium a good cleaning before getting it wet, and I do also need to purchase some misc. items like spaflex and substrate. I also still need to route the dedicated electrical line...A couple questions: What should I do about battery back-up in case of a temporary power outage? I'm talking about an outage lasting between 1-6 hrs. Recent posts on here got me thinking about this. Also, are there pro's and con's to putting sand in the refugium? I would like to one day have two pipe fish in there with my macro algae...and I just like the added look and appeal of a substrate, even if it is a 1" bed.
I hope to have everything set-up in the next two weeks! Lots of new tank pics to follow! Wish me luck.
Quick look at the future kids room
I hope to have everything set-up in the next two weeks! Lots of new tank pics to follow! Wish me luck.
Quick look at the future kids room
One more question for the reefers out there... I have a mix of about 40 lbs of BRS reef saver dry rock, and one large tonga branch. This was delivered probably a month ago and has been sitting in my garage. It never crossed my mind to research if it leaches...and it seems that is does (per some posts I've read on here). Is "cooking" the rock the best way to go? If so, how long? I will be using a majority of my existing LR in the 75 gallon and mix in the tonga and a few other dry pieces.
Thanks for following along!
Thanks for following along!
Woooohoooooo!!! Tank, stand and canopy have arrived.
I was so excited to open it up and inspect for perfection.
Immediately I was impressed by the clean seams...
I managed to get it into my garage on my own and that is where she will sit for now...
Time to get things going on this house... so I can turn my attention to setting up the tank! Happy weekend everyone. I'm still curious as to anyone's thoughts on sand in the refugium, and if "cooking" the dry base rock I have is necessary...? I'm trying to cut the to-do list down.... and it just seems to keep building with the more research I do.
TGIF
I was so excited to open it up and inspect for perfection.
Immediately I was impressed by the clean seams...
I managed to get it into my garage on my own and that is where she will sit for now...
Time to get things going on this house... so I can turn my attention to setting up the tank! Happy weekend everyone. I'm still curious as to anyone's thoughts on sand in the refugium, and if "cooking" the dry base rock I have is necessary...? I'm trying to cut the to-do list down.... and it just seems to keep building with the more research I do.
TGIF
soulpatch
New member
I dont put sand in my refugium but I do have marine pure plate and balls in there for pods to live in. As for the rock if you want to be sure then cook it. I did not go with the BRS rock so cant say. I went with reef cleaners rock which is pretty much same as BRS reef saver but cheaper and he cures it before sending it out.
YAY! What a busy holiday weekend that was. I am so glad I had Monday off of work to be able to finish the tank transfer... or so I thought. I just finished everything last night, and I still have to glue some remaining frags/possibly re-aquascape one area. I need to set-up my Apex which I am a total newbie with and am sure will need some help when it comes time for setting up fail-safes. I need to set up my ATO, and still need to clean up all of the wiring.
I did manage to plumb everything on my own and with complete leak-free success. Which I am patting myself on the back as this was my first time setting up a sump. I did forget to put a cap in one of the outputs of my manifold which resulted in a fire hydrant display of water when I fired up the Blueline 100HD return pump for the first time... but I consider that the beers fault and not mine. I learned two things, triple check all connections and holy cow that Blueline100HD is a beast. Thankfully it was in the unfinished basement and the wife didn't even know anything happened other than a quick muffled curse in the distance, score. After the water test, I dialed in the LifeReef SVS3-24 skimmer as best I could for the time being and began working on other tasks while the sand settled down.
I put in about 110 lbs of a mix of Caribsea ocean direct and Tropic Eden reef flakes (70/30). Also added about 20 lbs of sand from my old 75 gallon set-up after a thorough rinse. I purchased a good amount of base rock from BRS... was lazy and failed to "cook" it. I did put a few pieces in the 75 gallon about two months ago so I think that helped a bit but the tonga branch and a couple other pieces i'm sure will leach a bit... I plan to fight with GFO and observation.
All livestock and inverts (including a variety of nassarius, astrea, and cerith snails) made it over to the new tank pretty easily, livestock list is as follows:
QTY Name
2 Skumk Cleaner Shrimp
2 Black Ocellaris Clown Fish
2 Green/Blue Reef Chromis
1 Purple Firefish
1 Midas Blenny
3 Red Spot Cardinal Glassfish
1 Randalls Goby w/ Pistol Shrimp
1 McCoskers Flasher Wrasse
1 Yellow Hawaii Tang
1 P. Fridmani Psuedochromis
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Powder Blue Tang
1 Melanarus Wrasse
I had placed all of the coral I could safely remove from the LR and put in a 40 gal holding tank which I then treated with a massive coral dip just because the opportunity presented itself. Then I spent most of tue/wed gluing corals while on conference calls (my favorite way to pass the time).
I am headed out of town this weekend but plan to post some FTS and coral/livestock pictures next week! I'll be curious to see how these three Chinese LED fixtures hold up in regard to growth on the many new SPS frags I've obtained over the past two months... if anyone is out there on RC and is curious to know how SPS/LPS and other coral growth is under three 165w full spectrum 120 degree LED boxes, follow along!
I'm really excited to watch this tank mature as I continue to learn good husbandry practices. The challenge of maintaining beautiful coral and healthy/happy fish is what really drives my passion in this hobby. I love learning from everyone else on this forum so please continue to share your thoughts and ideas. Even though I really enjoy the one on one dialogue with Soulpatch, there has to be some others out there following along
:beer:
Best Regards,
Tyler
I did manage to plumb everything on my own and with complete leak-free success. Which I am patting myself on the back as this was my first time setting up a sump. I did forget to put a cap in one of the outputs of my manifold which resulted in a fire hydrant display of water when I fired up the Blueline 100HD return pump for the first time... but I consider that the beers fault and not mine. I learned two things, triple check all connections and holy cow that Blueline100HD is a beast. Thankfully it was in the unfinished basement and the wife didn't even know anything happened other than a quick muffled curse in the distance, score. After the water test, I dialed in the LifeReef SVS3-24 skimmer as best I could for the time being and began working on other tasks while the sand settled down.
I put in about 110 lbs of a mix of Caribsea ocean direct and Tropic Eden reef flakes (70/30). Also added about 20 lbs of sand from my old 75 gallon set-up after a thorough rinse. I purchased a good amount of base rock from BRS... was lazy and failed to "cook" it. I did put a few pieces in the 75 gallon about two months ago so I think that helped a bit but the tonga branch and a couple other pieces i'm sure will leach a bit... I plan to fight with GFO and observation.
All livestock and inverts (including a variety of nassarius, astrea, and cerith snails) made it over to the new tank pretty easily, livestock list is as follows:
QTY Name
2 Skumk Cleaner Shrimp
2 Black Ocellaris Clown Fish
2 Green/Blue Reef Chromis
1 Purple Firefish
1 Midas Blenny
3 Red Spot Cardinal Glassfish
1 Randalls Goby w/ Pistol Shrimp
1 McCoskers Flasher Wrasse
1 Yellow Hawaii Tang
1 P. Fridmani Psuedochromis
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Powder Blue Tang
1 Melanarus Wrasse
I had placed all of the coral I could safely remove from the LR and put in a 40 gal holding tank which I then treated with a massive coral dip just because the opportunity presented itself. Then I spent most of tue/wed gluing corals while on conference calls (my favorite way to pass the time).
I am headed out of town this weekend but plan to post some FTS and coral/livestock pictures next week! I'll be curious to see how these three Chinese LED fixtures hold up in regard to growth on the many new SPS frags I've obtained over the past two months... if anyone is out there on RC and is curious to know how SPS/LPS and other coral growth is under three 165w full spectrum 120 degree LED boxes, follow along!
I'm really excited to watch this tank mature as I continue to learn good husbandry practices. The challenge of maintaining beautiful coral and healthy/happy fish is what really drives my passion in this hobby. I love learning from everyone else on this forum so please continue to share your thoughts and ideas. Even though I really enjoy the one on one dialogue with Soulpatch, there has to be some others out there following along
:beer: Best Regards,
Tyler
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