Photo journal of my MCA 120

Actually, I did see that before but forgot about it, it is helpful. Corals I'm intersted in right now are ricordias, staghorns, brains, gorgonias and acroporas. One day I would like to keep a carnation tree coral.
 
Hey Marc,
What would you suggest to get to feed the fish. I'm going to order a naso tang and bluethroat trigger to get next week and want to order some food to feed them for a little bit. They will be small but I don't have time next week to prepare stuff for them. So is there a pellet food or frozen food you would recommend to start out with, that will hopefully be low in phosphates? Thanks.
 
So the ap600 was having some overflowing issues which I kinda mentioned before (see link at the top of the page). We narrowed it down to either the water wasn't mature (too new) enough or the new filter socks had something in them that was released when they were put in the sump. Either way hopefully it will be skimming well next week.

In the process of finding out what was wrong several people told me it was the plumbing (including doug @ deltec) so I redid all the plumbing and it still was overflowing :lol:. I'm glad I can laugh about it now because I couldn't last Sunday. I don't have any pictures of the plumbing now because it isn't very neat. But it actually turned out better than before I think. Its harder for me to get to the back of the stand but the skimmer was moved closer to the front and the return doesn't go over the chiller.

I also put some hinges on the front of the canopy so I can rotate it open without lifting the lights up.
 
Fish List

Fish List

So the livestock I ordered was
  • Queen Angel
  • Yellow Eye Kole Tang
  • Blue Jaw Trigger
  • Cleaner Shrimp
  • 2 Astraea Snails
  • 4 Cerith Snails
I should have gotten more snails but its a start. I'm already having some reddish/brown algae issues.



Bomber said he thought it was cyano coming from phosphates leaching from the pvc and starboard. Or it could be diatoms, hopefully it will go away soon. I decided to get rid of the rock rack but I'll talk more about that later.
 
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Acclimating them took a while. I was so worried I was going to hurt them but here they are.

Queen Angel


Yellow Eyed Kole Tang


Blue Jaw Trigger


Cleaner Shrimp Cleaning


They seem to be doing well but the kole tang looks like he got burned on his left side by a heater. There's discoloration there but I'm hoping it will clear up.
 
So I decided to take out the rock rack. There were several reasons but it just didn't go well with the tank, it was too big and I didn't want to make another one. It felt like it was going to be more work that it was worth. If I was using pumps for a close loop then I would have kept it but because I'm using streams it just wasn't worth it for me.

I haven't arranged the rocks how I want them yet. So this pic isn't the final result but you can see how the tank looks like it has less rock.

 
WOW that tank does look great! I was thinking at first "who the hell buys thicker acrylic bc it looks nicer" but now I understand.

Good luck with your progress,
Kyle
 
oh yeah I forgot to ask:

I thought you were doing black starboard. What happened with that plan? I want to do black starboard eventually and would like to see how it looks. I was hoping to see how it looks on your system but I obviously can't now. Mainly I'm curious why you decided against this.

Kyle
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6075740#post6075740 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kewwlkat123
Nice progress!

Where did you purchase the livestock? They look colorful and healthy.
Click to expand...
Sorry I didn't see this before. I actually had a few problems with my fish. The I took the kole tang and bluejaw trigger to a LFS (I did by them online before I found some good LFS) because they didn't have the personalities I like in my fish. The queen angel died very shortly after she came probably from some sort of parasite or infection. I got some other fish (from another online vendor) and got ich in the tank. So I had to take down the tank and treat the fish. I'm just getting it set back up and have learn the hard lesson of why a quarantine tank is needed. I will update with some pics soon.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6307750#post6307750 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kysmith
oh yeah I forgot to ask:

I thought you were doing black starboard. What happened with that plan? I want to do black starboard eventually and would like to see how it looks. I was hoping to see how it looks on your system but I obviously can't now. Mainly I'm curious why you decided against this.

Kyle
Click to expand...
Thanks!

The black starboard showed dirt easily or I just feel white starboard blends the dirt in better. I like the way the white reflects light, it just makes the tank seem brighter and I also like how it contrasts the back wall.

I change a lot in the system. I will give a nice update soon.
 
Very nice tank. Love the Hinged canopy. Great idea. Sorry about the fish problems though. I too learned the need for a QT in that fashion. Oddly enough many people with great tanks never use a QT. Odd...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6307818#post6307818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kimoyo
Thanks!

The black starboard showed dirt easily or I just feel white starboard blends the dirt in better. I like the way the white reflects light, it just makes the tank seem brighter and I also like how it contrasts the back wall.

I change a lot in the system. I will give a nice update soon.
Click to expand...

Weird I would have thought it was the other way around. Do you have any pictures of your tank when you had the black starboard Or was that in someone else's tank that you noticed you didn't like the black look?
 
MyMonkey & NoSchwag - Thanks.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6313917#post6313917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kysmith
Weird I would have thought it was the other way around. Do you have any pictures of your tank when you had the black starboard Or was that in someone else's tank that you noticed you didn't like the black look?
Click to expand...
It was in my tank but I don't think i have any pictures. The dust/dirt (sand) and snail poop from my rocks made it look grey (lighter). Its the same thing when dust or dirt gets on the black back panel except its harder to clean the starboard and it gets more of it being on the bottom. Eventhough you can still notice it on the white it just looks better, kinda like what happens with cars.
 
Depending on what corals you intend to keep, you may want to refine your fish selection. You didn't mentioned what the new ones were in QT, but triggers and most angels (except the Genicanthus sp.) are a huge risk to many reef invertebrates (e.g. corals). Just a thought.

Very nice construction on the tank btw. Best of luck.
 
Re: Tank Construction

Re: Tank Construction

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=4899729#post4899729 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kimoyo
So, I decided on 1" acrylic! I know, talk about overbuilt, but I really think the thicker acrylic makes the tank look much nicer. I looked at several tank builders and got quotes but I eventually decided on going with Chris Boelke from Midwest Custom Aquarium. Chris has been making tanks for about 8 years. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t believe he is that well known on this board but he does quality work.


I know Chris from when he would come into my old work to form tanks. I might of even seen your tank in the beginning. I also live about 10 miles away from his shop in buffalo MN.
I have seen his work and vouch for his quality. I will also go through him if/when I upgrade in the future.

Nice job KIMOYO!!
Click to expand...
 
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