Pictures of my tank... FINALLY!

Very interesting thought about the sand. I didn't realize the tank was going to be 19" tall but then again my tank is 18" tall. 1/4" isn't much at all, maybe 1" of sand or... a faux sand bed! Have a thin layer of it to make sure you cover the bottom and then add the rest of the sand to make up 1/2"-1", that way it's almost like BB without the BB look. You'll never have a spot without sand! If you that then you could make the trim cover 1/4"-1/2" of the sand bed to give it an illusion of a deep sand bed.

Yup, Apex Lite. Hit me up when you have time, I know you have kids so there goes the time. lol

Haha, no I meant cover 1/4" OF the sandbed. Sandbed will be an inch or maybe an inch and a half. With 2 vortechs and a shallow tank, no way the bottom won't get exposed with that thin a of a bed, LOL!
 
Haha, no I meant cover 1/4" OF the sandbed. Sandbed will be an inch or maybe an inch and a half. With 2 vortechs and a shallow tank, no way the bottom won't get exposed with that thin a of a bed, LOL!

1/4" of the sand being covered should be fine. I think I have about an 1" of sand bed, it gets blown around but once things settle it should be fine. While I was cleaning my tank yesterday, I moved some of the more fine sand that was blown around to a low flow area and the more coarse stuff to the part where my black egg create was being exposed. It should have fixed the problem with that area, we'll see I'm a few days.
 
How do you feel about the use of eggcrate? Ovbiously you think its a good idea. What was your rationale? I'm on the fence with that. I don't have eggcrate in my current tank. I would like to keep a goby or 2 in the next tank. I wonder if eggcrate helps stabilize the sandbed as well. Any thoughts?
 
How do you feel about the use of eggcrate? Ovbiously you think its a good idea. What was your rationale? I'm on the fence with that. I don't have eggcrate in my current tank. I would like to keep a goby or 2 in the next tank. I wonder if eggcrate helps stabilize the sandbed as well. Any thoughts?

You can do both, the eggcrate came with the tank when bought it. In any case, its a good idea. I never put any thought into it a all but I read the other day that people use it to prevent the rocks from sitting on the bottom glass. That and prevent rocks that are unsecured from falling over and risk cracking the tank. Another through is with bigger rock structure, the weight bearing down on parts of the bottom pane. Starboard can be used as well if you want to cover the whole bottom and silicone it in place to prevent sand or water from getting under.

If I could do it again, I would build my rock structure and use putty or pond foam to secure them in place. Good thing with pond foam is you can sprinkle sand on it to hide the dark gray color or even create holes for frag plugs. Its endless with options. Once that is done, place eggcrate under it and cut around the rock structure about an 1". That way your rocks are secured and it won't sit on the bottom pane. Everywhere else in the tank, plenty of sand for your gobies and wrasses. Clams too! The eggcrete does help stabilize the sand but I think it prevents the sand moving around like it should. Eggcrete used where it's needed sounds like a better solution.
 
Very Nice!!!!!! Keep up the good work and updates!!

Thanks Eddie, sorry I couldn't shoot the FMAS frag swap. I really wanted to attend and shoot it to help get us out there but conflicts with work held me back.




On another note, came home to new toys! APEX Lite and my wireless adaptor for it. Now I have to make time to get it set up!
 
Wow Ek9, Great use of the limited space. Congratz!

Thanks! I've been following your thread as well, wish I had a bigger tank... or not. That's a lot of work for a water change.

This APEX Lite business is too much work. I'm trying to get the wireless control working but am having a hard time. JB, you better get tis thing working!!!
 
Thanks! I've been following your thread as well, wish I had a bigger tank... or not. That's a lot of work for a water change.

This APEX Lite business is too much work. I'm trying to get the wireless control working but am having a hard time. JB, you better get tis thing working!!!

A chance to work on your tank, sure! NO PROBLEM :<)-
 
I have a very similar build with similar equiptment and am amazed at what you have done with your setup.i am having trouble with both my eheim 1262 and reef octopus pumps being too loud,did you have any similar issues and if not what did you do that may have prevented it.im local and a member of fmas ,could you pm me?it would be greatly appreciated and I'd like to see your setup.my tank is 36x21x21 65 gal.
 
I have a very similar build with similar equiptment and am amazed at what you have done with your setup.i am having trouble with both my eheim 1262 and reef octopus pumps being too loud,did you have any similar issues and if not what did you do that may have prevented it.im local and a member of fmas ,could you pm me?it would be greatly appreciated and I'd like to see your setup.my tank is 36x21x21 65 gal.

The noise on my tank isn't too bad. The return is minimal and skimmer pump is almost silent but the bubbles make more noise. With the cover on, I hear next to nothing... the Vortech pumps are the only things that make noise.

My recommendations to quiet down the pumps are to maybe do a vinegar soak to make sure it's clean of any build up. Check the skimmer shaft for any cracks and so on. If your running hard PVC piping for the return consider running about 6-12"+ of spa flex to reduce any vibrations that can transfer to the sump and so on. I need to do this myself as I get vibration transfer even though I have the mouse pad material under my return pump.

I can't get PMs due to restrictions, hopefully some day that will change. You can reach me at 954.655.2176. Text would be better as I don't pick up my phone while I'm at work.
 
Thank you for grabbing me that Tunze Osmolator ATO, it would have taken me months to find!

No problem!

Got some updates coming soon, ApexLite installed and running perfectly. I was able to redo some of the wiring to make it look cleaner on one side. Also got a bunch of frags that I need to find places for.
 
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