Sinistard's 68.8 Acrylic Tank Journal [Photo Intense]

[GSchiemer]

The right side looks great but I don't like the left side. It will be very difficult to mount any corals on that sloping rockwork, and it's too tall. Perhaps try removing a layer or two of rock in order to create a more level platform and lower it as well.

Greg

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7327664#post7327664 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by goda
I LOVE THAT AQUASCAPE!!!!!

nice use of the flat rocks. looks great

also awsome lil cave... i an never do that kinda rock work... ( first rocks are all small and round second because i dont trust the stability)

Thanks

I was pretty lucky, I ended up with some very nice shaped rocks that fit together very well. Both sides are very stable. I also stuck egg crate under both islands to help keep them stable and to keep fish or inverts from digging under the rocks and causing a cave in.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7328071#post7328071 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jman77
Very nice tank ! congrats on all the work.

One question though, was the bottom/floor molding that you used one piece ?

Thanks.

Do you mean the molding that is on the bottom of the stand along the floor? If so yes it's one piece. I used a 1x3 if I remember correct and routed the top edge to match the side panels.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7328342#post7328342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSchiemer
The right side looks great but I don't like the left side. It will be very difficult to mount any corals on that sloping rockwork, and it's too tall. Perhaps try removing a layer or two of rock in order to create a more level platform and lower it as well.

Greg

Thanks Greg.

I was a bit worried about how corals would mount to the sloped rock but figured I would give it a try. The only place I really think I'll have a problem is toward the bottom, the rest of the slope has plenty of ledges where I can mount frags. I may stick some zoos or some type of encrusting coral on the bottom. If it turns out to be to hard to stick anything to the slope it will be easy enough to change.

The reason I made the left so high was just to make it higher then the right (which the wife said looks better ). I may end up taking the top rock off on the left, it depends on what corals I decide to stick up there.

 

[Sinistard]

I had a question about my skimmer. Do you think it's normal for the skimmer to have not pulled anything out of the water yet?

I have had it running since I put salt in the tank 10 days ago and the only stuff it has skimmed is some silt from when I dumped in the sand.

I would guess that the water is pretty clean and there was probably not much die off on the rocks since they came from a mature tank and then I cycled them in a tub for a month but I still expected some waste in the water.

I have never ran a skimmer much less ran one on a newly set up tank so any input is appreciated. For all I know I'm doing something wrong

 

[Lunchbucket]

that would sound normal for a new skimmer. sometimes they take a while to break in. what skimmer you have again?

Lunchbucket

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7342602#post7342602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lunchbucket
that would sound normal for a new skimmer. sometimes they take a while to break in. what skimmer you have again?

Lunchbucket

It's a custom GEO skimmer.

I guess I'll just give it some more time.

 

[bradford]

ditto on the clean and sleek comments. Awesome set up. Aquascape looks great too.

 

[Steeltowndubber]

Well done. Everything looks fabulous, from the woodwork, the plumbing and the rock work. Nicely done!

Rich

 

[Sinistard]

Thanks bradford and Steeltowndubber.


I picked up some mangrove plants today and stuck them in the refugium. I built a support out of egg crate to hold up the mangroves

Here are some pictures of the fuge.

I have some miracle mud that came with the refugium do you think i should try using it?

 

[Kinetic]

sure try using the mud. i don't think it'd hurt unless you got a ton of detritus stuck on it, but no more harm than if you used sand, maybe even better.

also, how are you going to keep detritus out of the bottom of the fuge? I see you have eggcrate... but... will you need a lot of siphoning?

 

[maxxII]

I dont have experiance w/ mangroves, but I've heard they will suck the magnesium right out of your water column. Might want to invest in a Mag kit and look around to find an inexpensive mag supplement....its not cheap and usually requires alot of supplement to raise mag levels...

Nick

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7351148#post7351148 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maxxII
I dont have experiance w/ mangroves, but I've heard they will suck the magnesium right out of your water column. Might want to invest in a Mag kit and look around to find an inexpensive mag supplement....its not cheap and usually requires alot of supplement to raise mag levels...

Nick

I don't have any experience with mangroves and was not aware of them using magnesium. Thank you for the heads up, I'll have to pick up a test kit to keep an eye on it.

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7350827#post7350827 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
sure try using the mud. i don't think it'd hurt unless you got a ton of detritus stuck on it, but no more harm than if you used sand, maybe even better.

also, how are you going to keep detritus out of the bottom of the fuge? I see you have eggcrate... but... will you need a lot of siphoning?

Thanks.

I will probably just siphon detritus.

 

[Sinistard]

I went ahead and added the miracle mud to the refugium. It made a big cloud in the water when I added it even though I turned off the pumps. I should have let it settle for a bit longer before I turned on the pumps but I figured the 100 micron filter sock would pick up most of the crap but I guess it was to small.

I hope that this stuff is ok for the tank. I read mostly neutral reviews on it. I guess it has a lot of iron, aluminum, and silicon in it. I also read it's good for mangroves. I did not put as much in the tank as was recommended on the container but I'm not going to worry about it, I am not going to count on it to keep my trace minerals up anyways and hey it was free so may as well try it out. Nothing I read was bad about it.

If anyone has experience with miracle mudd feal free to let me know how it worked out for you.

I also added a divider to the fuge. On one side I have some LR and the cheato on the other I just have LR.

Here are some pictures.

I plan to use the side with just LR as kind of a display section and maybe a temporary frag tank if needed. I am going to put a few cool critters in down the road ones that will not due well in the display tank.

In fact I picked up on critter that will end up in the fuge down the road, for now he is in the main tank.

Staghorn Hermit (Manucomplanus varians)

After I add more corals and what not to the main tank he will get moved to the fuge due to the fact that stings from corals will kill its shell.

I also stuck a couple Urchins from my nano in the fuge since they had gotten to big and were knocking stuff over. One is very cool looking. They may end up in the display tank down the road.

ID's would be welcome

 

[shullat]

love the crab...first time I see something like that.
Great setup by the way, you guys are so lucky to have so much space to work with.
Can't wait to see your tank filled up.

Good luck

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7382180#post7382180 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shullat
love the crab...first time I see something like that.
Great setup by the way, you guys are so lucky to have so much space to work with.
Can't wait to see your tank filled up.

Good luck

Thanks.

It's going to be awhile before I fill it up. I plan to stock with frags and to let them grow out.

I may move my 2 clowns from the nano into this tank soon. I have been waiting to make sure I'm not going to get an ammonia spike. It's been 2 weeks now and the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0 with my test kit. I never got a real spike, I guess because the rock was all pre cycled.

 

[melev]

That is an awesome shot of the Staghorn Hermit crab. Can I use that on my ID page? I've never seen one with a live shell before. Great find!

The urchins are very pretty too. Very different from what I normally see.

 

[Sinistard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7391999#post7391999 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
That is an awesome shot of the Staghorn Hermit crab. Can I use that on my ID page? I've never seen one with a live shell before. Great find!

The urchins are very pretty too. Very different from what I normally see.

Thanks melev.

You welcome to use the picture on you site.

I was surprised to find one. When I first got into keeping reef tanks a saw a picture of a staghorn and thought one would be cool to have but I had never seen one in person.

I happened to stop at a LFS on Tuesday just to look around not really expecting to find anything (I have never been that impressed by there selection) and they had 2 of these guys in one of there tanks. They also had a couple other cool critters but I did not know enough about them to buy anything else.

The critters I saw where abalone snails, Halloween hermits, and what they called a Buffalo shrimp (I looked this up and could not find anything on them).

Does anyone know anything about the abalone snails? They were different looking and would be cool to have but I could not find much info online about keeping them in a tank.

From what I read about the Halloween hermit they are reef safe but get big.

Also has anyone heard of a Buffalo shrimp? A Google search pulled up a lot of recipes for Buffalo shrimp and a Hooters add but no info on a marine animal. It was maybe an inch long with a large compact white body and very small legs and claws. It was kind of shaped like a Cicadas with its head being the biggest part of its body and getting smaller toward the back. I think I saw a picture of one of these guys in someones nano tank but it was a long time ago and I can't remember whose it was of what they called it.

A note on the staghorn hermits from what I have read is that the shell need high amount of nutrients in the water or needs to be feed phytoplankton to keep it alive and growing. Also most corals stings will kill the shell. I just wanted people to keep this in mind before buying one. I hope that I can be successful in keeping it alive and thriving.

 

[ricwilli]

Hi Sinistard
I just finished reading this whole thread. It took me two days but I did it. Your set up is coming out REALLY REALLY NICE. I've been coming to this forum for a while, but never really posted. So far this thread has been the most informative yet on how too connect everything together. Now the only problem I am having is understanding lighting. I have a 72gal bow front and I am buying all of the equipment little by little. I am always in the "Used Equipment & Drygoods Selling" section trying to find good deals. I have a couple of questions:

- Did you ever decide how too keep the hood up when your working on the tank. I didn't see that in any of the post.

- On thread/post #14, in the picture, is that an outlet on the floor next to the fish tank on the right hand side? Is that safe being so close to the fish tank and on the floor? Whater can splash out and go into the outlet.

 

[Sinistard]

ricwilli

Thank you, I'm glad you have found my thread informative. It has definitely been a learning experience for me and I'm glad others can learn from from the thing I have done right and the information others have posted here as well as what I have done wrong.

The used equipment section is a great way to save money. I managed to get one of my 250w MHs and the lights for the fuge used and saved my self over 50% of what it would cost to buy them new. I was real luck with the ocean light and I got it basically new for half price. I have also picked up a few other odds and ends along the way used that are working out great for me.

As far as my light hood goes I never really found a good way to prop it up, I'm considering just using a 2x4 cut at the right angle and propping it against the top of the tank. I could put some felt or something along those lines on the 2x4 to prevent scratching. My only fear in doing this is that it would put to much stress on the top of the tank. My other thought was to attach a hook to the wall and use a cable to hold it up but that would be a bit of an eye sore.

I really have not need to prop it up yet. For now I just have someone hold it up if its needed and the only time I really need more space then the normal space between the hood and tank was when I moved in the LR. Once I get more stuff in the tank I may decide I need to figure out a more permanent method to prop it but for now its not a big hassle to work around.

Thanks for pointing out the electric outlet. I never really thought about it being a problem. The only time I could see it being a danger is if I have a catastrophic leak or bulkhead failure. When I work in the tank I stand in the front so no water splashs on the sides. I guess I should do something about it, better safe then sorry. Unfortunitly its an old house and all the outlets on the first floor are in the floor. Maybe I'll build some type of box to put over the outlet to keep most of the water out in the case of a leak.

If you ever have any other questions feel free to post them here or shot me a PM I'll be happy try to answer them for you.

Thanks again and good luck with you tank.

 

[ricwilli]

Sinistard, Where did you get your American DJ? How much did you pay?