Tank Porn, and a request. :)

[jmccombs]

Hey all!

So for the request bit first - I'm looking to seed a sand bed, and my rock work. Anyone have some brittle stars, or other beasties, maybe a chunk of calurpa, cheato, or a scoop of sand or small bit o rubble? I've got some Tonga rock in there now, but it came out of a LFS, so there's not going to be as much on there as say, you'd find in an established tank. The sand is out of a bag, so again, there's not going to be a lot in there.

I'm in the buffalo grove area and work in Itasca, though I don't mind a bit of travel to meet new people and see setups, learn a bit from everyone as I go along.

And now for the porn.

I picked up DopeCantWin's Illuminata a few weeks ago (thanks again Dope!). Tank was in great condition, as was the stand, sump and skimmer (though it's awfully large - i'll likely swap it out for a cone style, swap the sump too).

So here's where the tank is at now - water is still cloudy as the sand got a bit stirred up as I put the rock in. No rockwork done yet.

As you can see, I decked it out with a pair of AI Vega full-spectrum lights, and a MP10wES - I'll add another MP10 in a month or so, before I add corals and the flow becomes more important than it is now.

I also spent a good deal of time on wire management. I wound up creating an electrical outlet IN the stand using a surface-mount box, and a GFCI outlet (just in case). The outlet is about 4' away from the tank, and I didn't want a mess of wires hanging out the back and running to power strips, so I hit on this idea.

I used a "3-Prong" Power-tool replacement power cord for this. It's essentially just a 9' cord, with a 3-prong grounded plug on one side, and bare wires on the other:

I wired this up to a GFCI - making sure I didn't need anything special on the breaker panel for this (I believe some require a special trip wire or something), then wrapped it up in electrical tape rated for outdoor/damp use:

Finished outlet..Sorry for the blur, one-handed-cell-phone-shot, you know how those can be sometimes.

Routed the wires, cables, and all that up and around the inside top of the tank, using some "bungee" cable wrap straps. The things are slick, and easy to work with. Picked 'em up @ menards for about $6 a box (10 per box).

And mounted the AI-Controller, and MP10wES Controller under the outlet, as well as power strips along the other side of the stand. The goal was to keep these away from areas likely to get "wet" - so they had to be up and away from the floor. The strips were screwed/slotted in to the stand, the Vortech and Controller are mounted with velcro for now, in case I want to move something later.

I'll be building a splash shield and "lifter" for the AC/DC power packs for the LEDs and Vortech as well so I can keep them up off the "floor" of the stand if water spills, or if something sloshes out of the tank. I'll don't have this bit done yet (next weekends project, since I have to wait for the cycle). Essentially I'm going to use egg-crate and PVC to form a sort of Plenum style "lifter" that the power packs can sit on, and a small acrylic U shape shield to go over the top. I'll be doubly sure to allow for lots of extra clearance at the top of the U for more power packs in the future, as well as adequate air flow for cooling.

 

[HSanchez]

i have the same tank, very nice

for cable management, you should try an American DJ Power strip. I have one and helped out alot.

 

[jfuka78]

If you are in my area I can give a cup of sand out of my tank. That should get you going. I am sure some one closer will offer up.

 

[coaltrain]

Looks really nice so far.

 

[Pool_shark]

How about Colony by ATM? You can also get a bag of live sand from a LFS reasonably.

 

[DopeCantWin]

I'm glad you're enjoying them. You can always come by and grab some sand, and live rock for seeding from me.

 

[Negative Creep]

Nice looking setup!

 

[jmccombs]

I'm glad you're enjoying them. You can always come by and grab some sand, and live rock for seeding from me.

Thanks Dope. I'll take you up on that, you're just across town from me, not far at all.

 

[jmccombs]

How about Colony by ATM? You can also get a bag of live sand from a LFS reasonably.

I have. Though I'm.. skeptical of Bacteria in a Bottle stuff. I mean.. what the heck is that stuff eating, to survive sitting on a shelf for so long?

I am using the Carib-Sea "Arag-Alive" stuff (Fiji Pink x3) and a bag of Nutri-Ocean Bahamas as well.. figure the two can't be _exactly_ the same, and I like a mix of medium to small particles in the bed myself. Dunno I can exactly tell you why though. I've just always done it that way.. probably a hold over from my first "real" reef, a 40G Breeder which I'd done "Plenum Style" a good 20 years ago now (almost)..Anyway, the bottled stuff, and the bagged "live" sand it's pretty much the same thing in my book. Not that I've researched that any..

What I'm lookin for are the little critters you get from a scoop of sand out of a well established tank. Stuff that's not going to live in a bottle or bag of sand, tiny serpents, pods, etc.

Same goes for the rock actually. Most LFS I've been in have the rock in back in curing tanks or vats under old bulbs. Coraline - if there's any left is right on the edge and just bleaches out when proper lighting is restored, and all that's left is anemic looking snot-sponges. Bristles (the good ones), mini-serpents, the occasional hitch-hiking emerald, those are harder to get at the LFS, unless the shipment is new.

I'd planned on hitting a few of the nearby LFSs, Beyond, Advance, and Shor are all either close to me, or close to where I work. But.. I dunno. A LOT of stuff can move through an LFSs tanks, and while most of them are pretty good about keeping up on their systems, there's a few out there who have some questionable tanks.. I guess I kind of feel that it's like mixing tank water from the LFS into your own tank. I mean, we QT our critters and cycle our rock from the LFS, why wouldn't we do that with sand? Don't get me wrong, I've done it in the past, but only from some really, really choice shops where I knew the owners pretty well, and knew what their maintenance schedules and livestock intake procedures were...

Don't get me wrong here - I don't have anything "against" the LFS or Becto-Bottles. Every "great" tank I've had in the past always had a good mix of stuff at the start from the LFS and nearby club members, or being a vulture, swooping in on a tear down to pickup a few pieces of rock, or a free scoop of sand. It's probably just a perception thing.

Hmm.. actually, when I lived in DC, the WAMAS group had a couple of thermos's that would float around at meets and frag swaps as a sand exchange. I don't suppose there's anything like that going on here is there? Great way to get some added diversity.

 

[DopeCantWin]

I have. Though I'm.. skeptical of Bacteria in a Bottle stuff. I mean.. what the heck is that stuff eating, to survive sitting on a shelf for so long?

I am using the Carib-Sea "Arag-Alive" stuff (Fiji Pink x3) and a bag of Nutri-Ocean Bahamas as well.. figure the two can't be _exactly_ the same, and I like a mix of medium to small particles in the bed myself. Dunno I can exactly tell you why though. I've just always done it that way.. probably a hold over from my first "real" reef, a 40G Breeder which I'd done "Plenum Style" a good 20 years ago now (almost)..Anyway, the bottled stuff, and the bagged "live" sand it's pretty much the same thing in my book. Not that I've researched that any..

What I'm lookin for are the little critters you get from a scoop of sand out of a well established tank. Stuff that's not going to live in a bottle or bag of sand, tiny serpents, pods, etc.

Same goes for the rock actually. Most LFS I've been in have the rock in back in curing tanks or vats under old bulbs. Coraline - if there's any left is right on the edge and just bleaches out when proper lighting is restored, and all that's left is anemic looking snot-sponges. Bristles (the good ones), mini-serpents, the occasional hitch-hiking emerald, those are harder to get at the LFS, unless the shipment is new.

I'd planned on hitting a few of the nearby LFSs, Beyond, Advance, and Shor are all either close to me, or close to where I work. But.. I dunno. A LOT of stuff can move through an LFSs tanks, and while most of them are pretty good about keeping up on their systems, there's a few out there who have some questionable tanks.. I guess I kind of feel that it's like mixing tank water from the LFS into your own tank. I mean, we QT our critters and cycle our rock from the LFS, why wouldn't we do that with sand? Don't get me wrong, I've done it in the past, but only from some really, really choice shops where I knew the owners pretty well, and knew what their maintenance schedules and livestock intake procedures were...

Don't get me wrong here - I don't have anything "against" the LFS or Becto-Bottles. Every "great" tank I've had in the past always had a good mix of stuff at the start from the LFS and nearby club members, or being a vulture, swooping in on a tear down to pickup a few pieces of rock, or a free scoop of sand. It's probably just a perception thing.

Hmm.. actually, when I lived in DC, the WAMAS group had a couple of thermos's that would float around at meets and frag swaps as a sand exchange. I don't suppose there's anything like that going on here is there? Great way to get some added diversity.

On the other side of the coin, the question is whether you'd want more bio-diversity. With it you could grab your choice of pyrmaid snails, AEFW and whatever other items leach in our tanks. On the other hand if you use one of the bacteria in a bottle, you have less chance of getting one of these fun critters. I'm not familiar with any of these bottles, and without scientific tests, I don't know if any of them are even remotely helpful. If I were to start another tank, and I'm pretty sure I am, I would use one of these bottles or something else to start the cycle. Then I'd be very specific in terms of the creatures I added. Taking no chances, quarantining everything. Why risk getting a pest and spending all your time at the tank figuring out how to fix it?

 

[jmccombs]

On the other side of the coin, the question is whether you'd want more bio-diversity. With it you could grab your choice of pyrmaid snails, AEFW and whatever other items leach in our tanks. On the other hand if you use one of the bacteria in a bottle, you have less chance of getting one of these fun critters. I'm not familiar with any of these bottles, and without scientific tests, I don't know if any of them are even remotely helpful. If I were to start another tank, and I'm pretty sure I am, I would use one of these bottles or something else to start the cycle. Then I'd be very specific in terms of the creatures I added. Taking no chances, quarantining everything. Why risk getting a pest and spending all your time at the tank figuring out how to fix it?

You do run the risk of picking up some nasty little critters - but you runk that risk anytime you add something to the tank, that you didn't QT long enough.

In my uneducated opinion, I think the benefit far outweighs the risk - at least from the "new" tank perspective. It's a bit more iffy on a well established one.

You simply aren't going to find the sifters and detrivores in a bottle or bag. I'm reminded of a post I'd read by Ron Shimeck.. It took me a while to dig it up, and granted it's a bit dated (can I link to an offsite post on reefs.org or will that upset the Mods? I'll try anyway...) Reefs.org - Whys and Hows of Sand Beds transcript from September 6, 1998 #Reefs, Ronald L. Shimek, Ph D- but good bristles, serpents, stars, micro-shellfish - the stuff you don't normally "see" with your naked eyes - those aren't going to be in a bottle or a bag. They also don't live in LR. You're only going to get those from the ocean, or from another tank.

Does the benefit out weigh the risk? I don't know - I think it does, for me at least. I've never had a problem with adding sand in to help seed the cycle and get some microfauna established before I add the bigger critters. Sure, I've had to fight slimes and other stuff, but I can't definitively point to a scoop of sand I'd gotten as the culprit. Then again, I'd hope people who are fighting off outbreaks of slime, ich, or whatever - would NOT offer a scoop to begin with!

 

[jayjigga]

Thanks Dope. I'll take you up on that, you're just across town from me, not far at all.

Grrrrrr...I already posted that it was nice to meet you, but someone decided otherwise...

Glad to see this beaut go to someone who's going to do it justice. Saw Dope a little bit after meeting you and we talked about the tank. Good stuff indeed!