Third Time's A Charm!

[dascharisma]

I stopped by JJ's the other day and raided his tank. Here are a pair of pics of some of my exploits.

Brad

 

[dascharisma]

I ordered a few things from fragglereef.com I ordered 3 corals, and I got one free one thrown in.


Here they are acclimating

I also got some clams. I haven't decided how many I will end up putting in my tank. Some are 2 inches and others are 3 inches.

Brad

 

[dascharisma]

Today I picked up my canopy from Ryan Nielson. It looks really nice. I haven't decided whether I will stain it the same color of the laminate flooring that we are putting in the room, or if I will paint it black. Once I do I will paint or stain it, and also get the trim that will go around the bottom of the tank and against the wall (thereby sealing the gap between the wall and the canopy). I plan to add some little wheels to the canopy so that it is easier to remove. It weighs more than I would like it to, and unfortunately it will need to be removed around twice a month so that I can scrape the acrylic and perform other basic maintenance. Although it would have been nice to have doors, it would have added weight and made it impossible for my wife and I to remove it. Given the size of the tank, you really have to lay on top of it to get anything done.

For some reason the pictures of it don't look that great. I will have to work on that. The pics make it seem like it makes the tank feel smaller, but in reality it makes the tank feel much larger. Here it is:

Brad

 

[Double-J]

The tank is a work of art... It's going to be one heck of a tank in about a year!

 

[slovan]

Your tank is looking awesome Brad! I really like the design and execution of it. Can't wait to see it fully stocked, should be one of the best tanks.

 

[dascharisma]

Wow, thanks guys. Coming from the two "Reefing Gods" of Iowa, that is a big compliment. Now if I can just get my coloration to be as good as the two of you, I'll be set.

Its funny. This project has taken about 3 times as long and has cost about 3 times more than I expected it would. I can't wait to finally get something display worthy.


Brad

 

[waverz]

Brad your tank is looking awesome! To be honest i am kind of disappointed with that canopy. I thought you would have something with hydraulics that retracted into the ceiling or something.

 

[RobynT]

I love your rock work! Very nice!

 

[dascharisma]

Since this thread has shown the progress of my basement finishing attempt, here are some pics of the other room in the basement. The framing and electrical were done this weekend. Next weekend the drywall will get put up.

Brad

 

[dascharisma]

Since I know that nobody is interested in the pics of the other room, here are some tank pics. The front left and back right halide hadn't come on yet.


Left Side

Right Side

Left Corner

Front

Left Side

Left Corner

Brad

 

[Double-J]

Outstanding!! Your tank is already loooking full! who's fault is that

I've said this before but the tank is going to be freaking amazing!!!!

job well done!

 

[musty baby]

The only shame is that your sps are going to (quickly, I assume) hide the aquascaping! Looking good man.

 

[ZLTFUL]

Dangit....where'd all the hair algae go? It was like swimming in a kelp farm. *sigh*

 

[dascharisma]

Right now the tank is pretty much in a holding pattern. I am battling a bit of HA here and there, mainly on rocks that were transferred from my other tank. The base rock all looks very good and is beginning to see good coraline growth. I have very few fish, but all of the deaths keep the nutrient levels pretty high, since I still have no skimmer on the tank. I have been waiting on my Volcano for quite some time, and I don't have any idea when it will ever be finished. I hope it is worth the wait.

In the meantime, I have been making progress on finishing the basement.

Here is the before:

Here is the after:

Here are a few recent echino pics to keep it reef related:

Brad

 

[leeweber85]

No new FTS???

 

[dascharisma]

The flooring is half done.

Brad

 

[einsteins]

On the photo topic I would suggest that you use an ISO setting of 400 or less as that will lessen the noise in the photos and increase the quality quite a bit....

eins

 

[dascharisma]

Here is some more room related content. The tank hasn't been scraped in 4 weeks, and is definitely overdo.


Before

After

Brad

 

[slovan]

The basement looks awesome Brad! I really like how it all came together. Nice job on planning and execution. :thumbsup:

 

[Double-J]

That is awesome!!!