Hello!

[Jeramy]

Also as a side note tinfoil is not a very good reflective material. Try using one of those little lazer pointers and shine it on a peice of tinfoil then on a mirror and you will see what I mean =)

 

[cruzanm]

Wasnt really sure where to post this but either I am having really good luck with or something is wrong with the big finger leather I have. I don't think he is losing mass overall but he is dropping finger frags at a rate of 1 a week. Like I said, it seems to be keeping up with the fragmentation in new growth. Is there something I can do to slow this down? There are probably 8 or more frags now and I haven't had anyone interested in them so I'd rather him just stop so I don't end up with a tank of finger leathers.

 

[cruzanm]

Here is a pic of the Finger these days, seems to maybe have lost a bit of its color but still big and has great polyp extension..

This is an old image of just some of the frags, they don't look unhealthy and generally will extend polyps as well. Like I said, theres probably 8 or more of these throughout the tank now. Just start taking them out?

 

[mfinn]

I would take the the new baby leathers and find some live rock rubble, trap the leather frags between 2 pieces of rock and put a rubber band around all of it. Let it sit for a week or two untill the leathers attach to the rock and then you have free trading stock. Or just give a way items.

 

[Red C Aquarium]

what a nice score on the rock and corals!

looks nice!

Red C

 

[pandora32]

I just take my unwanted coral, colt and xenia, ant toss it in my sump.

 

[vlangel]

Welcome to RF. Glad to have ya!

 

[vlangel]

I had a devil's hand leather that fragged itself when it was first moved in my tank and after a while it settled and stopped and has never done it again.

 

[cruzanm]

Thought I would update this as I haven't posted much on my tank in the past year. My wife lost her job around February 2013 and things started getting really tight around June, by September I was beginning to seriously think about adopting the tank out and shutting it down.

Financial stress eased late October and cracking my 401k to pay back bills completely righted the ship (who retires anyway?).

Tank has rebounded nicely over the two three months with all the corals regaining their vitality.

I am having serious issues keeping the front glass clean from the scaley green algae, will post images over the next couple days. We built the tank into a wall with a closet on the other side for access, to ensure that putting the hole in the wall wasn't going to bring my sons room down into the tank/bar, we had a 4 inch header installed above the hole for the tank to reinforce the wall there and carry the weight load around. Its fabulously stable but hard as hell to reach the front and scrub.

Also the refugium/sump is an old 30 gallon tank I partitioned out from my first system forever ago, and is on a stand behind the tank, eliminating the walking space on the right side (from the front) tank so there is literally no way I can reach it atm. Another pain in the arse is I actually really enjoyed watching the little life in the refugium in my old tank and I can only check out a little of it in this one because most of it is hidden from view. Theres a ton of shrimp swimming around in there and I'd love to get a better feel for what kind they are.

I installed a bracket to allow me to suspend my lights about 3 feet above the tank when Im working on them to allow for some light while I scrub, now I have to install some kind of stand or support beams for the 30 gallon between the 4x4s that make up the support for the tank, above the crawlspace for under the house so I can get it out of my way.

Basically reworking to fix oversights made a year ago that we haven't been able to afford in a space that is pretty hard to work in.

Tanks healthy, just a pain in the ass to work on atm.

Also need to look at some kind of ventilation fan to get hot humid air out of the space. There is an attic above the tank that has ventilation to the outside, I'd considered installing some kind of fan on the attic hatch door but am not sure sending humid air up there is the best idea.

After that is all done, need to take a long look at the lights. I have 6 4ft T5's on there now, I don't like the wiring, the lack of complete light coverage in the tank, the plywood frame itself but the 4 inch header the tank is under prevents commercial units. So yeah. I do have a 4 ft coral life metal halide fixture in the garage collecting dust that I could look at harvesting the components out of and doing something with but I need to address the ventilation issue first because that much heat will cause more headaches.

Ever since we got out of the financial fire, I've been going over these issues over and over again in my head. And annoying the crap out of my wife talking about them, so decided it would be best to annoy the crap out of all of you with it. Will get some pictures up some time this week, I'm sure criticism will follow, but some helpful advice on the side of that would be fantastic

 

[user 26995]

LOL!!! you wont anoy us. We love following along with builds.
Glad you are all feeling better about your financial situation.
So yeah, pics will be great so we can get an idea as to the tank situation and that 4" header. And yeah, dont think exhausting the humid air to the attic would be a good idea. should be in an external wall. is there a window in that room?

 

[vlangel]

We had a tank in the wall of our living room that I accessed through a closet in our kid's room. I totally sympathize with your limited access issues! It was a really cool look but when I upgraded I went for an ordinary set up with a stand. For me a clean well maintained tank is more showey than a dramatic not so well maintained tank. I will look forward to seeing everything.

 

[cruzanm]

Ok, a couple from my tablet just taken.






The all obstructing fuge


The area I'd like to move the fuge to


The area above the tank



The only wall bordering the outside

 

[vlangel]

Wow, your pics look just like our tank, especially the closet shots. We didn't have a sump and I can definitely see how it even limits you more. Also my tank was a fish only so I didn't have all the maintenance that comes with reef lighting.

 

[cruzanm]

So umm... any suggestions?

 

[vlangel]

I'm guessing your light fixture plays into all this too. I built a shelf up high enough to work at the top of the tank so I'd still have light but also could get my arms in the tank. That still doesn't"t address getting close enough because the sump is in the way though. Could you get by with a smaller sump that totally fits under the display tank?

 

[cruzanm]

Light fixture is a big part of it.

I got a new magnet scrubber and with some serious wax on and off, even the scaley pain in the ass stuff came away last night.

So, really for now, the big issue is moving the sump. The space I have in the pic is actually big enough for the 30 gallon, I just need to build some kind of stand down there.

Then, yeah, tackle the stupid light hood.

I did get the bartop finished and the double tap tower installed though! I'll take a pic of that tonight!

 

[vlangel]

Maybe for you it would be easier to remove your fixture while you are working in the tank and hang a light from the ceiling that can be plugged in. Of course you'd want to know that it was secure or you could really get your hair curled if it fell!!! LOL Ok, that's not funny but you get the point.
Hey now that you have the tank glass all cleaned up I'd like to see what it really looks like?

 

[cruzanm]

Here is a decent pic with the glass being cleaed off.

 

[vlangel]

Much better! Now we can clearly see that beautiful anemone, and your tangs, foxfaces and clowns. How many fish do you have?

 

[cruzanm]

1 Foxface Rabbitfish
1 Regal Tang
2 Yellow Tangs
1 Scribbled Rabbitfish
1 Coral Beauty
1 Flame Angel
1 Bicolor Angel
4 Percs (I think 2 are occelaris, 2 might be true percs)

They get "photogenic" at night when the house calms down a bit.

I add a strip of nori in the morning before I leave, feed ocean nutrition reef flakes when I get home and add another nori strip after I have dinner.