Sherman Tank 120

[Krish]

You barebottom guys... I swear! Sand is for making the reef not look like a jail cell.

ROFL!!! Well, then Mr. Natural...Remove the glass then so it won't look like your fish are in a box :lol:

 

[Snowboarda42]

Sherman,

Try pointing one or both of the Powerheads up towards the surface of the water. You might have to move them down a bit so as not to make too much splash. You just leave them that way for a little bit while your sand starts to, for lack of a better word, solidify. It worked in my tank. Matter of fact, now I have them pointed back down and the sand stays where it should. Its still easily moved though.


BTW, keep feeding the hitch hiker crab, he looks like the right kind to eat and pretty soon he'll be meal size!

 

[Sherman]

Krish, all cheap jabs aside... for me, the sand helps eliminate the appearance of the glass box. That was the intent behind hiding the powerheads together, and in painting in that background... eliminate all the distractions possible, and draw your visual attention on the reef. Barebottom draws my attention to the hard corners on the bottom. It just doesn't work for me.

But don't worry, we still like you.

Snowball, for the last few weeks, I've already been running the 1500 pointed slightly up. It's just not working out. Having only the 2600 running all day so far, I'm still getting some sand shift. For the reasons you mentioned above, I expect this will decrease in time. Already, the side that doesn't get as much flow has a different appearance to the sand. It almost appears coarser, though it all came from the same bags. And my nano... that sand just doesn't move at all... same bag. As you said, it's just time.

 

[Snowboarda42]

Ha ha Snowball

 

[Sherman]

I already had to ditch the idea of a single powerhead and less flow. The RBTA disappeared into the rock work, the torch started looking all strung out with no flow... it just wasn't working. Instead, I re-aimed the smaller powerhead toward the back wall, and it seems to be working OK, so far. The only problem is now the powerhead is sitting right under the lights, and it's ugly. I'm still exploring flow options, and envision Tunze coming to the rescue someday when I can afford it.

Anyway, here's the monthly FTS, as has become tradition here at our own club forums. How nice of every fish to make it into this shot for me!

 

[edwing206]

WOW, great looking tank man. I bet those corals like the extra growin room.

 

[Sherman]

So I've finally made some more progress... with more to go.

The trim around the base of the tank has been up for a while now. I didn't want to look at the AGA plastic trim. The next project will be to create a matching one up top for a false canopy. I also completed the doors. What a difference in sound! Then I also built a box to hide the MH ballast, as well as support the top-off reservoir. All of these will be stained black after I get rid of all the pending visitors this holiday season. I didn't want to risk inundating them with the smell of varnish for their entire stays.

The most recent change is that I finally hung the lights, instead of having them rest on 1x6s on top of the tank. It may sound obvious, but don't even bother doing this without a plumb bob. They're $10, and measuring distances from the walls is completely impossible with the way they build homes these days (not so square).

Nevermind all the plumerias. Christmas decorating wreaks havoc on where to place things this time of year. Also disregard the little power cord mess over there. I just finally hooked up the AquaController, and I'm leaving it out in the open until I trust it.

 

[spongebob lover]

i really like the color on your stand and the way the lights are set up ... is the any glass or something in between the lights and tank?

 

[Sherman]

Gabbs dood, the pendant holds double ended MH bulbs, so it has its own glass sheet to enclose the whole fixture. Between the fully enclosed fixture and the fans on either end blowing air through it, heat really is kept to a minimum. With only that single 6" clip=on fan in the back, I have no problems keeping the tank temperature down to 76.

 

[spongebob lover]

Gabbs dood, the pendant holds double ended MH bulbs, so it has its own glass sheet to enclose the whole fixture. Between the fully enclosed fixture and the fans on either end blowing air through it, heat really is kept to a minimum. With only that single 6" clip=on fan in the back, I have no problems keeping the tank temperature down to 76.
__________________

that's kewl dood .
Seriously dood your tank looks so pretty.
how's the little one doing by the way , what is Santa bringing her ?

 

[dailydriven911]

Your tank looks amazing! I think you could eat off that table...

 

[edwing206]

Tank looks amazingly clean! The lights and everything.

 

[tamarindthai]

sherman,your tank looks great,.

 

[Sherman]

Thank you, guys. With this thing being in the front room, and the first thing you see when you walk in the door, keeping it messy doesn't go over well with Mrs. Sherman. I'm also an extremely visual person, too, so a lot of effort goes into keeping things clean.

Gaby, Paige is awesome. I've kind of let her "Growing Up" thread fall to the wayside, but maybe I'll go add something in there for you. Christmas should bring her a foxface and maybe another fish. Oh... and a toybox, too.

 

[spongebob lover]

Your tank looks amazing! I think you could eat off that table...

naw that's for his drooling bucket :lol:.

Gaby, Paige is awesome. I've kind of let her "Growing Up" thread fall to the wayside, but maybe I'll go add something in there for you. Christmas should bring her a foxface and maybe another fish. Oh... and a toybox, too.

she's getting so big dood and she's to cute!! .
are you gonna take her to do the Santa picture? or does she cry ? ... mine is just to afraid of Santa :lol: .
so a foxface eh that's awesome dood

 

[csdoyle]

Gorgeous tank.

By the way.. what ever happened with that nasty crab? I just read through the thread and may have missed the outcome of that critter.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Sherman]

Quite a while back, I tried to spear him while he was in his hole. I had tried this on several occasions, but always missed, because he was able to disappear back into his hole. This time, however, I was able to use another hole in the rock to spear him from the top, instead of from the front of the hole. I think I hit him, because he bolted out the front and back into the rock work, where I thought I'd never see him again.

Just this week, he re-appeared. Even larger. Maybe I got him, and he molted. I'm going to give him a little time to be comfortable in his old home again, then try the top down spearing. Since he's larger now, I'm hoping it will be easier.

 

[Sherman]

I finally added a foxface last Friday. He's eating very well and already getting along with everyone. Only the sailfin occasionally reminds him where he stands in the pecking order. I also experienced the weirdest behavioral change, across the whole aquarium. The six existing fish (sailfin, CBB, 4 anthias) had established a routine of the CBB taking alpha-fish role (still does) and the sailfin following his every move like a lost puppy. In the meantime, the male anthias spent his day racing back and forth across the reef, keeping his three females in place, hidden in the rocks. Now that I've added the foxface, I most often see all 7 fish piled up together in a pretty tight formation. I couldn't say why that happened, but it definitely looks very nice.

Here's the new guy on the block.

 

[dailydriven911]

Great pics beautiful fish!

 

[Sherman]

Since the camera was out, I also decided to try some photography under the new actinic bulbs. The bulbs are Hamilton T5HO Actinics that have a really cool mix between the 420nm and 460nm wavelengths. I typically hate the 460nm, but this bulb was a pleasant surprise. It's still mostly purple (420nm) but has just a hint of blue in it (460nm).

Here's a tenuis and a RBTA.