300 gallon financial sinkhole
- Thread starter fishyfish22
- Start date
fishyfish22
Premium member
More picks of the setup. I really like how clean the wood skin came out to be
you can also see the canopy in action, and the doors which were surprisingly difficult to add.
I ended up finding soft close hinges that didn't have to be on the inner frame of the door, it closes and opens super smoothly.
also pictured, you can see what the Radion DIY light track looks like from a distance.
side note: these WAV's are POWERFUL, i'm running them at 50% and they still do quite a bit
you can also see the canopy in action, and the doors which were surprisingly difficult to add.
I ended up finding soft close hinges that didn't have to be on the inner frame of the door, it closes and opens super smoothly.
also pictured, you can see what the Radion DIY light track looks like from a distance.
side note: these WAV's are POWERFUL, i'm running them at 50% and they still do quite a bit
fishyfish22
Premium member
also picked up this cam at a killer deal from Costco and the Porthole from Avast marine, I really look forward to try them out and finally be able to take some decent coral pics!
Still not ready to jump the $1k macro lens though, so i'll have to make do with the one I have.
It's an EOS Rebel T7, lens is a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II, no idea what that means but I'm about to learn!
Still not ready to jump the $1k macro lens though, so i'll have to make do with the one I have.
It's an EOS Rebel T7, lens is a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II, no idea what that means but I'm about to learn!
fishyfish22
Premium member
it's easier to do as you're filling up the tank, using E-marco Cement locks everything up nicely
Mpdan
Premium member
Thanks I will give it a shot. Still waiting on the tank to come in and the cold has slowed me down on the stand build.
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fishyfish22
Premium member
It's never a bad time for an upgrade
6 feet is definitely still a lot of room though. What made me really notice the difference was using the same rock from the 180, but I actually ended up having to get more because it wasn't enough!
fishyfish22
Premium member
yeah stand building definitely took a good amount of time, I was fortunate to get it done during the summertime but I can imagine the winter slowing things down by a lot
fishyfish22
Premium member
One of the more interesting challenges I had with the tank was finding away to feed nori. Because of the tank being acrylic and having such a thick brace, I wouldn't be able to just reach in and grab a magnet or clip on the wall. Furthermore I wanted a way where the front of the glass wasn't obstructed.
An additional issue I noticed was when using a clip, usually the lead tang would rip off a large chunk of it and then the rest would ignore it when it was in the water column. Boom, half a sheet of nori wasted.
My response to this was simple.
I took a 4-6" segment of 2" pvc. I drilled four holes into the top and tied it to the canopy with fishing string. I would then attach the algae sheets with two Rubberbands on each end. The result was an easy way to drop nori into the tank and then hang the pvc to dry when I'd pull it out.
I noticed the tangs became much more active in grazing this way, having access to it from all angles, than they were in the previous tank when I'd use a clip.
In addition to this, tangs would only rip off smaller chunks at a time and they'd graze on it all day. Usually I'd use two sheets folded in half, one on each end.
An additional issue I noticed was when using a clip, usually the lead tang would rip off a large chunk of it and then the rest would ignore it when it was in the water column. Boom, half a sheet of nori wasted.
My response to this was simple.
I took a 4-6" segment of 2" pvc. I drilled four holes into the top and tied it to the canopy with fishing string. I would then attach the algae sheets with two Rubberbands on each end. The result was an easy way to drop nori into the tank and then hang the pvc to dry when I'd pull it out.
I noticed the tangs became much more active in grazing this way, having access to it from all angles, than they were in the previous tank when I'd use a clip.
In addition to this, tangs would only rip off smaller chunks at a time and they'd graze on it all day. Usually I'd use two sheets folded in half, one on each end.
fishyfish22
Premium member
Sweet can't wait to add a mining facility to my build. Maybe I can plumb it to my sump.
Chase_The_Reefer
Active member
I love this idea I’m gonna try it out
fishyfish22
Premium member
I've had a various inquiries for updates, so here goes!
Things were running smoothly around November/December. fish were growing, the few corals that survived the transfer were growing. the zoa garden was doing smoothly, I started with my first $15 acros and they seemed to be doing ok.
It went well until I added a fish blindly. In the middle of February I added a blonde naso tang from an LFS. Didn't qt, didn't observe it went right in after a drip acclimation. The fish died within a day or two of adding, didn't think much of it. I got another one from the same LFS, as well as a powder blue tang. They both died within the week. At that point I thought it was just bad luck, considering both are difficult to get to eat and somewhat sensitive in the beginning.
Afterwards I added a blonde naso that had already been quarantined, as well as a pyramid butterflyfish, an achilles tang, and a whitetail bristle tooth. All fish seemed to do fine for about a week, after which they seemed to just die overnight. It was at this point where I realized something was definitely wrong. I realized my tank had been infected with brooke and worked to save what I could. Unfortunately i didn't have the materials on hand and within the end of the week had lost everything.
It was a hard lesson, but an important one in quarantining.
After leaving my tank fallow for a period I finally felt ready to add fish from the list, as well as revise a few things from the fish list to go into the tank. This time everything will be quarantined via TTM (the humblefish method) as well as obtaining fish from more reliable sources. I can definitely say there will be more diversity. I don't mind doing Ich management, however I definitely want to clear them of any other parasites and worms.
Currently in the display tank, I have:
Over the next few days, I will be moving to the display tank from quarantine (after raising the salinity slowly):
Things were running smoothly around November/December. fish were growing, the few corals that survived the transfer were growing. the zoa garden was doing smoothly, I started with my first $15 acros and they seemed to be doing ok.
It went well until I added a fish blindly. In the middle of February I added a blonde naso tang from an LFS. Didn't qt, didn't observe it went right in after a drip acclimation. The fish died within a day or two of adding, didn't think much of it. I got another one from the same LFS, as well as a powder blue tang. They both died within the week. At that point I thought it was just bad luck, considering both are difficult to get to eat and somewhat sensitive in the beginning.
Afterwards I added a blonde naso that had already been quarantined, as well as a pyramid butterflyfish, an achilles tang, and a whitetail bristle tooth. All fish seemed to do fine for about a week, after which they seemed to just die overnight. It was at this point where I realized something was definitely wrong. I realized my tank had been infected with brooke and worked to save what I could. Unfortunately i didn't have the materials on hand and within the end of the week had lost everything.
It was a hard lesson, but an important one in quarantining.
After leaving my tank fallow for a period I finally felt ready to add fish from the list, as well as revise a few things from the fish list to go into the tank. This time everything will be quarantined via TTM (the humblefish method) as well as obtaining fish from more reliable sources. I can definitely say there will be more diversity. I don't mind doing Ich management, however I definitely want to clear them of any other parasites and worms.
Currently in the display tank, I have:
- Powder Blue tang
- Sohal Tang
- Dussumieri
- Midal Blenny
- 1 azure damsel
Over the next few days, I will be moving to the display tank from quarantine (after raising the salinity slowly):
- Gem tang
- Purple tang
- Yellow Tang (adding them together to reduce aggression)
- Sargassum Triggerfish
- Kole Tang
- Whitetail Bristletooth Tang
- Two Spot bristletooth tang (again, adding the three together to prevent Aggression)
- Pair of Zebra Swallowtail Angelfish
- Mystery Wrasse
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fishyfish22
Premium member
Fish are doing well! In addition to those previously listed, Newest additions to the tank include:
Currently in quarentine:
In addition to that, opened Fusion to find my alk had risen drastically. From 9 to around 13.4. What had happened was my feed pump (an old aqua lifter) crapped out causing pressure to drop drastically inside of the reactor. In doing this, it sucked c02 overriding the solenoid causing my PH to drop to around 5.0. I Immediately disconnected the c02 completely to let my alk drop back to 9.
Took a week, but can't wait to finally set this up. anyone have any tips?
- Purple Tilefish
- Female Bellus Angelfish (was hoping for a pair, but didn't want issues between the bellus and the swallowtail)
Currently in quarentine:
- 3x Pyramid Butterflyfish
- Yellow Fin Tang
In addition to that, opened Fusion to find my alk had risen drastically. From 9 to around 13.4. What had happened was my feed pump (an old aqua lifter) crapped out causing pressure to drop drastically inside of the reactor. In doing this, it sucked c02 overriding the solenoid causing my PH to drop to around 5.0. I Immediately disconnected the c02 completely to let my alk drop back to 9.
Took a week, but can't wait to finally set this up. anyone have any tips?
fishyfish22
Premium member
Finally, some pictures to enjoy! I finally got my tank to the point where I can notice growth, I love cataloging growth through pics. These are some of my favorites.
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fishyfish22
Premium member
This particular piece came to me bleached. in the span of a few weeks It went from white during the day to a cool green with red polyps. Still looking forward to seeing it grow and color up more.
fishyfish22
Premium member
and some pics that are just nice to look at
It took me a bit to realize that the best way to get color true pics were to just take them at full spectrum. I just didn't like the pressure this put on the Radions, the fans would get really loud and they'd get hot.
Final pic is of my chicago sunburst, It's a beauty and hard to overlook. crazy thing about it is it just split and the baby is fully yellow
View attachment IMG_0097.jpg
It took me a bit to realize that the best way to get color true pics were to just take them at full spectrum. I just didn't like the pressure this put on the Radions, the fans would get really loud and they'd get hot.
Final pic is of my chicago sunburst, It's a beauty and hard to overlook. crazy thing about it is it just split and the baby is fully yellow
View attachment IMG_0097.jpg
fishyfish22
Premium member
Thanks! It really does put things into perspective
fishyfish22
Premium member
Trying my hand at making my own frozen food. Time to destroy my kitchen!
