[Live Rock Ricky]

do you guys use a uv sterilizer on your reef tanks?

[bguile]

Originally Posted by Live Rock Ricky

looks awesome...

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Reefland

Get those batteries charged already.

I did take a couple pics on last night but it was pretty late so I didn't bother to upload them. I'll do so once I get home.

Originally Posted by Live Rock Ricky

do you guys use a uv sterilizer on your reef tanks?

I don't personally. I just haven't seen any need to do so, at least not for what I've kept in my tanks.

[Reefland]

Ask Poseidon, he runs a UV on his reef.

[bguile]

Here's the pics I snapped on last night. I apologize for the graininess but it was the lowest of my point and shoots available at the time. The green tint to the water is due to the ammonia and sediment from the rock.





I did pick up an eductor from a LFS while I was visiting in Pittsburgh. That sucker can kick up sand on the other side of the aquarium which is 6 feet!!

[Reefland]

Are you planning on keeping the aquascape like that? I like it! Nice and open.

[bguile]

Thanks. I do plan on keeping it open. I like open setups a lot. I may try to come up with something with the extra rubble I have to put on top of the middle or left end structure. Even though they are different it seems to look too uniform in height. Thanks for following along.

[Reefland]

Your corals will make it less uniform as they grow, I like it as is. And use that rubble to glue unmounted frags you get.

[Samper]

That open aquascape looks great to me...so does the porosity of that rock.

[Reefland]

I like the open structure, I think it helps a lot with a natural look when the fish swim in and out of it.

[reefbeginner]

Nooo! it can't end! More, mooore!
It is so exciting to go through other people's build threads. I would get so much more out of doing as much as I could myself than spending a fortune on all premade stuff. I can't afford or have anything big (in an apartment, not settled yet) but I feel the itch for a big tank with it's own equip room, etc someday so all these threads nurture those plans.

I really love how you put the rocks together. The bar idea is fabulous- i spend so much time propped in front of my tank with drinks or things on empty overturned buckets wishing i had like an aquarium viewing table. I bet it will be a highly occupied space. I can imagine spending lots of time there multitasking. I'd probably end up with my laptop right there.

keep up the good work. Any livestock plans?

[Reefland]

I hear ya reefbeginner. We have our tank all setup, but have to finish the basement before we can furnish it (i.e. get a couple of recliners to sit in front of the tank).

[reefbeginner]

Plus when we leave chairs in front of the tank the kitty takes them while we do other things, which is amusing when she tries to paw at the fishies :-P

[bguile]

Originally Posted by Samper

That open aquascape looks great to me...so does the porosity of that rock.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Reefland

I like the open structure, I think it helps a lot with a natural look when the fish swim in and out of it.

That's what I'm hoping for. I'm more after that "above the reef" look.

Originally Posted by reefbeginner

Nooo! it can't end! More, mooore!...
I feel the itch for a big tank ...I really love how you put the rocks together. The bar idea is fabulous...I bet it will be a highly occupied space. I can imagine spending lots of time there multitasking. I'd probably end up with my laptop right there. keep up the good work. Any livestock plans?

Thanks, but there's a lot more to come. Just like you, once I got started in the hobby with my 12g nano I had to go bigger and 6 months later got a 90g which wasn't big enough after I realized how many different fish I wanted to keep.

I can't take all the credit for the bar idea. My wife actually came up with it after I mentioned I was going to put a bar in the basement. You're thoughts of what you would do is exactly what I planned which is why the table part is 16" long.

For livestock I have quite an extensive list of which I'm sure some will not make it into the tank. They include:
3 or 4 Dwarf Angels - My original thought was Golden, Nox, Potter's and Lemonpeel as these seem to be the less aggressive of the Pygmies, but I just lost my Golden in quarantine (wouldn't eat) so we'll see.
Threadfin B'fly
2 Clown Pair
2 Blue Hippo Tangs
Lamarck Angel
school of green chromis 8-10 or Anthias 6-8
Powder Blue Tang
Sohal Tang

As you can see that's a lot of fish and I'm not sure if they can all go, but we'll see. This is also partly why I wanted so much open space. I like fish more than corals .

Originally Posted by reefbeginner

Plus when we leave chairs in front of the tank the kitty takes them while we do other things, which is amusing when she tries to paw at the fishies :-P

That would be funny. Our cat doesn't get on furniture anymore. Besides I've had holding tanks sitting on the floor at her level before and she seems to have no interest in the fish. Probably because she figures it'd be too much work to try and catch it!

[reefbeginner]

I have to say I like anthias better than chromis, especially in a larger system. Better colors IMO.

Sorry about your loss, that's always such a shame- I feel so helpless when they won't eat. I've heard of force feeding them with glucose or somesuch, but in the end, either they'll eat for themselves or they'll die :-(
I -love-sohal tangs. Well, I just plain love tangs. :-)

Excellent list so far, very exciting indeed!

Our tank is definitely one of the top sources of entertainment for our kitty, but she is cooped up in an apartment all the time- perhaps yours gets to go outdoors and play with real fish somewhere and that is why she is less interested in your tanks.

[bguile]

It looks like the initial cycle has completed. Ammonia and nitrites are both reading 0. I don't yet have any algae problems since I didn't have any lights during most of the cycle. I finished running the new electrical lines to the room and just hooked them up this weekend. Here are the first FTS' of the newly cycled display. Pay no attention to the exposed wires on the table. Those are the moonlights which will be going in next once I get them hooked up. Oh yeah, the white balance is off too. My apologies to the photography community for such a crappy shot. I was in a hurry to get the pic last night and posted. Better quality to come later...





Time for some live sand and inverts ! I'm going to hold off on snails a little bit until I give the algae a little time to grow so that I dont loose half my lot to starvation. All comments and suggestions welcomed!

[Live Rock Ricky]

looks awesome

[bguile]

Thanks!

[charlie]

If those are crappy shots, I can't wait to see what's next. They and the tank look really good!!

[bguile]

Originally Posted by charlie

If those are crappy shots, I can't wait to see what's next. They and the tank look really good!!

Thanks Charlie. I like for pics I post to have that finished looked with borders and the like. So that's really all the improvement it needs besides white balance.

[bguile]

Tank update:

Diatoms bloom is well underway and I have added Nassarius and Nerite snails to the tank. I had originally purchased 100 snails total, but only 50 made the shipping stress. Shouts out to Reefscavengers for stepping up to the plate with excellent customer service and refunding the lost part of the shipment.

I did recently move all the Nerite snails to the sump as they seemed to hang around the top of the display a lot and ended up in the overflow! I know I need to get more snails for the display but I'm trying to decide if I should start adding my fish that have been in holding tanks for months or order more snails, place them in the tank now, and wait another 3-4 weeks before adding the fish. I do have the option of ordering the snails and placing them in quarantine for a couple weeks instead of straight to the display. What do you guys think?