Diver's Paradise: Felicia's Scuba-Inspired 30 Gallon

[denzil]

Your cleaner shrimp are so adventurous! The one Brandie has just hides behind the rocks most of the time, haha.

 

[gimmito]

Very nice update Felicia.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Your cleaner shrimp are so adventurous! The one Brandie has just hides behind the rocks most of the time, haha.

When I just had the single one in my 10 gallon tank, he was really shy and boring. Then when I did the upgrade to the 30 gallon, I got him a buddy and now they're both out all the time. They go crazy for food and if I put my hands in the tank to work, they ride around on my hands the whole time. Crazy shrimp! You should try getting yours a friend

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Very nice update Felicia.

Thank you!

 

[bondolo]

Really lovely looking pictures.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Really lovely looking pictures.

Thank you! I'm glad you like them

 

[denzil]

Your cleaner shrimp are so adventurous! The one Brandie has just hides behind the rocks most of the time, haha.

When I just had the single one in my 10 gallon tank, he was really shy and boring. Then when I did the upgrade to the 30 gallon, I got him a buddy and now they're both out all the time. They go crazy for food and if I put my hands in the tank to work, they ride around on my hands the whole time. Crazy shrimp! You should try getting yours a friend

Haha, that sounds like a good idea!

 

[sfsuphysics]

I used to love my cleaner shrimp whenever my hand went into the tank to clean or move stuff around they'd jump right on me and give me a manicure. Of course they made for spot feeding any lps corals meaty food impossible.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

I used to love my cleaner shrimp whenever my hand went into the tank to clean or move stuff around they'd jump right on me and give me a manicure. Of course they made for spot feeding any lps corals meaty food impossible.

Yeah, I can't spot feed anything in my tank. My two shrimp are greedy little beasts. If I try to spot feed something they come right over and steal everything, so I gave up and now I just overfeed the tank so that everything gets some food. I've got so many snails, hermits, and starfish that the excess food gets cleaned up really quickly.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Time for a couple small updates. First off, I've had a glass top on this tank since I first set it up and it wasn't custom so it didn't fit perfectly. It was also a pain to constantly clean water deposits and salt creep off of it to keep it looking nice. So I finally got around to making a custom screen top for the aquarium. I got the tools I needed from the Berkeley Tool Lending Library and the screen supplies from Home Depot. For those of you wondering, I can't leave the aquarium topless due to a super curious cat and 2 firefish which are prone to jumping. Here are a few photos of the process:

My helper, Lily, double checking my measurements. Haha!

Black screen frame, which came in 7' lengths, plus a hack saw and miter box for cutting the frame.

Screen kit with screen and spline, spline roller, and corner inserts for the frame.

Two hours later, here's the finished product.

I also decided that I wanted a bit more space for SPS corals, so I took an idea from a friend on Nano-Reef and decided to attach rock shelves to the back wall of the tank. I went to Aquarium Concepts Inc. today and picked up some small pieces of dry rock and used superglue plus reef epoxy to attach 3 shelves to the back glass. Now I have some nice new spots for SPS corals

 

[denzil]

Very cool. I may have to copy your rock shelf idea!

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Thanks! Go right ahead! I like how it adds depth in the back of the tank.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Nice job with the screen, like how you even made the dog leg around the HOB filter. Although your screen looks awfully small, you might be losing a significant amount of light with it on. Also front corner of your picture it shows it wet, hopefully this was an accidental dunk, because if it gets wet normally it will wick out salt creep all over the place and give you a nice christmasy look

Also be careful with those shelves, glass is pretty damn notorious for not allowing things to secure firmly. While yes they are holding now, probably wouldn't take much pressure to break them off.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Yeah, I had noticed that the screen does seem to block out a bit of the light. Luckily my LEDs weren't at 100%, so I just cranked them up a bit to compensate. I think its fine now, but if I notice anything looking like its not getting enough light, I'll go find some more spaced out plastic mesh to re-screen it. And yeah, the screen got an accidental dunk when I was putting it on, so it doesn't normally get wet. Thanks for the warning though!

I'm also a bit concerned about the rock, but a friend of mine on Nano-reef was who gave me the idea and he's got pieces of rock glued to the back glass that have held up for over 6 months now. I followed his directions on how to do it with a combination of gel superglue and reef epoxy, so I'm hoping they'll hold up over time. I'm also going to be careful not to push on them much and since coral isn't heavy, hopefully they won't fall off. I'll keep you guys posted on how they're holding up.

 

[denzil]

For my screen I was going to use that clear netting from BRS so that I won't have to worry as much about light being blocked. If anything, it'll refract slightly.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Just put your sps back near the glass and as soon as that starts to encrust on the glass as well as the rock it'll give you a little more grab

As to the screening, one option to look at is in the home & garden center at your big box store, they sell "bird netting" which is very thin and does have enough spacing. Firefish might be able to jump through it if they aim exactly right though, but it's a trade off. I got a ton of the stuff, comes in 50 ft roll I believe, I used it to try and keep one of my cats from using my veggie planter box as a litter box before stuff started to grow in.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Thanks for the alternatives guys. Its good to know my options if I end up having light issues. My only worry with the bigger mesh is that a fish could still possibly jump though it. I've had some fish manage to get through some seriously tiny openings in the past. I may end up getting some of that BRS clear mesh. Thanks for the link, Denzil.

Mike that's a good idea about getting the SPS to encrust onto the glass for support. I'll have to try that. So far, the rocks are still holding in place.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

I took a bunch of photos tonight, so I figured I'd post a photo update.

First off, here's a new FTS with the rock shelves on the back glass.

Fun corner shot of the tank.

I have a waterproof case for my camera that I use for diving, so sometimes I use it to get photos of coral in my tank. I used it tonight to get the following photos. Seriously, who needs a macro lens when you can just stick your camera down into the tank centimeters from the coral? Haha!

Bali Slimer

Sour Apple Birdsnest

Pink Lemonade Acro

Blue Acro

ATL Fire Polyp Undata

ATL Alien Eye Firefly Chalice

Frogspawn

Armor of God Zoas

Ring of Fire Zoas

Red Hornets

Kedd Red Zoas

 

[denzil]

Those are some great shots!

 

[Kmooresf]

Awesome shots!!