Eight's 170 gallon in wall LeeMar
- Thread starter Eight
- Start date
Otakuthugster
Guest
Great aquascaping! It's pretty tight as is, and I'm sure it'll look a thousand times better once it's super stocked with corals.
Oh yeah, you were right about the true undatas; they do grow pretty quickly. How's yours doin'?
Oh yeah, you were right about the true undatas; they do grow pretty quickly. How's yours doin'?
Eight
Guest
Yes, I like the aquascaping too. Barebottom + acrylic rods + foam + epoxy make it really easy to do some really cool aquascaping. I feel like I have a bit too much rock in the tank though...
Undatas are doing well. They are up in pretty high light right now. Hopefully they get that pretty purplish base soon.
Undatas are doing well. They are up in pretty high light right now. Hopefully they get that pretty purplish base soon.
nanocube-guy
Guest
What kind of epoxy do you use?
Eight
Guest
I use a few different kinds of epoxy depending upon application.
For mounting regular frags and small underwater patchwork, I use Apoxie-Sculpt. It's a two part clay like epoxy similar to Aquamend but much cheaper and not smelly.
For hiding the acrylic rods, I used Beckett Pond and Waterfall foam. It's the super sticky expandable stuff that comes in the aerosol can.
To coat things and make them waterproof, I use two part Z-Poxy Finishing Resin. It's a liquid and needs to be painted on with a brush.
For mounting regular frags and small underwater patchwork, I use Apoxie-Sculpt. It's a two part clay like epoxy similar to Aquamend but much cheaper and not smelly.
For hiding the acrylic rods, I used Beckett Pond and Waterfall foam. It's the super sticky expandable stuff that comes in the aerosol can.
To coat things and make them waterproof, I use two part Z-Poxy Finishing Resin. It's a liquid and needs to be painted on with a brush.
nanocube-guy
Guest
I see. That's cool. I use mighty putty and it's not that bad. However, I'm sure aquamend and other stuff you guys use are much better. Once I'm done with it, I'm going to switch.
Eight
Guest
Tank update...
Everything has settled in and I have since installed the Phosban/carbon reactor, the topoff pump, Ozone reactor, new powerheads, cooling fan and DJ power strip. I've also moved a large rack into position and will be setting up a frag tank soon. (More on that later...)
Corals have been doing well, although some of my SPS took a little hit when I added too much GFO too quickly. I think the affected corals will pull through fine, but I need to remember to use less next time.
Some photos:
Completed back of tank shot. I had a large piece of black acrylic cut from TAP plastics and I just set it up against the back glass to help the corals pop in the display. Switched my Tunzes out for Vortechs and mounted the controllers, my AC3 and a DJ power strip on the tank stand. On the far left of the photo you can see the RO unit mounted to the wall and a large fan controlled by the AC3 that blows across the lights to cool the tank.
Closeup of the lights. Three Reeflux 250w 20k bulbs, housed in Lumenbright reflectors, powered by dimmable Coralvue e-ballasts. I *love* this combination. The dimmable feature has been extremely useful and lets me acclimate corals easily without having to mess with eggcrate or lower/raise the reflectors. The Lumenbrights are awesome as well. They're mounted very high off the tank, making it easy to do full aquascaping without a hot metal halide right in my face. Two T5s running actinics and two moonlights are mounted on the wall.
Two toned lobo. It actually fades to orange on the rim which is pretty neat.
Chalice colony, blue green with pink/orange eyes.
Some sort of staghorn frag that I picked up at MAX.
Lunar eclipse palys.
A large monti colony that has been coloring up nicely. This one has very neon green polyps.
A gray based, neon green eyed favia that I bought from Will at Lucky Goldfish. When I originally got this, the eyes were pretty bright, but the base was a very light cream, almost white. It has since gotten a lot darker and IMHO much prettier.
Gold cloves and AOGs.
My current pride and joy, a very bright orange BTA with green/yellow highlights. I also picked this up at MAX... This is a captive propagated anemone. You can see the difference between it and the standard RBTAs next to it. This one has funny tentacles that don't quite bubble, but are always 'crooked' with bumps and twists.
At this point I feel like I have too much coral and need to let everything grow up. On top of my recent acquisitions, my friend recently broke down his tank and gave me all of his livestock which is now housed in my old tank (which I have been meaning to take down).
Everything has settled in and I have since installed the Phosban/carbon reactor, the topoff pump, Ozone reactor, new powerheads, cooling fan and DJ power strip. I've also moved a large rack into position and will be setting up a frag tank soon. (More on that later...)
Corals have been doing well, although some of my SPS took a little hit when I added too much GFO too quickly. I think the affected corals will pull through fine, but I need to remember to use less next time.
Some photos:
Completed back of tank shot. I had a large piece of black acrylic cut from TAP plastics and I just set it up against the back glass to help the corals pop in the display. Switched my Tunzes out for Vortechs and mounted the controllers, my AC3 and a DJ power strip on the tank stand. On the far left of the photo you can see the RO unit mounted to the wall and a large fan controlled by the AC3 that blows across the lights to cool the tank.
Closeup of the lights. Three Reeflux 250w 20k bulbs, housed in Lumenbright reflectors, powered by dimmable Coralvue e-ballasts. I *love* this combination. The dimmable feature has been extremely useful and lets me acclimate corals easily without having to mess with eggcrate or lower/raise the reflectors. The Lumenbrights are awesome as well. They're mounted very high off the tank, making it easy to do full aquascaping without a hot metal halide right in my face. Two T5s running actinics and two moonlights are mounted on the wall.
Two toned lobo. It actually fades to orange on the rim which is pretty neat.
Chalice colony, blue green with pink/orange eyes.
Some sort of staghorn frag that I picked up at MAX.
Lunar eclipse palys.
A large monti colony that has been coloring up nicely. This one has very neon green polyps.
A gray based, neon green eyed favia that I bought from Will at Lucky Goldfish. When I originally got this, the eyes were pretty bright, but the base was a very light cream, almost white. It has since gotten a lot darker and IMHO much prettier.
Gold cloves and AOGs.
My current pride and joy, a very bright orange BTA with green/yellow highlights. I also picked this up at MAX... This is a captive propagated anemone. You can see the difference between it and the standard RBTAs next to it. This one has funny tentacles that don't quite bubble, but are always 'crooked' with bumps and twists.
At this point I feel like I have too much coral and need to let everything grow up. On top of my recent acquisitions, my friend recently broke down his tank and gave me all of his livestock which is now housed in my old tank (which I have been meaning to take down).
I love the color and crooked arms on your anemone.
Eight
Guest
I like the Vortechs, they're different than the Tunzes. Overall, I'm happy I switched to Vortechs, but there are things about the Tunzes that I miss.
The things I like most about the Vortechs are the decreased heat and lower profile in the tank. I don't have the battery backup option yet, but that was a big selling point for me as well. What I don't like about the Vortechs is that they are definitely louder than the Tunzes, aren't aimable and they aren't controllable by my AC3. They produce more flow than my Tunzes, but it's not a fair comparison because I only had Stream 6000s which are lower rated than the MP40Ws. The biggest thing I miss is definitely the controller integration. The wireless controllers that they include are fine, but they're not close to as flexible/powerful as the Tunzes are on an Aquacontroller.
The things I like most about the Vortechs are the decreased heat and lower profile in the tank. I don't have the battery backup option yet, but that was a big selling point for me as well. What I don't like about the Vortechs is that they are definitely louder than the Tunzes, aren't aimable and they aren't controllable by my AC3. They produce more flow than my Tunzes, but it's not a fair comparison because I only had Stream 6000s which are lower rated than the MP40Ws. The biggest thing I miss is definitely the controller integration. The wireless controllers that they include are fine, but they're not close to as flexible/powerful as the Tunzes are on an Aquacontroller.
Eight
Guest
Two weekends ago I set up my frag tank and my water changing system. With my new setup I knew I wanted a decent frag tank alongside my display tank. Additionally, I have always wanted a quarantine tank as well, but did not want to deal with the expense and hassle of maintaining two separate bodies of water. A separate quarantine tank would typically mean dual equipment setup and twice the testing, water management, etc.
In one of the "Tank of the Month" articles (don't remember which one), the author noted that he had set up a one way water changing system that took water from his display to a quarantine/frag tank and then to the drain. This allowed him to use his display tank water in his quarantine tank. Because the whole system is setup with peristaltic pumps, water only flows from the display to the frag tank. There is no risk of pests going from the quarantine tank to the display.
Because the frag/quarantine tank is significantly smaller than the display, changing a small percent of the display tank's water amounts to a large downstream percent change on the frag tank. This means one doesn't need to separately maintain the water parameters in the frag tank... thus, no need for a second skimmer, kalk reactor, calcium reactor, phosban/carbon reactor, etc. The only thing you really need in the frag tank is a heater.
My new frag/quarantine tank and water exchange system has been running for a couple of weeks now and I'm quite happy with it.
Here's a diagram of how the system works. You can step through the red numbers to follow the water flow.
In one of the "Tank of the Month" articles (don't remember which one), the author noted that he had set up a one way water changing system that took water from his display to a quarantine/frag tank and then to the drain. This allowed him to use his display tank water in his quarantine tank. Because the whole system is setup with peristaltic pumps, water only flows from the display to the frag tank. There is no risk of pests going from the quarantine tank to the display.
Because the frag/quarantine tank is significantly smaller than the display, changing a small percent of the display tank's water amounts to a large downstream percent change on the frag tank. This means one doesn't need to separately maintain the water parameters in the frag tank... thus, no need for a second skimmer, kalk reactor, calcium reactor, phosban/carbon reactor, etc. The only thing you really need in the frag tank is a heater.
My new frag/quarantine tank and water exchange system has been running for a couple of weeks now and I'm quite happy with it.
Here's a diagram of how the system works. You can step through the red numbers to follow the water flow.
Eight
Guest
Tong, I wondered about that as well, but I think that because I change out around 20 gallons a week and my frag tank is only about 30 gallons total, most of the water is changed out every week. Any variations in salinity due to evaporation are generally covered by the water change...
That said I have been checking the salinity in both the main and the frag tanks as a double check. I might stop doing that eventually after I have more confidence in the system.
That said I have been checking the salinity in both the main and the frag tanks as a double check. I might stop doing that eventually after I have more confidence in the system.
Eight
Guest
Here are some photos of the actual setup:
Main tank with frag tank on the right
There are three compartments to the frag tank. (Daniel, you might recognize this tank... ) The left section has two small T5s and will have mostly LPS and softies. The middle section has a 150w MH for SPS. The right section is for quarantined fish, heater and float switch.
Float switch from autotopoff.com. I am very impressed with the quality of this switch. Works beautifully.
Spectrapure LiterMeter 3 + Remote Pump Module + Water Exchange Module + Aqualifter
Main tank with frag tank on the right
There are three compartments to the frag tank. (Daniel, you might recognize this tank... ) The left section has two small T5s and will have mostly LPS and softies. The middle section has a 150w MH for SPS. The right section is for quarantined fish, heater and float switch.
Float switch from autotopoff.com. I am very impressed with the quality of this switch. Works beautifully.
Spectrapure LiterMeter 3 + Remote Pump Module + Water Exchange Module + Aqualifter