The Saga of the 18.7 Cube

[DaChrisDude]

Sweetness!

Between needing a smaller "off to college" tank, saving for a wedding ring, and trying to set aside money for a truck, I decided it was time to downsize my tank. I went from my 50gal "Saga of the 50 Long" down to this totally custom 24x15x15 quasi-cube. (after internal overflow box actually 18.7 gallons)

-I ordered the custom tank and sump from my store, Fish Haven.

-I commissioned Rudy to build me a stand and canopy. He did a superb job on the stand, btw. I'm still awaiting the canopy.

-I ordered the custom internal overflow box from SoCalCreations - who did an excellent job making it exactly to my specifications.

-I commissioned Stan aka SOLRO to build me a LED light fixture. Not as bright as I was imagining/hoping, but still very cool. Only 36watts and NO heat!


Setup
-36watts of LEDs (supposedly comparative to ~180watts of MH) plus two supplimental 24" PC's
-Turboflotor 1000, Rio2100 recirculating with little 100gph feed pump
-Titanium 300w heater
-25gallon sump with 1/3 as refugium (running dual 12" PC fuge lights)
-Return pump currently some old no-name pump, soon to be prob Rio 1400 or so.
-Moddified SCWD on return (I would like to trade this for a regular one, any takers?)

Livestock
-Around 10lbs LR rubble
-About 1" live sand
-Huge Red Grape Kelp macro in 'ruge, soon to add in chaeto also
-4 XL Frilly Mushrooms
-1 S Frilly Mushroom
-Assorted blue, pink, green-spotted, and hairy mushrooms
-4+ headed Frogspawn
-2 headed Torch
-3+ small Kenya Trees
-White Star Polyps
-Acan
-Brain
-Baby Maxima Clam
-4 Crocea Clams
-Yellow Gorgonian
-2 Purple Gorgonians
-35+ Zoo Colonies: Reds, Oranges, Greens, Purples, Pinks, Yellows, various combinations etc etc etc

-Black Oscellaris Clown pair
-Yellow Cleaner Goby
-Yellow Clown Goby
-Blue-Faced Clown Goby
-Wheeler's Goby
-3 Red Firefish (will add once have canopy)
-About 6 Hermit Crabs
-About 10 Margarita / Astrea Snails

[DaChrisDude]

Stand, tank, and overflow box set together for the first time. Aahh....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/162_6287.jpg

Showing the sump also.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/162_6288.jpg

Back of overflow box.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/162_6289.jpg

Different view.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/162_6290.jpg

The all important water-test. (Only had two small leaks!)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/163_6331.jpg

Ten minutes after initial fill up and coral arrangement.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/163_6332.jpg

Hour after fill up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/163_6338.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/163_6342.jpg

[DaChrisDude]

Closeup of Sump. I still have a major micro-bubble issue to deal with.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/163_6345.jpg

Closeup of Refugium, sorta.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/163_6347.jpg

The 24hr photo.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/163_6360.jpg

The ~36hr photo (this morning)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6403.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6404.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6408.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6411.jpg

[brandon0350]

welcome to the oversize skimmer club lol...nice tank and i love your clowns

[onad75]

nice set up man i like those gorgonia.

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks guys for the compliments. I love the gorgonians also, just hope I can successfully keep them alive...

[Nick_Kun]

That purple brush gorg needs lots of flow chris and they are also aggresive towards their neighboring corals. Lookin good brotha!

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=606


Thanks guys for the compliments. I love the gorgonians also, just hope I can successfully keep them alive...

[cagirly2006]

looks awesome chris! i love it

[Daniel]

I didn't know they sold blue mag-floats!

[Redeye]

any reason you chose that red-grape lookin macro in the fuge???

[DaChrisDude]

thanks guys.

Reason for red grape in the fuge... um, no, not particularly. :) I suppose mostly cause I like how it looks. I've also got some up in the display tank. I've also got a good sized chaeto ball that I need to move into the fuge.

[Diver Dan]

What happened to those purple tangs?:(

[DaChrisDude]

Purple tangs? In the 50gal? LOL! I took 4 partial pictures of the tank, then spliced them all together to make one long composite picture of the entire tank. The ONE purple tang I had kept swimming back and forth and managed to get in nearly all the individual pictures, giving it the appearance of there actually being 3 tangs. :) I sold him to cagirly ~4 months ago.

[SoCaLNaTiVe]

Nice setup.

[Diver Dan]

I thought you sold that tank and I remember those black percs so I came to the conclusion that you switched everything over. when will you be selling that tank? will you part some stuff out like a tang?

[SolRo]

Nice setup chris, glad to see everything is doing well.


That red grape he uses is pretty nice btw, grows fast. Bought a piece off of him a while back, it's more than doubled its length since, gotten about 4 times as wide, and grown several new branches.

[DaveMorris]

Cool looking tank. I keep thinking about setting up a small tank and seeing yours is pushing me a little harder. Keep us posted.

[DaChrisDude]

I thought you sold that tank and I remember those black percs so I came to the conclusion that you switched everything over. when will you be selling that tank? will you part some stuff out like a tang?

I set the new tank up, took my favorite stuff out of the 50gallon and put it into the new tank and have everything left up for sale.

Here's the remaining livestock: http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21910

Here's the remaining equipment:
http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21970

Stan - glad to hear the red grape is growing well for you also. That stuff rocks.

Thanks DaveMorris. I've never really wanted a nano-sized tank, however I really really like this little tank I've got now. Fun stuff. :)

[alittlesalty]

That is just beautiful

[DaChrisDude]

Thank you. :)

I added a Green Clown Goby couple days ago. He's super shy and doesn't come out to eat... *worried*

[BumbleBee]

It looks great Chris!

[cagirly2006]

Thank you. :)

I added a Green Clown Goby couple days ago. He's super shy and doesn't come out to eat... *worried*

dont be, i had a green and a yellow and they didnt come out for a few days. Super shy fish in the beginning. Once the turn around you will see it all the time. Someone else told me the same exact thing, very shy fish at first.

[reddog-reef]

beautiful tank. i love to way you made the shelf in the upper section it looks great. that torch has great color btw........very nice lookin

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Nicole, Ashley, and Ben! Ben - lemme know when ya wanna come over to pick some stuff up...

[DaChrisDude]

I've got the canopy now, but I need to do a couple of things to it before I put it on.

Here's a bunch of pics showing off some of my goodies! Enjoy!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6482.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6488.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6484.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6480.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6479.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6476.jpg

[DaChrisDude]

And here's some more pics...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6474.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6467.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6459.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6457.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/164_6454.jpg

[Wulfhound]

great looking tank bro. that prpl gogonia is pretty cool just like you said at the store. like those pinkish zoos too. looks really good man.

talk to soon
todd

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Todd. :) Good seeing you today also.

[DelBoy04]

I love the tank! One of these days I'll get into it as much as you. :) It looks great.

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Matt! We gotta get together soon...

[reddog-reef]

everytime i look at your pics i find something new! and i swear it looks better everytime i see it lol. Thanks again for the stuff looks great. still workin on sendin you some pics. just to lazy to go to photobucket lol. looks great.

[DaChrisDude]

Lol, thanks Ben. :) Still waiting on those pics...

My newest addition: three male guppies! (well, still acclimating them actually. Really not sure how well the black percs are going to like them, only one way to find out...)

[Tinky]

That is beautiful Chris!!! Pretty badazz for a college tank ;)

[DaChrisDude]

Lol, thanks Kyle.

BTW - I acclimated my three male guppies and they were swimming around great last night. The black clowns chased them a little, but not much. This morning woke up to find all three guppies dead in the overflow... :(

[aznshyguycv]

hm... guppies eh...

[DaChrisDude]

Lol. I really like guppies actually - I think they're beautiful. Seemed to be doing fine in the aquarium, just too stupid to know to stay away from the overflow... arg

[gemini]

alright i will finally post, i have only read this post like 5 times:) anyways amazing tank anyone else want to nominate it for TOTM where do we do that anyways? i love the tank chris and cant wait to see it when its done (is that even possible?) hope to see you tommarow!

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Xavier. :)

[DaChrisDude]

Well, this tank is now about 5 weeks old! I've added a few small things, pretty much absolutely packed and have no more room. Going to have to sell off several things...

Full tank shot.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/165_6516.jpg

"Clam Cove"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/165_6517.jpg

Close-up of some clams.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/165_6502.jpg

[EsCo.'.ReEfeR]

pfffff u got plenty of room left jk lol.the tanks lookin good chris

[nanoreefbro]

Looks great Chris.. I really like the clams.. Where did you get that lime green one??

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks fellas. :)

I got the green one from Robert/Igotcrabs several months back. Just got real lucky with that one...

[cagirly2006]

the new clams are awesome, love the goldenish one!!

[supaboy1981]

are you worried about the kenya dropping babies? I know in my tank they did that often

[reddog-reef]

chris, if your ever interested in selling some of your red grape, ide love to pick some up! i love the look in your tank that it adds. (might be a little rude of me to ask to buy stuff right now lol, but hey i like the stuff!)

[DaChrisDude]

Lol, not a prob Ben. :)

Well, I had this amazingly awesome huge clump of it in my fuge, like 18"tall x 10" across, then while I'm breaking down my old tank I threw a bunch of chaeto on top of it so the chaeto wouldn't die. well, it blocked all the light to the red grape kelp and started to kill it. i didn't really notice it until a few nights ago when I smelled this horrible rotten-egg / sulfur smell coming from under my tank - it was the smell of the red grape kelp dying. I took the chaeto out and did a big water change sucking out as much of the ickies as possible. It looks like I'm still going to lose most/all of the RGK....ARG. :( I've got just a little in my display which I will have to grow back out. If i'm able to save the stuff in the bottom I'll let you know...

[DaChrisDude]

are you worried about the kenya dropping babies? I know in my tank they did that often

"Worried" that they'll become a pest?

Well, at the moment they're small enough that they aren't any sort of problem. But if they start to become a nuisance I'll simply start pruning them back to death.

[DaChrisDude]

Added some more stuff:

-4 Gold 'n Black Damsels (the black clowns don't like them...) :(
-4" Crocea clam

Here's some more clam-pics. I love clams. :)

Here's the newest clam, got it yesterday. It's gaping - which is worrying me...my tank is doing freakishly awesome otherwise, I'm hoping he'll pull through..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/165_6590.jpg

Two clams I got last week:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/165_6586.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/165_6584.jpg

[cagirly2006]

another clam chris??? beaultiful though!! post a pic a shot of all the clams again. where did u get it and how much?? LOL i will soon be adding more clams too!! i hope to have at least 6. but thats alot easier for me in a 70 gallon LOL

[cagirly2006]

got any pics of the damsels to?

[DaChrisDude]

I'm at school at the moment in-between classes, so don't have access to camera/tank, but here's what the damsels look like:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/DamselPIX/FHSupDamsel.jpg We've got another ~14 at the store...

Here's a full-clam-shot, except for the littlest one that's off to the side: (one on far right is FS btw...) ;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/165_6578.jpg

[cagirly2006]

OMG i love the new clams. and i have never seen those damsels before. i was at ur store the other day, i think it was monday, right at closing though and jim helped us out a while after close. we got a branching hammer, and some zoos, and a frag of zoos in your little frag basket. LOL

where did u get ur clam?? i want it!!!

[cagirly2006]

oh yeah and the clam i got from encinitas trop. its mouth was the same way, i thin someone told me he was probably starving. so i put some bio plankton in a cup with some water, then in a turkey baster and squirted it right next to him, pretty muxch into his mouth and he fine a few days later...

[DaChrisDude]

We got just them in yesterday.

I got the clam up in LA - I went with Jim yesterday. ;) We got two +4" crocea's at the store right now, light brown/tan but INSANELY BEAUTIFUL patterns.

Jim mentioned that you had come in...

"gaping" is usually an indication of stress, from what I've heard... I also fed the tank live phytoplankton last night few hours after adding the new clam

[cagirly2006]

dammit i should have come yesterday or today instead of tuesday!! :( any idea how much he want for the clams, i dont want anymore purple/blue ones. but yeah i bet the poor clams were stressed, they proably go through so much b4 they get to the stores in LA.


We got just them in yesterday.

I got the clam up in LA - I went with Jim yesterday. ;) We got two +4" crocea's at the store right now, light brown/tan but INSANELY BEAUTIFUL patterns.

Jim mentioned that you had come in...

"gaping" is usually an indication of stress, from what I've heard... I also fed the tank live phytoplankton last night few hours after adding the new clam

[DaChrisDude]

Don't hold me to it, but I think they're $55.99...

They're REALLY NICE. It was either one of those two, or mine....I went with this one. Those two were looking healthier at the store than mine was actually... neither of them were gaping.

[cagirly2006]

awesome thanks hope it works out for urs. its so peeerrrrtttyyy!!

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Ashley, I hope he'll be ok too. :)

[Diver Dan]

Dude this tank looks like a reef would in the wild it is amazing how much color you packed into an 18 gallon tank. It might have topped your old 55.

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Dan --'preciate it. :D

Actually, it was very easy to pack this tank, I had the choice pick of everything from my old tank -which was also packed to the gills. I wasn't even able to keep 1/4 of my corals when I down-sized to this tank.

As a general state-of-the-tank update:
-all 4 gold/black damsels dead or MIA... found two dead in overflow over next several days, other two never found.
-newest clam no longer gaping, beginning to really open up and look BEAUTIFUL! ouch!
-finally transferred my pink sea cucumber from my old tank, doing very well
-finally transferred my Pygmy Cherub Angel from my old tank, also doing very well, kinda shy still

I've had this nagging inkling to completely redo my aquaium... ::rolleyes:: and LOL. I'm tempted to take out all the sand in the display and make a 7"DSB in the fuge. Then rearrange the rocks for SPS, then completely cover the entire bottom glass in zoos. So, I'd have this kick-booty SPS tank with the crem-de-la-crem of Monti's, acro's, etc then have a sweet carpet of zoos on the bottom.... hmm...

[Nick_Kun]

very nice clam collection chris.. keep the pics comming. i'm planning to setup a mangrove shallow tank as refugium that I will keep a few of these clams in.

[Diver Dan]

That will be so sick Ive never thought of having a carpet of zoos on the bottom of a tank!

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Nick. :) I really like those last two I got.

Are you going to use regular clams in the fuge, or 'cleaner clams?'


Yeah, I'm still pondering converting...but I don't know. I really like my tank as it is, everything's doing so well...

[Nick_Kun]

Thanks Nick. :) I really like those last two I got.

Are you going to use regular clams in the fuge, or 'cleaner clams?'


Yeah, I'm still pondering converting...but I don't know. I really like my tank as it is, everything's doing so well...


I saw those cleaner clams at saltwaterfish.com They look cool. I might just stick with a variety of cheap crocea. I'm looking into building a 24x24x15 tank with atleast 10 crocea and various macro algae, searhose, pipefish. Oh hey, you think you can get me a quote again for that size tank?

- Nick

[DaChrisDude]

A quick little "Mini-Update":


I decided after all to switch over to SPS. So, all my shrooms, probably my beautiful frogspawn, and a few other things will be/are for sale. I'll be taking all my sand out and putting it down in the sump. Got some sweet lil SPS frags from Emozekeilsr5, and a colony from Direct Marine Imports, and a few more lined up hopefully...

I'm excited. :D

[Nick_Kun]

You better get those t5's and some more flow...:)

[DaChrisDude]

Lol, yup....

I ordered the T5's yesterday, and I'm debating what powerheads to add in. I like the Koralia 1's, but think two of those as well as my return pump on a scwd is going to be too much in my itty bitty lil tank?

[Nick_Kun]

try 1 koralia and add as needed. atleast you won't need to worry about sad blowing around.

[reddog-reef]

that cube will look sweet with all SPS. Those LED's not doin it for yah or what? switchin back over to T5's huh...........cool! keep us posted.

[scooterpipe]

Dude Looks great! Looks like great flow, Love the stand too! I have got to come over and see it in REal 3d color!
Picking up the 80 gal Saturday! Going to run across from 70 gal for the next week. Have any time to drop by? How's the Eye healing?

[DaChrisDude]

try 1 koralia and add as needed. atleast you won't need to worry about sad blowing around

Hmm... I'd really like to see one in action first. I'm currently running a rio2100 (prob will bump that up 150gph to something else) on a scwd. I want two small circ pumps also, but I have a really hard time believing that two 400gph pumps (Koralia 1's) aren't going to blow the hell outa everything. Remember, my tank is only 24x15x15! When you factor in the area taken up by my internal overflow box, the usable area is only 24x11x15! really small!


that cube will look sweet with all SPS. Those LED's not doin it for yah or what? switchin back over to T5's huh...........cool! keep us posted.

Thanks Ben, I sure hope so anyway. :) (Got your pm, btw, just haven't been able to get back to ya...) Still got that green slimer frag for me? Well, I'm currently running the LED's along with two 55watt PC's. I'm going to swap one of the PC's for the new T5's. So, I will two HO T5 bulbs up front (10k/actinic), then the LED's, then an actinic PC in the back.


Dude Looks great! Looks like great flow, Love the stand too! I have got to come over and see it in REal 3d color!
Picking up the 80 gal Saturday! Going to run across from 70 gal for the next week. Have any time to drop by? How's the Eye healing?

Thanks Scott!! I had Rudy build me the stand, he did a superb job. Welcome to swing by anytime! Awesome, that's a sweet, sweet setup your getting... tight! "Going to run accross from 70gal for the next week" -eh??

The eyes are fine now. After the first day or two of being all *****'d up, I've been ok. :) had a follow-up doc appointment yesterday, he said the swelling in my cornea's is pretty much back to normal, can't wear my contacts for another couple of weeks (at least) though to continue letting my eyes heal.

[DaChrisDude]

I did it!!!

Tank is now bare-bottom. Holy crap, that is so incredibly hard to aquascape with no sand to support the rocks with!

I'm not sure if I like it yet, to some extent I think it looks totally b*tchin, but other part of me thinks it looks stupid. Tank definitely looks 'fuller' and bigger though.

Pics coming sunday afternoon once water has cleared up and corals have hopefully opened back up...

[reddog-reef]

i cant wait to see the pics. gladd i could help lst night! BTW thanks for everything!

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks for coming over and helping out Ben, 'preciate it.

Hope everything does well for you!

I'll have pics w/in next couple of hours...

[Nick_Kun]

Chris did you use starboard on the bottom or do you have white foam below the tank so that it can help reflect the light?

[DaChrisDude]

Chris did you use starboard on the bottom or do you have white foam below the tank so that it can help reflect the light?

Um...was I supposed to?... :rolleyes: :confused:

So, that's be a no. Few places you can see the stand through the bottom glass look pretty stupid. lol...

[Nick_Kun]

Not really required but its makes a difference in the look of the tank for a while until coraline algae or your zoanthids take over the bottom glass.

- Nick

[DaChrisDude]

Not really required but its makes a difference in the look of the tank for a while until coraline algae or your zoanthids take over the bottom glass.

- Nick


Ah, that makes sense. I don't think I like the BB look... :o lol...

[Nick_Kun]

I did not mind BB, before I broke down my 100 cube last year, the coraline was soo thick that it looked like mounds of sand.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/emorocker84/June27Full.jpg

- Nick

[Noob]

damn that looks really good!!!

[DaChrisDude]

Got lots of stuff to report on! But here is a real quick FTS:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6980.jpg

[DelBoy04]

Holy cow. That's soo cool. :) I love that tank. It's people like you that make me kick myself for selling my stuff. poop. haha

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Matt. You'll get yours back up eventually, right?

[Big Brother]

how do you know you dont like the BB look when you cant see the bottom :confused:

[DaChrisDude]

Alrighty, 'tis done!

I took everything out of the tank, all the way to bare-bottom, putting the sand down in the fuge for a ~6" deep sand bed. Here's the "holy crap what happened to my tank??" pic:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6940.jpg

I then arranged everything back into the aquarium. MAJOR kudos to everyone with BB tanks, arranging rocks w/out sand to stabilize it is HARD!!

I've added a few things since last update:
- 2x24watt HO T5 fixture, currently running 2 actinics but might switch to 1 actinic and 1 10K, we'll see.
- 3 small blue gorgonian frags
- large Acro colony
- ~8 small SPS frags (red monti's, milli, blue acro, etc)
- 4 Black and Gold damsels
- some sort of "Eyelash Blenny"

I sold several nice mushroom rocks, as well as some zoo and paly frags/colonies.

Anywho, here's the new pics!!

Full tank shot
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6987.jpg

Left side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6977.jpg

Right side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6978.jpg

Blenny, misc
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6992.jpg

Happy Gorgonian + part of new scroll coral
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6993.jpg

New Gorgonian
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/169_6994.jpg

Rasta Zoos (oold, but cool)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/170_7017.jpg

Misc zoos
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/170_7025.jpg

[Nick_Kun]

very nice chris.

[Jett]

That little tank looks good! And the mantis is settled into his new home. Chowing down some silverside every night. I just need some live prey for him, any suggestions?

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Nick and Zach. :)

Zach - I don't think it has to eat live food. At the moment, the only live stuff he'd be able to eat would be something the size of live mysis shrimp. When he gets ~2" or so he might be big enough to kill/eat a hermit crab or something...

[jrlafrance]

Very nice Chris! Your "little" tank has 3000x more things in it than mine! Oh well, probably doesn't hurt when you work in a LFS! I'll get there eventually! Great job! BTW, hows the eye healing?

[DaChrisDude]

Very nice Chris! Your "little" tank has 3000x more things in it than mine! Oh well, probably doesn't hurt when you work in a LFS! I'll get there eventually! Great job! BTW, hows the eye healing?

Hey James!

lol, you'll get there eventually (and a few $K later!!)

Ya, working at an LFS has some benefits, to be sure.

The eye is great thanks! Still can't wear contacts, but there appears to be no permanent damage.

[Poacher]

Chris,

Clean up your room right this instant!:p

Your tank got my vote!:)

[DaChrisDude]

Lol!

Thanks for the vote Phil. :D

yeah, my room is still just as messy as it was in the pic up top... lol. Still have misc buckets, tubes, chemicals, and various aquariam-junk strewn about the room... I'll get to it, hopefully tomorrow.... *says the procrastinator*... ;)

[DaChrisDude]

I thought I'd give a quick livestock update:

12 fish!
-1 Black/White Clown (other one disappeared! :( )
-3 Red Firefish
-3 Black and Gold Damsels
-1 Blenny (can't remember name)
-1 Pygmy Cherub Angel
-2 Blue Neon Gobies
-1 Wheeler's Goby

Corals
-~5 headed Frogspawn
-Rasta Leather
-Umbrella Leather
-Kenya Tree
-Pom Pom Xenia
-40+ zoo frags/colonies: Rasta's, Eyes of Rah, Fire n Ice, Armageddon's, plus pinks, light blues, greens, oranges, and nearly everything else
-Brain
-Acan
-Scroll Coral
-2 yellow gorgonians
-1 tan gorgonian
-3 blue gorgonians
-1 Lrg acro colony
-4 red monti cap frags
-2 hydnophora frags
-~6 misc SPS frags (acro, milli, etc)

Misc
-5 Crocea clams (debating, 1 might actually be a maxima...)
-cleaner shrimp
-1, or 2 Harlequin shrimp

[reddog-reef]

chris! everything looks really nice! finally got to take a good look. can you show us a pic of those eyes of rah zoos?? looks alot better chris. you did an excellent job.

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Ben. :)

I'll get a pic of those zoos sometime soon...

I'm getting 10-15+ SPS frags later today, not sure where I'm going to put them! lol.

[Shemp]

Chris;

i have the same blenny, i think it is called a klauswitz blenny, i'm probably not spelling it right.

[DaChrisDude]

Ah, thanks Clarke. YGPM btw...

[iVgOnMaD]

That little tank looks good! And the mantis is settled into his new home. Chowing down some silverside every night. I just need some live prey for him, any suggestions?

Baby mollies or guppies

[scooterpipe]

So much variety! Verryyy Nicccee

[DaChrisDude]

Thanks Scott! The tank looks so much better in person, I can't figure out how to account for the actinic light yet to get better, more accurate pictures....

[Nick_Kun]

I would vote for you chris if you give me your legos.... ;)

[DaChrisDude]

I would vote for you chris if you give me your legos.... ;)


ROFLOL!! you like lego's nick? lego's were my one and only passion from age ~4 till about 14. :) I've got a sweeeeet model of the Millenium falcon...weighs 8lbs! took me nearly 2 weeks to research the millenium falcon and build it based on pictures and calculations to the scale of a minigif. It's been sitting on my shelf for nearly 3 years now....it was the last thing I've built and I haven't had the heart to tear it down.

[Nick_Kun]

loved legos. that's craay how you built the millenium flacon :O

[DaChrisDude]

Hey folks, I figured it was time for a new FTS, so here ya go...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/DSCN0582.jpg

[varanoid]

Hey man looking great still. The depth that u manage to achieve is amazing for such a small tank! Sorry for taking for so long, but thanks a lot for that fox coral you sold me a ways back. It doesn't look like a bubble any more and looks more like a fox. I'll post a pick when I get access to a camera.

Just a quick question, did the gold and yellow striped damsels turn into the damsel in the one right above ie loose their stripes?

[Redeye]

that clam on the bottoms not looking so hot!
Great tank chris

[Nick_Kun]

looks like my stray clown found a great home chris. Take good care of him.

[DaChrisDude]

It doesn't look like a bubble any more and looks more like a fox. I'll post a pick when I get access to a camera.

Just a quick question, did the gold and yellow striped damsels turn into the damsel in the one right above ie loose their stripes?

Thanks! Bummer bout the fox, that was the most gorgeous one I have ever seen... Yes, that is in fact the same black n gold damsel, and yes, they are turning darker and losing their stripes - the one though has got some really purdy long streaming fins...



that clam on the bottoms not looking so hot!
Great tank chris

Which one? I lost 3 last month, and they were my really nice ones!! ARG :mad: :(


looks like my stray clown found a great home chris. Take good care of him.

He's doing great! Thanks for selling him to me at such a bargain. :D

[pirate2876]

hey chris do u still have any of those acros you got from that buy?the 2 i got from you are doing good an growing

[DaChrisDude]

hey chris do u still have any of those acros you got from that buy?the 2 i got from you are doing good an growing

Sup Ray, Yup, I still got a bunch, I simply haven't had time to sell any of them. I've got 15-20 misc mounted frags, then I've got 4+ colonies that I'm going to chop up and sell out for cheap. I'll probably have about 40-50 frags, $10-18 each. Plus a couple of other misc goodies: small hyndophora colony, few misc paly's, perhaps some zoo's...

[jrlafrance]

ROFLOL!! you like lego's nick? lego's were my one and only passion from age ~4 till about 14. :)


It's been sitting on my shelf for nearly 3 years now....it was the last thing I've built and I haven't had the heart to tear it down.
I thought you were older than 17... :rolleyes: :D :cool:

BTW, I love your tank! What is that big yellow thingy in the middle? How deep is that "cave" underneath it?

[DaChrisDude]

I thought you were older than 17... :rolleyes: :D :cool:

BTW, I love your tank! What is that big yellow thingy in the middle? How deep is that "cave" underneath it?


It would appear I probably failed 2nd grade math! :eek: Lol...

Yeah, I played lego's for years and years and years... I had actually stopped for a year or more when I decided (pretty much outa the blue) to build the Milleniun Falcon.

The "big yellow thingy" is a Yellow Scroll Coral, one of my favorite pieces, though it keeps sliding/falling down and annoying me... arg.

The cave underneath is almost a perfect 8" cube...

[alittlesalty]

hey what up Chris that clam I got from you is really doing good man still bright and ooooh so pritty. The tank is looking good man I saw you eye balling that bigger cube of emo's.

[DaChrisDude]

hey what up Chris that clam I got from you is really doing good man still bright and ooooh so pritty. The tank is looking good man I saw you eye balling that bigger cube of emo's.

oh good! Glad to hear that!

Yup, I'm getting 'Emo's cube tomorrow, going to run it into my current tank as a prop-tank. :) Going to have a bunch of SPS frags + misc other FS here in the next couple/few weeks...

[DaChrisDude]

Well, it's been several months since I updated this thread... quite a few things have changed:

(and sorry, I left my camera in SD, so I won't have any new pics till next week :( )

-Now have 6 HO T5 bulbs over the tank
Actinic, 10K, Actinic, Actinic, Actinic, Actinic
-Added (2) 20watt 2,950K Halogen spotlights (really cool!)
-no longer using the PC or LED's
-bigger return pump and T'd off so it feeds fuge also
-added fans into canopy
-fewer fish
-sold $250worth of corals outa the display
-Added Ozone generator into skimmer

[Nick_Kun]

nice, so after many months, the canopy is finally on. can't wait to see the pics, chris, it's good to hear that your move over went well....err maybe except for the you know what...lol.

[DaChrisDude]

nice, so after many months, the canopy is finally on. can't wait to see the pics, chris, it's good to hear that your move over went well....err maybe except for the you know what...lol.



Yes, the canopy is finally on, after literally 6months of sitting on my floor! Lol..

I bought a good sized Purple-Polyp Birdsnest (super hairy!) frag, Brown w Purple Polyp Montipora somethingerother frag, and a sweet Green (pink polyps?) Monti Cap frag tonight from a local reefer up here. Then I spent the next several hours re-aquascaping my tank..... :rolleyes: :D

I can't wait to show off some pics!!

[DaChrisDude]

Well, its time for an update!

First of all, I've decided to break down the tank, selling off all the livestock but keeping the tank/equipment to set it back up at some future date. Bummer. :( Oh well, it's for the best.

I've sold a BUNCH of stuff out of the tank since the last time I posted pics. Nearly all the SPS colonies and frags are gone. I've lost some fish, gained some fish. Lost some corals, gained some corals...

Full frontal shot:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/DSCN1299.jpg

Full right-side shot:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/DSCN1308.jpg

Full left-side shot:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/dachrisdude/DSCN1310.jpg

[klevur1]

sweet man. gotta stop buy to maybe pick-up a couple corals or whatever. looks nice since you changed it.. it was way awesome before though 2!

oh w8- do you even have this anymore? if not i wanna c your 5gal.! dang what happened to that sweet grow-out cube you had?

[DaChrisDude]

Lol, hey Derek.

Yah, the 18.7 cube is EMPTY! It's sitting here still needing to be cleaned....

Lol, my 5 gal pico isn't super impressive at the moment, I think. I've got some more plans for it, and once finished I'll post some pics. ;)

The sweet grow-out cube I gave back to the person that gave it to me. I moved outa town for several months and didn't have space or time for it... Although, I might be getting another holding system as some point in the next few months...