The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Jefft72

There is a hood on the tank currently, but the previous owner cut out the top for the halide fixture to fit into. The fixture currently has legs that rest on the inner edge of the hood and sticks out the top. If I were to retrofit the T5s then I would probably fill the hole so that the whole deal could hinge open again like it was designed to do. Fans would need to be added to the hood though for proper ventilation.

I think I may have talked myself into keeping the tank. The wife only asked, "how much will it cost me?" I told her, "practically nothing once I sell the halide fixture and ballasts to offset the cost of new T5 bulbs and endcaps." It's a free upgrade.....sort of.

Jeff, I have a computer fan that's about 10" or 12" wide that would likely go right in that hole. You'd have to power it with a low voltage adapter. I have a whole milkcrate of them somewhere.
I think you're going another direction, but thought that might be a way to avoid fans in the ends.
I think you'll be thrilled to get into t5's. I use two different bulbs. I run the actinic blue two hours more each day than the whites. Both are on timers. It's a sweet setup.
I look forward to seeing the end result!!!

[OLS]

I also like the idea of taking her tank to it's new place, leaving everything in there and just filling with perfect water.
The fish will appreciate the water, the algae will slowly disappear, and the SHOCK value will be minimal, getting you
cycled up good in about a week. You should get a brown diatom bloom after 4-8 days, and once that clears, you
should see real die-off on the hair algae. And like scott said, you can pull 80% of it off by hand and then let the
rest just fade away. Once you get it cleaned up the easy way, then you can start thinking about risking life
forms in it. But for a month I'd just let snails and hermits run around in there, and of course, your 3 fish.
The move alone is going to be a jolt, I'd keep it to a minimum or you will be out of business for over a month,
maybe well over a month.

But you might want to install a three phase RO filter under your sink, they are about 120 bucks at Lowe's
and they should keep pumping out relatively pure water for 6 months on a set of filters. Once you start
letting the filters go a year, or just pouring tap water in, you will have just what your friend had, a big mess.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by OLS

Once you start
letting the filters go a year, or just pouring tap water in, you will have just what your friend had, a big mess.

It only takes 4-6 months to wreck $70 worth of filters with the sh1tty water here. I put in all that gear that preceeds this page and that should help a lot. Time will tell.
So far so good, and I have 3 water testers now, so I won't be dumping bad water that I thought was good in my tank anymore. On the upside, it didn't take long for me to figure out my filters went bad. Reefs will tell a guy all kinds of stuff if I just look.

[Jefft72]

A computer fan that is 10-12" wide? Is it an array of fans 3-4 lined up, I have seen those around before. I haven't thought out the cooling yet, but I think that fans placed on top of the end caps will be the way I go. The only consideration is whether to exhaust air out the top or blow air in and over the end caps.

I will probably go with a fairly open structure and use some aluminum angle to mount everything up to and attach to the existing hood. Cheap, lightweight, and open top so as not to trap heat, but the whole assembly will still hinge open on the existing top that is there.

I did like the T5 setup I had before. I ran 3 T5 and 2 T12 super actinic staggered like you do with timers. SPS grew very well and had great color. Looks like it is time to go shopping for bulbs. The IC 660 will run 16" of bulbs....that would mean 4x4". The 430 has a lower limit if I recall. I may very well have to pick up a second 660 and keep the 430 for actinic duties.

[Jefft72]

I have a dual TDS meter on my RO unit. One side reads TDS before the DI and the other side reads TDS after DI. I regularly use RO water to refill 3 liter water bottles to use in baby bottles. I know that water is nice and clean.

Dual TDS meter was a great addition to the RO unit for sure. I might pick up a hand held one of these days just to double check.

[shilala]

That fan is just one single fan. My computer tower had two in the top. I converted it to use dual psu's, so I had to take the back one out.
My RO unit has a single tds meter that shows tds in and out. It's a nice touch. Being that it's mounted in the basement rafters, the hand meters are much more handy.

[shilala]

Lisa and I went to the Frag Swap yesterday, we did real well. We got an 8" two pound Maxima clam for 80 bucks. I couldn't believe it. I picked about eight big hermits last night while I was diving in the tank, that should help keep her alive.
I got a star for my Harlequin Shrimp. The female attacked it before I could even set it on the bottom. They're nuts.
I have to move a lot of rock today and I'd like to buy a little more before I start setting frags. I need to clean out a bunch more xenia and a huge field of polyps. That'll be a pain, but it needs done.
Odd thing happened overnight. My cleaner shrimp and blood shrimp traded homes on opposite ends of the tank. I have no idea why. I moved some stuff, but not enough to disrupt either's home. Apparently I'm wrong about that last part.

[jluck]

Originally Posted by shilala

Lisa and I went to the Frag Swap yesterday, we did real well. We got an 8" two pound Maxima clam for 80 bucks. I couldn't believe it. I picked about eight big hermits last night while I was diving in the tank, that should help keep her alive.
I got a star for my Harlequin Shrimp. The female attacked it before I could even set it on the bottom. They're nuts.
I have to move a lot of rock today and I'd like to buy a little more before I start setting frags. I need to clean out a bunch more xenia and a huge field of polyps. That'll be a pain, but it needs done.
Odd thing happened overnight. My cleaner shrimp and blood shrimp traded homes on opposite ends of the tank. I have no idea why. I moved some stuff, but not enough to disrupt either's home. Apparently I'm wrong about that last part.

Scott...I want to see your clam! Doesen't that sound wrong! I have been slapped for asking people that in the past.
Anyways....let's see some updated pics of these tanks guys.

[Jefft72]

Wow, that is a great price for such a good sized Maxima! Did you feel guilty when you left

Originally Posted by shilala

... 8" two pound Maxima clam for 80 bucks. I couldn't believe it. ....

I consider myself lucky for never buying xenia. I saw what it was capable of in a buddy's tank. I do have Anthellia, but it is isolated on its own rock, however I have found a stalk here and there popping up. It's not nearly as aggressive as xenia though. Good luck on thinning it out.

I made the decision to keep the tank going, but now I need to source T5 parts (endcaps and reflectors) on the secondary market. Those things are just too danged expensive to purchase brand new. Bulbs will be purchased new. I made a new 15g batch of saltwater and will do a water change either today or tomorrow. Next will be cleaning up some of the bubble algae, or I might buy an emerald crab to help out.

[shilala]

I'll take some pics when I get things put together.

[Malazan]

I wouldn't mind having a fish tank, but living on a third story apt. might get dicey with the weight

[shilala]

John, they make little biocubes. I know they get down to as low as 12 gallons. There's nothing you can do in a big tank that you can't do in a biocube and they come fully outfitted, ready to go.
They're really very cool and you can find them for a song on Craigslist.

[Malazan]

Originally Posted by shilala

John, they make little biocubes. I know they get down to as low as 12 gallons. There's nothing you can do in a big tank that you can't do in a biocube and they come fully outfitted, ready to go.
They're really very cool and you can find them for a song on Craigslist.

What is a good place to check those out? Other than Craigslist. Are there any good Online dealers?

[Chainsaw13]

Damn you Scott, there's a 14gal bio cube in my area for a decent price. Unfortunately I travel too much to get into this hobby. Like you, I'm too anal about this type do thing and could no way trust anyone else to watch it while I'm away.

[shilala]

Jeff, the guy had a whole bin full. Fortunately we got there early and got the pick of the litter. He sources them all from one place and was going on about getting some black Maxima's. I paid 50-75 for the last two I fed to my hermits.
So far I picked 9 big hermits out and gave them the toilet ride. I'll continue picking them out till they're a distant memory.
I don't have any trouble culling back the xenia, it's easy. I'll be tearing up another giant wad today. I let it grow on top under the splash zone of an over-the-back filter and it scrubs the water. It does a nice job of it.
I picked up another species for the other side so I can fire up that over the back again.

Good luck on sourcing the parts. Before you go crazy, take a look at t5 hoods at Foster and Smith. With all you have to do, you may be able to sell all your parts and come out ahead with a brand new hood and bulbs.

If emerald crabs will clean up that bubble, I'd grab one in a hurry. I'd clean, then do the water change, then get an emerald, in that order.

I'm going to start culling corals right now. I'll get a pic before I start.

[shilala]

Here's a couple pics. I just turned the lights on so stuff is still puckered up. It just had the room light up till a second ago.

[Jefft72]

That is good advice on the cleaning before water change. I will make sure and do that. Need to wash my dirty filter socks also as I have been slacking. I have a fresh one on there now, but it won't take long for it to dirty up.

I have had luck in the past with emerald crabs eradicating bubble algae, but I have also had one that didn't touch it. They are well advertised as eating it, but of course it's not a guarantee. They look cool though and the kids like looking for the crab.

That's a great looking tank! Packed to the gills for sure with coral! Awesome clam too. The wife has been wanting a clam for some time now. Once I get my lighting situation resolved then we will look at picking up a clam or two.

[shilala]

Maybe get a pair of Emeralds, Jeff? They might battle it out. Once they clean house you can always get rid of them, or just keep one. I never see them after they're in the tank.

I try to make my tank look just like a natural coral wall in the ocean so that I can appreciate it. It's like diving every day at my desk.

I just picked up some more rock so I can finish up what I want to do with the tank. I'm going to start culling back xenia and polyps right now. It'll keep me busy for a few hours, at least.

[Blak Smyth]

Looks awesome Scott!!!

[Jefft72]

Yea, I plan to get a pair of emeralds and if they both stick around then that is great. There should be plenty of room for both in there.

We have scaped our rock work to have a more open feel to it with the hopes that one day there will be plenty of SPS filling the space along with swimming space for fish.

I can't dive as much as I would like, so the tank does offer a nice escape. We picked up a 14g biocube over xmas to setup in the kids' room. I found a leak when I set it up initially and still need to correct that. It will be a softy tank with 1 or 2 fish and inverts. As long as they can keep their hands and other objects out of the tank it should all be good.