Lots of pictures of the display (60g) and refugium (20L).

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Khemul

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Oct 14, 2010
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The 80g concept got vetoed so that made that decision easy. :nilly:

So now it'll either be a 120 or 125. Found the Deep Blue 120 (48x24x24) on sale, but it would probably look a little weird with a 5' tank under the stand. :laugh:



Got my new bulbs for the 4' fixture. Well, technically I got them end of last week but they didn't fit so well cracked in half. Champion did some overkill in the replacement bulbs, since I had to cut them out of the bubble wrap with a razor this time. Won't have them installed till tonight but the lighting sequence should then be; front to back;
54W Blue Plus
54W Purple Plus
39W Blue Plus
39W AquaBlue Special

All the corals are looking good except my tree corals. The Kenya is looking a bit pale and not extending/retracting. Not sure what is up with it just yet but I hear these types of corals do these types of things occasionally. The Finger Leather is hanging in there, but refuses to attach to a rock. I keep finding it knocked off the rock into the sand, even if it has a few days on the rock.

The Sea Hare turned the right side of the tank into a barren wasteland. :laugh:
I think one of the additions to the new setup will be an algae farm down in the refugium. Just a bunch of live rocks that get swapped back and forth to give the grazers something to nibble on, in case they do manage to strip the display tank of plant life.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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I will be interested to hear what you think about the Purple+ bulb.

I have never kept a leather of any kind but I have read the same and that they will shed soon after being defalted. I'm sure you'll be happy with either of those tank sizes but I would love to see the 120 so I can live vicariously through you until I upgrade :).
 

Khemul

Sea Bunny
Oct 14, 2010
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South Florida
I'm sure you'll be happy with either of those tank sizes but I would love to see the 120 so I can live vicariously through you until I upgrade :).
:rofl:

The funny thing of that is that I have trouble thinking of a 4' tank as "big", but the other day we were in a store that had a 150XH (48x24x30) and it looked huge. Just too damned tall. But I was surprised it was only 4' long.

It helps that the Deep Blue 120's are 20% making it just slightly under the price of a Perfecto 125. Just not sure how well I could pull off the look of a 5' tank underneath a 4' tank.
 

greech

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May 13, 2009
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I know I said this before but what I like most about the 120 is the depth. Just so many options to set things up in the display. I also really like keeping my rocks off the back glass and the 24" depth is great for that and still allows plenty of room up front for an "open" sandbed. Other advantages are being able to see clear across the back of the rocks where all the creepy stuff lingers :) and also allow good flow back there so that all the crud doesn't settle.

Definitely see where you are coming from though.
 

Khemul

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Oct 14, 2010
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Had to shuffle the bulb order a little but it worked out nicely. Think in hindsight the AquaBlue Special wasn't needed, but no need to spend money replacing a perfectly good bulb. At the end of the year I'll replace it with either a Purple Plus or a Blue Plus. The Purple plus seems to accomplish the same effect without being so bright. The reds definitely come out a lot more now (similar in effect to how the Blue Plus bulbs cause greens to almost glow).

The original bulb sequence had the weird effect of only effecting the front half of the tank. Switched the bulbs around and now have the purple effect everywhere.
Front to back;
54W Purple Plus
54W Blue Plus
39W Blue Plus
39W AquaBlue Special

Not sure if it'll show much in the picture but, FTS with new bulbs;




I think we've found a direction the tank will be taking. Think it'll be mostly various Euphyllia (maybe not Torch, but definitely Frogspawn and Hammer varieties). Ricordeas and some leathers will also be included, but I don't like the bigger leathers much so the only leathers will be the finger and tree varieties. The fish seem to like soft corals so I don't think I'll be investing much in those :evil_lol:.


Our newest coral. It is a Euphyllia, not 100% sure since I hear they are rare and there were a dozen of these at the store but I think it is a yaeyamaensis. Keeping an eye out for more to pop up around here since I want to get a hold of some green varieties.


Had a small battle with ich but it seems to be retreating again and under control. Added a Sharpnose Puffer (the standard Caribbean-type) and the whole tank banded together (Seriously, the Starry Blenny and Rusty Angel kept jumping in on the side of the Valentini whenever the dominance displays started. Was rather strange to watch. Thought different species only became that close in Disney films :laughing:) for a day or so to put him in line. No violence but plenty of "this rock is taken, find another one" activity. Figure the stress caused a minor outbreak but overfeeding for a few days seems to be rapidly reversing the damage.



And one last update that should make Greech happy :laughing:. We went ahead and ordered a 120 for the upgrade. Went and looked at the 120 and 125 side by side and the 125 looks big, but it sort of looks too big for what we want. The 120 looks like just the right size.


Fun with Paint... Early planning and sketch up. Gonna work out measurements for the stand over the weekend and getting it to work, but basically I'm gonna make the stand for the 120 then build an extension out 6" on either side with a platform across the bottom for the 60. It may end up an inch or two taller then I'd like but it should work.
 
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greech

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:clap: :Angel:

Your going to have a lot of fun putting that together, congrats! Good idea with the stand.

Funny how your fish rolled the new guy :).

Always have known those as just octo-euphyllia, octopus corals, etc. I knew they were euphyllia but never look them up. My LFS has a large colony and frags it pretty often. Same color as the one you have.

Where's the love for torches? :)



Wish I had any kind of decent camera. The one on the right is has neon orange and dark purple streaked tentacles with purple tips. Prettiest coral I have and the movement of a torch cannot be beat IMO.
 

Khemul

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Oct 14, 2010
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Nothing against them personally. Just heard that all the other euphyllia can coexist peacefully around each other except the Torches. Guess I do have the space to set up a "Torch area" in case they do decide they don't want neighbors. :evil_lol:
 

Khemul

Sea Bunny
Oct 14, 2010
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Planning moves ahead. Sketched out a complicated stand design for the 120 + 60 setup. Showed it to the fiancee to get her thoughts on stand height (I know she has a exact level she like it being at and this was going to be slightly outside of it). She looked at it, looked at the current stand, then said "how about a 40 breeder for a refugium instead?" :laugh:. So after a quick redesign we worked out that the price would balance out and the height would be flexible enough to hit that perfect spot. A simple 49" x 25" stand with a 37" x 19" setup framing built into the base was simple compared to the first design I came up with. So now it'll be a 120 + 40 fuge. Think I lose less then a square foot of footprint so it shouldn't make a huge difference. Plus with the speed the tank is now stabilizing and shrinking in algae I definitely don't need the space.


The urchins and Sea Hare are doing a good job of turning the tank into a desert landscape. Think I may have a clean up crew that is too effective now. Doing an experiment (since I no longer have to worry about contaminating the display with Caulerpa) to see if anyone in the tank eats Taxifolia. I'm pretty sure somebody does since a few pieces have gotten through the return pump and never managed to get a foothold or grow. I'm hoping maybe the Sea Hare or Urchins have a taste for instead of the angels or blennies. Otherwise I'm considering gutting the refugium of caulerpa and having it focus more on hair algae production (a statement that most people think they'll never hear spoken about a saltwater tank :laugh:). That or I'm gonna have to start really overfeeding the tank :grinyes:.


Now starting on stand construction. Should be done with that by the end of the week (figure staining will take at least a couple days), then onto setup :drool:.
 

RNeiswander

Bunned
Nov 27, 2010
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Looking forward to the upgrade, although maybe you could tie in the 60 gallon into the setup :D
 

Khemul

Sea Bunny
Oct 14, 2010
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South Florida
Ah, progress. Will probably start a new thread next week when I actually finish the prep work and go into true build.



:drool: Turns out it has two overflows drilled which was a pleasant surprise. Almost went back to the shelves to pick up a second return pump when I saw that, but didn't really need it or the extra expense. Instead I'm basically going to do a Herbie style with two emergency drains. Right side will be primary drain (3/4") and emergency drain (1"). Left side will be return (3/4") and emergency drain (1"). It only has to push 250 gph so the 3/4" holes should be able to handle everything. Added egg crate to the bottom and that is about it for now. Need to buy plumbing tomorrow, was at the HD today but forgot to bring the bulkheads with me and I don't know how to measure out flexible hosing.


Refugium. Only work to do here is the glass walls to box in the return pump and keep it away from the sand/algae/rocks. Will be siliconing them in tonight or tomorrow.


Early stand build. Awaiting stain and the modifications for the refugium and refugium lighting.


I have some rinsing to do. :help:
Not sure if I'll need all of it but it can't hurt to have extra. Figure I'll try for 2-3" of new sand, then add in another inch or so of old sand over top.
 
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