:sad: - Ive been dumped:cry:

Don't look at it that way.:biggrin:

Think of it as someone has just taken the trash away for you...and spread it on someones else's doorstep.:wink:

hahaha....I was really enjoying the trash......

Im somewhat offended:neutral::lol:

LOL - your the trash can:lol:

you two ever see that movie chuck and larry, this could pay huge dividends in the fishkeeping world. Half price corals, permanent coral back up. TAX SAVINGS.....

great tank build. Looking forward to the final product with everything in place and running.

Wow, Jeff are you going to keep us all waiting or do we get an update. :wink:

Stress!
 

Well it was a scary past couple of days. It looked like the fish were not doing so well on friday night and I went into panic mode getting the tank swapped. At the end of the night I had everything swapped (3:00am) the plumbing was ghetto and still remains the same till this week when I go and pick up the parts.

I lost one leapard wasse :( it looked like a rock must have fallen on him - i really liked that little guy and will be getting another.

My family went away for the weekend and it was for the better as my main level looked like a battle zone. I have managed to get everything cleaned up but I still have to wash all the cupboards and floor as they all seam to have a skim of saltwater on them :lol:


A few pics of the swap.

I used as much of the old water as I could without getting the crap. I had most of the water made up in buckets and needed to make a bunch more as I under estimated the amount I was going to need.

A fancy way of getting the water in the tank:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/IMG_4292.jpg

I wanted to make sure the water has good air content so what a better way than running the skimmer in it:biggrin:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/IMG_4294.jpg

Ahhh - everything swapped and up and running. Aquacaping not complete.

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/IMG_4297.jpg

I will have most the aquascaping complete today and will post later.

Chow

Jeff

So sorry about your Leopard wrasse and that it was kinda crazy. :sad:

I am planning on doing mine alone as well...just so I can deal with the mess later. I will definetly know to make more water than what I was planning on...thanks for the tip Jeff.

Will look forward to your new pictures once it is all done. :mrgreen:

Sorry to hear bout the leopard Jeff........one loss isnt all that bad for a transfer though *knocks on glass*

on a side note thats one beut of a skimmer:wink:

Can't wait to see the final arrangement

Sorry 'bout the wrasse, he was sweet but I'm glad he was the only loss.

I don't think anybody ever does a major tank reno and gets it done before midnight of the planned day :lol:

I want to know how you managed to hide the skimmer in the rock - You'd swear it wasn't in the tank at all! :mrgreen:

So, the rock that took up so much of the other tank sure looks small in its proper home, ... You're getting more, right? Or were you going to aquascape it to get the open look like Kien's?

Doug - does the skimmer look familiar to you?:wink:

The wasse was a super little guy - my kids had named him Elvis, it was a little sad telling them:sad:

I wont be adding anymore rock - I even got rid of a bunch. I am going to have one main structure then a zoa garden.

I should have some aquascaping pics up here in a bit.:wink:

Looking good! Sorry to hear about the wrasse...It's never easy to give that kind of news to kids.

What are you going to use as a base for the zoa's, besides the main stack?
Or were you hoping they'd grow on the glass for easy harvesting/fragging? :biggrin:

Aquascaping
 

Well I got a start on the aquascaping.

It was/is my intention to have the main structure solid and permanent. Most of it was connected using 1/2" acrylic tubing. Each rock was drilled using a
1/2" massonary bit. I was very surprised at how easy it was to drill the rock. FYI - if your going to do this - I bought the cheapest bit ($8.00) I could find at Canadian tire and it was a breeze.

I have a glass bottom at the time but will be going to sand in the near future.

North View

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4303.jpg

West View

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4306.jpg

South View

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4307.jpg

Couple of closet ups:wink:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4305.jpg

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4308.jpg

Zoa garden - I'm not finished with this yet - what I see in my mind is not what I see in my tank. Best thing for Zoas for growth is to put them where you want them and don't move! Over the next week I will get it how I want it.

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4312.jpg

One on my clams

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4311.jpg

Clowns Buddy :wink:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4309.jpg

As I already said I am not totaly done but it is a good start.

Next on the list:

1 - finish plumbing

2 - trim the top ledge in maple

3 - build canopy and cover overflow to wall.

4 - think of whats going to be next :lol:

One thing about this hobby a person can always find something to work on. Then when you think you have it all complete - time for a bigger tank:lol:

So what do you all think?

Jeff

great job on the move! I know exactly how stressful, messy and potentially demoralizing it can be! I think you executed it wonderfully!

Also, great job on the aquascaping! :biggrin:

Looking Good! Not a huge fan of the output but otherwise looking really good. Lets see another FTS with the stand in the pic

I think the output is temporary. Right Jeff? :wink: :lol:

I really like the layout

Ya this is temporary!

As I said I went into panic mode as I thought my fish were in danger. I gathered all the plumbing I had ans made the best out of it. Even to the poing of wrapping one of the joints with tape as I thought it was going to leak:lol:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4315.jpg


My overflow only has one pipe coming out of it going to the sump, the other two are just plugged. The coral is in the overflow to protect from my Sailfin which seam to have developed a taste for it:sad:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4320.jpg

This is a very very special mode - scotch tape for a cap lol.

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_4321.jpg

This is VERY mickey moused



This week I will have the plumbing done and done proper. My over

Jeff just wondering how long did you have the fish out of the old tank before putting them in the new tank? Trying to sort that all out too!

So far its looking great and I can only sit in front of my computer in anticipation for the final plumbing & the cover to be in place!

Just looking at my own tank, I wish I had that much room to open things up and not have the tank look dominated by the rock - I think yours is already looking balanced and will be awesome as things settle in and grow out.

Knowing your room & the tank placement, I think its going to be a really good setup, kinda tapering away from the house wall, into the open space of the room. If it wasn't already, it'll definitely be a show stopper, now!

Thank you Vic - it is coming along. I'm not done with the aquascaping yet as I am just not 100%....

Leah - they were in the tank with just power heads for 2 days maybe three. I think/know they would have been fine for longer than that. I think it was a combintaion of stress and how I had placed all the rock in the tank while I set up the other one. They had little to no room to move and no light. I ran my other tank for days without a skimmer or sump and everything was fine....
Also it may have been me who was stressed and worried and as I said I went into panic mode:lol:

Tank is looking great Jeff...hope mine will look half as good. :mrgreen:
I definetly get the whole panic mode. :twised:

All I have done is make some water and washed and organized stuff and I am thinking... Crap...:surprise:... and this is still the easy part. :redface:

Now that sounds perfectly normal :mrgreen:

When I've had to do large moves/changes (admittedly mostly freshwater) I've tried to have separate containers (read: Rubermaid tubs) for the fish, rock/substrate & plants.

For the fish container, I put some fake plants or plastic rocks with crevices for hiding - these are lighter & easier to clean and ensure sterility before and after - kinda the same you'd do in a quarantine tank,

It seems to have worked well & I don't stress (well, not as much :lol:), especially about things falling on creatures.

not sure if this is covered in ur posts... where did you pick that outlet switchboard up at? I could use a couple of those. also how much? Tank looks like its coming along..cant wait to see it done

Thanks you, I got the aquascaping pretty much done tonight yea for me! Also added sand, which is a swtch for me as I have always had a glass bottom tank.

the power switch was purchased at Mothers Music in calgary - I love it!

ahh, 2am Aquascaping sessions.. fun! :-) but where are the pics?????

:lol:one main structure wasn't enough:lol: - i did say that what I had in my mind and what I saw didn't match!

I will be posting a pic or two tomorrow, it will take a bit for the tank to clear after the sand storm:surprise:

Sand and Aquascaping
 

Well the dust has settled after adding the sand. It has been years since I have had a sand bottom tank and I really like it, it reflects the light very nice. My fish and other things thought it was pretty good too!

I am now pretty much done the aquascaping. I added another structure and got the zoa garden in place. As time goes on I will go higher on the
2nd structure and will fill in the zoa garden as I get more.

Here are a few pics of how it sits tonight.

North view:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/IMG_4324.jpg

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/IMG_4329.jpg

West view:

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/IMG_4326.jpg

South view;

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/IMG_4327.jpg

http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/a...g/IMG_4328.jpg

I also got started on the return plumbing, its pretty much complete i was just short a couple of elbows.

I like! :)

The 2nd rock-pile does balance it nicely and I see you went with a fairly deep layer of sand - Is that almost 2" ?

Are you going to go with a clean-up crew, gravel-vac or combination of the two?

Pity its going to take the fish a month to get used to the new light schedule, I see you posted the pics at ~3:30am. :lol:

:D Looks amazing Jeff,

I really love, love, love, how you have done the aquascaping and your coral placement. :multi: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Okay you can come help me now, pretty please with a cherry on top. :wink:

Thanks Vic - the sand bed is just a skiff, should have 1-2 pounds per gallon which in my case would be 120 - 240 pounds , there is 40 pounds in my tank now and that is the way it's going to stay. Clean up crew - yes.

Thanks Leah

I would help you but I am not out there for a couple few weeks;)

Okay, it just looks a bit deeper in the photo - thinking of a black frame on a typical tank, I guess.
40lbs. isn't much and a (small) cleaning crew should have no problems keeping it mixed and clean + with the power heads I imagine you aren't going to have many (any?) dead spots.

Now that I've got my car fixed I get to do the powerhead adventure on mine :lol:

If your comparing the sand to the black frame - keep on mind this is a frameless tank, the black you see in the pic is the black silicone:wink:t

looks awesome jeff! Well executed :-) Cleaning all that glass is fun isn't it? :lol: That's about the only annoying thing about peninsulas.. It is almost like having a 10 foot tank, or in my case, 14 feet! :lol:

Really like the added rock work! Very nice.

Oh, you picked up on that? :redface: