I love it, Denny! How exciting!
I have no patience at all. Looking at that tank-ful of water makes me want to roll up my sleeves. Now it's the waiting for the sand to cycle, huh?
That's the worse time. People should go on a mini vacation so that they don't rush into the aquascaping and adding lifestock before it's ready.
Never know how people can stand no doing anything until it's fully cycled!
Merry Christmas!

no kidding eh lol well its easy for me as i already have 4 small tanks running lol but yeah the next step for me is to turn this badboy salty lol i grabbed a bucket and i figured i had enough here to make it but im short because i didnt count my sump in so after i rob all the water i can without disturbing the other tanks im still gonna be short like 30-40gallons so i may just get it to where i can which will probably be around 1.020 and get my rock in there ill be adding some eggcrate first and then some rock nothing scaped just in there in a pile for cycling.after that i will add my sand i dont want sand under my rocks in this tank honestly all of my previous tanks have been like that and it starts to sag and get messy down there after a few years so no sand under my rock in this tank:):)

im also hoping the rock will make up for some water that i cant mix im just not sure how much it will be lol :):)

Thank Denny, it was my pleasure to assist you in the build. It is always nice to see thing's I have built for people, can't wait to see it all done. I knew I should have stuck a Grizz Welding sticker on it :lol::lol:

Everything looks like to is coming together nicely.

thanks greg its really coming together now im almost ready for a cycle soon theres still some stuff i want to do first ,im painting tonight and im hoping i can get it all looking nice for when the misses comes home that ways i may be able to promote her to " reefsafe with caution" lol :):)


merry christmas buddy and best wishes for the new year:):)

Same to you Denny, see you some time in the new year for some of those sweet zoa / paly frags.:wink:

So, good timimg for the Boxing day sales, then.
Should be a few pails of salt on for cheaper.
So easy to buy us reefers gifts... just a few buckets of salt is always appreciated, eh?
I'd be careful putting you LR into such lower salinity. I'd wait another day until I get to another pail of salt first. You already have your sand to cycle off, you want the LR to help do that, not to have critters die off in them, too.
Good luck. And I wish that one day, too, I'll be having so much fun with such a huge tank to play with. All it takes is money!

thats the joys of having split tank lol one side lower one side where it needs to be...... but..... i have enough salt as it seems, i just disconnected the sump for a bit theres still some stuff i want to do down there anyways and that pinhole leak has started again in the bulkhead, not the bulkhead its self but one pvc join down so ill get to fixing that after it dries.:):) no more purchases for me untill after new years unfortunately ive already went way over budget for this month lol:):)

uh oh im bored watch out meow:):)
 

ok so im bored i had a long nap and now i cant sleep sooooo im on a mission ill tell you in the morn what im up too but sparks are flying tonight lol :):)

ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!grrr:):)
 

still plugging away im putting the phase sweat and blood into literally as you may have noticed my title.......well as dumb as i am i just put a 1/4" drillbit right through my hand so to say the least lots of cursing and lots of blood :):) always the luck well no pain no gain i shaaapossse:)

What no picture's !!!!!!! :twised:

hahah i just woke up been a late night up working on the tank untill 5 this morning but i do have stuff to take pics of and i got alot done last night including a massive hole in my hand (got pics of that too)


really happy today as a friend and me are going in on a j&l order and im getting the apex :):):):) yee haww!!!!!!

Me too, I was up until 4am draining the 4" of water off my shop floor. I have a drain line from my huge RO system and my dad decided to redirect it. Needless to say it filled my septic tamk and back flow into my shop floor drains.

An apex sweet I snagged a Proflux 2ex for a smokin deal.

brutal nothing worse than water on the floor early in the morning, i was wondering what you were doing up so late i think we were the only ones on here that late lol the profilux is an awesome controller and the apex will be my first ever so its exciting to walk into a new stage of the hobby:):)

well here is an update on where i am in the tank and what i have or have ordered and waiting for::

48"x48"x20h"
100g sump
low flow refuge 20g and built in frag tank 20g
4x250w fishneedit halide pendants on custom made aluminum octagon light ring
36 x 3w dimmable leds (blue/white/royal blue)
vertex in-180 skimmer
apex-lite
3l zeo reactor with start-up package
brs dual stage media reactor for carbon
no-name return pump 600gph throttled back for returns for frag tank and refuge
filter socks
3 x 250w heaters 2 running 1 for back up
numerous koralias to be replaced by vortech mp40
coralife compact florescent 6500k for refuge



there are still some stuff i need to get but i have what i need to keep it running and ill gather up the rest as time goes by, last night i added rock and sand and wayne brought over some salt so im where i need to be there( thanks wayne your a lifesaver) im still gonna need some more tonga branch and some more porus rock i didnt realize how much aquascaping room there is in a 4 x4 cube lol lots of islands and in the predator side lots of room an open space......tank is almost cleared up this morning im about to run some new carbon and clear up the tiny bit of yellow in it and in a day or two im gonna log my first water tests. the rock is all cured but the sand is gonna create quite the spike judging by the smell lol so no dead shrimp or fish or uncured rock needed.


when i get a chance ill do a video and a walk around basically there are three sections the predator side is a more open look with barely any rock as there will be some massive sand and rock movers in there...ie. dragon wrasse


the reef side is done in two parts one part with a massive rock cliff that will stick up out of the water like the volcanoe tank does and then around the back corner it will all be tonga branch entwined everywhere and which way with very little coral more of a place for schooling fish to swim in and out of. i am in the process of hunting down some very high or large pieces of liverock for my mountain now as we speak:):)


other than that its all little things sooooo i guess thatrs another story:):)

fish wish
 

cant help but think about my stocking so ive been thinking about it and heres what im going with so far:)


for the predator side:

snowflake eel
dragon wrasse
fu man-chu lion( is it possible to get a pair??)
lemon peel angel
*** i want to add a butterfly fish but cant decide on which one any suggestions would be greatly appreciated:)***8




for the reef tank:

pair of bangai cardinals
pair of mandarins
yellow tang
sailfin tang
leatherjacket filefish
small scholl of chromis
pair of cinnamon clowns




for the most part im sticking with fish i have experience with the only fish from the lists i havent owned are the fu manchu and a butterfly fish.im interested in any suggestions for more fish in the reef id like to keep it limited to small fish and ones that are out and about:):) thanks all:):)

No worries! Anytime! I just picked up two more buckets of Reef Crystals :lol:

hahah nice buddy im gonna have to look into gettin a pallet to keep this badboy going 25g a week thats a little over 8 buckets a year just in water changes alone lol:):)

I had a pair of cin clowns and they got really aggressive had to move them out.

How about a Coral Beauty or a Blonde Naso.

ive always owned a pair of cinnamon clowns and they def are aggressive my female killed the male after a year together i introduced another male and it took a few weeks to warm up to each other, now i only have the male but hes always attacking me my female was around 4" i love the cinnamon clowns as ugly as they get and as mean as they are to their handlers ive always found them to be great clowns to own:)



the blonde naso for me would be too many tangs my yellow is quite aggressive and if i get a juvie sailfin it will become large quite fast so those will be the only two large fish in my reef. the coral beauty is nice but too common for me def a nice fish though.:):)

how about wrasses anything you guys would recommend that will be reefsafe and i understand most of them have an awesome appetite for inverts:)


i think im gonna lean towards smaller colorful or unique fish for my reef :)

I have a six line and a coris wrasse and getting a checker board and flasher wrasse as well.

am interested in the 6line actually , i love their color and the way they swim:):) i also like the flasher wrasses as well

as i said i was bored last night and i did promise some pics so heres some shots of what i was jup to last night, i got the predator section all scaped out and sand added and i have my scaping started in the reef tank i still need more rock for the back and for the one side that goes up the overflow but heres some pics to show you were im too, sorry for the fuzzy pics again itgs a crappy camera ill have better pics in a few days:):)



this is the front view of the predator section:

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1293409115




this is the side view of the predator section:


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1293409115



another side view of the predator section:


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1293409111



a view of both section from the front:



http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1293409111




heres another of both sections from the front from my couch:


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1293409111






ill wont post pics of the reef untill i get more done but wont be too long:) cheers all:):)

It looks great, That light hanger turned out great and fits the look of the tank very well. cant wait to see this done :)

thanks man im really glad how it turned out i cant wait to get some good pics the pics ive taken arent doing it any justice:):)


now to get the leds on there and the other pendants:):)

It's looking good Denny.

thanks jay and great fix btw not a drip to be found and awesome math on the overflow box it fit everything just perfectly and i have it set up with a herbie style overflow and its completely silent you could hear a pin drop:):)

thanks again man sooo much im loving it more and more everyday great design and its the perfect tank for me:):) happy hollidays buddy:):)

hey guys so i compiled a short walk around of the tank on my buddys digital camera....go easy on me theres still alot of work to do especially with the sump and under the stand and i still have some sand and rock from my established tanks to go in there yet. apex will be here in a few days then i get to see what it can do and i should have the zeo reactor by the end of the month:):)

i still have to paint the stand and i have to take the trim off to paint it then ill put it all on and finish it nicely.dont mind the koralias hanging there in there to help the cloud settle and clear the tank up and once i get the apex hooked up all the wires in the stand will be ran through the studs and out of the way:):) cheers:)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbcIa5QDQPY

It's a thing of beauty, Denny!
Great job envisioning it to begin with! It is a stunning concept, and now an amazing reality! The sump is also very nice. Love how both the top and bottom looks. Cannot wait to see the lights in. Everything is so nice and clean. The video definately helped.

Looks sweet Denny, I love the idea you had for all the cord putting them threw a pcv pipe:Thumb:. What is in the jar and the 2 square containers?

Thanks I hate clutter so untill I drill some strategically placed holes in the stand it was the best way to keep them out of my way and dry.

In the two containers and jar are my refuge, in two containers are two types of sand and in the jar is liverock rubble Im gonna add a fairly large piece of liverock and then hopefully I can keep my refuge clean and doing what it's supposed to do....be a safe haven for life. I'm gonna try some macro algae but with the zeo I'm not sure if you can???

The fuge has one return from where my tanks drains dump out it is controlled by a ball valve to tune the flow throughout. Pod production is my ultimate goal and mandarins next year:)

hey all so not much over the past week just playing the waiting game, i did get my apex the other day so im still setting it up apparently its harder to set this up then it is to do any sort of brain surgery lol seriously though its alot of f'ing around(pardon my french) so far it makes a great thermometer lol well im almost got it figured out tonight im mounting it in its place with velcro and setting up the controller so its nice and clean.

i also finished up the stand a bit more while the misses was gone on hollidays so i had to make sure it was looking good when she got home to justify spending so much this month on it lol :)

im also gonna set up my refuge and frag tank tonight i have all the plumbing done its just a matter of filling it up and hooking up the return pump for now untill i get my led's ordered ill just use a small t5 or similar i have kincking around:):)


heres some pics as it sits today i still am looking for more rock and some tonga branch:):)cheers all:)

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1294544981




http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1294544981


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1294544981




http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1294544981







and my job for tonight and proably till the day i die lol:





http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1294544981

Dude that stand is Friggin awesome

thanks mike, funny thing is it cost me $00.00 lol minus some small hardware.... i do renovations for a living and after putting a pile of money into my last stand with all kinds of fancy hardwoods as soon as it was finished it was sold , so this time no way lol i kept it simple to finish it fast and instead of going with the average wood grain stands i went with a very cool color green and trimmed it plain jain.i find it looks sweet when theres little to it and leaves more to viewing the tank plus i gotta say the misses loves it, all the materials i had in the garage plus paint trim etc...... right over the window is where my apex display will be mounted with velcro and after tonight you wont be able to see any more wires as they are getting "fished lol" through the framing or pvc fastened to the stands ceiling:):)

Awesome stand Denny!

thanks laurie the green doesnt show up to well in the photo but its very nice im getting "reefwars reef" done in black cool writing right over the window, im finally getting it cleaned up inside it looks like a wiring jungle lol but i just finished hooking it all up to the apex and ran the wires through the stand so alls good and away from water. right now im installing a gfci and as it will stand when it will be done is there will be a tiny wire coming out the bottom on one side of my stand for my apex to my router and on the other side will be another small hole for my apex power bar to the gfci:):) other than that there wont be a cord to be seen or ran outside of the stand:)

That stand is looking great Denny! I love the trim on it, makes it look so clean and classy

Thanks john Im glad the way it turned out ice always been a fan of bright white and greens:) how's your tank coming along??? Drop over the next night your free and I'll give you the tour, text me buddy:):)

Looking sexy dude! Have you finished mounting the MH on the light ring yet, I want pics of that when you do.

hey guys so tonight i filled up the frag tank and refuge and plumbed in the return pump, i also mounted the other front halide and did my water tests.last week i was showing a small amount of amonia and nitrate now im nil for amonia and sitting at around 5ppm for nitrate and 0 for phos. i added my male cinnamon clown to the tank and he seems very happy exploring all corners and holes....he already owns the joint lol:):)

heres some pics taken tonight and steve at red coral edmonton has my zeo reactor in so when ever my broke ass can get over ill have that up and running as well:):) cheers guys:)


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041



http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152041



http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152667


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152667


http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295152667

Wow Denny, That is looking great.