Murdoch's 160G Tank Build

[doch]

Thanks Laurie! I definetly missed that one. I'll do some more in depth research on each of the fish on the list and come up with a plan, and I'm sure a few modifications. In light of the six line not working out, I think I'm leaning towards the Melanarus. Teh lost pest control from the six line can hopefully be made up by the Melanarus.

[Skimmerking]

looks good man.

[doch]

Here's the photo's I promised.
Still looks pretty blue, but the colours are better than the other camera.
Here is the little island of rock I talked about earlier... close up style.


And a few coral shots, with some specific areas included.




Evidence of my dead M. Cap...

[Dez]

Looking good there Camino. Man, all of your negative space kinda makes me jealous. The phrase "open water" doesn't exist in my household.

[doch]

Originally Posted by Dez

Looking good there Camino. Man, all of your negative space kinda makes me jealous. The phrase "open water" doesn't exist in my household.

Funny... your lack of negative space makes me jealous. Maybe we could work something out...? I'll trade you some negative space for some colonies!!

I guess it's true, eh? We always want what we don't have!

Any thoughts on my stock list? I think I'm sitting pretty good, but I wouldn't mind the Dez seal of approval!

[doch]

Busy night last night!! Wasn't feeling well all day, so I ended up napping on the couch off and on for most of the day... and then of course, couldn't sleep last night. Took the opportunity to get a few things completed.

First, I hooked up my Moon Light Controller for the RKE. I had to run about 20' of extension wire for each pod as my controller is in the fish room which is about 25 feet from the tank. 4 lunar blue LED pods strategically placed to shine over the good areas. Looks amazing when they're on. I'll try to snap a pic or 2 tonight with them on... hopefully it turns out ok.

Then, I mixed up 4 gallons of Calcium Chloride, Soda Ash, and Magnesium Sulfate/Chloride. I couldn't remember which dosing pump I used for each, so I set up the pumps to pull water from the sump and just return it back in. Hopefully this will flush it well enough that I don't end up with any solids forming and plugging.

I then FINALLY hooked up the tunze ATO to my RO reservoir. All I need now is a level switch of some sort fro the reservoir.

And last, but certainly not least... I cleaned up after 'hurricane upgrade' that hit my basement while all of this was happening. YIKES!!! Can't believe that my wife didn't kill me in the mean time!

[doch]

Today I put together a shelving unit from Canadian tire to store all of the fish gear. It's in the bathroom right beside the fish room.
After that was done, I cleaned the rest of the disaster area, and properly ran oll of the cords and dosing pump tubing inside the fish room.

And....

Some more pics for anyone that likes to... um... see pics! lol

Here's my Tailspot Blenny and his favorite hiding spot


Here`s the `fish room`. Notice that my skimmer is too tall for the stand? Damn. My frag tank will be on the middle level (apparently on a 2x4 frame so that the skimmer will fit), and the water change tank will be on top. The lights up top are for sale, but if nobody wants them, I'll use them for the frag tank. I'd like to go DIY LED though. And, yes, that is my little beer fridge that's built right into the wall conveniently located right beside the foos ball table.


Shot of the 'Man cave' now that the mess is starting to subside.

This is a shot of the amount of plumbing and electrical that had to be run. The plan is to put 2x4 pieces to support the pipes, and then cover it up with either tile or wood. It will be used as a little beverage shelf for aroun the foos ball table.


And as I had promised earlier, here's 2 shots of the 55 in it prime (before the move)

[doch]

Well... the second casualty of the tank swap is now somewhat official. I haven't seen my flame hawkfish (one of my favortite fish) in about 6 days. I've been holding onto hope, but I'm no longer optimistic. Crap.

[phi delt reefer]

very nice;


whats your bulb combo? Love the greens you have in the tank. Normally i HATE green for almost every damn coral is green or brown but you got the good greens

[fishytime]

Sorry to hear about the flame.... I have one and he's one of my fav fish