3 foot Staphire Cube Intro

hillbillyreefer · #1 09-17-2007, 04:28 AM

I bow down before the master. Beautiful tank.

Brad

sphelps · #2 09-17-2007, 03:26 PM

Thanks for all the great comments, I don't have too many pictures of the tanks process but I'll post what I have.

First off this tank was an upgrade from my previous 50 gallon LPS

It started off with just the top tank and all equipment underneath.

One thing I really wanted to do with the new tank is keep the look clean but still have plenty of access. For the canopy I decided the best thing to do was have it mounted on rails so it could just slide open for access.

For the stand both sides hinged open while the front side was held on by magnets, this eliminated the need for doors and provided much more access.

At the time there was a refugium located at the front of the stand with the skimmer and sump at the rear.

As you can see things were pretty tight and when it came time for upgrades obviously I needed some extra room.

At one point I decided to make the refugium viewable as a second tank

This was always somewhat planed, I've always liked the idea of the second tank, even with my previous setup

That's all for now, I'll be back later.

sphelps · #3 09-17-2007, 05:30 PM

The tank has a closed loop for most of the circulation, 1 input and 4 outputs are located at the bottom of the tank. At the time I was using a Quiet One 6000 with an OM super squirt.

I've since upgraded to using a Reeflo Dart pump for the closed loop and have ditched the OM, I've considered the 4 way but with the problems I've had with the previous model I don't think the device is quite up to par.

Here's another shot of the tank after being setup for a few weeks

At the time I also had a fish only tank, and thought I would try my moorish idol in the new reef, this however did not last long as the idol had a good appetite for corals.

As the tank grew older

Jason McK · #4 09-17-2007, 06:07 PM

Sweet set up. How long have you been using Zeo?

J

sphelps · #5 09-17-2007, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason McK

Sweet set up. How long have you been using Zeo?

J

Been on Zeo for about 6 months, the system has definitely produced good results for me.

Mik_101 · #6 09-17-2007, 10:10 PM

Amazing! The tank has come a long way...LOOKS GRATE...

sphelps · #7 09-17-2007, 10:16 PM

Continuing....

The equipment was eventually moved into the room behind and a new tank was made for the bottom.

here's the blue ribbon eel I spoke of earlier

Also had a frogfish for a while, but I couldn't supply the fish with a a proper diet (I guess).

Well that's really all the process pictures I can show you folks, sorry I've only recently started talking more photo's (new camera, nikon D70

).

I can however show you more recent pictures

Here's a good test I did for Zeovit, bought this plate coral:

It was browned out but I noticed some pink deep within and I also noticed a huge improvement from other plate corals from the Zeovit. So I thought I would do a little test.
The result can be seen below, the brown plate coral turned into the white and pink one.

Oh and here's some more pics, enjoy!

Delphinus · #8 09-17-2007, 10:32 PM

Great pictures. I have the same camera, but would you mind telling me what lens you use? I have a macro lens from my old Nikon 35mm, an F90 but with the 35mm film to 25mm image capture chip, it's more like a .. what is it, F120 or something. If you want a picture of a single fish scale, this would make a great lens, but to fit the whole fish in the frame I end up having to move back 3 feet and well .. at that point I guess I don't need a macro lens anymore. So I need to save up some dinero for a new lens .. any suggestions?