Our final "build" thread

kemfish

kemfish

Member
I think this is the 3rd build thread I have started, because plans keep changing.
So far we have:
started a 25gallon (https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/389675/my-20gal-tall#post_3454632)
torn down a 25 gallon (it is currently just sand and water)
started a 29 FOWLR (https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/390227/our-29-fowlr-build)
changed our minds, and are going for soft coral. (due to finding the laws in Hawaii about coral keeping)
So, since starting the 29, now reef nano, we have reinforced the stand that came with it (it originally could only hold 290 lbs)
painted the back of the tank black
finished a cycle
started a cycle by adding 28 additional lbs of LR
All of that info can be found in the various links above, for anyone interested in reading)
My latest test results were:
pH- 7.9, low but stable
alkalinity- 214 ppm
nitrate- 0
nitrite- 0.1
ammonia- 0.2
My goals for the night are as follows:
5 gallon water change
buy the last of my LR
buy and setup a protein skimmer
buy a reef master test kit
install a powerhead
This week I have a GFCI, refractometer and T5H0 lights, and a hinged glass top coming in the mail.
My current idea for a stock list is:
2 Ocellaris clowns, one black and one orange
1 Green Clown Goby
1 Royal Gramma
Possibly a Coral Beauty Angel, but maybe not.
I really want a fire shrimp, but finding one on the island is going to be tricky.
Everything on the potential list will vary, being that the stock on island is tricky at times. All you can ever really count on is clowns. If I can't find what I am looking for, I will do some more researching for a similar fish, and try to find it instead. I am not one of those "I saw it and had to have it" types, I am a "I saw it so I came home and researched how it will work in my tank, then went to get it" types.
As for corals, Hawaii law allows ONLY soft corals. I have not done enough research to make a concrete list, but since it will be some time before I can even think of adding coral, I am not too worried about that yet.
I am planning however, to start with some type of zoanthid, as they are stocked locally.
Anyways, here is the current tank:

I promise this is the last build you will see from us...for a few years.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Lol. I give it one year before you upgrade. Glad to see the final final build thread. I'll try to tag along when I can.
 
S

smallreef

Guest
Wahoo.. yeah i wont even give them a year, lol itll be six months..
Do you atlesat get to go scuba diving and see some wonderful corals (that you cant have,lol)
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Haha, come on guys!
No really, we can't upgrade until after me move at the earliest. We are going to be waaay over the allotted weight the Army will pay to ship as is, unless of course we have another kid or my husband gets promoted lol.
I want to go do a shark tank more than anything. I love sharks, and they have places here that get Great Whites :D
However, my tank is so close to finished...I am so excited. The only thing I didn't pick up today was another rock or two...the store that has the one I want was closed before I got out of work :( Hopefully tomorrow! Oh, and of course the stuff that is being shipped to me.
I got my protein skimmer though, it is a Remora, hopefully that is fantastic news (the reviews I found online on my phone were pretty awesome). I would really like to trust the guy at my favorite LFS...and this is what he said would work well in our tank. He said it will take about a week to start doing anything, it is a HOB but can also go in a sump when/if we build one, so that is good news.
So now just waiting on my lights, glass top, refractometer, and GFCI to get in (all expected before Friday). Then just finishing up the cycle and on to fish! I can't wait!
Oh, I picked these up too.

Figured they wouldn't hurt to add to my "Saltwater for Dummies" book. The invertebrate book has info on specific corals, so that should be very helpful :)
 
S

smallreef

Guest
oh you want books,, lol I got about 30 .. 20 of which are AWESOME... a few suck..lol
Yeah the whole weight thing for moving, I getcha,,, but hey when they pack your express shipment put as much of your clothes and kitchen stuff possible and that actually uses alot of the weight so it wont count against you, lol
We're getting ready to do a CONUS move from WA to DC... and i CANT WAIT to set up my little 12g nano ... (cant set anything up bigger cause of the lease clause, lol)
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
I love books. I have to stop and pick one up every now and then, so these two seemed fitting when I passed them buying dog food last night.
Are you going into housing or staying somewhere on your own? They don't limit caged/tank animals at all here...just the usual two dogs/cats thing, and the breed ban.
My lights are still showing an arrival date of Thursday, as is the glass top. The GFCI is supposed to arrive on Monday, and I have no idea when the refractometer is coming. They still haven't given me a tracking number :( I still need to run down tonight to pick up a rock, if they even have any in right now, and I may add another power head in the future, but for now, I am finished once my shipments get here! Then we can finish setting up and get some fish! Going for my clowns as soon as the mini cycle I kicked up with the rocks finishes...sooo excited.
 
S

smallreef

Guest
were renting privately,,, not paying all our BAH to live on base... we have 2 other houses we still pay a bit on each month and only 1 is rented out so far :(
and with moving I dont have a job out there yet so.. gonna wait for that too (and I'm still going to school part time again, once we get out there, lol)
Need pics of that new rock though :) cant wait to see everything once you get it set for how you really want it!!
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Yeah, probably a good idea. We banked enough money to pay to ship a 2nd car, pay off most of our debt, and ship 2 dogs to Hawaii by renting privately in Colorado. Totally worth it most places.
They didn't have my rock :( They didn't have any rock...supposed to give me a call this week when the new shipment gets in, so hopefully before the weekend is up I will have purchased everything for the tank, just be waiting for a few things to arrive, and the new rock will have to cure since it will be from a fresh collection.
On a slightly more disgusting note, my skimmer is pulling green water =/ I assume that is a good thing and means we are on track to breaking it in, but it looks pretty nasty lol. I took it out last night and cleaned it, but it is already half full of nasty green water again today.
 
S

smallreef

Guest
that is good... though you may need to tweak it a bit after you get some stuff in there because it should be brown and kinda sludgy that it pulls...
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
They told me it will take about a week to break it in, and then after that to start lowering the cup down (it has an O-ring that currently holds it all the way up).
On to more news, I am babysitting for my husband's friend. He had to leave the island for a family emergency, so I am "taking care of" the big tank til they get back :D Exciting news...I will probably never leave their house haha.
The biggest issue with babysitting for them is they have a fish in QT...I just got back from their house, and they had just moved him into a QT tank...they don't know what is wrong with him yet...so I am going to take some pictures and see if anyone can help figure him out. At first it looked like he had ich, white spot son his fins, but then I noticed some darker, larger spots too...and something is up with his eye. Everyone say a little prayer to yourself that this fish doesn't die while they are gone, and that the rest of the tank doesn't have whatever he has...they told me to treat him if I figure it out, but not to worry if I don't, so naturally, I am worried!
As for my tank, still no call about rock, but my lights came in today, a day early! AND I have my husband convinced we need a sump, so that means I get a new stand so we can house a sump, and this stand will go to the 25, so we won't get rid of it after all (though he still says it is coming down when we are done buying rocks).
 
S

smallreef

Guest
yippee!!! and take some pics of your friends fish and post them in the disease section.. we'll help the best we can... does he have some vitamins you can atleast soak the fishes (what kind of fish?) food in???
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
It is a lemon peel angel fish that is in QT, I will be sure to get pics and post them for the disease section when I stop by tomorrow...and I will do a raid on the cabinet to see what I can find as far as vitamins, if not I can go grab some if they would help.
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Ok, so the fish still lives, and as far as I can tell he is the only one that is sick. They called last night to tell me they will be back sometime next week (gotta love Space A lol)...
Yesterday one of my hitchhiker crabs came out when I was watching the tank, so I immediately went to chasing him around the tank, trying to keep him away from the rocks. I smashed my hand between the big rocks while moving them to keep him off of them... he got back into one of the rocks while I was momentarily distracted by my hand... and that was the end of our game.
Jack woke me up today with the damn thing inside a Tupperware bowl asking what I wanted him to do with it
So, 1 down... at least 2 to go. He got the biggest one, the one I was chasing, so I am happy! I am also happy to report he is now a flushed crab.
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Ok, so today I ran more tests to see where my cycle was at, since it had kicked back up with all the new rocks last week. good news: It finished!
Nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia read 0.
pH still steady at 7.9
Soooo we went and grabbed a small rock tonight(bottom center, it weighs about 5 lbs) and brought home my clowns and 2 small hermits, plus empty shells. I like my rock work MUCH better now, I have several caves going on because of the way we turned some of the old rocks, and because the new rock is a cave!

As for the sick fishy, our friends asked us to put a cleaner shrimp in with it, so I moved one of their shrimp in with him. Hoping that helps him out...he is acting fine, just has those spots. I tried to get some pictures of him but they didn't turn out.
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Yes, a black female and an orange male...very cute and happy little fish :) Our kids LOVE them...I think they finally realized something was going to happen in this big thing full of water last night LOL. My husband is more in love with the hermits, but he had never seen any before, so for now they are his favorite.
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Here they are:
you can't really tell in the picture, but the orange is quite a bit smaller than the black
and my hermits:

 
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