Our final "build" thread

kemfish

kemfish

Member
So I went with a Pink Spotted Watchmen, but I love/hate him haha. He has seriously destroyed my sand bed... I knew he would, but I didn't expect it to be this much! I have sand on top of all of my rocks
but he is a really neat fish, so I am glad we picked him. I have also gotten a royal gramma since my last post.
My tank is doing great, parameters have all been nice and stable, and I got a magnet cleaner for my glass so it sparkles again lol. I am in love with my new lights, it makes me really glad we painted the back black, it really pops now

The great debate about an angel is still on...I will let you know how that plays out.
Anyway, here are the pictures:


Oh, and my protein skimmer still won't pull dry...it is really starting to frustrate me, but at least it is pulling wet...something is better than nothing =/ Just makes it a little more complicated, as I have to watch the specific gravity pretty carefully to keep it stable with top offs and so on.
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
I added some bleached coral/rock chunks we collected to my rock work. It added some more tunnels for the fish, and filled in the space I hated, while creating a nice platform for some coral(coming soon) :)
Here is what it looks like:

We may work on it some more, as the right side of the tank still isn't how I would like it to be, but it's getting there. The left and center work nicely, and the fish love those areas, so the idea of drilling and breaking the rock on the far right has come up, as well as some more rock...
I am also greatly considering taking the sand out and going bare bottom... it would be quite the ordeal, but we'll see.
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Ok so probably no coral until we move...
For obvious reasons I cannot say when we are moving, but it is a lot sooner than expected, so I won't be dumping much more into the tank until it is set back up at home, then I get a new stand, a sump and overflow, and once we get back to a good healthy point, corals!
Don't look for anything too exciting from this tank for a while, unless you just want to see pictures of the fish I already have :)
Hubby is still planning to let me ship my fish back home, so that is our next project...figuring out how in blazes we will do that.
 
S

smallreef

Guest
get in good with an LFS there that ships,,, or someone who sells to the mainland and has the capability to do it and you should be good... I know there are alot of sellers on the islands so it shouldnt be too hard to find one that you can pay to bag and ship them back to you when you move...
Good Luck with the move!!! I know how that goes, lol
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Someone comfort me and tell me that Silk brand soy milk is fish safe...
I don't even want to go into very many details, but long story short about 10 drops worth just got into my tank.
This is probably going to be a REALLY bad freaking week.
 
S

smallreef

Guest
as long as your skimmer is going it should be fine....and it wasnt enough to do any damage (i have dropped a glass of vanilla silk into my 150g sump before when I was working on it, lol)
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
It is! Thanks haha, I have been starring at my poor fish for the last hour now haha. This wasn't very much at all, but it freaked me out. I am soo cautious about this stuff, my child however...is not :|
 
S

smallreef

Guest
yeah I feel ya... i make sure usually that everything is as closed as possible but nevertheless this stuff happens..
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
So as it turns out, I hate my goby lol. I took him out and have him in my QT for now...he was making all kinds of a mess out of my sand bed, like I have never seen a goby do before (my uncle has a 500 gallon with several in it, they are his favorite) I had sand all over my rocks, craziness this fish was doing. So anyway, no gobies for me, I won't chance finding another perky one that causes such a ruckus. He is pretty happy for now in the QT until we figure out what we are doing with him.
Anyways, everything is going well. I found the perfect stand, but of course we were flat broke at the time since I didn't get paid on time last pay =/ and I am sure by now it is gone, but here's hoping! I am *supposed* to get paid tonight and get the backed pay too, and the husband said to go get if if all goes according to plan! Then we would tackle building a sump and all that good stuff. Even if we don't do that before we move, I need a new stand... my kids know how to open this one and it is driving me crazy lol.
And as a final note, to make all the Flame Angel lovers out there angry... they go for $25 each here on island...and they are GORGEOUS :D
Oh, I found someone who will ship my fish too. :)
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Here is my tank, at it's final stage.

You can see all the inhabitants here, except the few hitchhiker crabs remaining, and some of the hermits. I wanted to a some zoas, but the only store on island that sells them has no lights, and hasn't for the last 2 months, so he isn't ordering any in right now. I would like a fire shrimp still, but no progress there either. Anyway, I am happy with it :)
The only real problem I am having is my skimmer still won't pull dry, which is annoying to say the least.
Oh, the quality is so bad because it is on my phone. My rocks are covered in purple and red coralline, which you can't really see here.
 
S

smallreef

Guest
yea go you! I think its looking great! I hope you the best with your tank and your impending move.. again....
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Thanks! We get a lot of compliments when people see it in person. I was kind of shocked that so few people here have saltwater tanks.
As for our move, I just wish I knew when it was coming, and where exactly we were going, but thanks for the wishes!
I will get a picture with the Nikon later to show how pretty it really is now!
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Here are pics with the Nikon, now that I have batteries for it again!
No idea what this thing is..it is blue and grows in the most inconvenient place to take a picture (my rock touches the glass right in front of it, so as you can see, lots of algae there.

My cleaner shrimp :)


My pair of Ocellaris clowns. They are bring shy today and hiding under the rocks.

My royal gramma:


My baby flame angel peeking out at the camera:
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Here are some new shots of the tank, I added my last rock to the tank from my QT tank, where it has been home to the stupid goby, who also returned to the main tank.
Full tank:

New rock

The red circles are around the base rock I added a few weeks ago, the blue is the rock I added today.
 
kemfish

kemfish

Member
Seth, I am working on refilling it. I don't know how well you can see it, but I have a line where the water level should be, and usually is. The salinity is a bit high, but the level is low mostly due to the skimmer and filter being pulled out and cleaned today. They both had pretty much stopped working while I was gone.
Impeller in the filter had a bunch of sand in it from my power head taking a jump to the sand bed, and the skimmer was getting build ups in the tubing that had to be removed. When I restarted them the level dropped because I didn't fill them before returning to the tank and used tank water to do it. Got the water mixing to refill it already, but I usually wait a day or so after mixing to make sure it is actually mixed.
Anyway, that is what I get for leaving our dog sitter in charge of the fish while I was back on the mainland. Power head knocked down, filter stopped working, skimmer clogged up, the glass was covered in tough green algae, she WAY overfed (I mean, I had 3 large things of flakes that were used for about 2 days and they are all now about half full)...at least my fish survived the ordeal.
Thanks, Rick. I really enjoy my little tank... It's my happy place. I dread having to tear it down for the move, which is getting way too close for my comfort levels.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by KemFish http:///t/390360/our-final-build-thread/40#post_3475380
Seth, I am working on refilling it. I don't know how well you can see it, but I have a line where the water level should be, and usually is. The salinity is a bit high, but the level is low mostly due to the skimmer and filter being pulled out and cleaned today. They both had pretty much stopped working while I was gone.
Impeller in the filter had a bunch of sand in it from my power head taking a jump to the sand bed, and the skimmer was getting build ups in the tubing that had to be removed. When I restarted them the level dropped because I didn't fill them before returning to the tank and used tank water to do it. Got the water mixing to refill it already, but I usually wait a day or so after mixing to make sure it is actually mixed.
Sorry to hear of your problems. You will get them fixed. If the salinity is high, you don't add saltwater - you add freshwater to bring the salinity down. If your salinity is what you want it to be, but the tank needs to be filled more, add saltwater that is the same salinity. If your salinity is low and your water level is also low, add saltwater to the top and then top it off with saltwater for evaporation and keep testing salinity until it comes up to where you need it to be.
Anyway, that is what I get for leaving our dog sitter in charge of the fish while I was back on the mainland. Power head knocked down, filter stopped working, skimmer clogged up, the glass was covered in tough green algae, she WAY overfed (I mean, I had 3 large things of flakes that were used for about 2 days and they are all now about half full)...at least my fish survived the ordeal.
Amen! When I go out of town for a weekend or a week - I have a professional aquarist friend OR a professional aquarium service tank sit for me. I don't trust my dog sitter either. LOL.
Thanks, Rick. I really enjoy my little tank... It's my happy place. I dread having to tear it down for the move, which is getting way too close for my comfort levels.
 
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