Cheilinus' basement pool (and rum bar) build

azbigjohn · Sep 9, 2017

Incredible system! When you get a chance, a stock list would be awesome!

You will now be the target of my wife's ire, as my current "dream tank" is now just another stepping stone...

chefjpaul · Sep 9, 2017

Wow! This is sweet!
Talk about awesome

ejd420 · Sep 9, 2017

mannnnnn...the creativity is off the charts

brotherd · Sep 9, 2017

Just showed this to my wife.Her response..."that's actually pretty cool!" Hello!

Elder1945 · Sep 9, 2017

Looks great!

hatfielj · Sep 9, 2017

Love it! I remember there being a guy in Michigan when I lived there that had a large basement pond sort of like this, but it was rectangular shaped and a lot bigger. Seems like it would be fun to do.

mucky1957 · Sep 9, 2017

W O W.....blown away totally....OMG

Cheilinus · Sep 17, 2017

Labridaedicted said:
Wellll.... this is dope..... my wife would definitely not approve

Thanks!!

Mine was hesitant of the idea at first too. I think she spends as much time looking at the pool as I do now

Cheilinus · Sep 17, 2017

hatfielj said:
Love it! I remember there being a guy in Michigan when I lived there that had a large basement pond sort of like this, but it was rectangular shaped and a lot bigger. Seems like it would be fun to do.

Nice!! Did you have the chance to visit the Tropicorium while you were in MI? Lots of pond style tanks there as well.

Cheilinus · Sep 17, 2017

Sorry for the delay on posting... Has been a busy week!

As for a stock list...

Angels: Queen (Holacanthus ciliaris)
French (Pomacanthus paru)
Annularis (Pomacanthus annularis)

Clowns: Maroon (Premnas biaculeatus) (2)
Clark's (Amphiprion clarkii) (2)

Damsels/Chromis: 3 Stripe (Dascyllus aruanus) (3)
Lemon Chromis (Amblyglyphidodon ternatensis)
Talbot's (Chrysiptera talboti) (3)

Hogfish: Cuban (Bodianus pulchellus)

Gramma: Royal (Gramma loreto)

Monos: Mono argentus (10). These guys are a great schooling fish, constantly in a tight group or single file line making laps around the pool.

Puffers: Porcupine (Diodon holocanthus) (2)
Stars and Stripes (Arothron hispidus)

Snapper: Emperor snapper (Lutjanus sebae) Was never part of my stocking plan. I got this guy from a friend who is new to the hobby, and purchased this fish on impulse. May have to move him into my shark's system at some point, but he's okay for now in the pool.

Triggers: My favorite family of fish aside from the Maori wrasses.
Queen (Balistes vetula)
Golden Heart (Balistes punctatus)
Clown (Balistoides conspicillum)
Blue line (Pseudobalistes fuscus)
Niger (Odonus niger) (3)
Picasso (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) (2)
Rectangle (Rhinecanthus rectangulus)
Pink Tail (Melichthys vidua)
I do realize that I may have some issues with aggression from some of these guys in the future (notably the queen, clown, and blue line). I do have alternate housing options available should any issues arise. So far, I haven't experienced any problems, but I do have to keep the (likely) possibility in mind, and I'm definitely equipped for the worst case scenario.

Tangs: Unicorn (Naso unicornis)
Mata (Acanthurus mata) (2)
Blochii (Acanthurus blochii)
Orange shoulder (Acanthurus olivaceous)
Pacific blue (Paraacanthurus hepatus) (2). The larger of the two outgrew it's former home, and I decided to take it in. For several days after adding this fish to the pool, it would never swim more than 4' before making a hard 90 degree turn (I would have to guess it was previously kept in a 4' tank) Had a fairly bad case of HLLE at first as well which has been disappearing with time.
Pale lipped (Acanthurus leucocheilus)
Black-Barred (Acanthurus nigricauda)

Wrasse: Broomtail Maori (Cheilinus lunulatus)
Tripletail Maori (Cheilinus trilobatus)
Snooty Maori (Cheilinus oxycephalus)
Aussie Harlequin Tusk (Choerodon fasciatus)

I may be missing one or two fish from my list (will update if I need to). My spell checker did not like all of the Latin names, and I had to fight it every step of the way! haha!

Will follow up with some more photos hopefully soon.

hatfielj · Sep 17, 2017

Cheilinus said:
Nice!! Did you have the chance to visit the Tropicorium while you were in MI? Lots of pond style tanks there as well.

Sure did. That place was crazy. I heard they got in big trouble for somehow violating the CITES laws or something a couple years ago...wonder if they're still around

Cheilinus · Sep 18, 2017

A few pics...

Attempted to take a pic of the mono school at "sunrise". Niger trigger had other ideas...

Smaller of my two picassos with the unicorn tang. Picasso is about 3", unicorn is pushing 15"

Adopted pacific blue tang. HLLE has improved a lot.

Acanthurus blochii

Clown trigger with one of the mata tangs.

mucky1957 · Sep 18, 2017

Cheilinus said:
A few pics...

Attempted to take a pic of the mono school at "sunrise". Niger trigger had other ideas...

Smaller of my two picassos with the unicorn tang. Picasso is about 3", unicorn is pushing 15"

Adopted pacific blue tang. HLLE has improved a lot.

Acanthurus blochii

Clown trigger with one of the mata tangs.

I am aware that EVERYTHING that we buy for our tanks is usually $5 or sometimes a whopping $10. With that in mind can I be VERY rude and as a Q that we normally only whisper to each other.....how much has this set you back ( I won't tell anyone )

Greybeard · Sep 18, 2017

Cheilinus said:
Great to meet another rum guy! I'm trying to put together a somewhat respectable rum collection (have maybe 80 different bottles so far, and have a long way to go), so if you have any recommendations...

Zaya is my favorite sippin rum, fairly easy to find, not terribly expensive, and very tasty. Kirk and Sweeney, when I want something a bit more complex... My daughter brought me back a bottle of Royal Jamaican from her honeymoon last year... good stuff. I kept the bottle... empty, of course

S-t-r-e-t-c-h · Sep 18, 2017

Greybeard said:
Zaya is my favorite sippin rum, fairly easy to find, not terribly expensive, and very tasty. Kirk and Sweeney, when I want something a bit more complex... My daughter brought me back a bottle of Royal Jamaican from her honeymoon last year... good stuff. I kept the bottle... empty, of course

I'm not a huge fan of spiced rum, but I'll have to keep an eye out for that. I haven't seen that one before. I do drink a lot of appleton though and anything above the signature blend is pretty good.

My favorite for just sipping though is Ron Zacapa. The more aged the better. ahhh...

Greybeard · Sep 18, 2017

S-t-r-e-t-c-h said:
I'm not a huge fan of spiced rum, but I'll have to keep an eye out for that. I haven't seen that one before. I do drink a lot of appleton though and anything above the signature blend is pretty good.

My favorite for just sipping though is Ron Zacapa. The more aged the better. ahhh...

I'm basically a Captain Morgan guy... when they had the Sherry Cask Aged stuff, I went out and bought a case. All gone now

Their private reserve is about my favorite, but I like spiced rums. There is always a bottle of Appleton on my shelf. Ron Zacapa, I've had, liked it, but the stores here don't carry it. Mount Gay, especially their old cask version, seems to be more available, and I like it just as well.

If you don't like spiced rums, you probably won't care for Zaya. Still, it's a very nice bottle to add to your collection

Kirk and Sweeney, even their 23 year old stuff is still fairly reasonable, (as top shelf liquors go, anyway) and very, very good. I'd recommend this one even if you _don't_ normally like spiced rums. The Royal Jamaican... I kept the bottle mainly because they don't export this one.

Copper Run distillery, not far from my home, makes a couple excellent rums. If you like white rums, you should try their overproof white. Good stuff.

Cheilinus · Sep 19, 2017

mucky1957 said:
I am aware that EVERYTHING that we buy for our tanks is usually $5 or sometimes a whopping $10. With that in mind can I be VERY rude and as a Q that we normally only whisper to each other.....how much has this set you back ( I won't tell anyone )

Not an expensive system to set up at all. I would say that as far as the pool and the rest of the equipment goes (liner, pump, sump, lighting, plumbing, skimmer, etc...) all-in I am right around $3500. This is a ballpark figure, as it's been a while since the initial set-up. Much, much more cost friendly than most of the systems that I've kept in the past!

Daniel@R2R · Sep 19, 2017

AWesome!! Absolutely awesome!!

DHill6 · Sep 19, 2017

Very nice setup, cool you adopted!

Cheilinus · Sep 19, 2017

Greybeard said:
Zaya is my favorite sippin rum, fairly easy to find, not terribly expensive, and very tasty. Kirk and Sweeney, when I want something a bit more complex... My daughter brought me back a bottle of Royal Jamaican from her honeymoon last year... good stuff. I kept the bottle... empty, of course

S-t-r-e-t-c-h said:
I'm not a huge fan of spiced rum, but I'll have to keep an eye out for that. I haven't seen that one before. I do drink a lot of appleton though and anything above the signature blend is pretty good.

My favorite for just sipping though is Ron Zacapa. The more aged the better. ahhh...

Greybeard said:
I'm basically a Captain Morgan guy... when they had the Sherry Cask Aged stuff, I went out and bought a case. All gone now Their private reserve is about my favorite, but I like spiced rums. There is always a bottle of Appleton on my shelf. Ron Zacapa, I've had, liked it, but the stores here don't carry it. Mount Gay, especially their old cask version, seems to be more available, and I like it just as well.

If you don't like spiced rums, you probably won't care for Zaya. Still, it's a very nice bottle to add to your collection Kirk and Sweeney, even their 23 year old stuff is still fairly reasonable, (as top shelf liquors go, anyway) and very, very good. I'd recommend this one even if you _don't_ normally like spiced rums. The Royal Jamaican... I kept the bottle mainly because they don't export this one.

Copper Run distillery, not far from my home, makes a couple excellent rums. If you like white rums, you should try their overproof white. Good stuff.

Royal Jamaican... That's one that I have not seen before. Too bad that they don't export it to the States, as I'd love to give it a shot! I always have a bottle of Zaya on hand, as well as Zacapa. Kirk and Sweeney is another very good rum, although I've only tried the 12 year. Will definitely keep my eyes open for a bottle of the 23 year. I still haven't tried Captain Morgan private reserve, but will grab a bottle the next time I see one.

Have you tried any of the Diplomatico rums yet?

The green bottle in the middle is one of my absolute favorites. I usually order it by the case, as it's not overly expensive and a great sipping rum (similar flavor profile to Zaya). If you are ever in the mood to splurge a little on a truly exceptional rum, Try a bottle of Diplomatico Ambassador (on the left). They release single vintages as well, although the only vintage I've ever gotten my hands on is the 2002. The 2000 is supposedly outstanding, although I think that I may have missed the boat on that one. Oh... and the decanter that has managed to sneak into the pic on the left... Just regular Captain Morgan

While on the subject, I did manage to work on my rum bar a little over the weekend. Kinda using "Captain Tony's" in Key West as inspiration, so it's a little dark. May have to brighten it up just a little. Apologies for the mess in the basement... Still have a long way to go...