cube stand from items in basement (upcycle)

[truepercs]

I guess the thread will continue here... Most of the coral are still doing well. I did lose a couple acro not sure of reason parameters have been pretty constant. I keep a running log. I replaced with a couple more. If these go south I will refrain from adding any acre for a while.

I will add updated pictures shortly.

 

[dbl]

Mod... Can I have my thread moved to members tanks? Thanks

I guess the thread will continue here....

Moved thread. When you need help in the future, type #mods or hit the report button at the bottom of the posting area. This is a great build by the way!!!

 

[truepercs]

"Moved thread. When you need help in the future, type #mods or hit the report button at the bottom of the posting area. This is a great build by the way!!!"

Thank you...

 

[truepercs]

In taking a couple of photos this morning... I alway need to check before turning pumps back on. This guy likes to live on the edge

 

[truepercs]

Setosa_May

Setosa_August with photo bomber

 

[truepercs]

JF_Burnin Banana
May_2017

August_2017
I turned the rock around since it had grown down to the bottom of the rock.
You can see that the back had been growing quite a bit also.
Picture of both front and back/side (previous front )

 

[truepercs]

Quick top shot... Stylo's and Pocillapora growing well

 

[truepercs]

Birds nest, Sunset Monti and smaller Spongodes...
The Sunset is now out pacing the Banana for growth. It took a while but is appears to be happy now.

May_2017

August _2017

 

[truepercs]

I believe the algae is under control... Some of the rocks were removed and plucked of algae. Still have some but no longer rampant. and... Yes still moving things around.

 

[truepercs]

Here is pic of the larger Spongodes...(from the side) It has slowed down regarding height but has encrusted and thickened up more. It slimed up, I had my hands in the tank again

The light will be white for the next several hours.

 

[truepercs]

Next month will be one year so it will be a good time to take photos of all the coral and a full tank shot. Here is a couple that I took this morning easiest to photo (in front).
I am very happy with the progress of the aquarium.
Plans for year two... I am going to switch my dosing regimen to a 3 part. I am also debating on pulling coral and rock out to bust up and re-scape. I have found which corals are growing quickly and will end up shadowing preventing the acros from getting good light if left alone. I can also use this as a chance to arrange relative to colors, etc.

Still not sure if I want to mess with it that much but eventually some of the corals will need to be moved. I have moved a few already.

 

[truepercs]

You can get an idea on some of the growth... The smallest of acro frags have really encrusted well. I am excited on the blue tort frags... They are starting to make shoots for branches. I am sure that soon the acros will take off! The aquarium is much more colorful than the photo. Looking from the top down is really starting to look nice!

The Stylophora, and Pocillopora are growing very fast... The Milka is a weed and will give me trouble. These are the corals i will need to move. I would like to group these on the bottom along with the Spongodes

 

[don_chuwish]

Wow great photos, things are going well! I love the stand build - the pullout for the sump is something I've wanted to do in a future build. Has it worked well?

 

[truepercs]

Wow great photos, things are going well! I love the stand build - the pullout for the sump is something I've wanted to do in a future build. Has it worked well?

Thanks!

It has worked fine... The only issue I have is that the room the tank is in is small and I need to get the "Futon" that is in the room out of there. I have to move it in order to pull out the drawer. Even with the drawer I find it would be better to have more room under the stand. Along with the changes I mentioned above I am also considering to remove the wall I put in for mounting the controller and put it in another cabinet outside of the stand. This will give me more room to work.

For the room size I think a longer narrower aquarium would be a better fit than a cube in this room. All that can be changed quickly if needed, coral grows slow in comparison to what it takes to move to another aquarium size

 

[truepercs]

Here is another of the full tank, it is starting to look a lot fuller. The colors do not stand out here but you can see it is coming along. Purchasing corals have come to a halt. I have been getting rid of some of the items that I really am not fond of. In order to keep the peace I have had to frag the Milka, the Jedi, and the Spongodes. I am going to rid of the red/orange cap... The Idaho grape cap grows fast as well. I have fragged and moved fast growing pieces over time in order to fill the tank out a bit.

My favorite frag was given to me... it is at the top left I am not sure where to put it yet. It is an "aussie gold" it has some tissue that was recessing that is why he gave it to me. I put it in the high flow and plenty of light and it is now fine! It is gold with purple tips and purple dusting over the gold color.
My favorite! I have a bunch of frags pieces on the bottom.. I broke up the Jedi and some Spongodes for a trade and the fellow... Well lets just say he never showed up. ;(

5 fish reside in the aquarium, all have plenty of personality.
2 -Mocha clowns
1-Flame hawk
1-Dwarf angel
1-Starry Blenny

 

[truepercs]

Trying to get a few pics of for the one year mark!
Have a little time today as we are taking it easy

 

[truepercs]

Out of most of the coral I am most excited about the Oregon Tort...(started with 3 small frags in hope to speed up creating a colony) Such a nice blue, it has encrusted nicely and is starting to show the start of branches already. The Bonzai has encrusted quite a bit, I think that is going to take off shortly ,there are many branches starting to sprout.

I switched to ATI essentials for 2018 my hope is that it will add to the growth that has started. The Milka Stylo and Spongodes are extremely fast growers.I wish I would have put the Milk at the bottom it, is going to be problematic. Both Rainbow Pocillapora and Stylo has at least tripled in size since putting the frags in the tank.
As I was gearing up for my upcoming transition to ATI essentials I was experimenting with new doser software. I must have accidentally shut off dosing on "Fridays", when I checked the following day my ALK dropped(Saturday). I was able to slowly bring it back up however I did loose my Green slimer and the PC rainbow slowly deteriorated. It was not doing the best, the drop may have put it under

I have had to move coral around, and will need to continue if I want to attempt to grow some of the nicer SPS acros. I purchased a few items from the recent Cherry Corals sale.
(Not much for across just yet)

Happy with how the tank is coming along so far.

 

[truepercs]

The Bryopsis has returned... The tank will another treatment however it will have to wait I do not want to make too many changes at once. I also want to move the rock structure to give me a better view of areas that are more pleasing to the eye.

 

[truepercs]

Sold a few frags... and picked up a couple of colonies for frag prices from a local reefer!
California tort, MountainDew, JF tort.. and a decent sized Slimmer to replace the one I lost a few weeks back. Also picked up a few frags during the Cherry Coral sale as well.

Today I took a little time to "move the furniture" around and place some of new coral inside the tank. Also moved rock work around to get light to some of the corals that needed it. With the additional of the new coral it is really starting to fill in.

2018 I would like to upgrade the 160 to a 360 so that the entire tank gets its share of light. (Goal is to to have 2 360 Kessil lights)

I'll get a photo up with the new coral and slight changes to layout soon.

 

[truepercs]

Here is close to a full tank shot, the aquarium is filling in nicely. You can see the Mountain Dew right up front. California Tort is near Red Robin as well as the stag.
The replacement for Green Slimmer I lost is in back near the Milka Stylo. The Cherry Coral frags are now glued down. No more SPS for a while. I may pick up some Rics for the bottom.

The main rock structure was rotated a bit to show the caves from the front view.