Flip's Reef

[Flipside]

Flip, I can't remember, are you using any foods/supplements for the corals or do they just get what's floating during regular fish feedings?

Just what's floating around in the water column. I do plan on dosing aquavitro fuel and prodibio reef booster though. I have had good success with them
in the past. Right now, the little guys are still getting accustomed to the tank. I'll probably dose some fuel tonight.

Awesome tank build & beautiful pictures!

You're too kind! Thanks!

Me and a buddy have welded one side of the tank so far. The first piece is always the worst. In about four hours we'll do the other side, then the bottom and top tomorrow. I may have the sump ready to setup next week.

 

[Flipside]

Hey everyone! Pardon the pic quality on these, but they were phone pics as I don't typically lug around the camera.


So, today I spent some time with a buddy of mine and he educated me on tank acrylic work. I've built lots of stuff with acrylic before, but nothing this large... My new 'fuge. It was interesting and I see lots of ways that one could get better at this. I think that practice would make perfect, for sure.


First thing were the teeth for the overflow. Not the prettiest, but I'm not really looking to shock and awe people with this tank. This is going to be my display 'fuge so it's going to be very low flow, and very grimy.

Second thing we had to do was make some cuts.

Third thing was gluing the first three pieces together. This was the worst part because I had to hold both sides up as my buddy used the WeldOn. Sucked but worked.

Finally, we flipped it around and welded the last piece on. You can get a feel for how large the tank is now.

It's gotta setup a bit, and my buddy is going to weld the bottom on. It'll be around 23:00 tonight before he does that, though.


It's getting there!

 

[LILBUDDHA]

wow ....that's pretty cool...ahh u said low flow...
That acrylic looks pretty thick.did i see mission furniture somewhere ...?
Good work bro...ur rapidly progressing along ..loving the updates..

 

[MarvinsReef]

that's awesome man. gotta appreciate and give props to ya'll DIY guys. 1smile1

 

[Flipside]

wow ....that's pretty cool...ahh u said low flow...
That acrylic looks pretty thick.did i see mission furniture somewhere ...?
Good work bro...ur rapidly progressing along ..loving the updates..

Yes sir! I like very low flow through the fuge, but may supplement with a slower flowing power head since the tank is so large. I'm going to play it by ear.
It's my buddy's house, so I'm not sure what kind of furniture that is. I still can't believe we did that on the dinner table! LOL!

Thanks man! Wanna get this one done so I can grow me some sticks!

that's awesome man. gotta appreciate and give props to ya'll DIY guys. 1smile1

Thanks, Marvin! I had to DIY this one. I don't really like standard tank dims, and it's kinda' fun doing these little projects when there's time.

Just to add a couple more updates that I did tonight. I added some Kent dKH increasing "stuff" (12 tsps) to increase my alkalinty a little, a BRS carbon reactor with their lignite in it (pump is a standard MJ1200), and a (can't believe I did this one) filter sock! I've never run filter socks before, so this is going to be interesting. Oh, and I dosed the tank with 3 caps of Aquavitro Fuel just after the lights went out. OHH!!! I also put the new Radiums in. I'm running them 8 hours a day now, and the T5's come on 30 mins before and after the Radiums.

I have more corals to add to the tank tomorrow. These will be from another local club member. More to follow!

 

[LILBUDDHA]

"It's my buddy's house, so I'm not sure what kind of furniture that is. I still can't believe we did that on the dinner table! LOL!"

I saw that and told myself .I guess someone " know's whoz da boss " . I would be in deep kimchee if I did that .

 

[Flipside]

"It's my buddy's house, so I'm not sure what kind of furniture that is. I still can't believe we did that on the dinner table! LOL!"

I saw that and told myself .I guess someone " know's whoz da boss " . I would be in deep kimchee if I did that .

LOL! He doesn't listen to me sometimes. He has done this many times on that same table though.

Just wanted to add that I added around 12 more SPS to the tank. They are acclimating after a quick dip. This one is a fun little lot of corals.

 

[zibba]

You've been busy man! Looking great and I love the acrylic work. Things are kicking into high gear now! Let's see those new coral!

 

[Flipside]

We're out eating right now, but I'll try to get some shots when I get home.

 

[Flipside]

Okay, here are all the corals I got today. I haven't mounted them to anything yet... I just put them in the sand. They are a little bit miscolored because they were under LED's in a frag tank, but they should get rich with color as time progresses. Here's the pics. I'll go back and put the names in when I get a chance (Updated** All names added below)...

Okay, this one is supposed-to be a "Green with Pink Tips Bali Table."

This was sold to the person I got them from as an "Exotic Enchinata." Obviously, that's not what it is; so, the original owner told me to call it a "Lesd's 'Not an Echinata'." LOL!

This is a HONKIN' piece of Cali Tort.

This "A. Millepora" is called a "Black Mamba."

This is just another piece of "Black Mamba."

This is a "Rainbow Montipora."

This is another piece of "Cali Tort."

This is a "30K Lokani."

This is called a "Teal Acropora Turaki," that he original owner bought many years as a Bali Aquacultured.

The original owner has no name for this... so, he named it "Lesd's Ancient Table Acro." LOL!

This is an "Insane Millepora." It is supposed to be red with green polyps.

This is a "Superman Montipora," and is confirmed to be from the original colony.

Just took a couple of pics of this one to show it's size. It's about 7-8" tall and is an Oregon Tort! Wowza!

 

[LILBUDDHA]

Holy Cow !!!
Man 1 n 10 r truly sweet . I like those two the way they are .
They all look great dude .
Pedal to the Metal ...bro ..

 

[Flipside]

Thanks kuya! You have an excellent eye! I'm not sure what 10 is called yet (sent an email to the buddy that sold it to me) but I do remember him telling me that it's a very slow grower and he doesn't frag it much.

 

[Diesel]

It's been a while that I made a comment on your build, but MAN,DUDE,BRO........... :jaw: AWESOME!!
One day I have to come over and take a peek to this beauty, will bring some refreshments with me:tea:.
Any specks on the sump, don't know if you mention that.......I probaly missed it :sorry: on the 230+ pages of this build.
My sump was build local too............3cc.

 

[zibba]

Wow, you never fail to impress -- that's for sure! You have a bead on some amazing corals out there...I'm jealous.

 

[Flipside]

It's been a while that I made a comment on your build, but MAN,DUDE,BRO........... :jaw: AWESOME!!
One day I have to come over and take a peek to this beauty, will bring some refreshments with me:tea:.
Any specks on the sump, don't know if you mention that.......I probaly missed it :sorry: on the 230+ pages of this build.
My sump was build local too............3cc.

Hey man! What's up?! Thanks for checking my build out! I really appreciate the kind words, too. I really love the hobby, and anything I can do to make my life easier is exactly what I'm trying to do. I'm not even close to done, too.

The refugium, that we're building, is 48" x 24" x 20" from the inner wall of the acrylic. So it's "almost" the standard dimensions of a 120g. A standard 120g is my one of favorite tanks, in respect to their dimensions, so I wanted something similar. The only difference is the height, really.

Wow, you never fail to impress -- that's for sure! You have a bead on some amazing corals out there...I'm jealous.

We have some true ballers in H-Town, zib! You gotta treat them right though.

 

[MarvinsReef]

collecting machine! looking forward to following this tank in the next few months when those SPS start to put on some growth.

 

[Flipside]

Thanks Marvin! I think I'll be a bit more picky if I pickup anymore SPS. I would like a few pieces of LPS in there, and they are almost ready to move over. I need to glue the SPS pieces to the rockwork first...

Oh, I also went through my last pictures and updated all the names of the frags. Have a good night R2R!

 

[zibba]

I think I'll be a bit more picky if I pickup anymore SPS.

You may have picked up a lot of corals recently, but I'd say you've been pretty picky so far. You have some great corals there and they'll be fun to watch grow out (one of the most, if not the most, rewarding things about this hobby)! How are your fish doing?

 

[Flipside]

LOL! You got a point.

The fish are doing great! My Fairy Wrasse loves being in the overflow /sarcasm! I had to slow down on my feedings though. Yesterday, I only fed a small strip of nori. They're not too happy about that but I'm getting a lot of that fine algae on the glass and sandbed, and it's coming on too quickly (high phos). Even after on-lining the carbon reactor. Ah well... they'll get over it. I'd be worried if any of them were finicky... None of them are now. They go crazy when I enter the room.

Also, just as a general housekeeping update:

1. I should be getting my last piece of acrylic on the refugium tonight. We had a little mishap on measurements, so I have to buy another sheet.
2. I did do a 25g water change last night. My water station makes that sooooo easy to do! I almost enjoy doing them nowadays.
3. I plan on on-lining that Ca reactor soon, too. I'd like to get a secondary chamber setup first, because my pH has been very stable so far. Like 8.3 every time I test (even at night). So, I guess I'll be booty-fabbing up a secondary chamber here soon... Possibly out of a media reactor or something. Nothing fancy, just functional until I feel like getting fancy. My dKH is climbing (at 7.8 now), but not where I like it (between 9-10)... That should be resolved soon; but at least my corals still look good. Believe it or not, the latest batch is starting to color-up already. Yay!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Great corals!