Flip's Reef

[Flipside]

Here's some pictures of the little guys in the tank.

This guy was very bashful at first. He seems to be getting used to the big, brown guy with the food. LOL

Here's the Hawaiian Tang:

You can see the "nips" from his fin.

Supposed to be a purple digitata.

Supposed to be a tricolor.


The corals (I hate to say this) are "test subjects," as they appeared to be dying where I got them. They've already colored up a lot, and the polyps are looking more like they should.

 

[zibba]

Awesome tank Flipside! You've definitely got skills. I just read through your progress to date and picked up a few ideas for my build so, thanks! Anyway, just wanted to drop in and say keep up the good work!

Cheers,
Z

 

[Flipside]

Hey! Thanks a million, Z! Darn nice compliment!

I'd better post this here, while I'm thinking about it, too... I had an electrician service company come out to my house last night to give me some estimates on a subpanel for my garage. I have another big tank I want to build, as well as some 220v appliances I want to run out there (compressor, welder, chiller, etc...). Any way, they quoted way too much for all of that, so I'm probably going to do that on this build thread, too. I probably won't start with that until January-ish, but I definitely need to get it done before another Texas Summer! I'm also going to insulate the "already sheetrocked" walls out there. Should be fun!

Oh, and I promise I'll get to setting up that refugium soon! LOL!

 

[MarvinsReef]

Hey! Thanks a million, Z! Darn nice compliment!

I'd better post this here, while I'm thinking about it, too... I had an electrician service company come out to my house last night to give me some estimates on a subpanel for my garage. I have another big tank I want to build, as well as some 220v appliances I want to run out there (compressor, welder, chiller, etc...). Any way, they quoted way too much for all of that, so I'm probably going to do that on this build thread, too. I probably won't start with that until January-ish, but I definitely need to get it done before another Texas Summer! I'm also going to insulate the "already sheetrocked" walls out there. Should be fun!

Oh, and I promise I'll get to setting up that refugium soon! LOL!

man, I wish I had skills like yah. galing naman.

 

[Flipside]

Salamat!

 

[zibba]

Hey! Thanks a million, Z! Darn nice compliment!

I just realized that I harassed you back in March (via pm) about your old stand and canopy and you sent me a bunch of pictures. So I guess I need to clarify: not only did this thread give me new ideas but you're old stand/canopy inspired my current set up. Thanks again!

What's your plan for the refugium?

 

[Flipside]

I knew your name sounded familiar! glad I could help!

I plan on using a 100g Rubbermaid stock tank for a refugium, in the garage. It will give me gobs of room for seeding live rock and growing macro. I may even put my skimmer out there. I'm also a big fan of water volume. The more there is, the stronger a reef becomes.

Most of the magic will be in the garage. I can't wait to get started on it all!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[zibba]

I knew your name sounded familiar! glad I could help!

I plan on using a 100g Rubbermaid stock tank for a refugium, in the garage. It will give me gobs of room for seeding live rock and growing macro. I may even put my skimmer out there. I'm also a big fan of water volume. The more there is, the stronger a reef becomes.

Most of the magic will be in the garage. I can't wait to get started on it all!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

How do you think the SRO-xp2000 will hold up with the additional water volume once you add in the fuge? Marvin commented before that he's super happy with the SRO2000 on his system and I was considering going with the XP2000, the 3000int or the 2000int. The skimmer is my last big decision, so I'd appreciate any comments/recommendations/thoughts on your experience with the xp2000.

Thanks!

 

[Flipside]

So, I just added some water to my ATO because I evap'd all of it in 9 days!

That's like 3.3 gallons a day. The reason why is because I had to put a very large fan blowing over the the surface of the DT, and I have a smaller fan blowing over the sump. It's an awful amount of water, but meh... my temps are staying between 79 and 80*F this way. LOL!

I'll get that chiller online soon, I'm sure. My wife is cold blooded, so we keep the house warmer than most people in Texas during the "winter" (if that's what you want to call these temps).

 

[Flipside]

How do you think the SRO-xp2000 will hold up with the additional water volume once you add in the fuge? Marvin commented before that he's super happy with the SRO2000 on his system and I was considering going with the XP2000, the 3000int or the 2000int. The skimmer is my last big decision, so I'd appreciate any comments/recommendations/thoughts on your experience with the xp2000.

Thanks!

TBH, I don't think it'll hold up. I think that I'll have to upgrade to a 3000INT at that point. I really do like the one I have now. I clean it out once, to twice a week. Don't really have a real bioload yet, but I'm sure it'll hold up fine. I think that it would do well for any tank up to 180 w/sump, medium load. Heavy... may want to upgrade.

It's funny you bring this up... I'm probably going to go with a skimmer that I can attach my Laguna pump to here soon. I'm big into buying skimmers and testing them out. I just haven't with this setup yet because I'm just now starting to get to where I need a CUC. Never saw the point.

With the addition of 100g of water, with it's own bioload of critters, I'm sure I'll need to consider going with something similar to the 3000. Don't know if I will because there's some new ones out that I'd like to try out (like the variable speed pump ones).

The customer service for the SRO lineup is 2nd to none, though! Jeremy/Coralvue has come through for me more than once... neither times have I dropped a penny on anything either.

 

[Flipside]

Today, I got called into work so I decided to stop by an old friend's store and buy some livestock. My tank is getting some nice green buildup now, so I added some hermits, 2 conchs, a tiger tail cucumber, 5 turbos, and 5 nassarius snails. I also added a foxface rabbitfish and a powder blue tang. They are all juvi's and are doing very well. No signs of stress, and eating and playing. The foxface was in "camo mode" for about 10 minutes, but my yellow tang started playing with him. He got over the bashfulness pretty quickly. The powder blue had me leery at first, but it was fat and eating. I dropped some nori in there, and the yellow tang already knew what to do. The powder blue was right behind him, then the foxface joined in. I also threw some Rod's Food in there about an hour later. It was a frenzy. Pretty happy with the livestock so far! I thought I bought a starry algae blenny, but I guess my buddy forgot to bag that one up... ah well...


BTW, I wouldn't typically drop fish in my tank like this (I always acclimate, but I usually QT fish). But, I really trust this LFS. I wasn't even worried about it.


I'll get some pics up later. My son's on the computer that I transfer the photos to, and he's having himself a great game of BTD5! LOL! I dare not get in the way of that!!!

 

[boehm742]

Love your tank and the updates in this thread. Keep up the good work!

 

[Flipside]

Love your tank and the updates in this thread. Keep up the good work!

Thank ya' kindly!

 

[Flipside]

Very happy with the fish, and how they're getting along so far. Lights just went out for the night, and hoping all is well in the morning.

 

[Ms. Mermaid]

I am getting ready to setup an ATO I have been losing close to 2 gallons a day and I do not even have fans on my tank yet temp is always between 79-82... I was going to use one of my tallest salt buckets for the ATO but I am not sure if that will be enough.

So, I just added some water to my ATO because I evap'd all of it in 9 days!

That's like 3.3 gallons a day. The reason why is because I had to put a very large fan blowing over the the surface of the DT, and I have a smaller fan blowing over the sump. It's an awful amount of water, but meh... my temps are staying between 79 and 80*F this way. LOL!

I'll get that chiller online soon, I'm sure. My wife is cold blooded, so we keep the house warmer than most people in Texas during the "winter" (if that's what you want to call these temps).

 

[Flipside]

Yeah, it's kinda crazy but evap rate is something a lot of people don't take into account. You really need to monitor what your system needs. The evap rate I'm experiencing is totally self inflicted. I only tolerate 1 degree temperature swings; and to get that I had to place a large fan blowing over the surface of the display. I have a lot odd heat going on in my system. Until I get my chiller online, this is just going to be the way it has to be. Once it's online, I'm sure it'll drop significantly.

Of course if I go to LEDs and vortechs, it'll fix everything... LOL

 

[Flipside]

So, I got to use my new, big miter saw today! Man, it was fun and made things very easy! I made a little stand in the garage to house the sump, refugium, chiller and CA reactor (should I need it). It'll all make sense when I'm done. For now, here's some terrible pictures (phone):

My wife is super happy about the space I just gave back to her. I should be able to get more done this week... Most of us are off Thursday and Friday, so I'm hoping to get a lot done.

 

[LILBUDDHA]

Lot's of progress. :thumbup:

Everything seems to be coming together nicely. I think u'll enjoy faster growth rates n the added stabilty the fuge will give u.
Happy up coming Turkey day..

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 2

 

[LILBUDDHA]

Lot's of progress. :thumbup:

Everything seems to be coming together nicely. I think u'll enjoy faster growth rates n the added stability the fuge will give u.
Happy up coming Turkey day..

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Flipside]

Oh yeah, bro! I'm hoping for that, "exactly." I'm just going to toss a bunch of macro in there, put a light over it, and a bunch of live rock. It'll add a solid 90g to the mix when I'm done.