Flip's Reef

LILBUDDHA · Nov 19, 2012

Sorry for the double post .I think when I went through the test runs with phones , my sim copied the aim account which means u never got my emails.. :banghead:
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Flipside · Nov 19, 2012

That would explain a lot, bro! LOL! S'all good. You got me now.

zibba · Nov 19, 2012

Nice work on the stand Flip. Looking forward to seeing this thing get plumbed into the rest of the system.

Flipside · Nov 19, 2012

zibba said:
Nice work on the stand Flip. Looking forward to seeing this thing get plumbed into the rest of the system.

Thanks zibba! Working on it!.

Flipside · Nov 21, 2012

Like kids at the playground.

They all seem to be getting along very well:

My little starfish came out to say, "hi." He was also chomping on some food I put down there for him.

And, here's a shot of the stand, with the accessories that will be on there. I still need to put the sump out there, but that's going to take some planning/time since it's active right now. Probably after Gobble Day.

cameron91806 · Nov 21, 2012

awesome tank and setup!!

kuyatwo · Nov 21, 2012

Looks good keep up the good work pare

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Flipside · Nov 26, 2012

Nice! Pinoy power up in here!

Nice to see you on my build, kuya!

So, I didn't do much this weekend, but I did get the sump out in the garage. You can kind-of see the wallboard I mounted for the electricals, but I haven't moved anything out there yet... I'll try to get to it tonight... really depends on that magical "thing" we call "time."

My wife is pretty sick of see those two big ballast sitting on a chair in our living room. LOL

Here's a couple of crappy phone pics... you get the jist though:

The refugium is not online, yet. I should have that completed this week. Still figuring out a lighting solution for it. I've also decided that the Rubbermaid stock tank is just temporary. I want to build a large, wide acrylic refugium so I can see in there.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot! I also bought a cheapo digital microscope (bought it at Hobby Lobby) so I can see what little wrigglies are are having fun in my macro, later on...

So, if all goes well, I'll have some microscopy to post up.

Flipside · Nov 28, 2012

Hey guys... I figured I'd post these pics up because I'm pretty pleased that these corals are coming to life. They are just macro shots, but it was the only way to show you what I see.

That's the top and the base of my favorite guy in there right now. I don't know what it's called, but the guy I got it from said it was a tricolor... I wasn't expecting the colors to be this nice.

And this one went from brown to purple. Some kind of digitata, I suppose...

So far so good! My temps are in check, and now I have an algae issue I'm going to have to fight off. LOL! I expected as much.

MarvinsReef · Nov 28, 2012

looking good. purple digi has been a favorite of mine. 1smile1

zibba · Nov 28, 2012

Nice! That tri-color is beautiful.

Flipside · Nov 30, 2012

MarvinsReef said:
looking good. purple digi has been a favorite of mine. 1smile1

Mine too! I've always loved them! You never know how they are going to grow.

zibba said:
Nice! That tri-color is beautiful.

Thanks! I just got word that it's a Garf Bonsai.

LILBUDDHA · Nov 30, 2012

I kinda thought Bonsai too . I still don't know why ur temps r that warm. How many feet u pushing from the garage to tank?
I cannot see how it can be the lighting . I wonder if that external pump is running a lil warm .
BTW u started recording logs again?

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Flipside · Dec 1, 2012

Well, my temps are good now, bro. I have a 1-2 degree flux now. My lighting schedule was a bit harsh, too. I had my lights on for too long. I have dumbed it down to about 4 hours with just the MH's, and a couple of hours for the T5's before and after the MH's cycle. My algae growth has started to decline, and my temps are staying lower. The distance from my sump to the tank is around 4.5'. I used nylon hose, and had it cut to spec; that's how I know.

I have a guy coming over tonight to look at my tank and build a canopy for me. It'll be like my last one... a floating style. He's a woodworker by day, and superman by night; so, it should look pretty nice when all is said and done. I just want it to match.

That same guy is going to look at my plans for the next build, too. I'm doing two 350-400 gallon tanks in the den, surrounding the fireplace and TV. A "Texas Den" down here is really the "living room," so I have plenty of space. That build will be with a fishroom.

MarvinsReef · Dec 1, 2012

Flipside said:
Well, my temps are good now, bro. I have a 1-2 degree flux now. My lighting schedule was a bit harsh, too. I had my lights on for too long. I have dumbed it down to about 4 hours with just the MH's, and a couple of hours for the T5's before and after the MH's cycle. My algae growth has started to decline, and my temps are staying lower. The distance from my sump to the tank is around 4.5'. I used nylon hose, and had it cut to spec; that's how I know.

I have a guy coming over tonight to look at my tank and build a canopy for me. It'll be like my last one... a floating style. He's a woodworker by day, and superman by night; so, it should look pretty nice when all is said and done. I just want it to match. That same guy is going to look at my plans for the next build, too. I'm doing two 350-400 gallon tanks in the den, surrounding the fireplace and TV. A "Texas Den" down here is really the "living room," so I have plenty of space. That build will be with a fishroom.

good luck with the canopy build.

but man, (2) 350g-400g tanks? that's crazy. we have family in Austin. whenever I visit and you have those huge tanks up, I'm gonna have to see them for myself. LoL.

zibba · Dec 1, 2012

The new "Texas Den" build sounds sick, what's the lead time on that?

If it's the same guy who did your old canopy, this one is sure to look great. I wish I knew a better woodworker in the Phoenix-area..I'm sure they're around, but they can be hard to find.

What kind of algae were you getting? Just the usual new tank algae cycles or was it something else?

Flipside · Dec 1, 2012

Yeah man... Just typical stuff. My tangs and that foxface are loving it though. They nibble on the rocks all day. So it's not that bad. I do want to hurry and get that refugium online. That will alleviate a lot of what's left, I'm hoping.

Yeah, the same guy that did my last setup will do the next one. I trust his work and his vision because he is in the hobby too.

Phyber · Dec 1, 2012

Tank looks great

Any worries about the sump being open in the garage? Would exhaust/dust/debris be any problem like that?

Flipside · Dec 1, 2012

A little... This sump is temporary. I'm going to build an acrylic one soon. I'll likely cover it as much as I can.

Flipside · Dec 3, 2012

Couple of things to report from this weekend...

First and foremost, I had a contractor stop by to take measurements for my canopy. It won't be anything crazy; but it should match. That's all I care about at this point. It will be floating, and it's the same guy that has built for me before. Funny thing is, when he saw my house, he said, "Dayum... I should've charged you more!" LOL! Flattering will get you everywhere with me.

Paid him upfront, and threw in some gas money. :wink:

Also, I got my refugium online! YAY! I added 100g of water to my entire system which makes it a 300g... total water volume is more like 250g though. Even still... largest system I've ever owned. I still need to add some macro to the refugium and I'd like to add another 100# of rock in there... That's the easy part though. Here's some phone pics (pardon the quality, but my phone is much easier to use):

I still have one more light that I'm putting over it, too. I'd also like to cover it up as much as possible to help keep the water from evaporating all over the place. I won't do that until the chiller is hooked up, though.