Hammer's 37 Gallon Tall Peninsula Reef

[HAMMERofGold]

My son is planning a pico with zoas and RFA. I have not seen any warfare with zoas in my tank. Curious if you have?

Katrina - the answer is no I have not. In fact I've only seen positive reactions between colonies.

The behavior I've observed most is zoa colonies adjusting to make room for new ployps. They even adjust their height to match the ones around them so they are all interconnected like gears.

Regardless of whether they are the same colony or a different colony, they seem to behave the same. The best example I have are between some blue eyed blondes and some magicians I have, they have aligned with one another completely.

My lights are still coming on, but when things open up I will post a picture.

Tell your son good luck with the pico! Sounds like an awesome plan to me.

 

[specwar]

I will eventually. I'm on a budget in a small condo but I have been eyeballing the piece and will gather them a short time piece by piece. I found a nice kit for $39 on ebay from jaxracks and the 5.5 isnt much I will save for a nice pump! Any recommendations I dont want a flood in my Living Room I'm on the second floor it would not go well! I also want to make sure I don't end with the constant hums etc.

 

[HAMMERofGold]

I will eventually. I'm on a budget in a small condo but I have been eyeballing the piece and will gather them a short time piece by piece. I found a nice kit for $39 on ebay from jaxracks and the 5.5 isnt much I will save for a nice pump! Any recommendations I dont want a flood in my Living Room I'm on the second floor it would not go well! I also want to make sure I don't end with the constant hums etc.

Makes sense, I've been there. My recommendation is to be wary of a reverse siphon occurring. Either with your auto top off or your return pump. Make sure the hoses/nozzles arent more than an inch or two from the top of the sump/tank(including your ATO hose). If they are deep into the tank, a reverse siphon can occur with your ATO (causing a flood from your reservoir), or your display tank can drain all its water into your sump(also causing a flood)

When you set up your tank with the sump and everything is running, I'd cut the power to your pump to confirm when the pump stops the 5.5 can handle the overflow from your display. With mine, my sump fills up to about two inches below the rim line when power gets cut. If you dont check this, this could cause a flood too.

If your display tank isnt already drilled, beware of cheap overflow boxes. Lifereef may be more expensive, but it's better than paying to repair saltwater damage in your house.

My return pump is nothing special, I'd spend your money on a good overflow box, skimmer or bio pellet reactor instead.

 

[specwar]

I will eventually. I'm on a budget in a small condo but I have been eyeballing the piece and will gather them a short time piece by piece. I found a nice kit for $39 on ebay from jaxracks and the 5.5 isnt much I will save for a nice pump! Any recommendations I dont want a flood in my Living Room I'm on the second floor it would not go well!

 

[specwar]

All my fears in a single response - good job - lol! Thanks I got a good skimmer from "a deal" I got so that part is done. I am going to be using an IceCap Gyre 1k. I will post a pic soon. Thanks for all the advice and Happy 4th!

 

[HAMMERofGold]

I picked up a new Anemone today! They called it a "Green Rose Tip" BTA, but idk - it looks like a rainbow to me.

I hope it colors up some more so I can make a better determination (I'm sure it will over time with my AI Primes). I also hope that its tentacles shape up more into that awesome spade bubble shape.

Regardless, Bentley seems pleased...

 

[HAMMERofGold]

Zoa Garden coming together

 

[dbl]

Things are looking very healthy....thanks for the update.

 

[HAMMERofGold]

Quick Covid update! Since i have nothing to do but stay at home and work on my tank, things are growing nicely!

 

[HAMMERofGold]

I turned one of my sump sections into a refugium using an old fresh water light i had laying around. I put chaeto and dragons breath in there and I'm definitely noticing reduced algae build up.

 

[HAMMERofGold]

But the biggest thing i have done during quarantine is to set up a frag tank using some left over tanks i had lying around in storage. I took a 14G biocube and an 8G rimless and connected them together using a siphon. its been up and running for a few months now and is already filled to the brim with coral (time to start selling!).

Though it is a small system, it is mighty. This haphazard-looking tank boasts a Tunze ATO, Intank rack, UV Sterilizer, AI Prime, Comline 9001 skimmer, and Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor 150. Its wild looking and small, but its been doing the job for a couple months now.

You can read more about how this frag tank came to be here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/p...tein-nano-10-35g-skimmer.705632/#post-7399628

 

[HAMMERofGold]

I've been using the app Letgo on my phone to do some spring cleaning while stuck in quarantine. You can post anything and people will not only buy it, but come pick it up from your house too - its been great, i have clearaed out so much clutter in my house this way...but that's another topic. Why am I telling you this? why do you care?.... because (after a few beers) I decided to scroll through the "for sale" section and found something too nice to pass up. someone was selling a 29G biocube, modified to be rimless, with the stand, and an intank filter holder, all for only $200. The beat the hell out of the frankentank i had built with my 14G and 8G daisy chained together, so I figured I'd buy it and have a cleaner looking, easier to maintain frag tank.

Now I have it, my display tank, and my frankentank, and only enough space for two of the three. I currently have my frag tank in my basement, and my display tank on the first floor. I've been thinking that I should move my display tank downstairs to be next to my frag tank to have a "fish room" of sorts.

1) it will be easier to maintain down there (since that's where all my supplies and the water source is)
2) we want to do some remodeling on the main floor, so the display tank being there makes that difficult.

All that said, I only have one place I can make into a fish room, but cannot decide how I want to arrange it. Maybe you guys could chime in and help me decide? The main problem is this: both the biocube and my display tank are Peninsula style tanks, so if you just shove them horizontally up against a wall, you lose a viewing angle. The space i want to put them in is essentially a hallway, connecting my main family room to the staircase upstairs.

I measured it all out and created these visuals to help me figure out which I'd like better. The display tank's stand is so narrow, that the only thing I can fit in there is the sump. I need a separate utility cabinet to house the electrical work and the ATO reservoir. BUT, if I keep the two tanks close enough, I could fit all the electrical for both tanks inside the 29G biocube's cabinet. Not to mention I could use the now empty 14G biocube as a reservoir tank for both tanks' ATO water. There are positives and negatives to both approach and I am completely torn. I would love some input from the community on this,

Sound off please! I'm going in circles alone in quarantine.