Jena's 55 Gallon Navy Special Build

[Jenaleigh1]

Okay, so here's a head count for today:

55 gallon tank- FREE
Hydor In-Tank Skimmer 48-65 Gallon (Amazon)- $107.00
Marineland Double Bright 48 inch LED light (Amazon)- $137.00
Aquatop CF500UV 5 Stage Canister Filter with UV sterilizer, 525 gph (Amazon)- $124.85 - came with bio balls, ceramic rings and filter media. This thing is a beast! But it's really, really quiet. I was surprised.
Da Stand!- I think I spent a total of $140 on it. 40 dollars was the feet, probably about 20 on paint, and had to buy quite a bit of poplar, but everything else was scrap dragged home from the pier parking lot, ship dumpster, chief induction, etc. Besides, it looks WAY cooler than most stands out there! the poplar hobby boards were 5.5 inches wide and 24 inches long for less than two bucks each. I thought that was a good deal.
Base Rock- 30 pounds- $70, LFS- They are a family owned place in Chesapeake, and it's one of those places where you know they appreciate your business. A very nice guy owns it.
Live Rock- Let's see. Bought 13 pounds cured to add to my collection from another LFS here in Ches. That's where I picked up my aptasia.- $45
Live Rock- The rest to round out the 55 pounds I needed came from my other tanks and my Mr.'s diving collection.
Sand- Live, used... hmmm.... CoralSea? Does that sound right? Anyway, two twenty pound bags of west caribbean reef, and about 15 pounds of a bag of indo-pacific underneath it all. - BTW, that sand is awesome. I swear by it. Worth the 20 bucks a bag any day, hands down. LFS- $55
Plastic Grid stuff for the bottom- Home Depot, maybe... $12?

Okay, so now. Current livestock list-

(Some of this I just want to slap myself for. But I digress. I was inexperienced.)

1 Watchman Goby- old tank
1 Pistol Shrimp (Don't EVER buy one of these with the goby. You never see the goby again, and your sand is in constant disarray)- old tank
2 Clownfish- 1 from old tank, 1 new
1 Peppermint Shrimp- new, and yes, he murdered the aptasia and smiled while he did it.
1 Gold Midas Blenny- new

Coral-
1- Paly new
Everything else came from the other tanks
1- Spaghetti Leather
1- Acan
1- Galaxea
1- birdsnest frag
1- green montipora frag (yes, it's growing under the LED's)
2- zoa colonies
1- colony of something that looks like pulsing xenia but it is smaller and green and all over my live rock.
1- RBTA- in bad shape. It won't color up no matter what I do, but has gotten much more active in the new tank. Seems happier
1- hard coral. I think it could be a tiny elkhorn frag, but it is really doing well. Great polyp extension in this tank.

Cleaners-
1- blue legged hermit crab
3- nassarius snails- (will be 23793479833 in a few days. eggs all over one of my shells)
10- Astrea snails
1- turbo snail
2- Crabs from St. Lucia- They look like blue legged hermits but have black and white stripes on their claws. they were hitchhikers on some rock I brought back, much to my surprise! Very cool.

Anyway, I have a long way to go, but at least I am nearing some stage of completion for the stand.
Next!

 

[dcsaquarium]

Love what you've done so far. It amazes me how much you can truly turn this into an awesome piece of art that always changes.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Your tank is looking good! I really like how the stand is coming together.

 

[rollermonkey]

I waited until I retired from the Navy to start my tank, for exactly the reason you stated.

It's looking FANTASTIC! I can't believe you moved the fish before the stand was finished, though!

 

[gettaReef]

Great build thread! Love the details and pictures. Also really like the stand and aquascape. Great work! Looking forward to this build!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Great job!

 

[Jenaleigh1]

Thanks everyone! I love my new night light!

 

[Jenaleigh1]

We got orders to Jax! BUT we're not headed that way for awhile. Reef Chief tomorrow for frags! I'm like a little kid! Can't wait! Took a few pics tonight.

 

[Jenaleigh1]

And here's my crazy Anemone. Since I moved it to this tank, it has scooted all over the place, but still no color. IDK. I'll try to get a closer pic if it heads to the front tonight. It's usually not this tall.

 

[lps1212]

Your build looks great keep them pics coming

 

[Jenaleigh1]

OK, so I told you I'm having a bit of a problem with my possessive pistol shrimp. My goby never comes out, and when I moved tanks he was so pale and malnourished he had actually gotten smaller! For a while the shrimp was trapped under some rock (oops) and the goby started coming out and coloring up and eating. Now the shrimp is back in commission and the gov't is sequestered again. I'm worried the goby will starve and die! Should I try to catch the shrimp and give him my 5g safe tank? Nothing else is in there, so he can push junk around all he wants. Here's a pic of the lair he built last night. It's all under the rock. I have plastic grid under there and nothing is moving, so im more worried about the goby. What do you all think?

 

[Jenaleigh1]

Went to reef chief. I love that place. Awesome. All settled in. Even my peppermint shrimp came out to party. Gonna go watch The Conjuring! More tomorrow!

 

[Flameback Pair]

Can you get a pic of the midas blenny, Im getting one soon.

 

[Jenaleigh1]

He was feeding. He cruises around and has a good personality. Fun to watch I have a video of him but not sure how to upload from my phone on the app.

 

[Jenaleigh1]

Try again.

 

[Jenaleigh1]

Murder!!! I guess I missed the memo on why everyone hates these things.

 

[Jenaleigh1]

My phone doesn't pick up on all the colors, but here's a few...

 

[Jenaleigh1]

OK, so here's my first canister cleaning last week. It was actually really easy. My water has stayed pretty stable, no problem with nitrates. My skimmer isn't filling up quickly, so the filter must be picking up a lot. Top pic is after I rinsed everything.

 

[joe2011]

very nice work

 

[Jenaleigh1]

Thanks!