My Future (and first) Tank

The overflow is pretty adaptable. You could use two bulkheads for the overflow if you wanted. I'm only using one for the drain and then the other for the return.

vvolfe1, I'm also looking forward to your reactions! I'm focused on getting my display up and running before I start work on my overflow and sump. So that's plenty of time for me to decide what to do with it.

 

Okay everybody, I've finally got some pics for you!

Prep for painting back of tank. I've discovered that, when you're doing DIY projects in an apartment, plastic sheeting is your best friend!

Tank, pre-paint.

Tank, post-paint. Sleek!

Wet tank with salt mixing.
And here are three pics of what I did to reinforce the stand. There are also extra supports underneath the floor of the stand.



You'll see that, for now, there are plugs in the bulkheads. This is so I can get the display up and going with sand and rock. Once that's on its way, I start work on the overflow and sump! I had some problems with a bit of a leak from one of the original bulkheads. Made a quick trip to Aquatic Environments this morning to trade it for a new one. Everything's great now!

 

I like the black background....
Thanks eins! On my freshwater tank I quickly grew to hate seeing wires hanging behind my tank and am using black posterboard, but it's a pain.
Posted By seanndenise1 on 01/07/2008 2:17 PM
hey everything is looking good, did you figure what you were going to do on the overflows?.
tank looks good black, i thought about going black but decided on blue.

just to let you know drs foster and smith have the hydor korallia #3s on sale for 37.99, pretty good price.


you can call aquacave and get a price match and have it delivered the
next day, drs foster smith will take probably a week, up to you.

did you figure out what you are going to do about rock yet?


i have heard that drs foster smith has pretty nice rock and it comes to
about 5.35 a pound, its alot better than youll find in the pet stores
around here.

looking good.
I'm going to try this overflow: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1257783&perpage=25&pagenumber=2  It's basically a PVC pipe with a long narrow slit cut in it. This way it takes up minimal tank space, and it's supposed to skim the top pretty well.
I've been eyeing the Koralias. I went ahead and picked up two Nanos from Aquatic Env. while I was there the other day. I'm planning on getting at least one larger powerhead and using the nanos to supplement the flow where I see dead spots. I like the idea of having more powerheads of less individual output.
I think I found someone here in the QC who has some rock for sale. I'm going to check it out this week. I've seen favorable opinions about drs. foster & smith rock on Aquaria Central and I'm definitely keeping that in mind.

 

Got some great rock from Ben! Here's a FTS for you! It feels so good to have rock & sand & CREATURES in the tank after so much reading and research! Soon I'll start working on my sump so I can get the heater out of there and have a special spot for the chaeto.

 

After plenty of reading on the subject and weighing the pros and cons, I decided to skip an ro/di system for now. I know there are many that'll say it's necessary but I'm going to start out without it.

No detectable cycle from the LR transfer. Found a couple little aptasia and blasted them back to hell with boiling water. /site/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif Every time I glance at the rock I see another interesting creature. There are four happy little xenia colonies and just today I found some other type of softie. I haven't got it ID'd yet. Next time I have the camera out I'll grab a pic.

I'm doing my final planning/thinking about the sump. I'm going to try to get the pump ordered and tank built next week sometime. Then I'll make my overflow and plumbing. We'll see how far I get!

 

Yes, I'm pretty sure there are some of the Discosomatidae type. They're mostly brown with flecks of a really cool blue/green. There's a good sized 1.5inch one and several smaller ones.
I think the one I found today is the kind you described as the "hairy" kind. It's a uniform brown color and covered with small tentacles. I found some pictures online that look similar to it - Rhodactis?
I'll get pics of them both sometime.
So far everything is doing great!
Don't worry about the aptasia. There were only a couple tiny little ones and it was easy to blast them with the boiling water. I think they're taken care of. I'm so happy to have good LR. I was at Aquatic Environments yesterday and eyed their LR...ick! Good for the store, I guess, but just doesn't compare!

 

New pics!
First, the hairy mushroom hitchhiker that I think might be a Rhodactis spp.

Stopped by Aquatic Environments today and noticed two unmarked clumps of green zoa's, they guy there let me have them for ten bucks total, so I was happy with that! Decided to go ahead and get them - couldn't wait! They weren't attached to anything, so I've rubber-banded them to some rubble. I've done a little reading, most people say they'll attach within a week or so.
Here they are with a few turbo snails I picked up:

A closer view of the larger colony. You can see a bit of the vibrant color peeking out. In the time it took me to get the pictures to my computer and write this post, about half of the heads are open and looking really great.

And here's a single polyp that broke off while I was attaching the larger colony. I decided to give him his own home (which actually turned out to be larger than the rubble the other two colonies were placed on!).

I was up late last night and decided to flip on the lights (a few hours after lights out) to have a quick look in the tank. Well, the "quick look" turned into an hour of tank-gazing! Lots of pods scurrying about, in addition to God only know how many other things that I couldn't identify. It was pretty cool!