Alex's 75 gal

[PRC]

What kind of Urchin is that? That's sweet.

 

[parrotchute]

A pink pincushion urchin...only $15! I've become a huge fan of the urchins...they cover a lot of area quickly, and are really cool to watch.

 

[Bifferwine]

Why can't your girlfriend watch your tank for you while you're gone? She'll be taking care of the house and the dogs, right?

 

[parrotchute]

Nope, she's in the military too, we're deploying together.

 

[reeffreak]

That sucks to have to take it all down.

I did decide on an aquarium builder though.I'll tell you how it goes in about 3 weeks(I'm expecting a delay).

 

[Rcpilot]

Any tips on how I'd get the blasto off of the frag without hurting it?

I wish I had some people here to babysit my corals; there's one guy at work who has a saltwater tank who offered to watch all my stuff, but he's one of those people who doesn't do water changes has crappy lighting and thinks he can grow SPS....not a trustworthy candidate.

I wouldn't trust him either. If he doesn't do regular water changes and still hasn't grasped the concept of duplicating the suns rays when it comes to lighting, I wouldn't even invite him over - let alone entrust my babies to him. :lol:

That is kind of my plan...I frag my corals ALL the time as backups, so I'm def starting to prep that....I have a nice mother colony of about 15 armor of god polyps so that should be worth something. The trick is finding someone qualified to watch them! I'd def consider shipping them out to you, let you frag the hell out of them for a year, and then I'd pay to ship 'em back if you're interested around then!

I don't want to frag the hell out of your corals man. They can just sit there and grow while you're away. The problem is I'm 1/2 way across the country and the cost to ship overnight would be astronomical. I would LOVE to watch your corals (at least some of them), but I honestly think it would be a better idea to ship them to one of our trusted members on your side of the country. It's a helluva lot closer to NY, VA or PA than it is to CO.

But if you decide you want to send em here - I got room!! :mrgreen: My 30 display is about to get hacked apart and rebuilt (might go bigger). Probably sometime in the next few weeks and it'll be ready for corals by mid summer.

When I get back, it's MAJOR upgrade time. Long time to plan, but my plans:
150 gallon long, hopefully starfire and maybe rimless.
Lagoon themed (type corals/fish) tank - was thinking two islands on each far side, then an open, sandy area with a couple of small rock islands.
Additional LED lamp over the top to cover the length
Sump - either under the tank, or even better, plumbed into the basement
Algae Scrubber & powerful skimmer
Mangrove refuge

That sounds really cool. I like the idea of islands surrounded by open sand and a few rocks here and there. I've kinda been wanting a 12" deep tank about 6 foot square. I want an atoll reef with a surge tank that flushes the lagoon a few times during the day. I also want to try a mangrove refugium or a cryptic refugium - or both.

I really like the elos - usa complete systems, but a put pricey.

No idea what that is. I'm off to google it. :mrgreen:

 

[parrotchute]

Sweet, thanks reef, I'll be looking forward to it! I'm a little excited about starting over, just because I'll be able to do it right from the beginning, and just the way I want.

RC - yeah, he's one of the retards who stocks his tank with whatever catches his eye at the lfs without looking at it's needs/requirements, but always gives advice to everyone.

How about this? When I leave, if that blasto is big enough, I'll frag that and you keep it as a backup in case my original dies in whoever is taking care of it? :D

Rebuilding that frag tank already?! Can't wait for the build thread! I loved the frag tank thread.

With the lagoon idea, I was really inspired by Scott Fellman's articles on reefbuilders.com; he's got a few different ones that have some great ideas. Also thinking of black sand! Here's another one of his that reminds me of your shallow tank box idea. A surge tank would be amazing. What's a cryptic fuge?

Welcome to Elos USA - that's the elos system page

 

[Rcpilot]

Sorry - miscommunication on my part. Should have been more specific. Not the 29g frag tank. I only keep frags and my nicer corals in there now. That thing just got stable. I need/want a calcium reactor, but other than that it's doing great.

I want to gut and rebuild my 30H display. It's full of beginner zoas and mushrooms that have all grown together. The whole thing needs to be sold off - one rock at a time. I want to build a larger stand to house a sump and refugium underneath. The idea is to fill it with only the best - show quality pieces of LPS that I can find and afford. Most likely LPS dominated with maybe a few really hot zoas. It might take a year to stock it with only select pieces that I'm in love with. Not much room in a 24x12x24 tank so I will need to be choosy about what I put in there. I want one of those spotless reefs full of ridiculous LPS corals. I just can't afford a huge tank full of LPS, so this 30H will have to be the extent of my collection.

You don't have to frag your blastos unless thats what you want to do. I'd be happy to keep a frag for you in the event you need some of it when you return. I'll PAY ya for a frag and the shipping. If you need it when you return, I'll frag 1/2 of it and send some back.

Thanks for the links. :Cheers:

EDIT:
HOLY SH*T those tanks are pricey!!

 

[reeffreak]

I understand what you mean with the shallow lagoon.Mine will somewhat like that,I hope.It is going to be 18'' deep,the reason I didn't go more shallow because once you count the sand(1'' deep for me) and the water line being one inch below the lip then it's only 16'' deep.I'm going with a full walk around/look down w/starphire on all fours,center overflow,not quite rimless-trimless or is that rimless with eurobracing.


Scroll down to Ed Reef's progression of his shallow reef is kind of my inspiration
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1640204&highlight=rimless+aquariums&page=3

 

[Bifferwine]

Who will be taking care of your house and dogs? Could you get a house sitter while you are deployed to take care of everything? College professors that go on sabbatical do that.

 

[parrotchute]

RC, sounds like a fun project - you should still do a build thread on the rebuild! Looks like you'll have some good funds to start with if you sell those zoas for the prices people are saying they're worth on your thread. Any particular LPS in mind? When my micromusa's get big enough I'll be glad to donate one to the cause. I want to get it off of the plug now though so it can grow a bit better - any suggestions on how to scrape it off? Just put a razor underneath and pry it off?

Reef, did you check out those links I put up for RC? Seems to be a similar idea. I definitely want to do something like that, could really have a unique tank. I'll be paying a lot of attention to your build! I just wish I could do it now before I deploy...(or could I??)

Sarah, I would love to find a renter, but the problem is, I'm leaving all my stuff behind. A house sitter would be ideal, but I'm not sure I could find someone..I'm about 40 minutes east of Amherst/UMASS and all those colleges. My parents will have been retired by then, and they'll be watching the dogs and checking up on the house.

I'll probably end up hiring a company to do some minor maintenance on the place while I'm gone, mowing the lawn, yardwork, etc.

Going to the LFS right now to trade in a few zoas and a big rock of beautiful GSP...we'll see what I come back with!

 

[reeffreak]

No,I missed those links Parrotchute.How long are going to be deployed again?I would only set it up if I had someone who knew what they were doing completely.Tax money coming,right?You have the dough so it wouldn't hurt to get the custom tank and everything ready for when you get back.

Hmmmmmm...iI'm still debating doing a tank showcase.It's so much PRESSURE!

 

[parrotchute]

The links are a few posts up, some amazing tanks - one is volcano themed!

Going to be deployed for a year....it'll give me something to look forward to when I get back.

 

[parrotchute]

Spent the evening using some 2 part putting to attach stuff, what a pain....my skimmer went more insane than usual using putty, skimmed like a gallon of water out.

I did end up gluing my new blasto (or acan, not exactly sure anymore) to the side of a rock instead of on top off it to keep it out of direct light. We'll see how it goes there, pics tomorrow hopefully.

 

[parrotchute]

Took some more pics with my phone of some of my favorite corals, thought I'd share!

New Ricordia (my first!)

My new acans...

Micromusa

 

[reeffreak]

Great pics especially the mandarin.

 

[parrotchute]

Thanks! I like that pic too, might enter it in the photo of the month...

 

[parrotchute]

A few pics, including my brand new red chalice!

 

[yote]

Those are some sweet shots Alex.

 

[motorcyclereefer]

Nice pics, Alex!