monkiboy's 265g build thread

[Sakura2282]

Very nice frags and pictures!

 

[monkiboy]

hi sakura, thanks for your comments and checking it out!

 

[Sakura2282]

hi sakura, thanks for your comments and checking it out!

Hi! Monkiboy. How's the wrasse doing? What other fish do you have in the tank now? I'd like to see a whole picture of your tank if possible. Those bonsai rocks you got are really cool. :cool::)

 

[Aquarian]

Those are some nice shots. A beautiful frags, love the clam

 

[monkiboy]

Hi! Monkiboy. How's the wrasse doing? What other fish do you have in the tank now? I'd like to see a whole picture of your tank if possible. Those bonsai rocks you got are really cool. :cool::)

Hi, haha! which wrasse are you asking about? i had a scott pair that i split up due to the female changing despite being smaller and only have the smaller female, now male in the tank and he's doing awesome and it was great watching her coloration peak and his new intensity that seems to remain even without another female around. the choat's is doing great in my cousin's tank. i think it was more about the initial challenge of getting one through prophylactic treatment and keeping it alive for more than the first couple months which i did successfully as it really didn't appeal to me aesthetically or in its behavior. i still have a majority of the coral colonies in qt and only have frags in my system's frag tank some of which are in the photos shared so there isn't much in the tank to see other than fish and some botryocladia occidentalis which branches off into little trees that i've allowed to grow in a few spots. i'll see about getting a shot for you, though! and the rock structures have worked out super well. the anthias especially love the barnacles and sleep with their heads poking out from them like one might see a goby perched head heading out and in terms of porosity they cycled and seem to be doing the job well for bacterial colonization.

 

[monkiboy]

Those are some nice shots. A beautiful frags, love the clam

thanks for the comments! that clam is exquisite. i had never seen one with such a stark perimeter contrast to the vibrant blue and had to have it. it's already six inches despite it's growth being stunted in qt i'm sure but now in my frag tank growing again happily until i find it's home in the DT.

 

[Big K]

Simply beautiful!

 

[Sakura2282]

Hi, haha! which wrasse are you asking about? i had a scott pair that i split up due to the female changing despite being smaller and only have the smaller female, now male in the tank and he's doing awesome and it was great watching her coloration peak and his new intensity that seems to remain even without another female around. the choat's is doing great in my cousin's tank. i think it was more about the initial challenge of getting one through prophylactic treatment and keeping it alive for more than the first couple months which i did successfully as it really didn't appeal to me aesthetically or in its behavior. i still have a majority of the coral colonies in qt and only have frags in my system's frag tank some of which are in the photos shared so there isn't much in the tank to see other than fish and some botryocladia occidentalis which branches off into little trees that i've allowed to grow in a few spots. i'll see about getting a shot for you, though! and the rock structures have worked out super well. the anthias especially love the barnacles and sleep with their heads poking out from them like one might see a goby perched head heading out and in terms of porosity they cycled and seem to be doing the job well for bacterial colonization.

I didn't know you had more than one lol. I was talking about the choat's wrasse. Are you going to get any tangs for this system? With a tank that big you can get the most uncommon and beautiful tangs for it.

 

[monkiboy]

stupid windows phone records it's amazing video and quality in some format that youtube doesn't like so it gets compressed into "240p". i tried vimeo and it's slightly better but not by much as all the detail and colors are off - sorry.

i need a dedicated water proof camera for tank vids - next on the list!

 

[monkiboy]

I didn't know you had more than one lol. I was talking about the choat's wrasse. Are you going to get any tangs for this system? With a tank that big you can get the most uncommon and beautiful tangs for it.

yes, i'll have a tang or two i think but i'm going to be really selective about them. i have my head wrapped around getting an achilles goldrim hybrid, some black and purple, and maybe another one or two hybrids or unique species. there are very few i find interesting and while initially i thought that was where i was going to go with the tank, i'm more inclined to make use of the space with an overstocked amount of smaller fish - anthias, wrasses, pygmy angels, and the like.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Nice build monkey.

 

[Sakura2282]

yes, i'll have a tang or two i think but i'm going to be really selective about them. i have my head wrapped around getting an achilles goldrim hybrid, some black and purple, and maybe another one or two hybrids or unique species. there are very few i find interesting and while initially i thought that was where i was going to go with the tank, i'm more inclined to make use of the space with an overstocked amount of smaller fish - anthias, wrasses, pygmy angels, and the like.

I like the idea of having an overstocked tank with small fish, that would be more interesting that having just a bunch of big fish in there. And for the tangs, they unique species and hybrids makes a lot sense to me. :thumbsup:

 

[monkiboy]

got some large colonies in qt and thought it'd be a nice time to go ahead and get the calcium reactor online...new toys arrived in preparation!

 

[monkiboy]

went with the aquarium plants electronic regulator after all the rave reviews and personal recommendations from tony and scott. looks nice and simple.

got a 20lb tank and bought it filled. also bought it from aquarium plants as i wanted a new one and would keep and refill. it was actually cheaper to do so and buying from aquarium plants than getting one around here and paying to fill or exchange and free shipping so i couldn't pass up a new shiny one

justin/avast will be over tomorrow with the seabones reactor and extra chamber and is going to help me set up my skimmer externally which i'm really excited about to get it out from under the stand and across the fish room. and if time allows maybe we can setup the calcium reactor as well!

 

[monkiboy]

Nice build monkey.

thanks for joining and sharing your input - stick around a while ;)

I like the idea of having an overstocked tank with small fish, that would be more interesting that having just a bunch of big fish in there. And for the tangs, they unique species and hybrids makes a lot sense to me. :thumbsup:

thanks i hope it works out as i have it envisioned. makes working through a fish list a bit more time consuming to allow the smaller and more timid species time to acclimate and find their nooks before adding all the more aggressive or larger fish but in the end really think it'll be worth the wait and patience to do it right!

 

[AnthonyTheNewbie]

Is that a Maxima Clam? And It's hard for me to make out the colors clearly in the picture, but it looks like a golden one?

 

[Shep]

Those are some amazing looking fish and corals! You should set up a showcase for your tank so people just joining your build can see all its glory without tracking back through 18 pages lol

 

[monkiboy]

Is that a Maxima Clam? And It's hard for me to make out the colors clearly in the picture, but it looks like a golden one?

yep, a t.maxima. good eye!

i picked her out as soon as i saw her coloration. it's unique in that she has that golden peach skirt with the otherwise typical, albeit stunningly vibrant, blue which i just had to have. she's also a nice size around 6 inches.

i thought i posted a photo of her so pardon the redundancy if i did. here's a better photo of her in QT.

 

[monkiboy]

Those are some amazing looking fish and corals! You should set up a showcase for your tank so people just joining your build can see all its glory without tracking back through 18 pages lol

thanks a lot and for your comments! i'll see if i can figure it out and get a showcase going. seemed overly complicated when it was first rolled out having to add all those photos over again when all someone would have to do is click through a thread. i don't know i'm weird, haha.

 

[monkiboy]

never did post up the details of the tank-less water heater so since i'm in posting flow tonight let's get that done!

so the heating/utility room that is shared with the fish room is a real mess, the floor looked like poo, and i just couldn't take it anymore. not only that but the dang water heater was taking up valuable real estate where an excellent water change station set up could go...

...see where i'm going with this?!

so out went the water heater...

installed the tank-less water heater at the end of the fish room where it can be easily accessed but is completely out of the way of my future water change/storage station:

then to focus on that disturbing floor

... time for a clean make over after vacuuming and mopping and scraping...

and ahhhh....much better!

and how it currently looks with the two 165g water storage containers waiting to be plumbed:

i'm still trying to figure out the most efficient way to design the plumbing but am in the home stretch and should be able to get this done in the next few days. it'll be great to have my genesis reef systems AWC/ATO installed again for automatic water changes and have a lot more water on hand for the expanded QT system's water changes and for emergency purposes. keep an eye out for more updates!