Fosters and Smith Conference

So I happened to be in the Reinlander area this weekend (wink, wink), and I mosied on over to the Fosters and Smith Coral Conference/Frag Swap. One word...AWESOME! So here are some picks to tell the story...a lot of pics. The first one is the new sacrificial lamb in my not quite balanced tank...one of many new aquired corals and inverts.









There were lots of freebies and adivce for newbies like me. To bad my weekend is already booked for next year...glad I went this year!

I think this is the last one.

I think this rock layout is the best so far. Will see. I am totally stoked about going to the DFS frag swap in Reinlander this weekend. I write it up when I get back.

Clearing up.

Well the water is a little clearer today, so here is some pictures of the first of many aquacultures in the tank. This rock is really awesome.





So I am leaving for the farm tomorrow morning, and I expect the tank to be an algae festival when I get home. Next in line is the big Diatom algae bloom. Brown nasty stuff!

Rocks Here!

Remember what the tank looks like empty...cause it ain't empty no more!!! Okay, so here we go...this is the second big step to a reef tank...live rock. Here is how it comes in the box.



So I spread out all the peices on one of Kelly's favorite towels...just kidding. The Tonga is on the left and Figi is on the right. I put some big Figi in the bottom of the 1st chamber, and I will smash up the rest for rubble around and on top of the bigger peices. The Tonga Rock is awesome.


So I tried to set up a good scape on the towel, but once I got two peices in the water turned to cloudy and I will have to wait to keep aquascaping the tanking. Here is how it looks for now. This rock has so many crevices and caves...that's a good thing.

Floss, Heater, and a Mag Float

I fianlly got a Mag Float tank cleaner yesterday for cleaning the glass. It does a fantastic job!


I decided to go ahead and install the heater because it allows the minimum temp to remain constant instead of taking a dive at night when the air conditioner is on. It looks like my temp range will be 77-79 degrees for this tank. High or low temps are not as big of a deal as big temp swings. Sudden changes in temp or chemistry in a SW tank are fatal to a most reef life.


After I talked with Kevin last night about the tank not clearing up, I put some filter floss in the first chamber and it started clearing up within the hour and was crystal clear this morning when I got up. Here are a few more shots of the setup before the live rock come tomorrow.


This is the actinic light that will be running 4-6 hours a day while I'm curing the rock.

Live Rock On The Way!

I ordered 30lbs of live Tonga rock from Dr. Macs this morning. I am so stoked because they just got their order of Tonga rock in yesterday! That means that my rock is fresh out of the ocean, and even though it will be a smelly adventure...it will be super cool to see what colors it has and all the hitchhikers the live inside. Most of the color and life will die off in the cycling process, but some stuff will survive, and that will be pretty sweet.

I also got 5lbs of Figi rock for the fuge in the back. The cured rubble was 4.98 a lb, but the whole Figi was 2.98, so I decided to buy the Figi and brake it up into ruble my self. The water will come out of the main tank into the first chamber in the back. It will flow through some floss and then through the rubble and into the next chamber to be pumped back into the tank. The rubble is full of good bacteria that will help clean the water. It will be here on Wednesday!

I forgot to tell you about the Tonga rock. I personally think it is more interesting to look at then the Figi because it has branch like extensions, and the coraline is gorgeous. Super Stoked! Here is a picture of the tank that Kevin and I liked the most for the aquaculture of the live rock.

Salt and Sand

I added the salt(about 11.5 cups of reef crystals), and the sg was off the charts high. I pulled out a couple of gallons and replaced with fresh, and everything was perfect (about 1.025sg).


A few hours later, I added the Live Sand. I cut the top of the bag off and submerged the bad and squeezed the sand out like a tube of toothpaste. The water will stay cloudy till tommorrow. Kevin came over, and gave me a reassurance that everything was going normal, and that I could probably order the live rock on Monday if my temps stayed stable....WHOHOO!

Tired!

I got the new tank this morning while I was away in Waupaca on a shoot. When I got home, seperated the hood from the tank, and leak tested the tank right away...NO CRACKS!!! WhoHooo!!! However, the day goes down hill a little. I was pretty busy all day so I had moments of time here and there to work on the tank. It took me all night to plumb the tank for two pumps. Which included drilling a hole in the back wall for the Hydor FLO. I also had to wait for my Vantec Stealth fans to arrive from Newegg.com.


The fans went in super easy, and I rewired them so they are on their on power instead of being wired to the moon light switch. I used an old 12v wall wart for the two fans, routed the wires through the hood. No problem there.


My problem lies in the fact that my hood has a short in one of the lights. The daylight just flickers on a off...NOT HAPPY...more work.

The biggest thing that I am learning about this hobby is the setup is not as easy as I thought...I still haven't even mixed up saltwater yet!

Inventory to date

This hobby is expensive! Here is my inventory to date:

•24 Gallon Aqua Pod Aquarium (first one craked...new one comes today!)
•Maxi Jet 1200 Pump ( to replace the crappy one that came with the AP)
•Maxi Jet 900 Pump (you can never have to much current on a reef or while curring lr)
•Hydor FLO Deflector (wavemaker)
•Hydor THEO 100 Watt Heater
•Vantec Stealth Computer Fans (to replace the crappy ones that come with the AP)
•Corallife Digital Thermometer
•Hagen Floating Glass Thermometer with Suction Cups (backup for the digital)
•Instant Oceans Hydrometer (for specific gravity of salt solution)
•Siphon Clean Water Changer
•Reef Crystals 50 Gallon Mix (salt mix)
•Ocean Direct 20lbs of Live Sand
•Filter Floss 14oz (filter out the bad stuff...this sits on top of the rubble in the refugium)
•Reef Calcium 250ml (help coraline grow)

Not A Good Start!

Got the tank today, and boy was it packaged well! NOT WELL ENOUGH. I have read through all these post about how people get cracked tanks, but I knew this wouldn't happen to me. It Did. A cracked tank, and on the bottom no less. However, strike one up for Dr. Fosters and Smith...they have sent my new tank already, credited my old shipping, and the return address lable is in the mail. So all is not sooo bad. Sorry that I forgot to shoot a pick of the crack...I was so mad that taking a picture kinda slipped my mind.

Looks like my super sweet stand will go unused for a few more days.

Kevin Burroughs - My Resident Reef Expert

Kevin is the man behind the tank. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even think about doing this. Here is some pics I took today from a 40 gallon long reef tank that he is babysitting for a friend in Iraq.

Stand - Part 1

The tank was delayed in the shipping until Monday, but thats cool 'cause I have a lot of work to do on the stand before the tank gets here. The stand is made from 2" steel tubing with a .120 wall thickness. This stand will hold about 1500lbs or more, so a 250lb tank should be no problem. I am applying a Vista Patina in Black that I use in my metal picture frames. It is designed so my beverage fridge will fit underneath the tank, and there is a 4" shelf for aquarium supplies between the tank and the fridge. I will make a magnetic metal cover for the shelf with a matching black patina.

The tank is on its way!

Well, I've been foolin' around with the idea of salt water tank for a long time, but all my good friends have told me to forget about it. I've heard things like:"Your too stinkin' busy", "saltwater tanks are hard to do", or even "You already have a million hobbies!" These kinda things just egg me on. The one big road block was the wife. We have come to mutual agreement, and the tanks on it's way at last. Lest you think I am alone in my endeavor...I have Kevin Burroughs at my side to help me overcome the startup woes of the coral reef kingdom.

Here's the plan. I've ordered an AquaPod 24 gallon all in one cube tank from Drs. Fosters and Smith to put a small reef in. I'm and putting the tank in the corner of the office on a super sweet homebrew steel table.


I am working on the table tomorrow, and the tank will be here tomorrow. The live rock will come next week if everything goes well, and I will let the tank be for a few months to cycle.

This is what I am going for: