davids 130 gallon reef

been a while just a couple more pics to show the progress. alot of progress since i first joined and took my avatar pic ehh (2cd to the last pic).

 

thats really good looking tank dave. the colors in there are great. keep it up and thnx for the update

 

ok so i had another thread named my monti cap and we were talking about monti caps and them fusing together along with some progression shots.

pic 1= when i bought it. (paid $50 bucks for it, too much???)
pic 2= a month ago.
pic 3= today. its hard to see in the pic but the pieces have fused together and are one piece. shortly, the bigger piece on the right will be joining them. yeah i decided not to frag it out.

 

i have another interesting thing to share as well. a buddy of mine gave me a single head of a branching hammer (pic 3). it now has 3 heads and as of 3 days ago is occupied by my clownfish (pic 2&4). the hammer hasn't seemed to mind as of yet but will this slow the growth rate or harm the hammer over time? its kindof funny but he wont let anything smaller or the same size as him near that coral at all. he gets very aggressive. and finally, i rescued this clown and dont know what kind it is (pic 1). im sure you guys have a good idea, i was kindof leaning towards false percula.

 

sooooo i had a thread in the diy section in which i used your guys advice for plans to build my sump/fuge and heres what i came up with (pic 1). im making the change because the current configuration is utilizing a one chamber sump (2 rubbermaid containers linked together to make one (pic 2&3)). The problem behind this is my in sump protein skimmers were being interrupted due to the fluctuation of the water level by evaporation. until i obtain the funds and materials, i made a overflow by taking a small Tupperware container, covering the link hole in the input rubbermaid container. i then cut a hole in the top creating a overflow to the second chamber (pic 4). it actually worked. i almost instantly saw a improvement in the skimming (pic 5) and the dt. im still building my sump/fuge i was just feeling proud of my self for such a simple fix that made a big difference (and costs nothing). after looking at the pics i relized i dindnt update pic 1 to reflect that i took the check valves out of the equation.

 

Hey dave its lookin good,likin that monticap ya got there..but one thing in your sump pics...I would remove that metal hose clamp and replace it with plastic..if it has dirrect contact or close conntact with the water it will rust....keep up the good work...

 

yeah all the metal hose clamps you see in the pictures have been replaced. the guy who helped me set my tanks up used them and figured out quick that wasnt gonna work. the coralife still has one but that pic is deceiving. its about 4to 5 inch from the water surface and ive had that hose come off with a plastic clip before and made a mess. where do you get good plastic or rubber hose clamps. i asked the guys at lowes and home depot that thought i was strange.

 

marinedepot or some place like it wil have those plastic ratchet clips you squeeze closed with pliers and trust me they dont let go..

 

great thank you +

 

ok other than the hammer and clown question (post 24), i also really like to know what i should do about filling the fuge with sand. can i just buy some Ocean Direct™ Caribbean Live Sand and put it in or will that mess with my biological filter. the fuge portion of the sump will be around 20 gallons. it comes in 5 or 20 lbs bags i planned on at least buying 1 20 lbs bag, do i need more? thanks in advance.