aquariansaltwater

I had to shoot an update to you on the thread here. I have 5 tangs in my 15 gallon nano. I have a Desjardini Sailfin Tang, a Clown Tang, and 3 Blue Hippo Tangs. I also have a 6 line wrasse in there. They are all doing great together. I am moving them shortly to the 35 gallon cube, but still...they are all together. Matt

155 Bowfront... I just got done with a 155 Oceanic Bowfront build. I just added my first coral frags to the setup. I've got a build thread here: http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21679 I'll post new pics of the tank in a day or two. =0) Can't wait to see yours. Hopefully it goes smoother than my build did. Lots of water on the floor and a very unhappy other half...good thing she loves the tanks too. =0) Matt

I totally want to do one of these!!! I had a line on one a while back that a friend was selling for $600, with all new equipment underneath and a new pump still in the box. My funds were too slim at the time though and I had to pass. I really wanted that tank. I want to do something I can keep Catalina Gobies in...people keep them in tropical tanks, but they don't last long since the reality is they prefer temperatures around 50-60 degrees F. Let me know if you run into another one for a steal. Nice tank man. Matt

Unfortunately, I'm not a beginner. I've just never dealt with this particular bug before. I lost a lot of $$$ with this one. I lost my 9" Queen angel, my Chevron Tang, My Achilles Tang, My Yellow Belly Blue Hippo, all my Chromis, my PJ Cardinal, and a few others. Ich has a life cycle of 48 hours...there was an extensive study done on it...I'll see if I can find it later and link it. But the study concluded that in a host free environment, the total extinction of the population took place in 58 hours maximum. So if you let it run for for 72 hours it should be save as long as there is no cross contamination. Matt

So I got a nasty infestation of Marine Velvet. After severe loss of all my expensive fish, I am down to just a few left. I finally treated with Malachite Green and Formulin...it seemed to kick the velvet. I also ran the fish through a Maracin treatment in the course of trying to fix the issue. The five fish I have left are all helthy looking and eating well. I also ran Copper in the system during all this as well. What I want to know is how long I need to leave them in the QT tank before I put them back in my reef? Does what I did kill the velvet or just slow it down enough to let the fish defeat it and become immune? If I put them in the reef will it kill all the fish in there? Thank you in advance. Matt

Just a little update on the 34 gallon cube build. Tonight I have photos of the back of the glass tank after I painted it. The tape is still on the trim in the photos...don't worry. The trim still looks the same. =0) Then I decided that I needed an overflow box in the upper corner to raise the water line above the bottom of the trim. So a quick trip to Tapp Plastics and $1.75 later I had acrylic. The Box measures 5" wide, 4" tall, and 3" front to back. It is made of smoked acrylic so that it looks black, but you can see if anything is in there. It was unintentional...I wanted black...but I really like the idea once I saw the acrylic box done. There is a pic of the raw acrylic with the paper, then a shot of it all taped up and partially papered, and finally a finished shot of it all glued up. If you look closely at the last shot you can see the seams are darker than the rest of the box showing that it is see through. I just siliconed it in place and will waite 24 hours to run a water test. Tomorrow evening it should all be up and running. =0) The last phot is of a phosphate reactor I got for it...it's used, but just right for this little system. I'll toss up a few shots of the skimmer and the system when I get it filled up and running. Then a shot when I get the light mounted and finally one of the system with stuff in it when I get there... THanks for watching. Matt

Throw a few (half a dozen or so) small (~1/4") Hermits in there...Nice tank. I've got a project in mind now! =0) Thanks, Matt

I mean...28!

That's a sick little setup! I want to do a Mininsula or a half circle tank, byt I can't do it where I live now. The apartment doesn't know I have a 155 yet...SHHHHH!!! I just don't have room for one right now. IMatt

There are two keys to keeping CRAZY numbers of fish in the tank. One is feed them a lot and often, the other is the numbers of fish...when you have so many fish in the tank, no one fish gets singled out and picked on...the brawling that does take place is pretty spread out amongst all the fish. I had a 46 bowfront with a Mata Tang, Purple Tang, Yellow Tang, Blue Hippo Tang, Yellow Belly Blue Hippo Tang, Auriga Butterfly, a Mated pair of B+W Ocellaris Clowns, a Pajama Cardinal, a Royal Gramma, half a dozen Chromis, and a little puffer all in there. Everyone got along great. Unfortunately my GF brought a sick fish home and cross contaminated the water from the QT with the other tanks...all our fish went through Marine Velvet. I lost my 9" Queen Angel, my achilles Tang, my Chevron tang, and most of the fish from the previous list. All I have left is the Purple tang, The regular Blue Hippo, the puffer, and the Clowns. I have my 155 up now though. The bowfront rocks. I already have a Kole Eye tang, a Regular Sailfin, and a Blocchi Tang in there. I also have a neon cleaner goby in there to clean the tangs. I have 3 micro blue hippos going in there soon as well. Matt

Here's a shot of the sump in the stand. The top of the stand is currently removed so that the door could be taken out to get the sump in place. The door is smoked glass and the sump was designed to fit in just far enough back to clear the glass as it opens and closes. Before final assembly the tank will get a painted back panel to hide the plumbing and the stand will get a new paint scheme. I will be sure to take photos of the entire process. Tank capacity is 33.8 gallons and the sump is 28.4 gallons. THe sump will probably be run with approx 15 gallons in it. Making the system just shy of 50 gallons up and running! Gotta love that old school super green glass!!! =0) Matt

Scored a really cool old school Oceanic Cube tank off CL for $50 with stand not too long ago. We decided to build it into our new frag tank. The little 15 gallon just doesn't have the footprint we need. When I got the tank it had no holes in it. I drilled a single overflow and a single return hole and installed bulkheads in them and loc-line on the return. I couldn't find a decent sump in the proper size to fit under the stand and over the back filtration wasn't going to cut it for this system. So, I built a custom sump to fit the stand. Thanks MattV for the Acrylic donation and cutting service!!! The only piece of acrylic I bought was the front clear panel. I had some small clear scraps around that I made the sock chamber out of. All the white acrylic was donated and cut for me by MattV. Then I employed my girlfriend Stacy to help me glue the panels in place. As you can see from the pics in the following couple posts. The sump came out awesome! I'm totally stoked to get this thing fired up and filled with stuff. I have pics of the build up to this point. I will be back in a couple weeks to post pics of it with stuff in it and up and running. Matt

Here are a couple of shots of my little 15g nano. Excuse the algae on the glass...it's been slightly neglected since I was working on the 155 bowfront. I'm trying to give my corals a less crowded home to live in! =0) There are also three micro blue hippo tangs in there somewhere...they're camera shy!

...especially after you spelled her name wrong!!! S-t-a-c-y!!! =0) Matt

So I have the tank away from the wall and up and running with a small submersible pump to test the overflow half of the system before I put pressure in the return side. It seems to be running smooth so far...tomorrow I fire the closed loop...the day after I fire the return pump with the skimmer, uv, and sand filter. Wish me luck. I have fish in it already...talk about jumping the gun. I have a clown tang, a mata tang, a kole eye tang, an as of yet unidentified Angel, and a lonely chromis. I also have about 120 lbs of LR and a couple coral frags in there. Oh yeah...and 175 hermits a few snails, a emerald crab and a fire shrimp too. I'll post pics of the tank in a day or so. Thanks for looking. Matt

Here are some pics...

Pictures are below in my next post... Reflector is Brand new. I took out of box and mounted it. Fired the lights. It is too close to the water. I want a Lumen Max Elite instead. This is the LARGE one. It measures 22lx22wx8h. It is Model # 904-310. It has about 8 hours run time on it. Socket included as well. Socket was purchased brand new at the same time as reflector. The only thing I am interested in trading for is a Lumen Max Elite Reflector. I need a smaller reflector for the air gap between my water and the lights. Does not need to be new, but must be in 'like new' condition. Not beat up or broken. This is the one that is no longer being produced. It is very nice. Otherwise, if you would prefer cash, $100 takes it (reflector and socket). Firm on price. Thanks for looking. Matt 503-737-9540

*SOLD*I have 3 Helios brand T5 lights that are new. I bought them to run over my 6" 155 for my actinic bulbs. They don't fit the actinic bulbs I decided to use. So I am selling them. $20 each. They are brand new. I have fired two of the three once. I will unmount them and have them ready for you as soon as I am done listing this here. *SOLD* Thanks for looking. Matt

I have a new in box Fluval Edge tank for sale. It is trimmed in Black. $120 obo. Matt 503-737-9540

Thanks for the 4-1-1. I just picked some Chaulerpa and Chaeto from MattV...Thanks MattV. Matt Is it just me or was that a lot of Matts? =0)

Looking for some plants to put in my display tank for the Tangs to eat and some to throw in the sump to help clean the system. Does anyone have any they can spare or sell cheap? Matt

I have a 30 gallon Eclipse XH tank (same foot print as a 20 high 12x24). It isn't a stand alone system like those you listed, however, I have it set up like a reef system..Stand, T5 light, return pump, skimmer in the sump...oh yeah...a sump, heater in sump too. Tank is drilled for an overflow in the top left corner with a small overflow box. and a single return on the top right. If you want corals in it you would need a better light. The T5 just doesn't penetrate all the way to the bottom for hard corals, but it's a great little system. I'd like $150 for the entire setup...it has LR in it and stand with a good supply of pods too. Matt

There are several ways to form it. If you want a long uniform bend in a piece like the front corner of a tru-vu aquarium, you use a tube with a piece of heating rod in it...the type of rod used in an electric oven...you can buy them in straight segments in various lengths. Then apply current untill it reaches the desired temp and the acrylic sheet will drape over the tube containing the rod. If you want a loarge smooth curve you use a form and heat with an oven like previously mentioned. This can also be done with large heaters of different types if no oven is available. If you want to form the part to a complex shape you need very thin material some clamps, a box with some fittings a vacuum source, and a heat source. This will allow you to vacuum form to any shape you want within reason. I've used all these forms of forming plastics/acrylic in model aircraft fabrication. Good luck. Hit me with an email if you have any questions. Matt

Got another easy fix for you...I went to Norvak Electronis and they carry Heat shrink tubing for coating wire in about 25 sizes and all sorts of colors. It comes in 3 foot long tubes. I get one slightly larger than my flex tube and slip it over the tube...works really well. And it's super cheap. =0) Matt

If my prices are Looney Tunes let me know. =0) Matt