k9flash

Haha don't turn your back on that one.

Big fan of the Sig myself. I carry the 229 and love it. I have owned the Ruger handguns in the past and have nothing bad to say about them. They really are a solid firearm and very economical. My suggestion,since you have young'ns, would be to invest in a simple gun lock or other device to keep curious hands away. I may be stating the obvious though.

Have fun and happy plinking!

I'm doing the same thing, tossed the kalk into the top off. Seems to be keeping the tank pretty stable.

I'd be interested in that Atwillow

Clams Zombies and Guns?!

/Popcorn

This thread gets better and better.

Ok are "corals" a metaphor for something?

Indeed. I just wasnt sure if I should be trying to knock it back a bit or just let it get uglier and uglier. Hard looking at a nasty brown tank.

Then wait I shall.

Ok guys still cycling the tank but I have got my brown algae a little sooner than I expected. Not sure if using live rock and the original sand from the tank sped that up or what. At any rate just curious if you think I should throw some snails and what not in or not.

Ammonia has bottomed out but Nitrites are still a little on the high side and not sure I want to risk frying some inverts. Just curious what your thoughts are.

As always, thanks for the advice.

I'll jump in on this as well. PM sent

Me and the wife played pretty hardcore since '05. We just recently stopped playing. Expac just left us kind of...meh. We have alliance on Greymane and horde on Nesingwary. Horde FTW!

Yeah I know. I was really drooling over Brad's transitional tank when I picked up this one. I was floored when he said the majority of it came out of the 75.

I built a new canopy to allow the new lights and hopefully someday the tank will have a small fraction of the life that Brad had. Give it the ol' college try as they say.

Just find an old power supply from a charger or something you dont use anymore. You just need to find one that has 12V output. If you dont have one you can pick up universal ones from Wal-mart or some other store. Just make sure they say 12V output. You can then snip off the connectors and wire nut them to the fans. Works like a charm.

Staples has em for like 10 bucks, depending on what size you want. You just have to wire them into a power supply which is pretty easy to do.

Thanks Garrett. Going to be grabbing stock from ya in no time.

Currently the sump is a 20g in the cabinet, Jonas. Just running through a filter sock at the moment. Still need to grab up a protein skimmer to put down there but figured I have time while the tank cycles.

Ok here are some pis. I am running dual 250's and 2 VHO super actinics. The VHO's are not on in this pic. I also need to do some cord management in the back. Just ignore them. LOL. Havent quite got the aquascaping where I want it but I put the rocks in to help with the cycling. I still need to pick up some more I think.

The top is hinged and lifts up. The slats in top and a vent on the opposite side allow for good air flow for the dual fans installed. Tank heat has not been an issue so far. Any pointers are always appreciated.

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Nah ammonia dropped but nitrates are now sky high. Its quite a pretty color of purple though on the kit. lol.

Hey guys just wanted to say thanks for all the help with my noob questions lately. Got my tank from Reefnjunkie, and after some modifications, it is up and running. Garrett and him were a huge help getting me reaclimated. The communities posts in response to my questions were also very appreciated.

Now the waiting for cycling begins. (whistle) One week down, lots to go. Though I am happy to report my nitrate levels are just plain awful! So it must be working.

Thanks again.

Five guys for breakfast? What kind of forums are these?

Duh...Winning! Oh and welcome.

Looks like one of them high falootin protein drinks all them whipper snappers are drinking these days.

The nice thing about newport is you have 2 aquariums. The Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Hatfield Marine Science Center. Right next to each other and one is free. Oh and lets not forget Rogue brewery right there as well.

wow, that is definitely a creative idea. My skills at rock stacking are really lacking. I figure I am going to need to brace and support them somehow. Do you glue/epoxy your rock together when you stack them as well or just let the base take care of the majority of the support?

Cool guys. Thanks for the responses. That helps a lot. Think I'll go with the shallow bed then.

Ok, so as I get ready to start putting these tank parts together and get the cycle started I have a quick question. What are the prevailing thoughts on substrates?

I know some people are using bare bottoms but I think I'd like to have some sand in there. Just not sure if I should go Shallow or deep. Are people still using Plenums or is that discouraged now.

I figure I'd put some egg crate under the sand as I'd like to toss an engineer in there and dont want to risk a live rock crashing through the bottom of the tank. But as far as depth and type of substrate to put on top of it I am kind of lost.

Thanks in advance guys.