TacticalDumb***
Community Member
This will be over my time from building my 35 from scratch.
I first started by siliconing the glass together with the help of my dad. For those who have never done this 1. I recommend doin this in your garage instead of your dining room where the surrounding rooms will all smell like vinegar. 2. When you apply tape before the silicone to get clean edges don't forget to remove the tape before the silicone cures like I did. Because you risk having a poor seal and then you have a leak and then have to redo the whole inside like I did.
As for the placement I had a desk built into my wall so I decided to put the tank there. I Made sure it was strong enough to hold the weight and drilled for plumbing and wires. I also made sure to replace the outlet in the wall with a GFCI outlet and the other miscellaneous sockets with just plate covers. In my early stages I cheaped out on the light and then after some research found it was not going to be strong enough for the corals I wanted so bit the bullet and got an AI blade grow which has worked wonderfully until now.
Once I got the tank, plumbing and electrical set up I started working on different hardscaping ideas. It was kind of challenging because I was doing it in 2 parts. The first part which was just Marco rock and the second part where I was going to add some nano gulf rock. I went through several iterations trying to have enough negative space while maximizing my space for coral and making sure I could clean the glass.
After awhile I found something that could work and put it in the tank, and found a possible mistake... There was like 5 in of space between the tank and the glass which made putting the rocks in there without damaging the glass or shelf a puzzle I hadn't thought about.
After getting everything in I realized it was way too high and took a few things out. This would be what I stuck with until I got the gulf rock.
Most of what was on the gulf rock has been thriving and reproducing even. I lost the Mexican Caulerpa and had a few pests that I got rid of. For those who are curious about my pest I had some Florida Aptasia, parasitic Isopods and a gorilla crab. The Isopods weren't bad at all to deal with because I didn't have fish yet (still don't but that's changing soon). The Florida Aptasia was annoying but wasn't too bad, the best way I found to get rid of it is to use F- aptasia on the big ones and add peppermint to make sure they don't come back. It's been a month since I've seen any. And the gorilla crab I just pick up the rock it was on and put it in my sump refugium. He's still doing fine btw (picture taken last week). But overall I got WAY more good hitchhikers than bad ones. I calculated the price and I would have paid roughly $150 for all the hitchhikers, paid $133 + shipping for the live rock (Jar Package from Tampa Bay Saltwater).
So this is where I am at currently:
I only have coral and inverts at the moment with more coral on the way (the labor day sale got me) and hopefully I will be able to add fish by the start of next month. For those who like the collection on the shelf, it's all stuff my family has gathered over the years. Some conch shells, snail shells, starfish skeletons, sand dollars, a shark tooth I bought at a summer camp, a galaxy marble, quartz crystals, and a few Native American tools.
And for those who care I didn't dip any corals. You may be asking "why?" and the answer is to learn. This is my first tank in the hobby and I wanted to learn as much as I can. Sure I can read about a lot of it online but I can in wanting to know how to deal with a variety of pest and learn about a variety of hitchhikers, and that's what has happened so far. I have leaned about a lot of thing I otherwise wouldn't have.
I first started by siliconing the glass together with the help of my dad. For those who have never done this 1. I recommend doin this in your garage instead of your dining room where the surrounding rooms will all smell like vinegar. 2. When you apply tape before the silicone to get clean edges don't forget to remove the tape before the silicone cures like I did. Because you risk having a poor seal and then you have a leak and then have to redo the whole inside like I did.
As for the placement I had a desk built into my wall so I decided to put the tank there. I Made sure it was strong enough to hold the weight and drilled for plumbing and wires. I also made sure to replace the outlet in the wall with a GFCI outlet and the other miscellaneous sockets with just plate covers. In my early stages I cheaped out on the light and then after some research found it was not going to be strong enough for the corals I wanted so bit the bullet and got an AI blade grow which has worked wonderfully until now.
Once I got the tank, plumbing and electrical set up I started working on different hardscaping ideas. It was kind of challenging because I was doing it in 2 parts. The first part which was just Marco rock and the second part where I was going to add some nano gulf rock. I went through several iterations trying to have enough negative space while maximizing my space for coral and making sure I could clean the glass.
After awhile I found something that could work and put it in the tank, and found a possible mistake... There was like 5 in of space between the tank and the glass which made putting the rocks in there without damaging the glass or shelf a puzzle I hadn't thought about.
After getting everything in I realized it was way too high and took a few things out. This would be what I stuck with until I got the gulf rock.
Most of what was on the gulf rock has been thriving and reproducing even. I lost the Mexican Caulerpa and had a few pests that I got rid of. For those who are curious about my pest I had some Florida Aptasia, parasitic Isopods and a gorilla crab. The Isopods weren't bad at all to deal with because I didn't have fish yet (still don't but that's changing soon). The Florida Aptasia was annoying but wasn't too bad, the best way I found to get rid of it is to use F- aptasia on the big ones and add peppermint to make sure they don't come back. It's been a month since I've seen any. And the gorilla crab I just pick up the rock it was on and put it in my sump refugium. He's still doing fine btw (picture taken last week). But overall I got WAY more good hitchhikers than bad ones. I calculated the price and I would have paid roughly $150 for all the hitchhikers, paid $133 + shipping for the live rock (Jar Package from Tampa Bay Saltwater).
So this is where I am at currently:
I only have coral and inverts at the moment with more coral on the way (the labor day sale got me) and hopefully I will be able to add fish by the start of next month. For those who like the collection on the shelf, it's all stuff my family has gathered over the years. Some conch shells, snail shells, starfish skeletons, sand dollars, a shark tooth I bought at a summer camp, a galaxy marble, quartz crystals, and a few Native American tools.
And for those who care I didn't dip any corals. You may be asking "why?" and the answer is to learn. This is my first tank in the hobby and I wanted to learn as much as I can. Sure I can read about a lot of it online but I can in wanting to know how to deal with a variety of pest and learn about a variety of hitchhikers, and that's what has happened so far. I have leaned about a lot of thing I otherwise wouldn't have.
