Benjmain's 75g Garage Reef

[mrbee2828]

I got 2 new tangs this weekend and got them in the tank and confined so they could sniff each other out a bit. I flipped an old skimmer stand for the day. I was able to get all the tangs out and clip their barbs yesterday and then introduced everyone at the same time. So far so good. One has taken to the rear corner but no injuries as of the past 24hrs.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I got 2 new tangs this weekend and got them in the tank and confined so they could sniff each other out a bit. I flipped an old skimmer stand for the day. I was able to get all the tangs out and clip their barbs yesterday and then introduced everyone at the same time. So far so good. One has taken to the rear corner but no injuries as of the past 24hrs.

HAHA! That's great!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Great tank BTW!

 

[mrbee2828]

Great tank BTW!

Thanks!

 

[tazguy25]

I Have a 75G Divided between 2 Maroons with the Light diffuser.... I love that the smaller fish Visit each side depending on whose side has the best view of what's going on outside of the tank or most food.

 

[elimav]

The tank is great! I wish I could talk my wife into converting the garage into a man cave. For some reason she wants to keep the cars in there?

 

[MadBrad527]

Loving this thread! You've gone through such a long process but it's looking better every single post. Every man's dream, too.

 

[mrbee2828]

Loving this thread! You've gone through such a long process but it's looking better every single post. Every man's dream, too.

Thanks but it has been turning into somewhat of a nightmare recently. As my partner and I get more clients for Aquacare, my garage is getting more and more stuffed with junk. I have a large collection of aquarium junk stacking up now and the bar area is overrun. I really need to pause on construction for a weekend and do a serious deep clean on the place. I really need to build a scrap bin for wood and pvc pieces as well as move a lot of stuff into storage or the trash :) Maybe I'll get some work on it done soon and post a FGS (full garage shot) lol

 

[Flameback Pair]

I didn't know tang barbs could be clipped.

 

[mrbee2828]

Quick weekend warrior update without pics:

• Finished welding the light rack. I'll won't be drilling this for a week or two.
• Added a 3rd MP10w in the center of the tank
• Changed the light schedule/program to see if I've had them too bright for too long.
• Finished the first door a local guy's nano stand. One more to go.
• Ordered fish for me and a few others today from Live Aquaria for the first time to see how they are.
• Sold a bunch of fish I ordered last week.
• All 3 yellow tangs are getting along "somewhat". 2 are joined at the hip and the other just seems to stay out of the way.
• 20g water change

 

[mrbee2828]

I finished up the light rack this week. The raw metal was starting to rust really bad in the garage between the tank and all the humidity of a full week of rain here in Virginia. I skipped the powder coat route for this one and just did primer and paint via spray. It will probably rust at some point but I doubt it will be before I move this inside at the end of the year. This is 1000x better, solid, out of the way and the lights have a better spread on the tank. I have the one expected shadow but thankfully you can only really see it on the overflow. The corals at the bottom aren't being excluded.


Cost. I spent under $40 on materials but I spent a decent amount of time on this so was it worth it in the end? I'm not really sure. I did learn a lot and I like the way it looks so I'm happy with the effort.

 

[bknapp]

Looking great! Good work on the light rack.

 

[Flameback Pair]

Looks like huge improvement of light rack over cables. Clean

 

[mrbee2828]

It doesn't look like I posted this the other week but I ordered several fish off LiveAquaria to get free shipping on a Blonde Naso Tang for my wife's birthday this Sunday. The goal was to QT it and then have it in the tank by this Sunday morning for her. It didn't make the shipment with several others though sadly. Their customer service is awesome. After trying to order one through my own distributors, talking to other local stores etc it's been extremely difficult to source a large male with streamers.

So, I found a large blonde naso on BlueZoo this afternoon in stock so I pulled the trigger. Let's hope this one makes the trip. This is only my 2nd time ordering something online (outside of our wholesale orders) and while LiveAquaria's customer service is top notch, the overall experience of losing several fish wasn't great. Especially when one was a gift :( I tried to go local (called several shops) and to get a large one through my own distributors but time is ticking away and my wife's birthday is Sunday so I'm out of options. It just comes down to timing and who's caught what I guess. Crossing my fingers.


So the tang police are going to get on me here. 5 large tangs in a 125g. The plan is to move to roughly a custom 225g tank inside in a few months... Merry Christmas? I have about 9' from wall to door in the dining room space and I think it will look good centered at 84"x24"26". I started sourcing builders and trying to figure out shipping later this year. I really don't want to have to drive a full day+ to pick something up. I'm also looking into a closed loop system with a 4 outlet Oceans Motions unit with the dart I have now. I may add a few of the MP10s I have along the back for additional flow but overall I don't want ANY equipment showing. I'm also not 110% with the hum the MP10s give off as they pulse. But who knows... I may just end up with another 125g :/

 

[mrbee2828]

BTW: All 3 tangs are good now. I really do feel that clipping the barbs helped to eliminate the possibility of early onset injury/death and gave them more time to work things out. The smallest one had some fin nips but they have all figured out their spots and are swimming together form time to time. Nd I'm happy to report that the barbs a almost grown back already.

 

[cbb_70]

Yeah Naso's are not good shippers...

 

[mrbee2828]

No doubt, especially in July. This week is going to be gnarly too.... 98° Thursday. I'm asking for an extra cool pack :D

 

[cbb_70]

I used to have a 125 with a naso and it would freak out just from the cleaning magnet... but would eat from my hand. Go figure?

 

[mrbee2828]

Its funny how they all have personalities isn't it? My clowns go into my had when I place frags, my cleaner wrasse picks at my arm hair and my giant hippo runs for cover lol

 

[cbb_70]

Hippos are the biggest wimps ever!!!