Chelsey's 100 gallon Cube Tank Build

[Chris2222000]

Oh wow thats gonna be an awesome tank! I wanna see more pics once it clears even more, and what are your ideas for the middle "lagoon" area?

 

[Chelsey]

The lagoon is for my fishies to swim I hope to have some SPS eventually grow enough that they're poking out into it some too. On the sandbed I'll likely have my watermelon chalices, but that's it...I don't like stuff on my sandbed.

 

[Kigs!]

Wow Chelsey tank is looking great! I'm loving the dimensions, very nice aquascaping too!

 

[rocko918]

Very cool, Can't wait to see it with corals and fish.

My only constructive criticisms is the rock on the bottom right side looks like it is upside down. idk, just thought i would toss it out there. Maybe flip it?

Just a suggestion.

 

[Chelsey]

That's the point

If I flipped it over it would be unstable because the bottom supporting structure would be the smallest part of the rock.

 

[THE BEAUT]

Love the aquascaping

 

[Chelsey]

Thank you I hope that it looks even better once my SPS grow in and I have the anemone. I like fish A LOT so I wanted to design the aquascaping with them in mind

 

[rocko918]

That's the point

If I flipped it over it would be unstable because the bottom supporting structure would be the smallest part of the rock.

So you want it to look upside down?

i agree it would be a little unstable because of the point but you would always use epoxy to stabilize it.

Don't get me wrong the tank looks great!

 

[Chris2222000]

Any new pics

 

[Chelsey]

Here's an updated fish list:
-pair of ORA picasso clowns*
-lavendar tang
-interruptus angel
-tailspot blenny*
-neon goby (would eventually like to get a pair)*
-random little red goby (eviota?)*
-leopard wrasse*
-blue stripe pipefish (already have him and have had for about a year)*
-either a lineatus or a flame wrasse
-two spot (bimaculatus) blenny
-red-headed goby


My nitrites are zero and I ordered my IPSF kit yesterday, it'll be here Wednesday.

I acquired black acrylic and Chad is in process of making a cover to prevent my fishies from jumping.

This morning I woke up and my sump for my cube had cracked (some of you might know that this is the SECOND time I've had a 40 breeder crack in the last 6 months).

Ok, so here's what happened. I called everywhere in Columbia and nobody had a 40 breeder. I called Petco in Jefferson City (45 min away) and they had ONE. I drove to Jeff city and spent 20 minutes looking for Petco (mapquest directions were wrong).

I finally found Petco, went in, and found my tank. One of the employees picked up the tank to carry it to the register and he wasn't even out of that aisle yet before he whacked the tank on the nearest metal display and cracked it. Since that was the only one they had I was SOL. The manager called the only other pet store in Jefferson city and they didn't have a 40 breeder either. By this point I am rather livid.

On the way home I talked to some people and decided that my only viable option was to transfer everything over to the 100 gallon cube. My nitrites are 0 and even though it would've been ideal to get my IPSF pack BEFORE stocking the tank I didn't really have a choice.

I finally got everything transferred over and the zoas all seem happy. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't lose anything!

 

[fishes2889]

Sweet!

pics...pics....

 

[nyfireman3097]

updated pics

 

[143gadgets]

Pics please!

 

[Chelsey]

As you wish. This is a "quick and dirty" shot, I didn't even clean my glass. My tank is looking very bare at the moment because Chad is babysitting my sps. Hopefully I'll have those back a week from Friday. My zoas and chalices are super happy though, as are my fish.

I had one heck of a time connecting the lock line on the left side but after this pic was taken I finally got it, so both sides match now I also hooked up my aquacontroller today. I'm looking forward to having all of my livestock in the tank and just letting it grow out. I've got a buddy that has a super nice RBTA with my name on it in his tank right now, I'm debating on when the best time to add that would be. I've also got an interruptus coming within the next few months, just waiting on my hookup to let me know when. I'd also like to add that the tunze clip on the left side is covered in coralline, so it's in there just to seed the rock. The tiny prong things that hold it to the magnet are broken

 

[Chelsey]

Today I added more water to the sump and hooked up my auto top-off so when I go home for spring break on Friday the tank will be in good shape. I also cleaned up the silicon a little bit on the edges. I didn't do that when I first picked up the tank from Glass Cages so I decided that it was about time

I have a tiny mantis (I think wenerrae) that I was going to give his own tank and plumb it into my system, but I put him in the sump for now and he seems happy there. He's got the whole 40 breeder to himself (other than the equipment and his dinner, aka hermits) loaded with rock and what does he choose as his lair? The space under the chemi pure bag! What a goofball.

After spring break I'm going to work on adding my sps back, hooking up my calcium reactor, and populating my tank with the rest of my fish on my list. The interruptus import will be in a little while, the guy in charge has some more pressing issues at the moment but hopefully relatively soon I'll have my dream fish in my tank

 

[Chelsey]

Another update, well, a bunch of small updates in one.

My IPSF stuff is in my tank. Some of the stuff I was happy that I bought, other stuff I kind of thought was a waste of money after it was in my tank. Overall, I think it's a good option for someone that wants to budget it into their tank build, but honestly I think that getting some established live sand and some decent macro algae wouldn't be much different. Just my opinion, I know some reefers swear by this stuff.

Today was the first day of class after spring break (I went home to Farmington). I was a little nervous about leaving the tank (as always) but overall everything isn't any worse for the wear. However, I did come home to a nice hair algae outbreak, which was fully expected as it's a new tank. As soon as I had unloaded my car I promptly went to the LFS, Noah's, and bought a few snails...3 smallish turbos (if there is such a thing) and 3 black "margarita" snails to add to my small cleanup crew (I just had a few snails, my two conchs, and the few snails that I got from IPSF). To further help combat the algae I grabbed two tiny urchins out of my QT tanks that were hitchhikers on some LR and threw them in my cube too. Since I am on bad terms with urchins (I've had to dig spines out of my hands on numerous occassions) they will be back in the QT tank once they do their job.

On Friday I was in St Louis and wanted to get a Lavendar tang but the only one my favorite LFS had was on hold. I'm pretty good friends with the manager though and he's going to work on getting me a nice one Also, this LFS has a supermale lineatus wrasse that arrived a few months ago and promptly jumped into the overflow and made his way into their huge sump. An employee has been trying to get him out and when the LFS employee succeeds the wrasse has my name on him I also brought a few of my hardier sps home to see how they like the tank. Hopefully this coming weekend I'll be able to hook up my Ca reactor and perhaps a week from Friday I'll be able to bring home some more SPS, followed by my prized pieces on the 18th of April.

Also, today I noticed my first specks of coralline algae! I'm quite excited about that I am a fan of coralline and would really like it to get a jumpstart on covering my rocks.

I can't remember if I already mentioned this in a previous post, but soon I hope to have a mantis tank plumbed into my system. It will house a peacock and the awesome macro algae I got from the IPSF kit. The tank will also serve as a breeding ground for pods since I'm not adding any fish. The mantis will eat a few pods I'd imagine but as long as I keep him well fed I don't think he'll make much of a dent in the population. The little wenerrae that's in my sump right now has become quite reclusive so he's going to stay in my sump and the more active peacock will be in his own tank (don't yet have him).

The person that is importing the interruptus angel for me is having a few other more pressing things going on at the moment but hopefully within the next month or two I'll have my dream fish I'm also waiting on a few frags from fragfarmer...I am supposed to contact him on April 9th and if my tank is not ready for these guys then they'll be headed to Chad's tank with my other prized sps

Sorry for the long-winded update!

 

[Chelsey]

It's been a looonnnggg time!

I can't believe I haven't updated this thread in over a month! Lots has happened since my last update. I have a mantis tank plumbed into my system that houses Sam, a G. ternatensis. He's super cool and has quite a nice personality!

I have also added a lavendar tang that I have appropriately named "Chicken" and a little 2" midas blenny named "Melvin" to the tank, along with a bonded pair of neon gobies.

Almost all of my sps are in the tank now, except for the really picky ones or the ones that were super hard to find/$$$$$. The setosa, sanddollar, undata are the only ones left in Chad's tank I think. Next week I have a frag of Orenji, 20k Lokani, and Ice fire echinata coming...can't wait! Someday I will get a frag of Chad's Phil's granulosa and Hawkins Echinata but they're relatively picky so it might not be for a while. The Orenji will be headed straight to Chad's tank but I'm going to see how the other two do before I decide whether they stay here or go to Chad's. I still have several corals that I'm on the lookout for (see my most wanted thread) but for the most part I'm about done with trying to hunt down frags...it's time to let things grow!

After making up my fish list and deciding that I would nearly die if a few of them jumped, I decided to make an acrylic jump guard. I ordered a sheet of 1/4" thick black acrylic, had Chad cut it to length, and then I used some plastic garden "fence" from Wal Mart to make the mesh. It doesn't cut down on light at all (at least I can't notice a difference) and since it's doubled up the squares are only big enough for a neon goby to jump through. I think the hardest part about this whole project was "stretching" the plastic fence to try and get it tight...it was nearly impossible and it's getting looser as it heats up/cools down from the lights. Anyway, here are the pics:

As far as the interruptus goes, I have been forced to wait until my tank is up for 6 months. I decided to take a LFS manager up on a spectacular offer to get me one, but as I stated my tank has to be up 6 months. I think this offer is better than the person that was going to import them, but if that person gets some in before my time is up and a bunch of other variables line up properly I might get it from that guy still. My tank will have been up for 6 months September 16th...I'm so excited!

Other than the interruptus I still have to find a red headed goby and a bimaculatus (two spot) blenny, plus if that lineatus if we can ever catch him! I'm toying with the idea of adding a tiny blue tang (yes, I know he will outgrow my tank) but it's going to have to be a super healthy one that DOES NOT have ich (one in a million I know ).

At the moment I'm having quite the outbreak of cyano, but once I get that cleared up I might have the guts to post a FTS

 

[Chelsey]

It's been a looonnngggg time since I've updated this thread! I ended up adding a blue tang that looked perfect and was eating like a pig. I went on vacation and when I came back he nuked my tank and killed everything but my leopard wrasse, a red neon evotia goby, and my blue stripe pipefish. I then learned my lesson and QT EVERYTHING now! I replaced my fish, here's my current fish list:
-pair of picasso clowns from Bonesreef.com
-chocolate tang
-leopard wrasse
-tailspot blenny
-red headed goby
-tiger goby
-neon goby
-blue stripe pipefish
-brazillian flameback angel

I would eventually like to add a bimaculatus blenny and maybe a few more fish, and of course my beloved interruptus when RCT is back in business.

FTS from 7-17-08:

FTS from 8-18-08:

 

[Chelsey]

Three of the corals I received this week (L-R Clint's red stag, icefire echinata, ocean's blue polyped stylo):

Here's a current inventory of my tank:

SPS: ORA blue mille, ORA pink mille, Aquarium city red mille, Palmer's Blue mille, multicolor mille, blue formosa of some kind, oregon tort, purple acro of some kind, yellow with purple polyp nasuta, light blue random acro, crayola table, green slimer, blue stag, Clint's red stag, Hawkins echinata, Phil's granulosa, ORA German green with blue polyps acro, icefire echinata, ocean blue polyped stylo, random bluish/green acro, Undata, Superman danae and digitata, setosa, orenji danae, rainbow danae, sunset danae, sanddollar danae, idaho grape cap, pink polyped cap, Tyree flower petal cap, strawberry patch cap, chocolate chip cap (similar to ORA supernatural cap), green digi, purple digi, Tyree aquatuberlata (spelling?)

LPS - Tyree red watermelon, Tyree pink watermelon

Softies - green/purple star polyps (not the usual ones, these are kind of weird), pink star polyps, bam bams, dragon eyes, purple deaths, nuclear greens, pink elephants, PPEs, PPRPEs, electric strawberry, strawberry wines, red wines, blue kisses, happy samhains, RPEs, tiny green zoas, mohawks, random PE, rainbows, baby got backs, blue eyed dragons, jokers, rastas, pooky reds, rose nebulas, lunar eclipse, darth mauls

I never in a million years thought I'd have more sps than zoas/palys! I doubt I'll ever go strictly colored sticks, I like zoas too much. When I first got into the hobby I said I'd never have any sps...shows how far downhill I've gone!

Here are a few pics from tonight. I decided to move my picasso pair over to the cube tank, but knowing that my leopard wrasse is aggressive at first I put them in a critter keeper until my wrasse gives up.

This is the only leopard wrasse that I know of that's aggressive.

The white thing is PVC so that if they get tired of the leopard wrasse they've got somewhere to hide.

This piece:

Is all that's left of this coral:

I saved it from a buddy's tank.

Clint's Red Stag:

The way the frags are positioned the colorful side is away from the camera. My guess is that the piece that got fragged was growing horizontally and this side was away from the light.

A really bad picture of my beloved icefire frag:

It's a small piece, but it is already working on encrusting to the frag plug and it's healthy

One of my favorite corals in the tank, sanddollar monti. I cannot seem to catch the light blue base color on my camera.

 

[Chelsey]

One of today's arrivals, x-men/lunar eclipse palys:

The lunar eclipses are one of the frags that I had die on me in the past.

The darth mauls that I got from THE BEAUT are not feeling very photogenic at the moment.