cilyjr's 180 in wall...ummm journal

[cilyjr]

i am not quite sure where to go with this post. i guess i can show the evolution of the lights. i have some full tank shots to help...
at fiert i had the 2x 250 with a single 150 in the middle and i hated that from day one i think i lives with it for a month before i cannibalized the old 4 foot pfo fixture for a reflector and mogul socet then i opened the sunlight supply housing to see exactly what ballast they used (there only 3 or 4 companies world wide making the actual magnetic ballast. and went to a local electrical supply shop and bought one. that worked for a while but i decided to upgrade the ballasts and the difference was amazing (see pic below). i decided middle island needed more of the smaller polyp corals. that meant better lighting so i got another lumenbright reflector.

with 150 center

center now same bulb but lesser reflector

upgraded ballast new on lft old on rt

center reflector upgraded

 

[cilyjr]

if anyone has questions or critiques please feel free to post. shameless dog posts

kirsa

chance (as he's always on his last one)

 

[cilyjr]

a few before and current finished shots a month after we moved in and about a month ago

current fish room

 

[cilyjr]

i can take a sec to post a few fts progression shots too.

april 10

may 10

july 10

nov-10

feb 11

march 11

april

a month ago (9-something-11)

 

[jstuver]

Nice tank!!

 

[VegasRick]

Looks good!

 

[cilyjr]

i wanted to talk a bit about my water change system. being extremely lazy i wanted to make it as easy as possible to do them. to mix the water i have a standard 29 gallon tank that i drilled 2 holes into (i drilled the holes in the corner like they would be if it had an overflow just in case i want to use the tank for something else). the first hole has a ball valve and is plumbed to my system the second has a ball valve and spout incase i ever need to fill buckets with mixed salted water. in the tank is a maxi jet and heater. water enters the tank via a float valve that is hooked to my ro/di. i have my ro unit hooked up to my apex but i will talk about that later. when the tank is filled to the float valve level (about 25 gallons) i add right around 13 cups of standard instant ocean salt. i have been using the same salt since i started the hobby and will most likely never change. so this sits over night or maybe a few more.

when i plumbed my return pump i put a tee with a ball valve on it that pumps directly to my laundry drain so opening it sends water from the sump to the drain. my sump has marked lines for how much water to pump out. i shut that valve and open the one for the mix tank it fills the sump back to the line and we are done.

i decided not to have any of this automated because i like being there to manually open and close the proper valves. i do this every 2 to 3 weeks. so i end up changing a little more then 10% each time.

 

[Surf&turf]

Very nice!!!

 

[cilyjr]

i decided to take a chance on a moorish idol these fish for those who dont are notoriously hard to keep. the first step was getting a fish that i know is eating. i really only go to 1 store in my area any more so he brought in the fish and i observed it eating pe mysis shrimp. one good sign on a healthy idol i learned is the banner that extends off the top fin. if it is missing don't buy the fish. keep it at the store and see if it starts to grow back. it will happen fast if the fish is in good shape. mine had a partial banner and was about 1/2 inch long after a week.
i saw the fish eat at the store so i took him home and put him in an isolation tank. there i fed him more mysis and added enriched brine shrimp and some of the mixed food i use as well. he snapped up the mysis and brine shrimp a bit reluctantly but he ignored the other food. but that didnt bother me i always feed some mysis anyway. he spent a week there.
i was afraid of him getting picked on but the other members of my tank. we all have seen a new fish get beat up with little ya can do but hope it gets better. so i came up with a plan to introduce the idol by taking a plastic 5 gallon tank and suspending it in my display. i also cut a door into one side so on the day i was gonna put him in i floated the 5 gallon tank put the idol in about 2 hours before lights out. he could be investigated by all his new tank mates. so i watched and never really saw any real aggression. i was most worried about the bristletooth tang for some reason hes a bit aggressive to the new guy from time to time. everything looked ok however and after the lights were out for a couple hours i opened the door to the isolation tank and he swam out when he felt like it.
there was very little fighting the next day. i did all this when i knew i had a day off with full intentions of tearing 1/2 my 180 if something went bad. now its been a couple weeks and hes doing well he will eat anything that gets put in the tank now and gets along great with other tank mates.
some pics
with good camera

iphone

iphone vid
ce0f540f.mp4 video by cilyjr - Photobucket

 

[subielover]

Very nice tank and great build, I hope to do something very similar soon in our new house

 

[cilyjr]

thanks.
some other random pics from tonight too.
right side

center

left

some of the fish

blue throat trigger

 

[red02]

tank looks great

 

[montethemoster]

One of my personal favorites I've seen on Reef2Reef, awesome work.

 

[VelasCorals]

Great job! Always wanted an in wall tank.

 

[NeverlosT]

nice dude, the finished product looks great! Ill have to swing by one of these days to check it out! Good work.

Makes me want a bigger tank...

 

[cilyjr]

hey ! good to see ya here. we should meet up sometime in the next few weeks.

 

[cilyjr]

sad day. the night before last the blue throat trigger jumped he had been here for over a year. it was a bit sad. i used the clear plastic screen in the past but it had become brittle over time and i had not added any new fish in a while so i removed it. i suppose i will replace them now.