Evolution of the Blue World 180

[BlueWorldJeff]

Looks great

Much appreciated, thank you for your interest

 

[Captain Quint]

Great thread BlueWorldJeff!

Everything looks incredible. Seeing your old AGA 120 sure brings back good memories of mine.

Thanks for the evening tank/fish/coral evening *drool*

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Great thread BlueWorldJeff!

Everything looks incredible. Seeing your old AGA 120 sure brings back good memories of mine.

Thanks for the evening tank/fish/coral evening *drool*

Thats the first drool over coral that I have grown, I'm honored. Its normally me being envious of others.

 

[Captain Quint]

Thats the first drool over coral that I have grown, I'm honored. Its normally me being envious of others.

Truth is the truth, my friend.

 

[Sharis100]

Once the tank was in place and water added, the live rock pillars were added and I had to wait for the water to clear. In the meantime, plumbing was next on my list. The tank has a center overflow with a 1.5" drain hole and two 3/4" return holes. I hate having just one drain line, but didn't have time to figure out an alternate way to plumb a multiple durso setup with returns over the side. I stuck with one drain and left the two returns that come out of the side of the overflow. I also hate the holes being in the overflow, as when the pump shuts off, the returns suck water down the hole level and that's a lot to go in the sump. (I'll get to my ideal setup later in the post)

I've had to have the locline return nozzles aimed up towards the water line so i can break the siphon without losing too much water into the sump. It leads to alot of salt creep, but does help with oxygen exchange. For the drain line, I used a street elbow and cut the end to fit very close to the "up pipe", it all fits well in the overflow.

On the sump end, I had some issues making the "Y" split for the return. With the drain in the area, I had to get it all to fit just right to be above the sump. The stand is not that tall.

I've since moved away from using flex PVC as much as I used to, but it does have its benefits in certain situations

Once the water started flowing through my Waveline DC6000 return pump, and through the tank and no leaks were found (took some iterations before totally leak proof), it was time to add the live rock, skimmer and electronics to the tank and sump

The fish and loose coral made their entrance right after plumbing finished.

I wanted to try something different with the electronic components, as I've seen some nicely organized wires and devices, whereas my last tank was a complete mess. I had some old media cabinets laying around and figured I could take the shelf, flip it vertically, drill some holes and then I could mount the units to the wall and run the wires behind. Attaching the two cabinets together allowed for plugs on the bottom and controllers on the top

The netpune apex breakout box filled the empty spot in the top right after picture was taken

For the lights, I use RapidLED Onyx Dimmable units x3. They sat 12" off the water in my old tank. My new canopy is much shorter, so I had to figure out a way to hang them, since the fan is on the top of the unit and still have enough room for spread. I decided to just drill holes in the top of the canopy and run the hanging wires through. I can put something on top of the canopy under the wire to either raise or lower the light. Quick fix, but until I get Radions, it has to do.

Added the Tunze 6105s, all the float switches, probes, dosing pumps,heaters, Apex controller programmed and finally we had something the family could enjoy.

And not a minute too soon as my second son was born 3 weeks after we moved in.

Next up, the fun part - Fish, Corals, Inverts, Equipment, Water Parameters, Maintenance, Lessons Learned and Future (Dream) Enhancements!

What a wonderful story and beautiful tank!

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

What a wonderful story and beautiful tank!

Thank you for the complement

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Some of my favorites

True Montipora Undata

The florescent dots under actinic along with the bubbly texture makes this one stand out

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Yellow Scroll Turbinaria

This was one of the first coals I ever got 5 years ago. Was the size of a silver dollar, mounted straight up and down on a plug. It's grown true to its name

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Green Torch

Easily the most likely coral by visitors. I use it as an indicator for my flow. Hypnotic when fully extended

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Acrorora Caroliniana

Got this from my LFS that doesn't do alot of SPS. Marked as Green Acro, I took a chance on this small frag and it didn't disappoint. Lots of encrusting and branching

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Mint Pavona

Described as a weed by one of my LFS, this wavy coral got to the size of a softball before I clipped it and moved it. It has done well at middle of the tank height as well as bottom. Right now it sits right off the sand in a spot I haven't got any other coral to grow

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Probably my favorite prefer right now is this Warpaint Acan Echinata. Took a flyer on this at year another LFS near me that had it on the $10 rack. It started with just one eye and has grown faster than my other Echinatas by far, with more color variation than I expected. I'm excited to see the color pattern when it covers this rock

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Haven't had to much luck with the Acan Lord's, but this one has stuck around and is starting to take hold. It's in the perfect spot, in a crevice of a rock by the sand, right under where the fish are fed

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

I know I posted this earlier but the chalice and maze brain both have such great color. The maze is such a slow grower, I'm hoping it will take the shape of the sloping rock. The neon channels how glow bright under actinic, like neon lava.

The chalice was on a frag plug cut to the disc, then mounted to the rock where a Superman encrusting Monti use to have the whole rock. The chalice looks like it's reaching down for the rock, I'm interest in what it will do next. It's a light bluish green with pink dots.

 

[Jvesche20]

Love everything you have

 

[BlueWorldJeff]

Thanks jvesche. Me too haha. It really has been fun collecting pieces I've seen and liked or just happened upon in a frag

Love everything you have