My first tank ever!

[vlangel]

Looking good! So will you view this tank from all sides or will it have a background added? A background can be helpful in that it hides wires and equipment.

 

[ManOfSalt]

We actually moved our wine cabinet behind the couch so the tank could be viewable from both sides :) I do plan to hide the pipe and the wire though. The LFS will be making a timber box that goes over the pipe and I'm getting some extension cords for the lights so I can hide them better. That side of the tank has a black cover so I might just use some electric tape and tape them along the edge so they aren't visible at all.

 

[vlangel]

We actually moved our wine cabinet behind the couch so the tank could be viewable from both sides :) I do plan to hide the pipe and the wire though. The LFS will be making a timber box that goes over the pipe and I'm getting some extension cords for the lights so I can hide them better. That side of the tank has a black cover so I might just use some electric tape and tape them along the edge so they aren't visible at all.

Sounds like your have a good plan and viewing a tank from both sides is very cool.

 

[fishroomlady]

yes, that's a very pretty house you have and I love the piece of furniture it's on. Looks great!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Sounds like your have a good plan and viewing a tank from both sides is very cool.

Thanks! Had a massive internal war with where to place the tank. Worked out in the end!

yes, that's a very pretty house you have and I love the piece of furniture it's on. Looks great!

Aw thank you so much :)

 

[ManOfSalt]

So the LR arrived on Friday and picked up the sand as well! Just finished aquascaping and adding sand. It turned out well but I got a bit of cloudiness when adding the sand. I read somewhere that you should wash the sand before adding but the LFS said don't worry it will just clear so I just added it =x. I'll wait for that to clear and then snap some pics.

 

[vlangel]

So the LR arrived on Friday and picked up the sand as well! Just finished aquascaping and adding sand. It turned out well but I got a bit of cloudiness when adding the sand. I read somewhere that you should wash the sand before adding but the LFS said don't worry it will just clear so I just added it =x. I'll wait for that to clear and then snap some pics.

Oops in my thread I included some things about aquascaping but I forgot that you already did scape your tank. I can't wait to see it! Most of us tweak it a little once the water clears up. In fact some of us never get done tweaking it.

 

[inkedsparkster]

Hey there! Love the tank! And sorry to hear of your rough luck with the LFS. I also saw you were from Sydney. I'm flying over for a personal vacation in April.You wouldn't by chance have any local spots I should check out while in Sydney would you? Looking forward to seeing this thing get some fish!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Oops in my thread I included some things about aquascaping but I forgot that you already did scape your tank. I can't wait to see it! Most of us tweak it a little once the water clears up. In fact some of us never get done tweaking it.

I can totally see that happening! I'm already thinking of adjustments I can make lol. So glad the rock ended up being a manageable distance away from the glass. I read your post in your thread obviously after I finished and was like....uh oh ::gets out the ruler:: haha. I laid the rock out before the sand though and ended up sticking a hose in my return bulkhead to blow the sand off the rock. I guess that was slightly indicative of a manageable layout I suppose!

Hey there! Love the tank! And sorry to hear of your rough luck with the LFS. I also saw you were from Sydney. I'm flying over for a personal vacation in April.You wouldn't by chance have any local spots I should check out while in Sydney would you? Looking forward to seeing this thing get some fish!

Thanks a bunch! And You are in for a great vacation :) Also if you're single, be prepared to not leave! I'm originally from Las Vegas but came here 4 years ago for a vacation and met my fiance whom at the time was this random beautiful woman checking me out on the dance floor of some random club lol. Aussies and Americans have this amazing chemistry it's weird lol. However if you aren't single there's tons of great couple spots as well!

Unfortunately I don't get out that much so I don't have a huge arsenal of local spots. We do however frequent this place called Bungalow 8 whenever we go out. It's in the city and has a nice layout, fairly cheap drinks (for Australian standards -.-) and great live music. They'll have a DJ spinning and they mix it with a random percussionist sometimes a drummer sometimes a bongo player. I think there was even a sax player once. Oh and this place called Gazebo which is towards the end of Kings Cross (which is like tourist central) is very nicely laid out. Also check out The Icebergs. It's a fairly expensive restaurant but a beeeeauutiful view of Sydney harbour. I'm almost convinced that the animators of Finding Nemo took a trip there to get some influence lol. I'll post some more places as I think of them. I hope you have a blast!

Anyway the water has mostly cleared up this morning so it's picture time! I may need to make some minor sand adjustments but we'll see how we go. I went with a SSB mainly because the LFS ran out of sand (-.-) we'll see how the maintenance turns out. I need to make a slight adjustment to the return bulkhead. Apparently it's not easy for Australian fish stores to source a bulkhead that allows you to re-direct the flow and that's exactly what I need. What's happening is it channels all the surface gunk to the opposite end of the tank and just sort of keeps it there. The second I stick a hose in it to redirect the flow a bit downwards, all of the gunk makes it way towards the skimmer. So that will be my next project: Sourcing a new bulkhead. Until then the workaround is either the hose or turning off the system for a couple minutes to allow everything on the surface to drain out of the display.

Lot's of interesting hitchhikers as well. I found a teeny tiny little crab come out of one of the holes, a cute little Anemone looking thing that's black and pokes its head of a little hole and then goes back in really quickly when you touch the rock lol. There's this weird looking thing growing in the front mid-right corner of the tank (i'll take some detailed snaps later) and a couple long armed brittle sea stars (thank to Mike J for IDying those for me). They've since disappeared since I rearranged rock and added sand. I hope I didn't bury them! I feel bad for putting them in before the cycle stabilizes but it was really hard to locate them as they were in random little nooks in the rock. Oh well live and learn I suppose.

 

[vlangel]

Looks real nice. I'm sure you will get the flow worked out. Maybe not all your little hitchhikers but a lot of them will make it through the cycle. They are amazingly sturdy little creatures. Now for the part that requires patience. Its tough when you get this close but waiting now will save you headache and heartache later.

 

[ManOfSalt]

Looks real nice. I'm sure you will get the flow worked out. Maybe not all your little hitchhikers but a lot of them will make it through the cycle. They are amazingly sturdy little creatures. Now for the part that requires patience. Its tough when you get this close but waiting now will save you headache and heartache later.

Thanks Dawn! (can I call you Dawn?) To be honest, I thought patience was going to be an issue but it was only an issue when I was waiting for the LFS to complete everything (still waiting on my timber box to cover the pipes! >:( ) , but just the tank as it stands now is so relaxing to watch for me. I could go ages just staring at it and discovering new critters and watching the flow go over the little random plants and listening to the waterfall in the sump. It's so mesmerizing and relaxing and I'm am just so happy to wait at this stage :) My fiance's like "fish fish fish" and I'm like :::massive relaxing relieving sigh::: lol

 

[vlangel]

Yes, you may call me Dawn. I only know you as Man of Salt though? Is your fiance as much of an aquarist as you? My husband loves and thoroughly enjoys my tank but leaves all the decisions to me. I was going to get out of the hobby altogether Dec 2012 when his mom's care required so much of my time and energy. She's 92 and bed ridden and completely dependant on us. Dave, my husband talked me into keeping a tank and encourages me all the time to buy new stuff for it.

 

[ManOfSalt]

Call me Micah :) My fiancé Sarah is really into fish tanks as well. She's definitely not as addicted as I am but she used to have a 50 gallon saltwater tank like 10 years ago so she's a bit more experienced than me. It's actually because of her that I got my heater for free! She said I needed one and the LFS didn't even mention it. So when I went to the LFS and asked about it they were like "oh crap you do I forgot!" and so he threw it in for free. Her involvement with the whole process was so crucial. She helped me plan the aquascape, we took turns on the ladder when we were aquascaping and she guided me around the tank when blowing the sand off the rock with the hose in spots where I was blind. It's so awesome that your husband keeps you into it!

 

[vlangel]

Very good Micah. That is so cool that you and Sarah can share together in your new hobby but her past hobby. I am sure it will be a wonderful bonding undertaking for the two of you!

 

[ManOfSalt]

Indeed! I got very lucky that I have someone who's taste is similar to mine. It makes it very easy when it comes to making decisions lol

 

[ManOfSalt]

This LR is intriguing I must say. I'll post a couple videos I took of a brittle sea star finding a new home, and a crazy creature I discovered at night zipping its way around my tank. For now here's some pics:

Cute little guy... What on earth are you??

Captured a moment with an anemone flower looking thing! Now it's out

Now it's in!

Saw this stuff contracting!

Don't know what that white stuff is or why it's deciding to extend itself to the sand. Should I be worried?

My reef... It feels good to say that.

 

[vlangel]

Your LR is more alive than any I got. It looks fascinating with all the stuff on it.

 

[vlangel]

Also research the cute little guy. If perchance he's a polyclad flatworm you will want to be careful what creatures you stock with, particularly clams as those two are not compatible.

 

[ManOfSalt]

Thanks Dawn! I found out from Mike J that it's a Scutus Limpet! An algae eater. I hope there's enough algae on the LR for it to survive until the tank is stable enough to start growing algae again.

 

[vlangel]

I wonder if you throw a piece of dried seaweed in if 'limpet' would eat that?